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: I was surprised and pleased by how well folks took the last chapter, despite it revolving around characters ubiquitous to the anime. Anyway, there's only a few chapters left, which will make this the first serial story I have ever written that actually got completed. I'm afraid I had to trim a few more stories because I wasn't sure that I could make them distinct under the format I'm using, but there's nothing to stop them showing up in Random Tales.
Aoirann: rather then waste both our time, I will simply point you towards my newly rewritten profile details.
Teturo: first I'm too rough on Akane, then I'm too easy on her, eesh, make up your mind. And people wonder why I try to avoid writing about her.
The-Jaron: I never knew Dunsparce was rare; I found them all the time in Gold. Feebas though… whose fricking idea was it to put it in only 6 squares of a river? And to make those squares both random and changed by toying with the "cool sayings" on an island on the other side of the map?
Chapter 17: Surprise Switch
Akane swallowed hard, her heart pounding in her chest like it was trying to batter its way past her ribs. This was it; Ranma had finally eaten that special cherry-blossom rice cake that she had worked so hard to make, the one with the magical recipe that would help her know for sure if she and Ranma were truly meant to be. If sakura petals formed on his face, then they were destined to be together.
If a black X mark appeared instead, however, then they truly were incompatible and this arranged marriage was ultimately destined to fall apart, no matter what their fathers might say on the matter. Akane wasn't sure which mark she wanted to be on his face; true, they fought so frequently, but he had also helped her many times, and he could be nice... when he wasn't being a pervert or a jerk. For a brief, intense moment, she was struck by the urge to push Ranma away, so as to spare them both whatever would happen from the mark, but finally the desire to see it, to resolve this romantic conflict of theirs one way or the other, overwhelmed that urge. Ranma turned around...
...And there was an X on his face.
"Let me guess..." Ranma-Prime asked, half rhetorically, half sarcastically, and all glumly. After all,while there were elements of protection at work, namely distance (after all, this wasn't happening to him) and prior exposure to similar events, what he had just seen had still hurt Ranma considerably, as Akane was the keystone of his limited social circle. "Akane took that as proof positive that her and me were never going to work as a couple and, however reluctantly she might have felt about it, broke the deal off to hook up with Ryoga, never once questioning that maybe her cooking habits had warped the magic, right?"
The Eye chimed in response to his words.
"With her being so stubborn, and her old man never being able to put his foot down with her, I guess that meant the poor sap got switched over to one of her sisters... now, they wouldn't have given him to Nabiki again, not after how she acted the last time. So... that leaves only Kasumi. Now, let me guess; the other me wasn't really attracted to her, she didn't really try to woo him, the other girls figured this was a golden opportunity to make up for lost ground, and so he was taken from the Tendos entirely, right?" Ranma-Prime predicted, with more then a trace of bitterness. "Just show me the happy ending, so I can move on to the next timeline- can't believe I wasted my time looking into this anyway..."
The Eye obliged and began to display...
Whatever Ranma was expecting to be shown, a large park was not on the list as he saw his alternate self land on the grass and look around with a content expression on his face before he closed his eyes and whispered, "Come out, come out where-ever you are..." He blocked and countered a punch and sent a shadow flipping into the air in an impressive display of acrobatics, the shadow revealed by the sunlight to be an athletic young woman with dark hair as he finished speaking, "Natsume-chan."
Ranma-Prime blinked as the beauty smiled, "Nearly had you there Ranma. Catch me if you can." What followed could be loosely termed as a sparring session but as he watched, it became clear that the two were more playing than fighting, well playing as much as a pair of martial artists considered 'playing' in any form, it was sort of like watching a pair of puppies bound around the park as the pair traded light taps in a combination game of tag and hide-and-seek.
"Okay, who is she and what happened to get to this point?" The mirror made a questioning noise and Ranma-Prime shook his head, "That was before I saw that scene. Come on, back to the start, let's get to the bottom of this." The mirror obediently began rewinding time.
Ranma thoughtfully gnawed at a stick of dango, reflecting on what he had learned. Why would a food thief come to Nerima, of all places? There were that many martial artists here that most crooks of all kinds stayed away, apparently afraid that any possible "victim" might turn out to be strong enough to turn their bones to powder. Yet, a food thief had come to Nerima, attacking restaurants and even lone travelers to steal whatever edibles they might be carrying. Not even being a recognized martial artist had kept Ukyo or Shampoo safe from being attacked; clearly, whoever this thief was, they were a skilled martial artist in their own right. Even Ryoga, who had been bringing some pineapples from Hokkaido for Akane, hadn't been able to react in time to catch them or keep them from devouring his gifts.
Ranma's expression turned sour as he thought of Ryoga. Since Akane had broken their engagement and started dating the Eternally Lost Boy, Ranma had become the bitter one in their relationship. He didn't try to break them up, initially because he knew that it wouldn't make Akane take him back, now because Ryoga was a lot happier and thusly easier to get along with, but he still enjoyed tormenting his rival, who was perpetually suspicious of Ranma's intentions, fearful lest he somehow lose his newfound happiness. Ranma gave a mocking laugh at that; the fanged wanderer had yet to come clean about his Jusenkyo curse to Akane, and Ranma wondered if their "blessed" relationship would survive if Akane found out how she'd been duped.
He forced his thoughts away from that dark alley; bitterness and dwelling on what pained him was Ryoga's way, not his. Instead, he concentrated on why he was up here; reasoning that the thief clearly wasn't willing to attack someone in their own home, so he had figured that putting himself into an isolated position with food would make him too tempting a target to avoid. Akane had laughingly teased him that he just wanted to eat, shortly before leaving with Ryoga and their fathers to stake out a few of the restaurants in town. It was strange, really... while Akane was, if anything, more suspicious of his "perversions" now that he was being pushed to marry Kasumi (never mind that the eldest Tendo had no interest in him; she didn't complain about it like Akane had, so that meant she agreed in the eyes of Soun and Genma)… Akane was also, at the same time, friendlier and easier to get on with then she had been when they were fiancées. It was really weird...
His eyes narrowed, his hand lashed out and grabbed the plate of dango and he shot up from his seated position to the other end of the roof as, microseconds behind him, a hand clutched at where the plate had been. He straightened and turned, observing his opponent. She was at least several years younger then he, but that wasn't such a surprise to Ranma; after all, Tamari Kaminarimon couldn't have been much more then ten years old, and she managed to defeat Akane in a one-on-one battle. She didn't look that much of a fighter, with her big brown eyes, short, messy brown hair, fuku uniform and big dark pink bow on the back of her head, but Ranma wasn't fooled; she was clearly skilled, if she had managed to sneak up on him with such ease, never mind attack so swiftly. She was half-smiling at him as she, in turn, studied him.
"Wow, you're good; nobody's ever managed to dodge me before."
"First rule of martial arts: there's always a bigger fish." Ranma smirked... an expression that faded away in irritation when he noticed she wasn't looking at him anymore, but staring at his plate of dango as though hypnotized. "You want it? You'll have to take it." He teased.
She didn't even bother answering, instead hurtling towards him at a speed that almost matched his own. Almost. Ranma leapt over her at the last second, tagging her in the back of the head with his foot as he did so- it had worked for Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung, it should work here, right? The girl staggered, but didn't fall, instead turning around whilst simultaneously unraveling her ribbon from her hair, sending it lashing out at the youngest Saotome, who deflected it with a swat of his arm, a skill he had honed against Kodachi... except Kuno's sister had never been able to make her ribbon hot enough to burn with a mere touch before, forcing Ranma to bite back a yelp of pain. Okay, maybe this would be a bit tougher then he had anticipated...
He backed away as she approached, grinning triumphantly and spinning her ribbon, when a plan came to him. He hurled the plate into the air above her head and, at once, she broke off her focus on him, leaping instead for the dango and giving him the opportunity to grab her and pull her out of the air, pinning her to the rooftop with his foot while he grabbed the dango himself with a crow of triumph.
"Gotcha!"
When he looked down at her, as she twisted to stare at him (and the dango), though, that triumph melted away. He knew that expression- had worn that expression more then once, in the past. It was an expression of hunger, and sorrow, the look of someone who had traveled too far on too little food and who wanted to fill their belly more then they wanted their heart to beat. His heart wavered, for a moment, and then he gave in with a sigh, stepping off of her and handing her the plate, the girl looking at it with an expression that could most easily be summed up as "hungry, battered stray". A mixture of trepidation, hunger, disbelief and a fervent desire that this was real.
"Take it. I know what it's like. Wasn't too long ago I was in your shoes." Ranma said, trying to be gruff as he could.
Her eyes lit up and she exploded into motion. Ranma himself stared in disbelief as the skewers were emptied in seconds. "Take it easy, kid! My old man's not here, your food's safe." She gave him a quizzical look, and he felt compelled to justify himself. "Family joke, never mind. So, you feel better now?"
She nodded emphatically, eyes closed and smiling widely in happiness.
"Good. Now, I'll let you go, but you gotta promise not to go stealing again, alright? Someone as good as you ought to be able to challenge dojos for food money- I used to do it all the time, and I haven't been off the road long enough for that to have changed without me knowing."
"Oh, we do that, but sis says that we should save that money for things like clothes and bathes and the like." The girl replied easily.
"Your sister?" Ranma asked. "Where's she?"
Before the stranger could respond, they both heard a feminine voice calling from the street. "Kurumi! Kurumi! Where are you, Kurumi?"
"Natsume! I'm up here!" The girl, evidently Kurumi, called. In response, a second female figure leapt from the street to the Tendo's garden wall to the covering for the front path to the roof where Ranma and Kurumi were sitting. This girl was clearly older than Kurumi, at least Ranma's age, maybe Nabiki's, wearing a long-skirted dress with a shawl or a jumper tied over her shoulders. Like her sister, she had brown eyes and brown hair -in her case worn long and descending from a high topknot- and also had unusual tastes in weaponry, for what else could the carpet beater over her shoulder be?
"Kurumi, there you are." She said, sounding relieved. "I'm deeply sorry if she's troubled you. My little sister likes to eat, and we don't make much money, so she tends to steal whenever she manages to get away from me."
"Eh, it's alright. I know what it's like to be on the road with no money." Ranma said, waving his hand. "We had a talk about it and I'm not going to tell about how I caught the food thief." Ranma said with a casual wave of his hand.
"Caught...?" Natsume asked, directing a quizzical stare at her sister, who shrugged in a sheepish fashion.
"Sorry, sis, I underestimated him- he's a really strong martial artist."
"I see..." She said, giving a studying glance at Ranma. "My sister and I have been traveling Japan all of our lives in order to hone our martial arts skills."
"No kidding? Small world; I did the same thing." Ranma said. "Not any more though, I'm afraid to say; I kinda got roped into studying at the Tendo Dojo."
"T-Tendo dojo?" Both girls stuttered, their eyes temporarily widening in shock.
"Something wrong?" Ranma asked, confused and now wary. This wouldn't be the first time that problems that one of the old men had stirred up had tracked the dojo down to land on Ranma's head.
"Tell me, this dojo, does the style it teach happen to be... Anything-Goes?" Natsume asked, almost whispering.
Okay, now Ranma was really getting suspicious. "Yeah, that's right... so, what'd the old men do this time?" He asked in a tired, resigned voice. Best to get this over and done with now, before things really got out of hand.
"W-what? No, no, nothing like that!" Natsume answered quickly, shaking her head. "It's just... it's just that we've heard stories about Anything-Goes, and we've been trying to find the dojo to learn it." She added.
"Sure. Right." Ranma said, sarcastically. "Well, if that's what you say, we are in search of new students." He said, not bothering to add the mocking thought of 'when are we not?', as that was information they didn't need to know. "The dojo master's out right now, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind you coming on down."
Both girls bowed gratefully, and Ranma leapt down to the garden, the two close on his heels. He didn't believe a word of this, but what could he do without proof? All that he could do was wait for his dad and Akane's to get home so he could finally find out just what he was going to have to settle for their worthless hides now...
In Honest Abe's, Ranma-Prime suddenly rubbed his chin, remembering something. "Weren't they the two girls mentioned in that Ukyo timeline? The one where she bought me off of Nabiki? Aren't they looking for Soun Tendo? ...And doesn't that mean that they're likely to show up in my timeline too?"
The Eye began to move forward again...
Dinner that night was fairly normal, even if the number of people having dinner at the Tendo Dojo was larger then normal. Akane and her father had been surprised to come home and find two strange teenaged girls in their house, but once Ranma had explained that they were wandering martial artists who had heard of the Tendo Dojo and wanted to train here, hastening to add that they had no "deals" of any sort with his father, Genma, Soun Tendo had been all too happy to welcome them. The Tendo Dojo didn't get many students, after all, and the girls seemed nice enough. As Akane accepted an extra portion of her favorite from Ryoga's plate, giving a happy smile at her boyfriend and delighting in the deep blush that resulted, she then turned her attention to the younger of the sisters.
"So, Kurumi, you and your sister have been traveling to hone your martial arts skills? Wow, that's impressive. And you've been doing so on your own?"
The girl nodded brightly, "Mmhm! It's hard work, but Natsume and I do okay, and its fun sparring against all sorts of opponents! It was really fun going up against you Ranma!" The teenage boy nodded as Akane blinked at how rapidly the girl had switched targets before the older sister spoke up, apparently not noticing how her younger sibling was attacking the food in front of her with a gusto that one could really only compare to a starving pack of wolves, to the extent that she had Ranma and Genma, usually the most enthusiastic eaters at the table, eyeing Kurumi and carefully shifting their plates out of reach.
"So Akane, do you study martial arts?"
Akane nodded as the girl, Natsume she remembered her name was, smiled slightly as Akane finished her mouthful and continued verbally, "Yeah, I study martial arts, in fact I'm the heir to the Tendo Dojo." She just couldn't help but put that in to see if that would impress their guests, and promptly shot a vicious glare at Ranma, who seemed to be concealing a snicker. Because of this, she was unaware of a startled widening of the eyes from Natsume and Kurumi both, or the way Natsume's hand trembled before she forced it to be still, her own eyes slitting with determination and glittering with a hard, cruel light.
"That is impressive. So that would mean that you're more skilled than Ranma in a spar?" Ranma suppressed his reaction while Akane blinked before she lowered her eyes slightly, flushing in embarrassment.
"Well...not exactly."
Natsume frowned slightly. "So you haven't matched him in a spar? I'm not asking if you've ever beaten him, just if you're a match for him, because from the spar I had with him, he's quite skilled."
Akane flushed a bit more fiercely but then finally relented with a reassuring look from Ryoga. "Okay, I'm not as good as him- so what? I have a life and my sensei was actually sane, so is it any wonder I'm a little less skilled then he is? Anyone who survived an abusive life like his would be a good fighter- but that's all he's good at." Akane snapped defensively. Akane then narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "So why do you ask, anyway?"
"Just... curious." Natsume replied, her tone making Ranma tense up and shift slightly in his seated position. He just knew that there was some trouble rolling in with these girls, and if he was any judge -which he was- then the big boom was going to happen any minute now. The other, more naive members of the table simply sat in awkward silence, until Kasumi finally broke it, though whether because she sensed the tension of because she was just being a polite hostess was impossible to say.
"So, you said you and your sister on a training journey? Why?"
"To live up to a promise." Natsume replied calmly. "Our father told us that we had to become the masters of Women's Anything-Goes Martial Arts."
Everyone else at the table almost choked at those words. When he finally managed to clear his throat, Ranma protested. "But that's impossible! There's no such style- the only families in the world who practice Anything-Goes are the Saotomes and the Tendos!"
"But there's more." Natsume continued as if she hadn't heard Ranma. "Our father said that we must master martial arts in order to inherit the Tendo Dojo."
If the first claim had been a shock, then this was a bombshell. Soun Tendo roared in emotional distress, silencing any comments that might have been made by his friend or the other teens. "What nonsense! Who was this man, to promise you such things?!"
"Our father. Soun Tendo." Natsume stated flatly.
Silence reigned again. Then, as one, everyone's eyes turned to Soun Tendo... who promptly went pale as a sheet. "Just what do you think you're thinking!?" He cried in distress. "Now see here, young lady, what proof could you possibly have to back up such outlandish claims!"
"I have proof right here." Natsume said triumphantly, handing over a photo that, when scrutinized, showed two young girls in dirty, tattered clothes, as a well as a figure with his back to the camera, revealing only that he was wearing a gi with "Anything Goes Martial Arts" written in kanji on the back.
"Oh, father, father." Murmured Kasumi.
"Wow, I didn't know you had it in you, daddy." Nabiki said, actually looking a lot more shocked then her glib tone might have suggested.
"What is the meaning of this, dad?" Akane growled.
"There's some mistake!" Soun pleaded. "You aren't going to convict me on a picture of an Anything-Goes dogi, are you?" He was openly weeping now.
"I gotta say, Mr. Tendo does have a point. That is rather shabby evidence." Ranma pointed out.
"Oh, but there's more! Turn it over, Natsume!" Kurumi chirped. This was done, and everyone stared in disbelief at the kanji revealed, which plainly backed up Natsume's claims. Needless to say, everyone was convinced now, despite Soun's continued protests that this had to be a forgery, and Natsume turned triumphantly to Akane.
"So you see, sister, I'm not only clearly better suited to be the heir to the Tendo Dojo, but it is also my rightful inheritance. Will you relinquish the title to me? Or will we duel to see who is more worthy of it?" She challenged.
Akane eyed her newfound sibling intensely. She was afraid to fight someone who, from both her and Ranma's comments, was clearly strong, but on the other hand she didn't want to relinquish something that was rightfully hers. And then, a plan began to form in her head, not much of a plan, someone else would claim, but any port in a storm, as the saying went...
"Very well, if that's what you want... but you are aware of the agreement between the Saotome and Tendo families, aren't you?" She asked, a faint hint of a predatory smile on her face at Natsume's confused expression. "To unite the schools by engaging the two heirs to marry?"
"...Which means that, if I take your place, I am honor bound to wed Ranma here?" Natsume asked, turning to look at Ranma, who did not look pleased at being discussed like a cheap bauble to be traded back and forth. Then she shrugged and stood up. "Very well, I accept the duty and the responsibility. I will meet you in the dojo."
Her tone was undeniably nonchalant, but it was obvious to anyone she was baiting Akane to react. When nothing happened, she walked away gracefully, her sister trotting along beside her, leaving in her wake a batch of shell-shocked Tendos and Saotomes. It was so silent you could hear a pin drop... and then Ranma promptly exploded.
"What the hell were you thinking, Akane!?" He roared, the entire table cowering back and making warding gestures, though more from shock than from fear- Ranma never carried on like this! The only one exempt was Kasumi, who was also shaking her head disapprovingly at Akane. Ignoring their expressions, Ranma began to make his feelings on this new development quite apparent. "Of all the boneheaded, mule-stubborn, outright dimwitted stunts you've pulled, Akane, this has got to be the downright most...!" He trailed off, apparently unable to even think of a word in his rage. "What on Earth possessed you to do something so stupid?!" He demanded.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Akane apologized frantically, the tiny part of her mind that wasn't gripped in fear commenting wryly about this switch in the usual routine. Had this been what Ranma had felt like whenever she lost her temper? "I thought it would make her back down!" She explained. When Ranma stopped shouting and settled for glaring at her, apparently the best she'd get to a reprieve with the information she'd shared, she hastened to explain. "If she's working some sort of con, then she wouldn't want to be trapped like accepting the engagement would do to her, now would she? I figured that if she's trying to get something without working too hard for it, the thought of having to accept such responsibility would persuade her it wasn't going to work."
Ranma stopped glaring, but continued to scowl, thoughtfully tapping his chin. "I guess it makes sense; I mean, that's what Nabiki's like, and you're her sister, so you should know how she is..."
Ignoring Nabiki's indignant splutterings, Ranma stared at Akane, his scowl now replaced by a grim expression. "If that's the case, though, what are you going to do? She agreed to meet your challenge- do you intend to forfeit?"
"Of course not!" Akane shot back with all the vehemence she could muster. "I'd disgrace the dojo if I did so. I don't care how long she's been traveling, I'm not going to back down from a fight! If I can take those other girls, I can take her!" She proclaimed proudly.
"So you say." Ranma replied wearily, unwilling to point out that she had never beaten any of her previous rivals for Ranma's hand on her own, but unable to just let it go. "But you're wrong on one thing; Natsume's not like the other girls. She's a ki channeler." He warned.
"Are you serious, boy?" Genma asked, an expression of equal parts disbelief, amazement and fear on his face.
"Yep. Her and her sister both are. They can infuse ki into their weapons, make them more dangerous. She can make that carpet beater of hers so cold it burns- I think she was just showing off to me, but be careful, Akane." Ranma said.
Akane blinked, trying to hide her shock; she couldn't remember the last time Ranma had sounded concerned for her. Instead, she turned to her eldest sister. "Don't worry Kasumi, I won't lose." She insisted, trying to sound encouraging about the prospect. As much as she believed that Kasumi really belonged with Dr. Tofu, she couldn't bring herself to hurt her- not any more then she already had.
"It's alright, Akane. Maybe it's for the best. What you said about Ranma marrying the best martial artist of father's daughters makes sense; it is to unite the schools, after all." Kasumi replied, sounding fairly even in her tone.
"Why will no one believe me? They are not my daughters!" Soun sobbed, tears beginning to well in his eyes again.
"Ki-channeling, that's an impressive skill. I wonder what sort of element I could put into my attacks if I tried?" Ranma-Prime mused on the possibilities for a moment before focusing his attention and the mirror's view on the two sisters after Natsume's short fight with Akane.
"Wow, Natsume, that Akane girl was really stubborn, I thought she was going to outlast you out of pride!" The two sisters were now setting up residence in the dojo after the elder sister had defeated Akane with her greater skill and a few ice-cold blasts from her carpet beater as Kurumi continued, "But then wham! You hit her with those ice attacks and she collapsed like a house of cards!"
Natsume grunted as she laid out her futon, clearly not in a mood nor of a mind to pay much attention to her younger sister's babbling. Truth be told, she felt the fight was a lot less impressive then Kurumi seemed to think it was; her 'sister', Akane Tendo, was pretty sloppy in terms of actual skill- kept leaving herself wide open in her rush to close the distance between herself and Natsume. Okay, maybe she had more strength then she did speed or skill, but what use was that if you couldn't even get in range to hit your opponent? Natsume wondered just how intensely Akane actually bothered to train...
"But I'm worried Natsume, about what she said about marrying that guy, Ranma. Do you really think they're serious about that? That in order to be the Tendo heir you have to marry him? Are you going to go through with it?"
"If I have to, I will." Natsume said, no enthusiasm in her tone, and to her disappointment the words sounded a lot less nobly determined coming out of her mouth then they did in her head.
"Cheer up Natsume, maybe it'll turn out good. I mean; both those boys were really cute, and they were both nice to us, so maybe marrying him- er, whichever one he is, won't be such a bad thing." The look on Kurumi's face told Natsume that she believed every word she was saying.
"...You know, you almost sound smug about this." Natsume hissed to Kurumi, a part of her mind realizing that what she had just said wasn't fair to her sister, but the bitterness was just too much for her to keep swallowing.
"Well...it would be nice to have a home, that's all." Kurumi mumbled, sounding hurt.
Natsume sighed in resignation. "Yes, I know, I was the one who kept us following father's instructions- I'm sorry, Kurumi, but... but this is just more then I bargained for! I mean, it's overwhelming enough that we finally found our father, finally found the home we've been searching for, but to have to leap right into marriage? What's more, I don't even know which of those two boys was Ranma, let alone how he's going to react to being forced to break up with Akane!" She heaved another loud sigh. "It's... it's just... so much to take in, you know?"
Kurumi nodded with her eyes closed, "Well then, there's only one thing to do." She held up a finger as if about to say a wise saying and then, "Lets go to sleep, a good night's sleep will help us think about this clearer and in a better mood!"
She then skipped over to her older sister and hugged her, "Beside Natsume-chan, so long as we're together, everything will be just fine."
Natsume gave a tired smile in return and hugged Kurumi back. Finally, after so many years of traveling Japan on foot, alone, and with no family, friends or income, after so many hardships, so much hunger, cold and suffering, they had found a place where they belonged. And no matter what it took, even if it meant becoming a wife before she'd ever had a chance to be a girlfriend, Natsume would not allow them to be forced back onto the bitter streets.
The next day came quickly, and true to Kurumi's word, Natsume was a better mood as Ranma decided that he should take this opportunity before any interruptions showed up, to have a talk with the elder of the pair after breakfast.
Ranma headed over to the dojo and heard the sounds of training and opened it slightly to observe the two sisters going through intricate katas both alone and as a team and some of the movements Ranma figured had to be related to their Ki-channeling as he waited for them to finish their routines.
As they came to a stop, Ranma smiled as he entered the dojo proper, "Wow, you two are pretty good, no wonder Akane didn't stand a chance against you." He muttered under his breath, "Not like that's ever stopped her before."
"Thank you." Natsume said. She recognized him easily as the boy who had defeated and fed Kurumi yesterday, and whom she had sparred with. She knew he was a skilled martial artist himself, and was quite proud that someone so talented would say the same thing about her. "I'm sorry, but which Saotome are you? I'm afraid we still don't know your name, or your brother's."
Ranma shrugged, "Sorry about that. The name's Ranma, Ranma Saotome." He looked confused for a moment, "And what do you mean by my brother? If you meant that guy from the other day, that was Ryoga and he's more of a...rival of sorts. I'm an only child."
"Oh, I see. I was confused by the fact he was here, and sitting so closely to Akane." Natsume apologized. Still, if this was Ranma, then maybe the engagement wouldn't be so hard to live with after all.
Ranma looked pained for a moment, then waved dismissively, "Nah, that's alright. As for why he was here, he's Akane's boyfriend now. I used to be her fiancée, and then that was switched to Kasumi before you two came along and the engagement got transferred to you." A flicker of emotions, too many and too intertwined to decipher, passed through his eyes at that, "Sorry about that by the way, I didn't think the tomboy would spring that on you just to get you to back down from being Heir and all that."
"I... see." Natsume said, trying to keep a pleasant expression on even as anger began to boil inside her. So, her new sister had been trying to frighten her off? To keep her from the position that was rightfully hers, that their father had promised would go to her and Kurumi? Oh, sister dear was going to catch an earful from Natsume in the very near future...
Ranma nodded as he locked his arms behind his head, "Ah, truth be told its probably better you're the Heir now, maybe this place will actually get some students now. But that's not why I'm here. I'm here about the engagement."
"Oh? What do you want to talk about?" Natsume said, putting on what she hoped was a bright, cheerful expression. Best to make as good an impression on him as she could- after all, she was already at a disadvantage, having taken him from her sister Akane and bursting into their lives so awkwardly. If her father truly intended for her to wed him, then she would do as he wished- she considered herself a dutiful daughter, and sometimes it had been only her duty to become a strong martial artist that had kept her and Kurumi going with their life on the road.
"Well, I guess the one thing you should know is that thanks to my idiot old man for the most part...and a stupid mistake on mine..." Ranma didn't like saying that Shampoo was his fault, but no amount of blaming Genma would erase the fact that it was Ranma who defeated her, twice in fact, and ended up with her as a fiancée, "I got at least three other fiancées on my ass, so I don't blame you if you don't want to get tangled up in that, its pretty messy for the most part."
"...I see." Natsume said. Three other fiancées? That was not welcome news... but, he didn't seem like some sort of womanizer- he had told her about them straight up, and he certainly didn't look happy about the fact. It looked like there was a story here that needed to be told in further details for her to truly make her decision where she stood, but she decided to set it aside, for now. "What I want doesn't matter. It's what my father wants that counts. If he wants to go through with the engagement, despite the other girls, then I have no choice but to do as he wants."
Ranma looked at Natsume closely, "You sure about that? I know you're a good fighter but that's pretty much all I know about you. And hell, you don't know a thing about me at all. You seriously considering going through an engagement with a guy you have no clue about?"
"So tell me about yourself. What was your training journey like? What dojos have you been to? Do you have any hobbies you like? Favorite foods?" Natsume replied. If she wasn't mistaken, then it seemed her new fiancé might actually be as nervous about this as she was, maybe even more so, and so she felt willing to let the mask of strength she'd been showing to her family slip and let him realize that she, too, was feeling somewhat overwhelmed by all of this.
Ranma blinked for a moment, and then smiled slightly, "Well, since you asked..." He began. For reasons that he couldn't quite voice, it was actually reassuring to see that this fiancée was actually as nervous about the whole deal as he was. He was used to either vehement retaliation or total, overwhelming confidence, both of which tended to catch him up and drag him along.
"Decent enough beginning, I suppose." Ranma-Prime mused to himself. "But there's a big difference between being told something and actually seeing it. How'd she do when she actually met the other girls for the first time?"
The scene that came up was quite obviously a date as Ranma and Natsume visited the local cinema but what caught Ranma's attentions were the brief glimpses of Kodachi, Shampoo and Ukyo stalking after the pair. At first Ranma figured that only his counterpart had noticed them, but the slight glance backwards and narrowed eyes on Natsume's face told him otherwise, she had sensed them as well.
As the movie began, Natsume made an excuse to visit the restroom, and Ranma watched as the girl was quickly followed and cornered.
"And just what is your problem? No, wait, don't tell me; you must be the other girls." Natsume declared, her posture calm and easy, but one hand going to the carpet beater slung over her shoulders nevertheless. Ranma had told her about the other girls who claimed he was supposed to marry them, and warned her that they could be dangerous.
"Who are you calling 'the other girls'? You're the stranger here!" Spat one, a tomboyish one in masculine clothes and wielding a huge spatula.
"That right. Girl what think she can just take Ranma is girl what need be taught a lesson." Declared a lavender-haired Chinese girl, wielding a pair of mace-like weapons that Natsume couldn't identify.
A third girl nodded primly, swirling a gymnastics ribbon in a way that, to Natsume's trained eye, was undeniably menacing. "Indeed. I don't know what delusion you happen to be suffering under, but if you think we will stand back and allow an outsider to come in and re-ignite the duplicitous contract forged between Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome, when it was so close to finally dying, then you are sadly mistaken."
"The deal between my father and Genma Saotome is a matter of family honor; I will not step aside." Natsume replied levelly, now unslinging her weapon and readying to strike.
"Do you take us for fools, girl? I would sooner believe Akane Tendo to be a mistress of the black arts then I would that Soun Tendo had the spine to cheat on his wife." Declaimed the ribbon-wielder.
Natsume knew what she was getting confronted by bullies, she hated those kind of people who though they could intimidate Kurumi and her to get what they wanted. Well, there was only one way out of this situation, and that was to take the offensive.
These girls were likely looking to take her out anyway, so why play the game by their rules? After all, turnabout is fair play. Figuring that they were likely to underestimate her due to her claim to being the sibling of Akane Tendo, who was the only martial arts practicing Tendo native to Nerima, she focused the icy ki into her carpet beater and swung it at full strength, hurling a freezing cold cannon blast of wind at her enemies. Caught off guard, it slammed into the Chinese girl and knocked her straight through the wall, leaving her sprawled unconscious and chilled to the bone in the foyer.
Taking advantage of the fact the other two were stunned by this display, she lunged at the ribbon-wielder, all too familiar from her travels with her sister with how dangerous such a fighter could be. With the speed that Natsume reacted, she was inside of the range of Kodachi's ribbon just as the Kuno girl snapped back to her senses. Switching to a gymnastics club for melee combat cost Kodachi precious seconds, and with the greater reach of Natsume's carpet beater, it was simple for her to deliver a concussive blow to Kodachi. In turn, however, she only just managed to pull her weapon into a blocking position as Ukyo seized the advantage and struck.
Back and forth the two struck, dodged and parried, carpet beater against spatula, until the two weapons locked together, each girl straining to push the other away. Natsume's mind raced, and then she hit upon a plan, channeling as much cold ki into her weapon as she could, cooling the metal of her opponent's weapon until it was so cold it burned, forcing her to drop it with a yelp of equal parts shock and pain. Natsume stared the crossdresser in the eyes until she backed away, rubbing at her stinging hands and glaring hatefully at the heir to the Tendo School.
"This isn't over." She hissed.
"Yes. It is." Natsume retorted, slinging her weapon back over her shoulders and heading back to the movie.
"Okay, I don't mind the couple, but can you answer me one question?" Ranma-Prime asked. "Are they really Soun Tendo's illegitimate daughters? While she might have been a bit crude about it, that version of Kodachi had a point- I can't really picture Soun as the type to get another woman pregnant, never mind abandoning her kids to raise themselves after she died. He can be a bit full of himself, but he does seem to love the girls he has, so I really can't imagine him just discarding his own children."
The mists rose, and when they fell...
"What!" Erupted from six outraged, indignant, disbelieving throats as Happosai held up his proof. A photograph of two little girls, dirty and ragged, but cheerful, standing on either side of a proud, gi-clad, Happosai.
"I told you I was the one who found and saved them! Why wouldn't you believe me? Do you think I'd let a couple of kids die just because I wouldn't get paid for it?" The old lecher asked indignantly.
"...So you're the one who trained us?" Kurumi said, half in disbelief, half in horror.
"...Which means you're the one who claimed to be Soun Tendo and told them that they were going to inherit the Tendo Dojo?" Ranma growled, currently in female form courtesy of a certain underwear stealing, breast groping mutant midget of a martial arts master.
"So what if I did?" Happosai sniffed. "I gave two helpless little orphan girls the skills they'd need to survive, a dream to chase, and a reason to hone their talents! You should all be thanking me for what I did!"
"Wow, I guess the mind really does block out painful memories." Nabiki deadpanned.
Soun, meanwhile, wailed for who-knew-what reasons. "How could anyone confuse me for him?!" He sobbed.
"So that... so that means... means we're not Tendos?" Natsume asked, voice quavering, a tremor running up her body.
"No, I'm afraid not. But come to my arms, and I'll make you my granddaughter!" Happosai crowed, leaping at Natsume with his usual perverse eagerness... only to be swatted out of the air with a carpet beater by the teenaged girl, who promptly fled in tears.
"Natsume?!" The name came from both Ranma and Kurumi's throats, but it was the boy-turned-girl who went after her.
Ranma found Natsume curled up in a ball in a corner of the dojo, silent as the grave. Struck by an inappropriate feeling of deja vue (for her stance was the same one he adopted when he was feeling overwhelmed, like after that terrible incident with Mikado Sanzenine), he shrugged it off and walked over quietly behind her. "Natsume..." he began softly, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.
Natsume flinched at the contact, looking up at Ranma with tear-streaked eyes, "Ranma? What are you doing here?"
"I came to see if you were alright." Ranma said softly, swearing inside his head the moment the words left his mouth- could he have possibly said anything worse at this moment?
Natsume giggled, a bitter sound that had no right coming from her throat, "Alright? I suppose I'm alright, for a girl who just wasted half her life on a promise that was never true."
Ranma said nothing- what was there to say? He just knelt down beside her and hugged her, trying to offer what little comfort and support through it he could, having never been the recipient of such an act himself.
Natsume didn't move as she felt Ranma's arms around her, "I suppose this means the engagement between you and me is off right?"
"Only if you want it to be." Ranma said, unable to keep his heart from pounding harder at both her words and his. Did she really want to give up the engagement? Ranma had several girls after his heart before, but not even with Akane had he felt the sort of bond he and Natsume had developed in their weeks together.
Natsume smiled sadly, "I don't want it to be over. But how could I marry you if I'm not a true Tendo?"
"I don't care if you're a Tendo or not- you're Natsume, and that's all I care about." Ranma replied, quickly and emphatically.
Natsume looked up at Ranma, eyes shining with unshed tears, "Do you mean it? Truly?"
"I do. You stood beside me, even after you found out I was only half a man. How can I not stand beside you now?"
Natsume smiled, and leaned up to peck Ranma lightly on the cheek, "Thank you."
As the scene faded away, Ranma leaned back on his impromptu seat, the Eye angled away from him as he closed his eyes and for a long time just sat there thinking about what he had just seen and experienced and he began to compare his current life values and priorities up to this point. Suffice to say, it didn't look good for him as the teen sat there in contemplation.
Finally he opened his eyes and smiled sadly to himself. "Maybe there's more to this romance stuff that I thought." If Honest Abe was in earshot then he stayed silent as Ranma shifted and brought the mirror up again, but instead of immediately delving into the timelines, he simply just started at the cloudy surface for awhile as the rain kept pounding down outside.
And, with that, only three further chapters remain to complete this story. So, rather then having you vote for which ones come next, we decided that we'd let you see the synopsis's for the stories we have planned in the future, and decide by vote which one we shall pursue first once Another Rainy Day In Nerima has drawn to a close. Remember, most votes will determine which one gets the most attention to it first, so if there's one that appeals to you, then let me know about it.
Our first option, of course, is the sequel to Another Rainy Day. Called 'Chasing the Rainbow', this is the desired storyline where Ranma, fresh from his examinations of the Eye of Zygyg, decides to make some changes to his life and pursue his own happy ending.
Secondly, we have another attempt at the Ranma/Shampoo serial, and a spin-off of the ARD continuity. For now referred to as, simply, 'Ranma's Rewind', it covers Ranma getting a very literal second chance, thanks to the Eye. Ranma intends to make his second/first trip to Nerima peaceful... but somehow things just aren't going as planned. Hopefully ours will be a unique take on the whole "Ranma gets a second try" category of fanfiction.
Option three is 'Legends of Aeron', a project many months in development. Our first ever attempt at a serial three-way matchup (Ranma with Shampoo and Ukyo), it is also an homage to Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition, as well as our first jointly-written, jointly-developed Ranma crossover fanfiction.
If you like the idea of us doing a Ranma/Shampoo fanfic, but Ranma's Rewind doesn't sound to your taste, then we have a fanfiction we call, simply, 'The Journey'. Having its roots in the Random Tales oneshot "A Not-So Happy Reunion", this fanfic will cover Ranma and Shampoo's trials and experiences as they roam across Japan, evading Genma, getting into all sorts of trouble, and trying to sort out the feelings they are beginning to develop for each other.
Finally, is a horse of a different color. As I managed to create two successful Ranma/Kodachi oneshots for this serial, and as I've seen and been inspired by the existence of other Ranma/Full Metal Panic! crossovers, Dark Whispers is our own take on the idea.