Poisoned Honor
Book One: The Worst Day in the Life of Ranma Saotome.
A RANMA 1/2 FAN FICTION
BY WILLIAM O'HALLORAN
AKA Nuki Mouse
Authors notes: This is a story based on characters owned and copy righted by Takahashi Rumiko and VIZ Communications. I wrote this story because I like writing and have not received any money for it, nor will I attempt to.
Encloses the thoughts of the character.
" " Enclose the spoken words of a character.
Chapter Thirteen: Day's End.
Mrs. Ohara, the spry grey haired octogenarian (AKA "that damn ladle lady") who lived just down the street from the Tendo's, was peering out her front door into the late night gloom. Something was on the loose in Nerima that night, something sinister and evil, and as usual, the Tendo's and their houseguests seemed to be at the heart of the maelstrom.
She had seen many strange sights in recent months; bizarre martial artists out for revenge, ghastly demons on the prowl, hoards of fiancée's searching for their intendeds, boys who dressed as girls, girls who dressed as boys, and then of course there were the aqua-transformers. Mrs. Ohara absent-mindedly gripped the ladle she kept near the door, as she thought of her favorite "game" of splash'em.
Mrs. Ohara had often tried to tell others (non-locals) about Nermia, but most of them would just scratch their heads and look bemused, or gives her a kindly look and then ask if she remembered to take her medication lately. However, a few of them (mostly those who recently been to Nerima) would remark it was just Saotome Ranma and his (or hers!)friends. Kami-sama, some of them don't even know his true sex.
Yes Saotome Ranma..., he was the keystone, the linchpin to all the strange events in Nermia. What a perfect, poetic name for the handsome young man, she mused, "Wild horse becoming a woman." At first his magical transformations had frighten Mrs. Ohara, but then Tendo Kasumi told her the poignant tale of Ranma and the stupid curse he was saddled with. Then after finishing telling her about Genma, Kasumi explained about Ranma's other curse.
Or curses Mrs. Ohara thought, he seemed to be loadstone, drawling in all types of weirdness to him. If a three headed, poka-dotted dwarf on a unicycle showed up, no-one in Nermia would bat an eye; they'd just point it towards the Tendo dojo and stand back to watch the fun. And fun it would be; Ranma's battles were always spectacular, the fighting skills and action surpassed anything seen outside of a Hong Kong martial arts film and only rarely were any bystanders seriously hurt.
Although the surrounding areas always took a beating, Mrs. Ohara knew, but the Nerima chamber of commerce always anted up for the damages, after all the fights (and the crowds they drew) were good for local business.
However, tonight was different. First came that horrible nightmarish shriek, then the evening was again sundered by foul cries and screams from the Tendo home. Something had happened at the Tendo's... something terrible and monstrous. As evidenced by the fact that not just one but two ambulances were outside, along with a trio of police cars.
While trying not to look too noisy, Mrs. Ohara donned her robes and joined the growing throng of people standing outside of the Tendo home. Due to all the vehicles park around it and the milling officers, she really could not see too much, although she did notice the paramedics loading an injured girl into one of the ambulances. Oh dear, that's Nabiki! Not wanting to come away totally empty handed, Mrs. Ohara managed to worm her way close enough to overhear a smattering of comments and scraps of conversations from the police and the other onlookers.
"Two of the girls were beaten near to death with a blunt...""The youngest girl is in shock..." "...Tendo Nabiki and Akane will be trans..." "...The third girl? A house guest I think..." ..Sarge, have central put out an APD on Saotome Ranma, find him, or HER, but do not approach..." "...Ranma? Did he attack them...?" "...Tendo Kasumi said something about a date rape drug..." ...She ran away, but Toufu-sensei is searching for her, after all a redhead stands out..."
"Ohara-san? O-HAR-a-SAN?" Came the strained but still melodious voice of Tendo Kasumi from somewhere off to her right, cutting short any further attempts to listen in on the cops. Mrs. Ohara turned to see the eldest Tendo daughter standing near the front of the ambulances, trying to get her attention.
The poor girl, she looks so over rot and upset. Mrs. Ohara noted as she drew near. Oh dear, is that blood on her sleeve?
"Please Ohara-san; I must accompany my sisters and... our guest ...to the hospital. If my father returns tonight, could you please let him know?" Kasumi asked her. "I hope it's not an inconvenience. I left a note, but he might be, um... unable to read it."
You mean he might be drunk as a skunk again with that good-for-nothing friend of his she thought. "Of course I will, Kasumi, you only have to ask and I'll do anything to help." Mrs. Ohara replied, but then both curiosity and concern got the better of her "The guest, is it... Ranma?"
"Ranma? No, she's still out there, somewhere..." Kasumi answered, her eyes darting around the area and a look of fear or worry plain to see on her face.
Oh dear, Ranma must have... suddenly the snippets of overheard conversation fell into place, …attacked or maybe even raped them, then ran off Mrs. Ohara decided. "Kasumi, I'll stay up all night, if needs be, I'll be sure to tell your father what happen."
"You don't have to do that, Ohara-san. It might be best if father sleeps it... gets a good night rest first. Morning will be here soon enough, if you could just stop by then" Kasumi replied as the paramedics finished buttoned up the ambulance and motioned for her to ride 'up front'.
"Like I said Kasumi, it'll be no trouble." Mrs. Ohara called after the receding vehicle.
Meanwhile, in a galaxy, far, far away….
(Actually in a clearing about a half kilometer away.)
After dragging the wet and naked Ranko away from the canal's edge, Nodoka tried to be gentle but still the poor girl spat out a cry of pain. Grabbing her discarded clothes, Nodoka wrapped Ranko in them as best she could. As the night chill fell and a stiffening breeze blew over the two, Nodoka sat down on the bare ground and pulled Ranko into her lap, trying to use her own body heat to warm her. Kami, if I'm this cold, Ranko must be freezing, I have to get her out of this wind and get her warmed up somehow.
"Meeooow… meeooow?" came a meek, almost questioning cry from Neko-Ran as she pressed her cold/wet body into her Pride leader/Mother's warm underside.
Is she still possessed by the demon? Nodoka wondered as the shivering Ranko pushed deeper into her lap and rubbed the uninjured side of her face against her chest, just like a house cat greeting its owner. It must be sheer agony for Ranko just to breath, let alone touch or rub up against anything or anyone.
This was all too confusing to Saotome Nodoka, First she was a murderous monster cat, now she acts like a giant kitten…. and she could not resist petting Ranko as if she really was a kitten. The kitten responded to her ministrations as any kitten would, as a low rumbling purr from her throat.
She seems so calm and peaceful now, but I believe that demon is still inside her! Nodoka realized, only Kami-sama knows what might enrage it again. Nodoka pushed these thoughts aside as Ranko closed her eyes and her body went limp, although she still continued to purr softly as she slept.
"Riiippp..."
The sound of tearing cloth came from behind Nodoka. Craning her neck, she could see the female cook tying to bandage the serving girl's legs with torn pieces of cloth. What did that perverted pig-boy call her, U-ka…, U-kee-? Of course, Ukyou! Nodoka suddenly recalled the name. I've heard Ranko talking about her before, she's one of Ranma's "other" fiancées.
"Ukyou... UKYOU!" Nodoka called out to her with little success. The cook was obviously far too concerned with her friend's injuries to pay heed to anything else. Nodoka was stuck between that proverbial rock and a hard place. Although she knew Ranko and that other girl needed help and needed it now, she couldn't just leave them.
Nodoka vainly attempt to lift and carry Ranko, but Ranko's dead weight and her own exhaustion was too much. All she accomplished was to wake Ranko and start her meowing pitifully in pain again.
A life of living on her own and working in a kitchen (where minor injuries of all sorts were common) had made Ukyou fairly adept in first aid, but nothing could have prepared her for the sight of Konatsu's injuries. My Kami, it looks almost like he tried to commit seppuku! as Konatsu lay unconscious from the pain and blood loss.
Ukyou suppressed an urge to vomit as she pulled open the shredded remains of his kimono. Deep red blood oozed from the jagged bloody slashes across Konatsu's chest but the worst of the bleeding seemed to come from his groin and leg wounds. Konatsu, if you bleed to death, I'll KILL you!
A weird sense of detachment gripped Ukyou as she packed pieces of torn silk into Konatsu's leg wounds. While she heard Ranma's mother plaintively calling her name and knew Ranma was hurt, nothing would tear her away from Konatsu's side.
But why not? asked a faint voice in a far corner of her psyche. Isn't this the chance you always wanted, to prove your undying love for Ranma? it asked Ukyou, but still her answer was no, Konatsu needed her.
Suddenly Nodoka noticed a vague shape at the clearing's edge. Is it another attacker or perhaps the rapist returning? she wondered while tightening her protective embrace of Ranko. As the shadowy figure entered into the glow from the streetlamp, Nodoka saw it was a small gray haired old woman in a green robe, carrying a staff that was almost twice her height. Although Nodoka did not know her, the elderly female seemed to exude an air of wisdom and confidence. Instinctively Nodoka felt this was someone she could trust implicitly and without any further thought or hesitation, she called out to her.
"Help, we need a Doctor or an ambulance, or something!" Nodoka cried, " Ranko…, my um… daughter is injured, maybe even dying!" Now that Nodoka gave voice to her secret desire to adopt Ranko, she repeated her last with more conviction, "My daughter might be dying!"
Her daughter, not son? Does she knows about the curse? Cologne wondered. There was very little about Ranma's life that was hidden to Cologne, including the seppuku pact. But she called her Ranko, not Ranma, Cologne realized as she approached the pair. I must guard my tongue carefully.
"I have already summoned help," the elderly woman replied in flawless Japanese, brandishing the cell phone in her hand as explanation before returning it to her satchel. "Aren't you Saotome Nodoka?" the old woman inquired as she knelt down beside her and Ranko.
"Why yes," Nodoka tentatively answered. How does she know me? she wondered while peering more closely at the woman. Chinese, most definitely, even if she has no accent. "Do I..., should I know you?" Nodoka asked the woman, now busily examining the unconscious girl in her lap
"We have some mutual ...friends" Cologne answered as she pressed several shiatsu points on Ranma to help her with the pain. While secretly hoping that Nodoka would not push that issue too far right now, Cologne decided that honesty was the best policy.
"I am called Kohl Loan," the old woman announced, almost regally as if it was a title. "Son-in-law... sorry, Ranma was to be the husband of my Great-granddaughter, Xian Pu."
She must be one of those crazy Amazons the Tendo's are always talking about, Nodoka realized. I thought they were just joking, trying to pull my leg! Then Nodoka's heart suddenly froze as her blood turned cold when she noticed the wording and past tense of Cologne's last comment. Her deepest fear, the one that haunted her night and day, was that Ranma would di- (Nodoka found it hard to even think that word,) ...would join his ancestors before she found him again!
"Oh Kami-sama, is he... d-de…?" Nodoka mouth, like her brain, refused to use that word. "Is my son Ranma... alive" her mind and body finally settled on an acceptable compromise.
So, she doesn't know Ranma is Ranko..., Cologne realized, But why is she calling "Ranko" her daughter? I hate questions within questions.
"No, Ranma is alive..." Cologne slowly answered while her eyes unconsciously dancing over "Ranko's" body. "It is just that Xian Pu that has proven herself unworthy of Ranma," Cologne quietly added in a sad wistful voice, still regretting all the time and plans her rash great-granddaughter had wasted.
Cologne paused to stroke the unconscious girl's face while silently begging Ranma for her forgiveness. From this day forward, I will do what I can to atone for all that we did to you.
Almost as an answer, Ranko's body stirred and her uninjured eye fluttered open as a low moan escaped from her bruised lips.
"Ooohhaa... Ranko cried out as she painfully twisted her head to see better. "M-mom-mother?" she managed to mumble out as fresh tears leaked from her eyes. She seemed so innocent, almost childlike as she slowly murmured out "Mommy...I hurt, I so cold... you make better, Mommy?"
Those words, she sounds just like my little Ranma did all those years ago when he was sick with the flu... Nodoka recalled. She so weak and feverish, she's mistaken me her real mother! I don't have the heart to tell her..., but Nodoka's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Cologne.
"Oh the poor dear, she's must be delirious!" Cologne quickly tried to explain away Ranma's cryptic words. By the gods, if SHE finds out now! Cologne looked up at the determined strong willed face of Nodoka. She was stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Why it was obvious that Nodoka didn't know who "Ranko" really was, Ranma definitely knew the identity her own mother! What if in her delirium Ranma accidentally let slip about her curse! Damn, I can't let Nodoka find that out right now, of all times!
Not only Ranma is cursed to be a girl part time, but she is now …despoiled… as well. Cologne realized, and if what I fear most has happen, she might not be able to turn back to a boy… and is already suicidal.
About this time a loud racket of breaking twigs and crunching leaves invaded the area as Dr. Toufu Ono all but fell into the clearing. Being city born, Ono had all the trail skills of a dead fish. Thorns easily avoided tore at his coat and his bag was again stuck in another damn bush!
Finally breaking though most of the foliage, he spied Cologne knelling next to an almost naked woman sitting cross-legged on the ground. Between them, nestled in the woman's lap was a slight form that could only be Ranma-chan! Ono gave one last mighty heave and with the sound of breaking branches, he ripped his Medical bag free and raced towards them.
"Don't worry, Doctor Toufu, Ranko is alright" Cologne announced while emphasizing the names when she saw Ono approaching. He better have the brains not screw this up and give away Ranma's identity!
"May I introduce Saotome Nodoka, the mother of Ranma," she continued in a loud but pleasantly calm and friendly voice, trying not to upset Ranma or make her mother suspicious. A quick glace at Nodoka noted a slight squinting of her eyes and a puzzled look, telling Cologne that she was not 100 successful.
"I've called the local EMS, they be here any time now," she thought to add, trying to make the conversation sound more natural, and failing utterly. A moment or two later, a siren could already be heard in the distance as well as the flashing blue lights of an ambulance, much to Cologne's relief.
Ranma stirred again at the sound and raised her head, looking off towards the lights and noise and hissed. By the gods, is she somehow still in Cat-Fist? Cologne wondered in growing panic.
"Damn it all to hell, I asked them for no lights or sirens!" Cologne quietly cursed, glancing at Ranma still curled up in her mothers lap. We'll have every inquisitive, gossiping idiot in Nerima down here, just what Ranma doesn't need. Suddenly the approaching lights and sirens went out, leaving the clearing in relative silence. Thank the gods for that, now if we can keep her calm…!
However, Cologne's thanks must have gone unheard, because Ranma now noticed Ono approaching them, her hisses turned into yowls of rage. Although almost too weak to even move, Ranma struggled to free herself from her mother's grasp.
"Dangerrr, Foe-enemy, Male!" Ranma's voice growled out low-pitched and almost alien sounding. "Motherrr, I mussst fight, help defend prride leaderrr…"
As Nodoka fought to subdue the struggling girl, Cologne's mind and memory was awhirl. Though no real expert in the mechanics of the Cat-Fist, she did know something of the myths and legends about it. One of the oldest was that sometimes the victim could enter into a hybrid form of Cat Fu where they seemed to be both human and cat at once. This ultimate state of Cat-Fu and its inherent power was why the idiots like Genma still tried to teach or learn the skill.
If anyone was to master a forgotten art, it would be Ranma, but that does not explain her reaction to Toufu or how she re-entered Cat-fist without any cats present Cologne realized, as Ranma was now aglow with her "cat" aura.
"Male hurrrtss-killss all female-ss" Ranma cried in her feline-like voice as her Chi claws began to manifest "I musst help-prrrotect Motherr, not let Male-sss hurrt orr forrce mate with herrr!"
"TOUFU!" Cologne barked out while stepping between Ranma and the doctor. "You're upsetting Ranko, please don't come any closer!" Ono sensed the danger and veered from his course, heading instead over towards Ukyou. Cologne would rather he left the area entirely, but knew as a healer he'd be loathe to do so.
Once Ono was out of her sight, Ranma immediately relaxed and lay still again in her mother's lap. Slowly her Chi claws retracted and her aura dissipated as her voice returned to its normal pitch and timbre "Momma's safe, the bad man went away?"
"Yes, momma is safe" Nodoka replied with tears of both pain and joy in her eyes. "Momma is safe…"
I'm upsetting Ranma? wondered Ono. Remembering Cologne's concerns about the drugs Shampoo used, he quickly jumped to a conclusion, fortunately the right one, My Kami-sama, she must have been raped after all.
Ono knew from first hand experience that victims of violent rape sometimes became deathly afraid of men for quite a while afterwards. Cologne is right; I don't need to upset her any further. However, Ono would be lest than human if his gaze did not linger a moment on the woman holding Ranma. So she is the infamous Saotome Nodoka, he thought. She doesn't look like someone who would cold-heartedly require her son to kill himself just because he wasn't "manly" enough for her.
Turning away from them, Ono noted that Ranma wasn't the only injured person in the clearing. Off to his left was Ukyou, looking more than a little shaken and upset, kneeling over and rendering first aide to yet another injured young girl. Kami, could that be Konatsu?
Oblivious to the blood and dirt, Ono knelt down beside Ukyou and tried to take over her first aide efforts. She had already managed to staunch most of the bleeding in Konatsu's legs by using makeshift bandages and by sheer hand pressure alone, but Ono needed to see the wounds directly.
"Ukyou, you got to let go!" Ono implored her. "I need to look under the bandages!" However, Ukyou showed no sign of hearing the doctor at all, if anything she just pressed down even harder on Konatsu's wounds. As he tried to force her hands away, Ukyou started hysterically shrieking out Konatsu's name, over and over.
"K-O-N-A-T-S-U- SMACK" Ukyou's long drawn out wail was suddenly cut short by Ono's backhand across her face. Her eyes opened wide and round as she gently fingered her reddening cheek and finally seemed to notice Dr. Toufu knelling next to her.
"Dr. Toufu...?" Ukyou's response was more of an anguish plea for his help than acknowledging his identity. She slid away and made room for Ono to examine her friend.
The oldest damn cliché in the book, Ono thought of the slap. But by Kami, it worked! Quickly, Ono inspected the wounds and was relieved to find that both the femoral arteries and major veins in each leg were still intact, though many of the lesser vessels were damaged and the muscles were cut to ribbons as if shredded by claws!
Working his way up Konatsu's body, Ono realized his lower torso looked like something with sharp nasty teeth had been gnawing away at it. Ono blanched when he realized the actual target area of this attack seemed a little lower and a little more... personal.
A swift check informed Ono that although bruised and battered, Konatsu still processed all the required parts to be a father, though recovery might prove to be a rather painful. A slight unprofessional thought crossed his mind, talk about having a set of "Blue Balls."
The sounds of engines and the noise of doors opening and closing announced the arrival of an EMS truck and a police squad car. Ono quickly looked up from Konatsu's wounds towards the bridge and spied a trio of uniformed paramedics, med bags in hand; deftly threading their way single file through the same foliage that almost stymied him.
Damn, they are all men… Ono started to realized, before taking a closer look at the trailing figure. Although dressed in pants and a men's style shirt, it was obvious by the way she filled them out that the third medic was most definitely female I got to get my eyeglasses check, if I'm mistaking Sergeant Kira Rei for a man!
Ono vaguely recognized the other two paramedics but their names eluded him. Sergeant Kira would be in charge, anyway. Glancing back at Ranma, Ono was relieved to see that Cologne was purposely lending over "Ranko" and blocking her view of the male paramedics. Damn, I wish we could give Ranma a sedative but we can't, not with a head wound.
"Sergeant, officers, if I may have a word with you" Dr. Toufu asked in a quiet subdued voice while intercepting the trio at the clearing edge. Rei immediately recognized Ono, knowing him as a local doctor and expert in homeopathic treatments, as well as a minor member of the wrecking crew.
Sergeant Kira Rei was an odd bird indeed. Raised to be a nurse in her father's practice (and nothing more), she rebelled after graduating college and decided followed her heart instead. After a short wild stint as a professional model, her heart led Rei to her current career in law enforcement.
Besides being a qualified paramedic and a police officer, Rei found the time to become an expert martial artist, good enough to stand her ground against most of the wrecking crew or their opponents. Someday that might come in handy, if one of their fights ever truly got out of control. Because of this, she normally fielded all the calls involving the wrecking crew on her shift and was well known to most of them.
Why, if I was 10 years younger and not already happily married, I might be chasing after Saotome Ranma myself! she realized, then felt a little guilty at the thought. Rei had just heard that two of Ranma's "fiancée's, Tendo Akane and the Amazon girl, were just taken to Nerima General and it seemed rather cold hearted of her to be joking about stealing Ranma away from them.
Suddenly Rei realized that yet another of Ranma's fiancées, Kuonji Ukyou, was among the victims here, although she appeared to be only slightly injured. Is someone or something out to get all of Ranma's fiancées? she wondered.
Ono quickly finished briefing the paramedics on the condition of Konatsu, and more importantly about the possible rape of "Tendo Ranko." Sergeant Kira Rei agreed to be best if she tended to the rape victim alone, while the two male Paramedics just nodded their heads and started working on Konatsu,
Tendo Ranko, I wonder if she is a relative of Tendo Soun's family? as Rei glanced over at the girl in questioned. Suddenly her eyes bulged wide in shock as she caught a clear glimpse of the girl's battered body and dirty red hair, and instantly recognized just who it really was.
"T-Tendo R-Ranko, not Sao…?" she started to stutter out in surprise.
"Ssssshush!" Ono said in a drawn out hush, loud enough to cover over Ranko's true name. "For reasons I don't have time to explain right now, her name is Tendo Ranko," he whispered to Rei. "Believe me; I'm not being over dramatic when I say her very life depends on it."
"Doctor, there is an APB out on Ranko. I have to report it" Rei answered in a steady low voice, now over her initial shock of hearing the unthinkable, that of all people Saotome Ranma had been rape. Although speculation was rampant back at the squad house, Rei knew that the APB issued was more of a precaution, based on the statements from Tendo Kasumi that Ranma was missing and possibly suicidal after being drugged.
"Sergeant Kira, Ranko is a very sick girl right now. She will be in the hospital under my care for several days at least, if not weeks. She is not going anywhere," Ono pleaded. "All you needed to do is maintain the fiction that her name is Tendo Ranko for a few days, until things settle down somewhat and I can defuse a potential bombshell that threatens her life."
Rei quickly acquiesced, Dr. Toufu was right; now was not the time for this conversation. They had a victim of a violent crime who needed aid badly, no matter what name she was using. Slipping on a pair of "onion skins" (plastic disposable gloves) Rei check to see if she had her evidence kit among her medical bags.
She always hated being a first responder to a rape, not just as a female or a police officer, but because of the cold-hearted way she was required to gather evidence in such cases. It always felt like to her a second invasion of the victim's body but she had to get any evidence left before it was destroyed or contaminated beyond use. Especially if there is any hope of catching and convicting the perp, she thought.
A few minutes later, both Ranma and Konatsu were stable and ready to transport. Sergeant Rei Kira had the foresight to wrap Ranma's head in bandages, covering up both her eyes in an attempt to keep the poor girl calm. With her mother's help, Rei managed to gather physical evidence from "Ranko's" skin and body with only minor incidents, although she came close to evoking Ranma's wrath while taking some of the vaginal smears. By the time Rei finished and started an antibiotic IV on Ranma, a second ambulance arrived for her and they somehow managed to load her inside without any of the gathering onlookers guessing the identify the well bandaged girl.
A few minutes later, as the ambulances pulled into the entrance for Nerima General, Ono glanced down at his watch. It was still just shy of ten o'clock, Still a little over two hours left in the day, he thought. This morning he awoke to a quiet calm, now the world (or at least Nerima) had turned upside down. It sure has been a long one, for all of us Ono decided, but at least today is almost over.
End of Chapter 13 and the first part of "Poisoned Honor."
Chapter one of "The Longest Week in Saotome Ranma's Life," the second part of "Poisoned Honor" is (hopefully) coming soon.
Nuki Mouse.