As always, any and all comments are appreciated
(thark@hem2.passagen.se). This is a continuation of my "A Trail of
Blood", which can be found at
"http://nabiki.newbery.edu/thark/fanfic/#atrailofblood", though unlike
AToB, this is a cheery episodical little romp in something like
original flavour. For continuuity nuts, this occurs after volume 27,
before Kumon Ryuu; meaning among other things that Nodoka does not of
the curse and neither Akari nor Konatsu has shown up.
What's happened: Genma had a fatal meeting with a truck. Ranma left
to find a cure, since he doesn't want to break his mother's heart
further by revealing his unmaly nature. Akane followed him. Unknown to
them, Nodoka decided to destroy the contact her husband and son had
signed.
A Boy Went Up A Hill
or
Akane and Ranma's Excellent^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^HGreat Adventure
A Ranma 1/2 fanfic, by Ronny Hedin (thark@hem2.passagen.se)
Chapter 1: Japan
From where he stood atop the hill, Ranma could look down and see
Tokyo spread itself out in front of him. Tall houses reached for the
sky, begging to be let in; in other parts of the city, the low
buildings stuck to the ground as if they were afraid to be torn loose
by some heavenly force. People scurried about, like millions and
millions of tiny ants, and there were cars, every one of them adding
its little amount to the ever-growing dark cloud that obscured the
city more and more from view.
He smiled wistfully. The boy had spent most of his life travelling
the world, never stopping in one place for long. Every week had meant
new sights to take in, new environments to adapt to. This city,
though, had been his home for almost a year now, and in a way, Ranma's
feet itched to feel roads below them, part of him eager to return to
simple life he'd used to live.
To think, he'd expected he'd be settling down for a peaceful life
when they first came to Tokyo! Ranma laughed; a playful, happy laugh,
not one tainted by sarcasm or spite, as had become all too usual
recently.
Akane took the last few steps to bring her all the way up to the
top, dragging an enourmous backpack behind her with considerable
difficulty. Finally there, she panted exhaustedly, placing her hands
on her knees and bending over slightly as she glared up at her fiance.
"And what are *you* laughing at?" she wheezed.
"Why, you, of course." Ranma flashed her a mischievous grin. "We've
just begun and you're already close to giving up."
"Hmph." Somehow finding the energy to stand, she glared at him.
"*You* try climbing up here with that thing!" To drive the point home,
she summoned her last powers to heft the grossly overloaded backpack
into her arms, and with a burst of superhuman strength, threw it at
him.
"What, this?" Ranma caught it effortlessly. "Told ya not to bring
all that crap." Showing his own, significantly smaller, pack for
comparison, he balanced Akane's in his outstretched right palm, as if
to mock her.
Heck, he *meant* to mock her; at least that's what she decided, and
the girl threw herself at him head first, sending the pair tumbling
down the other side of the hill.
The descent was every bit as long as the ascent, but proved to last
for only a fraction of the time, as they soon landed in a big,
thouroughly bruised heap, a now unrecognizable bush thankfully
cushioning the impact slightly.
"Well, that's *one* way of getting down," Ranma observed weakly,
trying to disentangle himself enough to stand up.
And then the backpack completed its journey down the hillside,
landing on his head.
* * *
When Nodoka came to the Tendou home to announce her decision, she
found a distinct lack of Ranmas there. On the other hand, the house
had an overabundance of crying Souuns; as was often his habit,
recently even more than before, the Tendou father sat unmoving at the
table, hands over his face in a vain attempt to stop the neverending
river of tears.
"Wha- What's the matter?" Nodoka asked, briefly shocked, if nothing
else than at the lack of care the two Tendo sisters present showed;
the Saotome mother herself had not been around him long enough to know
that this sort of behavior was to be expected.
"They're gone!" Souun bawled. "Ranma left with my poor baby girl!"
The mother bent down to his level, reaching out her hand to his
shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. "It's okay," she tried to
comfort him. "They're still alive. They'll be back." Yet she could not
keep a few tears from gathering at the edge of her eye. Of course, she
was a woman; she could allow herself to cry, and a voice in the back
of her head insisted she reprimand Souun.
"Ranma and Akane!" the Tendou father ranted on. "They eloped
together! I'm so happy!"
Nodoka fell backwards.
"Oh, I'm so happy," he cried, his sobbing if possible increasing in
volume as tears of joy streamed down his cheeks. "If only Saotome was
alive to see this..."
And as soon as that thought passed through his mind, the cries
changed their nature. "My old friend is dead!"
Kasumi bent down to help the collapsed Nodoka to her feet again.
"I'm sorry," she said. "He's been like that ever since he found the
letter."
The Saotome mother was about to speak, but the other sister, sharp
as ever, predicted her question and held out a short note, hastily
written on a scrap of paper.
"Left with Ranma," it stated. "Don't know when we'll be back.
Akane." Not much for the Tendou father to base his claims on, but
then, he'd always been known to overreact.
For most of Ranma's friends (and/or enemies, a distinction not
always so easy to make), "tact" simply meant entering through the
door, rather than, say, a window, or even a wall, and so, it came as
no great surprise to anybody when Ryouga chose this moment to come
barging in, screaming furiously. "RANMA! WHERE ARE YOU!"
Souun looked up at him briefly, a wide grin on his lips, and stopped
his crying for a brief moment, tears still travelling in rivers down
his face. "He's with Akane."
The boy's eyes narrowed as he took a firm hold of the man's
shoulders, shaking him desperately.
"The-ey e-elo-oped to-ge-gether..." the tall man stuttered, the
rough treatment making him a bit momentarily confused.
It took a few seconds for the words to register in the young man's
mind, but when they did, he rose to his full height, shaking a hand
furiously in front of him, vainly try to get a grip on his feelings.
"Ranma..." he hissed under his breath. "How dare you..." Not a moment
to lose, especially with his sense of direction, he walked
determinedly towards the door.
Or though he did, anyway; actually, he had set foot for a window,
but when he opened it, his intention to leave became quite obvious,
and Kasumi cast an anxious glance down at the tray she held. "Excuse
me," she said meekly, "wouldn't you like to stay for tea?"
"No time," the boy spoke, shaking with anger. "I have to find
Ranma!"
The middle-aged woman rose, surprising him, and grabbed a katana she
had placed on the table in front of her. "I'll be coming with you,
young man," Nodoka stated determinedly.
* * *
Striding confidently forward, arrogance evident in her steps,
Kodachi approached the two girls already standing outside the Tendou
home, a brief snort startling them from the violent argument they had
been in the middle of.
Waiting until just before they were about to interrupt her, she
spoke, her voice condescending as always. "Can either of you peasants
tell me where to find my darling Ranma?"
Ukyou frowned at her, the situation at hand more important to her
than the insult. "That's what we were discussing, hon."
"Violent girl steal husband away!" Shampoo piped in, terribly upset.
"What?" Instinctively, Kodachi grasped for her weapons. "What is
this you are saying? Tell me more!"
"Mr. Tendo claims they eloped together." Ukyou snorted. "Of course,
Ranma would never leave willingly with her, so she must somehow have
kidnapped him."
"No time for talk," Shampoo exclaimed. "Must go rescue husband
before too late!"
Kodachi nodded determinedly. "I believe this calls for a truce."
Ukyou stared off towards the horizon as if somehow being able to see
her beloved Ranma there in the distance. "I'm with you," she said, her
voice as sharp as steel.
* * *
"Rrranmaaa!"
Driving the last tent-pin into the ground, the boy looked up,
sensing something dangerous in her voice. "Yeah?"
"Where am *I* going to sleep?" She held her hands firmly latched to
her waists.
Ranma briefly turned to look at what he'd been busy with the last
fifteen minutes. "This is a two-person tent," he explained wearily. "I
can even fetch some cold water if you're so worried about sleeping
close to a 'pervert like me'." He distorted his voice for the last
part, succeeding only in angering her further.
"What, you expect me to sleep right on the ground!?"
Exasperated, Ranma took his head into his hands. "All that stuff and
no sleeping bag ... by the way," he looked up, slightly confused,
"where did you put that pack, anyway?"
"Well..." Akane scratched the back of her head, slightly
embarrassed. "I threw it away two hours ago, since it was so heavy."
Her features regained their anger as her voice rose to a shout again.
"It's all your fault, anyway - you're the one who told me not to bring
all that stuff!"
Ranma dropped to the ground, face first. "Take mine," he
volunteered. "*I*'ll sleep on the ground."
Akane snorted. "Don't trouble yourself," she growled. "I can handle
sleeping on the ground just as well as you can, Mr. Big-camping-
expert."
Ranma, as could be expected, rose to the challenge. "No way! You
take the sleeping bag!" He pushed it off towards her.
"Are you saying I'm too weak?" The girl's fury rose. "I'll sleep on
the ground, and that's final."
The boy crossed his arms resolutely. "Well, I sure as hell ain't
gonna use no wimpy sleeping bag, so you'd better take it."
In the end, they both woke up rather stiff the next morning.
* * *
With a cough, Ryouga drew the attention of the three thugs sitting
on the sidewalk, and one of them looked up from the card-game,
brushing his long, unruly fringe hair aside to give the boy an
appraising look.
"Watcha' want, kid?" he snarled.
Arms folded across his chest, Ryouga ignored the man's threatening
tone. "Either of you seen a boy by the name of Saotome Ranma pass by?"
One of the other men snorted. "How are we supposed to know the names
of everyone passing by, boy?" he asked through a thick beard.
Temporarily shaken out of his tough posture, Ryouga scratched the
back of his head embarrassedly. "Well... Have you seen a boy about my
age, pigtail, probably dressed in a red and black chinese outfit?" For
a moment, his eyes seemed to drift into his skull, but he quickly
snapped out of it, instead curling his lips into an angry snarl as he
shook his fists. "He must have been dragging a poor girl along, too,
cute, short hair..."
The third man laughed briefly, throwing down his cards in disgust
while he answered. "Yeah, we saw him, though the girl didn't seem all
that reluctant to me. They went north with some truck, I think."
Bowing briefly in gratitude, Ryouga returned to the opposite side of
the road where Nodoka waited - no small feat, for him.
"Did they see him?" the mother asked, hopeful.
The boy nodded, pointing. "They went that way."
And so, the pair set off southwards.
* * *
The small, aged truck shook and vibrated almost dangerously as it
travelled down the dusty road at a speed possibly somewhat higher than
what would have been suitable, and the young pair sitting in the back
could feel every single bump, the boy's pigtail fluttering like a
pennant in the wind.
Brushing a few stray locks of hair out of her face and adjusting her
position in a vain attempt to find a more comfortable way to sit, the
girl looked up at him. "Do you really think you'll find a cure?" she
asked in a tone both suspicious and curious. "There's been plenty of
them this past year, and none have worked..."
"Well..." Ranma shrugged. "Y'know," he said, his fingers idly
playing with his pigtail, the other hand resting on his knee, "I've
never really been *looking* for a cure before - just waiting for 'em
to come to me. Since nothing worthwhile's come along, I figured maybe
it's time to go search myself."
"Oh." Akane nodded. "I guess that makes sense," she mumbled,
although it was clear from her tone she hadn't quite been convinced.
* * *
Ranma smiled as the truck sped off into the distance. "We gained a
lot of time on that ride, but I'm still glad it's over." He shook his
head disapprovingly as he watched the small red spot, already a fair
way off, make a reckless turn without bothering to slow down the
slightest.
"Uh-huh," the girl grunted in agreement, dusting her dress off with
a slight frown. "That guy was..."
What she thought of the driver, however, will never been known, as
an enourmous pig came rushing out of the edge of the nearby forest at
breakneck speed, crashing into Akane and throwing her several feet
away.
The hippopotamus-sized monstrousity pushed its thick paws into the
ground, sliding sharply to a halt, and turned around to eye the pair,
frothing.
Though Ranma had been taken just as much by surprise as Akane had,
he soon regained his senses, and rushed to her aid, placing himself
between girl and pig to give her time to stand. "Back off!" he snarled
angrily to the beast.
Even if said beast had been able to understand him, it would
probably have disregarded the command. A moot point, at any rate, as
it was indeed not able to, and it threw itself at the boy without much
pause.
Pushing the girl with him, Ranma easily stepped aside the clumsy
attack, and he took Akane up into his arms as he leapt above the next
above, landing with his feet impacting the pig's head.
Mostly used to people running screaming in terror, the beast was not
quite sure how to respond to getting beaten upon, but fortunately,
while the pig tried to figure out just what the heck was going on,
Ranma saved it from further worries as he jumped off and gave its
snout a solid kick, sending the enormous beast crashing senseless to
the ground, its weight almost making the landscape shake.
Setting the girl down on the ground again, Ranma made a show out of
brushing the dust from his clothing. "You OK?" he asked her.
The dangerous situation now past, she snorted derisively. "I can
take care of myself," she told him irritatedly.
Ranma harrumphed and set off walking again. "Geeze, could've said
thanks," he muttered.
A second shadow still lurked in the trees, watching him with big
eyes. "Wow," it whispered under its breath, impressed by the ease with
which the boy had defeated her pet.
* * *
Ryouga smiled happily towards the old men. "Ranma's been here? You
sure, Ranma Saotome?"
The bearded, grey-haired oldtimer sighed and shook his head. "Look,
just because I'm old I don't have to be senile."
"And even if he was," his friend piped in, waving his stick madly in
the air, "there's no way he'd forget the name, considering how the boy
was sprouting it around all the time, almost like he was desperate for
us to remember it."
"Uh, sure," the boy hastily defended, trying to avoid getting hit.
"Any idea where he went?" Inwardly, he cackled. _Ranma, I have you
now!_
The old man nodded. "Don't know where he was going after that, but
he headed of on the road towards Manukemura. Not too long ago, so
you'd probably be able to catch him, if you hurry." Seeing the blank
look on the boy's face, he added, pointing. "Oh, that's a small
village, off that way."
"Thanks a lot!" Ryouga said, bowing respectfully, and headed off...
...until Nodoka caught him by the arm, coughing gently. "Excuse me,
Ryouga, but you're going the wrong way."
He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. "Uh, right."
The mother sighed gently to herself. If they really had found Ranma
now, that had to be a lucky stroke of fate; the boy must've led them
hopelessly off course before she realized how bad his sense of
direction was. Actually, she'd probably get along faster without
having to correct *him* all the time, but at least the boy seemed
pretty strong and manly except for that, and in these unfriendly,
modern times, a poor, defenseless woman couldn't travel by herself,
could she?
Admittedly, she wasn't quite as defenseless as she might have seemed
at the first glance, but hey, bringing a man along for protection was
the traditional thing to do, and she wasn't the sort of woman to
ignore traditions, no matter how unfounded they might seem.
* * *
"Well," Nodoka said, "this seems to be it. Manukemura."
The boy stared big-eyed at the small village; little more than a few
houses at the side of the road. "Wow, how'd you know?"
As so often lately, the mother sighed, pointing. "It says so on the
sign over there."
"Oh, I see." Ryouga nodded understandingly, looking in the opposite
direction.
"Anyway," she continued, dragging him along by the arm - gently and
demurely yet with great force and determination - "let's ask the young
man over here if he's seen Ranma."
The young man over there was a quite a fine specimen, tall and
athletic, a somewhat militaristic air over him - due in no small part
to the camouflage trousers he wore. He turned to look at the pair as
they approached him, smiling ever so slightly. "Yes?"
Nodoka curtsied politely. "Excuse me, young man, but have you by
chance met a boy by the name of Ranma Saotome recently? He must've
passed through the village recently." She reached into her bag. "I
think I might have a picture here somewhere..."
The young man's smile widened. Finally, the scheme had paid off.
"Oh, no need to look for that picture. *I*'m Ranma."
Ryouga looked at him incredulously, rage slowly forming on his face.
"Ranma? What've you done with Akane? And where'd you learn to disguise
yourself so well?"
Ryuu Kumon sweated heavily.
Nodoka sighed, bopping her travel companion on the head with the
hilt of her katana. "I think I'd recognize my own son. Now, young man,
do you have any idea where I might find the *real* Ranma?" She allowed
a menacing edge to creep into her voice. Perhaps, a week ago, the
young man might have fooled her, but at the funeral, she had made sure
to eye her son carefully.
"Bu, but," he protested vainly, "I *am* the real Ranma..."
He trailed off as the woman looked into his eyes, and in the short
instant he peered into those steel-sharp pools, he realized that this
was a woman to fear, despite her apparent innocence. The young man let
his shoulders fall to his sides. "I have no idea."
Nodoka smiled warmly at him. "There, now that wasn't so hard, was
it? Come on, Ryouga, let's go."
Inside, she sighed wearily. Now they had probably been wasting
precious time following a false lead, and still had no clues as to
where Ranma had gone - except that it was probably pretty far from
here.
* * *
The old, balding man smiled warmly at the pair as he followed them
to one of the shelves, holding up an oil lamp to shed some light in
the small, crowded room. "Why, a curse? Yes, indeed, as you can see,
we have many items here at the Sunset Shrine, all with true magic
capabilities, and many of them able to cure various afflictions." He
took a small, wooden statue from a shelf. "Take, for example this
statue, carved by an early Buddhist monk many centuries ago. As you
can see, it resembles the head of a young man, his eyes closed, and
though originally, that is all it was, it was later imbued with the
capability to cure blindness when the great lord Kogou of Korou, who
had once..."
Ranma coughed pointedly. "Sure, gramps, we believe you." Akane was
about to protest, but he silenced her with a firm stare.
"Ah, yes." The old man nodded. "So what sort of curse it is you seek
to rid yourself of?"
"I'll demonstrate." The boy produced a bucket of water, and promptly
poured it over his head, causing him to suddenly turn into a somewhat
shorter - and significantly more big-chested - girl.
This, in turn, caused the old man to gasp, let his eyes roll back
into their sockets, and fall unconscious to the ground.
"You know," Ranma said dryly, "I'm beginning to suspect these guys
are all fake."
* * *
"Umm, Mrs. Saotome?" Ryouga communicated as well as he could through
the heap of bags he carried in his arms.
"Yes?" she answered in front of him, making sure to keep physical
contact with his arm so he wouldn't get lost on the way to their
rooms.
"Why do you always carry that katana around? I've never seen you use
it..." Trailing off to realize what he'd just said, he added, just to
be on the safe side, "not that I've been around you all that much of
course."
"This?" She lifted it slightly, not that there was much chance of
the boy seeing it through the bags. "Oh, it's a family heirloom."
"Yes," he nodded, almost tipping the bags over in the process, "I
understand that, but couldn't you just leave it at home?"
"It has certain magical capabilities, so I dare not let it out of my
sight."
"Magic capabilities?" That roused the boy's curiousity. "What are
those?"
"Oh, I could tell you," she said, drawing just an inch of the katana
out of the scabbard to let the hallway lights bounce off the well-
polished blade, "but then I'd have to kill you. Family secret, you
see."
Ryouga gulped audibly, smiling desperately "Uh, now that I think of
it, I don't really wanna know."
* * *
Akane sighed. "I don't think we're ever going to find a cure."
Ranma nodded. "Not around here. But then, I never expected..."
He never got around to tell her what he didn't expect, as at the
moment, some sort of small creature, the approximate size of an
average dog, crashed into him from behind, throwing the surprised boy
to the ground. Less than an instant later, the thing jumped away
again, bouncing off into the distance too fast for either of them to
tell just what it was.
They didn't have to wait long to find out, however. The boy had
barely had time to get to his feet when, from around the same corner,
appeared a very large and very noise group of very angry women. Most
of these were waving around various kitchen implements in a highly
threatening manner, and all of them were shouting "PERVERT!" or "PANTY-
THIEF", not to mention a lot of words not suitable for print.
The two teenagers both sighed.
"Happosai?" Akane gritted.
Ranma shook his head angrily. "Can't I get away from that old creep
*anywhere*?" He grabbed her hand and jumped up a nearby roof, trying
to follow the women - not a very difficult pursuit, especially as the
group grew steadily in size.
"WHAT?" the girl cried out, surprised that they followed the
pervert. "You actually *want* to meet that old freak?"
The boy shrugged, as well as he could shrug while jumping from
rooftop to rooftop while dragging his fiancee along. "As old as he is,
he could know of some kinda' cure. Might as well try..."
Of course, as past experience with the perverted master's exploits
had often proven, the group of women were bound not to catch up to
him; though many, they simply lacked enough mobility and training.
Ranma and Akane, however, did not, and they caught up with Happosai
in a dark, run-down alley.
Showing no signs of fear, the aged master leered at them. "Why, both
Ranma and Akane, alone in a dark alley..." He trailed off, his mind
perhaps occupied with thoughts of the possibilities this brought, but
neither of the teenagers had any doubts as to what he meant.
The boy snorted. "Dream on, old man. Now, tell me, do you know of
some sorta' cure for this curse of mine?"
"A cure?" The old man grinned. "Why, I don't know of any cure - If I
did, I would've have told you by now!"
Ranma crackled his knuckles. "Listen, ya old freak, if you don't
know something, we're gonna have to go to China, and I really don't
want to."
A look of panic passed over Happosai's face, very briefly, and as it
was over in little more than an instant, the boy was not sure if it
had really been there or was just a figment of his own imagination -
he was sure his threats wouldn't be enough to scare the perverted old
freak, at least not visibly. At any rate, after thinking for a few
seconds, said freak spoke again, now chuckling quietly to himself. "I
might know of something." He stopped to think for a few seconds more,
then spoke again just before Ranma grew impatient enough to interrupt
him. "Oh, yes I might." The old pervert seemed very amused by now.
"Before I tell you, though, you'll have to do a little task for me. "
Ranma growled, but didn't complain. "This better be worth it, old
man."
"I need to think about it over the night." The lech grinned.
"Meanwhile, I want you to..."
* * *
Ranma opened the drawer ever so slowly, carefully and not without a
hint of dread. If his poor mother knew what he was doing... he
shuddered at the thought, knowing that he'd probably have a close
encounter with a sharp katana if such was the case.
Scanning the contents, his eyes long since accustomed to the dark,
he soon found what he sought - or rather, what the self-appointed
"master" sought - and with shaking hands, he retrieved the white,
silken panties, soundlessly putting them among the many pairs already
in the bag as he slowly tip-toed out of the room again, careful lest
he make any noise.
"One pair from every woman in the hotel," the old pervert had said.
Well, unless Ranma had missed any - he desperately hoped he hadn't -
this was the last room, and with trembling hands, he gently pushed the
door open.
Inside, two figures snored away; a man and a woman, judging by the
silhouettes. Oddly, they kept their beds apart.
The boy didn't really care just *how* they slept, though, as long as
they just seemed likely to continue doing so for the duration of his
visit. As he tip-toed inside, his eyes warily darting back and forth,
he couldn't help but feel there was something familiar about the
couple. Well, he didn't really feel like going for a closer look, so
he quickly found what he needed, and turned to leave, barely able to
stop himself from breathing a sigh of relief...
...a bit too early, it turned out. Glad to be finished with the
dirty job, he carelessly overlooked a small bag that someone had
tossed on the floor, and he stumbled on it, the thud when he hit the
ground breaking the silence sharply enough to wake the entire hotel;
at least in Ranma's imagination.
While he didn't make quite that much noise, it sufficed to wake both
occupants of the room, and the man, or boy, as it turned out, mumbled
a few sleepy words of confusion. "Uh, uhm... what?"
A familiar voice indeed, and Ranma wasted no time in leaving the
scene of the crime, his heart deciding that his throat would make a
terrific new residence.
But Ranma had lost quite a bit of time in scrambling to his feet
again, and he barely got out of the before Ryouga was hot on his
heels. It didn't take the other boy long to recognize the one he
pursued, and soon, furious cries of "Ranma! You pervert!" resounded
through the hotel as the pair passed down one corridor after another
with ever-growing speed, muted noise slowly starting to drift out from
more than one door as the loud hunt woke the occupants of the rooms.
They reached a stair, both of them taking it in a single leap, the
chase continuing without pause on the floor below.
Finally, Ranma saw it; the exit, where he and Akane had planned a
little distraction, just in case. _Now it'll work even better than
planned,_ the pig-tailed martial artist had time to think as he
desperately threw himself out through the glass door. Just as Ryouga,
only a single pace behind, managed to grab his legs, a stream of water
splashed over the pair, and the now-female Ranma scrambled to his
feet, praying that his fiancee hadn't had time to see his pursuer.
Fortunately, she hadn't; as soon as the girl discarded the empty
bucket, her eyes fell on the little black pig barely visible in the
soft moonlight.
She didn't need more than a glance to recognize her beloved pet,
though, and quickly scooped him into her arms. "P-chan!" she
exclaimed, a mixture of happiness and worry in her voice as she
scratched the animal behind its ears. "I'm glad to see you again, but
this is *very* dangerous." She stressed the words carefully, finishing
with a sigh. "You better go home again." Somewhat reluctantly, she put
the pig down on the ground, ignoring its attempts to climb back into
her lap.
Meanwhile, back in the room, Nodoka hugged her legs tiredly. "How
strange," she said to herself, not without a touch of awe. "I dreamt
Ranma was here, stealing my underwear." The woman let out a content
sigh. "What a wonderful dream! I just hope he is as manly in reality,
too..."
* * *
As soon as Happosai saw Ranma carrying the bag, his mouth watered,
and he stretched out his arms like a beggar eager for a few coins, the
pervert's itching fingers clawing at the air. "Gimme gimme gimme!" he
shouted exitedly.
Ranma frowned. "Like I'd *want* to hang on to this." Head turned to
the side, he held the simple sports bag and its ill-gotten contents at
arms length, disgust evident in his voice.
The old master leapt for it, and brought the bag with him down to
the ground, barely able to restrain himself enough to unzip it.
The boy coughed pointedly, lifting the old man to look into his
eyes.
"Oh, yeah, right." Happosai smiled crookedly. "A cure? Well, I've
been thinking about it all night..." He paused for effect, making
Ranma grind his teeth in frustration until the lech finally decided to
finish the sentence. "But I couldn't think of anything. Sorry." He
smiled broadly, showing an impressive number of badly worn teeth.
Ranma failed to be amused. "Why you..." he hissed, smoke leaking
through his ears as his blood came dangerously close to boiling.
"Hey!" Happosai frayed his arms wildly, taking the hint." Just
kidding, just kidding! Actually, there's this fish..."
* * *
They found the village about as sleepy as most of its size, but at
least it hadn't been deserted. On a veranda next to the town square -
if you could call it that - sat an old man in a rocking chair, gently
snoring the day away. Obviously, the wisps of smoke floating up from
the pipe he had stuck in his mouth didn't bother him as he rocked back
and forth ever so slowly. The whole scene felt like an image of peace
and tranquility.
Until Ranma walked up to him. "Hey, gramps!" he shouted, scaring the
oldtimer half to death. The boy waited impatiently, tapping his foot
against the ground as the man tried to calm himself down and figure
out what had happened. The pipe fell to the floor, ash spreading in a
small circle around it.
Eventually, the old man came to his senses. "What's the matter,
sonny?" he said, cupping a hand near his ear to aid his obviously
impaired hearing.
"We're looking for..." Ranma began.
"What? Speak up, sonny, I can't hear you," the oldtimer interrupted
him.
The boy sighed, increasing his volume. "We're looking for this
fish..."
"Ah." The man nodded understandingly. "Yeah, the Akairo no Nishin.
Only one place in the world where you can find it, and that's the lake
just outside town, of in that direction." He pointed, chuckling to
himself. "Don't know what a boy like you would want with it, though."
"None of your problem, gramps," Ranma snorted, waving his left hand
in a vain attempt to fend off Akane.
"Mind your manners," the girl hissed down to him after pasting the
pig-tailed martial artist to the ground with an impressive blow. She
dusted off her clothes and turn to the man, smiling politely.
"Anything else you can tell us?"
"Well..." The oldtimer scratched his long, grey beard thoughtfully.
"Catching these fishes isn't as easy as it sounds. You see, when they
want to, they can be very fast, and..."
* * *
"Yeah, yeah, I heard him just as well as you did," Ranma muttered to
calm his fiancee down, pulling at his makeshift fishing rod to test it
for strength. "Fast, men only, no tools."
"Well, then, why'd you make *that*?" she asked critically.
Ranma snorted. "He's just an old geezer. Now shut up and let me get
this over with." Sitting down, he stretched the rod out to where he
thought he'd seen a flash of red, trying to avoid the withering glare
she gave him.
He didn't even have time to lower the hook before something really
big landed just where Ranma had seen the fish, throwing a wide cascade
of water all around, including at the boy, with predictable results.
When the commotion settled, it turned out that the object had in
fact been a giant of a man, easily ten feet tall. The man, dressed
only in a pair of enourmous blue swimming trunks, raised one of his
muscular arms and smashed a big hand into the water frustratedly, once
again splashing up an impressive amount of water. "Damn!" he muttered.
"Almost had it."
The pig-tailed boy, now a very wet and very angry pig-tailed girl,
growled at him. "Look what you did, you big clumsy idiot!"
"Hpmh." The man snorted, producing an almost scary sound from deep
down his oversized throat. He brushed a hand through the stripy, wet
bush of thick, black hair that clung to his head, making sure to clear
it out of his eyes. "Sorry, girl, but I *got* to get one of those
fishes, and they sure are slippery little bastards."
"Well, so do I," Ranma shouted furiously. "You've got the whole lake
to play around in, so stay away form me! Is your head as thick on the
inside as on the outside?"
Choosing not to answer, the giant turned his back to her, huffing
indignantly as he waded out to deeper waters again.
Folding his arms, Ranma waited impatiently for the man to get far
away enough, before he sat down again. "Heat me some water," he told
his fiancee.
"Don't think you can order me around!" she sniffed, slightly
insulted, but still brought out the cooking equipment, starting a
small fire while her currently somewhat feminine fiance waited for the
fish to bite.
* * *
Four hours later, Ranma rose, stretching out his weary legs.
Obviously, this strategy didn't work, and it was only a slight
consolation that they could still see the gigantic man vainly jumping
for fishes off in the distance.
"That's what you get for being so stubborn," Akane admonished him
sternly, arms folded across her chest. "Do you believe what the old
man said now?"
Ranma nodded. "This ain't gonna be easy," he observed irritatedly.
"Girls can't catch the fishes, and I can't get wet without turning
into one."
She surprised him by turning soft for a few, short moments. "I...
hope you can catch it, Ranma."
He smiled confidently at her. "I've never failed before, have I?
Come on, we can use that rowing-boat over there."
Akane shifted nervously, looking in the direction he pointed. "That
one? I'm not sure, it looks awfully unstable to me..."
Her fiance gave off a short laugh. "Still don't know how to swim, do
ya?" He ignored the angry glare that followed. "Don't worry, I can
handle it by myself, so just stay where you are, or go back to the
village or something."
"Maybe I'll do just that!" she sniffed, turning to leave.
* * *
Ranma had been rowing for a fair while when he finally spotted one
of the fishes. _There!_ he thought to himself, grinning slightly as he
rubbed his hands together.The scaly red thing swam around almost
mockingly close to the surface, promising an easy catch.
Without much hesitation, the pig-tailed martial artist jumped out of
the boat, diving for the fish.
As soon as he broke the surface, his features began shifting, and
only an instant later, the fish had disappeared; despite his almost
super-human reflexes, the boy saw only a quick flash of red.
Swearing, Ranma climbed back into the small boat. "Good thing I
brought some hot water," he muttered wearily, suspecting that he still
had ha long day ahead of him. Reaching for the oars, the he figured he
could just as well start looking for another fish while waiting for
the clothes to dry enough for the hot water to be useful.
"Ranko!" he heard a surprised voice exclaim beyond his back, and
nearly fell out of the boat from shock as he turned to see his mother
waving at him from another rowing boat. "Didn't think I'd see *you*
here," Nodoka smiled at him.
"Mu... Auntie Saotome," Ranma faltered. "I could say the same
thing."
"Tell me, dearie, have you seen Ranma and Akane?" the woman asked
worriedly. "An old man in the village told me they'd probably be on
the lake, but the only ones I can find are you and that big man." A
lonely tear appeared in the corner of her eye as her voice grew
desperate. "They haven't drowned, have they?"
"Hehe..." Ranma laughed nervously, a large drop of sweat forming on
the back of his head. "No, we, umm, they already left. Hours ago,
actually. They must be far off already!"
"Oh." The mother sighed dejectedly. "Any idea where they were
going?"
"Sorry." He shook his head, scratching the back of his head as he
smiled apologetically. "They didn't tell me."
"Well then, thanks anyway." Nodoka resumed her rowing, her arms
suddenly feeling like lead, and she briefly wished she could've
convinced the Hibiki boy to come with her in the boat - she found that
strange fear of water of his awfully unmanly. Still, now, she'd been
so close...
Ranma watched her slowly become smaller and smaller, breathing a
sigh of relief as he brushed a few tears of longing out of his eyes.
_Sorry, mom,_ he thought to himself. _Maybe soon..._
* * *
The boy looked straight down into the water, intensely watching the
fish below, his deep concentration making him mostly unaware of his
surroundings. It seemed to be coming closer to the surface now, and
would soon be in reach. Closer... Closer... There! Like lightning,
Ranma struck out with his arm to grab it.
He wasn't the only one with eyes on this specific fish, though, and
his fist collided with that of the giant, who, being every bit as
focused, hadn't noticed him.
The impact struck up a large fountain of water, and allowed the red
fish to get away easily.
The two looked into each others eyes so hard you could almost see
the flashes of lightning between them.
"That one was *mine*!" the big man rumbled in his deep, bass voice.
"You scared it away!"
"No way!" retorted Ranma with equal fury, as he waved his fist in
the air. "Now get out of my way!"
His eyes narrowing, the giant sent a hand towards her with
surprising speed, and lifted Ranma by his thin, female waist; the man
could wrap his enormous fingers almost all the way around it.
The boy-turned-girl struggled to get loose, but it proved to be in
vain, and the big man snarled angrily at him. "You're the one who told
me to go over here, so stop bothering me." He raised Ranma further
into the air, and threw him away.
The pig-tailed martial artist sputtered furiously as he rose out of
the water, murder in his eyes. Behind him, one of the red-fishes,
which had been swimming around near to where the giant threw him,
quickly decided to leave. "Boy are you gonna get it," Ranma hissed.
* * *
Wearily, Nodoka took the last few pulls to bring her ashore, and
jumped out of the small boat, wiping the sweat from her brow as she
found that Ryouga, who thankfully still sat waiting at the same spot,
had been joined by three somewhat familiar girls.
"Auntie Saotome!" Ukyou greeted her, smiling slightly. "Did you find
Ranma?"
"Sorry." The mother shook her head dejectedly. "They've already
left, girls. Do you have any idea where they might heading?"
The "fiancees" heaved a collective sigh, indicating that they
probably didn't.
* * *
"Take this!" The pig-tailed martial artist struck out with a quick
fist. The giant tried to sidestep it, but the lake they were immersed
in slowed him down, and it struck his gut head on.
The man, however, just grinned and shook it off. "That supposed to
hurt?" He sent out a punch of his own, but Ranma managed to throw
himself backward hard enough to get out of range, and the large hand
broke the surface with a large splash of water.
_Damn,_ the boy swore to himself, as he tried to throw himself at
his opponent with a flying kick, but of course, there are easier
things to do than trying to jump while treading water, and despite his
great skill, he barely got enough force to hit the giant, once again
provoking no other reaction than a slight grin.
Already, the fight had been going on for almost fifteen minutes, and
neither combatant was accomplishing much, beyond growing exhausted.
The large man tried an axe-kick, but Ranma could see it coming miles
ahead - or at least a few feet; more than enough when it had to travel
through water for said few feet - and ducked to the side. The foot
splashed into the lake, sending one of the curious fishes, which had
been coming close, swimming away in a flash of red.
The pig-tailed martial artist turned to look at the potential catch
disappearing, then back at his opponent. For a few seconds, they both
surveyed the lake around them, then struck their foreheads into their
palms almost simultaneously.
"Looks like we scared them all away," Ranma ventured, wearily.
The giant nodded. "No point in fighting *now*." He stretched out one
of his enormous palms. "Peace?"
The boy shook it, his own feminine hand nearly disappearing in that
of the large man. "Sure." His stomach rumbled.
The man grinned at him. "All the fighting got you hungry too, eh? I
think I saw a restaurant back in the village; let's go have a bite
together."
* * *
"Didn't catch it?" Akane needed only one look at her fiance's face
as they sat down at a table in the small restaurant.
Ranma sighed. "Nope." He turned towards the giant. "So, how come you
wanna catch the fish? You got some curse, too?"
The man scratched the back of his head confusedly. "Curse? Nah, as
you probably know, other than being famous for tasting so good, the
legendary Akairo no Nishin also makes everybody who eats it smaller."
He made a point out of looking down at them, smiling wistfully. "You
can probably guess why I want it."
Mentally, Ranma swore, vowing a violent revenge on a certain little
old pervert. "So, you don't like being big?" he asked.
The giant shook his head, reaching inside the large coat he now wore
to procure a stack of papers which he began sorting through. "You see,
for a year now, I've been exchanging letters with this sweet girl.
Since then, we've grown really fond of each other, and now, she wants
to meet me." Finally finding what he sought, he held up a worn photo
to show them. "This is her and her father. I haven't dared tell her
about how big I am - look, she's so small!"
Indeed. The photo depicted a very cute girl, with delicate features
and long, well-combed black hair reaching all the way down to her
waist. She smiled sweetly at the camera, embraced from behind by a man
who seemed to be several feet taller than her.
"Poor guy," Ranma said sympathetically, vainly trying to come up
with some words of comfort as a somewhat sloppily dressed waiter
finally brought them a menu.
The giant nodded as he browsed the list. "She's going to show up any
minute now..." He trailed of as his eyes caught sight of a particular
entry, and stuttered incoherently.
The waiter nodded at them, smiling. "Yes, indeed, the legendary
Akairo no Nishin. It's our specialty; you can't find it anywhere else.
Anything else you want with that, sir?"
Akane and Ranma grew wide-eyed, their foreheads both hitting the
table with a simultaneous *thud*.
* * *
The man, now no larger than Ranma, jumped about the road, almost
delirious with joy. "I'm normal! I'm normal! I'm normal!" he sang,
playfully, and the pair smiled at him, glad that at least not
everybody seemed to be stuck with their troubles forever.
His celebration was cut short as he bumped into something, and
raised his head to look into the eyes of a familiar face.
The girl looked down at him, heaving a disappointed sigh. "I
imagined you much taller," she concluded, and turned back towards her
father, a huge man who would have dwarfed even the giant at his
original height.
* * *
Ranma waited at the far end of the gangway, impatiently tapping his
fingers against the rail."Come on, Akane," he hissed tiredly. "If you
don't step aboard soon, the ship will leave without you!"
The girl nodded nervously. "I know, it's just that..." She left it
hanging for a few moments. "Well, I've never been outside Japan
before, and..."
He scoffed at her, grinning somewhat condescendingly. "What, you
scared or something?"
"Hmph." She snorted as she slowly joined him on deck, looking down
at the water below with a slight touch of fear in her eyes. "Not
really. I guess this just feels like a bigger step for me than it does
for you."
"I hear ya." The boy let his arms slide into his pockets as he
turned to lean his back against the rail. "Well, we better find
something in China; our tickets cost me almost all the money I had
saved up."
Akane gasped, and he smiled reassuringly at her, putting a hand on
her shoulder. "Don't worry. If it gets me cured, it's worth every
single yen."
Slowly, the gangway rose, until it had come fully aboard the ship,
and with a deep, loud hooting, the large vehicle gradually began
gaining speed, leaving the land of the rising sun behind.
* * *
When Nodoka and Ryouga stepped onto the harbor, the ship had gained
quite a bit of distance; too much for even the agile boy to take in a
single leap, but the two teenagers at the aft end of the ship still
remained close enough for there to be no doubt about their identity;
the boy with his back against them, pigtail hanging down towards the
depths of the ocean, and the girl soundlessly waving goodbye to her
motherland. Noticing the pair, Akane tapped the pig-tailed martial
artist's shoulder, trying to tell him something they couldn't hear,
but he merely grunted inaudibly in reply, and didn't bother to turn
around.
"Damn!" Ryouga swore. "If we'd been just a few minutes earlier..."
The mother surprised him by merely shrugging. "At least now we
*know* they left the country; if we hadn't happened to come here, we'd
probably keep looking in Japan."
"I... guess so," the boy nodded as the heat of anger that had been
building sunk out of him. "So, what do we do now?"
Nodoka scratched her chin, counting in her head. "I should have
enough money to afford the ride to China..."
* * *
The mother and arch-rival were not the only one to observe the
departure; from a vantage point on one of the other piers, three girls
watched the ship ever so slowly turn into a speck on the horizon.
"Poor Ranma," Kodachi ventured. "As if it were not enough that the
Tendou witch keeps him bound, she also forces him to travel on a mere
boat! Oh, how it must hurt!"
"Whatever," Ukyou quipped, choosing for the moment to keep her
thoughts about spoiled brats to herself. "We gotta follow them,
somehow."
Shampoo nodded grimly. "I swim before, can do again!"
"Tsk." The Kunou girl clicked her tongue disdainfully. "I'll arrange
a flight for us, of course. Why, we might even get there in time to
meet darling Ranma as he comes ashore!"
* * *
Nodoka looked ahead. Somewhere, there, beyond all the water, lay the
vast country of China, and her son, Ranma. It would be like searching
for a needle in a haystack ... but she had promised herself not to
lose hope, no matter what happened.
"Watcha looking at?" Ryouga asked her, though she could read from
his tone that he wasn't *really* curious.
The boy walked towards her, his eyes not really focusing on anything
in particular, when suddenly, his foot reached a wet patch on the
deck, and he slipped, performing an impressive somersault, which ended
in a loud *splash* as he fell into the cold waters below.
"Ryouga!" The mother turned, looking to see where the boy had
fallen, but in vain; it seemed as if the ocean had devoured him, for
no young man was in sight.
Of course, it might have helped if she looked for a small, black pig
instead, but as she didn't know, she could but assume that the poor
boy had drowned. A tear fell into the water, a tear that, in the sea
that surrounded it, felt just as meaningless as the death that had
caused it...
* * *
Behind the ship followed a young girl, riding on the back of an
enourmous boar. She stopped briefly to pick up a small, black pig that
someone had dropped from the ship. Poor little thing! It seemed so
upset and agitated, and of course, freezing cold. "Don't worry,
cutie," the girl smiled at it as she scratched it behind its ear.
"Akari will take care of you now."
The pig grunted in reply, happiness at meeting the sweet young girl
mixing up with disappointment and anger over something else. It almost
seemed to be contemplating jumping out of her grasp to swim ahead on
its own.
The girl smiled at it. "Now, now, you'll help me find darling Ranma,
won't you, little pig?"
Oh yes, that suited it just fine.
* * *
Author's notes
--------------
Need I say "any and all comments appreciated"? I'll say it once more,
just in case. Any and all comments appreciated. I need them. Badly.
Many thanks to Gary Kleppe, who preread this for me; if you think it's
bad now, you don't want to know what it looked like *before*... ^_^
If you're wondering just what the hell Happosai had to gain on setting
Ranma off after the fish (beyond getting a stack of panties for free),
well ... some of you probably figured it out, anyway, and for the
rest... hm, second thought, I shouldn't have mentioned this. ^_^
Next, China. No guarantees as to *when* though; don't hold your
breath. First I'll probably write on - or perhaps even finish, god
forbid - a few other things I have in the works.
---
Ronny Hedin, thark@hem2.passagen.se, http://nabiki.newberry.edu/thark/
"Momomoto, famous japanese, can swallow his nose."