Another Rainy Day in Nerima
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any related characters in any way, shape or form.
Author's Notes: readers will note that this chapter is quite different to the other chapters in this story. After this choice was chosen, Gideon020 and I realized that, to really do justice to a Ranma/OC pairing, we would need more room than this oneshot, or indeed this story, would allow. So, eventually, we settled for this format, focusing on the two meeting and giving them cause to start traveling together.
CrypticMirror; no, I will not touch that idea. Ranma's identity is firmly established as heterosexual male; he would never hook up with another guy, even if locked in his cursed state, unless his mind was completely distorted- and that is, in my opinion, little more than character rape.
Dumbledork; for similar reasons, I am afraid I must reject your suggestion. Ranma does not think of himself as female in the slightest, and the very idea of sex-as-a-girl is seriously sickening to him. A girl who was only interested in him for something that he truly views as a curse would be as abhorrent to him, if not more, than Kuno is to Akane. You want to break Ranma and Akane up fast? Have him find out she's really a lesbian and has been not only using him as a cover, but also actively trying to keep him from getting cured.
Many thanks to Vassago-Toxicity for so kindly agreeing to beta this chapter for us.
Chapter 10: A First Meeting
Sitting there randomly flitting through the threads of time, watching various scenarios play across the mirror (the latest being a tooth-rottingly saccharine moment when Ranma somehow managed to get stuck inside a shoujo manga and having to play out the romantic drama to the end) to his whim, Ranma-Prime noted one thread deviating at an extreme tangent from the moment when Doc Tofu had paralyzed his legs and forced him to get a piggyback ride from Akane back to the Dojo.
An annoyed 'tch' left his lips at the memory; while it had been a way to see a sometimes-rare moment of niceness from Akane, he had never really forgiven Tofu for doing that to him. Still, this particular thread was at a very extreme angle and after looking through threads for so many hours, Ranma-Prime knew that this meant the scenario had a very low probability of occurring as he focused on the beginning of the thread.
"Fucking tomboy" Ranma snarled as he dragged himself to a sitting position on the barely warm pavement as he glared at the rapidly fading Akane, "Thanks for the help you bitch!"
Ranma had a very good reason to be pissed off enough to hurl abuse; not more than maybe ten, fifteen minutes tops away from Doc Tofu and his legs gave out and became paralyzed, and Ranma had asked Akane for help but the Tomboy simply scoffed and told him that she wasn't going to be fooled by him faking leg paralysis and had dashed off to prove her point.
Ranma had thought that she might work out eventually that he wasn't joking but no, there she was turning the corner without a glance backwards and to top it all off, Ranma had no idea how long this paralysis would likely last.
"Definitely not recommending that guy if he does this to all his patients." As Ranma was ranting to himself about the general unfairness of his life and stupidity of certain tomboys, he didn't notice a woman walking up to him with a predator's gleam in her eyes.
"Well hello there, what are you doing out here all alone?" Ranma blinked as his ranting was interrupted by the honeyed voice next to him and he glanced up to see a girl of about sixteen though her voluptuous figure made it a little hard to tell, regarding him with a soft smile that was completely at odds with the shiver going down Ranma's spine at the feeling that there was something wrong about her as she looked him over intently with oddly cold golden eyes.
"Looks like someone hit a paralysis point on you, and it looks like it won't wear off for several hours. Would you like some help? I can take you somewhere that should be a bit more comfortable to recover in than some cold street." Ranma swallowed as he shoved down the strange lump in his throat and gave a casual smile.
"Thanks, you're a lifesaver. Uh, don't get me wrong, but you don't look like you could carry me." The girl laughed and Ranma shivered even though the tone sounded almost heavenly as she shook her head, red hair shifting with the movement.
"Oh, I have a friend who can do that." A snap of fingers and Ranma goggled at the muscular giant who strode into view before picking him up like he was made of foam and began following the girl as she in turn began walking in a different direction.
Several minutes later found Ranma staring in awe at the huge mansion before him as the gates and then the front doors opened of their own accord. The place was dimly lit but everywhere Ranma could see all manner of artworks, statues and other valuables before his eyes darted to a corner.
'Huh, thought I saw something.' Ranma paid it no more attention as the giant took him to a guest room pointed out by the girl and then deftly placed him on the soft mattress.
As Ranma sank into the bed, the girl smiled again, "I have some knowledge of pressure points and I believe that I have an herbal tea that should get you back on your feet in a few minutes. Ranma nodded his thanks at the unspoken question and the girl turned to leave.
But not before Ranma asked, "What's your name?"
The girl paused at the door for a few seconds, then continued, speaking without even looking back at Ranma. "My name is Nicola."
"Nicola? Is that Russian?" Ranma-Prime mused to himself.
"Nicola? Did you say Nicola?" Came a frantic voice from just beside his ear.
Ranma-Prime yelped in shock, twisting around to see Abe standing at his shoulder and peering intently into the mirror. "You scared me! Yeah, she said her name was Nicola- why, do you know her?"
"Know her? That wretched harlot? Oh, I know her alright!" Abe said, snarling as he did so.
"...I take it you two aren't friends."
"That evil bitch murdered my brother-in-law, my sister, and their three children- what do you think?" Abe answered in a dry, sarcastic tone.
Ranma-Prime stared at him, mouth open in disbelief. "She did... what!?"
"Don't be taken in by her looks, that witch is evil to the core!" Abe snapped. "She's an egotistical spoiled brat with the power to back up her petty desires- imagine how dangerous Kuno would be if he had Ryoga's level of skills."
Ranma-Prime didn't need to think for even a minute before shuddering at that mental image.
"But, worst still, she's a domineering sadist- she believes that it is her right to control others, and that those under her control are nothing but toys for her to do with as she pleases. She's a master enchantress, capable of binding men, beasts and monsters to her will with magic, and once she has someone in her grasp, their life is a living hell directed by her bloody whims and sadistic impulses. And she won't let anyone leave her control, oh no, when she's got her hooks into someone, their only release is death- if she doesn't get them killed off, when she grows tired of them, she kills them."
If it wasn't for the grim expression on Abe's face, Ranma-Prime wouldn't have been able to believe him, and even still he couldn't truly accept it. "If she's so evil, then answer two questions."
"What questions?" Abe snapped.
"Firstly, why is she still alive? I mean, you're totally justified in seeking revenge here, at least, that's how it looks to me!"
"Battle magic is not my forte, I'm afraid. With all of those monsters and yokai and who-knows-what else under her command, I'd be ripped to shreds before I could my hands around her throat." Abe said sadly. "But... who said she was alive, hmm? She died a month or so back- as a matter of fact, it was an acquaintance of yours who did her in."
"Who?" Ranma-Prime asked. He was positive that anyone he knew would have come to him to brag about their accomplishment.
"She went to China, and made the mistake of trying to enslave that bullying, pompous freak with the ridiculous curse and the stupid first name. Because she didn't know he was a shapeshifted human, she used the wrong spell- when he hit her, the backlash temporarily shorted out her control spells. Her former minions wasted no time in ripping her apart and then scattering to the four winds. Good riddance to bad rubbish, that's what I say." Abe declared emphatically.
"You would." Ranma-Prime murmured to himself, though it was just running his mouth off- he felt Abe was perfectly vindicated. "Alright then, my second question; if she's so evil, why did she rescue my counterpart there?"
"For one of her sick little games, no doubt. Breaking wills and souls is as much fun to her as breaking flesh and bones. And you represent a nice chance to do both." Abe answered, shrugging.
Ranma-Prime swallowed a lump that had suddenly appeared in his throat and, hesitantly, turned his attention back to the Eye.
After several minutes of simply relaxing in the bed, Ranma drifted off into a light nap that was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Cracking open an eye, Ranma saw a athletic, almost sinewy teenage girl enter with a tray that was almost delicately placed onto the bedside table, a cup of steaming tea at the center. Opening his eyes fully, Ranma studied the girl in more detail as he propped himself into a sitting position and took the cup with a short word of thanks.
The girl was sinewy but upon closer inspection Ranma noted the way her copper-red hair was arranged to hide her ears and her facial features seemed more...sharp, as though they tried to meet at a single point while her hands were long-fingered and slim, completely at odds with her physique entirely. All in all, it made her seem...almost like a weasel though Ranma kept that opinion to himself.
As he finished the tea and set down the cup, Ranma leaned back and enjoyed the fact that he was getting feeling back in his legs. In a few moments, he'd be back on his feet. That was when the girl, who had simply been standing there like a statue in silence, asked in a soft whisper, "What is your name?"
Ranma blinked before he shrugged, "Name's Ranma Saotome."
The girl nodded once but her face remained uncomfortably blank. "Are you a martial artist?"
Ranma smiled at the question. "Yep, one of the best around. Haven't been beaten in a fight yet."
The girl's eyes twitched slightly but there was no other reaction. "What school do you practice?" She asked.
Ranma figured the girl was just curious and proudly proclaimed it. "I'm from the Saotome School of Anything Goes!" That got a reaction as the girl's eyes narrowed and Ranma could tell that all of her attention was squarely focused on him as she studied him intensely.
"Anything Goes? Then there is something you should know about Nicola before it is too late."
Ranma blinked and intelligently asked, "Huh?"
The girl locked her fingers together in front of her, "My name is Misao, and I am a kamaitachi. I know of the Anything Goes from stories of how the original founder and grandmaster, Happosai, humiliated and defeated an entire clan of my kind. Please, you must be ready to escape, for Nicola is not what she appears to be." Ranma cocked his head and the girl continued, "She is a sorceress of the darkest nature and most sadistic of intents, the longer you remain here the more danger you will be in." She leaned forward, her voice harsh and hurried, "She intends to use you as a toy, she will torture and rape you for days, maybe weeks or months before she kills you or feeds you to one of the other demons in this place."
Ranma blinked, "Um, I'll admit she seems a little freaky, but an evil sorceress?" The girl sighed despairingly.
"Of course you would want proof." With a further word, Misao turned around and pulled up the back of her shirt before hooking a thumb into her pants and began pulling the back of her pants and underwear down.
"Woah, woah! Hey, what are you...doing...huh?" Ranma's squawk of embarrassment was rapidly silenced as he regarded the weasel tail that uncurled itself and swayed gently from side to side as Misao turned her head to regard Ranma with a level stare.
"As I said, I am a Kamaitachi, a wind demon, and my words are the truth."
As if she believed she needed further proof of what she had been saying, Misao pulled her shirt up further and Ranma recoiled from what the tapestry of scars that were arrayed on her back like some twisted jigsaw puzzle.
Ranma glanced up at Misao's eyes and saw the unspoken plea in them before he firmed his determination and asked, "How do we escape?"
Misao quickly rearranged her clothing and pointed to the door, "In the main trophy room is a display case containing a gauntlet and two large binders containing cards with images of various demons. Please find my card, it is the only kamaitachi card in her collection, and take the gauntlet, which will deny her the ability to bind more demons to her will. Take nothing else but those two items and flee as far as you can from this place."
Misao twitched and jerked her head up to stare at the ceiling before glancing at Ranma with a desperate expression, "Go now, before she finishes her preparations!"
Ranma looked into her eyes for a few moments, then nodded slowly. "Alright, I'll help you- but first, two questions."
"There isn't time! You have to go now!" Misao pleaded.
"I can't until you answer them. Firstly, why should I only take your card? Shouldn't I also try to free the others too?"
"Normally, I would be pleased that you'd suggest to do the noble thing, but that's not possible now. While most of the demons would truly want to be freed, they are compelled to alert Nicola to your theft by her spells. The few who aren't under such intense thrall have psychic power of their own that they could enslave you themselves. I'm the only one you can free now- please! I helped you, won't you help me?"
"I do want to help you, but I need you to tell me something." Ranma insisted.
"What?" Misao asked, her voice practically a sob.
"Where's the trophy room?" Ranma stated deadpan. There was an awkward, disbelieving silence before Misao, dumbstruck, pointed at the door. "Take a left when you leave, then two rights, it's at the end of the hallway with the tapestries and statues depicting various yokai."
Ranma nodded and, after a few movements to check that his legs were back to normal, darted for the door, slipping out as quickly and as quietly as he could. He raced through the halls, employing all of the skills at stealth that his father had so painstakingly indoctrinated him into over the course of many years. He encountered nothing on his way there, but that didn't cause him to relax his guard- if anything, it made him more nervous. Paranoia is the boon of the thief; that was what his father had said. Spotting the hallway, Ranma cautiously approached the ornate door at its end, turning his head constantly for the slightest sight or sound of danger.
As he did so Ranma, couldn't help but shiver at the thought that some of these statues may not have previously been statues before as he walked to the doors, gently opened them and thankful for the lack of creaking, slipped inside and closed the door before noticing the bars that were designed to be lowered down to lock the door and gently lowered them as well, ensuring the door was secure before turning to face the room proper.
It was huge, and Ranma could easily tell that the space inside had been magically manipulated to store all of various trophies before his eyes landed on the two heavy binder books and a glass display case with a metal gauntlet standing at the very center. Carefully flitting across the room to the case and book, Ranma took a breath and opened the books.
Immediately, screams, wails and pleas filled his mind as the various demons powerful enough to force past their bindings began attempting to convince him to release them. Gritting his teeth, Ranma began flipping through pages, eyes searching card after card in a blur of motion before he stopped and gingerly opened the flap of one pocket and slowly, carefully extracted a battered card with a portrait of Misao in her human and what was obviously her true form as a kamaitachi. The card looked like it had gone through hell and back, it was frayed and creased and some sort of chemical had obviously burned one place. Ranma ignored the fact that on the blank back of the card, the creases formed the exact same arrangement of scars on Misao's back as he closed the books to the despairing cries of the demons inside.
Studying the display case, Ranma sighed in relief at finding no signs of pressure alarms or laser traps. That likely meant either magical alarms, which he would set off no matter what he did, or that Nicola was likely arrogant enough not to have any alarms, but; either way, it was a load off his shoulders. Wiping his hands on his pants, Ranma gripped the glass and gently lifted it up and over the gauntlet and moved to set it down on the floor.
That was when the sweat on his hands conspired against him and the glass slipped free to shatter with a sound louder than church bells. For the briefest of seconds, Ranma froze as he felt something like an ice-cold glacier slide over him before he felt rather than heard an explosion of rage. That was enough to prompt him into grabbing the gauntlet and dashing for a nearby window.
Ranma had only barely jumped when the doors literally shattered into dust and he turned back to see Nicola stride through the cloud with an expression of utter hatred and fury in her eyes. Gold met steel-blue, and Ranma couldn't help but smirk and salute jauntily as he went backwards through the window as Nicola screamed something in a language so vile that it would haunt his sleep for weeks afterwards as he landed and dashed away into the night, not daring to stop for anything.
Finally, Ranma's flight came to an end underneath a bridge, where he paused to catch his breath and still his racing heart. "Of all the rotten luck..." He finally gasped out as his heaving lungs manage to get back into a normal rhythm. "...But at least I got away. Damn, but how is Misao going to get away? ...Should I go back for her?" He asked himself.
"I'd worry less about that traitor, and more about your own hide!" Bellowed a guttural voice. Before Ranma could react, a fist half-again bigger than his head came rocketing out of the dark and slammed into his face, propelling him backwards into and straight through a wall. He rolled instinctively as he hit the ground, shaking the stars from his vision- damn, but he hadn't been hit that hard for a while now! Forcing himself to ignore the pain, with the aid of great familiarity, he forced himself to his feet and into a combat stance as his assailant smashed through the remaining wall, all three meters of leathery, horned, oni. The creature snarled (though that might have been due to the facial disfigurement revealed as it stepped into the light- even after it had punched him in the face, Ranma still couldn't help but wince at the tangle of burns and cuts, some still seeping with blood and with pus, that twisted across its face) and wasted no further time on conversation, charging at Ranma and hurling another straight-armed blow that Ranma dodged aside from and rewarded with his own punch clear into his opponent's gut, elicting a grunt of pain but not much else in the way of reaction. It kicked out in an attempt to catch Ranma with its knee, forcing him to back off and evaluate his opponent.
Clearly, the oni had the advantage in strength, reach and toughness, but Ranma was faster and more agile. Also, despite his opponent's opening words, he clearly didn't want to fight- in fact, if he hadn't blown his cover, he probably could have grabbed Ranma's head in one hand and crushed his skull like a grape. Could it be that the oni was being forced into combat by whatever spells it was that let Nicola control her slaves? Ranma yelped as a flat-handed sideswipe of a blow nearly carved off the top of his head like a boiled egg- no time to think about things, just fight or die.
Throwing himself forward, he rolled on the ground in a borrowed fragment of Monkey style, using his momentum to launch both feet squarely into his opponent's crotch. Kind of dirty fighting, yes, but this was life or death! Rolling back again, he then launched upwards in a fierce kick to his doubled-up opponent's chin, resulting in an audible crack of bone as his blow fractured the oni's lower jaw. Howling in pain, the yokai promptly tried to stamp Ranma to death, only for Ranma to roll backwards and spring to his feet. More clumsy strikes came, and Ranma dodged and ducked beneath them to pound with all his strength on his opponent's gut, finishing with a leaping uppercut to the fractured jaw (a scream of pain at that manuever) and springing away. His opponent was visibly in pain now, filling Ranma with both sympathy at having to resort to such dirty tactics to win and confidence that he could indeed win.
The question became moot when a sudden wave of air pressure washed over them both, a cannonball of compressed wind that slammed into the oni's head and catapulted it both onto its face and into unconsciousness. Ranma looked up from the downed brute to the rooftop, where Misao was currently standing. She casually threw herself off, only to float to the ground, where she brushed absently at her somewhat torn and ripped clothes.
"Sorry I took so long. Do you have them?" She asked.
"Yeah, I got your card, and her gizmo. I just need to give these things to you, right? Then this'll all be over?"
"...Yeah, that's right, it'll all be over." Misao said.
Now, while Ranma can be a little dim when it comes to social interaction, he is not stupid by any means, and picked up the hesitation in Misao's voice easily. "What is it you're hiding from me?" He demanded.
Misao looked down at the ground, apparently exhausted. "Nicola is vengeful and petty. She'll go to any lengths to retrieve that gauntlet."
There was silence for a few moments, and then Ranma began to swear. Now this was all he needed; he didn't think too much of his old man, or the Tendos, but the last thing he wanted (or needed) was for armies of demons to come after them intent on killing them to get to him. Finally tapering off, he looked at the kamaitachi girl, who cringed as though expecting a blow. "How important are you to her?"
Misao looked at him in confusion, prompting him to repeat the question, whereupon she finally answered. "Not important at all, to tell the truth. It's the gauntlet she cares about." She squeaked as Ranma suddenly flicked her card at her like a shuriken, managing (barely) to snatch it from the air. She looked at it, then turned a disbelieving expression to the human, who was... walking away from her? She chased after him. "What's this for?" She asked, resulting in a confused expression from Ranma.
"That's your card- don't you need it to be free?"
"Yeah, of course, but why are you giving it back to me?"
"Why would I keep it? You did nothing I wouldn't have done, and I certainly don't want you as a slave. I'll keep the gauntlet, so you can go back to living whatever sort of life it is that you sickle-weasels live."
Misao halted, Ranma didn't, and she watched him continue walking. "You know, it's really vulgar to call us sickle-weasels. It's demeaning." Ranma paid her no attention. "Hey, where are you gonna go anyway?" She called after him.
"I need to go to China anyway, so I may as well take advantage of this." Ranma replied.
Misao watched him, thinking to herself for a few minutes, then nodded decisively. When Ranma looked up, he found the yokai strolling along beside him.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"Coming with you, of course. I couldn't leave you to face off against Nicola's goons all alone. She'd have that gauntlet back within the week." Misao chirped back.
Back in the real world, Ranma-Prime chose that moment to withdraw. Abe cocked his head to the side like a blond-haired robin and directed a quizzical stare his way.
"Aren't you going to follow them some more?"
"Not today. This mirror is mine, isn't it?"
"Of course. You bought it, er, won it, fair and square. It's yours."
"Well, I've seen enough to know that I can come back and follow them later. Definitely one of the more unusual first meetings I've seen... but, it doesn't really help me with my problems, does it? She's not part of the fiancée mess, so she's someone to look in on for sheer curiosity's sake."
That said, Ranma-Prime resumed peering through the mists in a more conventional manner, content now to return to his former pastime.
And that's the end of this chapter. I hope it wasn't too painful to read. As the ending implies, from now on the story will resume its original format of reviewers voting for which chapter is written up next. Chapter 10 (by the drop-down box) lists all of the chapters yet to be written, and currently the top three are, in descending order, Ranma lost the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics tournament, Ranma kissed Shampoo back in response to the Kiss of Marriage, and Kaori Daikoku won the Martial Arts Takeout Race. Please vote so we can continue this story.