Here's a revised version of part 3 that I'm posting to the RAAC, since
they seem to have lost the original cut. Explanations as to why I did so
will be given at the end. In the meantime, enjoy the new version.
Stoner 3:17 Presents
Double or Nothing
A "Ranma 1/2" Fanfiction Series
Written by Jeremy Mullin (stoner317@hotmail.com)
"Ranma 1/2" characters and situations created by Rumiko
Takahashi. All rights reserved, used without permission. Please don't
sue, I have no money.
Part 3: Welcome Home! (I Think...)
"Awright, twerp, you know the drill! Hand over all yer money or
we pound ya!"
Hikaru Gosunkugi figured that he had to be cursed by the gods.
Otherwise he wouldn't be in such an all-too-familiar situation again:
backed into an alley by a bunch of thugs who wanted his money. And
it was his 'favorite' bunch, too, the ones in the animal masks. And he
without his voodoo hammer and nail, since that was the only way he
could be allowed back into the library.
"C'mon, Ghost-boy!" the apparent leader in the cat mask sneered.
"Fork it over, or else!"
"Or else what?" a new voice replied from the opening at the alley.
Gosunkugi and his assailants all turned to see someone standing there,
leaning against the wall in a rather relaxed pose. He was mostly hidden
by the shadows, almost totally obscuring his features, but they could
tell that he was fairly lean and muscular.
Maybe it was the guy's voice, but for some reason, Gosunkugi
thought he seemed... familiar.
"I don't mean to butt in," the guy continued, "but five jerks in masks
picking on one little guy? That just doesn't seem fair, you know?"
"Hey, pal!" the leader in the dog mask yelled in annoyance. "This
here's a private matter! So take a hike!"
The newcomer seemed amused. He was probably even smirking.
"And if I say no?"
"Then we'll make ya sorry!" the horse-masked one replied. "We're
the toughest gang around in this neighborhood! Nobody messes with
us!"
"A bunch of idiots wearing stupid masks and picking on skinny little
guys who have little-to-no chance of defending themselves..." The
newcomer shook his head and snickered. "Oh, yeah. You guys are real
tough."
"That's it!" the leader snarled. Fed up, he turned to his dog-faced
companion. "Get rid of this guy, will ya? He's gettin' on my nerves!"
"You got it!" the other replied, and went charging to the entrance of
the alley, his arm pulled back to throw a punch...
Only to be sent flying back to his friends by a well-placed kick. He
crashed into a bunch of garbage cans and stopped moving. The rest of
the gang was shocked by what happened, turning their gazes back and
forth between their fallen comrade and the guy who took him down.
"Did you see that?!"
"He can't do that to us!"
"This guy's askin' for it!"
"C'mon, let's get 'im!"
Gosunkugi watched as the remaining punks went charging to the
head of the alley. Fifteen seconds later, they all laid strewn about the
alley, groaning in various states of pain. Their would-be 'victim' was
dusting himself off, not even having broken a sweat. Martial artists
were usually like that.
"Seesh, that was pointless," he snorted. He then turned to
Gosunkugi, stepping forward out of the shadows. "Hey, buddy, you
okay?"
The zombie-palored boy shook out of his surprised state to nod in
reply. "Y-yeah, I'm alri--" His eyes suddenly widened with shock as
he finally saw his rescuer. "YOU?!"
The other young man was startled by the outburst. "Me? Do I know
you?" Before Gosunkugi could reply, his rescuer just shook his head
and waved his hand. "Ah, never mind. I gotta get going. There's some
place I gotta be. See you around, okay?"
With that, he dashed out of the alley, not even stopping as he
grabbed the bag he had left lying at the entrance. He then turned a
corner and vanished from sight.
Gosunkugi continued to stand where he was in shock, not even
hearing the moans from his would-be attackers. He couldn't believe it.
It couldn't, no, it *shouldn't* have been him. It was impossible. He
was gone, run off without a word, finally driven out of Nerima, never
to return. Yet, a face, a voice like that was never easily forgotten.
Different kind of clothes, hair worn differently, yet the *person* was
still the same.
There was no denying it. After three months, *he* was back.
And that meant one thing...
"I have to warn Akane!" Gosunkugi cried, and ran out of the alley to
go find a phone.
* * *
"*Ah... a*choo!*" The sudden sneeze brought Akane to a halt as
she was beginning to perform an offensive combo.
"Hey, Akane, you all right?" Ranko asked with some concern. The
two girls were in the backyard sparring, Akane in her usual yellow gi
and Ranko in her new usual outfit, one of her old Chinese-style shirts
tied at the waist with a white sash (the closest she'd ever get to wearing
an actual dress(1)), worn with black leggings, leg warmers the same
blue as her shirt, and her old black arm bracers. "Cause if you're
catching a cold, I don't want it," she added with a grin, backing away a
little.
Akane turned to glare at the red-haired girl. "I'm fine, Ranko!" she
snapped. "I just sneezed, okay?! We *are* outside, you know?!"
"Okay! Okay!" Ranko grinned as she held up her hands in a gesture
of peace. "Chill out, Akane, I was just messing with you! Sheesh!"
Akane just snorted in response, adjusting her gi top. In truth, she
didn't know why she had sneezed, as it wasn't that windy outside to
pick up dust or flower pollen. She wondered if someone had been
thinking about her. There was definitely a long list of suspects for that
position, though one face in particular come to mind...
And he looked a lot like the girl who nearly took her head off with a
sudden roundhouse kick that Akane just barely ducked in time.
"Hey! I wasn't ready!" she cried out in protest, glaring at her
partner.
Ranko just shrugged, brushing the waist-length braid that she had
grown her pig-tail into back over her shoulder. Inside the house, the
phone had begun to ring. "Well, you should know by now that an
enemy like Shampoo or Kodachi isn't going to wait for you to be ready.
Being distracted like that'll cost you. Big time."
Akane just fumed as she glared at the red-head. What made
Ranko's point worse was that she was right. Before she could reply or
make an attempt for some kind of payback, Kasumi appeared on the
verandah. "Akane! You have a phone call!"
"Take a message! I'm busy!" the younger Tendo called back as she
and Ranko got ready to resume sparring.
Kasumi, however, replied, "It's that Gosunkugi boy, Akane. He said
he has to talk to you right away. He sounds very worried, Akane."
There was a slight hint in the older girl's voice that said that Akane
would take the call, no argument.
Akane let out a sigh of despair at the news, obviously not very
happy. "I'll be right back," she said to Ranko, then turned and walked
into the house. A moment later, she could be heard yelling out,
"*QUIT CALLING ME, YOU LITTLE CREEP!!!*" The sound of the
phone being slammed back down on its cradle followed, causing Ranko
to smirk and wince.
"Akane! That wasn't very nice!" Kasumi cried scoldingly as she
followed her little sister back into the house. Inside, they began to have
a little 'discussion' about Akane's phone etiquette.
Ranko chuckled as she stood in the yard, beginning a kata while
waiting for Akane to return so they could continue their sparring
session, the latest of many that they had had over the summer. After
Ranma had left, Akane began training harder to try and learn some self-
control, and wound up becoming Ranko's regular sparring partner, and
was able to improve her own abilities while helping Ranko regain her's.
It took awhile for Ranko to actually spar with Akane, as she had still
been in her old attitude about not fighting with girls, but time and a few
smacks on the head caused the red-head to change her attitude.
Surprisingly, it didn't really take long for Ranko to relearn the
basics, since they were kind of still there but with only a year's worth of
experience behind them. Plus, Ranko was a fast learner, when it came
to martial arts, anyway. The only real problem they'd had, aside from
Kuno bothering them constantly, was Nodoka. She had been totally
against the idea of her daughter having any martial arts ability and
interfered whenever she could. She wanted Ranko to act like the
daughter that she had always envisioned, a demure and polite young
lady who didn't have her father's influence to "corrupt her" and no
martial arts training at all. This led to several heated discussions
between Nodoka and Ranko, who wanted to live her own life and not
forget who she was in case she managed to regain her manhood.
Eventually, Nodoka relented, convinced that it was Ranko's life and
not even she could raise a daughter to be a perfect lady, especially not
one named Ranko(2), and had to settle with having a daughter who was
something of a tomboy. She allowed Ranko to continue training, but
only if she'd be allowed to give some training of her own to teach her
daughter how to at least act *somewhat* feminine so that it would look
like she was raised by her mother. They even went as far as to go back
to the Saotomes' old neighborhood, where they stayed with a friend of
Nodoka's who happened to be a martial artist and helped train Ranko in
regaining her fighting abilities, which made sense since she would have
learned a different style. The only real difference was that the training
was rather light compared to what she used to do, as Ranko probably
wouldn't have trained as hard as Ranma had due to Nodoka's influence.
Still, she was able to do enough so that she was on equal footing with
some of the others. They came back after about about a month when
Ranko was able to act and look feminine enough for Nodoka's
satisfaction. She was basically almost the same, but was now a girl
who fit the story that they had come up with.
All that was left to do now was to successfully pull the whole thing
off and fool certain parties. Easier said than done, as far as Ranko was
concerned.
Ranko continued to go through her kata while Akane was still
'talking' with Kasumi inside when her danger sense suddenly flared up.
Someone was sneaking around the dojo, a strong someone with a
strong aura and possibly some not-so-good intentions, as well. As she
fell into a battle-ready stance, she tried to figure out who it could be. It
couldn't be Cologne; she had gone with Shampoo when the Amazon
left to go look for Ranma, and Mousse, naturally, tagged along with
them. Ryoga was probably lost, as usual, though she'd heard he had
come by the dojo looking for Ranma while she was gone and then took
off in a hurry without even bothering to see Akane when he learned his
rival wasn't around. And Happosai was supposed to be following some
foreign singing group around on their tour through Japan(3). While it
wasn't impossible that they had suddenly come back, Ranko doubted it
was any of them, but still couldn't figure out who it might be.
She didn't get much chance to think on it further as she had to
suddenly back away from a rapid-moving figure coming down at her
from out of nowhere in a dive kick. He impacted with the ground, and
then immediately continued into his attack, furiously throwing out a
barrage of punches and kicks that Ranko had trouble defending against.
While her skills were pretty good after only a few months training, and
she was pretty much on-level with Ukyo and Shampoo, her opponent
was better. He just kept moving so fast that she had trouble keeping
up. Plus, she had trouble getting a good look at him due to the
continuous attacks and movements.
*So he likes speed, huh? Well... let's see him try this...* she
thought, and completed that thought with the aloud cry of "*KACHU
TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!*" With the cry, she began throwing out
the rapid-fast punches, several dozen a second, out at her attacker. The
technique, one of her more simpler ones, had been easy to regain, as it
was mainly a physical attack, as opposed to her ki-based attacks which
she was still having trouble with. Still, she had managed to get by with
just it alone when she first learned it, and she could do so again.
Besides, it alone was usually enough to take out an opponent if she
managed to get them by surprise.
But not this fellow, who managed to block the attack with what
appeared to be the same one. It wasn't as fast as Ranko's, but still fast
enough to keep her punches from connecting with him. This both
surprised and annoyed Ranko, who barely managed to regain her
senses as the fight continued, both combatants trading blows with
seemingly no end in sight.
Finally, she got a break by feigning a jump to the air, and when her
attacker shifted to continue his assault, she ducked down and shot a
kick to his mid-section. When he doubled over from literally having
the wind kicked out of him, she grabbed him by the head and threw him
over her shoulder in a grappling-style suplex. He didn't stay down for
long, though, and after a brief moment's hesitation on Ranko's part, he
managed to roll away from her as she tried to bring her foot down on
him in a vicious stomp. She began to stalk her way over to him as he
was trying to get himself back on his feet, but stopped when she saw
that he was shaking slightly and... laughing?
"Not bad, sis," he gasped between both his laughter and the catching
of his breath. "Nice to see you've been training while I've been gone,
but your reaction time could use some work."
Normally, Ranko would have taken serious offense to such a
remark, but she had been thrown off by the laughter and being called
"sis." Only one person might call her that, but he wasn't... She found
her thoughts cut off as her attacker turned around and stood up, and she
and the other members of the house, who had gathered on the verandah
by the sounds of combat, gasped when they saw who it was. "You!"
"Boy, I seem to be getting that reaction a lot, lately," the young man
before her said with a smirk. He was Ranko's age, and was an almost-
exact mirror image of her save for his gender and his black hair that
was tied back into a ponytail. His clothing were more of a Japanese
style, a red vest-like gi-top worn over a white muscle T-shirt and a pair
of dark blue pants that were tied off at the lower shins with black
wrappings. A black sash was tied around his waist, and he wore ninja-
style gloves and split-toe shoes. Despite the new look, however, he
was still easily recognizable.
"Ranma!?!" was the collective cry, both surprised and joyous.
"Hey, guys," he said with a grin. "Miss me?" He didn't get a chance
to say much else as he was suddenly mobbed over the two families.
* * *
"Aw, c'mon, Pop," Ranma said with a smirk as he watched Genma
try to pick himself up off the floor. "You can do better than that, can't
you? I thought that you wanted to see if I'd been slacking off instead of
training?"
The two stood in the dojo, where Genma had practically dragged his
son into almost immediately following Ranma's sudden return,
interrupting the happy reunion. He hadn't been so sure that Ranma had
stuck to his training while he was away, and wanted to see if that was
the case. So far, he was being proven wrong and then some.
Sitting over along one side of the dojo were Soun, Nabiki, and
Ranko, who decided to tag along and watch, not really having anything
else better to do. Kasumi and Nodoka had shooed them out, and were
busy in the house preparing a 'Welcome Home' dinner for Ranma. A
big one, apparently, from the sounds that could be heard coming from
the kitchen. Surprisingly, Akane wasn't among the group of spectators,
and no one knew where she was. As long as they figured she wasn't in
the kitchen, they didn't worry too much.
The three observers watched as Genma finally got back up to his
feet, a growl escaping his lips as he growled at Ranma. "I'm not done,
yet, boy," he replied back. "I've haven't spent the last few months just
sitting around doing nothing, you know."
"He's right," Ranko quipped. "He's been sitting around playing
shogi, watching TV, and stuffing his face when Mom wasn't looking."
"Sounds just like Pop," Ranma chuckled while Nabiki and Soun
giggled and snickered, respectively, next to a grinning Ranko.
"Why you little ingrate!" Genma roared as he finally got to his feet.
"I'll teach you to show some respect to your father!" He positioned
himself in an attack-stance, getting ready to charge at his son.
Ranma fell into his own stance, smirking as he did so. "Any time
you're ready, Pop."
Genma waited a short moment, then charged at Ranma with a flurry
of punches and kicks. Ranma, however, easily dodged or blocked them
all with little effort, occasionally throwing an attack of his own that
sent his father to floor. This cycle went on repeatedly for several
minutes, with Genma becoming more and more frustrated while Ranma
was able to keep his cool.
Ranko, Soun, and Nabiki watched on in fascination, impressed by
Ranma's skill. They couldn't help but notice, though, that there seemed
to be something different about him. He still seemed to have the same
cocky attitude everyone was familiar with, but it appeared toned down
a bit, even for a pre-Jusenkyo Ranma. He seemed somewhat more
level-headed, focusing more on the match and less on any need to show
off.
In any case, though, it was obvious that Ranma had kept up on his
training while he had been away, and was probably almost back up to
speed before his memory loss. Maybe even better...
"Had enough, yet, Pop?" Ranma asked after a bit, smirking again as
he watched Genma try to pick himself off the floor again after being
sent there via a judo toss over his son's shoulder while trying to punch
him.
Genma's only response was to growl as he got ready to attack again,
but was stopped by Soun's hand on his shoulder. "All right, Saotome,"
he said almost humorously. "I think that Ranma's proven that he's been
busy and keeping up with his training."
"Unlike some people," Ranko snickered, Nabiki giggling beside her
again.
Genma let out a deep sigh crossed with a growl of frustration. "Oh,
why am I cursed with such ungrateful children?!" he cried, mainly to
himself it seemed.
"I'm sure they often ask that about you," Nabiki answered with a
grin.
"Nabiki..." her father said in a warning, stern tone as Genma turned
to glare at her. Nabiki just grinned back in that unconcerned way of
hers. Turning back to his friend as he heard Kasumi call from the
house, he continued, "Besides, it's time for dinner, anyway. Time to
clean up, eh?" He gave Genma a towel to wipe himself off, and after
Ranma finished doing the same, the group walked back to the house.
The sight that greeted them when they entered into the family room
totally surprised them. The entire place was totally decorated for a
party. Balloons and streamers of various bright colors hung on the
walls and from the ceiling, as well as along the huge banner posted
across the doorframe that said in large, brightly-colored kanji,
"WELCOME HOME, RANMA!" Kasumi and Nodoka stood about the
table, big smiles across their faces and dressed in decorative kimonos.
On the table itself lay a feast with a huge variety of foods.
"Whoa! You guys went all out!" Ranko said in astonishment. She
then took a moment to look around the room, wondering where Akane
was. The youngest Tendo was, for some reason, still absent.
"You guys knew about this?" Ranma asked with a chuckle.
"Why do you think your father was so anxious to drag you away to
the dojo?" Nodoka replied. "We needed some way to get ready and
still somewhat surprise you. Though I'm sure he had his own
reasons..." A sly grin spread across her face as she looked at her
sheepish-looking husband.
"We even managed to convince Kasumi to not invite all of Nerima
here like she always does for these things," Nabiki added with her own
smirk directed towards her sister, who blushed slightly.
"At least we managed to get invited," Dr. Tofu said as he entered the
room, his usual friendly grin on his face.
"Hiya, Doc," Ranma said with a wave of his hand. "Nice to see you
again."
"Likewise, Ranma," the doctor replied back absently as he bowed in
greeting, mainly to Kasumi, who blushed slightly as she did so. And
even though she tried to hide it, everyone managed to catch her taking
hold of Tofu's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.
"The doc finally asked Kasumi out awhile back," Ranko whispered
to Ranma, answering the obvious question. "They've become quite a
popular item over the last few weeks." Ranma simply nodded in
response, grinning at the pair at the other side of the room.
"So, Doctor... Planning on proposing to my daughter any time
soon?" Soun suddenly asked in that non-calant way of his.
"Father! We've only gone out a few times!" Kasumi protested in
embarrassment, while Dr. Tofu began to laugh nervously. Everyone
else had a good laugh at their expense.
"Well, it's still nice to see you again, Doc," Ranma said again as the
laughter died down. Dr. Tofu simply smiled and nodded in response.
"Does that go for me, too?" a new voice asked, and everyone looked
to see Ukyo enter the room, carrying, of course, a box of okonomiyaki.
Naturally, Ranma began to panic slightly. He hadn't forgotten the
last time they had met, and was sure Ukyo hadn't, either. "Uh, Ukyo...
It's, uh... I mean, what're--"
"I invited her," Ranko said bitterly, interrupting her brother's
stammering. "I figured it'd be a good idea for you two to try and patch
things up. Especially since she's my boss."
Ranma looked at Ranko in surprise as his mother answered, "It was
my idea. I figured that since Mr. Tendo was kind enough to let us stay
here, it would be best if we did something to contribute. I even got
your father back his old job with Dr. Tofu, and your sister works part-
time with Ukyo at her restaurant." With a slight frown, she added,
"Though I'm not too fond about her choice of employment, I suppose it
is better than working with that Shampoo girl."
"Um, thanks, Mrs. Saotome. I think..." Ukyo said a bit uneasily.
"Guess that means I'll have to get a job, too," Ranma muttered.
Turning back to Ukyo, he continued, "Uh, listen, Ukyo... About what
happened--"
However, the okonomiyaki chef held up a hand to interrupt him.
"Hang on, Ranma. What happened was mostly my fault. I acted like
Shampoo and tried to take advantage of a situation without realizing all
the facts. So I can't really blame you for reacting like you did. Maybe
we can't be the same friends we used to be, but we can at least try and
start over. What do you say?"
For the first time since three months ago, Ranma began to relax
around Ukyo. With a nod, he replied, "Sure. No problem... Ucchan."
Ukyo shook her head. "Just Ukyo, okay, Ranma? We're starting
over, remember?" She smiled as Ranma nodded again in response.
"Oh, how wonderful. You're all friends again," Kasumi said
cheerfully as she gave a small clap with her hands. Everyone sweat-
dropped as they stared at her.
"Man, is she always like that?" Ranma muttered his sister as they
began to sit down.
Ranko shook her head. "Nah. Usually, she's a bit more perky." She
then turned her attention to the table, or rather, the food on it. "Now
let's eat!"
"Spoken like a true Saotome!" Genma agreed heartily, and he and
Ranko immediately began to make for the food, ready to begin the
ritual fight for it. Two quick slaps to their hands, however, just as
immediately halted them.
"Now, now," Nodoka said sternly. "Mind your manners, you two.
This is Ranma's party. He gets to begin the meal. And besides, we
still have to wait for Akane."
"Right here, Auntie! I just finished freshening up!" Akane's voice
came from the doorway. Everyone turned to see Akane enter the room,
dressed in a kimono just like Nodoka and Kasumi, as well as flowers in
her hair. She even wore a little make-up, enhancing her already pretty
features. A few pairs of eyes widened as they saw the covered dish that
she carried with her in her hands as she walked over and sat down in
between Ranma and Ranko. She gave a beaming smile to Ranma,
which made him rather uneasy and caused Ranko to frown.
"Um, hi... Akane..." Ranma began stammering again. This time,
however, he seemed really worried. And for good reason, as everyone
remembered. "Um, how are you--?"
Akane just continued to smile at him. "I'm doing great, Ranma.
And... I'm happy that you're home."
*She IS?!* Ranko thought bitterly. She couldn't help but wonder
just why Akane was being so nice to Ranma all of a sudden, getting all
dressed up and such for him when she never used to do so before. An
old, familiar feeling was running through her, one that usually reared its
ugly head at times like this.
"Here, Ranma," Akane continued as she placed the dish she had
brought in with her before Ranma. "I made a little something for you
to welcome you home."
Those words immediately caused Ranko, Genma, Soun, and Ukyo
to panic, knowing full-well what that usually meant. Kasumi and
Nodoka just smiled at each other knowingly, while Dr. Tofu raised a
curious eyebrow and Nabiki just looked on with an interested smile on
her face. "Are you nuts?!" Ranko shouted. "My brother just got home
for crying out loud! He doesn't need to be sick in bed before he has a
chance to relax!" She tried to make a grab for the dish, but was stopped
by a wooden spoon banging her on the head.
"Hey! I have been practicing, you know!" Akane retorted angrily,
returning the spoon to the table as the red-head rubbed her sore noggin.
"So you claim," Genma said while Soun cried about his daughter
"poisoning her fiancee, again." "But I won't have you feeding this stuff
to my son! As his father, it's my duty to--"
"Genma..." Nodoka said in 'the Tone'(4). It was all that was needed
to make him immediately become silent.
Ranma, meanwhile, looked at all of them with a bit of skepticism.
"What's with you guys? You're all acting like she's gonna poison me or
something." He then took a moment to remove the cover from the
dish, revealing a steaming helping of what appeared to be some kind of
stir-fry. He shrugged his shoulders a bit. "Doesn't look so bad to me."
"Looks can be deceiving, bro," Ranko said as if in warning. Which
she was. "Trust me, you've never had her cooking. Or, at least you
don't remember having it. In either case, though, you're still better off
not taking any chances with your health." She failed to notice the
others save Ranma slowly inch away from the table as Akane glared at
her.
Ranma, however, refused to be convinced. "Oh, come on. It can't
be that bad." With that, he grabbed his chopsticks and took a decent
helping that he placed in his mouth before anyone could stop him.
For a long while, there was silence as everyone looked on as Ranma
slowly chewed the food. No one was sure if he was pacing himself, or
if he was savoring it as it had obviously been awhile since he'd had
home cooking. For her part, Akane stared at him with concern and
worry, praying that she had done right with the meal. She had worked
hard to make something for Ranma. If she screwed up now...
Finally, Ranma stopped chewing and swallowed with a rather
audible gulp. Which immediately followed with him quickly grabbing
his water and taking a long sip.
"I knew it!" Ranko cried as Akane looked dejected. "I told you you
shouldn't've eaten that, Ranma! I told you that Akane couldn't cook
worth a damn!"
"Ranko, you're not helping," Nodoka said, noticing that Akane was
about to cry. "And watch your language."
"Hey, I'm fine!" Ranma gasped as he finished his drink and set the
now-nearly-empty glass back down. "It's just a little spicy, that's all!
Other than that, though, it's pretty good."
Everyone save for Nodoka, Kasumi, Dr. Tofu, and Akane all face-
faulted in shock. The two women smiled at each other knowingly, as if
giving silent congratulations to each other, and Dr. Tofu grinned with
surprise while Akane beamed with joy. "You... you mean it?! You
really like it?!" she gasped.
Ranma nodded. "Yeah. It's really very good. Thanks, Akane," he
replied as he took another bite. He gave a satisfied smile to Akane,
who continued to smile back at him with tears of joy welling up at her
eyes.
"No way! It can't be!" Ranko cried in shock as she picked herself
up. "Akane actually made something good besides curry?!" With her
own chopsticks, she took a helping of her own from the plate and ate it,
much to the protest of Akane. After a moment, she opened her eyes in
surprise.
"Hey. It is good," she said in astonishment. "And you're right. It is
a little spicy..."
"Let me try..." Genma offered, greedily eyeing his son's food as he
reached for it with his chopsticks, his body slightly tense as if preparing
for combat. What stopped him, though, was his wife slapping his hand
again and setting a rather good-sized salad before him.
"I thought we had gotten you out of that nasty habit of stealing your
children's food, Genma Saotome," Nodoka said in 'the Tone'. "And
don't even think you can use this party as an excuse to cheat on your
diet."
"Aw, but Nodoka..." Genma whined, staring at what his dinner was,
the same as it had been for the last several weeks.
"Mom got the old man on a diet," Ranko whispered to a confused
Ranma. "Said something about how a martial artist should be in better
shape. About time, if you ask me."
Ranma nodded in quick agreement as he watched his mother relent
and let Genma have a little treat with his dinner, since it was a special
occasion. "Just this once..." she said as she dished up a small plate of
curried beef.
"I still can't believe it," Nabiki said in astonishment. "My little
sister actually managed to cook a decent meal?"
Kasumi nodded in agreement as she passed a dish of food to Dr.
Tofu. "She came to me and Auntie for help, saying that she would
really pay attention this time. We decided to keep it secret so there
wouldn't be any interruptions or distractions for her."
"And it seemed to have worked," Nodoka added. "Akane can now
fix a few decent dishes that are quite satisfactory. She's still having a
little bit of trouble putting in too much of something or add-libbing to a
meal, but we're working on it."
"Way to go, Akane," Ukyo congratulated with a grin that made the
other girl blush slightly.
"Yeah. Good job," Ranko added in a rather sub-dued tone. She
kept wondering why Akane chose *now* to seriously try and improve
her cooking skills when she had so many opportunities to do so before.
She looked over at Akane and Ranma, sitting together closely but not
really saying anything. Ranma still seemed rather uncomfortable and a
bit nervous around Akane, while she seem actually glad to be around
him and kept trying to make him feel welcome.
Ranko's eyes narrowed in further suspicion. It couldn't be... Could
it?
For awhile, dinner continued, everyone just chatting idly with each
other and getting reacquainted with Ranma as they ate. Eventually, it
was Nabiki who broke the ice with the question that was just waiting to
be asked.
"So, Ranma. Where have you been and what have you been doing
over the summer after you ran off?" She put a bit of emphasis on the
last few words, sounding a little bitter as she did so.
No one really noticed, though, as yet another long moment of
silence fell across the room after the words left Nabiki's mouth. Ranma
seemed to have forgotten how to speak as he considered how to
answer.
"Well?" Akane prompted in her old annoyed tone.
That startled Ranma back into reality. "Huh? Oh. Sorry." He
coughed a bit to clear his throat before beginning.
"Well, you all know what... happened before I left, right?" After
everyone nodded, he continued with a sigh, "Well, you can probably
guess how I was feeling at the time. I didn't know what had happened
to me or what was happening in general. All I knew was that I nearly
took someone's head off, and that someone was my fiancee!"
The guilt and anger he felt towards himself was thick enough to
require a diamond-edged blade to cut it. It was all the others could do
to keep from edging themselves away from him in fear.
After taking a moment to take a deep breath and collect himself,
Ranma went on. "Anyway, I obviously had to get control of myself
before someone did get hurt, so I left to go train on my own. No way
was I gonna stick around here, not with everything going on like it was
and I wasn't going to wait for any other surprises to drop in on me.
And I had to go about it alone, 'cause I didn't want to go through Pop's
crazy training ideas."
"Good idea. Half the time that's usually what got us in trouble in the
first place," Ranko said in agreement. The twins ignored the glare that
Genma gave them.
"So you just went and trained on your own, Ranma?" Kasumi
asked.
Ranma nodded in response. "At first, yeah. But it was mostly
physical stuff, since I was stronger and faster than I last remembered.
It was my ki that was my main problem, since I didn't know how to
control it and every time I tried to learn on my own, I just kept blowing
up more stuff. Luckily for me, this guy I ran into told me about this
monk who seemed to specialize in this sort of thing..."
* * *
"So... you wish to train with me, eh?" The monk sat and stared at
the dirty and ragged-looking Ranma with a bit of amused interest. He
looked like an average, run-of-the-mill Zen monk, right down to the
bald head with mustache and pointy beard to go with his blue and white
robes. He also probably knew more ways to kick the younger boy's
butt with little effort.
Ranma nodded before replying, "Um, yeah. I heard you were an
expert in controlling ki, and I've been having trouble controlling mine
since I lost my memory." He had told the monk an edited version of
what had happened to him, leaving out the part about Jusenkyo and the
split. He did include his out-of-control ki-generating skills, and how
he'd almost hurt Akane.
The monk stared at Ranma, seeming to study him for a moment
before nodding once. "Yes, I can sense that your ki is very powerful,
indeed. And for one so young, too. And despite your ego--which we'll
also take care of--I can also sense that you have a good heart. I shall
indeed train you."
Ranma was ecstatic. "Awright! Thanks!"
"However," the monk continued, a sly grin spreading across his
face, "I'll only be handling the spiritual part of your training. There
will also be some physical work involved. That will be handled by my
assistant and groundskeeper."
"Groundskeeper...?" Ranma asked with a raised eyebrow. He didn't
show it, but he was starting to get worried.
The still-grinning monk nodded. "That's right. Meet Kuma." He
gestured behind Ranma, who turned and looked up... And up, to see a
huge bear of a man, heavily muscled and staring down at Ranma with a
wicked-looking smirk on his face and his massive arms folded across
his chest.
Ranma gulped. *Now* he was worried.
* * *
"Ouch. Sounds like it got kinda rough sometimes, huh bro?" Ranko
smirked as Ranma took a break in his story to eat some more of his
dinner.
"You're not kidding," he replied. "Those two ran me ragged. When
I wasn't eating or sleeping, I was either training with Kuma or doing all
sorts of meditation stuff with the monk, learning to get my ki under
control. Or I was doing chores around the temple. That was to help me
learn humility, they said."
"It seems to have worked. You seem less arrogant and prideful than
you used to be, and more mature," Nodoka said with observance. She
then got a thoughtful look and added, "I wonder if that would work
with your father...?"
"Feh. Doubt it," Ranma smirked, and everybody snickered at a
scowling Genma's expense. "Anyway, all that training paid off. I got
all my skills under control, and the monk taught me how to control and
focus my ki. Mostly, though, I was just training myself or learning
about what I'd been doing for the last year."
"How were you able to do that if you weren't here?" Akane asked.
In response, Ranma reached into his gi-top, pulling out and holding
up what appeared to be a small notebook, slightly worn and ragged
around the edges.
"Hey! That's my journal!" Ranko cried out with wide eyes. She
glared at her brother. "You jerk! You stole it!"
"You keep a diary?" Nabiki asked curiously. There was a smirk on
her face as she tried not to laugh.
"Journal. Girls keep diaries, guys keep journals," Ranko corrected,
still glaring at her brother. Before anyone could point out that she
*was* a girl, she continued, "And yeah, I kept one. I like to write
down what I do and what I learn in terms of my martial arts."
Soun nodded with satisfaction and admiration. "Good idea. And a
rather interesting way of putting together an instruction scroll for future
generations of martial artists, I might add."
Ranko took a moment to grin with pride. "Hey, thanks, Mr. Tendo."
She then turned back to Ranma to glare at him again. "Or at least I did
before someone went and stole my journal!"
"Hope you wrote down nice things about me, Ran-chan," Ukyo said
with a grin. Ranko just looked away sheepishly, trying to figure out
how to reply.
"Well, anyway, technically, this is *my* journal, so I didn't steal it,"
Ranma retorted. "Besides, I needed something to tell me about my life
for the past year, and who better to tell me than... well, me?"
"Good idea, especially considering who we know and how *they*
would tell that story," Akane said with a nod. She threw a knowing
grin at Ukyo, who sheepishly smiled back. Everyone else nodded in
agreement.
"So you pretty much know about everything and everyone,
Ranma?" Dr. Tofu asked.
Ranma nodded. "Yeah, it's all pretty much down here in my
journal. Events, people, fighting techniques, the works. And the way
the monk had me training, I was able to learn pretty much all my old
moves pretty quickly. As well as learn about what to expect from
certain people I'll wind up meeting."
"But all you know is what you wrote, right? Not because of any
real, on-hand experience?" Nabiki asked curiously.
Ranma looked at her with a confused frown on his face. "Yeah...
Why?"
Nabiki shrugged and returned to eating. "No reason. Just asking."
With that, she let the discussion drop, but not without receiving a few
suspicious looks from the rest of the group.
"Uh, exactly how much did you learn from my-- I mean, *your*
journal?" Ranko suddenly asked to change the subject, correcting
herself at a look from her mother. There seemed to be a nervous hint in
her voice.
"Enough to get by. Especially with the people," Ranma answered,
giving his sister a look. There seemed to be a hint of tension between
the two, though no one could figure out about what.
It was Soun who broke the moment of heavy silence with, "Well,
now that Ranma's back, we can concentrate on more important things.
Like Ranma and Akane's marriage and the joining of our schools!"
"That's right, Tendo! And the sooner, the better!" Genma agreed
boastfully.
"Dad! Cut it out!" Akane griped, mostly out of habit. She quickly
got herself out of control, looking at Ranma with worry out of the
corner of her eye.
"Yeah, gimme a break! I just got back!" he added. "I mean, I'm all
for it, whether I have to or not, but can't we worry about it some other
time?!"
Everyone looked at him like he had grown an extra head at his
declaration. Especially Akane, who looked at him with surprise and a
bit of adoration. "Ranma..."
"Excuse me, but wasn't the plan to first take care of certain problems
before we worry about weddings?" Nodoka asked, deciding to step in
before things got worse like usual. "Let's worry about them and certain
other things like school first, shall we?"
Reluctantly, Soun and Genma nodded. The celebration then
continued, with normal conversation going on and just generally
welcoming Ranma back home.
* * *
Akane laid in bed, staring at the ceiling and unable to sleep. She
kept thinking about what had happened earlier that evening, Ranma's
coming home and the party. Part of her was glad that he was back, that
he enjoyed her cooking and was much nicer to her than before. Of
course, she knew that that was only really because he had no memory
of their relationship. Technically, that was a good thing, because they
could start over fresh without all those problems, and without the
macho pride Ranma had following his curse.
But then she remembered Ranko. She was Ranma in another body,
the Ranma she had known for the past year, macho pride and all.
Despite the bad points, there were still some good ones that Akane
remembered fondly. She remembered all the times Ranma had come to
rescue her whenever she had been kidnapped, even though it was
usually Ranma who had caused the trouble that got her kidnapped in
the first place. And then there was Mount Phoenix, an event that she
would for sure never forget.
Simply put, Ranko was the Ranma she had fallen in love with, but
now trapped in a girl's body. Akane had always told herself that the
curse didn't matter to her, that she could love the jerk despite it and
whatver body he was in. Not that she would ever get *too* intimate
with his girl-half. She didn't feel *that* way about Ranma-chan, but
that never changed how she felt. But ever since the split, her feelings
seemed to alter somewhat, leaning more towards friendship or even a
sisterly love for Ranko. It didn't help that Ranko had begun acting
more and more like the jerk she had first met a year ago, as if in some
bizarre attempt to hold on to her manhood. At first Akane tried to tell
herself that it was all just coping on the part of Ranma's 'sister', but
after a while, it started to get on her nerves.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, Akane turned her head to look over at
her roommate, sleeping peacefully all spread out over her bed with the
covers kicked off, snoring softly. It had been decided that the two girls
share a room, and after a bit of arguing they somehow managed to pull
it off. They still tended to argue whenever it came time to get dressed,
old arguments about boys and girls dressing in front of each other,
which usually ended with Akane bashing Ranko for making some old
quip. Along with that, the fact that they were sharing a room in a
platonic manner further enhanced Akane's changing feelings towards
the boy-now-girl.
Turning back to the ceiling, Akane sighed again. She didn't know
what she was going to do.
A dim flash of light from outside suddenly caught Akane's attention,
as she quickly but quietly sat up in bed and looked out the window.
The lights were on in the dojo, and from the shadow cast onto the
ground, there was someone in it, going through some quick and
seemingly intense movements. She briefly wondered who it could be,
but then realized that there might only be one person who would be up
in the dojo.
Carefully and quietly, Akane got out of bed and walked out of the
room, tip-toeing so as not to wake Ranko or anyone else up. Going as
quietly as possible, Akane managed to get outside and over to the dojo
without trouble. Looking inside, she smiled as she saw Ranma, bare to
the waist and wearing a pair of shorts that were his 'pajamas'. He was
performing a kata, sweat dripping from his body as he moved. He had
obviously been at it for awhile.
Unable to stay silent and just watch him forever (much as she
would've liked to), she made her presence known and asked with a
smile, "Couldn't sleep?"
A startled Ranma abruptly stopped his kata, turning to look at the
smiling girl watching him. He smiled back with a chuckle, surprised
and glad to see her. "Not really," he replied. "After a few months of
sleeping on the ground in a temple, it's kinda hard to sleep in a house in
an actual bed, y'know?"
Akane nodded, recalling how Nodoka had gone out to remodel her
son's room, making it into an actual permanent one rather than
something that looked like he was a guest. Not only was there a bed,
but also a desk, a dresser with mirror, and a cabinet for his clothes and
other belongings. "This is his home, now." Nodoka had said. "His
room should look like it."
"How about you?" Ranma suddenly asked, bringing Akane out of
her reverie. She simply shook her head in reply.
However, it seemed as though Ranma still had something on his
mind, as his face was twisted in deep thought.
"Ranma?" Akane asked curiously. "What is it?"
He was quiet for a long moment before he asked, "Are... are you...
really okay, Akane? I mean... after..."
Akane smiled. She had a feeling that he was still worried about
what had happened several months ago, as it had been so obvious at
dinner. "It's okay, Ranma," she said assuringly. "I'm okay. I was just
a little surprised, that's all. Really. I'm fine."
"Yeah... but..." He took a deep breath as a determined look fell on
his face. "I still shouldn't have done it. If I'd've hit you--"
"But you didn't, Ranma," Akane said, interrupting him. She walked
over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You at least had some
common sense enough to miss, though I'm putting my money on
inexperience. And besides, I didn't exactly help any by fighting with
you when we should have tried to talk it out like mature adults." *Not
that THAT would've worked,* she added to herself in thought.
"Yeah, maybe. But it still shouldn't have happened like that,"
Ranma said with probably a little too much force than he intended. He
took a moment to take a deep breath to calm himself, then continued.
"Akane, I wanna start over. From scratch, as friends. None of this
'arranged marriage' stuff. Maybe if we'd tried doing that from the very
beginning, we wouldn't have so many problems."
Akane looked at him with surprise at his sudden maturity. Nodoka
was right; being away from home, away from his father and everyone
else, *had* do him some good. Finally, a smile crossed her face and
she nodded. "I'd like that, Ranma."
Ranma smiled back, looking a little better about himself. However,
he seemed to still have one more thing on his mind.
"Akane, about these other fiancees..." he began, pausing as he
noticed her scowl at the mention of them. "I know things are square
between me and Ukyo, but from what I figure, the other two are the
real problem."
Akane nodded with a frown, knowing indeed how true it was.
Ranma continued, "So, anyway, I was wondering... Do you think
you could help me get them off my back? This crap can't go on
forever, and I can't be engaged to so many girls at once."
Surprised again for a moment, Akane eventually nodded with a look
of determination. "Okay, Ranma. I'll help, and we can get Ranko and
Ukyo to help us, as well. Knowing Kodachi and Shampoo, there's
going to be a fight since they won't just give up so easily. Fortunately,
I've been training, so they're in for a surprise." A rather wicked grin
crossed her face, and she had to fight back the urge to let out an evil
laugh.
"Well, let's just hope it doesn't come to that, okay?" Ranma said
with a chuckle. "At any rate, thanks, Akane."
Akane nodded with a smile, a normal one this time, and then
surprised Ranma, and herself, by grabbing him in a hug. She didn't
know why she did it, but for some reason, it seemed like the right thing
to do. And it made her feel good, too. After a moment, he returned it,
and the two just stood in the dojo, enjoying an actual peaceful time
alone.
However, they were not alone. Ranko stood hidden in the shadows
by the door, wearing the small T-shirt and simple panties she wore to
bed. It had taken some convincing to get her to wear them, since it
wouldn't do for her to wear boxers or other men's undergarments, as
her mother had so 'delicately' put it. Of course, she had refused at first,
but eventually wound up giving in, but only on the condition that she
wear nothing frilly or fancy. As for a bra, which Nodoka had *very*
much insisted that she wear, she opted for a simple sports bra on
Ukyo's suggestion. She soon found that she actually rather liked them,
since they were kind of like the tank tops she used to wear as a guy.
She even got used to the panties after awhile. They gave her more
room to kick her legs out in a fight than the boxers did.
She shook that thought out of her head, trying to remember that it
was only temporary until she was a guy again. And after what she had
just saw and heard, she had good reason to try and hurry up on
fulfilling that resolution.
Having woken up suddenly for no reason, Ranko had noticed Akane
was missing and gone searching for her, only to find her in the dojo
with her brother, talking. Listening in on their conversation, she
became a little upset as she didn't like what she was hearing. It seemed
as though Ranma and Akane were on the verge of starting some kind of
a relationship, and even planning to deal with Kodachi and Shampoo.
The latter she didn't mind; she figured it was something that she would
have had to do eventually, anyway. The former, however, was another
story.
Akane was *her* fiancee. *She* was the one who had risked her
neck time and time again rescuing her when she was in trouble, not this
upstart who hardly even knew her. She had even told Akane she loved
her, even though she did deny it later. But over the last few months, it
seemed as though Akane had been treating her more like a friend or
sister and think more about Ranma. And then Ranma came home, and
now this.
"No way," she whispered quietly to herself. "Akane was mine, first.
I was engaged to her, I'm the one she knows. Not you, bro. Just you
wait. I'll get my manhood back, and when I do, I'll get Akane back as
well. One way, or another."
With that, she snuck away back to her room, already beginning to
make plans.
End of Part Three...
Glossary of terms:
(1) Take a look at any picture of Ranma-chan wearing one of her
short-sleeved shirts and you'll see what I mean. It does look like a
dress, when you think about it.
(2) Ranko's name translates into English as 'wild child'. So
naturally, if Ranma really did have a sister and this was her name, she
might be as rebellious as he is, even without Genma around to 'corrupt
her', since anime characters usually have names that reflect certain
aspects of them.
(3) Bonus points if you can guess what group Happosai could be
following. Though I don't think that they were touring Japan at the
time of this writing, let's ignore that and just enjoy the story. ^_^
(4) "The Tone" is something I've made up (I think, if anyone else
knows where its used or who named it, let me know). Simply put, its
used by anime wives to get their husbands back in line. Characters like
Nodoka might be masters of this technique. This could also be used by
unmarried girls on their boyfriends.
A bunch of you are probably wondering why I went to the trouble of
revising this. As I mentioned earlier, the RAAC seems to have lost the
original version I first posted to them, and I figured I'd have to repost it
to them. I figured since I had to, anyway, I may as well do a few
revisions on it. Aside from correcting some sentences and/or adding
to/altering them a bit, I also changed a few scenes, like how Ranma
learned to get his ki under control. Originally, I had him using the
"Soul of Ice" from the Hiryu Shoten Ha as a focus, but then I began to
think and realized that it probably wouldn't work for some of his other
techniques. And if Ranma was fighting an angry opponent, he'd
pulling off a whole bunch of Hiryu Shoten Has when he didn't want to.
I also added a little introspection on Akane's part towards the end
focusing on her feelings towards Ranma and Ranko (a thanks to one of
my pre-readers, Darren Demaine, who pointed me in this direction). In
addition, I shortened Ranko's recollection scene, changed her and
Ranma's original looks, and lengthened their fight scene a bit. If
anyone wants to read the original version to see what else is different,
e-mail me and I'll send you a copy.
For you new readers, you'll notice there's a whole bunch of stuff
happening. Ranma's back and planning to take charge and make
changes to his life (A little "Thy Inward Love" happening here), and
Akane's making some improvements to herself to improve her
relationship with Ranma. And what about Ranko? You didn't really
think that she was just going to step aside and let Ranma have Akane,
did you? Remember, she is the Ranma from the original series (though
her speech is a bit altered due to her mother's influence), so she's not
going to give up without a fight. And whenever someone comes
between him and Akane, Ranma always tends to make an ass of
himself.
Much of Ranma's new character and dialogue comes from Terry
Bogard in the "Fatal Fury" anime series. Terry's a lot like Ranma, in
that he also tends to be rather cocky and arrogant at times, but to a
lesser degree. So I based Ranma's character in this chapter (and for the
rest of the series) on Terry, with a few twists of my own. As for
Ranko, her personality's pretty much the same as the Ranma from the
original series, only a little different to reflect the changes in her life.
To close things off, I'd like to thank my pre-readers, Mr. Demaine,
Andy Wennersten, and Lord Archive for the original C&C on this part.
I'd also like to thank (and welcome) Alain Gravel, author of the way
cool "Evangelion" fanfic series, "The One I Love Is...", to my gang of
pre-readers, who has also put up my fanfic in its individual parts on his
homepage (www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Teahouse/2236/). I'd also like
to thank the great Rumiko Takahashi, as usual, for creating the original
great manga that inspired this fanfic. Last, but not least, I'd like to
thank the fans for putting up with me while waiting for part 4 to come
out. It will be out soon; its done and in the revising stage. Keep an eye
out for it, when Ranma and Ranko are forced to face their next
challenge: their "first day" at Furinkan High School! 'Nuff said there, I
think.
Until next time...
(
geocities.com/tokyo/teahouse/Teahouse/2236) (
geocities.com/tokyo/teahouse/Teahouse) (
geocities.com/tokyo/teahouse) (
geocities.com/tokyo)