"A Hell of a Life"
by Shaule Sachs
= - = Part 4 = - =
= - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - =
Version 0.2
Author Notes:
(1) Working title of "A Hell of a Life" suggested by Louis-Philippe
Giroux.
(2) This is a MEGA crossover, in that there are elements from other
series, both American television, anime, and comics, involved in this
story. To name a few, "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues", "Wonder Woman",
"Bubblegum Crisis", "Dr. Strange", and "Kung Fu: The Original Series".
Appendices will added to help people with non-anime/manga characters...
(3) Chronological Note: The time frame for this fic is tentatively
after Japanese Volume 22, part 2, where the character of "Nodoka
Saotome" is introduced for the first time. It's "tentatively" because
I only have the Viz Graphic Novels up to Volume Eleven, although I
have gone to the Ranma 1/2 FAQ, and downloaded a copy of all the manga
summaries...
(4) Font key:
- Italics will between two '//' and denote thoughts.
- Bold will between '*' and denote emphasis.
- Translated languages will between '<<'s and '>>'s otherwise
everything is to be considered to be in native
speaker's language (ie Japanese)
- Author notes and Footnotes are between '['s and ']'s.
= - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - =
Ranma finished cleaning up the dining room and kitchen from
Akane's attempt at making dinner that night. //Amazing//, he thought
to himself, //Even with Kasumi's help, she still botched it.//
Ranma felt a little guilt at what he had done, but he justified
it by thinking it was the best for everyone involved. //Besides they
all looked like they could use a little more sleep.//
He took the container with bio-hazard warning labels on it and
placed Akane's attempt at dinner into it. The container glowed an
angry red color as he walked out to run a few errands. While he was
out, he made a few phone calls using different public booths. He
chuckled at his own paranoia in doing that. The rational part of his
mind reminded him, //But it's not being paranoid, if someone is really
after you....//
Of course, the 'people' after him won't even brother trying to
find him by tracing the calls he was making, yet being cautious can
make things simpler and healthier.
He returned to the quiet Tendo household and checked in on the
girls. He saw each of them fast asleep in their beds with the
statuettes he had given them placed nearby. He noted with a nod that
when the moonlight illuminated the statues they glowed for a moment, a
faint reddish-orange light.
He then headed back to the Dojo to continue the kata Akane and
'dinner' had interrupted. He could sense the magic in the statuettes
activate and a small, sad smile appeared on his face. //It's for the
best,// he thought again. //What's done, is done,// he answered
himself. A small part of himself countered, //Or is it?//
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
In Kasumi's room, the statuette of a phoenix rising from its
funeral pyre began to glow a light bluish color that radiated from the
outside in. The glow seems to gather within the pyre itself. There, it
condensed and changed. Over the next five hours, the glow changed
colors as if marking the passage of time. After the first hour passed,
it changed from blue to green, the next hour from green to yellow,
then yellow to orange, and finally, from orange to red. The red, a
bright rosy color, changed to a fierce burning red. If someone was
awake at that moment, they would have thought that the crystal pyre
was a real-life, burning pyre. But only Ranma was awake and he was in
the Dojo. The glow from the statuette reflected solely on Kasumi
herself. As the light changed, the expression on Kasumi's face
changed.
Kasumi looked around herself. Everything seemed so... big! She
couldn't understand it. //What had happened?// she wondered. Something
made her look down at herself and then at her environment. In a nearby
mirror, Kasumi saw herself. The reflection showed a little girl. She
was wearing a yellow dress. It hung loosely on her small frame. The
girl couldn't be more than five years old and yet the reflection was
hers. Kasumi also noticed that in the little girl's right hand -- her
hand -- was a cookie-cutter.
To her right, she heard a three year old girl crying.... She
turned towards the source, half-awed, half-fearful to find a young
Nabiki crying. Kasumi's first instinct was to go to her sister and try
to comfort her but before she could, Nabiki was lifted off the ground.
She watched amazed as a woman, her mother, Kimiko Tendo, cuddled
Nabiki to her bosom. Even knowing what was coming and trying to brace
herself for it, she still felt cut to the quick as her mother frowned
at her and said in a sad voice, "Kasumi-chan...."
"But she would have cut herself, Okaasan," Kasumi-chan replied in
order to defend herself.
Her mother sighed and said, "You don't know that."
"But you said..." Kasumi-chan began.
"I said, 'to be careful,'" her mother finished for her. "There
are certain things one must learn for oneself. Simply being told
something, isn't always enough."
"But she would have *hurt* herself," Kasumi-chan explained.
"Kasumi-chan," her mother began. "While it's good that you are
looking out for your sister..."
"I'm the oldest," Kasumi-chan said proudly.
"Yes, Kasumi-chan," her mother continue, "And you should look
after your sisters..."
"Because, I'm the oldest," Kasumi-chan repeated.
"Yes." Kimiko sighed. "But there comes a time when you must
let others do for themselves..."
"But, Okaasan," Kasumi-chan said confused. She interrupted her
mother and asked, "You said, as eldest, I had to look after them..."
"Yes, Kasumi-chan," Kimiko answered. "But only at certain times...
You must live your own life, too, Kasumi-chan."
"But," Kasumi-chan protested.
"Someday," her mother continued. "You will find a nice young
gentleman... and settle down with him..."
"Settle down?" Kasumi-chan asked in confusion. "Down where?"
Kimiko smiled down at her eldest child and said, "All in good
time, Kasumi-chan. All in good time."
"Okaasan!" eight year old Kasumi-chan exclaimed as she tried to
show her mother the picture she drew but her mother was talking to
some woman Kasumi never saw before.
"Hello, there," a woman with a kind face greeted her.
"Hello," Kasumi-chan responded not knowing what to call her
mother's friend but trying to be polite.
"She looks just like you, Kimiko-chan," the woman replied to
Kasumi's mother.
Kimiko smiled at both of them, although Kasumi felt it was
directed solely at her, and said, "Yes, Nozomi-chan, I think you are
right. Kasumi-chan does look like I did at that age..."
"And what do you want to be when you grow up, Kasumi-chan?"
Nozomi asked her.
"A grown-up!" Kasumi-chan replied with a giggle. Seeing that the
adults didn't get the joke, she continued, "A doctor... so I can help
people!"
"That's a wonderful thing to be," came the reply from both adults.
Kimiko smiled at her child as she says to Nozomi, "Yes, I think
Kasumi-chan would make a great doctor... She's so caring when she
helps me with her younger sisters."
"Kasumi-chan..." her mother began then coughed. "Kasumi-chan..."
"Hai," nine year old Kasumi responded.
"Please, look after your sisters for me," Kimiko said.
With tears in her eyes, Kasumi answered, "Hai, Okaasan."
"But remember... you only have to look after them until they can
take care of themselves," Kimiko continued. Images of an elderly
Kasumi slaving away in the kitchen came to Kimiko's mind. "Don't let
them become dependent on you... They need to grow up too."
Kimiko Tendo smiled at her mature, young daughter as Soun took
her out of her room as the doctors prepared her for her operation. She
didn't think she would survive it... and she didn't.
//Tonight going to be perfect,// Kasumi-chan thought. She had
found her mother's recipes and tonight she felt she had finally gotten
it right after three months of trying. She hoped that tonight her
father won't start crying when he tastes her cooking instead of her
mother's.
"This house is a *mess*!" Kasumi-chan exclaimed as she got home
from school. Sighing, Kasumi began to clean the house. After a while,
she remembered a song that her mother used to sing as she cleaned
up... so Kasumi-chan began to sing it as well.
As parts of Kasumi's life passed before her, she realized she had
done the very thing that her mother didn't want her to do.... The
others had become dependent on her... and truth be told, she had
become dependent upon them. Instead of accepting the fact that Kimiko
Tendo was dead, Soun and his daughters simply had Kasumi fill the role
like some mid-season replacement actress in a television series.
In trying to replace their mother, Kasumi had lost her own
identity. Too focused on trying to keep the household as it was when her
mother was alive, Kasumi had lost Tofu-sensei.... She had allowed him
to leave without expressing their feelings. And the worse part was she
allowed everything to happen just the way it did... Although, for the
life of her. She still couldn't see how things could have been
different....
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Once Nabiki got to her room, she closed her door and placed her
statuette on her desk. After changing into her sleepwear, she sat at
her desk and examined the statuette more closely to determine if her
original thought about it was true.... And it was. The dragon appeared
to be made out of gold and the //dragon's horde// was actual jewels
and precious gems in miniature. She didn't know what Ranma had paid
for the statuette but she had to guess that it must have been a
fortune.
Nabiki leaned back in her chair and asked herself, //Where did
Ranma get a fortune?//
As she contemplated this thought, another struck her as the
moonlight fell on the statuette. //It's beautiful.... So
realistic....//
She sighed and said out loud, "As if *dragons* actually
existed...."
With that she headed to bed. She climbed into bed, adjusted her
sheets to her liking and then fell asleep.
After bathing in the moonlight for some time, the statuette
glowed a faint blue. The blue glow then seemed to shift to a light
green color. The light green into a bright yellow which seemed to
deepen into the same color as the dragon. The glow, now the same color
as the statuette, seemed to flicker for a moment and then it faded. The
small dragon, itself or rather herself, began to vibrate slightly. The
vibration continued until two long bat-like wings stretched out. Each
wing was as wide as the dragon herself was tall. After flapping her
wings for a moment, the dragon lifted herself off her horde and flew
about the room. The little dragon examined everything she could and
finally stopped to stare at Nabiki's face after landing gentle on her
stomach. The dragon spent a few moments studying Nabiki's face, nodded
to herself. Then settle down, resting on Nabiki's stomach.
Nabiki was dreaming. She knew that but that information didn't
seem to help her. She wanted to wake up but she couldn't. So, she did
the best she could. She just sat there, completely naked, in her
classroom as the instructor talked about algebra...
She didn't know if she should laugh or cry. Here she was in her
'birthday suit' and not one of her classmates looked at her. None of
the girls were embarrassed for her nor did any of the guys look
interested in her.
Knowing it was just dream, Nabiki decided to to flirt with the
guys and make suggestive nude poses. She got a few guys attention --
they would see her naked chest, their eyes would widen in surprise
with a small amount of drool escaping their mouths, and with a slight
flush to their face they would look up into her eyes -- and then
run screaming out of the classroom.
The worse part was the girls would follow the screaming boy with
their eyes and once out of the class, they would nod their heads in
understanding.
She couldn't understand it. She wasn't that bad looking... was
she? Sure she didn't have onna-Ranma's figure which caused a number of
boys, who knew about Ranma's curse, to turn their heads nor did she
seem to attract men like Akane did but she wasn't ugly. In fact, she
enjoyed wearing her shorts and t-shirts since they showed off her
attributes quite well.
//So what was different? In reality, people don't run screaming
from me, so what's going on?// she asked herself. While trying to
ponder this, the last school bell rang. Everyone got up and left her
there alone, although she was dimly aware of it. She did realize it
when someone tapped her on her shoulder. That someone was Akane who
had a worried expression on her face. Taking a deep breath, Akane
asked in a nervous voice, "Are you coming home with us, Oneesan?"
Slightly startled, Nabiki just nodded her head. She got up and
walked out of the school without passing through any school hallway or
other classroom. It was if the door exiting the classroom somehow was
linked to the door leading outside. Which was physically impossible.
//But this is a dream,// a part of her mind answered, //and
anything is possible in a dream.//
Once passed the schoolyard's gate, Ranma joined them. Ranma
walked in the middle of them with Akane on his left and Nabiki on
his right, with the fence on Nabiki's right. In only a few moments,
Nabiki realized that Ranma was using his larger body to shield her
from the others on the street.
Upon this realization, Nabiki got a warm, fuzzy feeling inside
her and said to Ranma, "Thank you."
Ranma just blushed and said nothing.
"Ranma no baka!" Akane screamed as she hit Ranma with a mallet.
"Baka! If she wants to go naked... Don't go trying to cover her up.
Baka!"
"But," both Ranma and Nabiki began at the same time. Nabiki
blushed and knew that the blush went passed her cheeks. She also knew
that anyone could see how far the blush did go.
Akane then ran on head leaving Ranma and Nabiki alone. They
walked in silence the rest of the way home.
Once they were alone, Nabiki wanted to ask Ranma a question but
was afraid to hear the answer. Once they got home, she couldn't
stand not knowing so she asked, "Why do the guys run screaming from
me?" Striking a pose, she added with a laugh, "Aren't I sexy?"
Ranma swallowed, looked around for Akane, then answered, "Yes,
Nabiki you're cute but --"
"But what?" Nabiki interrupted.
"But the other guys think... thatyoudon'thaveasoul," Ranma
rushed.
"No soul?" Nabiki replied with a pale face.
"Of course you have a soul, Nabiki," Ranma countered. "You just
hide it... that's all."
"Hide it?" Nabiki echoed. To herself, she thought, //That doesn't
make any sense. I'm completely nude... how can I be hiding anything?//
Nabiki had a vague feeling that she had gotten up, went to the
bathroom, and went back to sleep. She also vaguely remembered
seeing something gold-colored in her sheets as she had gotten up and
returned to bed but she couldn't remember what it was.
She knew she was dreaming again. She looked around and realized
that she was back in her room. Looking down, she saw that she was
dressed in her usual t-shirt and shorts. She laughed nervously. The
last dream, in which she was nude throughout it, had disturbed her.
More than she wished it had. Everything in her room looked all right.
Everything was in its proper place. Her bed was made. But as she
looked around more closely, a nagging thought that something was wrong
kept trying to get her attention but she didn't see anything wrong...
"Oneesan, do you want to join us for ice cream after school
today?" Akane asked from the doorway.
"Huh?" Nabiki replied since Akane had actually caught her
off-guard. Remembering that she had an 'appointment' after school that
day, she answered, "No... I have other plans for the day."
"Okay, Oneesan," Akane replied with a giggle.
Nabiki hadn't been looking at Akane when she first asked her
question, she was still trying to puzzle out what was wrong. At
Akane's giggle though Nabiki looked at her and quickly looked away. In a
instant, Nabiki knew what was wrong. Akane was wearing a light yellow
dress with a red ribbon in her hair -- not too unusual -- but Akane was
the sole source of color in the room.... Everything else in the room,
Nabiki included, were in shades of gray, like a pen and ink drawing.
She couldn't help thinking, //Not a bad job. The Artist must be very
talented. I wonder if s/he has an agent yet?//
//Baka!// she screamed in her head. //This isn't a drawing, it's
my room.//
Another part of her mind then commented, //So where's the
color?//
Once she was alone again, she said to herself out loud, "Where is
the color? Good question... too bad I don't have an answer."
The small gold dragon looked at Nabiki as she turned in her
sleep. She did not like being thrown off when Nabiki had gotten up to
use the toilet. Once Nabiki returned, the small dragon took half an
hour to re-settle herself. So when Nabiki start turning in her sleep
the little dragon was miffed. She wished the Human would make up her
mind... was Nabiki going to get up again or not. She was not going to
be caught unaware again.
Nabiki lifted her head slightly to look around her room.
Everything seemed normal.... Everything was in color and she was
dressed. Nabiki sighed and looked at her clock. There was still time
before she had to get up so she went back to bed.
The rays of sunlight woke the small dragon up. She looked around
the room, then looked at the clock. She sighed, flew back to her
horde, and took up the same position she did when the moonlight first
touched her.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Akane went angrily to her room. //The Baka gave Kasumi and Nabiki
*their* presents,// she thought. //But *I*, his *fiancee*, have to
*beg* for *mine*. Baka!//
Once the door was secured behind her, tears began to fall as she
readied herself for bed. It was only when she tried to remove her
shirt that she realized that she was still holding the statuette and
book in her right hand. She sighed and placed both on her desk. After
which, she went to her closet and got out a nightgown. She put it on
and started to brush her hair. One hundred strokes later, Akane had
calmed down quite a bit. A little voice in her head reminded her,
//Ranma came *back* for *you*. Not for your sisters... Not for
Shampoo, Ukyou, or Kodachi... For *you*.//
Realizing that the little voice was right, Akane sighed. It was
then that she noticed that the statuette that Ranma gave her was a
realistic tigress in miniature. She noticed that the unknown artist
had captured the tigress's image as she tried to strike out with
her front, left paw. Akane simply stared at the statuette in shock.
A single thought raced through her mind, //What is *Ranma* doing with
a statuette of a *realistic* *cat*?//
As she thought of one hundred and one reasons why Ranma, a person
with a very serious cat-phobia, would have a realistic cat statuette on
him Akane read the title of the book that he had given her. The title
was 'Seeko's Guide to Cooking for the Culinary Challenged.'
After looking up what 'culinary' meant, she began to cry and
mumble. If anyone was listening, they would have heard words like
'cook,' 'wife,' 'baka,' and 'bad' used in a variety of combination.
Upon seeing the statuette again through her tears, she calmed down and
went to bed.
Akane was confused. Just a moment ago, she was getting ready for
bed, but now, she was standing in the schoolyard and it was lunch time.
Feeling lonely, she went searching for Ranma. After a few moments, she
found him talking with some of his friends. One of his friends, Akane
couldn't tell which one since all she saw was his hand, pointing her
out to Ranma.
She heard him say, "Later guys," just before he walked over to her
and asked, "Wha's up?"
With a smile on her face, she replied, "I made you lunch!"
Ranma's face paled and asked, "Nani?"
"Here," Akane said as she thrusted the boxed lunch at Ranma.
"But," Ranma started to say but Akane growled, "Ranma."
Gulping some air, Ranma took the offered lunch and sat down.
Eagerly, she asked, "Well? Are you going to eat it?"
Ranma sighed, opened the lunch, and took a bite. After a few
minutes of chewing, he swallowed it, and then began throwing up.
While holding his stomach, Ranma muttered, "Stupid uncute tomboy can't
even cook a simple --"
Akane got angry. And when Akane got angry she did what she always
did... she struck out. With her trusted mallet she bashed Ranma on the
head as she screamed, "Ranma no baka!"
She then turned around and walked away from Ranma while
muttering, "Let the bimbo have the pervert..."
After taking five steps, she heard a scream behind her. Spinning
around, she saw someone standing over Ranma's still body. In a daze,
Akane walked back towards Ranma. As she walked back, she couldn't help
being mad that the baka hadn't gotten up yet. She stopped a few paces
from Ranma and noticed that the person standing over Ranma was Sayaka,
one of her friends. Sayaka had a wild look in her eyes as she
screamed, "You *killed* him!"
"Huh?" Akane replied lamely.
Sayaka repeated, "You've killed *Ranma*!"
It was then that Akane noticed all the blood around Ranma's head,
which had been smashed in.
More of Akane and Ranma's friends gathered and told her, "You
*killed* him! You've killed *Ranma*! You *killed* him!"
"But--" Akane began. She was interrupted as several police
officers dragged her way. At which point, Akane began to scream,
"Nooooo!"
Akane woke up screaming. It took a few moments for reality to
re-insert itself. Once it did, she sat up and held herself for a few
moments as she told herself it was only a dream -- a nightmare. After
a few moments, she settled back down and fell asleep.
She knew she was dreaming again but that fact didn't ease her
fears of what would happened. She remembered her previous dream in
which she killed Ranma and she feared that this dream would be
similar.
Once more, she dreamed that she was in the Furinkan's schoolyard
at lunchtime. Once again, she felt lonely and sought Ranma out. Once
again, he was with a group of his friends. Once again, one of his
friends, Akane still couldn't tell which one since all she saw was his
hand, pointing her out to Ranma. She once again heard Ranma say,
"later guys," just before he walked over to her and asked, "Wha's up?"
With a smile on her face, but a dread in her stomach, she
replied, "I made you lunch!"
Ranma's face paled once again and asked, "Nani?"
"Here," Akane said as she thrusted the boxed lunch at Ranma with
a feeling of deja vu.
"But," Ranma started to say but Akane pleaded, "Please? For me?"
Ranma looked at the lunch box, then looked at Akane's pleading
face, and then at the lunch box. Sighing, Ranma sat down, opened the
offered lunch, and took a bite. After waiting a few moments, Ranma
looked around sighed again, and took another bite. Which was followed
by another bite, and another, and another. After a few more bites,
Ranma had finished the lunch.
Unable to help herself, Akane asked, "Well?"
"It was... good," Ranma said in wonderment.
A crowd of students suddenly appeared and cried, "Nani?!?!"
Ranma began to sweat as he saw the crowd and then looked back at
Akane. Both of them could hear the crowd whispering.
Happily Akane asked, "The lunch I made for you? It was good? As
good as Kasumi?"
"Now, I wouldn't go *that* far..." Ranma stated. "Kasumi is an
excellent cook."
//That's true,// Akane remarked to herself. Out loud, she asked,
"As good as Ukyou?"
"Hmmm..." Ranma responded. "I wouldn't say that...."
Seeing the anger rise on Akane's face, he added, "She has made
her cooking into an Art...."
"But," Akane stammered. "Then how about Shampoo? Or Nabiki?
Or..."
Ranma remained silent.
Exploding Akane cried, "Then who?"
While looking at the crowd, Ranma answered, "like an uncute
tomboy who's been cooking for only a few months without any
instructions."
"RANMA!" Akane screamed as she advanced on him with her mallet.
Ranma, wisely, started running with Akane in hot pursuit.
The various students around the yard watched Akane chase Ranma.
Each reacted with various different expressions on their faces, but
each one of them got out of their way.
Eventually, Akane cornered Ranma. She raised her mallet in her
righteous anger in order to smite her enemy when she felt a stab in
her back. Pain flooded throughout her body causing her to fall to her
knee, then to fall completely down.
As the world grew dim, Akane thought she heard a voice. A voice
that sounded a lot like her own saying, "See... I told you. Her anger
makes her blind to everything else. I told you I could do it.... It
was so easy. Hahahahahahahhaha...."
Once more Akane woke up screaming. She immediately went to the
mirror, took off her nightgown, and examined herself for any marking
on her body. She knew she was being silly... after all, it was just a
dream, right? Besides, you can't stab yourself, right?
After a few moments, Akane calmed herself down and went back to
bed.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Kasumi felt the sunlight on her face. Turning she looked at her
clock and realized that she had overslept for an hour. While yawning,
she got dressed and headed downstairs to make breakfast.
When she entered the dining room, various pleasant smells came
from the kitchen. For a brief moment, Kasumi thought she was still
dreaming and any minute now, her mother would come out with breakfast.
She dismissed this idea with some regret since she knew she wasn't
dreaming.
As she got to the table, she heard Ranma say, "Take a seat...
Breakfast will be ready in a moment."
//Maybe I am dreaming,// Kasumi thought for a moment until she
bumped into the table.
True to his word, Ranma came out with breakfast and set
everything in front of her so she could serve everyone.
Kasumi noted that Ranma had made breakfast with everything she
would have made. When she motioned to serve Ranma, he said, "I've
already eaten.... I'll be in the Dojo..."
So saying Ranma headed off rather quickly.
A few moments left, Nabiki and Akane came down, both yawning.
Seeing their yawns, Kasumi yawned too.
After recovering, Kasumi passed out breakfast to Nabiki and
Akane. Nabiki began eating immediately while Akane looked around.
Puzzled, Akane asked, "Oneesan, where's Ranma?"
"Oh, he's in the Dojo practicing," Kasumi answered.
Nabiki stopped eating for a moment and commented, "Isn't he
going to eat?"
Kasumi calmly stated, "he said, he had already eaten."
Nabiki looked interested in that statement but said nothing.
Akane sighed.
After finishing, Nabiki said, "Oneesan, your breakfast is
great... In fact, I think you've out done yourself."
"But, I didn't cook it," Kasumi replied honestly. "Ranma did."
"Nani?!?" both Akane and Nabiki stated at the same time.
Turning to Akane, Nabiki said, "That's some iinazuke you got. Not
only is he better looking than you... He can cook better than you."
Akane just grumbled.
[=== End of Part 4 ===]