alhuang@hcs.harvard.edu
http://hcs.harvard.edu/~alhuang/
This is my first fanfic. Hey, I might as well put that expository writing
class to use.... Anyways, the characters (except for Nakamura Takeshi)
are the property of Takahashi Rumiko-san, and the whole Ranma 1/2
idea is hers as well. Heh...well, if this sucks...PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!
Some thanks: Thank you to all the Ranma fanfic writers out there for
inspiration (of whatever sort), and also to Taleswapper and his little
essay on Annoying New Characters (ANCs). Takeshi is not superpowerful, not
going to be going after Nabiki (although there are some moments...well,
you'll see when I get to them), he has a somewhat good reason to be
around...and I'm going to be using him to explore the world of Ranma a
little more deeply. I'm going to skip a lot of the introductions normally
found in a "new-character fic" since it's been done already, and done a
lot. It's going to be somewhat of a one-on-one thing, with Takeshi
interacting with individual characters--at least in the beginning. Once I
get it rolling, I'll try to put things into a bigger picture.
Now, Oddzilla Productions presents....
"Visiting Nerima" by Andrew Huang
<...>: thoughts
*...*: sound effects
Prologue
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Tendo Soun stood by his gate, tears streaming down his cheeks. Not a
new sight.
But which type, the reader asks, are these tears? Well, if studied
carefully, they looked like the same ones as when, some time ago, he
had received a certain postcard with a panda on it from China....with
slightly less intensity, perhaps. Right now, he was looking at a letter,
addressed to him from California, USA.
"Oh, Takeshi! It has been a long while! You were but a child when I
saw you last! It will be good to see you again!" Soun sniffed, and wiped
his face with his sleeve. Clearing his throat, he called out, "Kasumi!
Nabiki! Akane!" He paused, and added, "Ranma!"
There were steps from all around, as the teens came out from the
house. "Hai, Otousan?" came Kasumi's voice.
Soun smiled as they gathered around. "I have news. The son of an old
friend is coming to visit. He has been living in the United States for five
years now, but I haven't seen him since...oh, how long has it been? He
will be staying for two months here, to visit Japan. His name is
Takeshi...Nakamura Takeshi." He turned to look at his daughters and
Ranma. They were eyeing him uncomfortably. "Hm? What is wrong"
Nabiki spoke up. "Anou...the, ah, son of an old friend, you say?" She
glanced over at Ranma. "You didn't, you know, make some sort of...
arrangement a long time ago that we don't know about, did you?" Her
gaze shifted then over to Akane.
Soun, confused for a moment, suddenly understood. "Ah, ha ha ha!
No, no, of course not! Wait, unless...." Soun's voice trailed off as he
went deep into thought.
"Otoooousaaaan...." growled Nabiki.
"No. I had considered it, but no, I didn't." Nabiki sighed in relief.
"Well, then. Yes, Takeshi will be coming in two weeks. He'll be in time
for the last week of school. He'll be going along with you," he nodded
towards Akane, Ranma, and Nabiki, "to observe. His mother here says that
he needs an infusion of Japanese culture, having been out of his
homeland for such a long time." Everyone nodded.
"Well, then! We should start to prepare for this young man's visit!"
Kasumi said brightly. Nabiki was not so enthusiastic.
"Another freeloader. Oh well, at least it's only for two months...I
wonder if I could make any sort of profit from this...."
"So, Akane, as long as you don't cook, I think he'll like it here, ne?"
*WHACK* *SPLASH* "BAKA!!!"
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Two weeks later. Some street in the Nerima district. Late afternoon.
Nakamura Takeshi was lugging his suitcases along, thinking.
<Well, here I am...two months in the homeland. I guess it'll be nice; it's
been a while. Good way to improve my Japanese. I just wish I didn't
have to leave Jen behind.> He closed his eyes, smiling at the mental
image of his girlfriend.
He probably shouldn't have closed his eyes, though; otherwise, he
would have seen a pig-tailed youth come running around the corner up
ahead, chased by a mallet-wielding, short-haired girl who glowed
slightly blue. The youth barely managed to dodge around Takeshi, just
as the girl took a swing. The rush of air from the boy running past
snapped Takeshi back to reality. He opened his eyes, to see--
*WHACK*
--to see, well, the insides of his eyelids again. He passed out. And so
began Takeshi's visit.
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Okay, guess what? That's all the introduction you're getting. Hopefully,
if I can write this well, you'll be able to understand how Takeshi stands
with everyone after meeting them (the stuff that I'm omitting). There will
be references to the first meetings to clarify, but unless those meetings
themselves are extremely important, they won't be gone into in detail--
and if they are, they'll be flashbacks. Uh, whatever. Anyways, here we
go....
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Chapter 1: Lost in Many Ways
"I still have trouble believing that you were the one wandering outside
of my house those months ago.... But it had to have been you. Wait, not
that way, not if you want to get to Ucchan's."
The educated Ranma fan should know who Takeshi was speaking to.
"Heh...I really don't remember crossing any body of water, let alone
something as big as the Pacific. I seem to do that too often. *sigh*
Thanks for helping me out here. I haven't eaten since...."
"Since last Friday. I know. Getting stuck inside that closet as a pig...."
The two had met--for the second time--in the middle of Takeshi's first
week in Nerima. Ryouga had, as usual, shown up by throwing his
umbrella at Ranma (narrowly missing Takeshi) and had started to launch
into his time-honored tirade/challenge when Takeshi recognized the
bandanna clad figure. The duel was interrupted before it began by
Takeshi. The two had talked a lot that afternoon--a relatively peaceful
one, for which Ranma had been very grateful.
"You know, why don't you just tell Akane how you feel? It was easy
enough for you to tell me about it." Takeshi shook his head. <Ryouga,
you're such a fool. If you had just tried earlier....>
Ryouga's face darkened. "It's all _his_ fault. He always shows up and
ruins the moment!"
"I don't think it's Ranma's fault."
Ryouga opened his mouth angrily, but then stopped. The two paused,
and Ryouga looked down at his feet.
"My...my heart of glass would break if she rejected me.. I...don't know
what I would do if that happened."
Takeshi shook his head. <Heart of glass? A bit melodramatic, but....> "I
understand, but it's--"
"How could _you_ understand? You've got someone...Jen, that's her
name, right? I've never had any girl who liked me...except Akane. Sort of.
That's hard enough to deal with, knowing that she only likes me as her
little P-chan...."
Takeshi discovered Ryouga's secret the morning after they had met,
when he had gotten up off the floor after another attack by Akane on
Ranma. He had looked up to see Akane holding a bokken in one hand
and clasping a kawaii black piglet tightly to her chest with her other arm
while profusely apologizing to Takeshi for the large, side-of-a-wooden-
sword-blade-shaped bruise forming on his cheek. Takeshi noticed the
bandanna around "P-chan's" neck and had put two and two together
very, very quickly. (Hey, Takeshi has above normal intelligence, and he
knew about Jusenkyou already....) He had, of course, been sworn to
secrecy by Ranma--fortunately, Takeshi had been so shocked at first
that he missed the opportunity to ask Akane about all of this, and had
to turn to Ranma to fill him in.
"That's a hole you dug yourself into. And how do you know that I
don't understand? Jen is the first girlfriend I've ever had. Plus, I never
knew of any girls who liked me before her. Believe me, I've had my share
of rejection."
"Really?"
Takeshi nodded. "Un. There have been other girls that I've
liked...enough that it messed with my head a little bit. That is, I liked
them enough that I spent a lot of time thinking about them seriously.
Eventually, I told them."
"That's...commendable."
"And you know what? They didn't like me. Obviously. It hurt a lot, I'll
grant you that. But at least I knew!" There was a pause. "Here you are,
moping around about a girl who you've liked for a long time now.
Doesn't it just tear at your heart that you don't even know how she
feels?"
That stopped Ryouga short. Was that true? Was part of the reason he
was so miserable about this because he just didn't know? <Iie.... It'd be
worse if she outright rejected me. Of course...right?>
The two started walking again, Ryouga so lost in thought that he
didn't make any wrong turns. Suddenly, the two stopped. They were in
front of Ucchan's, and at the door stood Akane, looking off into the
distance at a human-shaped object hurtling away. She looked angry...
which was nothing new at all. The mallet in her fist confirmed Takeshi's
suspicions. <At least, I didn't get hurt this time. Wow, what a break!>
"Hey. It looks like she just knocked Ranma far, far away. He won't
interefere. And if she's angry at Ranma, she would probably be more
receptive. Go and tell her!"
Ryouga stared at Akane. She still hadn't seen them. "RANMA NO
BAKA!!!!" She suddenly relaxed, looking a little tired. Shaking her head,
she turned and walked into the restaurant.
"Well? What are you waiting for!?"
Ryouga opened his mouth, then closed it. He started to move towards
Ucchan's but suddenly stopped. He whirled to face Takeshi. "Anou, I,
uh, I'm not in the mood for okonomiyaki all of a sudden...uh, let's go to
the Nekohanten! Yeah...." He turned in a random direction and started
walking.
Takeshi sighed. "Not that way. You're a lost cause." <In more ways
than one. You're a coward, too.> Takeshi wanted so much to tell
Ryouga that, but he had learned never to insult a martial artist's
courage. He caught Ryouga's arm and pulled him in the right direction.
"I don't get it. I've seen you fight Ranma a few times already. That takes
guts--he's really good. You've faced numerous monstrosities, according
to your stories. And yet...." He trailed off. To continue would be
dangerously close to breaking his self-imposed rule.
"And yet, I'm a coward when it comes to girls," Ryouga finished. That
caught Takeshi a little off guard. He continued. " I can't even stay
conscious when I see too much of a girl's body.... Yeah, I guess this all
doesn't make that much sense. But you gotta understand that Akane's
the first girl I've really ever liked."
"Really? Wow! You're kind of a late starter, I gotta say."
"Hai. For the most part the past few years, I've been too busy trying to
find my way somewhere to get emotionally involved. This is so...new to
me."
"You? Afraid of the unknown? Heh." Takeshi's brow furrowed.
"What's with not going to Ucchan's, anyway, really? I mean, if you
weren't ready to tell her yet, you didn't have to. I know you're able to
behave semi-normally when you're with her...." <Unlike Toufu-sensei
and Kasumi...*brr*> He rubbed his still slightly sore neck at the thought
of _that_ incident. "Why couldn't you even face her this time?"
Ryouga shrugged. "I dunno. I guess...I guess I was worried that
because we'd been talking about this, I'd blurt out something stupid."
"Well, at least you didn't try to pin this one on Ranma, like you always
do." Ryouga glared at Takeshi, then he suddenly stopped.
"Why am I even telling you all of this? I barely know you."
Takeshi smiled. "I make fast friends...plus, I guess I'm easy to talk to.
I've always been like that."
"Wow. Is it the same with girls?"
"Yeah, actually, they talk with me a lot, too." Takeshi's face turned a
little dark. "It's not as great as it seems, though. You can't imagine what
it's like when the girl you like is asking you about how to get the
attention of another guy...one that she likes."
"Ooh. That's gotta hurt."
"You got it. Hey, you know, it's not like you're all that hard to talk to,
either. So far, you're the only one I've mentioned Jen to around here."
"Really?"
"Hai. You've already met her, for one thing, when you were Stateside--
that is, in the US. You're a nice guy, for the most part, I can tell. And, I
guess.... Like I said, I do understand you, what it's like to be so lonely."
"The world is a cold and lonely place. You can't imagine--oops. Sorry."
"Right. Really, really depressing. Last year, I might have even been
depressed enough to use your shishi houkoudan, if I knew how to
throw ki.... It took me weeks to fully understand that that Jen actually
likes me, and that we're dating. Ah! Here we are, the Nekohanten."
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As they ate (well, it was more like Ryouga doing an impression of
Ranma by swallowing entire bowls of ramen as Shampoo watched in
amazement), Ryouga suddenly stopped in the middle of his fifth bowl.
"Don't...don't you think Ranma is at least _somehow_ responsible for
all of this? At least some?"
Takeshi shrugged. "He did accidentally knock you into the spring. I'll
give you that. But I really think this has very little to do with him."
"But--"
Takeshi continued, not noticing the interruption. "Well, except for
those times he tricked you into thinking he...she was your fiancee.
There's another problem--you're easily distracted. I mean, sure, some
bakatare stunt like that might throw you off, but you should have still
been able to brush him...her off and keep talking to Akane and just say
that you like her."
Ryouga thought for a long moment, and then, more to himself,
perhaps, said, "Maybe it's time I started making some changes...."
Takeshi nodded. <Yeah, I'd say it's about time. But I think it may be too
late already.... Even with all the abuse between Ranma and Akane, I
think....> He shook his head. <Whatever...I haven't been around long
enough to judge.> They continued eating.
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That night, at the Tendou-ke....
"Ite." Takeshi rubbed his head, wincing. Again, Akane had been trying
to hurt Ranma. Again, Takeshi got hurt in the process. It was amazing
that he didn't get hurt earlier that day outside of Ucchan's; he was
certainly thankful for that. <Hmm...what was she ticked off about this
time, anyway?> She had yelled something...about him picking on P-
chan. <But....>
He stopped in the hallway, seeing a black piglet nosing open Akane's
bedroom door, who also stopped when he noticed Takeshi. Takeshi
glared at him. P-chan gave the piglet equivalent of a sheepish look, and
then dashed inside. He shook his head in disgust. <That saying in the
US..."Some things never change." At least, some people just can't let
themselves change.> Ryouga was a good man overall, very honorable,
but this....
<Character flaw.> Takeshi shuddered. His literature class apparently
wasn't letting him go, even though it was weeks after school had let out.
<Well, it does kind of fit, though....> He was about to walk off to bed,
when he saw P-chan come back out. He shot a baleful look at Takeshi,
then ran off, away from Akane's bedroom...right into the same closet
that he had been shut in for the past weekend. With a small smile, he
picked up P-chan out of the closet and, watching carefully for Akane,
walked him to the bathroom. With a snort of thanks, the piglet ran
inside. Takeshi walked back toward the bedrooms.
"Maybe there _is_ hope for him, after all." He stopped to see Akane
bounding up the stairs.
"Goodnight, Takeshi. Oh...gomen, I don't know how my aim was that
off. I was sure that pot was going to hit Ranma, not you...."
"It's all right. Goodnight, Akane."
She walked into her room, and Takeshi continued off to the guest
room, flopping down on the bedroll.
"Hey! Where's P-chan? RANMA!!!!!" *STOMP STOMP STOMP....*
Takeshi smiled. Softly, he said, "Believe me, Akane, it's better this way.
Sorry, Ranma, I hate to get you into trouble like this." Suddenly, he
started. She was going to go after Ranma again! <Wait, he's outside.
Surely, I'm safe this time.> He relaxed. He knew it was possible for her to
get mad at Ranma without getting himself hurt--the incident earlier
today was proof of that. There was indeed shouting outside. The only
thing he did manage to hear clearly, though, was--
"BAKA!!!!!" followed by a solid mallet strike. <That trick with the
mallet...that's so cool! I wonder-->
*CRASH* "Urkgl...."
Ranma had flown through the window and landed right on top of
Takeshi. He dizzily rolled off the hapless bystander, muttering,
"Kawaiikune otemba...gomen...gomen...." before collapsing on the floor,
unconscious. Takeshi was now assuming the fetal position on his
bedroll.
*gasp* <How the HELL does she manage to hurt me every time she
pounds Ranma!? Well, almost every time. Small comfort....>
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Ryouga, back to human form now, thought over the day's
conversations with Takeshi and the night's events as he walked to the
Tendou's front door.
"Yeah, I guess he's right. But...it's so hard!!! Argh! And I guess I can't
blame Ranma for this. At least, not all of it."
He suddenly raised his head high and his fist upward, shouting, "I
swear, I will tell Akane of my love for her! Someday!!" He instantly
clamped his mouth shut, horrified. <No! I'm not ready to....> He stopped,
looking around.
There was a moment of silence.
"WHERE ON EARTH AM I NOW!??!?!?"
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Well, that's chapter one. Perhaps a little less funny that I would have
liked, but...oh well. It's supposed to be more serious, I guess.
C&C is welcome. In fact, it's requested...I'm new at this, and I'd like
feedback. Flames, however, will be tossed out without any hesitation.
What's next? Hmm. Something about Nabiki....
>From Andrew Huang, Taiwanese-American-German-Scot Harvard Student :P
Brought to you by his computer, Oddzilla
Oddzilla says, "Ryouga and Ukyou! Ukyou and Ryouga!"
http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~alhuang
Kurimoto Shiro's manager, DBTFH