Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the property of Rumiko Takahashi and all associated licensers. The King of Fighters and it associated series are the property of SNK-Playmore and all associated licensers. This is not a work for profit. I claim no rights to the characters. This is a work of fiction.
Continuity for Ranma is mostly derived from the manga, with some of the anime sprinkled in for good measure. Continuity for the King of Fighters is a modified form of the current story, how that is should be explained in story, but I am willing to explain for those with further questions.
Enjoy!
Chapter 2
Akane stood silent for a good minute after Ranma announced his intentions. She looked perfectly calm at first, but then her face began to contort in shock, and it only deepened with each passing second. Ranma, who had not anticipated that Akane would be struck speechless (after all she always seemed to have something to say), became increasingly worried as the silence continued. Finally he felt the need to break the awkward tension.
"Uh, Akane? Are you ok? You want to say anything?"
Akane collected her wits but paused to think for a moment. In the past she might have reacted by screaming at Ranma so loudly that it would have shaken the entire neighborhood. She would have hit him so hard that he would have felt it for days. But she had made a promise to herself to not act like that now that she had become older and more responsible, so she had to find a way to convince Ranma out of his insane plan that did not involve her acting violently.
So Akane decided to only scream loud enough to shake a small part of the neighborhood. Ah yes, the triumph of progress!
"ARE YOU SOME SORT OF MORON?"
"Not the answer I was hoping for." Ranma replied. "I'm guessing you think it's a bad idea?"
"Bad? BAD? It's insane! You do realize Kyo Kusanagi is a public figure right? That if you challenge him, you're putting your reputation on the line in front of everyone in the whole country, and they might decide you're some sort of kook? Or that he might consider the challenge a personal threat and call the police on you? What would compel you to even consider doing something like that?"
"It was for our sakes."
Okay, Akane did not expect that response. She would have expected just about any other answer but that one. If only because the link between her and a martial arts champion that she barely remembered from middle school did not seem to be much of a link at all. Or that normally, Ranma tended to be fairly self-centered when it came to his immediate needs. Now she had to let Ranma explain himself more, if only to find out what was going on in that head of his. Maybe he was more troubled then she had initially feared?
"Okay Ranma, fair enough," Akane began, trying to even out her tone so as not to sound like she was being condescending, "Why do you believe that fighting this guy would be of any benefit to us? I mean I appreciate the thought, but I don't quite make the connection."
Ranma was surprised; after all he rarely had a chance to explain things. But this was Akane he was talking to here, and he knew that if could state his case clearly enough she would realize that he had a really good reason for wanting to fight Kyo Kusanagi. So he took a deep breath, cleared his mind, and began to explain his idea more fully. Just like how he had thought it out over dinner, where everything just seemed to fall into place. Hopefully it would seem as compelling when spoken aloud.
"Alright, where do I begin? It's like this; I've been seriously thinking about the future of our school lately."
"You mean Furinkan?" Akane interjected.
"No, no, no. I mean this school!" Ranma said as he gestured outward, trying to point out the dojo they were sitting in. "You see we're both heirs to Musabetsu Kakutou Ryu, right? The future of its survival lies with us, right?"
"I guess." Akane replied in a slightly confused tone. It was true what Ranma said, but he was a far stronger martial artist then she, and for many months now she had not really given any thought to her role in the teachings of the school.
"Well then," Ranma continued, somewhat more confident now that Akane had agreed with him on something, "Realistically, it's up to us to make sure our school of martial arts survives into the next generation, but I don't agree with Pops or your dad's ideas of how that should happen. They just want us to get married so we can produce the next generation for them and sponge off of it. But that's thinking small. I think your dad understood that at one time as well.
"I want Musabetsu Kakutou to survive, no more than that, I want it to thrive! And that means we have to attract students, lots of them. With a large body of students and the fees they would bring in, we could gain some independence for ourselves. Our dads wouldn't be able to boss us around anymore. We could live on our own terms; maybe even have some room to figure out how to get around all the obligations we live under."
"I hate to interrupt you Ranma, but you have to explain something." Akane was more than a little stunned by all this. She did not expect Ranma to give such a coherent and impassioned speech. He normally reserved that sort of stuff for life and death battles, not planning for his future. "You keep on saying "us" and "we" when you talk. However, you are by and far stronger than me, you know far more techniques then me, so why do you act like I'm a part of all this?"
Ranma smiled. "Akane, I can't do this without you. A school that has any chance of surviving long can't have one master alone. Sure, you don't know everything I do, but you're the only other person with knowledge of Musabetsu Kakutou that I can trust. There's just no way I'd let Pops or Happosai have a say in how the school is run in the future, and I need someone who can instruct the students in the basic points of the art who would not scare them away or put them in danger."
Those words practically floored Akane. Not only was Ranma making more and more sense, but he just said he trusts her. He trusted her to teach martial arts, to be a full partner in the running of the dojo. Akane had never even considered that she might have a future in the martial arts, not after having seen all of these other spectacularly powerful warriors show up in Nerima over the past year. And yet she really did want to be a part of it all! What else was there waiting for her? College? It would be very nice to attend, but she would have to pay for most if not all of it since her father brought in no income, and afterwards the best-case scenario would be to end up in some grueling office job in one of Japan's massive corporations, toiling for endless hours for the rest of her productive life. Well, either that or teaching History or English at some high school. She had been thinking of it before, but is that what she really wanted?
No! Ranma was holding out something new to her, something precious. Akane could make a living doing something she really loved. And it would ensure that she and Ranma always had something in common with one another through the rest of her life, and for Akane that was very important even if she rarely admitted it out loud. Still, one thing bothered her, and the whole thing could not come together unless Ranma could give her a good answer on it.
"So then," Akane started, "Why do you need to fight Kyo Kusanagi to make all of this possible? You, I mean we, could promote the dojo in other ways. It would be far less risky."
Ranma breathed out in relief when Akane said that. This was going to be the easy part to explain.
"That's simple. He's a former world champion, and people really seem to know this guy. If I can beat Kusanagi in a fair fight, than everyone can see the power of our fighting style for themselves; nothing else would establish our school so quickly. It's like all those stories my Pops used to tell me when I was growing up. The masters of various schools of Martial Arts throughout Asia would challenge each other to prove the worthiness of their styles. The ones who could dominate over others gained the most students. The guys who couldn't back it up disappeared… along with their schools."
After Ranma said that, he and Akane stood in the dojo for several minutes. The silence was awkward, and Ranma thought of asking Akane if she agreed with him or not. Just when he began to fear that he had come off as a loon…
"Alright then," Akane finally said. "You've made your point Ranma. I agree with you. I want to believe in you with this, because I think you have a good idea, and I too want to see Musabetsu Kakutou thrive as a martial art. I just don't know how we are going to do this."
"You just leave all of that to me." Akane and Ranma both turned their heads in the direction of where the voice had come from. Standing in the entrance of the dojo was none other than Nabiki, a light smile on her face. Her eyes however… they looked downright predatory.
"Nabiki!" Ranma said in a panic. "How long have you been there?"
"Since the very beginning, or more accurately, from the time I saw my sister start to walk out here. Come on Ranma, I saw the same report you did, and I had a feeling you got an idea from it. I have to say though, that was one mighty fine speech on your part. Didn't know you had it in you. I must say it's very admirable."
"What do you want Nabiki?" Akane said somewhat warily. She tended to give her older sister more credit than most people, but she also knew Nabiki had a way of twisting things to her advantage, and hers alone.
"Don't worry Akane, I'm not going to screw this up for you or anything, in fact I'm the person who's going to make all the pieces fall into place. Ranma has a good idea, but you need someone to manage all the little details. For instance, does Ranma remember when Kyo Kusanagi is coming to Tokyo?"
"Of course I do!" Ranma replied indignantly, "He's going to be at the Tokyo Big Sight on Wednesday."
"What time?"
"Uh…"
"How are you going to get there?
"Um…"
"How are you going to get out of school to see him?"
"Well…"
"You see? This is why you need me."
"Wait," Akane interjected, "The Tokyo Big Sight, that's in Odaiba right? That's on the bay, practically on the other side of the city! How are we going to get there? The fees for the train are going to be high, and it's going to take a while to get there, and just how are we going to get out of school?"
"Like I said Sis, you leave all of those little details to moi. I can make all of this possible, trust me."
"But what's the price Nabiki?" Ranma asked, his voice brimming with suspicion. "With you there's always a price."
"For right now it's nothing. If my instincts are right, I can get very rich off of this and you get everything you want too. I make money off of it, but it does not interfere with your plans either. It's truly a win-win situation for everyone."
"There better be no strings attached Nabiki," Akane stated with deadly cold intent, "This is both Ranma's dream and mine. I swear, if you try to sabotage it like you did the wedding, there will be consequences."
"That was different Akane." Nabiki replied a little unnerved by her little sister's newly found resolve. "There's no conflict of interest here, we all benefit from it. So let's go to my room so we can plan out the details. We have less than 36 hours here, so every minute counts. "
Ryoga Hibiki, proud martial artist and inadvertent world wanderer, strolled down the streets of Nerima with a look of determination on his face. He had to find his friend and rival Ranma Saotome. He had not had an opportunity to speak with Ranma for quite some time, as he became lost shortly after the wedding incident and had been travelling from one part of Japan to the other in an attempt to get back to Nerima. Ryoga cursed his poor sense of direction, for it had made something that should have been so very simple into an almost herculean task.
Ryoga was legitimately sorry about his actions at the wedding. He had let his emotions about Akane get in the way of his consideration for his friend and… well it was hardly his proudest moment. Ryoga had his own girlfriend now after all, and to fully commit to Akari he had to put the past behind him. More than that though, was his friendship with Ranma. It wasn't the sort of friendship where the two slapped each other backs everyday and hung out at video arcades shooting the breeze, but it was a solid bond regardless, forged by their many trials together over the past year. Ranma had probably forgiven Ryoga for what happened anyway, but for his own peace of mind Ryoga had to make a personal apology. Even Akari had said it was the only decent thing to do, and she rarely commented on these matters, so Ryoga knew this was serious. Now that he was finally back in Nerima after so many weeks, he could square things out.
He had a good feeling about it though. It was a beautiful autumn morning and he could tell that the weather was going to hold out all day. He would not have to worry about any sudden rain shower activating his curse and complicating things. Ryoga then wondered if he was getting closer to Furinkan High. He was about to flag down a person walking in the street if they knew how close Furinkan was when fate intervened.
A standard passenger bus was coming down the street, which in itself was hardly unusual in a busy metropolis like Tokyo. Ryoga would not have normally even given it any thought, but he sensed a premonition that compelled him to take a closer look at it.
Lo and behold, Ranma was sitting on one of the seats next to the window, and next to him was Akane. Sitting in the row behind them was Nabiki. Ryoga felt like screaming out to catch their attention, but the bus was gone almost as soon as it had appeared, and left Ryoga scratching his head as to what was going on.
That was really odd, Ryoga thought. He could have sworn today was a school day. And Ranma and Akane never take the bus to school anyway, they walk there. Maybe he had confused the date?
Ryoga took out a small calendar that he kept in his massive backpack for just such an occasion; he scanned through it and confirmed what he had thought originally. It was a Wednesday, and that clearly meant there was school today. What possible reason could Ranma, Akane, and Nabiki have for not being at school?
Whatever it was, Ryoga knew what it was not. If Nabiki was along for the ride, then he doubted Ranma and Akane were skipping off on a romantic getaway. Ryoga wished he had caught the sign that mentioned where the bus was going, that might have clarified things.
"What the hell do I do now?" Ryoga screamed out to no one in particular. Some people on the street look at him oddly and kept on walking, not wanting to get involved with whatever problems this weird kid in black and yellow was involved in. Ryoga's mode turned very sullen, what had seemed like a good day had suddenly turned very confusing. He was just about to give up and consign himself to wander around for awhile when he noticed something again. Right across the street from him was Ucchan's!
Maybe Ukyo knows what's going on, Ryoga thought. Of course she should be at school too, but at this point who knew? He just hoped he did not get lost walking over there!
Mercifully Ryoga was able to keep his sense of direction long enough that he was able to walk up to the door of the shop. He tried opening the door but he realized it was locked. With his strength, Ryoga could have very easily broken the lock even if by mistake, but he was careful not to. Unhappy that his potential lead had quickly turned cold, he was about to leave when he heard a voice come out from behind the door.
"Hello? Is someone there?"
Ryoga did not recognize the voice at first. It was not Ukyo's, but it sounded feminine. Then he remembered about Ukyo's assistant Konatsu, the cross-dressing ninja who helped her run the shop. Ryoga called back to Konatsu stating his name, and the ninja opened up the door to the shop.
"Mr. Ryoga, how pleasant it is to see you here in Nerima again!" Konatsu said, his face beaming with happiness. "You have been missing for quite some time, and everyone was starting to wonder what had happened to you."
"The usual," Ryoga replied in a somewhat embarrassed tone, "I managed to stay in Japan the whole time though." Considering some of his other misadventures, he could at least be thankful for that much.
"Well good for you Mr. Ryoga." Konatsu said without a trace of irony, "Mistress Ukyo will be happy to see you."
"Yeah, about that Konatsu; Ukyo is at school, right?"
"Of course Mr. Ryoga, it is a school day, and Furinkan is open as far as I know."
"So she wouldn't happen to know why Ranma, Akane, and Nabiki are out of school today."
"Whatever are you talking about Mr. Ryoga? As far as I know, no one was supposed to be absent today." Konatsu turned down his head for a moment to think about it. A slight frown formed on his lips, and he shook his head. "I must admit though, I am a little bit out of the loop. If Mr. Ranma and the Tendo sisters were planning something, and they did tell the Mistress, she may simply not have told me. I am sorry that I cannot be of further help."
"Don't worry about it Konatsu. I'm going to figure this out myself, even if I have to wander the whole city!" To emphasize his determination, Ryoga raised his fist into the air.
"Please Mr. Ryoga; there is no need to do that! The Mistress will be back at the shop during lunchtime to check on things. If you are willing to wait a few hours, you can ask her then about what happened!" Konatsu was very worried. If Ryoga wandered off, it might take weeks before he ever found Nerima again, and the ninja had a feeling his master would want to hear about the news regarding her erstwhile fiancé.
"Well alright then, I didn't think of it that way." Ryoga grumbled as he walked into Ucchan's. He walked over to one of the tables and pulled out a seat for himself. "Are you sure that this is okay though Konatsu? I don't want to interfere with business or anything like that."
"It is not a problem at all Mr. Ryoga! We do not get many customers before lunchtime anyway, and while you wait, I will prepare for you a meal in honor of your return. It is the least I can do for a guest!" Konatsu scurried behind the counter and went back into the kitchen for a moment to fetch some ingredients. Ryoga took the opportunity to think some more about what he had seen.
Ranma hated school, but he would never skip it without a good reason. Were he and Akane in danger? Perhaps Ryoga could have helped them if he had shown up a day or two earlier. The whole thing was driving him crazy, and the more he thought of it the more agitated he became.
Konatsu peeked out from behind the kitchen entrance to see that Ryoga was still there. What a relief, he thought; Mistress Ukyo would kill me if I let Mr. Ryoga slip away! "I am starting to cook your meal on the stove right now Mr. Ryoga." Konatsu said as he fully emerged from the entrance. "While I have a spare minute, could you explain how you found out Mr. Ranma was not in school?"
Ryoga looked over Konatsu and sighed a bit. Maybe going over the whole thing over with another person would help him figure it out. He started to explain to Konatsu how he arrived back in Nerima, and the bus he saw carrying coming down the street just a few minutes later…
"All the pieces are falling into place."
"I agree, after more than a year of planning, the stage is set for the grand finale!"
"Tell me," the original speaker continued, "Have the invitations been all sent out?"
"Yes, some of the fighters should have received them by now." Another voice replied, this one female. "The others will have them within a few weeks."
"Then we must make sure that the construction of the arena is proceeding apace. Botan, please make sure our "benefactor" keeps things on track."
"As you wish my lord, it will be done." Botan, the female who had spoken earlier, bowed deeply to her master and disappeared into the shadows.
The Master shuffled in his chair for a moment, deep in thought.
"What troubles you my lord?" asked yet another shadowy figure, this one with a deep thundering voice like that of a series of grenades exploding.
"I was thinking Mukai, the level of competition at the past few tournaments has been quite high, but I think it could stand to have some new blood injected into the mix. After all, the more fighters we have, the easier it will be to find those suitable for our goals. Do you not agree?"
"If you wish it my lord, of course I will make it so." Mukai said. "But who would you have in mind?"
"I have several names that I think hold promise." the Master said as he produced a list from his robes. "Most of them are located in the United States, a few are in Europe, and then there is this one from Japan."
Mukai took the list from his lord and looked over the names on it. The name from Japan caught his interest immediately.
"My lord, this one is quite young and unproven, relatively speaking. He shows immense potential, but are you sure it is worth bringing him into the tournament?"
"Mukai, there are events about to unfold that I think will prove this boy's worthiness. At any rate, prepare an invitation for him."
"As you wish my lord, I shall contact all of your choices… including the Saotome boy."
End Chapter
So, do you like how things are coming along? Please Review! All viewpoints are welcome, though I already have this fic planned out very carefully, so I'm not sure if I will be able to incorporate all of the ideas I receive. Still, your opinion is valued greatly!
See you next week!