Memories (a Ranma 1/2 fanfic)
by Nikholas "Mayhem" F. Toledo
To those of you who have the time to check and read your mail and find
this vain attempt in literature, thank you.
The author had been reading fanfics for some time now and has decided to
leave his mark as well. This is my first foray into this art form and
there will be some grammar and spelling errors.
To those of you who would want to give comments of suggestions, please
understand that I cannot answer your mail immediately since I *don't*
have an Internet account at home as of yet and the lines at the place
where I have access are verrrryyyy, verrrryyyy looonnnngggg. Please do
understand.
Perhaps this part should be reserved to thank those special people who
need to be thanked. And it is!
Special thanks to the Rumic One for the fantastic world of Ranma where we
common people, who in a million years will not find the creativity to
write (and draw) a world like this.
Thank you also to Nikholas "Switch" F. Toledo who introduced me to Ranma
as a whole and to the fanfic world. See to it that you read NFT fics for
their freshness and vibrant...stuff inside.
And of course for the Great Writer (fanfic and otherwise) for everything
else...
The Ranma 1/2 Universe was created and therefore owned by Rumiko
Takahashi, Viz Communications and Shougakukan. If you do own Ranma and I
have failed to mention you, that is because I am not worthy to even write
your name since you are really incredible people and earn a million
dollars just to write up the characters in the Ranma1/2 title. I would
also declare that I will not get a single cent from this work and that I
am only doing this to pass away time and for my own personal artistic
fulfillment.
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|Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!|
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Prologue
A room!
The importance of small rooms like this has been diminished in a
history dominated by wars, revolutions and great changes in the way
mankind looks at the world around him. Yet, in small rooms like these,
those great battles were planned, men gathered to argue about change in
society, and the first few equations were written down. In rooms like
this, men met, perhaps over a warm fire and warm food, passed back and
forth ideas and dreams, after each pass becoming different from what it
was before, a little bit greater and a little bit tangential from what
society may think of as mainstream until finally becoming so strange and
so revolutionary that only one person in a different place would not be
able to think of nor be brave enough to even dream about it for a million
years.
And in this room, a small idea begins the cycle and with the
passage of time shall see its branches intertwine with the hopes and
dreams of mice and men.
It had snowed earlier that day and the moon shone over a landscape
shrouded in sacramental white cloth. Two men sought shelter beside a
warm fire and warm food. They talked in whispers as not to disturb the
quiet that snow brings to the softhearted.
"Your daughter is fast becoming a good cook!" one said over the hot
stew. His swift and deft movements showed of years of experience in the
martial arts. Light glinted over the ring he wore in his left hand he
devoured the rest of the food on his plate.
"Your son keeps coming here to eat us out of house and home," the
other chuckled. The pipe that he smoke rose heartily in the warm glow of
the hearth. His meal finished, he rose and walked towards the large
window, offering a magnificent view of the white landscape. In the
distance, a frozen lake shone in the moonlight and a small child was
streaking over the ice in a pair of skates. The soft, gentle glow of the
moon brought a supernatural air over the boy, like a spirit floating in
the wind, dancing an eternal dance beneath the satellite.
"Speaking of which, isn't that your son over there?" he asked, the
pipe glowing in the semi-darkness of the night. The skater whizzed
around and around and did figure-8's as the man watched. His face showed
a certain fondness for the child in the dark, a certain need to have a
son of his own.
His father came up to the window. "That boy," he sighed. "He
doesn't want to carry on my training hall." He looked sad, his only son
not wanting to become like his father. It was a parent's worst fear.
"All he wants to do is to skate around all day." He fell softly into an
armchair. Far away, lights twinkled from the other side of the lake.
There, there is my home, he thought. There was my life, a life dedicated
to the martial arts of my family. From father to son, the school was
passed. For countless generations the techniques of the school of the
Golden Fists Combination Martial Arts was enhanced, becoming more and
more powerful than ever before. Under his ownership, it was brought to
its quintessence. Techniques capable of felling a hundred men in less
than a minute; fourteen words that would make any woman fall in love with
you and seventeen to break her heart. Only the strong-willed were able
to resist these techniques, and with the passage of time, no one will
dare oppose the school. He had hoped to see that dream in his lifetime.
Just one more generation under my guidance. One more. And that
generation was now under the light of the moon, skating to a different
tune. A history lost, unless...
"My daughter wants to study in the martial arts," the other
remarked.
"Maybe this is it!" Thoughts whirled in his mind. Perhaps not all
is lost. "My friend," he said softly yet decisively. "Maybe we can
consider a union of our families..."
The other was surprised. His pipe dropped to the ground. "Are you
thinking of marriage between our two families?"
"It was you who said it. Your daughter wants to study in martial
arts, my son likes your daughter's cooking. Its a perfect match!"
"Surely cooking and fighting are not enough reasons for an
arrangement!" he exclaimed. Then, silence. An enormous span of time
separated the last statement from the next, as thoughts and ideas
wrestled in his head. His daughter came and went, fixing the table. The
moon shone on her hair, giving it a slightly bluish tinge. She smiled at
her father and at the visitor. They smiled back as the young housewife
disappeared into the darkness. The wood crackled friendly in the
fireplace.
When he spoke again, the shadows the full moon cast on the wooden
floor had already moved. "However, I see your point." He faced the
other and smiled. "Our families go back a long way, longer than anyone
can even recall. Perhaps the time has come." Looking outside where the
stars twinkled in the clear winter night, he added, "But only if our
children consent to the marriage."
"Then so shall be it, the famil-" The rest of the sentence was
drowned by a strong howling wind which mourned throughout the hills and
shook the small window chime. After a while, the wind ceased its moan
and for a while, the soft sound of the window chime was the only thing
heard through the night, its twinkling speaking volumes, telling of happy
times and of trials and pains. It told of the life of two individuals
whose lives were forever changed by the best intentions of their fathers,
of one cleaning the plates, and of the other skating under the light of
the full moon. And at the moment where it was at the climax of its
story, it slowly softened and finally stopped. The dishes were clean and
the lake was empty.
Above them all, the stars shone.
Chapter One
Early Monday Morning Madness
Those same stars shone in the pre-dawn skies of Nerima.
The town itself was asleep, as most small towns do at this hour.
Sober and drunk man alike would be sound asleep, seeking the more private
pleasures of dreamland, even the perverts.
However, the earth continues to spin, and soon the sun will rise,
and the multitudes will rise to begin a new day.
Kasumi woke up just as the eastern horizon showed the first signs
of dawn. "What a nice day," she smiled and sat up, her hands rubbing the
sleep from her eyes.
It was then that a frown, never seen by the other members of the
household, crossed her face. She had dreamed of something bad that
night. Something really horrible. But, no matter how she tried, the
light of the morning had already banished the phantoms of the night. "No
matter," she thought, the familiar smile returning to her face. "It was
only just a dream."
She picked up a bathrobe and walked downstairs. As she walked down
the dim corridor, she made a mental checklist on what to do for the rest
of the day. "The lawn needs sweeping, the laundry needs washing, and
oh," she thought, her slippers making muffled thumps on the wooden floor.
"I need to buy some groceries." She turned and walked down the stairs,
noticing the light shining underneath Nabiki's door.
Nabiki woke up as Kasumi's slippers shuffled on the wooden floor.
For a while, in the hazy world between sleep and wakefulness she thought
that she was a kid again and that it was... But the harshness of reality
flooded her brain as she realized that she was not in bed but sitting
down. The memories of the past night returned and some and she recalled
her current scheme. "I must have fallen asleep," she thought,
stretching, trying to remove the dull pain one gets by sleeping on chairs
and other objects meant for sitting.
She straightened up and surveyed her desk. Papers were strewn all
over, filled with handwriting different from Nabiki's. She reached for a
piece of paper and sharpened her pencil, which had dulled over the night.
She copied each letter stroke by stroke, intense concentration marked on
her face. After a while, she finished and wrote with a flourish "R. S."
She yawned and looked up to another stack of documents. "Time to start
on Akane's."
Ranma sneezed in bed and sat up. Perceiving that the sun had not
risen yet, he put himself into a more comfortable horizontal position.
Half-asleep, he turned and came up against a really soft and warm object.
Dozing off, he hoped he could continue the dream he had been dreaming
before returning to the more peaceful places that sleep brings to him.
Mr. Saotome had been sleeping as a panda more and more lately. He
found himself much more comfortable sleeping this way because of the
built-in blanket and cushions that were fringe benefits of his
transformation.
There were times that being a panda would be to someone's
advantage. It gives an instant disguise from Nodoka, who would
definitely make a bear rug out of him had she known. There were also the
little children at the park that liked to see pandas up close and the
free food that would come with this close contact. There were so many
children in Nerima, which would probably explained by the fact that most
perverts would produce many children if they finally settle down. "I
hope I could see those little kids again," he thought. At the back of
his mind, memories of the time Ranma was a small kid returned and he
found himself missing those days. Almost at the point of admitting that
he liked his son, Ranma bumped against him.
Waking up, he took back what he had said. Ranma had already taken
up his space and there was no way he could go back to bed without risking
a fight. If he fought, the physical exertions he would make would fully
awaken him, and there was the chance that Ranma might defeat him since
most people *don't* like rude awakenings. It was one of the better
things Happosai taught him.
Realizing either way would prevent him from going back to sleep, he
walked to the bathroom to get a really early morning bath.
Soun Tendo could not sleep that night. He had woken up around the
wee hours of the morning and was not able to sleep since. "Kimiko, what
are you trying to say to me?" he asked over and over again. He had
dreamed of his dear departed wife again. "It seemed so real..."
In the dream, he saw his wife cleaning the dishes. They were newly
married then. He wanted to help her clean, but there was a knock on the
door. As he cleaned the dishes, she went to see who it was and came back
with a letter. "This is good news," she said, handing Soun the opened
letter. "A childhood friend is coming over to visit." Soun tried to
read the letter, but kept seeing Akane crying.
"Then there was that knock on the door and a really tall person
came in," he thought, trying to relive the dream. "After that, there was
dark shadow and then..." He paused, trying to remember. "What happened
next?" All he remembered was that even though the overtones of his dream
was, in fact, not frightening, even joyful since he had seen his wife, he
had awakened in a cold sweat. He started to cry again since he did not
understand what his wife said, but stopped when he heard the familiar
sound of Kasumi walking down the stairs.
"Kasumi, you make things easy for us all. Your mother would have
been proud," he said softly to himself. Returning to his normal frame of
mind, he began to make another good stratagem in which to bring the
dojo's most favorite couple together. "I will fulfill my promise to you
that I would find for our daughters good husbands when the time comes."
He settled back into a more cozy position, noticing how quiet his house
was. It won't be long before the rest of the family wakes up and the
regular chaos would return, with the noise that comes with it. Trouble
always seemed to follow Ranma ever since he came here. He was thankful
that it was a school day and Ranma would be out of the house. And of
course, where Ranma goes, the rest will follow. He would have the quiet
time again and a chance to recover the sleep debt he had earned that
morning.
He prayed for a few more minutes of this peace for him to be able
to relax and finally doze off. Too late, he heard the muffled thumps of
a panda making his way to the bathroom.
Known to the rest of the Tendo family, Kasumi takes her bath in the
early morning before dawn. That was obvious since Kasumi always wakes up
before everyone else and she always appears fresh and clean by the time
everyone else does. Also, this was the only time of the day when people
would be too busy waking up to even have a chance to peep on her, not
that she would think anyone would do such a thing.
But, for Kasumi, this was the only time of day where it was quiet
and she would have time to herself.
Along this track Kasumi's train of thought chugged along, as the
warm water felt like a soft blanket. "Ranma would still be asleep. He
always had this bad habit of charging in the bathroom whenever Akane was
inside." She sighed, thinking of the potentially dangerous life Ranma
lived in the Tendo residence. The two liked each other, its just that
there were so many people wanting them to get together and so many
wanting to set them apart that they just don't have the time to fall
together. It was so depressing sometimes to see Akane get so sad by
hammering Ranma into the ground and Ranma getting so downhearted because
he kept saying the wrong things to Akane. But that was the only thing
they could do to satisfy all parties concerned about them for the
meantime. She stirred the water gently.
It was then that she heard the bathroom door open and then slowly
close.
Kasumi takes her bath in the hours before dawn. Everyone knew
that...that is, everyone *assumed* that everyone *else* knew that.
Genma was in unfortunate position of suddenly knowing something
that was meant to be known a long time before.
Like it was his fault, no one told him that she takes her bath at
this time.
"But it is always someone else's fault," his conscience told him.
But it was his first time to have awakened this early, and this was
his first offense. He didn't want to interrupt her in her bath. It was
an accident. It would never happen again.
"Do you think that they would believe you?" the inner voice taunted
him again. "You have done the worst crime. Kasumi takes care of all of
us. And this is how you repay her?" The voice became larger and stronger
and the panda became smaller and smaller. "Even the master takes extra
care not to get in her way! You're even worse than Happosai! You
lecher! You pervert! You creep! You will pay for your insolence! Ha-
Ha-Ha-Ha!"
The voice changed and sounded like Kasumi. A chorus of voices
joined her and Genma saw a mental image of the whole family jeering at
him. Everyone had horns on their heads and became like monsters, saying
it over and over again. "Genma lecher. Genma pervert! GENMA CREEP!"
and the Katana of Justice stood over them and Nodoka held it, ready to
strike, with fire raging behind her like an avenging angel.
<No, please, I won't do it again! I won't go into the bathroom
when someone's inside ever again!> the sign Genma unconsciously wrote
pleaded remorsefully.
"Do what, Mr. Saotome?" Nabiki crept up behind him.
Once again, Genma was in the unfortunate position of a criminal
that did not run away from the scene of the crime.
Nabiki finished her paperwork. She stood up and straightened her
desk. Neatness is a virtue, she always said to herself. Essential in
schemes like this, neat plans work like clockwork and the person in
charge would be in full control of the situation at all times. "Control
is such a nice word," Nabiki said to herself as she went out of her room
and walked down the same corridor her elder sister went through earlier.
The eastern sky was a bit lighter now, but still, night continued to
reign. "Time to start Phase 2. Hope the old guy's awake."
Walking downstairs, she took note of a small crack on one of the
steps that Kasumi's careful eyes skipped but she saw in better light.
Turning around the corner of the house that led to the bathroom, she saw
Genma-panda staring at nothing, acting somewhat like a possessed freak,
or someone who saw something one shouldn't have seen.
Nabiki crept up to him. The panda growled a bit softly and
produced the sign. In the dim light, she had a little difficulty reading
it, specially any incriminating lines.
"Do what, Mr. Saotome?" she said as she crept up softly behind him.
Genma-panda turned to stone. However, this maneuver would have
enabled Nabiki to have red on the sign the bad thing that he had done.
So, he turned around a bit slowly, since he was frozen in fear, and hid
his sign (somewhere).
"What are you doing here? Isn't it a bit too early for you to be
awake?" she continued her psychological attack, enjoying as she watched
him squirm.
<Why hello Nabiki! Isn't it such nice morning?>
"Yeah right," she said. "Why are you up so early?" She heard the
sounds of someone in the bathroom. Since it was to early for anyone
else...
"Are you thinking of looking at Kasumi while in the bathroom?"
That remark gave the expected behavioral pattern. The panda froze
once again, this time with beads of perspiration all over its face.
Then, he took out a sign and began scribbling.
<How could you even think of something like that?!!> said the sign
in garbled handwriting. Genma took on a really innocent and doleful look
that could have won the hearts of the most evil of opponents. That is,
except for Nabiki.
"What ever you say, Mr. Saotome." Nabiki walked past him. Before
Genma could breathe, Nabiki turned around and remarked, "You know I will
keep your secret...for a price."
<May lightning strike me if I did wrong.>
In the early morning skies of Nerima, a dull rumble was heard.
Genma's eyes bulged out and he ran away like a frenzied animal.
"What was that Nabiki?" Kasumi asked as she stepped out of the
bathroom.
"Nothing important, sis. Just someone getting what he deserved.
What's for breakfast?"
"Wait a while, I'll just get dressed. If you're hungry, there's
some sandwiches in the fridge," she replied, going upstairs.
"Thanks Kasumi!" Nabiki said a bit too loudly, hoping the person
that should have heard her had heard her. "Serves him right for
peeping," she continued, this time to herself, moving on to more pressing
matters. "I'll deal with him later."
Ryoga Hibiki was lost, again. "Where on earth am I now?!" he
screamed to any ears that were listening. It was over a week now since
he was at the Dojo, and he missed Akane terribly.
And of course the good food.
He had camped on a vacant lot somewhere. Stern around were opened
cans that were remnants of last night's dinner. "Beans, beans, beans.
Every single day beans," he grumbled, kicking the cans away from him. He
picked up his bag and began packing, folding his tent and the souvenirs
he had for her. He threw out the map that a kind stranger had given him
showing the way to Japan, making nothing out of it.
A shooting star shot across the sky. Seeing how beautiful the
morning was, he relaxed a little bit, thinking of Akane, as he usually
did when the looked at something beautiful. "Shall I ever see you again
in this lifetime?" he asked as the star left a glittering trail of dust
high enough to be beyond the earth's shadow, thus reflecting the light of
the sun. "Akane, I hope that wherever you are on the earth, I will find
you and make you mine," he wished. "Until then, I'll be content just
dreaming of you."
There was a flip side of thinking about Akane, since thinking about
her one would think of Ranma, as most trains of thoughts go, and for
Ryoga, that was a bad side. The soft haze that filled his vision became
red as he recalled Ranma and his last fight with him. "Curse you,
Ranma!" he screamed again, this time with a voice filled with hate.
"Running away from a fight like that, you have no honor! You're not
worthy to be Akane's fiancée! *I* am!" He punched the nearest wall.
What he didn't know was that the wall he punched was the side of a
large but fortunately abandoned building. The force of his blow knocked
out the entire side of the structure, together with a few supports. It
collapsed, a dull rumble tearing through the night air, waking some of
Nerima's denizens, cutting short the remaining hours of peace the night
gave. When the dust settled, Ryoga was buried from the neck down in a
pile of debris. A shout rang out through the night. "Curse you, RANMA!"
Moose was cleaning his glasses when the abandoned building at the
other side of the vacant lot across the street was destroyed. The rumble
rattled a few windowpanes and a cleverly placed pail of water.
Moose dropped his glasses as he became a duck. Cursing his luck,
he flew around the shop, searching for his seeing aids.
Which was a bad idea, if all you can see of the world was a vast
area stretching from your eyes to the tip of your nose (or in his case,
his beak). Even worse if you lived in a house with Chinese Amazons.
Moose, in the search for his glasses bumped against a vase,
upturned a few tables and chairs, flew through a window pane, stepped on
the grill (which was fortunately cold) and on the stove (was
unfortunately where he cooked breakfast.) Going on a tangent from his
original direction, he smashed against something that made him sneeze,
upset the neatly stacked plates, bumped against an old stone statue,
almost impaled himself where the knives were kept, until finally hit his
head on the refrigerator door. Before he lost consciousness, he felt
vise-like hands grip him. "This definitely won't be a very nice day," he
thought as darkness mercifully took him
Cologne woke up and thought, "This looks like a very nice day."
It was then that the abandoned building on the other side of the
vacant lot across the street imploded. After the rumble shook the house,
she stood on her staff and went to the kitchen to check if whatever
damages caused by the crash were carried over to her house.
And she choked on a mouthful of feathers.
Clearing her mouth, she saw Mumu-chan smash against the wall where
the knives were hanging, almost killing himself. Then he hit the
refrigerator door. "Stupid duck brain," she said, picking up Moose, who
by then had already lost consciousness. "What am I going to do with
you?"
"Great-grandmother, what that?" Shampoo, still half-asleep, asked.
"Get dressed Shampoo and put Moose in the cellar." Giving Moose to
Shampoo, she sighed. "We've got a lot of cleaning to do."
"I've got a lot of cleaning to do," Ukyo Kuonji said as she woke
up. The dull rumble died away in the dawn and she thought that she had
only dreamed it. She looked out the window, noting that the clouds in
the east were already pink, lighted from below by the coming sun. "So
much to do, so little time," she thought as she was dressing up. She
stretched, trying to give wakefulness to the rest of her body. She had
slept late the last night fixing a few things and the day would see the
same thing.
"It seemed so long ago," she looked at herself in the mirror. When
she first came to Nerima, it was to search for her fiancée, Ranma. She
remembered what she had said before she left home, "I'll be back soon to
avenge you."
But now, it has been too long. During that time, Ranma had not
only become stronger, but her love for him also grew. Now, she cannot
find in her heart to deal to him revenge she had promised her parent.
The only other way to redeem her honor was for Ranma to fulfill Genma's
promise to her. "To someday become a Saotome," she said softly to
herself. But even that dream was not to come true as well.
She glanced at a small calendar by the side of her bed. A red
circle was marked a spot on the calendar two days hence. "There's not
much time left."
"There's not much time left," Kasumi said in her bath. The person
who had entered the room was a signal that the rest of the family would
be waking up in a few minutes. "It was a good thing that the shower
curtain was drawn or Ranma (it was Ranma, I'm sure, for he always had
this problem with bathroom doors and occupants) would have seen me." She
chuckled softly to herself. "I would have been so embarrassed."
She toweled herself dry, not hearing the muffled thunder outside,
since bathroom walls have always had the ability of absorbing sound. She
put on her bathrobe and stepped outside, and saw Nabiki standing by the
bathroom door.
"What was that, Nabiki?" she asked as she heard the thumping sounds
of feet running away.
"Nothing important, sis. Just someone getting what he deserved,"
she moved a hand through her hair. "Nabiki's hair is getting long,"
Kasumi thought to herself, which reminded her of her own hair, which was
a mess.
"What's for breakfast?" Nabiki asked.
"Wait a while, I'll just get dressed." She turned and walked up
the stairs. "Maybe she's hungry," she thought, hurrying up a little at
the thought of the enormous need of martial artists for physical
sustenance. "If you're hungry, there's some sandwiches in the fridge,"
she continued.
"Thanks, Kasumi!" Nabiki exclaimed from the bottom of the stairs,
if not shouted. "Not so loud Nabiki," Kasumi tried to quiet her sister,
but she was already out of earshot. "Oh well, its time for the rest of
them to wake up anyway."
She went to her room, noticing the groaning sound emanating from
the Saotomes' room. "Poor Ranma," she said, putting on better clothes
and her Piyo-piyo apron. "I hope he's not sick." On her way down to
prepare breakfast, she paused for a few moments to look in the mirror. A
beautiful young woman looked back at her. She combed her hair and let it
hang loose. "I wonder if he thinks of me the same way..."
Dr. Tofu woke up to see an ugly monster staring back at him.
With his superior martial arts reflexes, he jumped backwards. The
trajectory he had gone into would carry him away from any furniture that
adorned his bedroom, and to a safer area. Already in mid-air, he
realized that what he was staring at was a mirror placed on his desk,
which also reminded him that he had not gone to bed that night.
He smashed through the wall behind his desk, upset the coffeepot
and crashed against Betty, separating one bone (Betty's) from another.
Sitting up, he surveyed the remnants of Betty scattered all over the
front office. "Oh well," he said, picking up an arm and a leg, "it was
time for me to get an anatomy review anyway." He straightened up his
desk and looked once again at the infamous mirror. A man with large
eyebags and messy hair appeared, the textbook example of an insomniac.
"I need to get some sleep soon." He wished that no one would come in
today, since his own medical partner was in a need for immediate surgery.
Which was a useless wish, by the way. It was a Monday and on Mondays...
Happosai was one of the early risers in the Tendo dojo. It was a
Monday and he had a long day ahead of him. In a few hours, the master of
lechery himself will walk the streets of Nerima, to do what he does best.
But, the sun had not come up yet, and his last shred of honor (all
martial artists are required put honor above everything else, even
regular habits) commanded him not to pervert other sleeping people, since
detection would ensure a fight. There was also the chance that he
*might* be defeated, for most people, specially the members of the
opposite sex, *don't* want their beauty sleep disturbed. He also made
that promise to Tendo about not peeping at Kasumi. His last sense of
etiquette accepted that. Kasumi was one of the last few persons who
regarded him as a human being, and his tiny heart thanked her for that.
Even dirty old perverted masters had feelings too, you know.
So waiting for breakfast, Happosai smoked his pipe, sitting on top
of his collection. Pink clouds drifted softly by, and you would know
what certain kind of pink thing he was thinking about. Footsteps
shuffled on the other side of the door and he identified it to be of the
middle daughter of the Tendo family.
Nabiki slid open the door without knocking, knowing that he already
knew who she was. Happosai turned around and the last shred of etiquette
went out the window.
"Hello, Nabiki!" he yelled, jumping at her, with a special target
in mind.
However, Nabiki expected the maneuver. As the master approached
her, she threw a brassier at him, distracting the master of martial arts.
With his eyes covered, and the sensation of the piece of cloth thrown at
him overloading his senses, he was not able to avoid Nabiki's slap. The
next blow buried him into the floorboards.
Thanking herself for being wise enough to lift weights, she brushed
her hair back, returning to her usual poise. "Look, no touch."
"Aw, Nabiki," the master whimpered, putting out puppy dog eyes.
"Why won't you let me play with you?"
"Shut up, old man. I didn't come here to play with you..." She
looked at him with piercing eyes, pausing for dramatic effect. "I have a
deal for you."
"Nabiki...you want to have a deal with me?" Conspiring with Nabiki
was like having a pact with the devil. It was always to her advantage
whenever she does things like this. Happosai was wary. "What kind of
deal?"
"All I want is for you to do a couple of things for me." She
leaned and whispered in his ear, slapping the groping hand.
"That's all you want me to do?" Happosai asked, not quite believing
what Nabiki said.
"Yes...and I'll pay you, of course." She stood up, indicating that
the meeting was soon to be over. I will give you the location of a
shipment of," she frowned at how corrupted old man was, "your favorite
things as soon as the deal is finished." She went outside and slid the
door shut. The master cried out, "Nabiki, I'm warning you! If I don't
like what happens..."
"Don't worry, Happosai. I'll go through my part of the bargain if
you go through yours."
Happosai could not exactly believe his luck. All he had to do was
play a trick on Ranma, a trick that he himself would have thought of, and
he gets a shipment! A whole truckload! "Perhaps it is to my advantage
after all," he laughed an evil laugh as he gathered up part of his
collection. "These particular pieces should do the trick!"
Nabiki slid the door shut. The master cried out, "Nabiki, I'm
warning you! If I don't like what happens..." "Don't worry, Happosai.
I'll go through my part of the bargain if you go through yours," she
assured him. "What a dirty old man," she muttered a little bit more
softly. "Well, at least that's done...time to take a shower." Turning
around the corner, she saw her father entering the bathroom. "Hey dad!"
Nabiki called out to him. "Can you reserve the place for me next?" Mr.
Tendo glanced back. "Sure, Nabiki." As she passed by, he asked, "By the
way, have you seen Saotome?"
"Last time I saw him, he was busy getting lost," then on a hunch,
"Dad, why are you looking for him?"
Mr. Tendo thought for a while. "He woke me up this morning just as
I was going back to sleep. Why did you ask?"
"Nothing, dad," she said. "Guess he is already in enough trouble
already."
Genma Saotome cowered behind the door to his room as he heard
Kasumi go up the stairs. He had heard Nabiki's shout and he knew that it
was meant for him. "Oh, no...What have I done," he groaned softly and
then froze in fright as he heard the footsteps stop outside the door.
After countless moments, the footsteps moved again. Genma breathed a
sigh of relief. Immediately, he began to form a plan of action. "The
only way I could get killed is if I stay indoors for the whole day.
Well, we can take leaving the house and hiding out of the picture because
that would be acting like the guilty party. I guess I'll just avoid
Tendo, Nabiki and specially Kasumi for the rest of the day. Nabiki has
school to go to and Kasumi would be busy with the housework. That leaves
Tendo to deal with."
He was considering hitting Tendo on the head with a mallet to keep
him quiet at least until sundown when he heard the footsteps associated
with Nabiki approach. Genma, acting quickly, jumped out of the nearest
window, finding out that the place where he was to land was currently
occupied by a box of sharp things. Using the mid-air grappling
techniques which were a specialty of the Saotome School of Anything Goes
Martial Arts, he turned about and grasped the window ledge, just as
Nabiki opened the chamber door.
"That's funny, I could have sworn the panda was here a minute
ago..." She glanced at the sleeping figure on the floor. "Good he's
still asleep." She walked towards the nearest window and looked outside.
"The sun will come up soon. Better hurry."
Genma heard the footsteps receding in the distance. He thought his
number was up when Nabiki looked out the window, but it turned out that
she was too busy looking at the scenery. He would have also thought of
admiring nature if he was not currently trying to save his skin (or fur,
in the current state of affairs.) He was about to swing himself back
into the room when he heard the crackle of wicked laughter inside.
"Nothing dad. Guess he is in a lot of trouble already," Nabiki
said as she turned and walked away. "What kind of trouble?" Soun Tendo
asked. "Don't worry about it dad," she replied as she climbed up the
stairs. "That girl," Soun said to himself as he went and did his morning
toilette. Has he had that morning, he tried to recall his dream, and
what it meant. Giving up after he had his shower, "I guess I'll dream of
it again tonight." He was brushing his teeth, trying to recover his
peace of mind when the footsteps of his master walked past the bathroom
door, dashing whatever hopes he had. "He's going out today..."
Kasumi walked out of her bedroom to find Nabiki coming from Ranma's
room. "Hello, Nabiki. Are you waiting for breakfast?" she asked, fixing
her apron.
"No, I've have still some things to do. You don't have to hurry
Kasumi," she entered her own room. "By any chance did you see Mr.
Saotome pass by?"
"No...Is Ranma sick? I heard him groaning a while ago..."
"You did?" Nabiki looked surprised. "He was sleeping when I came
in." Then, sudden realization highlighted her features. "Oh, I see...
Well, see you around Kasumi!"
"See you..." she replied. Going down the stairs, she saw a very
small man going up.
"Good morning, Happosai!"
"Good morning to you too, dear girl," he replied as he jauntily
scaled the steps. "My, he looks happy today." Smiling, she continued
her trek, passing the bathroom on the way to the kitchen. "Hello
Kasumi," her father greeted her. "By any chance did you see the master
go out?"
"No, he went upstairs."
"Upstairs? What would Happosai do there?" he asked himself.
"Well, at least he is not going out." Returning Kasumi's smile, "I know
you'll cook us a nice breakfast."
"Oh father, father, father," she blushed a little. "By cooking
isn't that good."
"It is! Its magnificent! Anyway, I've got a few things to do
before breakfast as well."
Soun Tendo walked outside, noticing how clear the sky was, aside
from the few pink clouds. Going to the back, he saw the crate of knives
he had placed there the night before. "I'll have to put them in the
training hall." Pushing it away was the last thing he remembered doing
before everything went black.
"Pink! Yellow! Green! How delightful!" Happosai thought happy
thoughts as he scattered his stuff around the room. Lacy clothing
floated like feathers in the wind. Using his techniques, he did this in
the utmost silence, to keep the lone figure in the room asleep. When he
was done, he looked outside. "Its such a fine day! Maybe I'll start my
grand tour early!" Jumping out of the nearest window, he used the
pillow(?) hanging on the ledge as a springboard. He laughed and laughed
as the sun rose behind him, ready to begin a new day of reaping the joys
of womanhood. "HA-HA-HA-HA!"
"HO-HO-HO-HO!" Kodachi Kuno laughed her distinctive laugh. After
hours of mixing and powdering, boiling and purifying, it was complete at
last. There was a knock on the door. "Come in," she said, placing the
finishing touches. Sasuke entered hesitantly, making sure there were no
poisons or other deadly substances hanging around in the air of Kodachi's
lab. "I brought you breakfast, Mistress Kodachi." Seeing there was no
immediate danger, the diminutive ninja entered the room, carrying the
tray of food. "Leave now, Sasuke, I'm busy." He ran out of the lab,
fearful that his mistress would change her mind and use him for an
experiment.
"My sister seems happy today." Tatewaki Kuno practiced in the
garden of their vast mansion. He swung his bokken, thinking of the final
strike that will destroy the cretin Ranma and make the beauteous Akane
Tendo and the fair pigtailed girl his alone. Sasuke approached, "Master
Kuno, breakfast is ready."
"Pray tell what is my sister conniving to declare to the world her
happiness so early today?"
"She has finished it, master."
"So she has. Then today shall be the day the cursed Ranma shall
become my sister's plaything." The rising sun raised its brilliant eye
in the east, shrouding the rising star of the Kendo world in its blessed
light. "I give my love to you, oh blessed sun," he declared, "shine thy
light upon those two who have captured my hearts, and shower them my good
love..." etc, etc.
"Forgive me from interrupting, master. Your breakfast will grow
cold."
Kuno was about to hit the ninja for derailing the sonorous symphony
for his loves, when Kodachi left the Kuno mansion, jumping from rooftop
to rooftop, leaving behind a trail of black petals, laughing hysterically
all the way.
"Come, Sasuke. We shall go and help my sister claim what is
rightfully hers," he walked (people like Kuno never run except when
needed to maintain the dashing aura) towards the house, "and I mine!"
Akane Tendo wakes up at sunrise, when the sun's rays enter the
eastern window and brighten up her room. "Its such a nice day!" she
thought. Her yellow pajamas seemed to glow in the light of the sun.
Stretching to awaken the rest of her body, she stopped and suddenly
smiled. She had dreamt of him last night. All of a sudden, she sneezed,
and then she blushed. Maybe he dreamt of her as well...
She took her bathrobe and a few bathroom accessories and she
checked her cabinet for the clothes she would wear for the rest of the
day.
She noticed that there were some pieces missing... Some particular
pieces.
"See you around Kasumi," Nabiki said as she entered her room. She
was thankful that her elder sister did not see the hot water kettle she
held behind her back. Explanations would have delayed her tight
schedule. She heard a thump outside the window, just as the sun rose up.
"Happosai's finished. Time put other cards in play..."
She took her Polaroid camera and walked to Ranma's room. Although
she had already done this before, this was one of the quicker and more
profitable ways Nabiki earned money and was a better medium of exchange
for which to buy perverted men and specially Kuno to do her will.
For the second time that morning, she entered Ranma's room, and was
amazed by what she saw. The room was littered by undergarments in the
shade of pink, yellow and green. "Looks like a tornado hit the place."
She zoomed to the slumbering target in the room.
Taking a glass of cold water, (cold water in Nerima was readily
available, unlike hot water which was never there when you needed it) she
poured it over the sleeping Ranma, instantly changing him into a her.
With the camera and the lazy things as backdrops, she began taking
pictures. The tight shirt and shorts Ranma stepped into last night
became even tighter, highlighting the ravishing curves that the
transformation gave her. Snapping away, Nabiki smiled. "Your an instant
hit Ranma," she said, finishing the photo session. "Its a pity that you
don't use your female side as an asset."
She poured hot water over him to erase whatever evidence of the
crime. She threw the kettle outside the window, ("we have plenty of them
anyway,") and stalked out of the room, entering hers just as Akane
stormed out. "Better be out of the way when the thing goes kaboom..."
she thought, stepping into her bathrobe.
Genma hung on for dear life as the maelstrom silently went on
inside. It had been the third time that morning that he had been at the
wrong place at the wrong time. A few garments flew out the window and
floated gently down on his face. Losing visual ability, he felt himself
slipping. "Oh no!" his mind screamed, remembering the crate below.
He bit into the window ledge, trying to get oral support. His
downward movement stopped and he thanked his lucky stars.
Too soon...
Happosai jumped on the pillow, which was actually Genma's face.
Genma fell down, closing his eyes and waited for the inevitable crash and
pain.
There was an audible thump as he landed on something soft. Looking
around, he found that he had landed a few feet away from the knives.
Looking down, he saw the back of his would be in-law. Realizing that he
was in trouble agin, he jumped away. He tore a few roof tiles and placed
it beside his horizontal friend, knowing that he would think that these
and not a panda was the cause for his recent disposition. Genma quickly
grabbed a tire, also knowing that an adorable panda playing with a tire
was usually freed of every shroud of doubt of being the guilty party. He
tiptoed away, stepping directly into the path of a falling hot water
kettle. For the 4th time that day, he was at the wrong place at the
wrong time.
Akane stormed out of her room, angry. "Where is that old man?!?"
She streaked down the stairs. Marching across the kitchen caused Kasumi
to walk out. "Hello, Akane! What's wrong?"
The appearance of her elder sister instantly calmed her. "Nothing,
Kasumi. Just Happosai up to his old tricks again."
They entered the kitchen. "By the way, have you checked on Ranma?"
Kasumi asked, returning to her cooking. "He seemed sick a while ago. I
heard him groaning when I passed by his room."
"Ranma's sick?" Akane's formerly angry face changed to a look of
concern. "Oh, if only Ranma knew how Akane worries about him," Kasumi
mused silently. "Akane..." she turned around, but she had already
disappeared. "Oh, if Ranma only knew..."
Ranma awoke from dreams of her to find himself surrounded by
garments of a different sort. Sitting up, he wondered who had done such
an elaborate decoration of the room in such a short time. The answer was
obvious. "Happosai, the old freak. I wonder what his game is?"
Footsteps sounded outside the door and he realized that he didn't have to
wait much longer to find out.
Akane knocked softly on Ranma's door. "Ranma, are you okay?"
Slowly opening the door, "Kasumi told me that you were not feeling so
good..." the sight surprised her even more than the one inside. She
screamed, "Ranma! What do you think your doing!"
"Its not what it seems!" Ranma tried to explain, realizing too late
that his situation with Akane was beyond any help.
Akane stomped, grabbing one of the pieces. "Why Ranma, these are
mine! What kind of pervert are you?"
"It's not my fault. I woke up and I found these--"
"Oh, so I see. You woke up and you found these just lying around.
I don't think that these things just walked all the way--" Akane saw how
wet Ranma's bed was, and how wet his clothes were, specially his pants.
And he had been groaning?!?
"RANMA, THAT'S THE MOST DISGUSTING THING I EVER..."
Nabiki was safely in the bathroom when the loud *SMASH*
reverberated through the house. "Just like clockwork..." She sighed as
the house struggled to maintain its structural integrity under the
continuing assault of Akane's massive hammer. "Still too much to do, so
little time." Finishing with her bath, she noticed the sudden quiet.
"Breakfast must be ready. I still have that phone call to make." She
laughed, "I hope I could have seen Ranma's face when he woke up..."
Soun Tendo's face was imprinted into the ground by the weight of
Genma falling on him. "Ow, my head..." he moaned, working his way to the
kitchen where he knew help was.
He had already made his way near the stairs when he found himself
in the unlucky position of being between Ranma and a very, very angry
Akane...
"Dad!"
Akane rushed to the side of her fallen parent. "This is all your
fault!" she screamed, punching Ranma, leaving him stunned for a while.
Kasumi ran from the kitchen, bringing the well-used first aid kit. She
examined the patient, looking for whatever injuries resulting from the
assault. "Two bumps?"
"Kasumi, I'm so sorry..." Akane sobbed a little. Looking where
Ranma was, still in dire need of medical attention as well, she tried to
held back tears. "I won't ever do it again..."
"It was an accident, don't worry about it. No one could be blamed
for it." She smiled as their father began to regain consciousness.
"He's coming back now..."
"Well what happened here?" Nabiki asked, seeing the two figures
sprawled on the floor. She was on her way from the bathroom to her room.
"I've still got to change for school." She looked at Ranma, "This guy
looks like he needs some help as well..."
"Nabiki! How could you be so unconcerned?" Akane was surprised
that Nabiki did not even give a backward glance. "What if I had..."
"Akane, they'll make it through. They always had, they always
will. They're like weeds, they keep popping back."
Ranma sat up, the Saotome regeneration system kicking in. "Who
needs medical attention? I don't need no help. I could take this, no
sweat."
"See what I mean..." Kasumi continued up the stairs. "Hey Kasumi,
could you tell dad the crack at the 10th step, someone could trip on it."
The others looked at her, beads of perspiration rolling down their heads,
as she went on to her bedroom.
Ranma approached the other patient. "Boy, he has it bad. Your aim
seems to be improving, Akane."
"Shut up, Ranma!" she exclaimed, beginning the cycle again. "If
you weren't perverted enough to take other people's things, this wouldn't
have happened!"
"I didn't take those. What kind of idiot do you think I am? I
wouldn't even think of taking your undies, not in a million years."
Akane did not know whether she was insulted or delighted that Ranma
won't take her clothes. In her current frame of mind, she chose the
former.
"Is that because I'm a tomboy, is that it?" A massive blue aura
began to build around her. "You're becoming worse than Happosai!"
The argument could have come to blows had Soun not decided to come
back to the land of the living. "Ranma, Akane, stop that this instant."
He grabbed hold of their shoulders. "That's no way for fiancées to act.
You should learn to understand each other. Akane," looking at his little
girl, "the time will come when Ranma will look through your clothes
everyday..."
"Dad!"
Soun looked at the husband-to-be. "Ranma, you know how jealous
Akane can get. You need to show her assurance that you care for her.
However, stealing her unmentionables are not what she would think as an
assurance." He smiled. "I want you not to go on bashing each other's
heads every morning. Akane, I want you to take your bath now. After
that, Ranma will take his bath after returning the things he stole.
Surely that will avoid any trouble for the rest of the morning." Soun
had to send them both to school as soon as possible or he would go
insane, or the house would crumble to the ground, or both.
"If you need me, I'll be in the kitchen." Kasumi stood up,
remembering breakfast.
"This is for the best," Soun Tendo stood up, heading for the dining
room. The couple also went on their own ways, vowing never again to
speak to each other.
Or never in the next few minutes.
In the shadows, a lone figure watched the preceding events. "Ranma
seems to be the one to blame for everything that happened this morning".
Sunlight glinted off his glasses as he began calculating. If he played
his cards right, all traces of the crime will be wiped out. He waited
for the most opportune moment to re-announce his presence. He will wait.
Mikado Sanzenin waited patiently for breakfast. Admiring himself
in the mirror, he remembered the only skating match where he had been
defeated, and the two people closely connected to the match. The
innocent(?) little girl whose lips he first took and the strong-willed
Akane, the only person who has refused a kiss from the great Mikado
Sanzenin, the foremost member of the only-once-defeated Golden Pair of
Martial Arts Skating, etc, etc. Remembering that he had school today, he
took only an hour to comb his hair and apply the make-up that would
enhance his facial features, and faun over himself.
Also in the reflection were the two life sized posters of his two
loves, whom he had purchased for an arm and a leg from Akane's sister.
She too had slapped him when instead of the money, he would just give her
a kiss since she would get more from that bargain. Strong was their
family in resisting his charm.
"When shall I ever see you again?" He spoke to no one in
particular.
Azusa wailed, "When shall I ever see you again?" Her house seemed
empty since the disappearance of her beloved Oscar the panda. The butler
came and seeing her cry, he comforted her. "There, there Miss Azusa...
<British Accent> (Gosh, I really hate this job. ) Oscar will come
back..."
"No he won't," she pouted. She looked to the other cuteees in her
room, getting support from them, she stood up, and as the sunrise shone
in her window, she took a more powerful, even godly, aura. "Oh Oscar, I
will find you! No matter where on earth you are, I will find you!"
Azusa was already shouting. "And you will never leave me ever
again. You're the cutest thing in the whole world."
The butler left discreetly. When he closed the door, he ran
quickly to the servant's quarters. "I need to get rid of this as soon as
I can," he thought quickly, taking his bow tie and all the other cute
stuff he owned and burned them. She was in that Mood again. Even worse,
she was mad.
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" plus "I'll never rest
until I find you again" multiplied by "The other member of the only-once-
defeated Golden Pair of Martial Arts Skating" raised to the power of
"You're sooooo cuteeeee!!!!" equals...
Equals a person capable of obliterating the great master of lechery
himself.
To be continued...
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|Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!|
@----------------------------------------------------------------------@
Space Reserved for Author's notes, thank you's, hello's and other things
to reduce free space on your hard drive.
To those of you who ask, "Who is this Mayhem? Who does he think he
is just barging in on the NFT board like that? What kind of pervert is
he? Does he have a girlfriend? Why does his room have a toilet bowl?"
etc, etc, etc.
First of all, I don't have a girl right now. The toilet bowl is
non-functional, just ornamental. The reason for my presence here is
because of the Zookeeper Switch of NFT has delivered me from the vestiges
of depression for not having a love life and said that instead of just
going crazy of pretending I'm Bobby Andrews (to those of you who don't
know who he is, he is a cool star in Philippine Television with a cool
car and just broke up with his cool girlfriend in their show, keeps being
chased by cool girls, gets caught up at the wrong places at the wrong
time doing the wrong things, but that's another story) and get beaten up
eventually, suggested that I write fics to while away the time. I had
been reading other works throughout the summer and had just gotten an
internet account. What the heck?
After I red some of the fics, some ideas began spinning in my head.
Why not things happened like this or that? Why not something else?
After a while, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't think, I couldn't eat. Then,
I started seeing things. Happosai was always going bungling around the
house. Akane walked with me to school. Kasumi cooked me breakfast.
"Arrruuggghhhh!"
And so I write now to preserve my sanity.
Now about the story. The story takes place on a time in the Ranma
series preferably after the OAV's. The story seems long, and it is! I
might not live to see this fic finished, (either the enormous span of
time will give me a natural death, or get radiation scarred by staring at
a computer screen too long, or Akane's hammer finally gets to me) so most
probably the later chapters will be a lot shorter.
Thank you to all those who have helped a lot with this mad, mad
project.
Watch out for the coming sequel, The Trip to School, coming out
perhaps in another title if I could think of a better name. Find the
answers to: What is the connection of the Prologue to the story? (If you
found out by now, then you are better than me.) What was Kasumi's dream?
How much money will Nabiki make? Will Mr. Saotome do something
worthwhile for a change? What will Azusa do? What will the story be
about? Why mayhem?
Coming soon to a text file near you.
@----------------------------------------------------------------------@
|Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!Mayhem!|
@----------------------------------------------------------------------@
Nikholas F. Toledo Zu @ http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3145/mezza9.html
Vector, Switch, Yebah, Don Juan, goo, Pervert, Scruples, Hollie, NomaD,
Blitz, Gee, Datzo, Jewel, Elf, Radler, Pinball, Mayhem
Fanfiction @ http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3145/fanfics.html
Warp Zone @ http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3145/thirteen.html
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The logo of the Church of All Worlds is nine concentric circles.
Word from the Laity: Wipe yer feet! Bloody 'ell...
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