Chapter 6: Love & Comfort
The room was quiet. Being underground, surrounded by thick concrete walls and the hard California dirt it was well insulated from the noise of the world outside. Dimly lit by indirect lighting mounted high on the walls and reflecting off the ceiling, it tended to bring out a sense of claustrophobia in those who visited it in spite of its large size. The floor and the walls were lined with teak, the hard wood hiding the concrete beneath. The walls were also lined with racks, home to more varieties of bladed steel weapons then most people knew existed.
Hachiro, the rooms only occupant, was moving through the forms of a circular kata. The flashing blades of a pair of crescent shaped deer horn knives weaving about his body in tight, precise patterns designed to guard against attacks at the same time as ripping the flesh of his imaginary opponents. Sharp, deadly and easily concealed, just like the man himself.
Clearly Japanese, Hachiro wasn't a large man with plain nondescript features that blended into a crowd and were quickly forgotten. In fact, when dressed in his customary dark western suits he only stood out in the perfection of the creases in his pants and the tightness of the knot in his tie. Walking down the streets of L.A., where he currently made his home, he didn't stand out in the least. Just another Japanese business man, like the countless others that prowled the towering structures of glass and steel.
In contrast, dressed as he was now in loose black silk pants and a red sash, his tightly muscled torso without an ounce of fat was guaranteed to draw attention. The cold precision with which he moved the razor sharp blades through the steps of his lethal dance something most would find very intimidating. His eyes were hard and cold, like dark agates.
A disciplined martial artist, he was a master of every weapon in the room and several that weren't. If it was made of metal, it quickly became a natural extension of his body. He could feel the strength of the blades like the bones and muscles in his arms and hands.
He frowned, his practice interrupted by the arrival of his personal assistant, a young black man in a dark suit.
"Mr. Narita, my apologies for interrupting but there was a call on your private line."
Returning the knives to their place on the wall, Hachiro wiped his arms and torso down with a white cotton towel.
"Who was it?"
"They didn't say sir. They only left a message."
Waiting, Hachiro didn't have to ask.
"He said; 'big brother is calling the family together'. That was all."
Hachiro knew exactly who had called and what they meant. A tight smile spread across his face at the thought of seeing his brothers again.
"Call the heads of the chop shops, tell them I want them here in two hours. Also arrange a ticket on the first available flight to Tokyo." He was going home.
****
The priest Hsiao, caretaker of the Shinto shrine that lay along the banks of the Kandagawa River, was standing alone on the sidewalk facing across the street towards Suginami High School. In his hands was an umbrella, the same one his mysterious visitor left on his steps.
After the departure of his visitor, Hsiao called several other priests from his order seeking counsel. Three others then visited his shrine to feel for themselves the mark left behind, all agreed that it was the touch of divinity. None knew what it meant or why a kami would need an umbrella.
Kazuo, the priest from a sister shrine in Nakano to the east, felt that the umbrella was symbolic, that it meant the kami in question was somehow connected to the unusual weather Tokyo was experiencing.
Of Hsiao's dream vision, none could discern any real understanding of its meaning. The only eight headed dragon mentioned in the stories of the kami was the great Orochi that was slain by Susanoo, the kami of storms, but that dragon never possessed the power to blot out the sun. Nor did the legends speak of it fighting a white wolf to their mutual destruction.
Again it was Kazuo who proposed the idea that maybe the dragon in the dream was symbolic of the storm clouds that even now were blocking the rays of the sun and the white wolf his visitor, after all the hill the Suginami shrine was built upon might be seen as a mountain in a dream.
Hsiao held great love and respect for his old friend, but he couldn't agree. The rain that was falling on the city lacked the malevolence and hate he had felt embodied in the dragon from his dream. Instead it was filled with mournful longing, similar to the rain that had fallen from the heavens when the wolf fell in his dream.
Minori a priest from Minato, offered that maybe the dream was Hsiao's way of interpreting what was actually happening right then in his shrine. He hypothesized that the dragon was in fact a dark power that had threatened Tokyo, and that the departure of his visitor was the fall of the white wolf.
Takumi from Nerima, who had spent too much time in the west in the opinion of the others, suggested that the dragon was the darkness within man, the wolf of pure white the nobility of man and the rain the mourning of the kami for the fall of man. The umbrella, he speculated, was just an umbrella used by a kami to keep off the rain. The others just rolled their eyes, each thinking less than benevolent thoughts about the person who introduced their brother to the writings of Sigmund Freud.
In the end they all agreed that they didn't understand the meaning of his dream and visitation. They also agreed that whatever it meant, it was important and they should seek together to find enlightenment on the subject. It was Takumi who reminded them that it was Hsiao who had the vision, his shrine that was visited, and that most likely it would be in Suginami that they would find their answers.
In the days that followed Hsiao aimlessly wandered the city, carrying the umbrella to keep the rain off and seeking any sign of his visitor. That was why he now found himself standing before the high school. Earlier that morning he had felt it, the presence of his visitor racing above the city. He tried to pursue it when it flashed by him, but his old legs had proven unable to keep up much less catch up. In the end he lost it heading north towards Nerima. Giving up on catching it, he set out to trace its trail back to its point of origin. That effort brought him to this school and that was where the trail seemed to end. Checking traffic, he crossed the street and made his way towards the front gate. He was almost there when he came upon a police car, the officer standing there in his uniform making a call on his cell phone. Curious as to why a policeman was parked right outside the high school and if this was in some way connected to his own quest, Hsiao stopped and waited for the officer to finish his call.
After completing his call officer Sasaki bowed to the priest that just now stopped and was clearly waiting to speak to him.
"Good morning honored priest, I am officer Sasaki. How may I serve you today?"
Hsiao gave him that fatherly smile that only old men and clergy seemed to be able to pull off and gesturing towards the school he asked;
"I was just on my way to the high school when I saw you leaving. I hope that nothing bad has happened to any of the young people within."
Normally Sasaki wouldn't discuss police business with random strangers, but this was a priest and an authority figure in his own right. Surely talking with him could only help. Maybe the old man would be able to counsel the girl, surely he would be better than sending the police after her.
"To the best of my knowledge nothing bad has happened yet father. This appears to be just another case of a teenager having difficulty adjusting to adulthood."
Gesturing back towards the school he continued, "The headmaster summoned the police because one of his students fled the school for no apparent reason."
Hsiao raised his eyebrow at that.
"Does the child have a history of causing trouble? Surely the headmaster wouldn't inform the authorities over a first time offender."
Sasaki shook his head in the negative.
"No father, this was the girl's first day at Suginami. According to the headmaster she just transferred from Furinkan in Nerima to escape a bad situation. He summoned the police because he is afraid that in her present emotional state she might be a threat to herself. I can't really go into the details with you right now. Perhaps if you went to speak with the headmaster, you may be able to aid him in dealing with the girl. The presence of a priest certainly couldn't hurt."
Hsiao bowed and promised to do just that. Saying goodbye to the officer he turned and proceeded up the walk between the cedar trees. It was most likely just a coincidence, even if the presence he felt had been traveling north towards Nerima, but his calling was first and foremost to be a spiritual guide to the souls in his community and that included troubled teens. He would seek the headmaster and offer his aid and counsel. Later he could return to his search. Making his way up the walk he realized that he was passing beneath the shadows of the trees on his right. Looking up he was rewarded with the sight of the sun breaking through the clouds for the first time in weeks. Smiling towards the heavens he took it as a sign that he was doing the right thing in the eyes of the kami.
****
When Happosai dragged his students from the Tendo home they weren't in very good shape for a training trip, having spent the last twenty four hours in the bottom of a bottle. Soun was bad enough, he had just watched the long cherished dream of uniting his family with his surrogate brother's die. As for Genma, he had lost not only a dream but his only son.
Genma loved his child, even if he didn't know how to express it, but all his life he had dreamed of having a son who would not only inherit his legacy, but then expand upon it. No girl, he knew, could ever be taken seriously in the manly world of the martial artist. His legacy would be forgotten. Even if, somehow, Ranma someday provided him with a grandson who could then fulfill that role Genma feared it would be too late for him to experience it. He had devoted ten hard years to building his legacy, sacrificing the comforts of home and the affections of his lovely wife. To have it crumble into ash and dust when they were so close to achieving it was more than his spirit could take.
Happi would have none of it. He wasn't much given to introspection or regret. For Happi only two things mattered; what do I want and what can I do right now to get it?
The end result was that Happi had a tendency to leap before he looks, but with his skills and extensive experience more often then not he got what he was after and what he was after now was answers. Not to mention securing the legacy of Anything Goes Martial Arts. A legacy that, if what Kasumi had told him was true, may have just gotten a lot bigger than he ever imagined.
Happi wanted answers and after more than a century of wandering he had ways to get them. Ways that were not limited to asking Khu Lon.
When he hauled Soun and Genma from the Tendo home they were so deep into their cups that he could smell the alcohol in their sweat. They were useless like this, so he took steps to 'clean them up'. He started by dragging them to the nearest sauna where he made them sit in the steam room for as long as safety allowed, followed by the guzzling of as much water as they could hold, then another round in the sauna. After repeating this process enough times to sweat most of the alcohol out of their systems, he dragged them to an open park where with the aid of a few pressure points he forced them to spend the night sleeping under a tree, the air cooled by the falling rain. Come morning there bodies were wonderfully clean of Sake. Next came a brisk morning workout, a panty raid Happi style.
Now that his disciples were once again sober, Happi was quietly leading them through unfamiliar streets.
"What do you think the Master is going to do to us, Saotome?" Soun whispered to his large companion, hopefully low enough that said Master would not over hear from his place several paces ahead of them. When Genma didn't respond he gave his brooding friend a sharp nudge in the ribs. "Don't abandon me now Saotome, I can't face the Master alone."
His further efforts provoked little more than a grunt, proving to not even be enough to draw Genma's eyes away from watching his own feet. The sight of the Master's wizened face starring up at him, iron pipe held between his lips, that was a different story all together.
The sudden stop proved to much for Genma's balance, his upper body arching as he desperately tried to keep from falling atop the little troll. Seeing his friend's dire predicament, Soun grabbed hold of the back of Genma's dirty white gi, straining to pull him back from the edge of disaster. He pulled too hard, the result being Genma falling backwards towards Soun. Becoming entangled in each other, the two men fell to the ground before their tiny master in a tangled heap of arms and legs. Genma acted to remove himself from atop Soun, but was brought up short by the presence of the Master standing upon his broad chest.
Poking Genma in the forehead with the end of his pipe, Happi reprimanded his pupil.
"You, Genma my boy, have always given up way too easily. I can only assume that Ranma inherited her never lose attitude from her mother. The same can be said for you as well Soun. There is a time to retreat and seek finer delights elsewhere, and there are times when a man has to stand and fight for what is rightfully his."
Giving both men a stern look in the eye, he hopped off Genma's chest and stood impatiently puffing on his pipe as they climbed back to their feet.
"But Master..." Genma whined, some of the spirit finally returning to his voice. "what can we do? Ranma...my son..."
When Genma trailed off, Soun took up the cry. "Now our schools will never be united!" He cried, shedding a fountain of tears and drawing the attention of passers by.
Happi's answer was to poke both in the leg with his pipe, hitting a nerve point that left both men hopping on one foot in surprised pain.
"You boys aren't listening. A master of Anything Goes never gives up, he finds a new way to attack and wins. Your children understand this, why can't you?"
"But Master..." Soun pleaded. "if Ranma can't turn back into a man, then how is he going to marry my Akane?"
"A girl can not be a master of Anything Goes." Genma stated, he sounded both depressed and determined.
Happi voiced his own displeasure by poking them both in the other shin.
"I'll never understand how you both became so fixated on men. If I hadn't seen the proof that you both had children with lovely ladies I would wonder if you weren't gay. In spite of all my efforts you have yet to learn to truly appreciate the beauty of a healthy young woman, the warmth of her flesh, the softness of her bosom..." He trailed off, carried aloft by the memory of countless breasts, unconsciously rubbing a pair of women's panties against his cheek. Much to the consternation of his students and the disgust of the women passing by.
"But Master..." Soun begged, nervously watching the people around them. "how can our schools be united if Ranma can't marry my Akane? Surely you aren't suggesting we wait for our grandchildren to marry?"
"Soun, are you deaf as well as blind? Sweet Kasumi told me what the good doctor said, weren't you listening?"
The looks on their faces made it clear they didn't understand.
"The manna boys, that which fills my beautiful Ranma-Chan and flows through the lovely Akane as well. I saw Akane, felt Ranma's presence within her, the two couldn't be more united if she was carrying Ranma's child."
It was Genma who voiced the thought in both their minds. "Akane's pregnant?"
Happi again answered with his pipe. Once the two stopped hopping around enough to hear him, he tried again to explain. "Manna you fools, essence of the kami. I'm talking about the ultimate technique, the holy grail of the martial arts world, something never before found East of the island of Penglai Shan...immortality."
****
Akane was awoken by a hand gently shaking her shoulder. Opening her eyes, her vision still blurred by sleep and dried tears, she found herself staring at Ranma's face. She suffered a moment of confusion as her mind struggled and fought its way to consciousness. As awareness returned it brought with it more confusion. Looking at Ranma's face, her closed eyes and steady shallow breaths made it clear she was still asleep. Then who? Feeling the hand still on her shoulder, her eyes followed the attached arm that led past Ranma to Kasumi's smiling face. Putting a finger to her lips Kasumi signaled her to be quiet while pointing at Ranma. Being careful not to wake the sleeping girl next to her, Akane slid out from under the covers and off the foot of the bed. She quietly followed her older sister down the hall to the stairs and as she did she noticed that the back of Kasumi's blouse wasn't all the way tucked in. Her sister's less then perfect attire set off Akane's internal alarms. A slight edge of panic to her voice, she interrupted Kasumi's descent half way down the stairs.
"What's wrong Kasumi? Is it because I left school?"
Kasumi stopped and turned to look at her little sister. Akane's voice had sounded too much like that of a frightened child. Maybe events at the school were doing more damage than she realized. Given recent events Akane was more vulnerable than normal. With a regret filled sigh Kasumi recalled that when Akane first began to call forth her anger it was to hide her fear when mother died. Placing her hand on her little sister's arm, Kasumi gave her a gentle and reassuring smile that looked remarkably like the one Akane had given to Ranma.
"No Akane, though I am concerned that those boys could treat you so badly."
Looking back up the stairs as if checking to see if they were still alone, Kasumi quietly said
"Come, join me in the kitchen and we'll have a nice cup of tea."
Not giving Akane a chance to argue, Kasumi continued on to the kitchen. After taking one last glance back up the stairs herself, Akane followed.
In the kitchen Kasumi poured two cups of tea. The almost ritual nature of the act had a calming affect on the Tendo sisters. Akane sipped her tea and patiently waited for Kasumi to tell her what was wrong. At least that was what she intended to do, but even at her best Akane wasn't the most patient of people and given the events of the morning she was definitely not at her best. In her child's voice Akane blurted out
"This isn't about Ranma is it? Because nothing happened, we just fell asleep!"
In another unknowing imitation of her little sister, or was it their dear departed mother, Kasumi took hold of Akane's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"No Akane, its not about … well yes it is about Ranma, but not about that. Akane, aunty Nodoka is coming to get Ranma and she very much wants to talk with you."
After the morning she had endured, Akane can be forgiven for being short tempered.
"She can't expect me to just shove him out of my life, not after everything we've been through together!"
Another squeeze of the hand she still held and Kasumi tried to calm her sister down before she woke up their guest.
"No Akane, I don't think she wants that at all. When Ranma left school this morning … he just left in the middle of class, jumping out of a third story window."
A small giggle squeezed out before Akane could stop it.
"The baka didn't even take his shoes, his socks were soaking wet."
They shared a laugh at Ranma's expense.
"Yes, Ranma can be quite the baka. I miss him too. As funny as Ranma can be, I'm afraid his new school wasn't amused and neither is aunty. Apparently, when Ranma left the school called the police. According to aunty the headmaster there has somehow gotten the foolish idea that he might commit suicide."
That sobered Akane right up and the look on her face threw a wet blanket on Kasumi's own humor.
"It's not so foolish at all Kasumi."
Akane's laughter had died and Kasumi could tell that she was now struggling to keep her voice steady.
"After … after Ranma … when Ranma and his mother left the dojo after Dr. Tofu told us that Ranma was locked,"
Kasumi noticed the bitterness that crept into Akane's voice when she spoke Tofu's name.
"I followed them to the park. Ranma … Ranma went there to commit seppuku."
Kasumi's face took on a look of horror, one hand over her mouth.
"I can't believe aunty would ask him to …"
Akane's shaking head cut her off.
"Aunty didn't, she stopped him and made him promise that he wouldn't try again."
Akane starred down into her tea, as if trying to divine the best way to express what she needed Kasumi to understand in their depths.
"When aunty stopped him, Ranma begged her to let him die with honor as a man. He wanted to die, he said he couldn't watch me live my life with someone else."
Akane lost the fight with her tears and they began to pour freely down her cheeks. Putting down her cup, Kasumi rushed around the table and drew her sister into a comforting embrace.
****
Entering the high school Hsiao quickly gained audience with Headmaster Hasegawa. A middle aged man with a slight paunch and thinning hair, he could tell that the headmaster was a patient and caring man who was as dedicated to his calling as Hsiao was to his own.
Bowing, the headmaster introduced himself.
"Welcome to Suginami High School honored priest, I am Headmaster Hasegawa."
"Thank you for your greeting Headmaster, I am Hsiao, caretaker of the Kandagawa Shrine. I was going about business of my own when a police officer outside told me that you had a student who might be well served by my counsel. He made it sound quite serious so I have come to offer whatever aid I can give."
Hasegawa didn't even try to hide the relief he felt at the priest's offer. If Ranma proved resistant to visiting a doctor, maybe she would be more open to a priest.
"Your help would be most appreciated father, if you will join me in my office."
At the headmaster's invitation they retired to his office where he served tea. As headmaster of a large school, Hasegawa drank a lot of tea. Sitting down he took the initiative in starting the conversation.
"Father, did the officer tell you about our student."
"Only that she was a recent transfer from Nerima and that you feared she might be a danger to herself."
Hasegawa gave a sad nod in response.
"Yes, I have met young Ranma and I, despite her mother's conviction to the contrary, do fear that the child might seek to end her own life."
Hasegawa removed her file from the 'active' drawer of his desk.
"Ranma Saotome is seventeen years old, daughter of Genma and Nodoka Saotome who resides here in Suginami City."
The names took Hsiao by surprise.
"Wait. Did you say Nodoka Saotome?"
"Yes father, do you know her?"
Today seemed to be Hsiao's day for coincidences.
"Is your Mrs. Saotome a beautiful and traditional woman in her early to mid thirties with dark red hair and carrying a long silk wrapped bundle?"
"I have yet to see a bundle, but yes Mrs. Saotome is as you described. I'm afraid I have yet to meet the father and from what Mrs. Saotome has said I don't expect to."
Hsiao let out a breath of relief. If Nodoka was no longer carrying her sword then that must mean she was putting her pain and loss behind her, but the rest of the story was confusing.
"Headmaster, you said the student in question was Ranma Saotome, Nodoka Saotome's daughter?"
"Yes father, a beautiful but troubled young lady. So you do know them father."
"I know Nodoka Saotome, she has been a regular visitor to the shrine for many years, but I have never met her daughter. In truth I was under the impression that Ranma Saotome was her son. Are you sure that this is really her daughter?"
Hasegawa's chuckle at his question told Hsiao that there was a story to be told here.
"I can say without doubt that Ranma Saotome is in fact Nodoka Saotome's daughter and you would share my confidence if you had ever seen her. Ranma is a very beautiful young woman and I dare say she could have her choice of young men if she so desired. She is also a younger reflection of her mother in physical appearance. Mrs. Saotome explained the reason for your confusion to me this morning for all of Ranma's school records, what there are, also claim she is a boy. According to Mrs. Saotome what her husband truly desired was a male heir to carry on his family's school of martial arts. She said that Ranma was so great a disappointment to her husband that he took their daughter on a ten year training trip to, and I quote, 'fix her'. Genma Saotome raised his daughter in the way of a boy and this I feel is the beginning of her problems. I have been an educator for many years now father and I have seen this many times before. In Genma's eyes Ranma will never be good enough because she isn't a boy and it is for this reason, Nodoka told me, that Ranma hates herself for being a girl. To make matters worse, before Ranma was born Genma arranged to marry her to the child of a friend and fellow master to unite their schools. Nodoka said she didn't know the details, but her daughter was recently involved in some form of violent conflict in China. A conflict that nearly cost the life of her fiancé, and left Ranma with an injury that made her unable to fulfill the role her father had prepared for her. Mrs. Saotome told me that Ranma loved her fiancé, that the injury she suffered was actually gained saving his life. She said that more than anything it is the lose of this engagement that causes her daughter's pain."
Hasegawa hesitated, uncertain how to relate what he suspected.
"Father, Nodoka told me that Ranma was raised to believe that killing another person, no matter the circumstances was a cause for shame. She also told me that she has found her daughter during the night, still caught in a nightmare, desperately trying to wash something off of her hands, something that won't come off. It is my suspicion that while in China, Ranma was forced to kill in order to save her fiancé's life. Furthermore, I suspect that the injury she suffered must have cost her the ability to bare children. If I am right, then Ranma not only has the burden of not being the heir her father wanted, but also the shame of having done the one thing that he taught her was wrong. She can't be her father's son and if my fears are correct, she can no longer serve her purpose as his daughter."
Hasegawa gave Hsiao a few minutes to sort out what he had been told in his mind.
"Father, if even half of what I suspect is true, then you must agree that Ranma is very much in danger of ending her own life. Mrs. Saotome … Nodoka told me that she has already tried. She told me that when Ranma learned of the cost of her injury, she tried to remove her shame in a way her father would accept by committing seppuku. Nodoka broke down here in my office when she told me how her daughter asked her to serve as her second. She stopped her and made her promise not to try again. Nodoka is certain that Ranma won't actively try to take her own life, but I don't share her confidence."
"This is why you summoned the police, because you feared that Ranma might be making another attempt?"
Hasegawa gave a heavy nod in answer.
"Yes father. This morning in Homeroom, Ranma became upset without cause or warning. She then jumped out of a third story window." Seeing the priest's eyes open wide in concern he rushed to explain. "We don't believe she was injured, at least she didn't seem to be slowed in the least when she left."
Hasegawa gave a low chuckle as he found some source of humor in his sad story.
"In fact," he said "Sensei Matsumoto, head of our girls sports program, is extremely anxious to recruit the girl for her soccer team. She refused to leave my office until I promised to introduce her."
****
When Nodoka arrived at the Tendo's it was already late into the morning. With the sun shining through a break in the clouds it was warm enough that she had quickly shed her rain coat and now it rode with her umbrella in the crook of her arm, the place were she once carried the family honor blade.
During the bus ride from Suginami it seemed everyone was talking about the change in the weather and the hope that maybe now the rain would end. It was amazing how much a little sun shine could lift people's spirits after days of dismal overcast. Nodoka wasn't one of them. Oh sure, the feel of the sun on her face did make her feel better, like maybe things were going to improve, but she was too worried about her child to be light hearted because of a little sun shine.
It had been nearly two weeks since Ranma's fateful announcement, since his life as he knew it ended, since the entirety of his life nearly ended on the edge of a knife. Now she was trying to help her son create a new life as her daughter and if this morning was any indication, it wasn't going very well. The first day at a new school, the first hour even, and Ranma had already fled back to the remnants of her old life.
It wasn't very manly.
Nodoka shivered at that line of thought and how easily it came to her mind. The drive for Ranma to be manly had already cost her any chance to be close to her son and now it threatened the life and sanity of her daughter. Damn Genma and his desire for a manly heir. If not for his training trip her son would not now be suffering any of this. Pushing her regrets and worry to the back of her mind Nodoka forced a pleasant smile onto her face. Ranma would need her to be strong. Smoothing out the wrinkles in her kimono, Nodoka rang the bell.
****
Kasumi and Akane were just starting their second cup of tea when they heard the bell. Upon hearing it Kasumi looked up at the clock.
"Oh my, is it that late already? That must be aunt Nodoka."
Giving her sister's hand one last squeeze, she went to greet their guest.
When Kasumi opened the door Nodoka could tell that the stress of the mornings events were troubling the younger woman. The poor dear looked like she had dressed in a hurry.
"Oh, good morning aunty. Please come inside. Akane and I were sharing a cup of tea in the kitchen, would you care to join us?"
"Thank you Kasumi dear, I would love to join you."
Kasumi took Nodoka's coat and umbrella to put away while the older woman traded her shoes for a pair of house slippers.
"Kasumi dear."
"Yes aunty?"
"Could you tell me where my daughter is?"
"Yes aunty, Ranma is asleep in Akane's room. He was comforting Akane but I'm afraid he fell asleep as well."
Nodoka frowned at Kasumi's choice of pronouns. Ranma wasn't a boy anymore and referring to her as one would only make it harder for her to accept that, prolonging her suffering.
"Thank you for being so patient with her. I'm afraid Ranma hasn't been sleeping well."
That didn't surprise Kasumi one bit. She couldn't begin to imagine what Ranma was going through.
"It was my pleasure aunty. As I said I've come to consider Ranma to be like a little brother."
Kasumi wasn't oblivious, she saw the flash of unease that crossed Nodoka's features when she called Ranma her little brother and it didn't take a PhD in psychology to guess what caused it. She knew Ranma would have to make painful adjustments in order to live with her forever feminine gender.
So would Akane and that was what really worried her.
Ranma had already proven that she could survive in conditions that gave her terrible nightmares.
Whereas Akane's life seemed to be defined by loss and her way of dealing with it was to replace the pain with anger. Kasumi worried about where her little sister's fate was leading.
But for now she had better placate Nodoka if they were to salvage anything from the situation.
"I hope that now Ranma can be like a little sister to me. I have to confess that I have always had the irrepressible desire to take her shopping for dresses."
Kasumi's confession touched a soft spot within Nodoka's heart. She remembered the pleasure she herself had felt when taking 'Ranko' shopping for dresses. At the time she caught herself wishing Ranma had been born a girl, one that Genma would have left for her to raise. Maybe she should gather the Tendo sisters together and with them gang up on Ranma. Perhaps together with their support she could push Ranma to accept her femininity. She held no great expectations of her daughter becoming a refined young lady and knew that she would undoubtedly never marry, but she could accept a tomboy if Ranma was happy and not filled with self loathing.
The two women entered the kitchen where Akane was waiting. Immediately Nodoka could see that Akane had been crying, her eyes were red and puffy and there were still the tracks of tears running down her cheeks. Nodoka went to her and gathered the girl she had once hoped to call daughter into a hug.
"Akane dear, Kasumi told me about what happened at school. How horrible it must have been. There must be something that can be done."
Akane was grateful for Nodoka's concern and her hug almost felt like one from her own mother. It broke her heart anew to think that she had once hoped to someday call this woman mother for real.
"Thank you aunty, but I'm afraid that with Kuno's father as principal there is nothing that will be done to stop that samurai wannabe from playing out his perverted fantasies."
Kasumi had to nod in agreement.
"I'm afraid Akane may be right. Dr. Tofu went down to the school himself after you called and he told me the only response he received was a complete denial that it ever happened and the threat of being charged with trespassing if he didn't leave school grounds."
Akane's voice sounded hollow as she continued.
"It's true, Principal Kuno has turned Furinkan into his own little domain where he and his son can play out their sick little games."
With a faint smile she added "Not even Ranma was able to stop them, but he did succeed in stymieing them time and again. Now that they know he is gone they will get even worse."
With a quiet thank you, Nodoka accepted a cup of tea from Kasumi. The turn in conversation reminded her of why she wished to speak with Akane in the first place.
"Don't worry dear, we'll find some way to deal with the Kunos. Has there been any word from your father or my husband since they left on their training trip?"
"No aunty." Kasumi answered. "We haven't heard from them since grandfather dragged them from the house."
"How like Genma, he creates a problem and then runs away instead of dealing with it. Thank you girls for welcoming Ranma, I know she has been afraid that you no longer wanted anything to do with her. Just like her father." The last part was spoken from behind her tea cup. She hadn't really meant to vent on the girls, but her frustration with Genma was proving hard to contain.
"We are glad to have her aunty, we've missed having her here."
Nodoka looked deep into Akane's eyes.
"And what about you Akane, can you accept Ranma now that he is a girl?"
Akane didn't flinch as she answered. She wanted Nodoka to understand how she really felt so she wouldn't take Ranma away again.
"Yes aunty. When I first met Ranma he was a girl and in some ways I've always wished he was a girl. She was always more open with her emotions, while he was always guarded, putting up a front. Sometimes it seemed like Ranma wasn't as afraid to be himself when he was a girl."
She let out an amused smile as she added, "He wouldn't even eat ice cream with me unless he was a girl."
Nodoka frowned as she considered what she was being told. She never had a chance to spend time with her son except when he was pretending to be Ranko. Was it possible that when he was a girl was the only time that the sweet little boy Genma had taken from her would come out? That when he was himself he was always pretending to be the manly son his father wanted.
"I didn't just come here to get Ranma, there is something very important I need to discuss with you girls. You both say that you can accept Ranma, even as a girl, but I'm afraid that Ranma can't. I'm afraid Ranma hates what she has become and all of the other things only make it worse."
Akane glowered, her face darkening with reflexive anger fueled by the still smoldering embers of all that had happened since Kima's crows carried her to China.
"That baka, he can't accept that girls are just as good as boys. He thinks we are weak and useless."
Nodoka wasn't looking at Akane, didn't react to her angry words. She was staring into her tea cup, regret, guilt and shame written across her brow and in her posture. She just sat there like that in silence for several minutes. Long enough that Akane began to feel guilty for upsetting her and started to apologize fore her harsh words.
When Nodoka began to speak again, cutting her off, her voice was low and quiet.
"Have either of you ever wondered why Ranma is an only child, or why my husband took him on that accursed training trip in the first place?"
The Tendo girls looked at each other in confusion, they thought that one was the answer to the other. It was Kasumi who finally answered.
"I always assumed that uncle Genma being gone for ten years was the reason Ranma didn't have any siblings."
"And everyone knows the panda took him on that trip to make Ranma the 'best martial artist of his generation', so Genma has said many times." Akane added a little bitterly.
To their surprise Nodoka was sadly shaking her head no.
"Ranma was six years old when Genma took him on that trip. Six years is plenty of time to have more children. Look at yourselves, the three of you were born in only a span of four years. What's more, Genma and I had been married for more than two years before I became pregnant with Ranma."
The sisters exchanged glances once again. Neither of them had ever thought of it before but aunt Nodoka and Genma had been together long enough to have a large family if they wanted.
"Was it because uncle Genma was too focused on training Ranma to want the distraction of other children?" Akane asked.
It made sense to her, Genma was obsessed with making Ranma the best. After all, he took him on the trip to remove little distractions like school and people.
Nodoka was still shaking her head no and now the girls could see one lone tear running down her cheek.
"We tried, both before Ranma was born and after. Dearest really wanted a second child, a second chance."
Now it was Nodoka who sounded bitter.
"It's my fault." She whispered, placing one hand on her belly. "I can't have children."
She had to stop, her eyes closed while she tried to calm her emotions.
"The doctors, and we saw plenty, told us that it was a miracle that I had Ranma. They told us that we would never have another child."
"Oh aunty!"
Kasumi felt nothing but sympathy for the older woman. She knew how important her own as yet unborn child was to her and she knew how she would have felt if she learned that she and Tofu would never have children.
"I'm so sorry aunty, that must have been terrible for you."
A small, wistful smile snuck onto Nodoka's face.
"No Kasumi, I had Ranma and he was more than enough for me."
Her eyes were vague, lost in memories of the past.
"Ranma was such a loving child, so sweet and affectionate. He used to follow me around like he was my shadow, doing everything I would do. He was the sweetest child and everyone loved him."
A shadow of remembered pain fell over her features.
"Almost everyone. Ranma was a great disappointment to my husband. If we had succeeded in having a second child, another boy, Genma would have pushed Ranma aside and you Akane, would now be engaged to Ranma's brother."
The sisters were frozen in shock. How? Ranma was so incredibly gifted, how could Genma be disappointed in him? Akane couldn't hold her tongue.
"How could he be disappointed in Ranma? He has a natural gift for the art, learning new techniques just by seeing them and then improving on them. Ranma is arrogant, but he's right, he is the best. What more could the panda want?"
"When Ranma was five," Nodoka told them with a brittle smile, "we entered him in his first martial arts competition. It was a kata demonstration for children ranging all the way up to the age of twelve."
Now it was Kasumi who voiced her disbelief.
"Don't tell me uncle Genma was disappointed in Ranma just because he didn't win a competition when he was five, against boys twice his age."
Again the shaking of Nodoka's head.
"Ranma won, he received perfect scores. All of the judges and many of the other masters told me how impressed they were with his grace and control. Not Genma. Do you know what my husband said to me about Ranma's performance? He said to me, 'the boy is dancing, he has taken a warrior's art and turned it into a girl's plaything'. In dearest's eyes Ranma was too soft, he lacked that fierce warrior's spirit. Genma took Ranma on that trip to fix my mistake, to make a man out of his only heir."
The women sat quietly sipping their tea while the sisters digested Nodoka's words.
After several minutes Nodoka forced herself to put on a more cheerful demeanor, she needed to finish this before Ranma woke up and joined them. If she didn't have the sister's support she didn't think she would ever convince Ranma to agree to meet the psychiatrist as the school required.
"Forgive me girls, I didn't intend to burden you with my regrets."
"No aunty, we're glad you told us. It certainly makes it much easier to understand why Ranma acts the way he-she does."
This seemed to be the day for hand holding, only now it was Nodoka's hand Kasumi was squeezing.
Nodoka smiled at the girls in gratitude. After ten years of being alone, followed by the emotional roller coaster she had been on for the last few days, it felt good to have someone comforting her. She wiped the tears from her cheeks before they could leave tracks.
"Thank you Kasumi, Akane. I can understand why my daughter misses you so much."
Drawing a deep breath to settle her emotions, "Why she ran back to here when she needed comfort. Which I'm afraid is why I need to speak with you girls. The headmaster at Ranma's new school is not like your principal Kuno, Mr. Hasegawa actually cares about the well being of his charges. After meeting Ranma this morning he is very worried about her, I'm afraid he thinks she might try to … she might hurt herself."
Nodoka was hiding her eyes, looking into her tea cup. She didn't want the girls to see the pain in her eyes. She wasn't aware that they already knew about what happened in the park and she didn't intend to share it with them.
"I already told Kasumi on the phone, but when Ranma left the way she did, Mr. Hasegawa feared the worst and called the police. When we met this morning Mr. Hasegawa encouraged me to take Ranma to see a … counselor, but now that the police have become involved he is insisting on it."
She gave the girls beseeching looks. "I know Ranma won't like it and I don't think she will agree to go. I need you girls to help me convince her and not just for the headmaster's sake either. I haven't seen her smile since, well since before all of this began. She hardly talks too and then only as much as required to answer questions."
Nodoka couldn't hold back the tears anymore.
"It's like she's already gone!"
****
Feeling strangely content Ranma slowly drifted back to consciousness. Stretching, she opened her eyes to stare at the strange ceiling above her. It was bare, on the ceiling above her bed was tacked a poster listing the tenets of Bushido. She didn't have many memories of her childhood before Pops took her on their training journey, so she didn't remember the poster though it had clearly been tacked there for years. The corners had curled around the metal tacks, the once crisp white paper was now softened and faded to a sickly yellow. She would have taken it down, its proud declarations now only serving as a reminder of the honor her mother had denied her, she would have taken it down if she could just care enough to do so.
The ceiling above her now was bare, this wasn't her room. Looking about her surroundings it didn't take long to realize that she was in Akane's room. She knew the room better than her own at the Saotome home, she had just never spent any time staring at the ceiling. If she was honest with herself, she would have to admit that in all the time she had spent in this room it was never the room itself that held her attention.
Thinking of Akane she looked beside her where the tomboy had been laying when they fell asleep. She wasn't there now, the mattress had already cooled, but when Ranma closed her eyes she could still see her lying there. Ranma rubbed her hand across the spot where the girl had been, a smile curling her lips when she thought of the silky dark hair caressing her face as they lay close together.
Akane hadn't rejected her!
She didn't know what would become of them now, but she felt a small ray of hope warming her soul, cracking the ice she had wrapped around it while planning her suicide. With those cracks came the pain she had refused to feel. Like water it seeped out through them, forcing the cracks to widen further, before escaping to run down her face. All of the pain and grief she had been denying herself came crushing down on her all at once. She curled up into a ball while ragged sobs wracked her small body.
****
Hsiao left the high school after promising Mr. Hasegawa that he would return before classes ended for the day. A short while ago Nodoka Saotome had called letting them know that she found her daughter and assuring them that she was okay. Not trusting Nodoka's objectivity were her child was concerned, the headmaster made her promise to bring Ranma by when school let out for the day. He then called and made an appointment for her with Dr. Kimura, the psychiatrist he had recommended to Nodoka that very morning. He told the doctor everything he knew and suspected about Ranma. Trusting his judgment she agreed to see the girl at four o'clock the next day. Having made his promise, Hsiao left the headmaster to his work and returned to the shrine umbrella in hand.
Arriving at the shrine the first thing he did was call Takumi in Nerima. He told him that he had felt the presence of his visitor again, passing over the city on its way towards Nerima. After receiving Takumi's assurances that he would watch out for the visitor, Hsiao asked him what he knew of a girl named Ranma Saotome who had been staying at the house of one Soun Tendo until recently.
"I really don't have any information I can share with you Hsiao. There is a Soun Tendo on the city council and I do believe I've heard that he owns a dojo, but I've never actually met the man and I know nothing of his home or family. Why do you ask?"
"While attempting to trace the visitor's path back to its origin I found myself at Suginami High School. The headmaster there asked for my help with one of his students, a recent transfer from Furinkan High in Nerima. I know the child's mother, she has been a regular visitor at the Kandagawa Shrine for many years, but I have never meet her daughter. The girl's name is Ranma Saotome. I have yet to meet her myself, but the headmaster tells me that she is a beautiful girl.
Until recently she was engaged to the son of Soun Tendo, an arranged marriage to unite the families and their schools of martial arts. The headmaster wasn't sure of the reasons, but the engagement was dissolved. From what Mrs. Saotome told the headmaster, her daughter has had a very unusual and demanding childhood. Apparently Mr. Saotome was extremely disappointed that his only heir is not a boy and this has led to young Ranma hating herself for being a girl. Add to that the loss of the engagement and some other things that are only speculation on the headmaster's part at this time and he is firmly convinced that the girl is at risk for suicide. Mrs. Saotome has admitted to him that her daughter has already tried to commit seppuku once.
The headmaster has made arrangements for the child to receive secular help, but if I am to help at all I really need to know more about her than his speculations and a second hand story. I would appreciate it if you could learn more for me."
"I will learn what I can my friend, in the mean time please keep me informed of what you may learn of your visitor."
Ending the phone call, Hsiao set to his daily chores and meditation, preparing himself mentally and spiritually for his first meeting with Ranma Saotome.
****
Along with her sister, Akane was trying to console aunt Nodoka when she felt a growing sense of unease within herself. She didn't know what was causing it but seeing that Kasumi had Nodoka, she decided it was time to check on sleeping beauty.
'It's about time the baka got up, he shouldn't keep his mother waiting.'
Without saying a word, she left the other two women alone in the kitchen and returned upstairs.
Opening the door with the yellow duck hanging on it, Akane heard an unexpected sound coming from within, a sound she never thought to hear. Ranma was crying and not little chocked sobs either, but full on weeping.
Quickening her steps, Akane found Ranma curled up into a ball, her face hidden in her arms. Rushing to the bed, she gathered the smaller girl up into her arms, pulling her halfway onto her lap.
When Ranma realized she was no longer alone, which was about the time Akane was pulling her onto her lap, she tried to stop her tears and stifle her sobs. She didn't want Akane to see her crying like some weak little girl. Her pride had taken blows enough. To her consternation she found that now she had started, she couldn't stop. She tried to pull the cloak of the Soul of Ice around her once again, but the ragged sobs tearing their way out of her chest kept defeating her best efforts. She so desperately wanted to put the genie back in its bottle, but now that it had escaped there was nothing she could do to stop it.
Akane felt the girl in her arms tense up and she knew what Ranma was trying to do. She remembered what Nodoka said about Genma seeing his son as being soft, too weak to be a martial artist. For just that moment Akane truly hated the panda. She had suffered from a lack of her father's attention, Ranma from his father's obsessive attention. They were like two bookends, each balancing the other.
"I don't think your weak Ranma." She whispered in Ranma's ear as she rocked her back and forth. "You are the strongest person I know, stronger than the Panda."
Taking Ranma's chin in her palm, Akane lifted her face until she could look her in the eye.
"You saved my life Ranma when no one else could. Please don't hide yourself from me."
Looking down on Ranma's flushed face, Akane stared into her aching and achingly beautiful blue eyes. She didn't know how it happened or who initiated it, but she found herself holding the red head in an increasingly passionate embrace while her lips tasted the sweetness of Ranma's own.
Starting at the junction of their lips, Akane felt warmth and an incredible power spread throughout her body. She had never felt anything as wonderful as what she was experiencing now.
It was like the moment in the school play when Ranma was playing Romeo and her Juliet, only without the tape and their positions reversed. After the play she had jokingly asked what it might have been like if they had kissed without the tape. Now she knew and regretted waiting so long to find out.
Akane pressed further into the girl, laying her body down on the bed beneath her as she plundered the girl's sweet mouth with her own.
"Akane." Ranma moaned breathily between kisses.
The sound of Ranma's impassioned cry excited Akane more than anything else ever had. She felt so alive, so powerful and for the first time since her mother died, in control. While she held the girl tight against her, Akane felt Ranma's small hands roaming up and down her back, occasionally entangling fingers in her short dark hair. In return Akane's own hand found its way down Ranma's body, passing under her uniform's skirt to cup her tight bottom. Holding the smaller girl like she was felt strangely right.
Author's notes:
I know both the manga and the anime depict Ranma as being much younger when he left on the training trip ( after all, a six year old would have signed the contract, not marked it with a palm print ) but the translated forms both say that the training trip lasted for ten years, and that Ranma is around sixteen when he arrives at the Tendo's. So those are the numbers I am using, please join me in ignoring the inconsistencies.
Firemaster asked if the brothers are villains of my own creation for this story? The answer; yes and no. Their current forms are my own creation, kind of modeled after the 'Eight Demons of Kimone' in Ninja Scroll, but their origin is not. They refer to their soul being split into ten parts; one part isn't human, one is an object, and there are 'eight' brothers. You do the math. I'll be introducing the remaining parts as the story progresses, but anyone who researches the legend should be able to figure out what they are.
I have to apologize to ellf for the 'orchid' mistake. I don't know Japanese and the only reference I have is an online dictionary. I tried looking up 'Ranma' for another translation, but couldn't find anything, so I went with something I had read in another fic ( can't remember which ). I held little hope that it was right, but went with what I had.