Forcibly United
oOo
Chapter 2
oOo
"So you're back, Son-in-law," Cologne noted as Ranma entered the Cat Café, poking her head out of the kitchen. She smiled, hopping out of the kitchen and coming to rest on a nearby table as she examined the boys. "And I see you still have those bracers on you. Happosai chose not to release you?"
"More like he couldn't," Ranma snorted, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall. He rattled the armguard where it rested against his wrist. "According to what he told us, he should be able to just tell us to take off the things for 'em to stop working. But because we're only momentarily effected by his orders, they don't finish coming off before the order gets ignored."
"I see," Cologne stated, shaking her head. Of course the fool had messed things up. It was par for the course as far as the old wretch was concerned.
"Isn't there anything you can do, Granny?" Ryouga pleaded, waving a hand towards Ranma. "I don't want to get stuck with this jerk the rest of my life!"
"Like I want it either," Ranma snorted, turning his head away from his rival.
"I suppose the only way for you to remove those chains would be to journey to the home of one who has the power to remove them forcibly," Cologne finally said. She jabbed the point of her staff at the bracer on Ryouga's arm. "I have a colleague who could remove those easily enough... Though it will be up to the two of you to convince him to take the bracers off."
"Great! Let's get going, then!" Ranma cheered, pushing off the wall as he walked to the table where Cologne stood.
"Not so fast, Son-in-law," Cologne countered. "I'll need to write a letter to a friend in Roanapur to see if my colleague is still living there. It will take roughly a week for the letter to arrive and for her to give me a phone call."
"I have to spend a week with him??" Ryouga demanded, his stomach flopping as he considered the idea of having to endure the pigtailed boy's presence for a solid week. Ranma's face froze as a similar realization overcame him as well.
"One week," Cologne confirmed. She couldn't help but smile to herself.
The two boys turned to face one another. Their truce had barely held for an hour and a half... and now they had at least one more week to spend together. Probably a lot longer, since they had to go to this Roanapur place and convince someone to remove them.
Horror began to fill them in earnest...
oOo
Explaining everything was, of course, less than simple. While Ryouga was content to sit back and let Ranma do all the talking at the Tendou's place, the fact of the matter was that Ranma had saddled them with another house guest and would shortly be leaving for an unknown amount of time.
While it was pretty much par for the course, it was still disheartening.
"So... You have to cross international borders and then convince someone in Roanapur to take these magical bracers off of you. Is that right?" Nabiki asked, the corner of her lips twitching into a smile.
"Aren't you worried about them, Nabiki?" Akane asked, scowling at her older sister.
"Not at all, Akane," Nabiki countered, gesturing towards where Ranma sat at the table, managing to take in Ryouga with the gesture as well. "Roanapur's kind of a scary place, but I think these two are old enough to take care of themselves. They can even hold hands while they cross the street."
"Not funny, Nabiki," Ranma scowled, crossing his arms. He paused for a moment as realization struck, then he swiveled his head to look at his father as he played shougi with Soun. "Yo, old man. You didn't promise me to anyone over there, did you?"
"Of course not, Ranma!" Genma sputtered, shooting a glare at his son. He missed Soun's lightning fast hands as they shifted a pair of pieces, dramatically swinging the game into his favor. "I've never even been there!"
"Right, so you didn't get the chance," Ranma concluded, turning back to Nabiki. He grinned. "Well, that answers one question."
"Seriously though, Ranma, you've heard about what kind of place that city is!" Akane said, worry tinging her voice. She crossed her arms and glared at the idiot sitting next to her. "It's on the news all the time! You're not bulletproof, you know!"
"I know, I know!" Ranma said, waving off his fiancée's concerns. He flashed her an arrogant smile. "Look, all we have to do is convince this guy to take off the stupid things and then we'll be outta there. I don't particularly feel like getting shot, okay?"
"Okay," Akane finally said, turning her attention back to her tea.
Ryouga yawned as he glanced outside, taking in the setting sun, content to ignore the random conversation of the Tendou family and their guests. Whether or not he said anything, time would pass at the same pace. While he was often an angry person, he had learned patience in the many journeys he'd taken.
He stood, resolving to find a nice, quiet place to have a nap.
oOo
Ryouga awoke with a start, a stabbing pain in his gut telling him it was time to use the washroom. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as they took in his surroundings. Absent a spare room to sleep in, Ryouga had simply walked around the corner of the impressive porch surrounding the Tendou Dojo and leaned against the wall, opting to fall asleep right there. He knew he had to have been asleep for several hours, judging by the lack of activity in the house and the darkness in the sky overhead.
With no small amount of urgency, he moved through the house, searching every door. Akane's room, from which Ryouga backed out silently, his cheeks ablaze. The guest room, curiously holding only Genma. Nabiki's room. Akane's room again. The kitchen. Kasumi's room. Until finally, he found the washroom.
He rushed forward, scarcely noting the slight tug on his chained arm as he moved to the toilet.
oOo
Ranma, still asleep on the peak of the roof after climbing out to watch the stars, felt a slight tug as well. It didn't wake the pigtailed boy. It did, however, cause him to slowly start to roll down the roof towards the edge. After the third roll, he woke up, scarcely comprehending his situation. As he reached the fifth roll, he finally realized what was going on.
He'd also hit the edge of the roof and felt nothing under him but air. Panic hit and he thrashed out with an arm to grab the roof. His body swung in towards a window as the edge of the roof broke, propelling the pigtailed boy through with a crash of glass and a startled cry.
Instead of a painful thud of furniture against ribs, he landed face-first on a pair of somethings that were soft and pliable. The commotion brought a flurry of movement and a light flickered on, disorienting Ranma's sleep-addled mind even more and momentarily blinding him.
"Ranma, what do you think you're doing!" Akane's voice demanded. Ranma froze, and his eyes flickered from his tomboy fiancée to the face of her older sister. Nabiki looked less than amused to be awake, and having Ranma's face buried in her cleavage and her room covered in glass was no doubt further complicating matters.
Ranma's eyes flitted back to the girl in the doorway.
oOo
Flushing the toilet and preparing to pull up his pants, Ryouga was in no position to resist as a powerful force jerked his arm through one of the washroom walls, his body following. And so it was that Ryouga nearly crashed into Kasumi as he was hurled through several walls, only to come to a bone-jarring stop as he struck the Tendou Dojo's property wall.
A short distance beyond the wall, Ryouga heard a masculine scream of pain, and then a sharp meaty thud as a heavy object hit something solid. Kasumi peered through the several holes in her home, her hand traveling to her mouth in concern as she observed Ryouga's sprawled form. She picked up his pants from where they were hanging from a jagged edge of the wall, causing the Lost Boy to blush violently.
"These will need to be mended, Ryouga-kun," Kasumi commented, disappearing further into the house.
Ryouga groaned. He hadn't even been in this madhouse a day yet.
oOo
The following day proved no better. Forced to follow Ranma in his day to day life, Ryouga found himself caught in the crossfire more often than not. Kunou's strikes, while easy to dodge, actually hurt a bit when Ryouga accidentally caught one by being pulled off his feet and into the bokken's path by one of Ranma's acrobatic dodges.
Likewise, Ryouga found himself forced to come to Ranma's aid in a battle against Mousse. The Chinese boy's vision was so poor that he was unable to differentiate between his target and his target's unwilling partner. After the third chain-propelled spike thudded into Ryouga's flesh and was pulled out with a grunt of annoyance, Ryouga joined in the battle with Ranma to vent his frustrations with the myopic boy and his lack of aim.
After Kunou's third attack on Ranma, the second of which to result in Ryouga feeling the sting of Kunou's blade, the bandanna-clad boy joined with Ranma in hitting Kunou whenever he showed up. When the kendoist attacked as they left the school and Ryouga thudded him over the clock tower with his umbrella, the Lost Boy grimly reflected it was sort of like playing a school-wide game of Whack-A-Mole.
It was not so much a walk back to the Tendou Dojo as it was an all-you-can-eat gauntlet. Stopping in at the Ucchan, Ryouga was treated to a few free okonomiyaki from his sometime partner-in-crime as Ranma told her the details of what had happened. It was in the middle of that conversation that Tsubasa surprised Ranma by attacking him and surprised Ryouga by being the stool on which he was seated. The cross-dressing stool-boy was evicted from the restaurant with the help of Ukyou's spatula.
Mousse, injured and wearing a cast, somehow managed to attack the pair of boys as they walked into the Cat Café. Ryouga threw himself flat against the ground as Ranma threw himself up onto the ceiling. Mousse, thinking his targets had disappeared, ran out into the street to chase them. A free bowl of ramen was served to the pair as they further discussed the situation with Cologne, ignoring the random cries of confused, accosted pedestrians in the street.
Ranma sighed in resignation and Ryouga groaned upon learning that Cologne had been able to arrange transport, but only for the two of them. They would be forced to rely on one another instead of bringing along allies. Troublesome as the Nerima Wrecking Crew were, both boys knew that their associates were ready, willing, and able to go up against whatever needed a beating or three.
Then again, the idea of running around with all of those maniacs in a city filled with thugs with itchy trigger fingers and more firepower than the Japanese military just screamed Internation Incident to Ryouga. The few times he'd wandered through Roanapur on his way to Australia, he'd wisely decided to stay on the train instead of visiting the sights for the two hour delay.
Sometime later the pair finally arrived at the Tendou Dojo. Both boys sighed in relief. Rest. Relaxation. Free from the torment of the day.
Akane had cooked dinner.
It wasn't curry.
For a moment, Ryouga shared with his rival a look of panic. No longer in love with Akane, he could admit, to himself if not to her, that her cooking was terrible. It was with a grim smile that he watched Ranma sit down at the table and poke the "food" with his chopsticks.
She was calling it yakitori and wild rice. He saw no trace of the skewers and wouldn't have initially guessed that the brown sludge flecked with black resembled anything to come out of a rice cooker. She'd gotten a little better ever since she started to learn cooking from Mrs. Saotome, Ryouga noted, but still had a tendency to mess up if she wasn't concentrating.
She must have been distracted as hell to commit this culinary atrocity, he noted sadly. Next to the Lost Boy, Ranma gulped despite not yet consuming anything in front of him.
"Well?" Akane's vocalization was not a question, Ryouga mused idly. It was a naked threat of violence delivered in the form of a single word. He'd met megalomaniacal beings of unimaginable power who, at their best, sounded less menacing. With a sigh not unlike the sigh of someone marching to war, Ranma broke free a piece of the "yakitori" and brought it to his mouth, chewing it with noisy crunches.
Hoping to buy time, the blue-eyed youth reached into his mouth and extracted part of a skewer, which he placed delicately on his plate. He could have cried at the way Akane's eyes never left his face, never giving him the time to employ the Chardin method of eating.
The pigtailed boy tried to swallow but failed, as if his stomach sensed the approaching foreign invader and had become bound and determined not to suffer its presence. His blue eyes widened as Akane's hazel eyes narrowed. He knew what was coming.
Violence ensued.
Ranma, spared the greater pain, felt like weeping for joy as he covertly allowed the offending chunks of... Something... to dribble from his mouth, over the side of the porch.
"Ryouga, would you like to try some? I know you like my cooking." Akane's voice was airy, light, and care-free. Ryouga knew he was powerless before it. He felt like weeping: This feeling was not inspired by joy.
He knelt at the table, eyeing the food and wondering if perhaps the "rice" was the lesser of two evils. There were six more days to go before the portal would be ready.
A sad tear came to Ryouga's eye, though he lied and told Akane it was because of the hot sauce and wasabi she'd added to the rice.
oOo
The following days proved just as punishing. The second day it was Kodachi, attacking Ranma's girl form, instead of Mousse. The third day saw Shampoo doggedly pursuing Ranma across the Nerima skyline as the pair left school, the pigtailed boy unable to fully escape due to Ryouga's presence.
The fourth day saw them lost. Low on sleep thanks to a late night visit from Kodachi and a busy day at school thanks to Hinako-sensei's dogged determinate to teach, Ranma simply followed Ryouga on the way home. Ranma didn't think to question the direction or length of their travel until she looked up to find herself in the Tokyo Tower.
That sparked a lengthy brawl which saw the observation deck requiring several days of repair and several new windows. Ranma, in her anger, forgot they were bound together with magic and discovered right alongside Ryouga that the elevator, while slower, was still preferable to falling. Even after the fight had ended, Ryouga was certain Ranma didn't trust his cries that it wasn't his fault and noted that the pigtailed girl was far more cautious when they were traveling.
The fifth day proved nearly as exciting, with Tarou's visit as he searched for Happosai. Ranma was unable to keep himself from taunting the oddly-named young man, which provoked a fight which saw both Ranma and Ryouga battered and bruised, but victorious.
The sixth day proved quiet, though Ryouga noted this only seemed to make his rival even more high strung. After several days of following Ranma's footsteps, he could appreciate the sentiment. It was almost a relief after learning that Kunou was absent and Mousse was still injured that Happosai tried to raid the girls' locker rooms sometime after lunch. In light of their situation, pounding on the old pervert was especially cathartic.
That night, Cologne called the Tendo dojo and told them to be at her restaurant bright and early. She'd confirmed that the colleague was in Roanapur and they'd be leaving on a flight in the morning.
The seventh day saw the sun begin to rise in a cloudless sky. Ranma and Ryouga exchanged glances as they left the Tendou Dojo, long before even Kasumi awoke. Today was the day Cologne would have everything ready for them.
oOo
"Looks like the old prune hasn't opened up yet," Ranma noted. He approached the restaurant, Ryouga trailing a half-step behind.
"Probably doesn't get many customers at six in the morning," Ryouga commented dryly, pausing at the door. He finally pushed it open, allowing the duo to slip into the Cat Café.
"Good. You're here," Cologne noted, lifting her gaze from a dusty tome spread out on a table. She gestured with one hand towards a pair of chairs across the table from her. "Please, have a seat, boys."
The both sat down as Cologne pulled a sheaf of papers from under the book she was reading, eyeing them curiously as she slid a pile in front of each boy.
"It shouldn't surprise you that, given the training I've put the pair of you through, I have a vested interest in your well-being beyond Ranma marrying my great-granddaughter," Cologne said with a dry chuckle, raising her eye curiously at the disbelieving look on Ranma's face. "Please, son-in-law, did you really think I'd teach you the deepest secrets of Amazon lore just on the off-chance that you'd marry Shampoo? Don't take me for a fool."
"So why did you train us, Granny?" Ryouga wondered, folding his hands carefully in front of himself on the table. "I mean, I'm not objecting, but why bother?"
"Oh, part of it is a bet with an old friend in Roanapur," Cologne admitted. She tapped the documents in front of her. "Dear Bai Ji-Shin Chang has always maintained that that wretched little hive of villainy is the most exciting place in the world. I've told him I'd find better, and Nerima is certainly it. You two will probably be quite the surprise to him."
"That's not reassuring, old ghoul," Ranma said, crossing his arms as he eyed the old woman with a pointed glare. "Even my old man had the good sense to steer clear of that place, and I'm not exactly sure I want to go over there and 'surprise' someone. Surprises like ours would probably draw the attention of the Triads, or any of the other criminal groups I've heard about in that place."
"Who is this Chang guy, anyway?" Ryouga added, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, Chang's the head of the Triads in Hong Kong, but he bases his operations out of Roanapur because it's more fun for him," Cologne said casually, laughing as both boys went into shock. She slammed her staff over Ranma's head. "Don't worry about it, boy. You're a strong, fit martial artist in your prime! As long as you keep a cool head and are properly respectful, you'll do fine!"
"This guy keep a cool head?" Ranma demanded incredulously, jerking his thumb towards his unwanted partner.
"This jerk even knowing what respectful is?" Ryouga retorted with a shrill laugh.
"I'm quite sure you two will persevere in the face of adversity," Cologne said simply, prompting both boys to glance at one another with looks of dread. She tapped the documents in front of the boys, getting their attention. "Chang has graciously agreed to take care of your flight to Hong Kong, and a small plane will be waiting for you in Hong Kong to take you to Roanapur. Once there, you'll meet someone at the Yellow Flag, a quaint little café near the outskirts."
She glanced up at the clock.
"You boys had better hurry, your flight leaves in a couple of hours," Cologne noted, watching the boys rise. "Don't worry, those packages have all the information you need. Remember to be polite, keep control of your tempers, and above all show Chang the respect he deserves. I might have to have harsh words with him if he shoots you."
Pausing at the door as Ranma left the café, Ryouga turned to Cologne.
"Hey Granny, how do you have the pull to ask a Triad boss for favours?" Ryouga wondered, scratching his hair. "Everything else I get, but that part escapes me."
"Of course I can ask the boy for a favour every once in a while," Cologne said with a wide grin. "I don't think that dear boy would deny his great-aunt anything."
"Of course," Ryouga said bitterly, following his rival to the subway station.
oOo
Narita International Airport was an absolute mess as the two boys arrived, being stuffed with salarymen bound on flights all over the world. Between the customs agents warily eyeing Ryoug's ludicrously heavy umbrella and questioning Ranma having his 'sister's' passport, to the humiliating body search both boys underwent due to the bracers (which went strangely ignored by airport security), they made it onto their flight with only ten minutes to spare.
It was then they got their first pleasant surprise of the day as they were escorted to a pair of seats in first class. Mercifully, the flight left on time and thanks to only minor delays, they'd arrived in Hong Kong early in the afternoon.
It took them only twenty minutes to track down their pilot, who assured them that they didn't have to bother customs with their baggage, given their destination.
The plane he lead them to was significantly smaller than the one they'd taken from Narita to Hong Kong, being a two-propeller deal with eight luxurious seats in the back where once twenty cramped seats had been, with enough room to stand with slightly bent knees and a bowed head. Strapping in, the boys were subjected to yet more air-travel.
After a brief dinner in a small restaurant near the airport, they got in a taxi and asked to go to the Yellow Flag café, wondering about the loud laugh the driver bellowed as he tore down the road at reckless speeds.
As they pulled up to a place which was decidedly not a café, both boys got out of the cab and exchanged similar looks of dismay. The Yellow Flag was perhaps the shadiest bar either boy had ever seen, and between Ranma's dad and Ryouga's habitual wandering, they'd seen a fair amount.
A (hopefully) unconscious body flying through a plate glass window to land rough and unmoving on the dirt outside only added to the 'effect'.
After only a moment's more pause, they groaned in unison and entered.
oOo
It hadn't been a bad little fight, Revy mused to herself as she sipped her rum. Yeoung had chickened out a bit by pulling his pistol like that, but if Eddie was too slow to get the hell out of the way of the gunshot, it was his problem. The bastard was just lucky the bullet had only grazed his temple. If he'd been half a second slower, his brains would have been all over Bao's new window instead of his body crashing through it.
Thus thanks to Eddie's unwanted ejection, her eyes were on the entrance when the two Japanese kids came in. Travel-worn packs on their backs and a mixture of awe and suspicion Revy had come to associate with those new to the city marking their faces.
The first wore a bright red tangzhuang jacket on top of plain black slacks, his slippers well-worn with travel, which might have looked kinda cool on the brat if it weren't for the sissy pigtail he was wearing. The other boy wore a plain, roughcut yellow shirt with green pants and the ugliest pair of shoes she'd ever seen: She wasn't even sure what the hell those bindings were supposed to do. At least he didn't have long hair, though the bandana certainly stood out.
"Would you look at these two idiots!" Revy snorted, elbowing Rock. The man looked up from his beer, then followed Revy's gaze to the doorway, where the boys had started to move towards the bar. "I don't believe this shit! They're even worse than you were when you got here, Rock!"
"Revy, be nice," Rock groaned, taking a chug of his beer.
"Excuse me," the kid in the bandana asked in English, projecting his voice loud enough for Bao to hear. "Could you please tell me where we can find a Ms. Shenhua, please?"
Oh, this was too perfect!
"Yo, Chinglish!" Revy yelled, interrupting Bao and spinning in her seat to face the Taiwanese woman. Ignoring the startled looks on the boy's faces, she grinned at them. "Don't worry kids, she'll be right with you."
"What you want, bitch?" The woman in question called angrily from her table, sipping whatever piss-water it was she drank. She glared at the purple-haired gunslinger, wincing painfully as she shifted in her seat. "I waiting for guests."
"These two are your guests," Revy called out, jerking her thumb towards the boys in question. She laughed before adding, "What, are you starting a nursury now that everyone knows you can't fight?"
"Shut up now, twinkie!" Shenhua growled, standing slowly. She pointed at the two boys and started over to the bar. "They guests of Mr. Chang!"
"How's your back doing? I heard from the doc that Edda did quite the number on you, Chinglish," Revy added as the red-clad woman got to the bar. She leaned forward with a grin. "Didn't know you liked little boys, but if that's your thing..."
"Who you callin' a little boy, you clumsy tomboy?" The pigtailed boy muttered rather loudly. Given the horrified look on Bao's face, Revy could guess what her own looked like as she reached out to snatch the front of the boy's shirt.
"Revy," Rock tried, though she brushed his voice off like the non-concern it was.
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear that. Would you care to repeat it for me, little man?" Revy growled, her free hand going to the holstered pistol under her arm. The boy's hand grabbed the hand at his shirt and he flashed her the most arrogant look she'd ever seen.
"Why not?" He asked with a broad grin. He leaned in close, blue eyes shining. "You're a clumsy tomboy who probably couldn't catch a man with a tranquilizer rifle."
"Oh, shit!" Rock muttered, diving over the bar as Revy snatched the gun from her holster. As she did, the boy twisted her hand, freeing himself from her grasp and he moved.
Pistol leveled at the boy's face, she noticed that a lot of the bar's occupants had found cover. Most of them were now in the process of taking bets. Chinglish had very wisely grabbed the other idiot and dragged him away, leaving a nice, open area in the center of the bar for the two to settle their differences.
"Damn it, Revy! I told you, I like my bar the way it is! Don't destroy it this time!" Bao howled from behind the bar.
"Don't worry about it, Bao! I'll only be firing one shot!" Revy snarled, glaring at the boy in front of her. That damned smirk!
"Of course you're only going to be firing one shot!" The stupid bastard in front of her said, shrugging his shoulders. "That's all you're gonna get off before I take your stupid toy away from you."
Somewhere in the bar, a glass rolled from a table and crashed on the floor. At the sound, Revy fired.
oOo
Author's Notes:
My bad: Did I say a few days for the next chapter? Clearly I meant a few hours. I'm sure you guys don't mind. So, bets on whether Revy and Ranma will, in the future, continue to mix like oil and flames? Anyone?
Anyway, Ranma and Ryouga have met up with the Black Lagoon cast, including Shenhua (who'll take them to Chang, who'll take them to the person they need to speak with to figure out how to get rid of the bracers). The next chapter is going to be a mix of mostly-new stuff with a bit of exposition on the magical thingies keeping Ranma and Ryouga together lifted from various chapters of A Duet of Fists, beyond which this story is going to be all-new material.