This one's pretty short. It's also fairly WAFFly, so
you might want to get out the syrup, or whatever it is you
happen to put on waffles (I sometimes put jam on them, just
for a little change of pace).
Anyway, tell me what you think about it.
Ranma 1/2 and all characters/situations within are not mine,
instead being the creation of one (1) Rumiko Takahashi, who
is living a very, very large distance away from me, giving
me a false sense of security, as her lawyers, and the lawyers
of those who also hold rights to Ranma 1/2 are not necessarily
so far off. Still, I do not intend to profit from this in any
way, shape or form, and I don't expect anyone else to, either.
However, if, out of the goodness of your heart, you wish
to give me money, I'll accept-- just as long as it is quite clear
that I am not receiving the money for this story (and I think
that's about all I have to say on the copyright/legality of fanfics
issue which pops up every couple of months).
(ah well, at least we haven't started up with an "OOC or IC?"
debate recently. Oh damn, that's probably going to start one now,
isn't it? Please, no! I'm sorry! I'll be... well, less bad at least!)
It's late, and I've always been the whimsical sort. Can you
forgive me?
(and even if you can't, can you give me C&C? ^_^)
Title? It's in the Bloody Subject Line Dammit!
"Where's Ranma?" Akane asked.
"Haven't seen him since you left for school this morning,"
answered the two shogi players, the panda one by sign.
Kasumi had not seen him either, and Nabiki last saw him at school.
This had been going on for too long. He was not with Shampoo or with
Ukyou, after a few weeks of looking for him at their places, even her
suspicions were allayed. Not the Kunous' either, no fear of him going to
see Kodachi, not willingly, and Kunou-- never.
Half an hour before Kasumi was going to serve dinner, Ranma
returned, just like clockwork.
"I'm going to wash up," he announced, a strange glint in his eyes.
"Where were you, I was looking for you."
"Out."
"Out where?"
"Just out. I have to wash up now," Ranma excused himself, and went
up to the bathroom.
A familiar ritual, repeated word for word, day after day. Akane
vowed to herself that today would be the last day. Tomorrow, she would
find out where Ranma was going, and give him a piece of her mind (not
her mallet, but her mind, if you please) for not telling her.
***
Akane saw Ranma slip away after the final bell rang, releasing the
inmates of Furinkan High into the world once again. She almost missed
seeing him leave, even looking straight at him while he did so. The
operative word though, is "almost."
Ranma proved to be a wily quarry. Akane suspected he knew he was
being followed. For one, he wasn't using the fences or roofs, but
sidewalks and streets. Devious, not going the way he was expected, and
where he was much more visible.
Ranma disappeared from Akane's sight, but she was still able to
track him; everywhere there was always a sign that he had passed. A
mangled Mousse, tied up with his own chains, an impression of someone's
face in the wall, even just asking people if Ranma had passed. To
someone of Akane's superb tracking skills, it was quite easy to follow
the trail-- up to a point, that is.
After a particular turn, the signs started to diminish and became
more subtle. The signs of violence lessened, and Ranma (male or female)
sightings dropped. Akane was still able to follow, albeit at a slower
pace, as she had to decipher the clues. A flash of a red shirt and a
pigtail, although that didn't happen too much, since Ranma was quickly
widening the lead he had. Akane suspected that Ranma knew he was being
followed. She further suspected that he wanted her to follow him. The
signs all pointed to it, especially that last one-- an arrow of pebbles,
showing the way.
Looking up, Akane noticed that she had no clue where she was. Only
one thing left to do then, continue on. She was close, she knew it. Her
tracking abilities allowed her to sense when she was close, all the
signs were there.
The writing was on the wall. The wall to the left of her,
actually. It had Ranma's handwriting all over it. One the wall were the
words, "Around the corner, then go straight till you find the park."
In the middle of the park, there was a playground. In the
playground, there were children, surrounding a street performer of some
sort. A magician, perhaps. As Akane got closer, she was able to make out
a red shi-- Ranma?
The children laughed as he did back flips, and front flips, and
hand-stands using only his pinky fingers. As Akane drew closer, one
child was bold enough to climb on Ranma's (for she could easily make who
it was out now) back, who then gave the boy a wild piggy-back ride, over
the jungle-gym, up high in the branches of trees, soaring in the air and
around the other children and obstacles, everyone of them laughing,
throughout the whole ride.
Even Ranma, Akane noted. That was the strangest part, Ranma was
laughing, a true laugh, unlike any other one she heard from him before.
Ranma laughed to cover something up, because of nervousness, or her was
delirious with fear; he laughed to taunt and mock an opponent, as much
an act of combat as a punch or a kick. What Ranma did not do was laugh
for joy, because he was happy or found something funny-- never for
enjoyment.
Akane was snapped out of her reverie by a roar. Ranma was doing a
credible bear impression, no doubt done so well because of his
panda/father. Ranma chased after the young boys and girls, mock growling
and snarling, much to their obvious delight.
The boys eventually clustered together, in ones and in twos. Soon,
a group gathered, which was joined by the girls. Ranma avoided the
group, instead going after stragglers, until they too joined the group.
Once all the children had formed a group, they turned the tables on
Ranma, and chased after him. After a long and involved chase, they
finally caught him, and as one piled on top of him.
The antics went on for a while, with Akane just watching. At some
point, she found a bench, and sat down. The world intruded soon enough,
in the form of the mothers of the children, come to pick them up and
bring them home for dinner and bed. Each one of them went up to Ranma
and thanked him, although it looked to Akane that he thanked them back,
as he personally handed over each of the young children to their
respective mothers. Ranma waved as they left for their homes, many of
his little playmates waving back. Once they were gone, he walked over to
Akane and sat down on the bench beside her.
Seeing that Ranma was not going to be the first one to talk, Akane
started. "So this is where you've been going."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"It happened quite by accident, really. I was minding my own
business when I heard something. A couple of punks raising hell and
scaring everyone in the park. They were threatening the mothers. I took
care of them. The next day, I came back, to make sure they weren't going
to come back and bother the kids or their moms, and the next day, and
the next day.... The kids grew to trust me, it didn't hurt that I saved
them on that first day. The mothers began to trust me, too. Some of them
had errands, and chores, and jobs, that needed getting done, so I said
I'd watch over their kids for `em.
"It just happened. More and more of the mothers needed or wanted
some free time, and so I became a sort of after-school baby-sitter for
them."
"But you don't have to, why? Are you getting paid?"
Ranma frowned slightly in insult, resenting the implication that
he was doing it for material gain. "No. I do it because I want to."
He switched tracks, looking at the swing-set where he so recently
was giving some of his wards a push. "What kind of a childhood did you
have, Akane? Father, mother, and two older sisters. Friends, I expect.
Playing. Fun. Games. You were quite indulged, right?"
"I had a normal childhood, yes," Akane said carefully, not quite
sure where Ranma was headed, only knowing that he was sharing something
of his rather enigmatic and shrouded past with her.
"I expected as much. You know, they say that `our young are free
because we know the rest of their lives will be burdensome.' Hmmm.
"Alla you had a childhood. Ryouga, Ukyou, Shampoo, Mousse, hell,
even Cologne, from what I've asked o' her."
"What are you getting at?"
The sun was just above the tree-line at the edge of the park, and
Ranma leisurely swung his head to look at Akane. The ease of that
movement belied the intense expression on his face. "I spent those years
differently. All of you. Growing up, changing from kid to teenager to
adult. But not me, never me. To do that, you have ta be a kid, an' I was
never a kid." Ranma's voice was becoming harsh with passion.
"I wasn't born, I was made," Ranma clenched his fist.
"I was forged like that katana my mother carries around was
forged, and for much the same purpose, too. To be the perfect martial
artist. Always the lessons, always the training. No time for play, no
friends unless having them helped my training," Ranma looked down at his
hands, staring at them intently, as if trying to gauge how much power
they held.
"It worked. There's no one even close to my age that can come
close to equalling me, much less beating me."
Akane did not quite know how to react to Ranma opening up to her
like that, but she did know how to react to that (sad?) half-smirk on
his face. "What about Ryouga?"
"After the events with Herb, do you seriously think that Ryouga
could stand a chance against me if I went all out? Akane, I'll be
honest. I figure at this rate, in another couple of months I'd be able
to take on Saffron and win; by myself, and without the Gekkajan."
Ranma was not bragging, was not being arrogant, he was just
stating a fact, something which made what he was saying seem all the
more incomprehensible.
"It's only against guys like him or Herb that I can go full out
anymore. Everyone else," Ranma gave a dismissive wave, "is just
training. With the possible exception of the Old Ghoul. She's got a lot
of skill, and doesn't have an easy weakness to exploit, like the lech.
"Do you see why I come here and look after and play with the kids
then?"
Akane could almost see it, almost understand, but comprehension
lay just ever-so-tantalising out of reach. She shook her head.
"Because you want to have a childhood, and you're doing it with
them?"
"No. Too late for that. I will never have a childhood, because
that means you have to grow up, and you can't do that if you're a made
thing. I'm making sure that they have one, that when they're chained to
their desks and their jobs and their families, that they have at least a
few memories of being a kid."
Ranma looked up at the sky. "We'd better get going if we want to
be back in time for dinner."
"Ranma? Would you mind if I came with you here tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I think I'd like that," he smiled. "Akane? I also got
something to ask," Ranma started as they walked away from the park, the
sun almost totally hidden by the trees at the one end of the park.
"Would you mind telling me what it was like for you to be a kid?"
Akane echoed Ranma's words as they left, hand in hand, arm in arm.
"Yeah, I think I'd like that," she said softly.
-An Ending-
It occurs to me that Ranma has probably had one of the harsher
childhoods in this series. I think I'll lay the blame for this one on my
Children's Literature class (where I just recently read "Peter Pan"
which I found to be a rather sad, almost depressing tale), and Anand
Rao's "Mother and Sons: Ranma" (great fic, read it. Nothing like this.
For one, it's good. In fact, read everything Anand writes, he's a good.
Actually, why don't you just get down on your knees now and worship him
as your new god? ^_-).
It also occurs to me that putting down where I might possibly have
came up with this is really not something that you'd care about, but I
feel compelled to, because of my overwhelming desire to explain myself.
And should you feel the desire to offer up some form of C&C, well,
by all means, go ahead! I won't be offended in the least!
Don't mind me, I'm just silly.