This is a dark fic, so if you are of weak heart or if your offended by
violence and bad language (or if you just don't like Ranma 1/2 in
general) I would not recommend reading this. For those who don't fit in
those categories... I suggest that you let your emotions run wild while
reading.
Most of the characters within the story are from the Anime Series, Ranma
1/2 and are property of Rumiko Takahashi, and whoever else may own the
rights. I write this without permission and do so with no attempt to
profit off of the marvelous works, rather I do so for everyone's
benefit. Please enjoy and tell me what you think.
Notes: <Chinese>
"Japanese"
'Thoughts'
/Panda Signs\
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction: Vengeance
Part Two: Friends?
by Ryan Erik
Genma Saotome and Soun Tendo sat across from across from each other,
both on opposite sides of a black and white checkered shoji board. With
their minds concentrating on keeping the other from cheating, they
stared at each other carefully not missing a single move. Lately, their
minds had been rather clear, for their children finally decided to get
married with the wedding to be held on the first day of spring. Life was
good at the Tendo home.
"Your turn, Saotome."
"Of course." Genma moved one of his pieces and grinned evilly at
his opponent. "I have you now." Soun looked at the board, pondering on
what he should do next.
Then a voice was heard from the kitchen, "Breakfast is ready!"
which was followed by Genma running straight to the table. 'Good move
Saotome, but now I have YOU!' Soun then quickly switched a piece here
and there before heading to collect breakfast.
A loud crash was heard from upstairs which was followed by a
sprinting Ranma coming down the stairs, with Akane right on his heels.
"Ranma, you baka!" Seeing that she didn't carry her customary mallet,
Soun and Genma passed a smile to each other. "Good morning, everyone."
Ranma then took his normal seat in between his father and Akane,
wolfing down his food at an incredible rate. Akane shook her head before
sitting down and grabbing whatever food that remained. "Where's Nabiki?"
No one answered for a few moments; they were to busy eating. "Ahem!
Didn't anyone hear me?"
"I believe she said she went to the Kuno estate in the morning."
Kasumi always had the answers. Akane looked at Ranma and placed a hand
on his shoulder. He turned and smiled at her happily, giving Genma
enough time to steal most of his food, which was stolen right back a few
seconds later. 'Will those bakas never learn that they always end up
with more or less what they started with?' Akane was in good spirits
this morning and she was determined to let nothing change that.
All in all, they carried out their morning pretty normally. That
was until Ranma stopped in the middle of his meal and turned to Akane,
whispering low enough so no one else could hear, "After breakfast, I
have somethin' to show to ya." He turned back to his meal and continued
eating.
'What could he have to show to me?' The thought stayed on her mind
all morning, and when Genma noticed she wasn't eating up to normal speed
he turned to her. "You going to eat all that?" The warning mallet that
appeared in her hands was all the reply he needed. Genma wiped away the
drips of sweat that formed on his brow and grinned at her nervously.
With breakfast out of the way, Akane stared expectantly at her
fiancee. "Aren't you going to show it to me?" He looked at her
quizzically and remembered the whole point in his pause of eating
earlier. He grabbed her hand and dragged her upstairs into his and
Genma's room. He then motioned for her to sit. After she took a seat, he
sat across from her.
"You know, I was thinkin' about how this whole marriage thing was
forced on us, and I sort of wanted to show that I am very serious about
wanting to do this. I also want to prove that this is of my own free
will." Akane looked into her fiancee's eyes, trying to figure out what
he meant to do. A few thoughts later she was blushing. Oddly enough, he
patted his pocket and then begin to search around his futon. "Umm...
I'll be right back, Akane! Don't move a muscle!" She stared at him
curiously as he ran out of the room.
Where was it??!! He had purchased Akane's ring only a few days ago
and he already lost it? He went into Akane's room and briefly searched
everywhere he had been. He then ran downstairs and checked around the
table. His eyes filled with dread as he looked over to the koi pond.
"Is something the matter, Ranma?" He didn't even hear Kasumi's question
as he sprinted over to the pond and jumped in head first. "Oh my."
He searched frantically for the object, but there wasn't enough
light to make out the bottom of the pool. He began feeling the bottom
with his hands only to come up for air. "Please be down there," he
prayed as he went down a second time. The koi in the pond regarded him
oddly as he began to panic. 'Oh lord... where is it? I hope I didn't
spend a month of servitude to Nabiki for nothing!' His head came up for
breath a second time and he remembered all the horrible things that she
made him do. He didn't know whether he hated modeling or being her
personal servant/bodyguard worse. He took a deep breath and plunged
under once more. "Ah hah!" he gurgled as he found the metal object that
he was looking for.
Ranma ran inside, not even bothering to dry off, and ran passed
the two fathers, who didn't even regard this as out of the ordinary. He
didn't even take the time to notice that he was now a she, as she ran
back into the room where Akane nervously chewed on her top lip.
She looked up at her, obviously quite confused. "Is everything
okay, Ranma?"
Ranma caught her breath after a few seconds and started working up her
confidence. 'You can do it... just come out with it all at once.' That
wasn't the best thing she could've thought but it got her to speak.
"Umm, Akane?"
"Huh?"
"Err... well..." She then thrusted up the ring that lay hidden in
her hands. "Will you... mmm... mm... marry me?"
A broad smile quickly replaced the shock on Akane's face. She stared
into her lover's sapphire eyes and answered, "Yes! Yesyesyesyes!"
Grabbing Ranma into a tight embrace, she kissed her mercilessly. "I love
you!"
Ranma fell over with Akane on top, kissing the life out of the
smaller redhead.
* * *
After losing a game of shoji that he thought he would win for
sure, Genma-panda walked upstairs to the room he shared with his son, in
preparation to take a nice nap and dream of eating. Days at the Tendo
dojo were getting surprisingly good now that Ranma and Akane started
getting along.
He decided to rephrase that. They are getting along VERY well.
/Pardon me.\ He closed the door to his room and grinned like a child
getting candy. Even though his son was in girl form at the time, the
picture of Akane on top of Ranma made him chuckle. 'Yes, they are
getting along very well indeed.'
* * *
Happiness was not a word that could describe Ryouga Hibiki's mood
at the present. Rational was also a word that couldn't be placed near
Ryouga at the moment, let alone ever. Anyone passing by him could see
the anger burning in his eyes, but for once, he had it under control. He
knew what he had to do and he was not going to fail this time.
* * *
Mascara rolled her eyes and pushed her hand through her silky
light blue hair, as she was once again patrolled the outskirts of her
village. She had always been told on what an honor it was to be doing
such a job, but no one ever told her that it would be so utterly boring.
Besides that stupid boy that came around a few days ago, no one was seen
near the borders of her village at all.
Life, currently in Joketsuzoku, was a living hell. When Cologne
had returned with her great grand daughter, life took a turn for the
worse. Shampoo had come home without killing her target and was,
therefore, dishonored. She then took off on a self-imposed exile only a
few days after this had happened. Mascara thought back to the odd
exchange between Shampoo and herself that was only a few hours after her
encounter with the stupid boy.
<Mascara?>
She turned her head and saw the purple-haired woman whom everyone had
been talking about lately. <What do you want?> she asked in reply. The
younger girl observed her former superior with a scrutinizing eye. Her
hair was very disheveled looking as if she had just woken up, and her
clothes were ripped in more than one spot. Though she might have seen
better days, Shampoo looked like she could give an elder a run for her
money in a fight.
<You reported that you saw a young Japanese man wearing a yellow and
black spotted bandana?> Shampoo's question surprised her. The girl
wondered why she would care about such an event with all the things
happening around her, especially one that involved a mere male outsider.
<Yes. He appeared to be very lost and could not take directions
very well.> Shampoo didn't look surprised by her answer and seemed to
go into a deep state of thought. <Why do you ask?>
<I think I may know who he is. Do you know which direction he
went?>
<He headed straight to Jusenkyo. I hope that dummy falls in.> She
didn't really mean it, but the fact that she thought of initiating
combat with him and losing on purpose (which by law means she would have
had to marry him) made her feel a little nervous. He was cute though.
<Thanks!> Shampoo then ran towards Jusenkyo.
* * *
For Shampoo, life had never been worse. She had been dishonored by her
inability to bring Ranma home, but that was not the main reason behind
her sadness. Ranma was to marry in a few weeks, and it wouldn't be her.
Though she had been required to marry him by tribal law, she had loved
him more than life itself. Thinking back, maybe trying to drug him left
and right wasn't such a good idea to gain his love and respect.
Despair was the only thing that was real in her life now that he was
out of it. He had filled the void of her existence, but no longer would
he be there. Her heart ached with loss and there was nothing occupy that
empty feeling... no one to soothe her... no one left to love her.
She looked at the well worn card that was in her hand and tried to
focus on it. She read the writing, his writing, for the hundredth time
out loud to herself. "You are hereby invited to the wedding of Saotome
Ranma and Tendo Akane..." She read it to herself so many times just to
hear her own voice. Tears seemed to permanently stain her beautiful
face.
<I will get to you in time Ranma. I have to!> Why did he hold her heart
so? Was it because he was the strongest man she had ever encountered?
Was it because he was so God damn handsome? 'No, its probably some cruel
hand that fate dealt me.'
Reality penetrated her dream-like state when her ship arrived in Japan.
She had to warn Ranma of his impending danger. She could only hope she
would make it in time.
<I am never going on a God damn ship again!> was the first statement
Shampoo made upon getting off of the boat that had transported her from
China to Japan. She had barely managed to hold down water and was unable
to eat the whole trip due to motion sickness. The only other time she
had felt this sick was after she first heard Ranma's plan to marry
Akane, and that was because she drank enough alcohol to make a larger
number of people very drunk.
She stealthily slipped away from the docks to avoid attention and made
her way through town until she found a motel where she could spend the
rest of the day and night. She paid the owner, received a key, and went
straight to the room. Her legs completely cramped over the moment she
laid down on the bed.
She fell asleep almost instantly.
* * *
The chase had begun.
It didn't take long for Shampoo to find Ryouga's tracks considering he
disturbed enough plant life to mark his trail for years. Wondering what
he was doing in China, she traveled silent but swift. She still had yet
to figure out how the lost boy found his way across large bodies of
water without realizing he left Japan. Thinking on it too much was a
waste of time, but keeping him from falling into another spring wasn't.
Turning into an animal made her very sympathetic to anyone else who
suffered from the same fate. While she, in her cat-form, had some
dexterity and speed, Ryouga was basically helpless in his pig-form.
She followed his tracks around a large rock following them around in a
large circle. Swearing in Chinese, Shampoo looked around for another
hour until she rediscovered his tracks. With a few days head start, a
normal person would have been able to create a sizable distance between
any persuers, but after walking in several large circles he only had the
benefit of a day's journey.
Taking a time out, she climbed up a medium-sized tree and took a brief
nap in its thick branches. Her thoughts carried over to how much in
common she and Ryouga had. Both were cursed in more ways than Jusenkyo.
Ryouga had his directional sense, his being tongue-tied whenever he was
near the opposite sex and his pig curse. She herself had only one
obvious curse, the cat curse. Though no one actually thought of it as a
curse, Shampoo considered her great-grandmother one.
Her early life in Joketsuzoku turned out to be a great indicator of how
her life as an adult would be. While she was very young, Shampoo had few
friends, but she made do with those few she did have. Mousse quickly
turned from friend to nuisance scaring others from pursuing her
friendship. His possessive behavior was condoned by Cologne for a while,
but this only further caused the young girl to draw up into herself away
from others. This turned changed into her obsessive study of Amazonian
Martial Arts.
Her obsession turned into her life, warding off any chance for
friendship that she might have before. Cologne taught her just as
fervently as she learned. Though she was obviously the best of her age
group, and several higher, Shampoo did not enjoy it. She required it. It
was substance, something she didn't have before. It was something she
had to hold onto. Life made sense.
Then Ranma showed up. Life would never be the same now that she was no
longer the best. The only thing that kept her going was her fueled
hatred for the redhead. She now had a new purpose, the destruction of
the one who took away her constant. This is what she had in common with
Ryouga. They both lived from one constant to the next; though, Ryouga
had yet to give up his revenge against Ranma.
Shampoo replaced the hatred with love for the pig-tailed boy and strove
every waking hour to bring him to his senses and love her in return.
Seeing her love as a one way thing, she gave up knowing he could never
return her love. This left her as empty as she was before she took up
martial arts with an unrivaled passion. Nothing came into her life to
replace the love as it did the hatred and striving to be the best.
Timelessly suspended within the air, Shampoo jumped down from the tree.
The rush she felt from falling distances woke her from her trance and
she made off to follow the lost boy's trail once more.
After following his trail into two more circles, she found fresh
tracks, made no more then an hour ago. Focusing on the hunt, Shampoo
kept her mind clear of thought. Clear air rushed by her chilling her
skin and giving rise to goose bumps. Outstretched branches caught her
clothes tearing off small shreds making them even more ragged than they
were before.
Her perseverance was well rewarded upon her finding the lost boy.
Approaching him cautiously, she meant to talk with him, yet she did not
wish to enrage him. When dealing with Ryouga, one always had to be
cautious and ready for any of his outbursts. Though he might be a kind
and gentle guy sometimes if he found any reason to be angry with you, he
would go all out. Shampoo might be able to defend herself from his
attacks, but she could not risk it.
His prone figure shifted to his side in his apparent slumber. She took
a deep breath creeping up to him.
"No! Die, Ranma!" the youth blurted out, shifting in again in his sleep
nearly causing Shampoo to jump back into a tree. She smirked knowing
what his dreams contained. Ryouga would never learn that he could never
beat Ranma in a fair fight. Ranma was just too good for his own health.
She walked a few meters away climbing a tree and making herself
comfortable. She would be here for a while.
Morning brought with it pain for the girl's delicate eyes. She rubbed
them and realized where she was, keeping herself as silent as possible.
Ryouga seemed to have just woken up and started on his random-direction
journey.
Deciding that she would talk to him after observing him for a few days,
she took her time and kept a safe distance between each other. There was
so much to think about, yet she did not want to face reality yet, so she
kept her mind clear and absorbed her surroundings.
Hours later, a thick fog fell around them like a cloak placed over
their shoulders. Visibility reduced to that of a few feet, she closed
the distance between them silently. Ryouga seemed to be getting upset
for his depression aura began to silently glow dark green.
Then, abruptly, Ryouga stopped, stared towards the heavens and
screamed, "DAMN IT ALL TO HELL! I'LL DO ANYTHING TO BE ABLE TO STOP
THEIR MARRIAGE FINALLY! DO YOU HEAR ME?! ANYTHING!!!!"
Taking a large step back, Shampoo's eyes widened in disbelief as the
strong, proud warrior, who seemed to strive through all things horrible
that happened to him, fall down to his hands and knees and weep to
himself. She figured that he would have gotten over Akane since he had
started dating Akari, or at least accepted the situation by now.
Apparently, Ryouga planned to bring Ranma and Akane's wedding to an
abrupt end. This, of course, was not unusual but something was wrong.
She could feel it. Looking away, Shampoo gave him the privacy that he
did not know he needed.
Moments, seemingly hours, passed by when Ryouga removed his hands from
his ears and spoke, "It's a deal! Tell me how!" The vigor in his speech
made her wonder if he was losing his sanity. Though she could see no one
near, he seemed to be listening to someone when he snarled. "Follow the
path you say! How am I supposed to do that?! I couldn't follow it if my
life depended on it!!" The boy was definitely losing his mind.
Just when she figured he was done with his conversation with his
imaginary friend, Ryouga stood up and simply vanished. Needless to say,
her jaw dropped open in surprise. Checking the surrounding area, she
found no clue to where he had vanished to.
<He headed straight to Jusenkyo.> Mascara's words echoed in her memory
causing dread to fill her. What she realized was that her path, though
it was quite out of the way, did lead to Jusenkyo eventually. Not liking
the situation, Shampoo carefully made her way towards the land of cursed
springs.
As soon as the fog cleared, she began sprinting. Her feet begin to fail
her, but her effort had been good enough for she could see the springs
in the distance. Only a few moments and she'd be there.
The image that Shampoo saw at Jusenkyo took her aback. At the springs,
Ryouga strode away, confidence imprinted on his face. What had startled
her though, was his condition. Ryouga walked away dripping wet. Shortly
on his heels, the Jusenkyo guide carefully led Ryouga to a spring, where
he carefully collected its water in a flask provided by the helpful
guide.
She needed to consider this. Not only did he find his way to Jusenkyo
by himself, but he also obviously found the right spring and was no
collecting from another. What could this mean? Was he collecting enough
water to cure his friends overseas, or was it for some other, darker
purpose? The later seemed like the answer after she recalled his
screaming earlier that day.
Several thoughts went through the young lady's head after she witnessed
this, from Ranma deserving the fate he made for himself to stopping
Ryouga before he gave her former love a second curse, or worse. She
decided to follow Ryouga a little longer while she made up her mind as
to what to do about this. She watched the young man, his anger visibly
controlled and fueled into keeping up a horrid pace that she had a hard
time matching.
Shampoo's concern for Ranma did not make her decision, nor did her
hatred for his happiness. Thoughts of Ranma marrying her after she
stopped Ryouga, she did not even take seriously. What did make up her
mind was the strangeness of the whole event. Ryouga was going above and
beyond the boundaries of sane revenge, and this scared. She saw herself
in the young man that she was now chasing. She saw what she was capable
of before she came to her senses about Ranma and Akane's love. She was
bound by honor to stop this maniac from doing something that would tear
apart a family, true love, and not to mention her conscience.
Never again would she think of Ranma as her husband, but now she could
only hope to be his friend. She had pressed herself on him even though
she saw how he rescued Akane without considering his personal danger and
all the other things. Although he did lead her on for a long time, she
could forgive him for that. He certainly forgave her for her crimes
already.
* * *
Shampoo awoke from her dream, sweat covering her from head to toe. She
had to get to Ranma quickly before Ryouga did or it could be to late for
him... but she needed rest... yes... rest...
* * *
Nodoka Saotome arrived at the Tendo dojo with high spirits. Her son was
marrying the youngest Tendo daughter in but a few weeks! No matter how
badly her stupid husband Genma had brought up Ranma, he turned out to be
such a fine young man. Her pride for her son was overwhelming.
"Mom!" her son, currently daughter, yelled to her in reception. The
little redhead then bound up to her and hugged her. "I'm glad you could
settle things so quickly! I was afraid you'd not make it back in time."
She looked at her son, er daughter, and saw the reflection of herself
when she was at that age. "Hello, Ranma-chan!" She smiled at her
daughter and asked, "You think I'd miss the wedding of my only child?"
She winked at her, releasing their hug, continuing into the Tendo home
where her husband, currently in Panda form, and Soun Tendo sat, played
their usual game of shoji.
/Hello, Nodoka-chan!\
"Good day, Saotome-san!"
The two greeted her at the same time but were too fixed upon keeping
the other from cheating - without much success - to look up at her. Boys
will be boys. After being greeted by the whole of the Tendo clan she
found her way to the sofa and sat down next to her soon-to-be
daughter-in-law Akane.
"Mind if I have a word with you upstairs?" she whispered to Akane. The
girl nodded and they went up to girl's room, shutting the door behind
them. Akane sat on her bed and was shortly followed by Nodoka who then
begin her questions, "How are things going with my son? Are you two
getting along?" Akane smiled at this, apparently they couldn't be too
bad off.
"Hai, Saotome-san! Look at what Ranma gave me!" Akane held up her left
hand and displayed a small but beautiful diamond ring. "He wanted to
prove his love and commitment to me!" Nodoka smiled at the girl's
euphoric attitude. She seemed so happy.
"I'm so glad you two are getting along." In truth she was far beyond
glad that they were getting along. She hated the two fathers' wish to
marry off their children so quickly and early on. She thought it could
only lead to disaster, but with Ranma and Akane she was completely and
utterly wrong. They, not to mention Nodoka herself, couldn't be any more
happy about it.
The two talked for a while, the younger listening to stories of the
elder's early married life and then the elder listening to how Ranma had
been behaving in regards to her lately. After their conversation, they
left downstairs to get to dinner before the others finished it off, in
if Ranma and Genma hadn't been too busy fighting over the food to
actually eat it, they would have been too late.
Soon the two lovers would be married and all would be right for the two
households.
* * *
The next day.
Kasumi Tendo, while busy cooking dinner for the family, heard a knock
at the door. Assuming that someone else would get it, she continued
preparing dinner happily. After a few moments, she heard the knocking
again. Briefly checking to make sure everything was in proper order, she
walked calmly to the door and opened it to reveal a soaking wet Ryouga
Hibiki.
"Oh my! Ryouga-kun, your all wet! Come inside and dry off!" It always
seemed everyone around here was always getting wet for some reason or
another. Ryouga thanked her when she handed him a towel and told him to
have a seat. "Ranma and Akane are gone right now, but they should be
back in a few minutes if you care to wait?" He nodded and she smiled at
him. "I hope you'll be staying for dinner tonight?"
Ryouga watched Kasumi go back into the kitchen and then pulled out a
small jar full of a clear liquid. He considered it for a few minutes
before putting it away, safely in his pack. 'How tempting it is to use
it right away... but no, I must wait for the right time.' After a bit of
waiting, his eyes slowly starting shutting by themselves and a few
minutes later he was sound asleep.
* * *
Ranma and Akane spent the day shopping, which actually consisted of
Ranma following Akane into stores and making stupid remarks while she
did the actually shopping. This normally would have led into a conflict,
but instead Akane simply took it light-heartedly. They bought what they
needed and hadn't encountered water on their way once! Today was
definitely a good day!
He smiled joyfully and put his arm around Akane, receiving a sigh and
her head on his shoulder in return. He kissed her forehead and closed
his eyes for a moment. The moments seemed like hours for the two lovers
as they passed silently over the streets of Nerima. He took a deep
breath, taking in the smell of his lover. He playfully kissed her ear,
and received the response he had hoped for. Akane turned her head toward
him and they kissed. How he wish this moment could have been hours, or
even days, but as one walks in the right direction he or she will
eventually arrive at their destination. That excludes Ryouga, of course.
The two walked through the gate and into the house.
"We're back!" Ranma called out ritually, causing a sudden shifting
noise from the living area.
"I wonder what that was?" Akane shrugged and they walked to
investigate.
Upon seeing Ryouga's groggy form, Ranma cautiously approached eyeing
the recently awakened individual suspiciously.
The lost boy looked up at the two, like daggers forged of ice stabbing,
and stood.
"Hi, Ryouga! Last time you ran off I didn't think we'd get to see you
again. I'm really glad you changed your mind!" Akane released Ranma and
grabbed Ryouga in a friendly hug. He almost swallowed his tongue, but he
gathered his wits. He couldn't let anything distract him.
"Yeah... well, you don't think that I'd miss the wedding on purpose,
now do you?" That came out too easy but Ryouga didn't think over his
good wording for a moment. How badly he wanted to yell his trademark,
"Prepare to die, Saotome!" and crush the asshole, but he wouldn't let
anything tear down the confidence that he built up. Not even the smug
little bastard who called himself Ranma.
Ranma looked at him and responded with more than a little surprise in
his voice, "Well, I'm glad you came around, buddy. It wouldn't have been
the same without you." He wondered if Ranma really meant it, but it
wasn't possible. It had to be some sort of trickery to catch him off
guard. Ranma was always fooling him with something.
"Well, I know we haven't been the best of friends but I came with a
peace offering." Ryouga then pulled out a rose in one hand and handed it
to Akane, and then he held out his empty hand to Ranma. "I offer
friendship." Sheer force of will kept Ryouga from blasting a hole in
Ranma's head. 'Can't lose control now!'
The look on Ranma's face was that of utter shock. Ranma glanced out the
window for the briefest of a second (perhaps looking for a flying pig?)
and then turned to meet Ryouga's glare, failing to see the hatred that
burnt within them. Their hands shook and Ranma then hugged him saying,
"I can't tell you how much this means to me, man!" Ryouga nicely shoved
Ranma off of him and fought the urge to smash him into the next world.
The sincerity in Ranma's voice made Ryouga think a bit. Could he have
meant it? Why would Ranma care at all?
"Don't mention it." That was the best think that he could force himself
to say. He really didn't want Ranma to mention it. His lies were
beginning to make Ryouga lose his cool completely again. If he had a yen
piece for every lie that came out of the bastards mouth...
Akane's eyes shined at him, softening his heart a bit. He had to save
her from Ranma's treachery. There was no doubt that Ranma had to be out
of her life, but normal methods couldn't be applied here. 'Oh God, help
me do what I have to do.'
______________________________________________________________________
(1 of 2)
Ryan Erik
ryanerik59@hotmail.com or
magusbloodstone@hotmail.com
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