Below
is chapter 1 for the major revision of Ai No Kodomo I've been planning.
Yes, I'm actually starting now. Hopefully ANK Complete will be
finished in 97.
I've never been happy with the beginning which is why I've never
posted ANK to RAAC. That has now changed. This is a major rewrite,
this will be submitted Monday morning if all goes well. I need your
imput people.
Please let me know immediately if there are any errors that must be
corrected. I'm not on the list anymore so please send comments
directly to me. (mousse@pixi.com)
Chapter 2 revision will hopefully be finished by next week.
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E. Z. Productions is pleased to present,
a fanfiction by the writer formerly known as
Mousse Lee. (mousse@pixi.com)
With thanks and apologies to Rumiko Takahashi,
without whom these characters would not exist.
Ranma 1/2: Ai no Kodomo
"I've made a few mistakes over the years, not many mind you, but
enough to gain a little wisdom. If only I could pass that to my
daughters, but I guess they have their own mistakes to make. God knows
I've still got one or two coming."
-- Saotome Ranma, age 28
Chapter 1 - Spice of Life
The wind blew gently through the garden, rustling the leaves of a
nearby tree. Ranma laid back quietly against the porch and let out a
contented sigh. He looked to the Koi pond, a constant reminder of his
youth. The memories of his father sparring with him came vividly to
mind. Just like Jusenkyo, there were so many memories he would never
forget.
It no longer haunted him, he learned to live a life without regrets.
The greatest lesson his father ever taught him. Jusenkyo was a part of
his life now, part of who he was. Passing thoughts of China brought a
smile to his face, how much has changed since those days.
A piece of him would always belong to China.
He could hear the front door open and the sound of books being tossed
hard to the floor. He could tell he was in for a spirited workout.
Ranma left his thoughts behind and made his way to the dojo.
His peaceful countance failed him as he arrived. His daughter Megumi
was destroying bricks at an alarming rate. It was times like this he
was glad he never taught her the breaking point technique, it was much
harder to clean up. Ranma decided training would have to wait a bit
for both their sakes.
"Something wrong Megumichan?"
"Stupid! Stupid! Fiance my Grrrrrrrrrrr!"
Ranma stepped back to the safety of the doorway, sensing what was
about to come. "Aim Megumi, don't forget to aim."
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
Ranma kept one wall of the dojo open at all times for ki drills, after
the first few years it didn't make sense to keep rebuilding everything
since everything got destroyed on a regular basis. Ranma's ability had
grown in power over the years and Megumi already showed signs she would
surpass him in a few years.
For a second Ranma thought about how his father might have felt
training him so many years ago. He could see himself in Megumi, her
potential scared and excited him at the same time. "Feel better?"
"No." Megumi was breathing hard through her nose and resting her
hands on her knees. She was drained, at least for awhile.
"Kune?"
Her knuckles turned white as she gripped her knees tighter. "Of
course not. If he wants to go and ogle the new girl in town, why
should I get upset? It's not like we're married or anything."
Ranma tried to conceal a chuckle as he remembered how his wife was at
Megumi's age. Megumi and Kune got along much better than he and Akane
ever did, not that they didn't have problems. Ranma sympathized with
Kune. Megumi had a silver tongue, a hair trigger, and an iron fist.
He was sure most of it came from her mother.
Hibiki Kune was no angel himself though. He was known to have a
wondering eye but it took a brave girl to stand between Megumi and her
man. At 17, Saotome Megumi was unmatched in the Furinken student body
if not all of Nerima.
They didn't mind being engaged, it was a novelty of sorts. Their
mothers would have done more about it if it had been otherwise. They
grew up together and were already close friends before their fathers
engaged them.
Megumi sighed. "Where's mom? I need to talk to her."
Ranma motioned towards the house. "She's in the kitchen making
dinner."
Megumi grimaced. "Can I go have dinner with Kune dad?"
He smiled. "How do you plan to find him?"
She turned to her father and gave him a look of pure innocence. "No
problem pop. Kune and his friends were going down to that new Ramen
shop to ooggle the waitress. I mean somebody should keep an eye on him
right?"
He shrugged. "Okay, but only if you bring me back a bowl of ramen...
don't let mom see it."
"Thanks pop." Megumi left in a whirl, leaving Ranma behind to
straighten up the dojo. The mess was big enough to keep him busy
through dinner. He smiled and got to work.
Megumi reached the restaurant in record time and paused to look the
place over. The run down building she'd always known had been restored
in a matter of days. It was the construction that drew the attention
of the nearby Furinkan crowd. Without fanfare or fuss the Nekohanten,
closed nearly 18 years, was open for business once again.
[...]
Kune and his two cohorts seated themselves at a corner table of the
Nekohanten. No one objected earlier in the day when Toshi suggested
they try the new ramen shop. It was right before Miss Hinako's class
Yoshiki mentioned the new Chinese place he passed on the way to school.
Mostly it had to do with the cute waitress he saw in the window.
After Megumi had a fit and left, Kune decided he might as well try the
place out. It had been a long time since he'd had some good ramen.
The line when they got there was almost out the door. Word spread
quick in this town, and Joketsuzoku ramen was news worthy indeed.
There were two things those amazons were good at, cooking and
marketing. Three things if you counted fighting. The recipies they
used dated back hundreds of years. Skill in marketing was a more
recent development.
There was only one waitress, but that's all they really needed. Only
her father's sense of dignity kept the length of her skirt a decent
length. It was fortunate since they were busy enough as it was.
Spice was about 17 and without a doubt took after her mother. She had
long burgundy hair which she kept up like her mother did in her younger
days. Not quite as obvious were the number of cat like features she
had. Not the least of which were her little fangs, they gave her a
slightly exotic look which drove the boys crazy. She was stunning like
her mother, and like her mother she could do more than stun you if you
crossed her.
She bounced gleefully to the trio, blissfully unaware of the effect
she had on them. "Welcome to Nekohanten. My name is Spice, I'll be
serving you."
Kune shook the cobwebs from his mind. "Umm, we're not ready yet.
Could you give us a couple minutes?"
"Sure thing." She said and bounded off happily to the next table.
Mousse adjusted his glasses as he looked out from the kitchen. Right
there in the corner sat the spitting image of Ryoga. He was much too
young but the resemblance was uncanny. He made it a point to ask Spice
about him on the next order. It was probably just the thrill of being
back in Nerima, but it was Nerima after all.
*"Spice, take this ramen to the boy in the corner. The one with the
bandana around his neck"*
*"But he hasn't ordered anything yet, daddy."*
*"I know I know. Just give him this on the house, and while you're at
it find out his name for me. He kinda reminds me of someone."*
*"You're the boss, boss.."* Spice shruged and took the bowl, *"...and
I am just the simple peasant girl slaving away her childhood for the
greater good of the Amazon tribe. Working long hours without
compensation, just to keep a roof over my head and a dinner on the
table. Who am I to question this life of endless toil I lead..."*
Mousse grinned as she left. "Good girl."
Spice placed the steaming bowl of ramen before Kune who objected
profusely. "Oh no. We haven't ordered yet."
She grinned and waved off his concerns. "No worry cutie, ramen on
house. I just need to know your name."
Kune's friends eyed him suspiciously. He began to stammer. "Ku..
Kune.. Hibiki Kune."
"Okie Kune. Enjoy ramen."
The frozen duo started in on Kune the moment Spice turned back to the
kitchen. "You cad! What about Megumi? What about us?!? That's
pretty low Kune, we saw her first!"
He put his arms up in defense. "What did I do?!?"
"All that shameless flirting! Must you unleash your worldly charms on
every unsuspecting girl you meet? Think about the less fortunate!
Think about us!"
"I only told her to give us a couple minutes!!"
"What would Megumi say?"
"You're a dead man Kune." She said flatly.
Toshi and Yoshiki froze for a second. This was not going to pretty,
Kune was their friend and all but friendship had its limits. They cast
Kune a look of condolence before tripping over each other to escape.
Kune put his hands together and tried his best to smile. "Darling.. I
can explain.. and have I ever mention how battle aura brings out the
color in your eyes?"
Megumi decided to take that as his flight papers and threw him through
what was fortunately the open front door. Mousse sighed and started
putting the dinner ingredients away for the night as he saw Spice
approach the red haired girl. He'd have to remember the customers
starting to sneaking out.
"And as for you, you hussy.. stay away from Kune!"
"What hussy?" Spice didn't quite understand the word but the meaning
was clear. "If not working now I teach you lesson in manners!"
It had been a long time since anyone challenged her, she was going to
enjoy this. "I think you'd need customers to be considered working."
Spice looked around in sudden realization. "Crazy violent girl bad
for business!" Fire burned in her eyes. "I, Spice, daughter of the
Jokegetsu matriarch challange you, crazy violent girl!"
Without missing a beat Megumi took up her favorite stance. "I,
Saotome Megumi, heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts,
accept that challenge!"
Mousse's eyes widened to saucers. The estimates of property damage
alone was enough to get him moving. He knew Spice would be upset over
this, but their finances were strained already.
Stepping from the kitchen Mousse produced over a dozen chains from his
long sleeves, flying straight at the pair. Before either could react,
Spice was immobilzed in a pile of chains and cooking utensils.
Spice tried to rush forward at Megumi despite them and nearly went
down in a heap. The chains alone keep her from falling. "Daddy!!!
Let me go, I can take her!"
Mousse decided to ignore her for the moment and turned his attention
to Megumi. She more than resembled another firery red head from his
past. The hair was a little shorter but the face was the same. "No
fighting in my restaurant please."
Spice hopped up and down. "Daaaaady!!!"
Megumi looked about sheepishly. "Umm.. sorry bout this."
Spice began chewing on her bindings with little success as Mousse
stepped between the two girls. "That's okay. Your father and me used
to get carried away all the time."
Megumi took another look at him. She'd seen a guy like him in an old
pictures of her parents. They'd all been on a beach together. "You
know my dad?"
He smiled warmly. "I guess you could say that... could you please
tell him to come by, there's something important I need to tell him."
She nodded. "Okay, I'll let him know." With that she turned and
headed home, her fight temporarily forgotten.
With that out of the way Mousse turned around and gave Spice a
disapproving look. *"I know you know fighting is bad for business."*
*"I know daddy. I know, I'm sorry." She looked to her feet. "Can
you let me out of these things now? Pleeeease?"*
Mousse walked over and began undoing his handiwork. *"Promise not to
go chase that girl?"*
*"I promise daddy, but please hurry? I have to use the bathroom
now."* Spice began bouncing up and down as much as the chains
allowed.
Mousse shook his head and sighed. He tried valiently to remember why
he ever decided to come back to Nerima.
[...]
Kune managed to make it home after being thrown out of the Nekohanten.
He had learned from experience it was best to avoid Megumi while she
was in a mood. Things would cool down and in the end they'd be happily
engaged once again.
Despite being a Hibiki, Kune was able to get close enough to home for
Shirokuro to find him. His parents often worried about him getting
lost so they usually let the dogs wander the neighborhood to help him
home.
The original Shirokuro past away many years ago but all her
grandchildren bore the same white and black pattern that she did. It
made telling them apart nearly impossible, which is why they were all
named Shirokuro.
Nobody was really sure how many of them there were since most were
wandering the streets at any given time. In the end it was just easier
to care for whichever ones came home. Whenever Kune or his Father
needed to get somewhere one of their dogs would usually be nearby to
help.
Ryouga had formed his own construction/demolition company which
allowed the Hibikis to live comfortably enough. Ryouga designed the
house they lived in himself off the plans for a large studio apartment.
It had one main room, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. All rooms were
clearly marked to assure privacy, and to assure no one got lost.
Kune began his daily katas in the exercise section of the main room.
He had to work off some steam and regain his focus. He made it a point
to practice whenever a girl caught his eye until he either forgot about
the girl or started thinking about Megumi insted.
Around junior high Kune become very good at his drills. Kune and
Megumi were engaged at a young age when friendship was all they needed.
That was fine right up to the point that Kune started to notice girls
and they noticed him. It had been mostly downhill from there.
Akari could tell her son was troubled by the look of concentration on
his face. "Trouble with Megumi?"
Kune finished a flurry of jabs. "It wasn't my fault mom, really it
wasn't."
"Was she cute?"
"Beautiful.. doh!" He lost his composure for a moment. "I mean well
umm.. I guess she was kinda cute." Kune hastily got back into his
stance.
It was times like these Akari got annoyed with her husband. She still
loved Ryouga dearly even if he wasn't the most perceptive person in the
world. Even after ten years she still wasn't quite sure about the
engagement.
Akari sighed. She left Kune to finish his drills and went to bed.
It was a few hours later that Ryouga found his way home. He was
relieved to see the lights still on, he had a hard enough time finding
his way around. He looked at his son for a moment and considered
himself lucky. His son was so devoted to the martial arts he even did
them in his sleep.
[...]
Mousse checked in on Spice before going to bed himself. She rarely
slept except for occasional naps during the day, but her first day of
work had been a hard one. It made her life back home training seem
easy in comparision.
Mousse tucked her in and gave her a quick scratch behind the ears
which Spice greeted with a low purr. She couldn't help but reminded
him of her mother which brought a sad smile to his face.
Mousse closed up everything else for the night and got ready for bed.
He decided to sleep in the main dining area since the security system
wasn't online yet.
He set up a row of dining chairs off to the side but near the door.
It reminded him of the old days when the restaurant was still new and
he first came to work there. It was awhile before Cologne gave him the
storage room to sleep in. Before that he managed to find a number of
creative sleeping arrangements, not all of which were humanly
possible.
As the moonlight came gently through the window he lay there
quietly contemplating Shampoo, Cologne, and Spice. His past, present,
and future.
[:::]