Raison D'etre

By Krimzonrayne no Akai Kou Hana and Rayne no Akai Hinageshi.

Chapter One: Vicissitudes: Ranma Awakens!

Vicissitudes… successive, alternating, or changing phases or conditions, as of life or fortune; ups and downs
"So… what do you think?"

"I don't know about this Nabiki." Ranma peered back at the piece of paper the girl had given him one more time before answering uncertainly. "I mean, it doesn't say anything about what I'll be expected to do and stuff."

"I know, I know. It smells awfully fishy but I did check it out earlier and it looks pretty legit -- if it's a hoax then it's a darn good one." The mercenary girl answered with a sigh. "Besides, even if it's a long shot, this is the best chance we have at making that kind of money in such a short amount of time."

"Still…" The pig-tailed boy said, turning his attention back to the job advertisement in his hand. "Can't you just do that thing with the bet like you normally do?"

"Furinkan is a high school Ranma, how much money do you think your classmates have on them? Even counting Kuno-sempai, there's no where near enough to pay for that kind of repair job." The short haired girl replied, looking at him critically. She turned her nose up and crinkled it with distaste. "And don't you forget: this is YOUR mess. You have to clean it up not me."

"Hey! Your hands aren't that clean either, you know!" He yelled angrily. "You're the one who invited those idiots to the wedding in the first place!"

"Don't you dare pin this on me, buster! It's not like I expect them to show up much less with their bombs and knives."

"Just because you didn't think about it doesn't make Mum's house any less smashed than it is now, does it? If it's not yours then whose fault was it? Mine and Akane's for trying to have a wedding? Or just mine because my name is Ranma and I'm still breathing?!" The martial artist bellowed. His voice was loud, loud enough that it ceased all the chattering that were going on in the classroom. The half-dozen or so students who remained inside during the lunch break looked at the two of them with rapt attention. Their fellow classmates' open interests were ignored by the pair as they engaged in their impromptu staring contest.

The resultant silence hung so thickly in the air you could have cut it with a knife.

"If you just want to play the blame-game Ranma, then I'm obviously wasting my time." Nabiki said coldly, pushing her chair back and getting up to leave.

Time ticked by like another drop in the proverbial bucket.

"Wait!" Ranma quickly shouted out, making her paused. "I know you're trying to help me Nabiki, it just pisses me off because I always get blame for stuff that wasn't even my fault. I didn't mean to lash out at you like that; I'm sorry."

The Tendo girl turned around and stared at him a moment before she sat back down. Her face held a scowl but she wasn't actually angry. No, more like a bit annoyed. Eventually, even that small scowl disappeared altogether and she was back to the mildly curious Ice Queen of Furinkan we all knew and loved.

"You've grown." She stated casually after studying him for a second. "The 'Ranma' I knew from two years ago wouldn't have admit that to himself when he's alone, much less say it aloud in a public place."

Nabiki's offhanded comment took Ranma by surprise; he was not accustomed to receiving praises from her, or rather, he was not used to getting sincere ones. No, most of the time they were heavily laced with sarcasm.

Well, either that or, when she felt like getting the point across, she would outright insult him.

"Hey, don't go all quiet all on me now; I still think of you as the dumb-jock who my sister's stuck with, you know." Nabiki said playfully, waving her hand in front of his face as if she was trying to wake him up or something.

Ranma blinked a couple of times before answering back cheekily. "I'm sorry, did you say something? 'Cause my brain just shut down when you complemented me about a minute back."

Nabiki tried to wipe the stupid smirk off his face by launching a half-hearted punch toward his shoulder. He blocked it nonchalantly and continued smirking at her for a second before her indignant facial expression became too much at which point he started chuckling at her in an infuriating manner.

Nabiki glared at him for a few moments before they both suddenly burst out laughing.

"But seriously though…" The middle Tendo sister said, wiping a bit of tears from her eyes as she recovered from her laughing fit. "You're a nice guy Ranma and you'll make some girl really happy someday. And if that person happens to be my sister then so be it."

"Nabiki…" The pigtailed boy protested softly, feeling more that just a little embarrassed by her words.

"Oh cut it out Ranma, everyone around here knows it already, it's just the two of you lovebirds that still haven't figured it out."

"Nabiki!" Ranma reiterated, his cheeks reddening by a couple of shades from with mortification.

"Oh you're just too easy... brother-in-law!"

"Nabiki!!!"

"Lemme see… one four one Oiyatsu Street..." Ranma read aloud, looking up at the name plate on the gate in front of her again for confirmation. "Yep, this is the place all right."

The pigtailed girl pressed the call button on the intercom and took a step back. The instructions were rather vague - just come to the address and push the big red button and introduce herself machine - . She fidgeted, looking around uncomfortably. She didn't know what to expect when she read the fly Nabiki has given her but an opulent looking mansion with massive lush garden definitely wasn't it.

Ameno residence. Good day Miss, how may I help you today

Ranma bit off a startled cry as the intercom suddenly crackled to live in front of her. She shifted back and forth on the ball of her feet as she introduced herself.

"Ah, my name is Ranma Saotome; I've read the fly and I'm here for Dr. Ameno's experiment."

The tiny video camera's lens began zooming in and out at her with barest hint of audible, mechanical whirls. Her reflection gleamed off its shiny surface. Ranma stared at it nervously; the feeling of being watched was setting her subconscious alarms off left and right.

Almost a minute passed before the same voice from before broke the harmonious flow of chirpings from the birds and the crickets in the area.

We have been expecting you. Please come in

With that, the massive foreign-looking gate to the property slowly turned inwards. It was automated, Ranma noted with a slight awe, even the one she'd seen at Kuno's house wasn't like this.

The pigtailed girl looked down at her still damp T-shirt and plucked at it self-consciously, maybe she should not have been in such a hurry to leave the house after all.

Blah! Screw it, what did she care about what they think of her anyway? It was not like she was going to be around these scientists type all that often right? After all, it was not like she was planning to make this a habit, right? Who needs computers and IT's (Whatever it is) and all that rubbish anyway? Not her, that's for sure.

'Yep, this is just a one time thing - no need to get so work up at all - nope, nope, nope.'

…

Still, for some indiscernible reason, Ranma gulped down the cupful of saliva that had been collecting in her mouth before stepping through the gate.

'Here goes nothing.'

Cold… so very, very cold…

What was going on? Where was she?

Ranma groggily pushed herself up into a sitting position, turning to take in her surroundings. It looked like she was in the middle of a deserted street. She glanced up at the midnight sky and shivered a little.

What happened to her? The last thing she could remember was stepping through this huge gate… then… nothing.

"Cold," She muttered, wrapping her arms around her minute torso. "So cold."

The redhead slowly got up; her head spinning with the movement. Steadying herself she was becoming more alert by the second. She started to dust herself off, but stopped in quasi-shock at the attire she was wearing.

Instead of finding a Chinese style button shirt and black pants like she had expected, she saw a very elegantly designed, Western style dress.

A very feminine, very elegantly designed, Western style dress.

"Gack!" She blurted out in surprise after recovering from her shock. "What the heck am I wearing?!?!"

She lifted up the hem of her dress and stared at it closely before moving on to the rest of her apparel. Her deeply incensed scrutiny revealed frilly trims and ribbons and… and…

Having had enough, Ranma took the next four minutes to rip the offending appendages off her person. She looked down at the final result and allowed herself a small smile for a job well done. Sure she ended up looking a bit more risqué that she had started with but at least the frilly, girly things were gone.

With that little mission accomplished, the young martial artist turned her attention to the matter at hand, which was something a little like this:

Find out where on Earth (Or in Japan because she just saw a Japanese sign) she is and how to get back to Nerima from here.

Find out what the heck happened to her at that rich doctor's place and why could she not remember anything.

Be really mean to Nabiki for the next few days and remember to never listen to her helpful suggestion again. Ever.

Ranma sighed; standing here grumbling about it would not change a thing, she had better be going before it got too late in the night, then she would not be able to a thing about her predicament at all.

Having picked a direction at random, she began walking down the street shivering slightly. It was quite cool for a summer's night.

"AHHH!!!!!"

Instantly Ranma's ears perked up. 'What the heck was that!?' She thought as she started sprinting in the direction of the scream. Tired and as lost as Pigboy she was still a martial artist and it was her duty to help people in trouble. A couple seconds of hard running later Ranma came across a young man carrying a nude and unconcious girl in his arms. This was exactly the type of thing she had hoped not to see.

"Oi! You better put her down if you know what's good for you pal!" She yelled at the would-be rapist. She clenched her fist tightly, in her opinion these type of criminal are worse than scum.

The young man seemed to be panicking. He was sweating profusely now -- slowly taking a few tentative steps back as he did so.

"I… ah… t-this isn't what it looks like!!!" He half screamed, half squealed at her. "I-I swear, it's not what you think!!! Really it's not!"

"Somehow I doubt that." Ranma said, narrowing her eyes dangerously. 'Still,' she thought to herself. 'It's not often that the ones she caught in the act would deny it. Normally they'd just attack her as well.'

"You got to believe me! I found her in the trash, I didn't steal her! I'm not a thief, I'm not!!!" He protested loudly at the glowering girl who was approaching him with a alarming look.

"Trash? Steal? Thief?" Ranma recited his words in confusion with her eyes brow knitted. "What are you talking about buster?"

"Whuh? The man muttered, blinking in surprise.

The pigtailed (Did she even have a pig tail anymore?) girl shook her head before resumed glaring at him once more. "Look, I don't care what you stole from whom, okay? All I want to know is what are you planning to do with that girl on your arms?"

"…girl? What are you talking about, this is a persocom..." He said questioningly then realization began to dawn on him. He slowly looked down at the girl at the blond hair, half-naked girl in his arms as if seeing her for the first time. "…you mean… all this time… you thought that I was a…"

Suddenly his face became even redder than before. He began sputtering incoherently, as if he has been accused of something terrible.

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT AT ALL!!!" The young man dashed up to her screamed into her face "Look at her ears, see?! She's a persocom, got it? A computer!!!"

"Yeah right…," Ranma scoffed, looking at him through her half-lidded eyes. She may not know a lot about computer and stuff but she knew there was nothing this advance yet.

"It's true!" He protested.

"Tell me another one..." The redhead continued on as if she has not heard him. However, her voice trailed off as her eyes drifted toward the mentioned ears and found them to be like those of a…

"C-Cat?!?!" She spluttered out in a high pitch tone. Her face paled considerably as she took in the girl's feline-like ears.

"Ha? What do you m--"

"W-What the heck is that?" Ranma cried out in a shrilled voice, pointing one badly shaking finger at the somnolent girl's ears.

"I told you Miss, she's a Persocom." The man explained as calmly he possibly could, hoping to try to placate the panicking girl.

"Oh," The girl muttered softly before recomposing herself in a fraction of a second. "That's alright then."

'As long as she's not a cat.' She added mentally.

Both of them stood there staring blankly at one another before Ranma's brain fully rebooted and came to a small speed bump.

"What's a Persocom?"

"So… ahm… my name's Hideki Motosuwa. What's yours?" The young man, Hideki, introduced himself rather nervously. It was quite obvious he was trying not look at her breasts.

"Ranma Saotome." The young martial artist answered curtly, still not trusting the boy she had just met. Although, normally she would not be this reclusive about a stranger but it was easy to see that they have met under a delicate circumstance.

Delicate as in 'I-found-you-looking-as-though-you-were-planning-to-do-unspeakable-things-to-a-young-nubile-girl'.

…

Unbeknownst to estranged redhead, Hideki was sighing miserably as he thought about the situation; it was his first day in Tokyo and the first two pretty girls he had met both thought of him as a pervert of some kind because of some innocent thing he did or said… well, mostly innocent anyway.

He eyed the girl beside him thoughtfully; she was a redhead, petite, cute face and have a body most women would kill for. Putting his libido aside for a moment, he also took in few other snippets about her as well; for instance, she was walking along side him without showing any signs of fatigue despite the fact that she was carrying a Persocom weighing half a ton. (Okay, so maybe he's exaggerating, but not by much!) Sure he was not the most athletic guy in the world, but he did get plenty of exercises -- helping out at his parents' farm in Hokkaido and such.

Besides, she was half his size for crying out loud!

…

"So… ahm… are you sure you're okay with that?" He asked in, what he hoped to be, a helpful manner, referring to the motionless form of the long haired Persocom in her arms.

Ranma blinked once and gave him a derisive snort as if to say 'Me? Need your help? You're kidding, right?' before she continued on walking ahead.

The country boy resisted the urge to sigh once again and he jogged a bit to catch up to the girl. She, having claimed to know even less about Persocom than he himself did, announced that she will be accompanying him to his apartment to make sure that he was not making the whole I-found-this-robot-in-the-trash thing up.

If he did not know better, he would have sworn she was just looking for an excuse to go back to his place.

Hideki mentally slapped himself for that thought. Yeah right, like that would ever happen.

A couple of steps in front of him, Ranma were also deep within her own thoughts. She should be getting home; it was late and Pop and the Tendo are going to be worried but… she could not just leave the girl-robot thingie with a guy like that. What if he was lying? What if she was really a girl just with those weird c-c-ca-… feline ears? She was a martial artist, this was her duty!

"Ah… we're here." Hideki called out to her from back behind her somewhere causing the girl to turn around. The short haired boy was standing in front of a generic-looking three stories apartment she had just passed.

'It's getting late; I better go in, make sure she's really that robot thing he was talking about and get back home.' Ranma thought to herself as they began making their way up to Hideki's room.

"Sorry but I just move in today so it's a bit messy." The young man apologized as he unlocked the door and stepped into the room.

Ranma did not say anything, she did not mind messy; at least then it would mean she has something of her own to make a mess with. After shuffling a couple of cardboard boxes full of Hideki's possessions out of the way, she gently laid the body of the blond haired robot girl onto the floor.

They both seated themselves down on the tatami floor and stared at her stilled form a bit. She really was quite beautiful; lying there all innocent and peaceful-like with nary a care in the world. If it was not for the ears, one could almost fool oneself into believing she was a sleeping girl.

"It's hard to believe someone would throw her away like this…" Hideki said, echoing Ranma's exact thought by happenstance. The redhead nodded along distractedly, entranced by the girl.

"…yea…," She muttered before hastily adding. "Not that I believe you or anything!"

Hideki seemed to baulk at bit at her vehement declaration.

…

"…so now what?" She asked him after a moment of silence.

"Well, my friend Shimbo said that you turn them on with a switch…" The dark haired boy said in a low voice. He began looking the girl's all over in an attempt for find the so-called switch. Figuring she did not have much else to do, Ranma also joined in as well.

After a couple of minutes they still could not find anything which resembles a switch anywhere on her body.

"Where's the darn switch?" Ranma moaned piteously, allowing herself to fall back down onto the tatami floor. Staring up at the ceiling, she decided that some encouragement was necessary. "Hey buddy, don't you know anything else about this thing?"

…

"Hey, are you even listening?!" She yelled, sitting up as she did so. She spun around to face him, wondering why on Earth was he not responding… and then…

"Hey quit that! What the heck do you think you're doing?!?!" The young martial artist screamed in outrage.

Hideki, the boy that she thought she caught molesting a girl earlier was groping the same girl right in front of her eyes.

"Cut it out you bastard!" She yelled loudly as she hopped up and kicked him in the head.

"Owie…" The boy groaned, rubbing his sore head dazedly. He slowly pushed himself into a sitting position before blinking at her stupidly. "What was that for?"

Ranma did not answer him; instead she crossed her arms over her breast and glared heatedly. "I repeat, what the heck did you think you were doing?"

"I-I was just trying to find the switch that's all." Hideki answered rather nervously. Whether that was due to the fact that he was lying or because a certain furious redhead was glaring at him was unclear.

"How stupid do you think I am?" Ranma said in a chilling tone, her eyes narrowed dangerously.

The country boy began to back away slowly, holding his hands out in a warding gesture in front of him.

"Hey, hey, hey… how about you try it? I mean, you're a girl, it's alright, right?" He suggested.

"I --" The girl began to say but stopped. She was going to tell him that she was not a girl but to be honest, she did not want to deal with that right now.

"Fine," She reluctantly agreed. "Where do you want me to push?"

"I don't know… just… all over I guess." came the none-too-helpful reply.

"…try being a bit more helpful, please."

"Ahm… the ears?"

"…Nope."

"The nose?"

"…Nope."

"Hm… Bellybutton?"

"…No, not that either."

"Hm… Hey! Did we try looking on her back?"

"Hold on, gimme a second here…,"

"…"

"…Nothing here."

"…"

"…"

"WHERE THE HECK IS IT?!?!" The both yelled in chorus.

"I've pressed everywhere." Ranma bemoaned, allowing herself to fall back onto the floor once again. "Every nooks and cranny."

"From head right down to toes…" Hideki joined in as well. "Even her…" He trailed off as he gazed over to her partially covered breast.

"Everywhere..."

"Except…"

The both jumped up in synchronization. Each of them was pointing at one another in accusation.

"No way!!!" Ranma yelled, sounding deeply affronted. She slowly turned to the lying girl.

"They wouldn't!!!" Hideki chorused, blushing bright red. He also slowly turned to the lying girl as well.

Their eyes were inexorably, inevitably, inescapably drawn to the Persocom's neither region which was hidden from plain view by a thin strip of cloth.

The short haired boy met Ranma's eyes and looked at her imploringly. She noticed right away what he was trying to say.

"Ah, ah, ah, no way! This is going too far!" She stammered, sounding deeply embarrassed. She made a cross with her arms and backed away slightly from the boy who doing a great impersonation of one Soun Tendo. (As in crying dramatically, of course) "You do it!"

"But I'm a guy. It's not right!" He tried to reason with her. "Please."

"Please nothing!!!" She retorted vehemently. "Besides, what are you talking about, it's even more wrong for a girl to be touching another girl…. down there!!!"

Hideki looked back and forth between the redhead who was blushing just as bad as he was and the serene, immobile, blond Persocom. He gulped down a mouthful of saliva and inched closer to the robot girl on the floor.

Still not looking directly at her, he began to reach out with his hand and held it directly above where they had predicted the switch to be. His hand slowly lowered but just as it was about to touch her pelvis, Hideki pulled back as if he had been stung by a bee or something.

"She's just a machine right? I mean, I need to switch her on, it's not like I'm doing you're not supposed to or anything… right?" He said aloud, turning to Ranma for moral guidance.

Not trusting herself to speak, the redhead could only nod.

Hideki turned back to the girl and shivered involuntarily. His hand began to descend but just one look at her face crumbled to resolve completely. Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration. With one arm he took hold of her shoulder and pulled her up into a one arm embrace of a sort and reached down with the other.

Click.

All at once, as if by magic, the Persocom's wrapping all unwound themselves and her body began floating gently just of the floor. Her face lifted upwards as her long blond hair seemed to hover under its own accord, forming a golden halo around her. The other two occupants of the room watched on as her eyes opened, dilated then lid up -- as if somehow Life was breathed into them.

One moment later the figure lowered herself to the ground and slumped forward. Too awestruck to move, Ranma allowed Hideki who was closer to catch her.

The young man blinked in surprise as he felt how light she was compared to earlier. He looked down and saw her soulful brown eyes staring up at him.

"Chii?"

Author's note:

Since I know people will be skipping this part, I can say whatever I like here and no one will comment me upon it! In fact, I'm going to start putting lil bits of tid bits here for people who cares enough to read… muah ha ha ha ha

Anyway, this is a Ranma ½ and Chobits crossover, as you may or may not know. Big question: how was it? Did you like it? Should I just give it up and go work on something else?

Well? Review?

Rayne no Akai Hinageshi