Categories > Anime/Manga > Ranma 1/2 > Blessed Curse
Blessed Curse
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi
Author note: Thanks to Blissfull Wulf for betaing this fic.
Chapter 3
Kasumi Tendo hummed a pleasant song to herself as she entered the house she shared with her father and two younger sisters, bags of groceries in her hands. Once the bags were placed on the counter in her kitchen, she took out the stack of mail she had placed inside when she entered the gate. Mostly it was bills, at least one catalog which she put to the side and... a postcard?
"Hmm?" Kasumi looked at the postcard, the front decorated with a photo of a panda bear, and turned it over to see who it was for. Seeing her father Soun Tendo's name on the back she quickly took it into the main room of the house. "Father, you received a postcard," She said as she handed the card to Soun.
"Thank you Kasumi," Soun said as he put his newspaper to the side and read the back.
'Tendo,
Returning from China, bringing the boy. Should be there the day you get this card.
Saotome'
Tears of joy sprung to Soun's eyes as he read the words. At last, his friend and old training buddy Genma Saotome was coming with his son Ranma to fulfill the promise they made so many years ago!
"Kasumi! Nabiki! Akane!" He called his three daughters names.
"Yes Father?" Kasumi said as she leaned out of the kitchen door.
"Yeah Daddy?" Nabiki Tendo, the middle Tendo daughter, asked as she walked down the stairs into the living room.
"I have wonderful news... where is your sister?" Soun asked as he noticed only two of his daughters had come to his call.
"I think she's doing her daily run," Kasumi said.
"As soon as she gets home, we’re having a family meeting," Soun said then headed out of the room to prepare for his friend’s arrival.
"What do you think it's about?" Nabiki asked her older sister.
"I don't know, but he's very excited about whatever it is," Kasumi said as she handed the stack of bills to Nabiki.
"Huh," Nabiki said absently as she flipped through the bills. "Guess we'll find out when Akane gets home."
**
"Stay here boy," Genma said to his son as they came to a stop on a corner. He hadn't been in Nerima in years and needed directions on how to reach the Tendo Dojo.
"Yeah sure, whatever Pops," Ranma said with a roll of her eyes. Genma scowled down at his son-turned-daughter then headed down the street to speak to someone. Ranma rolled her eyes again, she had no idea where Genma was dragging her too, and he had been very hush-hush on it since they arrived back in Japan. Ranma sighed as she leaned back against the lamp post on the street corner.
She and her father had been on the run, or more like Genma was on the run and dragging Ranma along for the ride, since they left Jusenkyo a few weeks ago. Ranma didn't remember anything of their departure, only a blinding pain then darkness. She woke up nearly a full day later in a village they had passed through before when going to Jusenkyo. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Genma had knocked her out since Ranma wouldn't have willingly left now that she had a new family. When she had woken up, her father had been standing over her only to jump back when Ranma screamed in surprise.
Once he had recovered Genma told her that he had 'rescued' her from the Amazons, as he called the Joketsuzoku, then asked her why she had been running around with two of them instead of trying to get away with a suspicious look in his eyes.
Ranma may not be the brightest crayon in the box but she was quick enough to think up a lie. Pulling on her knowledge of the laws Cologne had told her, Ranma lied and said that since she defeated Shampoo in combat that she was engaged to the purple haired youth who had followed her around to make sure Ranma didn't 'run away'. Ranma remembered being taken aback when Genma exploded that Shampoo was not her fiancée and to put the girl out of her mind.
'Kinda hard to do that when she's trying to kill you, isn't it Pops?' Ranma thought to herself with a smirk. Shampoo had shown up a day or two afterward trying her best to kill Genma, or at least maim him, and they had been running away since. Added onto that, Mousse had also shown up for the same reason, Ranma didn't get much of a chance to speak to either teen since Ranma had been dragged all over China as her father tried to put as much distance between him and the Amazon youths. When they weren't on the run, Ranma had attempted at least a couple of times to leave and head back to Joketsuzoku but Genma, who had been keeping a very close eye on his only child, had stopped her every time. He seemed hyper aware of what she was doing and where she was at all times. Ranma knew it wasn't because Genma was worried about her, and if he was he had a funny way of showing it, but instead seemed to know Ranma would rather be back with the Amazon-like warriors, seeing through some of Ranma's lies.
Ranma would have made a run for it during the times Shampoo or Mousse had attacked Genma but quickly found that her two friends were hesitant in their attacks if she was nearby. While she may not like Genma, the man was still her father and she didn't want to see him dead therefore she stuck close to him to keep him from being killed.
Ranma had almost made her escape once, she had found some bottles of booze that a sailor had left behind and gave them to her father. Genma had happily taken the offering and drank what was left in the bottles. When the man had dropped off into an alcohol induced slumber, Ranma proceeded to run off. She had hoped to find either Shampoo or Mousse and convince them to return to the village with her, letting Genma continue his own way. Ranma didn't even make it out of town, Genma had woken up right after she left and quickly sobered up from the little amount of liquor he had drank. He dragged his offspring back to camp and that had been the start of the close watch on her from then-on out.
"Excuse me, can you tell me if this is Hong Kong?" Ranma blinked as she was jarred out of her thoughts by a familiar voice. She looked up and saw Ryoga Hibiki, map of what looked like some place in America, at least she thought it was, she wasn’t sure. It could be France or something, open in front of him, looking lost as ever. "OH! It's you, that girl from the place with all the springs."
"Yeah," Ranma agreed with a grin. "You look a little lost, you're far away from Hong Kong, we're in Japan."
"Really?" Ryoga asked excitedly. "Oh, I didn't get your name last time," he blushed a bit as he remembered last time and what happened with the shirt he had been wearing. He really hoped the pretty girl in front of him didn't remember.
"Oh I'm Ran," Ranma froze for a fraction of a second, Ryoga didn't know she was Ranma his old rival and sparring buddy from junior high. Ranma hadn't been overly kind to Ryoga, something she regretted and often tried to make up for without seeming to. But he didn't know her like this and Ranma didn't want to spoil a chance to start over. "Ka. Ranka, yep that's my name," she quickly said, coming up with a similar sounding name right on the spot. After she said it, she supposed she could have gone with Ranko now that she thought about it but it was too late. (1)
"Ranka..." Ryoga tried the name out, grinning in a silly fashion. He completely missed the hesitation when Ranma gave him the fake name. To him it was just a pretty name for a pretty girl. "I'm Ryoga," he said with a polite bow. "Why are you in Japan? Don't you live in China?"
"What?" Ranma asked, "No, I'm from Japan, Pops and I were just visiting." She would have liked to stay in China with her new family but Genma had put a kink in those plans after he dragged her off. Ranma was still plotting a way to return to China and Joketsuzoku, they had lost Shampoo and Mousse before stowing away on a boat heading to Japan and the red headed girl didn't know if her two friends would come here or not.
Ryoga scowled darkly at the mention of Ranma's father, he remembered clearly how sad and scared Ranma had been and that she mentioned Genma was the cause of it.
"Your father isn't hurting you or nothing is he?" Ryoga asked. "I'll gladly pound him into the dirt otherwise."
"Nah, it's fine," Ranma assured him. "Pops is an idiot, I can take care of myself." Still she was a little warm and fuzzy that Ryoga had offered to beat Genma black and blue for her, but just a little since she could do it herself. When her father wasn't cheating of course. Ryoga looked hesitant for a moment then nodded. Above them thunder rumbled as the dark clouds that had been hanging around all day threatened to drop its load.
"Eeerrr, I've got to go," Ryoga said quickly, he wanted to be inside before it started raining and he turned into his cursed fox form. He didn't want his new pretty friend to know about how much of a freak he was by changing.
"Oh... ok," Ranma said as Ryoga turned and quickly walked away. "I wonder what that was about."
**
Genma grunted as he left the store, pocketing the packets of ramen he grabbed on the way out. He had gotten the instructions he need to find the Tendo Dojo and he couldn't wait as the sooner they got there, the sooner Genma could force Ranma into picking his future bride.
'Of course, if that blasted boy doesn't turn back into a boy, my plans might go up in smoke,' Genma thought to himself. Somehow, no matter how much hot water Genma poured over his son, Ranma would not turned back into a boy. Genma didn't think it was anything the Amazons had done, the first night away Ranma had turned back but since then Ranma had been a girl and Genma couldn't figure out just how the boy was doing it.
He wondered if he wasn't using hot enough water on his son, he hadn't really been able to test the theory as those two teens from Jusenkyo that had foolishly challenged him had followed them all throughout China trying to maim him. Busy trying to stay alive and in one piece, Genma hadn't the time to even change out of his own cursed form while on the run. And cold water just seemed to find him no matter what, it was kinda annoying.
'Once at Tendo's I'll use the hottest water I can find,' Genma thought to himself with a nod. He walked back toward the corner where he’d left Ranma and frowned as he came to a stop. His girl-cursed son was talking to another boy, Genma thought the bandana wearing boy looked a little familiar but he couldn't place where he had seen him before, and seemed to be acting... acting like a bloody girl around the other youth. Genma scowled, what was that boy of his up to? He watched as the other boy stiffened when it thundered then quickly left.
"Boy! What do you think you're doing?!" Genma all but roared as he stomped back over to Ranma.
"The hell you going on about old man?" Ranma asked with an almost pouty scowl on her face.
"With that boy!" Genma yelled, not noticing that he was starting to draw a crowd. Ranma frowned up at her father confused.
"What about him? He's just a guy I know Pops, no need to get your fur up in a bunch," Ranma said.
"You were acting like a girl instead of a man!" Genma roared. Ranma stepped back stunned and tears sprung to her blue eyes.
'Damn it, I thought I had this crying thing under control,' Ranma thought to herself. One thing she had found out, tears tended to come a lot easier as a girl than in her male form. Genma sneered as he saw the tears.
"There you go, being a weak little girl again," Genma said.
"Shut up Pops!" Ranma swung her pack at Genma, catching him by surprise as it collided with him and knocked him onto his back. Ranma turned and ran off, one arm over her eyes as she tried to control her crying. People started to whisper about what a horrible man Genma was, to make his daughter cry like that. Many mothers in the crowd glared at Genma as the man sat up, pushing the pack off him. The storm clouds rumbled again then let loose, a torrent of water soaking Genma to the bone and triggering his curse. Many people cried out in alarm as Genma-panda stood with a growlf noise, not understanding what had happened and many ran off screaming.
Genma-panda ignored the people around him as he picked up both his and Ranma's packs and lumbered off to find his offspring.
***
Ukyo Kuonji sighed as she leaned against the counter, looking out over the empty tables at her uncle's restaurant. Ukyo was working part-time there to build up some cash so she could open her own restaurant one day. Yawning, she arched her back while stretching her arms out then pulled down her top as it rode up.
Ukyo sighed again, running her hands over her top. For once she was dressed as a girl, something her uncle insisted on. When she was younger her father had engaged her to her childhood friend Ranma, offering up their okonomiyaki cart as a dowry. Ranma and his father Genma then ran off with the cart without taking Ukyo with them. She could remember running after them, screaming for them to stop, she was supposed to go with them but her little legs hadn't been able to keep up.
The incident had brought shame on their family according to her father and he had made Ukyo give up her womanhood until she could get her revenge on Ranma and his father. For that reason Ukyo usually dressed and acted like a boy, wearing the male school uniforms and the last school she had attended had even been an all-boys school. Ukyo shuddered slightly as she remembered her stalker Tsubasa Kurenai, a boy from the school that had discovered that Ukyo was really a girl and decided he was in love with her. Outside of school Tsubasa had a habit of dressing up like a girl, his disguise was so good it was easy to mistake him for one, and often claimed they were perfect for each other for that reason.
Ukyo had trained all her life to get her revenge on the Saotome’s so she could take her life and womanhood back once and for all. This was something Ukyo's father and uncle disagreed on, when Ukyo was at her uncle’s he insisted that she dress and act like a girl and said many times that Ukyo shouldn't have to base her life around getting revenge on someone. While she never mentioned it to her father, Ukyo privately agreed with her uncle. She had been hurt by her former best friend’s actions but to give up her womanhood had been even harder.
Ukyo looked up as the bell above the door rang, glad that someone had come in to break up the dreary rainy afternoon.
"Hello, welcome to Jiruo's Okonomiyaki," Ukyo recited as she moved behind the grill. She took a look at the person who came in, it was a girl a little shorter than her with bright red hair pulled back in a ponytail. The girl was soaking wet from the rain outside but Ukyo could tell the other girl had been crying as her blue eyes, which reminded her of a certain person from her past, were red rimmed. "Hey Sugar, are you ok?"
"Y-yeah," Ranma said as she sniffed. "Sorry."
"Hey, don't be sorry," Ukyo said. "Hey, come on and sit down. You look like you could use one of my special okonomiyakis then I'll go get you a towel to get dried off with."
"Thanks, that'll be great," Ranma said as she wearily sat down in front of the grill. Ukyo gave her a small smile and cooked up a quick okonomiyaki with all the fixings and sat it in front of her.
"Here you go Sug," Ukyo said. "I'll be right back." She left Ranma to eat while she ran up to the apartment above the restaurant where her uncle Jiruo was sitting at the table.
"What's the hurry?" her uncle asked amused.
"Poor girl just came in from outside, she's soaking wet," Ukyo said as she grabbed a couple of towels from the closet.
"Oh, well make sure she has something warm to drink, it's chilly out there," Jiruo said in understanding. Meanwhile downstairs Ranma hungrily ate the okonomiyaki, starving as all she had eaten that day was a small bowl of rice.
'Yumm, reminds me of Ucchan's,' Ranma thought to herself with a happy hum. She happily thought back on her best friend Ukyo, or Ucchan as she called the older boy, who had made the best okonomiyakis in her, back then his, opinion. She wondered what her 'big brother' was doing and absently thought about the last time she saw him. To this day she wondered why her Pops took Ucchan and his dad's cart and why the boy had chased after them. Ranma remembered asking her Pops to stop but Genma claimed they were in a hurry and they left Ukyo in the dust. 'Maybe I should try and find him? I wonder if he even remembers me and how the heck do I explain why I have a girl's body now?'
"Here we are," Ukyo said as she returned. "Wow, you must have been hungry," she said in a surprised tone as she noticed that Ranma was already finished with the okonomiyaki she had made.
"Yeah, it was really good," Ranma said with a grin as she took the offered towel and started to dry off her red hair. "It was as good as the ones my big brother use to make when we were kids."
"You have a brother?" Ukyo asked as she slipped back behind the grill and started to make a warm cup of tea.
"Well, he's not really my brother," Ranma said, voice muffled by the towel, "he's my best friend, we met when we were kids but I looked up to him as a brother."
"So if you don't mind me asking, what were you crying for?" Ukyo asked. Ranma stiffened a little, she thought the rain had covered the tear tracks on her face.
"You could tell?" Ranma asked, looking up at the taller girl.
"Well your eyes are pretty red," Ukyo said. "So, boy trouble?"
"Well... not really. I guess it's a little silly but it was my Pops fault," Ranma said with a sigh, taking the cup of tea from Ukyo. "He said something and it just sorta really hurt me. He wants me to be a boy and won't accept me as who I am."
"Gee, don't I know that feeling," Ukyo muttered. "So he raised you like a boy huh? Upset that you were a girl?"
"Yeah, something like that," Ranma said with a shrug. "I'm just so tired of his shit, just nags all the time how I'm suppose to be a man-among-men and doesn't even think about my own happiness."
"Have you tried just talking to him?" Ukyo asked, absently making another okonomiyaki for the other girl.
"When I was younger," Ranma said then sighed. "He wouldn't even listen to what I had to say, we've been on a 10 year training trip and he's pushed me to be the best. I don't mind that, I just don't like the way he forces me to be something I'm not."
"I know how you feel, I think my own father was disappointed I'm a girl sometimes," Ukyo said. "I was raised like a boy too, but my uncle just wants me to be myself."
"I made some great friends back in China who are like that," Ranma said with a smile. "I've been trying my best to get back to them, they had pretty much adopted me."
"You've been trying to run away?" Ukyo asked as she slid the okonomiyaki to Ranma.
"Is it really running away when you're trying to get back to the family you know accepts you for you?" Ranma asked.
"Guess you have a point," Ukyo said. "Well whatever you do, I wish you luck Sugar."
"Thanks," Ranma said with a smile. "I feel better now, talking it out a bit really helped and the okonomiyaki is really good but I guess I better go find Pops before he comes tearing through town looking for me. How much do I owe ya?"
"You know what, it's on the house," Ukyo said with a smile. "My treat." Ranma gave her a bright smile that made her look cute, thanked her again then left the restaurant.
"Hmm... kinda reminded me of Ran-chan a bit," Ukyo said softly to herself then shook her head, thinking that was just a silly thought.
***
"Gowlf!" Genma-panda lumbered up to Ranma as soon as he spotted her. 'Where the hell have you been boy?'
"Just took a walk to clear my head Pops," Ranma said.
'Done crying like a little girl then?' Genma wrote on his sign, flipping it over when he ran out of room. Ranma rolled her eyes and nodded. 'Don't roll your eyes at me boy. Come on, we need to get going.'
"Where are we going anyway?" Ranma asked as she took her pack from her father. "You never said."
'To visit with an old friend of mine,' Genma wrote. 'Tendo and I have some family business.'
"What sort of family business? Aren’t we going to see Mom?" Ranma asked.
'You’ll find out in due time,' Genma wrote. 'And don't worry about your mother for now.' /Ranma eyes narrowed, her father was being very secretive about something. 'Let's go.'/
"Fine," Ranma sighed and shouldered her pack, following Genma down the road. People gasped and gaped as they watched the petite red headed girl walk down the road with a very large panda. As the afternoon wore on into evening the rain finally let up, Ranma wrinkled her nose at the smell of wet panda fur. She had been nagging her father about when they were visiting this 'Tendo' person and hadn't gotten much of a straight answer only that they were going to be staying a while at the man's dojo.
Ranma sighed and rubbed the back of her neck, she didn't like it when her father was dodgy like this, it meant he was hiding something from her. She stopped as they passed a bathhouse then looked back at her panda cursed father.
"Hey Pops!" Genma stopped and gave a bear like scowl over his shoulder.
"Gowlf!"
"You don't plan on meeting your friend like that do you?" Ranma asked, waving her hand at Genma. "You'll give him a heart attack or something. Wouldn't it be better to go as a human?" Genma scratched the side of his head in thought then nodded. Yes, it would be easier to explain everything to Soun if he was human first. Genma headed into the public bathhouse with Ranma right behind him. Inside the steamy bathing room on the men's side, several of them screamed or yelled as the large panda walked in. In a flash, people scrambled out of the large furo, grabbing clothing and personal items as they fled.
As Ranma set down her pack so she could bathe as well, her head shot up as she heard one man that passed her say he was going to call the cops or at least the local zoo.
'Wait... maybe I can get rid of Pops this way,' Ranma thought, her mind racing. 'At least for a little while... maybe...' She looked down into her pack where her special water proof soap sat. There wasn't much of it left, Ranma had constantly used it to stay in her female form. But there was more than enough for Genma to use, Ranma had noticed that when they did stop to bathe, Genma was always too lazy to change back into human form to wash first, he always washed himself in his cursed form. Already Ranma could see Genma filling up a bucket with cold water.
'Hand me the soap boy,' Genma signed. Thinking fast unless she lost her nerve, Ranma grabbed the water proof soap and handed it to Genma.
"Here you go Pops," Ranma said. Genma just grunted and started to lather himself up with the soap. Ranma watched with sad eyes as Genma used the last of it to get into his fur and cover every inch of himself, she had used it the day before so she had at least six days left before she started changing back into her boy form.
Ranma started to slowly edge toward the door, her father was going to freak when he got in the hot water and didn't change back. Already she could faintly hear sirens heading their way. Genma ignored his child as he poured a pail of cold water over his head, washing the soap suds out of his fur. Genma walked over to the furo and stepped down into the hot water with a growling sigh. As he submerged himself in the hot water, Genma immediately noticed something was wrong. He hadn't felt the familiar tingle that came from shifting from one form to the other and he could tell he was still in his panda form.
Genma started to panic, dunking himself in the water over and over again, trying to change back to his human form. Growling loudly as he trashing in the water, he didn't see Ranma slide out of the public bathhouse side door or the police at first as they busted in.
"Growlf!" Genma finally noticed the police as they yelled, holding up his front paws and starting to climb out of the water. He needed to get over to his signs and marker so he could talk to the policemen.
"Easy there boy," one police officer said in a soothing tone. "We're not going to hurt you."
"Grrrr gowlf," Genma paused for a moment then started to wave his front paws, trying to speak without speaking as he tried to explain.
"He's going berserk, take him out," the officer in charge said.
"Will do," a man said beside him. He lifted up a gun and pointed it at Genma who didn't notice. He let off a single shot, hitting Genma in the side of his neck. Genma staggered, reaching up to touch his neck, pulling something that was sticking out of his neck out. Genma looked blearily at the tranquilizer dart then fell into a heap to the ground.
**
Ranma sat on top of one of the buildings across the street from the bath house, watching as the police officers walked around the area and asked people questions then as her father in panda form was taken out of the bath house in a cage.
Ranma let out a breath as Genma-panda was loaded into a truck with the name of the zoo on the side then carried off.
"I can't believe that worked," Ranma said softly, getting up and walking to the far side of the roof. She roof hopped out of the area then jumped down to street level. Ranma was undecided on what to do, should she try to find her way back to China or should she try to find that Tendo guy first. Looking both ways, she wasn't sure where she was right at that moment. "I wonder if this is how Ryoga feels all the time," Ranma wondered to herself, feeling very lost.
In another part of Nerima, as a small black and yellow fox sneezed, Ryoga-fox wondered if someone was talking about him.
**
"You what!?" A voice asked loudly in the Tendo dojo. "What do you mean fiancé!?"
"Now Akane dear calm down," Soun said holding his hands up and sweat dropping slightly. His youngest daughter Akane was furious with the wonderful news he had told her and her two older sisters. For some reason, none of the three of them looked very happy. Akane looked very much like her mother, Kami rest her soul, right now and the sight of it was almost enough to bring Soun to tears.
"Daddy how could you engage us to somebody without asking us?" Akane asked with a huff as she sat back down.
"Yea Daddy, betrothals are so last century," Nabiki agreed, she was no happier about this than Akane was.
"Now girls, it's a matter of family honor," Soun said. "My friend Saotome and I agreed to join the two lines of Anything Goes years ago."
"I do hope he's not younger than me, young men are just so... young," Kasumi said. Akane and Nabiki gave their older sister looks of disbelief, wondering how she could be so calm about all this.
"Is he at least cute Daddy?" Nabiki said, trying to get some information of this Ranma Saotome guy.
"I don't know, I've never met him," Soun said. The girls face vaulted while Soun laughed nervously and sweat dropped.
"What do you mean you never met him?" Nabiki asked as she recovered.
"You engaged us to some boy you don't even know?" Akane asked in only slight disbelief.
"Well..." Soun said. "Saotome and his son should be here soon, you'll meet him then."
But the night wore on and to Soun's disappointment, Genma and Ranma never showed up. The girls were not all that broken up about it.
**
The next morning Ranma groaned at the light from the rising sun hit her in the face. She sat up on the branch of the tree she had slept in, stretching her arms out over her head and arching her back almost like a cat.
"Hmm, what a night," Ranma said to herself, she couldn't believe her last second plan to get rid of Genma for a while worked. She lost the soap in the process but there hadn’t been that much left of it anyway. The red headed girl hopped down from the tree she had slept in and tried to figure out what she was going to do now.
'I could try and make a break for it back to China,' Ranma thought to herself as she walked through the park where the tree was located. 'Or... I could try to see if I can find Mom. If she's dead at least I can visit her grave and if she's alive I'll explain what has happened to me. I just hope she'll accept me as I am.'
She had a plan now, but felt a little lost on how to go about it. Ranma didn’t remember where she and Genma had lived before the training trip, Ranma wasn't even sure if it was in Nerima where she was now. She didn't even know her mother’s name so she couldn't look that way either.
'This is going to be a little more difficult than I thought,' Ranma thought as she rubbed the back of her neck. 'I gotta be able to find out something, but where do I start?'
rustle
Ranma froze and turned to look at the brush behind her. She had heard something moving around in the bushes, blue eyes narrowed as she crept closer.
"Yip!" Something barked and sounded like it was struggling.
"What tha?" Ranma reached over and separated the bush. "Oh, how kawaii!" Ranma cooed and reached down to untangle the creature within. "Shhh, it's ok, I'll get you out."
Ranma tugged and pulled away at the branches of the bush then lifted out a small black and yellow fox.
"Oh you are just so cute," Ranma said as she held up the fox in front of her. It had inky black fur and very unusual yellow markings on its belly, and on the tip of its tail, toes, and ears. It also had a yellow with black stripes bandanna tied around its neck. 'Kinda looks like the one Ryoga was wearing yesterday,' Ranma thought to herself.
Meanwhile the fox, Ryoga looked back at Ranma, or as he knew her Ranka, in disbelief and seemed to blush slightly as she called him cute.
"You're a tame little guy aren't ya," Ranma said as she drew Ryoga close to her body, pressing him between her ample bust. "I bet you have an owner somewhere, why would they let someone like you get lost?"
Ryoga couldn't answer if he wanted to, his brain was shutting down from where he was resting in Ranma's breasts. Ranma petted Ryoga as she walked away from the bushes, hoping to either find the fox’s owner or to find something to eat as her stomach growled. She never noticed the pile of clothing and the large travel pack that lay on the ground next to the park's sprinkler system.
Ranma walked out of the park and toward the small outdoor market. She looked around and grinned as she spied a cart selling sweet buns, her stomach growling. Ryoga's little stomach growled in response.
"You hungry too huh?" Ranma said. "Well let's get something to eat." Ranma put the cutest look on her face as she approached the cart. "Oh that looks so good mister," she said as she made her blue eyes look big, one hand balled up next to her face while the other held Ryoga-fox gently in one arm.
"Oh my, what a cute little girl you are," The man working the cart said. Ranma mentally rolled her eyes but outwardly she poured on more of the cute. She had figured out while in China that she could scam some guys out of food as a girl when she looked cute and helpless. "Are you hungry miss?"
"Yes but... My papa forgot to give me any money to buy anything..." Ranma made her lip quiver slightly. Ryoga's mouth dropped open slightly as Ranma masterfully manipulated the vendor as the man seemed to crumble under Ranma's cuteness.
'I can't believe he's falling for that!' Ryoga thought to himself. 'Well... Ranka /is really cute, almost any guy could fall for that.'/
"Well I can't let a cute girl like you go hungry," the vendor said then winked. "This is on the house."
'Stop being so forward you pervert,' Ryoga thought while growling at the man.
"Golly mister, thank you so much," Ranma gushed. The vendor laughed and handed her a small bag full of sweet buns. Ranma gave him another bright smile while giving him another thank you then bouncing away. The vendor watched Ranma's ass as she left then shivered in fear. He moved his eyes up to meet the eyes of the little fox the girl had been holding, a look in the animal's green eyes that promised death.
'I'll rip your arms off if you don't quit ogling her,' Ryoga's eyes seemed to say to the man who shivered again. After Ranma disappeared back into the park, the man shook his head.
"Cute girl, but that fox is a little scary," he said to himself.
**
"Here you go little guy," Ranma said as she laid a sweet bun in front of Ryoga. Ryoga yipped and started to gulp down the bun. "Hee, guess you was as hungry as me," Ranma said with a laugh as she bit into another bun. "Hmmm, nice and warm."
'Kami....' Ryoga looked at Ranma with wide eyes, the red haired girl had a blissful look on her face. Ryoga felt his mouth go dry and his heart beat a little harder, everything about this pretty girl just made his tingle all over.
"You are so cute," Ranma said as she reached over to pet Ryoga. "I should give you a name, I can't just keep calling you 'little guy' and 'fox'. Hmmm... what about Kit-chan? See Kit for kitsuna and chan for cute!"
'Are you kidding?' Ryoga thought, it wasn't a very original name but it could be worse he decided. He could be called 'F-chan' or 'K-chan'. He barked in agreement while wishing Ranma was talking to him as a human and not as a little cute animal.
"Great!" Ranma said with a grin. "Just you and me Kit-chan, I just got away from my Pops and now I'm looking for my Mom."
'Good, you need to be away from that man,' Ryoga yipped, taking another sweet bun when Ranma held one out to him. 'A sweet girl like you needs to be with your mother.'
Ranma absently chewed on a sweet bun as she tried to come up with a game plan. She couldn't remember much of anything before the training trip as she had been really young when she and Genma left. Ranma only had the vaguest memories of her mother, she thought her mother might have had red hair not unlike her own current form. Ryoga walked over to sit by Ranma, placing one of his paws on her leg.
"I wonder if Pops had anything in his pack that could tell me how to get home," Ranma said as she reached up to pet Ryoga. He yipped softly, eyes going half lidded as she scratched behind his ears. "Not sure what happened to his pack Kit-chan, the cops might have it but I'm not sure. And I have no idea where the cop station is anyway."
Ryoga made a soft whining noise, he would be useless there. If he tried to lead Ranma he would get the both of them even more lost.
"Well, we're not going to find anything sitting around here," Ranma said as she balled up the bag the sweet buns where it and aiming it at the trash can a few feet away. The paper ball hit the back of the can and fell in. "Ha, two points. Come on Kit-chan," Ranma picked up Ryoga-fox and placed him on her shoulder. Ryoga easily balanced himself as he rode his new vantage point as Ranma walked back over to the tree she’d slept in to get her pack she had stowed away. Once she had her things, Ranma picked a random direction out of the park.
**
Ranma sighed as she rubbed her face, she had been walking all around the city trying to find anything to point her in the right direction, now she was completely lost and had no idea where she was. The sun had long since set, leaving Ranma and Ryoga to travel down the darkened streets of Nerima.
'I don't like this,' Ryoga thought looking around worriedly. The fur on his back was raised and the fur on his tail puffed out, someone was watching them and whoever it was wasn't friendly.
"You sense it too, don't cha Kit-chan," Ranma said softly as she reached up to pet the fox on her shoulder. "Come on, let's cut down here and try to get a higher vantage point." She turned into a dark alley that came to a dead end. That really didn't worry her, Ranma planned on using the walls on either side of the alley to jump up to the top of the buildings.
The alleyway suddenly became darker as a group of people stood in front of the mouth.
"Well well well, look what we got here," A thug around the same age as Ranma said. The boy had his hair dyed a bright green and wore a cut up pair of jeans and tank top. The other three in his gang were dressed in similar ways. "A pretty girl like you shouldn't be walking the streets by yourself after dark... who knows what sort of trouble you could get into."
"Yeah real pretty, maybe we should... take her someplace 'safe'," one of the other boys said, making the others laugh.
"How about it pretty lady?" The leader of the group said, leaning close to Ranma who looked very unimpressed.
'Get away from her you greased up baka!' Ryoga thought as he growled loudly, baring his teeth at the punk.
"How about no, I don't 'hang around' with people like you," Ranma said dryly, even Genma wasn't as bad as these guys.
"I don't think you understand, we're not giving you a choice," The thug leader said as he took a switch-blade knife out of the back pocket of his pants. The other three teens in the group snickered and leered as they took out weapons as well such as chains and blunt objects.
"Yeah, you don't want to do this guys," Ranma said as she dropped her travel pack to the ground.
"I think we do," the leader said with a smirk. "You think you can take us little girl?"
"The question is can you take me?" Ranma said with her own smirk as she slid into a stance. Ryoga growled, his back arched and fur on end from where he stood on Ranma's shoulder.
"Get her!" The lead punk roared as he rushed Ranma, the other three boys right behind him. Ranma ducked under the leader’s arm as he took a swipe at her with his knife. She grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back. "AARRRGGHH!" He yelled as with a sharp yank Ranma dislocated his shoulder.
Ryoga gave a scream like bark as he jumped on another punk. The punk screamed in pain as Ryoga bit and scratched at his face, tearing a chunk out of his nose. Ranma dropped to the ground as the last two punks both swung at Ranma at the same time, one with a bat and the other with a chain, the chain wrapping around the bat.
"Hey! Watch it!" The teen yelled. Ranma twisted on one leg, sweeping the other around to knock the thug with the chain off his feet with a low kick. As the punk fell, he yanked the bat out of the other punk's hands. Hopping up, Ranma used the heel of her hand to strike him in the nose. The boy howled in pain, hands coming up to his nose that was now broken, blood pouring from it.
"You little bitch!" The thug Ranma had knocked over said as he jumped back onto his feet. He untangled his chain from the bat and swung it at Ranma again. She jumped into the air, twisting mid air as she flipped over the boy's head and kicked out with a foot. Ranma's foot struck the boy in the back of his head, the boy swaying for a moment then blacking out as he crumpled to the ground.
Ryoga meanwhile ducked and jumped to avoid the wild swings that the thug took to try and knock the black and yellow fox off of him.
"AHHH, demon fox!" The thug yelled as Ryoga bit and tore another chunk out of his arm.
"Kit-chan, come on. You don't want to get rabies from these guys," Ranma called.
"You little bitch," The leader growled as he tried to sit up, holding onto his numb arm. "You're gonna pay for this." Ranma scowled and planted her foot in the leader's chest, pushing him onto his back, the boy groaning in pain as his shoulder was jarred.
"I ever see you again, I'm gonna do more than dislocate your shoulder," Ranma growled. Ryoga jumped up onto Ranma's shoulder, growling lowly at the thug. "I ever found out you pulled this on another person, I'm gonna come back for ya."
Ryoga yipped in warning as someone came up behind them. Ranma spun and caught the arm that the last thug has swinging at her. He was bloody, covered in bite and scratch marks from Ryoga's attack. Ranma twisted his arm until he cried out in pain then thrust her fist into his chest. The thug was knocked back several feet into one of the garbage bins in the alley.
"Wh-what are you?" The leader asked as all of his gang had their asses handed to them by one little girl.
"I'm a martial artist," Ranma said as she grabbed her pack. "The best one in the world and don't you forget it." She turned and started to bounce up the walls of the alleyway to the rooftops above them.
***
Akane sighed happily as she left the house, a shopping list for Kasumi in one hand and a basket in the other. Her father Soun had been in a depressed funk ever since a couple of nights ago when his friend Genma and his son never showed up. Akane on the other hand was not broken up that the boy who was to be engaged to either her or one of her sisters didn't come. It was a little unfair to whoever the boy was to think of him like that but Akane was on a boy-hating kick because of the boys at her school who fought with her every morning at the gates. It left a bit of a bad taste in her mouth toward boys her age.
Her father's depression was hanging like a cloud over their home and Akane was quite happy to run this errand for her oldest sister. The sounds of the market place near their house reached her ears and Akane smiled as the vendors and store clerks greeted her.
"Morning Akane-san, running some errands for your sister?" A elderly lady at one stand ask.
"Hai, just picking up a few things for dinner tonight," Akane said with a smile.
"Well everything is fresh this morning, take your pick," the lady said, waving her hand over the fruit and vegs at her stand. Akane gave her another sweet smile then quickly picked out the ones on Kasumi's list.
Akane moved from stall to stall, getting the things on Kasumi's list one by one. She hoped her oldest sister would allow her to help make dinner that night but she wasn't sure. Whenever she brought up the suggestion, her other sister Nabiki and their father Soun's face always went deadly pale. She didn't know why, her cooking wasn't that bad. Sure it wasn't as good as Kasumi's, the older girl was a master that had learned at their mother's knee before she passed away.
Humming a song to herself, one that she heard playing on the radio before she had left the house and was now stuck in her head, Akane passed an alley on her way to the little store at the end of the street. She stopped suddenly and glanced back at the mouth of the alley, she swore she had heard something. Akane glanced back at the busy market place, no one was paying any sort of attention.
She decided after a moment to forget it, it was likely a stray animal rooting around in a garbage bin or something.
"G-g-get away..." Akane stopped again, her brown eyes wide. Now she was sure she heard someone that time. She looked at the alley again, someone had called within and that voice sounded so frightened.
'It better not be one of those perverted boys from school picking on someone again,' Akane thought as her eyes narrowed in anger. Mind made up, she stalked into the alley ready to kick anyone’s ass who got in her way. As her eyes adjusted to the shadows and low light in the alley, Akane stopped short in surprise.
It was not, as she first thought, some poor soul being bothered by some pervert or mugger like she first thought. In fact, it was nothing like that, in front of Akane was a teenage girl about her own age with bright red hair pulled back in a ponytail sitting on the ground and pressed up against the brick wall. In front of the girl was a pair of cats, an old tom cat who had seen better days and a black cat wearing a collar with a little bell hanging off the front. Neither were doing anything to the girl, in fact both of them were just sitting a foot or two away from the cowering teen.
Akane frowned to herself wondering if this was some sort of joke. That thought left her mind as she caught a glance at the other girl's blue eyes. She could see the sheer terror in those eyes; the girl was completely and utterly terrified of the cats. Akane was suddenly reminded of her friend Yuka, who was terrified of spiders. The girl would almost become cationic if she even saw a photo of a spider because Yuka had an extreme case of Arachnophobia.
'Is there a phobia for cats?' Akane wondered absently as she stepped forward. "Go on, shoo you mangy cats." Akane waved her hands as she herded the two cats away. The cats yawned and stretched then walked away with tails held high.
"Hey, it's ok. They're gone now," Akane said as she turned back to the other girl, who was still shuddering in fear, her eyes lost in some remembered terror. Akane gulped and reached down to touch the red head's shoulder. The girl gave a small cry and started at the touch. Her head hit the brick wall hard with a crack, making her eyes roll up in her head as she blacked out. 'What do I do?! What do I do!? Wait! Doctor Tofu, he'll help!'
Plan in mind, Akane put her basket further up her arm and picked up the smaller girl. Running out of the alley, Akane headed for the clinic her family doctor, a man by the name of Tofu Ono. She was sure he could help.
**
Author note: (1) I wanted to be a little different and give Ranma a different alt name instead of Ranko. Ranka is sort of a cross between 'Ranma' and 'Ranko'.
Edit 3-19-14 - Just to let everyone know, Ranma didn't leave Ryoga behind. A bit of time has passed between Ranma and Ryoga beating up the thugs and Akane finding Ranma. Ryoga got lost between the scenes in his typical way.
Edit 9-2-14: nothing really changed, just the usual small little errors that was missed the first time.
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi
Author note: Thanks to Blissfull Wulf for betaing this fic.
Chapter 3
Kasumi Tendo hummed a pleasant song to herself as she entered the house she shared with her father and two younger sisters, bags of groceries in her hands. Once the bags were placed on the counter in her kitchen, she took out the stack of mail she had placed inside when she entered the gate. Mostly it was bills, at least one catalog which she put to the side and... a postcard?
"Hmm?" Kasumi looked at the postcard, the front decorated with a photo of a panda bear, and turned it over to see who it was for. Seeing her father Soun Tendo's name on the back she quickly took it into the main room of the house. "Father, you received a postcard," She said as she handed the card to Soun.
"Thank you Kasumi," Soun said as he put his newspaper to the side and read the back.
'Tendo,
Returning from China, bringing the boy. Should be there the day you get this card.
Saotome'
Tears of joy sprung to Soun's eyes as he read the words. At last, his friend and old training buddy Genma Saotome was coming with his son Ranma to fulfill the promise they made so many years ago!
"Kasumi! Nabiki! Akane!" He called his three daughters names.
"Yes Father?" Kasumi said as she leaned out of the kitchen door.
"Yeah Daddy?" Nabiki Tendo, the middle Tendo daughter, asked as she walked down the stairs into the living room.
"I have wonderful news... where is your sister?" Soun asked as he noticed only two of his daughters had come to his call.
"I think she's doing her daily run," Kasumi said.
"As soon as she gets home, we’re having a family meeting," Soun said then headed out of the room to prepare for his friend’s arrival.
"What do you think it's about?" Nabiki asked her older sister.
"I don't know, but he's very excited about whatever it is," Kasumi said as she handed the stack of bills to Nabiki.
"Huh," Nabiki said absently as she flipped through the bills. "Guess we'll find out when Akane gets home."
**
"Stay here boy," Genma said to his son as they came to a stop on a corner. He hadn't been in Nerima in years and needed directions on how to reach the Tendo Dojo.
"Yeah sure, whatever Pops," Ranma said with a roll of her eyes. Genma scowled down at his son-turned-daughter then headed down the street to speak to someone. Ranma rolled her eyes again, she had no idea where Genma was dragging her too, and he had been very hush-hush on it since they arrived back in Japan. Ranma sighed as she leaned back against the lamp post on the street corner.
She and her father had been on the run, or more like Genma was on the run and dragging Ranma along for the ride, since they left Jusenkyo a few weeks ago. Ranma didn't remember anything of their departure, only a blinding pain then darkness. She woke up nearly a full day later in a village they had passed through before when going to Jusenkyo. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Genma had knocked her out since Ranma wouldn't have willingly left now that she had a new family. When she had woken up, her father had been standing over her only to jump back when Ranma screamed in surprise.
Once he had recovered Genma told her that he had 'rescued' her from the Amazons, as he called the Joketsuzoku, then asked her why she had been running around with two of them instead of trying to get away with a suspicious look in his eyes.
Ranma may not be the brightest crayon in the box but she was quick enough to think up a lie. Pulling on her knowledge of the laws Cologne had told her, Ranma lied and said that since she defeated Shampoo in combat that she was engaged to the purple haired youth who had followed her around to make sure Ranma didn't 'run away'. Ranma remembered being taken aback when Genma exploded that Shampoo was not her fiancée and to put the girl out of her mind.
'Kinda hard to do that when she's trying to kill you, isn't it Pops?' Ranma thought to herself with a smirk. Shampoo had shown up a day or two afterward trying her best to kill Genma, or at least maim him, and they had been running away since. Added onto that, Mousse had also shown up for the same reason, Ranma didn't get much of a chance to speak to either teen since Ranma had been dragged all over China as her father tried to put as much distance between him and the Amazon youths. When they weren't on the run, Ranma had attempted at least a couple of times to leave and head back to Joketsuzoku but Genma, who had been keeping a very close eye on his only child, had stopped her every time. He seemed hyper aware of what she was doing and where she was at all times. Ranma knew it wasn't because Genma was worried about her, and if he was he had a funny way of showing it, but instead seemed to know Ranma would rather be back with the Amazon-like warriors, seeing through some of Ranma's lies.
Ranma would have made a run for it during the times Shampoo or Mousse had attacked Genma but quickly found that her two friends were hesitant in their attacks if she was nearby. While she may not like Genma, the man was still her father and she didn't want to see him dead therefore she stuck close to him to keep him from being killed.
Ranma had almost made her escape once, she had found some bottles of booze that a sailor had left behind and gave them to her father. Genma had happily taken the offering and drank what was left in the bottles. When the man had dropped off into an alcohol induced slumber, Ranma proceeded to run off. She had hoped to find either Shampoo or Mousse and convince them to return to the village with her, letting Genma continue his own way. Ranma didn't even make it out of town, Genma had woken up right after she left and quickly sobered up from the little amount of liquor he had drank. He dragged his offspring back to camp and that had been the start of the close watch on her from then-on out.
"Excuse me, can you tell me if this is Hong Kong?" Ranma blinked as she was jarred out of her thoughts by a familiar voice. She looked up and saw Ryoga Hibiki, map of what looked like some place in America, at least she thought it was, she wasn’t sure. It could be France or something, open in front of him, looking lost as ever. "OH! It's you, that girl from the place with all the springs."
"Yeah," Ranma agreed with a grin. "You look a little lost, you're far away from Hong Kong, we're in Japan."
"Really?" Ryoga asked excitedly. "Oh, I didn't get your name last time," he blushed a bit as he remembered last time and what happened with the shirt he had been wearing. He really hoped the pretty girl in front of him didn't remember.
"Oh I'm Ran," Ranma froze for a fraction of a second, Ryoga didn't know she was Ranma his old rival and sparring buddy from junior high. Ranma hadn't been overly kind to Ryoga, something she regretted and often tried to make up for without seeming to. But he didn't know her like this and Ranma didn't want to spoil a chance to start over. "Ka. Ranka, yep that's my name," she quickly said, coming up with a similar sounding name right on the spot. After she said it, she supposed she could have gone with Ranko now that she thought about it but it was too late. (1)
"Ranka..." Ryoga tried the name out, grinning in a silly fashion. He completely missed the hesitation when Ranma gave him the fake name. To him it was just a pretty name for a pretty girl. "I'm Ryoga," he said with a polite bow. "Why are you in Japan? Don't you live in China?"
"What?" Ranma asked, "No, I'm from Japan, Pops and I were just visiting." She would have liked to stay in China with her new family but Genma had put a kink in those plans after he dragged her off. Ranma was still plotting a way to return to China and Joketsuzoku, they had lost Shampoo and Mousse before stowing away on a boat heading to Japan and the red headed girl didn't know if her two friends would come here or not.
Ryoga scowled darkly at the mention of Ranma's father, he remembered clearly how sad and scared Ranma had been and that she mentioned Genma was the cause of it.
"Your father isn't hurting you or nothing is he?" Ryoga asked. "I'll gladly pound him into the dirt otherwise."
"Nah, it's fine," Ranma assured him. "Pops is an idiot, I can take care of myself." Still she was a little warm and fuzzy that Ryoga had offered to beat Genma black and blue for her, but just a little since she could do it herself. When her father wasn't cheating of course. Ryoga looked hesitant for a moment then nodded. Above them thunder rumbled as the dark clouds that had been hanging around all day threatened to drop its load.
"Eeerrr, I've got to go," Ryoga said quickly, he wanted to be inside before it started raining and he turned into his cursed fox form. He didn't want his new pretty friend to know about how much of a freak he was by changing.
"Oh... ok," Ranma said as Ryoga turned and quickly walked away. "I wonder what that was about."
**
Genma grunted as he left the store, pocketing the packets of ramen he grabbed on the way out. He had gotten the instructions he need to find the Tendo Dojo and he couldn't wait as the sooner they got there, the sooner Genma could force Ranma into picking his future bride.
'Of course, if that blasted boy doesn't turn back into a boy, my plans might go up in smoke,' Genma thought to himself. Somehow, no matter how much hot water Genma poured over his son, Ranma would not turned back into a boy. Genma didn't think it was anything the Amazons had done, the first night away Ranma had turned back but since then Ranma had been a girl and Genma couldn't figure out just how the boy was doing it.
He wondered if he wasn't using hot enough water on his son, he hadn't really been able to test the theory as those two teens from Jusenkyo that had foolishly challenged him had followed them all throughout China trying to maim him. Busy trying to stay alive and in one piece, Genma hadn't the time to even change out of his own cursed form while on the run. And cold water just seemed to find him no matter what, it was kinda annoying.
'Once at Tendo's I'll use the hottest water I can find,' Genma thought to himself with a nod. He walked back toward the corner where he’d left Ranma and frowned as he came to a stop. His girl-cursed son was talking to another boy, Genma thought the bandana wearing boy looked a little familiar but he couldn't place where he had seen him before, and seemed to be acting... acting like a bloody girl around the other youth. Genma scowled, what was that boy of his up to? He watched as the other boy stiffened when it thundered then quickly left.
"Boy! What do you think you're doing?!" Genma all but roared as he stomped back over to Ranma.
"The hell you going on about old man?" Ranma asked with an almost pouty scowl on her face.
"With that boy!" Genma yelled, not noticing that he was starting to draw a crowd. Ranma frowned up at her father confused.
"What about him? He's just a guy I know Pops, no need to get your fur up in a bunch," Ranma said.
"You were acting like a girl instead of a man!" Genma roared. Ranma stepped back stunned and tears sprung to her blue eyes.
'Damn it, I thought I had this crying thing under control,' Ranma thought to herself. One thing she had found out, tears tended to come a lot easier as a girl than in her male form. Genma sneered as he saw the tears.
"There you go, being a weak little girl again," Genma said.
"Shut up Pops!" Ranma swung her pack at Genma, catching him by surprise as it collided with him and knocked him onto his back. Ranma turned and ran off, one arm over her eyes as she tried to control her crying. People started to whisper about what a horrible man Genma was, to make his daughter cry like that. Many mothers in the crowd glared at Genma as the man sat up, pushing the pack off him. The storm clouds rumbled again then let loose, a torrent of water soaking Genma to the bone and triggering his curse. Many people cried out in alarm as Genma-panda stood with a growlf noise, not understanding what had happened and many ran off screaming.
Genma-panda ignored the people around him as he picked up both his and Ranma's packs and lumbered off to find his offspring.
***
Ukyo Kuonji sighed as she leaned against the counter, looking out over the empty tables at her uncle's restaurant. Ukyo was working part-time there to build up some cash so she could open her own restaurant one day. Yawning, she arched her back while stretching her arms out then pulled down her top as it rode up.
Ukyo sighed again, running her hands over her top. For once she was dressed as a girl, something her uncle insisted on. When she was younger her father had engaged her to her childhood friend Ranma, offering up their okonomiyaki cart as a dowry. Ranma and his father Genma then ran off with the cart without taking Ukyo with them. She could remember running after them, screaming for them to stop, she was supposed to go with them but her little legs hadn't been able to keep up.
The incident had brought shame on their family according to her father and he had made Ukyo give up her womanhood until she could get her revenge on Ranma and his father. For that reason Ukyo usually dressed and acted like a boy, wearing the male school uniforms and the last school she had attended had even been an all-boys school. Ukyo shuddered slightly as she remembered her stalker Tsubasa Kurenai, a boy from the school that had discovered that Ukyo was really a girl and decided he was in love with her. Outside of school Tsubasa had a habit of dressing up like a girl, his disguise was so good it was easy to mistake him for one, and often claimed they were perfect for each other for that reason.
Ukyo had trained all her life to get her revenge on the Saotome’s so she could take her life and womanhood back once and for all. This was something Ukyo's father and uncle disagreed on, when Ukyo was at her uncle’s he insisted that she dress and act like a girl and said many times that Ukyo shouldn't have to base her life around getting revenge on someone. While she never mentioned it to her father, Ukyo privately agreed with her uncle. She had been hurt by her former best friend’s actions but to give up her womanhood had been even harder.
Ukyo looked up as the bell above the door rang, glad that someone had come in to break up the dreary rainy afternoon.
"Hello, welcome to Jiruo's Okonomiyaki," Ukyo recited as she moved behind the grill. She took a look at the person who came in, it was a girl a little shorter than her with bright red hair pulled back in a ponytail. The girl was soaking wet from the rain outside but Ukyo could tell the other girl had been crying as her blue eyes, which reminded her of a certain person from her past, were red rimmed. "Hey Sugar, are you ok?"
"Y-yeah," Ranma said as she sniffed. "Sorry."
"Hey, don't be sorry," Ukyo said. "Hey, come on and sit down. You look like you could use one of my special okonomiyakis then I'll go get you a towel to get dried off with."
"Thanks, that'll be great," Ranma said as she wearily sat down in front of the grill. Ukyo gave her a small smile and cooked up a quick okonomiyaki with all the fixings and sat it in front of her.
"Here you go Sug," Ukyo said. "I'll be right back." She left Ranma to eat while she ran up to the apartment above the restaurant where her uncle Jiruo was sitting at the table.
"What's the hurry?" her uncle asked amused.
"Poor girl just came in from outside, she's soaking wet," Ukyo said as she grabbed a couple of towels from the closet.
"Oh, well make sure she has something warm to drink, it's chilly out there," Jiruo said in understanding. Meanwhile downstairs Ranma hungrily ate the okonomiyaki, starving as all she had eaten that day was a small bowl of rice.
'Yumm, reminds me of Ucchan's,' Ranma thought to herself with a happy hum. She happily thought back on her best friend Ukyo, or Ucchan as she called the older boy, who had made the best okonomiyakis in her, back then his, opinion. She wondered what her 'big brother' was doing and absently thought about the last time she saw him. To this day she wondered why her Pops took Ucchan and his dad's cart and why the boy had chased after them. Ranma remembered asking her Pops to stop but Genma claimed they were in a hurry and they left Ukyo in the dust. 'Maybe I should try and find him? I wonder if he even remembers me and how the heck do I explain why I have a girl's body now?'
"Here we are," Ukyo said as she returned. "Wow, you must have been hungry," she said in a surprised tone as she noticed that Ranma was already finished with the okonomiyaki she had made.
"Yeah, it was really good," Ranma said with a grin as she took the offered towel and started to dry off her red hair. "It was as good as the ones my big brother use to make when we were kids."
"You have a brother?" Ukyo asked as she slipped back behind the grill and started to make a warm cup of tea.
"Well, he's not really my brother," Ranma said, voice muffled by the towel, "he's my best friend, we met when we were kids but I looked up to him as a brother."
"So if you don't mind me asking, what were you crying for?" Ukyo asked. Ranma stiffened a little, she thought the rain had covered the tear tracks on her face.
"You could tell?" Ranma asked, looking up at the taller girl.
"Well your eyes are pretty red," Ukyo said. "So, boy trouble?"
"Well... not really. I guess it's a little silly but it was my Pops fault," Ranma said with a sigh, taking the cup of tea from Ukyo. "He said something and it just sorta really hurt me. He wants me to be a boy and won't accept me as who I am."
"Gee, don't I know that feeling," Ukyo muttered. "So he raised you like a boy huh? Upset that you were a girl?"
"Yeah, something like that," Ranma said with a shrug. "I'm just so tired of his shit, just nags all the time how I'm suppose to be a man-among-men and doesn't even think about my own happiness."
"Have you tried just talking to him?" Ukyo asked, absently making another okonomiyaki for the other girl.
"When I was younger," Ranma said then sighed. "He wouldn't even listen to what I had to say, we've been on a 10 year training trip and he's pushed me to be the best. I don't mind that, I just don't like the way he forces me to be something I'm not."
"I know how you feel, I think my own father was disappointed I'm a girl sometimes," Ukyo said. "I was raised like a boy too, but my uncle just wants me to be myself."
"I made some great friends back in China who are like that," Ranma said with a smile. "I've been trying my best to get back to them, they had pretty much adopted me."
"You've been trying to run away?" Ukyo asked as she slid the okonomiyaki to Ranma.
"Is it really running away when you're trying to get back to the family you know accepts you for you?" Ranma asked.
"Guess you have a point," Ukyo said. "Well whatever you do, I wish you luck Sugar."
"Thanks," Ranma said with a smile. "I feel better now, talking it out a bit really helped and the okonomiyaki is really good but I guess I better go find Pops before he comes tearing through town looking for me. How much do I owe ya?"
"You know what, it's on the house," Ukyo said with a smile. "My treat." Ranma gave her a bright smile that made her look cute, thanked her again then left the restaurant.
"Hmm... kinda reminded me of Ran-chan a bit," Ukyo said softly to herself then shook her head, thinking that was just a silly thought.
***
"Gowlf!" Genma-panda lumbered up to Ranma as soon as he spotted her. 'Where the hell have you been boy?'
"Just took a walk to clear my head Pops," Ranma said.
'Done crying like a little girl then?' Genma wrote on his sign, flipping it over when he ran out of room. Ranma rolled her eyes and nodded. 'Don't roll your eyes at me boy. Come on, we need to get going.'
"Where are we going anyway?" Ranma asked as she took her pack from her father. "You never said."
'To visit with an old friend of mine,' Genma wrote. 'Tendo and I have some family business.'
"What sort of family business? Aren’t we going to see Mom?" Ranma asked.
'You’ll find out in due time,' Genma wrote. 'And don't worry about your mother for now.' /Ranma eyes narrowed, her father was being very secretive about something. 'Let's go.'/
"Fine," Ranma sighed and shouldered her pack, following Genma down the road. People gasped and gaped as they watched the petite red headed girl walk down the road with a very large panda. As the afternoon wore on into evening the rain finally let up, Ranma wrinkled her nose at the smell of wet panda fur. She had been nagging her father about when they were visiting this 'Tendo' person and hadn't gotten much of a straight answer only that they were going to be staying a while at the man's dojo.
Ranma sighed and rubbed the back of her neck, she didn't like it when her father was dodgy like this, it meant he was hiding something from her. She stopped as they passed a bathhouse then looked back at her panda cursed father.
"Hey Pops!" Genma stopped and gave a bear like scowl over his shoulder.
"Gowlf!"
"You don't plan on meeting your friend like that do you?" Ranma asked, waving her hand at Genma. "You'll give him a heart attack or something. Wouldn't it be better to go as a human?" Genma scratched the side of his head in thought then nodded. Yes, it would be easier to explain everything to Soun if he was human first. Genma headed into the public bathhouse with Ranma right behind him. Inside the steamy bathing room on the men's side, several of them screamed or yelled as the large panda walked in. In a flash, people scrambled out of the large furo, grabbing clothing and personal items as they fled.
As Ranma set down her pack so she could bathe as well, her head shot up as she heard one man that passed her say he was going to call the cops or at least the local zoo.
'Wait... maybe I can get rid of Pops this way,' Ranma thought, her mind racing. 'At least for a little while... maybe...' She looked down into her pack where her special water proof soap sat. There wasn't much of it left, Ranma had constantly used it to stay in her female form. But there was more than enough for Genma to use, Ranma had noticed that when they did stop to bathe, Genma was always too lazy to change back into human form to wash first, he always washed himself in his cursed form. Already Ranma could see Genma filling up a bucket with cold water.
'Hand me the soap boy,' Genma signed. Thinking fast unless she lost her nerve, Ranma grabbed the water proof soap and handed it to Genma.
"Here you go Pops," Ranma said. Genma just grunted and started to lather himself up with the soap. Ranma watched with sad eyes as Genma used the last of it to get into his fur and cover every inch of himself, she had used it the day before so she had at least six days left before she started changing back into her boy form.
Ranma started to slowly edge toward the door, her father was going to freak when he got in the hot water and didn't change back. Already she could faintly hear sirens heading their way. Genma ignored his child as he poured a pail of cold water over his head, washing the soap suds out of his fur. Genma walked over to the furo and stepped down into the hot water with a growling sigh. As he submerged himself in the hot water, Genma immediately noticed something was wrong. He hadn't felt the familiar tingle that came from shifting from one form to the other and he could tell he was still in his panda form.
Genma started to panic, dunking himself in the water over and over again, trying to change back to his human form. Growling loudly as he trashing in the water, he didn't see Ranma slide out of the public bathhouse side door or the police at first as they busted in.
"Growlf!" Genma finally noticed the police as they yelled, holding up his front paws and starting to climb out of the water. He needed to get over to his signs and marker so he could talk to the policemen.
"Easy there boy," one police officer said in a soothing tone. "We're not going to hurt you."
"Grrrr gowlf," Genma paused for a moment then started to wave his front paws, trying to speak without speaking as he tried to explain.
"He's going berserk, take him out," the officer in charge said.
"Will do," a man said beside him. He lifted up a gun and pointed it at Genma who didn't notice. He let off a single shot, hitting Genma in the side of his neck. Genma staggered, reaching up to touch his neck, pulling something that was sticking out of his neck out. Genma looked blearily at the tranquilizer dart then fell into a heap to the ground.
**
Ranma sat on top of one of the buildings across the street from the bath house, watching as the police officers walked around the area and asked people questions then as her father in panda form was taken out of the bath house in a cage.
Ranma let out a breath as Genma-panda was loaded into a truck with the name of the zoo on the side then carried off.
"I can't believe that worked," Ranma said softly, getting up and walking to the far side of the roof. She roof hopped out of the area then jumped down to street level. Ranma was undecided on what to do, should she try to find her way back to China or should she try to find that Tendo guy first. Looking both ways, she wasn't sure where she was right at that moment. "I wonder if this is how Ryoga feels all the time," Ranma wondered to herself, feeling very lost.
In another part of Nerima, as a small black and yellow fox sneezed, Ryoga-fox wondered if someone was talking about him.
**
"You what!?" A voice asked loudly in the Tendo dojo. "What do you mean fiancé!?"
"Now Akane dear calm down," Soun said holding his hands up and sweat dropping slightly. His youngest daughter Akane was furious with the wonderful news he had told her and her two older sisters. For some reason, none of the three of them looked very happy. Akane looked very much like her mother, Kami rest her soul, right now and the sight of it was almost enough to bring Soun to tears.
"Daddy how could you engage us to somebody without asking us?" Akane asked with a huff as she sat back down.
"Yea Daddy, betrothals are so last century," Nabiki agreed, she was no happier about this than Akane was.
"Now girls, it's a matter of family honor," Soun said. "My friend Saotome and I agreed to join the two lines of Anything Goes years ago."
"I do hope he's not younger than me, young men are just so... young," Kasumi said. Akane and Nabiki gave their older sister looks of disbelief, wondering how she could be so calm about all this.
"Is he at least cute Daddy?" Nabiki said, trying to get some information of this Ranma Saotome guy.
"I don't know, I've never met him," Soun said. The girls face vaulted while Soun laughed nervously and sweat dropped.
"What do you mean you never met him?" Nabiki asked as she recovered.
"You engaged us to some boy you don't even know?" Akane asked in only slight disbelief.
"Well..." Soun said. "Saotome and his son should be here soon, you'll meet him then."
But the night wore on and to Soun's disappointment, Genma and Ranma never showed up. The girls were not all that broken up about it.
**
The next morning Ranma groaned at the light from the rising sun hit her in the face. She sat up on the branch of the tree she had slept in, stretching her arms out over her head and arching her back almost like a cat.
"Hmm, what a night," Ranma said to herself, she couldn't believe her last second plan to get rid of Genma for a while worked. She lost the soap in the process but there hadn’t been that much left of it anyway. The red headed girl hopped down from the tree she had slept in and tried to figure out what she was going to do now.
'I could try and make a break for it back to China,' Ranma thought to herself as she walked through the park where the tree was located. 'Or... I could try to see if I can find Mom. If she's dead at least I can visit her grave and if she's alive I'll explain what has happened to me. I just hope she'll accept me as I am.'
She had a plan now, but felt a little lost on how to go about it. Ranma didn’t remember where she and Genma had lived before the training trip, Ranma wasn't even sure if it was in Nerima where she was now. She didn't even know her mother’s name so she couldn't look that way either.
'This is going to be a little more difficult than I thought,' Ranma thought as she rubbed the back of her neck. 'I gotta be able to find out something, but where do I start?'
rustle
Ranma froze and turned to look at the brush behind her. She had heard something moving around in the bushes, blue eyes narrowed as she crept closer.
"Yip!" Something barked and sounded like it was struggling.
"What tha?" Ranma reached over and separated the bush. "Oh, how kawaii!" Ranma cooed and reached down to untangle the creature within. "Shhh, it's ok, I'll get you out."
Ranma tugged and pulled away at the branches of the bush then lifted out a small black and yellow fox.
"Oh you are just so cute," Ranma said as she held up the fox in front of her. It had inky black fur and very unusual yellow markings on its belly, and on the tip of its tail, toes, and ears. It also had a yellow with black stripes bandanna tied around its neck. 'Kinda looks like the one Ryoga was wearing yesterday,' Ranma thought to herself.
Meanwhile the fox, Ryoga looked back at Ranma, or as he knew her Ranka, in disbelief and seemed to blush slightly as she called him cute.
"You're a tame little guy aren't ya," Ranma said as she drew Ryoga close to her body, pressing him between her ample bust. "I bet you have an owner somewhere, why would they let someone like you get lost?"
Ryoga couldn't answer if he wanted to, his brain was shutting down from where he was resting in Ranma's breasts. Ranma petted Ryoga as she walked away from the bushes, hoping to either find the fox’s owner or to find something to eat as her stomach growled. She never noticed the pile of clothing and the large travel pack that lay on the ground next to the park's sprinkler system.
Ranma walked out of the park and toward the small outdoor market. She looked around and grinned as she spied a cart selling sweet buns, her stomach growling. Ryoga's little stomach growled in response.
"You hungry too huh?" Ranma said. "Well let's get something to eat." Ranma put the cutest look on her face as she approached the cart. "Oh that looks so good mister," she said as she made her blue eyes look big, one hand balled up next to her face while the other held Ryoga-fox gently in one arm.
"Oh my, what a cute little girl you are," The man working the cart said. Ranma mentally rolled her eyes but outwardly she poured on more of the cute. She had figured out while in China that she could scam some guys out of food as a girl when she looked cute and helpless. "Are you hungry miss?"
"Yes but... My papa forgot to give me any money to buy anything..." Ranma made her lip quiver slightly. Ryoga's mouth dropped open slightly as Ranma masterfully manipulated the vendor as the man seemed to crumble under Ranma's cuteness.
'I can't believe he's falling for that!' Ryoga thought to himself. 'Well... Ranka /is really cute, almost any guy could fall for that.'/
"Well I can't let a cute girl like you go hungry," the vendor said then winked. "This is on the house."
'Stop being so forward you pervert,' Ryoga thought while growling at the man.
"Golly mister, thank you so much," Ranma gushed. The vendor laughed and handed her a small bag full of sweet buns. Ranma gave him another bright smile while giving him another thank you then bouncing away. The vendor watched Ranma's ass as she left then shivered in fear. He moved his eyes up to meet the eyes of the little fox the girl had been holding, a look in the animal's green eyes that promised death.
'I'll rip your arms off if you don't quit ogling her,' Ryoga's eyes seemed to say to the man who shivered again. After Ranma disappeared back into the park, the man shook his head.
"Cute girl, but that fox is a little scary," he said to himself.
**
"Here you go little guy," Ranma said as she laid a sweet bun in front of Ryoga. Ryoga yipped and started to gulp down the bun. "Hee, guess you was as hungry as me," Ranma said with a laugh as she bit into another bun. "Hmmm, nice and warm."
'Kami....' Ryoga looked at Ranma with wide eyes, the red haired girl had a blissful look on her face. Ryoga felt his mouth go dry and his heart beat a little harder, everything about this pretty girl just made his tingle all over.
"You are so cute," Ranma said as she reached over to pet Ryoga. "I should give you a name, I can't just keep calling you 'little guy' and 'fox'. Hmmm... what about Kit-chan? See Kit for kitsuna and chan for cute!"
'Are you kidding?' Ryoga thought, it wasn't a very original name but it could be worse he decided. He could be called 'F-chan' or 'K-chan'. He barked in agreement while wishing Ranma was talking to him as a human and not as a little cute animal.
"Great!" Ranma said with a grin. "Just you and me Kit-chan, I just got away from my Pops and now I'm looking for my Mom."
'Good, you need to be away from that man,' Ryoga yipped, taking another sweet bun when Ranma held one out to him. 'A sweet girl like you needs to be with your mother.'
Ranma absently chewed on a sweet bun as she tried to come up with a game plan. She couldn't remember much of anything before the training trip as she had been really young when she and Genma left. Ranma only had the vaguest memories of her mother, she thought her mother might have had red hair not unlike her own current form. Ryoga walked over to sit by Ranma, placing one of his paws on her leg.
"I wonder if Pops had anything in his pack that could tell me how to get home," Ranma said as she reached up to pet Ryoga. He yipped softly, eyes going half lidded as she scratched behind his ears. "Not sure what happened to his pack Kit-chan, the cops might have it but I'm not sure. And I have no idea where the cop station is anyway."
Ryoga made a soft whining noise, he would be useless there. If he tried to lead Ranma he would get the both of them even more lost.
"Well, we're not going to find anything sitting around here," Ranma said as she balled up the bag the sweet buns where it and aiming it at the trash can a few feet away. The paper ball hit the back of the can and fell in. "Ha, two points. Come on Kit-chan," Ranma picked up Ryoga-fox and placed him on her shoulder. Ryoga easily balanced himself as he rode his new vantage point as Ranma walked back over to the tree she’d slept in to get her pack she had stowed away. Once she had her things, Ranma picked a random direction out of the park.
**
Ranma sighed as she rubbed her face, she had been walking all around the city trying to find anything to point her in the right direction, now she was completely lost and had no idea where she was. The sun had long since set, leaving Ranma and Ryoga to travel down the darkened streets of Nerima.
'I don't like this,' Ryoga thought looking around worriedly. The fur on his back was raised and the fur on his tail puffed out, someone was watching them and whoever it was wasn't friendly.
"You sense it too, don't cha Kit-chan," Ranma said softly as she reached up to pet the fox on her shoulder. "Come on, let's cut down here and try to get a higher vantage point." She turned into a dark alley that came to a dead end. That really didn't worry her, Ranma planned on using the walls on either side of the alley to jump up to the top of the buildings.
The alleyway suddenly became darker as a group of people stood in front of the mouth.
"Well well well, look what we got here," A thug around the same age as Ranma said. The boy had his hair dyed a bright green and wore a cut up pair of jeans and tank top. The other three in his gang were dressed in similar ways. "A pretty girl like you shouldn't be walking the streets by yourself after dark... who knows what sort of trouble you could get into."
"Yeah real pretty, maybe we should... take her someplace 'safe'," one of the other boys said, making the others laugh.
"How about it pretty lady?" The leader of the group said, leaning close to Ranma who looked very unimpressed.
'Get away from her you greased up baka!' Ryoga thought as he growled loudly, baring his teeth at the punk.
"How about no, I don't 'hang around' with people like you," Ranma said dryly, even Genma wasn't as bad as these guys.
"I don't think you understand, we're not giving you a choice," The thug leader said as he took a switch-blade knife out of the back pocket of his pants. The other three teens in the group snickered and leered as they took out weapons as well such as chains and blunt objects.
"Yeah, you don't want to do this guys," Ranma said as she dropped her travel pack to the ground.
"I think we do," the leader said with a smirk. "You think you can take us little girl?"
"The question is can you take me?" Ranma said with her own smirk as she slid into a stance. Ryoga growled, his back arched and fur on end from where he stood on Ranma's shoulder.
"Get her!" The lead punk roared as he rushed Ranma, the other three boys right behind him. Ranma ducked under the leader’s arm as he took a swipe at her with his knife. She grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back. "AARRRGGHH!" He yelled as with a sharp yank Ranma dislocated his shoulder.
Ryoga gave a scream like bark as he jumped on another punk. The punk screamed in pain as Ryoga bit and scratched at his face, tearing a chunk out of his nose. Ranma dropped to the ground as the last two punks both swung at Ranma at the same time, one with a bat and the other with a chain, the chain wrapping around the bat.
"Hey! Watch it!" The teen yelled. Ranma twisted on one leg, sweeping the other around to knock the thug with the chain off his feet with a low kick. As the punk fell, he yanked the bat out of the other punk's hands. Hopping up, Ranma used the heel of her hand to strike him in the nose. The boy howled in pain, hands coming up to his nose that was now broken, blood pouring from it.
"You little bitch!" The thug Ranma had knocked over said as he jumped back onto his feet. He untangled his chain from the bat and swung it at Ranma again. She jumped into the air, twisting mid air as she flipped over the boy's head and kicked out with a foot. Ranma's foot struck the boy in the back of his head, the boy swaying for a moment then blacking out as he crumpled to the ground.
Ryoga meanwhile ducked and jumped to avoid the wild swings that the thug took to try and knock the black and yellow fox off of him.
"AHHH, demon fox!" The thug yelled as Ryoga bit and tore another chunk out of his arm.
"Kit-chan, come on. You don't want to get rabies from these guys," Ranma called.
"You little bitch," The leader growled as he tried to sit up, holding onto his numb arm. "You're gonna pay for this." Ranma scowled and planted her foot in the leader's chest, pushing him onto his back, the boy groaning in pain as his shoulder was jarred.
"I ever see you again, I'm gonna do more than dislocate your shoulder," Ranma growled. Ryoga jumped up onto Ranma's shoulder, growling lowly at the thug. "I ever found out you pulled this on another person, I'm gonna come back for ya."
Ryoga yipped in warning as someone came up behind them. Ranma spun and caught the arm that the last thug has swinging at her. He was bloody, covered in bite and scratch marks from Ryoga's attack. Ranma twisted his arm until he cried out in pain then thrust her fist into his chest. The thug was knocked back several feet into one of the garbage bins in the alley.
"Wh-what are you?" The leader asked as all of his gang had their asses handed to them by one little girl.
"I'm a martial artist," Ranma said as she grabbed her pack. "The best one in the world and don't you forget it." She turned and started to bounce up the walls of the alleyway to the rooftops above them.
***
Akane sighed happily as she left the house, a shopping list for Kasumi in one hand and a basket in the other. Her father Soun had been in a depressed funk ever since a couple of nights ago when his friend Genma and his son never showed up. Akane on the other hand was not broken up that the boy who was to be engaged to either her or one of her sisters didn't come. It was a little unfair to whoever the boy was to think of him like that but Akane was on a boy-hating kick because of the boys at her school who fought with her every morning at the gates. It left a bit of a bad taste in her mouth toward boys her age.
Her father's depression was hanging like a cloud over their home and Akane was quite happy to run this errand for her oldest sister. The sounds of the market place near their house reached her ears and Akane smiled as the vendors and store clerks greeted her.
"Morning Akane-san, running some errands for your sister?" A elderly lady at one stand ask.
"Hai, just picking up a few things for dinner tonight," Akane said with a smile.
"Well everything is fresh this morning, take your pick," the lady said, waving her hand over the fruit and vegs at her stand. Akane gave her another sweet smile then quickly picked out the ones on Kasumi's list.
Akane moved from stall to stall, getting the things on Kasumi's list one by one. She hoped her oldest sister would allow her to help make dinner that night but she wasn't sure. Whenever she brought up the suggestion, her other sister Nabiki and their father Soun's face always went deadly pale. She didn't know why, her cooking wasn't that bad. Sure it wasn't as good as Kasumi's, the older girl was a master that had learned at their mother's knee before she passed away.
Humming a song to herself, one that she heard playing on the radio before she had left the house and was now stuck in her head, Akane passed an alley on her way to the little store at the end of the street. She stopped suddenly and glanced back at the mouth of the alley, she swore she had heard something. Akane glanced back at the busy market place, no one was paying any sort of attention.
She decided after a moment to forget it, it was likely a stray animal rooting around in a garbage bin or something.
"G-g-get away..." Akane stopped again, her brown eyes wide. Now she was sure she heard someone that time. She looked at the alley again, someone had called within and that voice sounded so frightened.
'It better not be one of those perverted boys from school picking on someone again,' Akane thought as her eyes narrowed in anger. Mind made up, she stalked into the alley ready to kick anyone’s ass who got in her way. As her eyes adjusted to the shadows and low light in the alley, Akane stopped short in surprise.
It was not, as she first thought, some poor soul being bothered by some pervert or mugger like she first thought. In fact, it was nothing like that, in front of Akane was a teenage girl about her own age with bright red hair pulled back in a ponytail sitting on the ground and pressed up against the brick wall. In front of the girl was a pair of cats, an old tom cat who had seen better days and a black cat wearing a collar with a little bell hanging off the front. Neither were doing anything to the girl, in fact both of them were just sitting a foot or two away from the cowering teen.
Akane frowned to herself wondering if this was some sort of joke. That thought left her mind as she caught a glance at the other girl's blue eyes. She could see the sheer terror in those eyes; the girl was completely and utterly terrified of the cats. Akane was suddenly reminded of her friend Yuka, who was terrified of spiders. The girl would almost become cationic if she even saw a photo of a spider because Yuka had an extreme case of Arachnophobia.
'Is there a phobia for cats?' Akane wondered absently as she stepped forward. "Go on, shoo you mangy cats." Akane waved her hands as she herded the two cats away. The cats yawned and stretched then walked away with tails held high.
"Hey, it's ok. They're gone now," Akane said as she turned back to the other girl, who was still shuddering in fear, her eyes lost in some remembered terror. Akane gulped and reached down to touch the red head's shoulder. The girl gave a small cry and started at the touch. Her head hit the brick wall hard with a crack, making her eyes roll up in her head as she blacked out. 'What do I do?! What do I do!? Wait! Doctor Tofu, he'll help!'
Plan in mind, Akane put her basket further up her arm and picked up the smaller girl. Running out of the alley, Akane headed for the clinic her family doctor, a man by the name of Tofu Ono. She was sure he could help.
**
Author note: (1) I wanted to be a little different and give Ranma a different alt name instead of Ranko. Ranka is sort of a cross between 'Ranma' and 'Ranko'.
Edit 3-19-14 - Just to let everyone know, Ranma didn't leave Ryoga behind. A bit of time has passed between Ranma and Ryoga beating up the thugs and Akane finding Ranma. Ryoga got lost between the scenes in his typical way.
Edit 9-2-14: nothing really changed, just the usual small little errors that was missed the first time.
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