RANMA 2/2
THE AVENGERS
I've got a bad feeling… Dunno what it's all about, but… I sense something's going to happen… Something bad !
Such was the thought of the black-haired pigtailed teenager as he hurried on the fence, once again late for school.
The also black-haired girl who usually shared his way to school was absent on that day, "courtesy" of a lingering cold that resisted more than the average cold.
But that also allowed the boy have a quiet walk – or, presently, run – to school, which rarely ever happened when he was in Akane's company : the two were now infamous for bickering as often as could be, going ballistic for this and that, criticizing the other for a reaction or comment they considered excessive – if not openly harsh - , complaining about each other's short-tempered nature and yadda yadda yadda.
Yet, despite their difficulty to get along (although it has slightly improved lately), Ranma still hoped that she wouldn't stay with that damn cold for too long.
Maybe I miss our little quarrels, eh eh…
But he got punished for this mischievous thought, as he put his right foot too close to the edge… and said foot slipped, provoking Ranma's fall forward.
Thankfully, the boy's reflexes had greatly developed in his martial art training : feeling he had missed his footing, he had anticipated his dropping and, as quick as lightning, had thrown one hand down to avoid the worst.
His palm slammed flat on the concrete, fingers all spread, but he could still use it to slightly bounce forth and land safely a little ahead… but with his hand hurting badly.
I hope I didn't break something in there…
Just as he got up, he heard a sound, turned to the right, saw the old lady put her wooden ladle into the water bucket and…
… the pigtailed boy managed to jump away just when she started her large circular motion to splash water on the street, in front of her !
"That was a close one !" he said aloud, and wondered if that was the unfortunate event his sixth sense had warned him against, a few minutes before.
Because if that was the case, there was really nothing to worry about…
(…)
Since the weather was still clement that morning (weather forecast had mentioned probable rain during the second half of the afternoon), the P.E. lesson took place outside and was devoted to relay race.
Ranma did pretty good, his team missing the first place by only a few seconds. But he was the one who ran the fastest and temporarily gave advantage to his group. If the latter hadn't won, he could nevertheless be proud of his own performance.
He grabbed his flask and drank more than half of its content, then headed for the faucets located near the entrance to the running field.
"Hey Man ! Good race, really !"
The young martial artist turned to smile at the brown-haired boy who had just caught up with him on the left.
"Thanks ! You weren't too bad yourself, Daisuke !"
"Ah ah, that's our Ranma : always a witty remark ready !" quipped the curly-haired teenager that had arrived on the right side.
"What wouldn't I do to make you smile or laugh, right, Hiroshi ?"
Both friends of the pigtailed boy guffawed and continue to walk by his sides, making it seem like they were escorting him to the watering place.
As they arrived there, two of their classmates, the most boisterous of their class, were messing around with water, one of them notably putting his palm under the far-left faucet's mouth to create a splash of water that he then directed at his buddy, who did the same with the neighbouring faucet.
Woopsy, bad idea to go there now ! Those dudes might end up turning me into my female self…
"Those numbskulls could turn your hair from black to red, Ranma..." remarked Daisuke, as if he had read his mind. "So we'd better use the last faucets, on the right. Either that or wait till those jerks are gone."
"Mmmmh… I don't feel like waiting. Let's go to the far right then !" the young martial artist replied.
They hurried past the two troublemakers, but no matter how fast they walked, that wasn't enough : water took the wrong direction at the wrong time and splashed…
…the t-shirt of Ranma, fortunately not his head ! But that had been a close one… the second "close one" of the day, after the episode of the old lady !
"DAMN !" he exclaimed, quickly backing away from the dangerous spot, before yelling :
"Dammit, guys ! Stop that ! You almost got me !"
The cheekiest of the terrible duo chuckled.
"Oh, come on, Saotome, relax ! It's only water, alright !"
Ranma kept frowning nevertheless.
"Only" water, yes… harmless for you, harmful for me.
"Yeah, and after such a race, water is more than welcome, no ?" added his "partner in crime".
The pigtailed teenager scowled.
"It's welcome, yes, but in my throat, not on my t-shirt or my head !"
Especially not on my head…..
(…)
During the one-to-last lesson, the sky opened its locks and countless drops filled the air of Nerima.
That brought several relieved comments, mostly of female students, about how happy they were for remembering to take an umbrella that day.
Ranma, as for him, had once again forgotten… and since Akane (who rarely forgot) wasn't there to offer him a spot under her umbrella, it certainly didn't look too good for him.
Damn ! I managed to avoid my transformation twice today… but third time's the charm, eh !
He knew he could run with his head protected by his schoolbag… but deep inside, he was sure that something would happen that would take the schoolbag away, expose him to the rain… and have him become that well-endowed chick once again !
And the bad feeling he had that morning would then be confirmed, with another stroke of bad luck triggering his transformation for the umpteenth time.
He decided to remain at school for some time, hoping the rain would finally give them all a break, and that's why, after following the human flow towards the main entrance, he then changed direction, heading for the right path that led to the school library.
"Hey Man ! Where ya going ?" asked Daisuke, who had stopped short before the big doors leading the students to freedom.
"Well, it's raining, so…"
"Ah yes, I see !"
But that's when a female voice, catching the boys' attention, announced from the open door of the entrance :
"It's stopped raining ! Yay !"
Daisuke, now joined by Hiroshi, turned back to Ranma and smirked.
"Looks like you're saved and won't need to spend time in there… right, bookworm ?"
He concluded with a knowing wink that made Hiroshi laugh up his sleeve… given that both of them were well aware that their Chinese-clad friend wasn't fond at reading, if not for a rare comic here and there.
Ranma rolled his eyes and backtracked to the exit, then walked part of the way home with his buddies, saying goodbye at the fourth crossroad.
The blue-eyed boy continued in direction of the park under the grey cover of rain clouds, temporarily "silenced".
As he walked, he couldn't help thinking that he had been pretty fortunate that day.
I could have turned into a girl no less than 3 times today… and yet, I never did ! I rarely get so lucky when it comes to switching gender. Maybe that bad feeling of the morning was about being in danger of changing several times today… but in the end, it didn't happen ! As if someone or something had been protecting me.
The park was quiet, with close to no soul around, and he enjoyed that calm, all the more since he wasn't used to be that relaxed on his way to or back from school, either quarrelling with Akane… or being upset after quarrelling with Akane.
It was a peaceful atmosphere, that evening, as he nonchalantly walked among trees.
Away from stress… away from problems… away from –
"Ranma Saotome ?"
The concerned party immediately stopped and narrowed his eyes.
There, on the top of the park fountain, a stranger was crouching, dressed in what seemed to be a red and black armor, a two-tone cape of identical colours hanging behind (red inside, black outside). His long hair consisted in an alternation of black and grey locks that framed an attractive face : long narrow ruby eyes – is it me or are they slant eyes ? wondered our hero -, a thin and slightly long nose, a somewhat long mouth as well, with thin lips… but not too thin that they might give the man a "cruel" aspect, as they say, and finally a small round chin.
It was a human being, no doubt… and yet… yet… at the same time, he seemed non-human. Like an alien, or maybe a former person altered by some mysterious spell or accident, and now only partly human.
"Who are you ? and what do you want with me ?" asked the young fighter, instantly on the defensive.
The stranger snorted, observing his target with an amused look… but not the good kind of amusement.
"Tss tss… Why be so suspicious at once, mmmmh ? Or is it already hostility that I sense ?"
His voice was gentle, smooth, almost spellbinding.
"You didn't answer my questions !" pointed out the pigtailed boy, his eyes narrowed at that foreigner who, God knows how… and why, knew his identity and was obviously looking for him… for God knows what reason(s).
"Uh uh, relax, Ranma, relax... Let's not start off the wrong foot, right ? Since you absolutely want to know my name, here it is : Os. And regarding the motive of my presence here… well…"
His smirked grew wider, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
"It turns out that two friends of mine had the misfortune to come across you… and quite regrettably, you had to win the fight that opposed you to them. So, as you now probably guess…"
His thin lips parted, revealing greyish teeth that included… two fangs. It could have appeared as a kind of smile, hadn't it been somewhat twisted (in all meanings of this word).
"… I'm here to right the wrong and avenge them. But before you start imagining the worse, I'm not here to kill you, but to make your life way more complicated than it already is. At first. Because there something else, something more serious coming later… yet I'm not gonna spoil a surprise, especially a bad one, isn't it ?"
His tone dripped with irony and implied threat, with a make-believe of politeness that couldn't really hide his slight contempt at that young red-clad teenager across from him.
"Don't ever think I'll let you do… whatever you have in mind ! I'm not one to mess up with !" warned Ranma.
Os raised his chin and sneered.
"Neither am I, my dear Ranma, neither am I. But, tell me, aren't you curious to find out who my two friends are, mmmmh ?"
"Who ?"asked the pigtailed fighter, feeling he was slowly losing patience at the disdainful attitude of his adversary.
"One is a very good friend of mine, the other is my best friend. Their respective names are… Saffron and Herb. Remember them ?"
"WHAT ?!"
Of course he remembered. How could he forget ?
Saffron was a very powerful adversary who had almost killed Akane by desiccation, as she was risking her life to help Ranma (and, unbeknownst to her, actually sacrificing herself… but shortly avoiding her demise). He had also been responsible for Shampoo's hypnosis and her almost killing the one she was normally infatuated with.
As for Herb… stricken with a similar curse to Ranma's, that mighty opponent had locked the pigtailed one in his female form, for many days, and endangered the gender-switcher's life, as well as Ryoga's and Mousse's. The blue-eyed fighter and his friends – well, "friends"… only on that occasion, because all three were aiming at a common goal – had been engaged in a race against the clock to find an artefact that allowed to restore one's original body.
Two very unpleasant guys… but alas also very talented in the fighting field, possessing incredible powers and resources.
Ranma could never forget the amount of efforts it had taken him to defeat each of them, but he also had resources after all, and had been able to understand their foes' techniques, including their Achille's heels, in order to eventually get the upper hand over them.
So his victories were due to his perseverance and talent, yes… but also partly to luck. Because he could easily have lost as well.
And that, he also would never forget.
"Lost in thought, son ?" ironically asked Os.
Ranma, who had indeed been thoughtful, remembering about the two battles against Saffron and Herb, focused back on his current opponent.
"Whatever. So you're here to avenge those dudes ? Like they can't come round and do it in person ? Or maybe they're afraid of losing again, uh ?"
Os's eyebrows lowered imperceptibly while his lips stiffened almost unnoticed.
"That's a sharp tongue you have, but we'll see how longue it will remain sharp. En garde, Ranma Saotome !"
The latest incarnation of Anything Goes Martial Arts took a defensive stance, since his enemy was clearly willing to attack… but even alert as he was, Os moved so quickly that he had barely the time to counter the incoming blow, a powerful quick that aimed at Ranma's side.
The man with two-coloured hair dropped to the cold ground and, as he reached it, his right leg moved extremely rapidly and properly "mowed" the Chinese-clad teenager.
Os got up in the blink of an eye, crossed his arms and smirked scornfully at his adversary, now in sitting position on the ground.
"What ? Already tired, little boy ?"
An enraged Ranma leapt up, teeth and fists clenched hard.
"Stop putting me down, bloody lout !" he demanded, all patience now lost for good.
"Lout ? Now that's some word ! You're not the peasant I thought you were… or at least, you don't seem to be…"
He winked in a provoking way, increasing his offense and thus fuelling Ranma's wrath.
The black-haired youth launched himself at the armored foe, casting punches and kicks non-stop, all of which were avoided or blocked, with Os eventually catching Ranma's fist in his open hand and squeezing mercilessly.
It normally wouldn't have been that painful, since Os didn't put excessive strength in it… but alas, the hand that was being squeezed gradually was the one that had been somewhat injured that morning, when Ranma had landed hard on the concrete, after falling from the fence he was running on. And that made said hand all the more sensitive, and therefore fragile.
Ranma winced at first, then started shouting.
The ruby eyes narrowed while the smirk grew wider.
"Poor fool…" spat the powerful antagonist as he released the sore hand.
That ignited a new fire in the pigtailed fighter, who moved faster than his enemy had expected and managed to place a kick on his chest… but unfortunately, the red and black armor reduced most of the blow's strength and barely hurt Os.
"Ouch…" said the latter in a neutral voice, mocking his opponent once again. "My turn now."
His right hand got engulfed in a kind of green flame and he jumped forward, trying to reach Ranma, who dodged the best he could… but alas didn't perceive the stealth kick delivered with the left leg, focused as he was on the right arm.
Briefly distracted, he lost his balance, and that was all Os needed : the green fist collided with the boy's belly, sending the young Saotome to the ground.
But it's when he tried to get back up that he understood what that mysterious power was, what that green flame had done to him : he was all dizzy and felt nauseous.
The world was pitching, like the rolling of a ship on the wild wild sea*, making the blue-eyed boy sway as he desperately attempted to remain on his feet.
* This is a wink of mine to an eponymous song of Sting, from THE SOUL CAGES, my fav' album by him. The lyrics are very mysterious… go read them someday.
Ranma looked around, seeing his surroundings dance weirdly under his gaze, and tried to locate something he could cling to, in order to avoid his fall.
There was a bench there, not that far. Perhaps he could…
He took a step… another one…
But the messy movement of the landscape was too intense, his loss of bearings too serious : he collapsed again.
"Eh eh eh, don't worry, it's only temporary. But like that, you'll have an idea of what my power amounts to. And still, that was only a small sample of it, not more. You don't stand a chance, little boy, so give up now and face your fate bravely, without making more fuss."
"NEVER !" Ranma managed to scream, despite his dizziness.
"Why do those humans have to be so unreasonable…?" sighed Os before launching a new attack.
This time, he summoned and cast red energy orbs around which tiny blue waves were constantly revolving.
Despite his current condition, the martial artist managed to avoid almost all of them… but the last, and he felt a terrible surge of power flowing into him, making yell.
The sensation was close to an electric shock, but with sharper pain for the victim.
But that intense pain had an unexpected effect : the dizzy spell began to decrease, and as Ranma resumed battling, the best he could, he realized he was feeling much better.
"I shouldn't have done that, since an acute pain sort of "shakes up" the body and cancels the effect of previous attack, that dizziness you experienced. My bad." explained Os. "I rarely makes errors… but anyway, they're always corrected quickly !"
His return to form boosted Ranma's determination and he finally managed to land a successful whirling kick right into the side of Os's head.
More surprised than sore, the contemptuous foe looked at his adversary in a new way… at least for a moment.
"You're tougher than several of my previous enemies, no doubt. But don't claim victory for all that, boy, because I have more than one trick up my sleeve !"
He cast his arms forth and crimson ribbon-like shapes emerged from them and darted at the young Saotome, who jumped back just in time, and had to keep jumping to avoid getting caught. Yet those things followed him like some homing device, and no matter how deftly he avoided them, they kept turning back to him and fly forth.
At some point, too focused on those moving shapes and not enough on his surroundings, he almost fell into the fountain.
Fourth time I avoid becoming a girl. Looks like something or someone doesn't want me to…
Os was now back up and watching the scene with another one of his scoffing smirks.
Ranma alas ended up getting caught and the "ribbon" that had wrapped around his throat gradually tightened, slowly but surely hindering his breathing.
"Nah nah nah, don't be so stubborn, kid. Just admit your defeat and let me obediently cast that curse on you. After which your life can start to worsen on and on. But I really would like you to voice your failure out loud, something very simple will do, like : "I give up" or "I can't win", or perhaps "You're too strong for me". Yes, that last one would be perfect, don't you think ?"
For the second time, he winked at his subdued opponent, in the most irritating way.
"No…way… forget… it…" Ranma managed to choke out as the crimson binding kept applying increasing pressure to his throat, drastically reducing the airflow and therefore the speaking ability.
Os closed his eyes and shook his head, still smiling nastily.
"As I said : unreasonable humans. Anyway… I can't kill you, or at least not yet, since I intend to make your existence a… living hell, so to speak. Besides, I'd like to continue that battle, as you're my most interesting sparring partner in a long time."
The ribbons got loose and turned translucent, before vanishing for good.
"I'm NOT… your sparring… partner…" Ranma uttered with difficulty, his throat still oppressed from the pressure and making his speech kinda laborious.
He jumped to his feet and used the Kashu Tenshin Amaguriken – the "chestnuts technique" – on that irritating antagonist, hoping that the speed and number of his punches would allow him to land a few good ones.
He did hit his foe three times, the latter getting upset from the boy's success and casting a single energy orb at him… but a bigger one.
Ranma didn't have enough time to avoid that one and experienced the same acute pain as before, his legs immediately buckling under him and making him crash right in front of the powerful assailant.
"Give up and admit your defeat, young one. It'll spare us time."
"Not on my watch !"
Os then chuckled and looked away, amused…
…then he caught sight of something interesting behind Ranma, and the latter exploited this brief moment of distraction : quick as lightening, he got into action, his palms connecting to the ground, his legs folding, his arms pushing on the palms and projecting his body upward, legs unfolding and feet hitting Os's chin hard !
The evil one stumbled backwards and collapsed, the cursed one rushing at him to pummel him.
Os tried to get up, but a very swift whirling kick sent his body back on the ground.
Blood was now dripping from the corner of Os's mouth, which he wiped away, glaring at the gender-switcher, teeth clenched.
"No longer playing the smartass, eh ? No ironic remark this time, right ?" Ranma took pleasure saying, as he had finally managed to silence that smooth-voiced mocking loudmouth.
But then the foe's expression changed : the clenched teeth remained, but the angry scowl was replaced by an evil grin of triumph that took the martial artist by surprise.
But why is he suddenly –
A terrible shock on Ranma's right ear interrupted his train of thought and threw him to the side, as a tidal wave of suffering submerged his brain.
There was like a whistle in his ear, and the sounds he perceived were muffled.
Slowly rolling to the side, he caught side of his surreptitious assailant : a woman strangely resembling Os, same alternation of grey and black strands of hair, same features, also wearing an armor… but with two notable differences : her eyes were emerald green and her armour was black and dark green. The cape she wore had identical colours : dark green inside, black outside.
"I see I once again arrive just in time to save your ass, Os !" the newcomer derisively remarked.
The recipient of that mocking observation slowly stood back up.
"You exaggerate, Kay. I wasn't in such a bad position. But if I always avoid his blows, the kid will lose courage and get dejected… so I felt merciful and let him hit me a bit."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever…"
Both turned to Ranma, whose was still lying on his side, blood pumping hard in his ear, in which all sounds still arrived muffled.
Then they walked to him and stopped close to his feet… but not too close, one never knew.
"My dear Ranma, let me introduce you to my sister Kay. Kay, here's the young human who managed to beat Saffron and Herb !" announced Os.
Her cold stare lingered on the defenseless teenager.
"That… weakling is the one who defeated our friends ? Really ? Are you sure you didn't mess up and made a confusion, Brother ? He doesn't look impressive at all…"
"Well I am !" exclaimed the offended martial artist as he rushed to get back up and leaped forward, ignoring the pain pulsing at the right side of his head, his sudden fury temporarily distracting him.
"Wanna play again ?" teased Kay as she unexpectedly dropped right before him and sent a fist encased in blue right into the unprotected belly, casting the gender-switcher backwards in a flash.
Ranma fought to get back to his feet… but more than the pain of the blow, it was the sensation now developing in his midsection that troubled him.
An icy sensation.
"What… what the hell…?" he stammered, but as he tried to put a knee to the ground and push himself back up from there, the freezing feeling suddenly expanded to his chest and in direction of his legs.
"Dammit…" he grumbled before wobbling and finally crashing back on the same spot he had rose from.
The woman's eyes narrowed as her lips stretched in the most unpleasant rictus.
"Feeling a tad cold, Sweety ? I would gladly warm you up in my snaky embrace… but I do that only with those that are stronger than me, not the weaklings…"
A roar of fury welcomed that nasty remark… but the livid teenager was still unable to return to the fight, the glacial web still woven all over his torso, abdomen and the upper part of his legs, rendering him powerless for the moment.
"Poor human… if Herb and Saffron could see you…" mocked Os before lightly fleering.
"Alright, enough time wasted, Brother. Curse him now and let's get the hell out of here !" instructed Kay.
"How impatient you can get, Sister…! Okay, here comes Santa Claus with a special gift for you, my little Ranma !"
Os opened a tiny pouch that our hero hadn't noticed earlier, slightly hidden as it was, next to the right hip. Out of it appeared a vial containing a dark liquid.
As the male half of the hellish siblings kneeled by Ranma's side and brought his hand closer, the colour of the mysterious liquid proved to be purple… but the darkest purple the freezing victim had ever seen !
Guessing what Os was about to do, Ranma tried to wriggle… but his body wouldn't obey, completely numb as it had become.
I can't move ! I can't do a thing ! My body is freezing and I can't do anything at all !
Os opened the vial and took it to Ranma's lips… but the immobilized young man could at least still control his face, and he kept his lips sealed.
"Tsss, tsss… you really think that will stop us, Kid ?" Kay asked in the kind of slow, gentle voice that one uses when addressing a very young child.
She kneeled at the top of Ranma's head, then put her knees on either temple and squeezed hard.
Then she pinched his nose just as hard… not that strength was really necessary, but she felt like hurting him for being so tough, for defeating the siblings' friends - Herb and Saffron – and finally, last but certainly not least, for spilling her dear brother's blood* earlier.
* After writing this, I was reminded of Brother Blood, the main antagonist of Teen Titans in season 3 of that show. He was in one of my TT stories titled RavInX, btw. Any TT fans round here, guys ?
Since Ranma could no longer breath through the nose, he would be forced to open his mouth at some point, no matter how long he would try to resist… and Os was just waiting for this, the vial open and only millimetres away from his lips, a nasty smirk coupled with an evil glint in his eyes showing his perverse pleasure.
At last, the pigtailed teenager had to surrender and quickly opened his mouth, intending to only briefly keep it open, time to draw in a bit of air and swiftly closed it again… but alas, Os was too prompt and managed to insert the small glass container between the teeth of the helpless young man.
What then happened beggared belief : the strange dark purple liquid exited the vial by itself, as if it was a kind of micro-organism moving around, and quickly flowed backwards on Ranma's tongue then down his throat.
He had swallowed that liquid against his will… or rather, it was the liquid that had forced its way inside the boy !
"WHAT WAS IT ?! WHAT DID YOU GIVE ME FOR A POISON ?!" yelled the blue-eyed fighter.
"Oh, you'll get it soon enough…" dismissed Kay, as she put a hand in the middle of Ranma's torso.
And quite surprisingly, the icy sensation began to diminish, to withdraw from the victim's organism.
Os and Kay stood up straight, smug smirks showing their content at the conclusion.
"Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, my dear Ranma, but now that we've done what we had come for, there's no need for us to stay around. But we'll meet again someday, be sure of that…" the brother said.
"And until that happens, get ready to have even more trouble than usual, Kid. You'll pay for what you did to our friends !" the sister said.
Both sniggered… and in a whirl of their capes, they were gone.
Ranma waited about 20 minutes more, until he felt that the freezing feeling had totally left, and only then he stood back up – not without some difficulty though – and started the long walk home.
As he progressed towards the Tendo residence, his mind was busy with only 3 questions :
What was it they gave me ?
What will be its effect(s) ?
How exactly will my life become more troublesome ? (Or put differently : How exactly do they plan to avenge Herb and Saffron ?)
(…)
"Are you sure you feel okay ?" asked Akane, for at least the 5th time that evening.
"Since I tell you I do ! Stop asking me again and again ! It's getting annoying !" Ranma retorted.
"Mmmmpf ! Sorry for worrying for you, ungrateful boy !"
"It's not what I meant ! But hearing always the same thing on and –"
"I'm WORRIED, Ranma !"she cut him. "Can you understand that ? WORRIED !"
"Okay, okay, got it ! No need to get all fussy about it !"
"I wouldn't if you hadn't been so sharp about my asking you how you felt !"
"But you already asked me 3 or 4 times before !"
"Right, right, I won't anymore, alright ?! As long as you're sure you're okay. Although I guess I shouldn't worry so much for... hum, for you.
He raised a brow.
"What were you about to say ?"
"Nothing. Now eat and get some rest."
There was a lull…
… and then, Kasumi voiced her concern :
"But they only wanted to fight and defeat you ? No more than that ?"
"No more than that. I guess their defeating me was enough to satisfy them and make them consider they had successfully avenged Herb and Saffron.
In fact, Ranma had indeed told the whole family about his encounter with the hellish siblings, describing the complete fight… but not mentioning the vial and the absorbed liquid. And why ? Because, for some reason, he didn't want to tell them. Didn't want them to worry even more about him, about what might happen to him after swallowing that unknown purple liquid. If Akane asked him 4-5 times how if felt without him telling her about that last incident, imagine how many times she would have asked him, had she known about the liquid. How much she would have worried sick over him, even despite their regular squabbles.
"They could have thrown you a curse or hurt you far more, Ranma-kun. Kinda strange they didn't do more to get their revenge…" pertinently remarked the always sharper Nabiki (clearly the brainiest and most perceptive member of the Tendo family).
"Yeah, well… I guess I can consider myself lucky in this respect, eh !" he replied on a tone he wanted as convincing as possible, as he was willing to avoid his future sister-in-law dig deeper and manage to find out about his being "infected" by some mysterious potion.
Coz if she did, they'd all be constantly asking him how he was, if he felt different, if he experienced any pain, and so on.
"Lucky you, yes…" replied the second daughter, her eyes still imperceptibly narrowing.
Ranma noticed her somewhat unconvinced tone… and even noticed the slight narrowing of her eyes.
Why doesn't she buy it ? Why is she suspicious ?
But he didn't utter anything else and focused on his food. He actually felt hungrier than usual, that evening… and even noticeably hungrier, which the other remarked but ascribed to the amount of efforts made during the battle.
(…)
The blue eyes were staring at the ceiling, the Sandman obviously being late for the pigtailed boy that night… if he ever came at all, that is.
The loud snoring by the boy's side could easily have been the cause of his current sleep-challenged situation, yet it wasn't.
What on the other hand was consisted in a pack of 3 questions, the very same he had been asking himself on the way back home : what was that strange purple substance he had ingested ? What effect(s) would it have on his body ? How would it make his life much more complicated ?
Not knowing the answers to those three crucial questions was not only frustrating : it was also worrying. Because… what if the effects endangered his health ? Or even his life ?
How can I sleep without being aware of what awaits me ?
That's true, how could he… and yet, after 2 hours of tossing, turning and wondering, his body still decided to give up and "pull the plug".
The Sandman had taken his time, but had eventually shown up.
But the question he had asked himself still remained : what awaited him…?
(…)
(…)
Lil' Swiss is back with a third RANMA ½ story. This one will be more adventure-oriented… with humor peppered here and there. There will probably be emotional or sad moments again, but less than in my previous fic's.
About those siblings, you may have found the name Os a bit… off, no ? I had other plans at first, for their names, and then I recalled that the pair was going to make Ranma's life somewhat chaotic, in an attempt to avenge their once beaten friends. So if a form of CHAOS is about to appear because of those siblings, then why not name them… KAY - OS ? ;)
Regarding Ranma avoiding no less than 4 times his transformation into girl : the appearance of the redhead in this fic' will take place under a specific condition, and not just the usual way (with cold water). You'll get why (hopefully ^^) in next chappy.
That chapter ended up being way longer than I thought… :O …but I do hope you enjoyed it. And I don't know at what rate I'll be able to update, but I'll do my best to write regularly.
Oh, and I already said this in my previous stories, but for those who haven't read them : my mother tongue is French, not English, so I'm less fluent in expressing myself in your language, Folxxxx, hence mistakes in syntax or grammar, or expressions/words used. I'll make as many efforts as possible, but should you review, please keep in mind that I'm less "at ease" than you in English and comment in consequence (i.e. no flaming or harsh criticism). Be merciful and forgiving, please. I know I would if a native English speaker did his best at writing a French story. And if you don't like this fic… just don't review it. ;)
That's all for now, thanxxxx for reading, following, favoriting, reviewing this story ! Your support fuels my motivation.
Take care, be happy !
* Léo *