Quantum Destinies
A Ranma � Fanfic
By Steven Thesken (jurai-knight@home.com)
This is purely a work of fanfiction done for fun, so please read and
enjoy. Comments and Criticisms are always welcome. It helps me to
know what is working, and what I need to work on to improve my
writing. Flames are ejected into an appropriate receptacle.
This story is inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi, creator of
one of the first of many anime and manga that I have enjoyed over the
years. It is also inspired by the stories of some of my fellow fanfic
authors, creators of wonderful alternate realities that I have enjoyed
reading about (and I don't say that just because some of them are my
pre-readers ^_^ ), such as D.B. Sommer's "Shampoo �", Jim Bader's
"A Very Scary Thought -aka- Nabiki �", and John Biles' Elseworlds
series. It is also partially inspired by the science-fiction novel "Paths
to Otherwhere" by James P. Hogan, an author I have long liked.
Ranma and all other associated characters are owned by Kitty and the
ever-creative Rumiko Takahashi. This is primarily a Ranma fanfic,
but I will be bringing in some characters from other series for added
color. They will mainly be used for lesser roles or villains. Any new
characters are the property of the author.
Previous chapters of this story may be found at these websites, or you
can email the author for them:
Cursed One's Anime Fanfiction
http://members.xoom.com/Cursed_One/fanfic.html
Fanfiction Selections at:
http://members.xoom.com/DNyx/index.html
Author's Note: Thoughts will be bracketed by a * on each end. Any
speech other than Japanese will be bracketed by < and >.
**LIME WARNING**: Please be advised that there is some Lime
content in this chapter.
The list of worlds reoccurring in this chapter:
Earth #0001-001 - The world of Scholar Ranma (Imperial Earth)
Earth #0001-812 - The world of Scholar Ranko (Imperial Earth Two)
Chapter One contains a brief explanation of some of the terminology
and pseudo-science used.
What has gone before in this story (or at least what will help you
understand what is going on):
On a parallel Earth that diverged from the standard Ranma timeline
over five hundred years ago, the Empire of Japan rules almost half the
world and has done so for almost a century. A young scientist named
Ranma Saotome used a device he invented that enabled him to link
mentally with alternate versions of himself on other timelines, but on
his first contact he unintentionally duplicated the skills of a martial
artist version of himself. After viewing some other alternate lives and
dealing with some unexpected situations, Ranma decided to intensify
his workouts to bring himself up to the level of his counterpart. Dean
Fuyutsuki and Soun Tendou took steps that will have an effect on
Ranma and several of the cast, and Director Hinako learned something
that surprised her about Ranma's past. Meanwhile, Nabiki snuck into
Ranma's lab and used his device, not knowing what it was, contacting
and duplicating the skills from an alternate version of herself, one who
went on the ten-year training journey with Genma instead of Ranma.
Forever changed by the experience, Nabiki is now at an equivalent
level of skill to Ranma as a martial artist. Akane and Kodachi fought
over Ranma in a vicious battle, leaving both injured, and Akane is to
be transferring to a new school. Nabiki learned that she will now be in
Ranma's special training class and the two challenged each other in an
Anything-Goes duel of skill which ended in a tie. However, they each
experienced a new attraction for the other which surprised them both.
Chapter 6 - Variations on a Life
***** Earth #0001-001
Soun Tendou sat at the dining table in his home and lit up another
cigarette, while he absently stared out at the pre-dawn morning light.
Next to his right elbow, an ashtray held over a dozen cigarette butts
already within it. He slowly inhaled a long drag of smoke from his
current cigarette and contemplated his life, and the changes in it since
Kimiko had died. The manner of her death still disturbed him, and
also the lingering effect it had on their children. It had been several
years, and the pain of losing her still sometimes kept him awake
nights, as it had last night. Luckily, his high position afforded him the
luxury of missing a few days of work here and there.
*If only I had talked her out of going on that mission,* thought
Soun, taking another puff on his cigarette. *She might still be alive
today. But she was a soldier, an officer, and the Empire needed her
skills one last time.* He closed his eyes and a sigh escaped his lips.
*The twin burdens of duty and honor are a heavy one at times, but
they are worth the effort of carrying if our lives are to have any
meaning.* Soun opened his eyes and stared out at the fading night.
*You taught me that, Kimiko. It is something that I have never
forgotten, as much pain as those words have caused me, but I still miss
having you by my side at night. No other woman has ever replaced
you in my heart, and possibly no woman ever will. I would sacrifice
almost anything to be able to see you one more time... my little warrior
princess.* He smiled as he recalled how she had blushed and smiled
when he had first called her that, and he took another puff on his
cigarette.
As Soun sat and contemplated, he heard footsteps on the stairs. A
moment later there was a very surprised inhalation from the person
who came around the corner and saw him sitting there in the dim light
of the approaching dawn.
"Oh!" exclaimed Kyouko Otonashi, startled by the unexpected,
brooding presence at the dining area table. She bowed graciously to
him, still a little nervous around her unusually solemn, new employer.
She smoothed her long, brown skirt and said, "Tendou-san. I did not
realize that you were already. I was just going to start breakfast, but
could I fix you some tea first?"
"Tea would be lovely, Otonashi-san," said Soun calmly, a wisp of
smoke accompanying his words as he spoke. "I apologize for startling
you, but I could not sleep."
"I understand," said Kyouko softly. "I will get your tea now." The
attractive woman bowed once more and retreated to the kitchen. She
busied herself with boiling water for tea and preparing the kitchen for
cooking.
Soun blew out another long stream of smoke from his nose and
returned to his thoughts. It had been several months since his last
bout with insomnia. He had arrived home late last night, as he usually
did, but he was unable to fall asleep. When midnight had arrived with
no sign of slumber claiming him, he had gotten up from his bed and
gone downstairs, to sit and think about the past, the present, and the
future. Brooding about might-have-beens was a waste of effort, but it
was also comforting in a way.
Kimiko was in his thoughts, as the ghost of her presence seemed to
abide with him during these times. The memory of the last time he
had beheld her alive. The memory of the last time he had made love
to her. The memory of the last time she had held her daughters. Each
of them had been affected by her death so much. He himself had come
so close to breaking, but her last words to him had prevented that.
"Be strong for our children, Soun," she had said, on that last day
they had been together. She had been standing there in her combat
fatigues in their bedroom, looking so very beautiful, and so very tough,
at the same time. "This one is going to be bad, and I'm... I might not
return, so I want your word of honor that you will be strong for our
daughters." Her eyes had been dry, but he knew that the thought of
leaving her children without a mother had hurt her deeply. But she
was a proud soldier of her Emperor, and her devotion to duty left no
room for acting on personal fears or desires. He had agreed and given
his word, to be strong, for her.
Her words had proven to be prophetic. His wife, Captain Kimiko
Tendou was reported dead in the line of duty three weeks later, in
noble service to the Empire, and something inside of himself had been
mortally wounded at that time as well. She had become his world
since that day that they first met, overcoming so many obstacles in
their courtship and marriage, and he had not even had a body left to
bury at the end. The explosion that claimed her life and the lives of a
dozen men under her command had robbed him of that closure.
After that, all Soun felt that he had left was his duty to his children
and to the Empire, and he did his best by them both to the limits of his
abilities. The wound to his heart eventually healed, scarring his soul
in the process, changing him into the man that he now was, a man that
he sometimes found it hard to recognize in the mirror. At times he felt
certain that he was now a man that Kimiko would have hated. He
knew that he hated himself sometimes, for becoming the man that he
now was, but it had been necessary for him to be able to continue on.
He had been strong, but had it been the right sort of strength?
In many ways, his three daughters had changed even more than he
had. Thirteen-year old Kasumi found a powerful new enemy to fight,
one that no skill in martial arts could hope to overcome, death. She
began studying medicine as diligently as she applied herself to her
martial training. Ten-year old Akane withdrew into herself for a time,
coming to terms with her mother's death. Within six months, her
spirit bounced back to its former self. She redoubled her efforts at
training her physical body and improving her skills, intent on forging
herself anew into a duplicate of the last image that she held of her
mother, that of the perfect warrior.
Lastly, and most regretfully, there was his middle daughter, Nabiki.
Seeking an approval and show of love from him that he no longer
allowed himself, the eleven-year old girl looked to him as her
example, not knowing that he was losing his soul by hiding his grief
from his children. Perhaps because of the connection to her lost
mother, she allowed her training in the martial arts to trail off.
Though she allowed her skills to deteriorate, her school's physical
regimen maintained a relatively high state of physical fitness in her.
His middle daughter sharpened her mind to a razor-keen edge and,
over time, turned herself into what she must have thought of as the
only remaining option to her for parental approval, to be the perfect
Security operative: brutally efficient, cold, remorseless, and ruthless.
All of these were apt descriptions of the new Nabiki Tendou, as they
were oftentimes used to describe Soun Tendou as well. She had
become his daughter in all ways, and he was proud of her in his own
fashion. But, late at night, alone with his innermost thoughts, he
sometimes worried if he had somehow betrayed Kimiko's memory by
letting things change as they had.
Things might have continued on like this, until that day almost four
years ago, when Soun had been working late in his office. A file had
come across his desk late in the day marked for his review. He had
reviewed it many times in the previous years without any real regard.
But when he had seen it that night, it was as if for the very first time,
giving him an epiphany of sorts.
The name on the jacket of the file was Ranma Saotome, the son of
an old associate from his days at the Imperial Academy, one that he
had not thought of for many years. Soun had picked up and read the
file, not simply perused it as he had before. One thing leapt out at
him, a stray memory that surprised him for not having realized it
before. Information that not even one so highly placed as he was
supposed to know but had picked up gradually over time from a variety
of sources, suddenly coalesced in his mind. He remembered smiling at
the realizations that had come over him.
Ranma was one of the Children, as were also his two daughters.
Three representatives of the two hundred or so young Citizen boys and
girls that had been chosen for two very special test groups by the
eminent Professor Kouzou Fuyutsuki, hand-picked by the then current
Emperor to oversee it. All three youths had been chosen from among
thousands of Imperial children. Kasumi would have also been deemed
acceptable, but she was already too old to undergo the treatments at
the time. Apparently, it caused extensive and permanent genetic
damage if done to a child beyond the age of five. There had been
some exceptions in the previous, non-Citizen test subjects, but the risk
was considered too great for a Citizen child to bear.
Project Adam.
Project Eve.
Each of them had been established with a single purpose for their
existence: to create a new breed of humans, Homo Sapiens Imperius,
beings genetically enhanced and improved in all aspects of human
potential, both mental and physical. Together, they made up Project
Phoenix, an attempt to create a new and better race of humanity from
the "ashes" and dross that made up the majority of modern man. If
these Children of the Phoenix (or Newtypes, as they were also called)
bred true with each other, then enhancement would be made available
for all pure-bred children of Japanese Citizen descent. Within a
generation, these new ranks of Citizens would take their place in the
Empire and lead it forward to a glorious tomorrow.
Soun wondered why he had not seen it before, as he read through
Ranma's file, and the idea of pairing his middle daughter to the
Saotome boy seemed to possess him. Ranma would be perfect for
Nabiki, and Soun had begun working behind the scenes to bring about
that pairing. It had been a long, slow process, following Ranma's
progress, becoming more and more certain that he was right in his
plans. The boy's sharp mind would be an equal for Nabiki's own, and
his future opportunities seemed to be limitless. If he did not end up in
one of the Science Ministry's top laboratory facilities, then one of the
many zaibatsus, the great industrial or financial combinations of the
Empire, would surely offer him a great deal of money for his skills and
talents.
He had finally told Nabiki about Ranma six months ago, to prepare
her for his arrival, swearing her to complete secrecy on the matter.
Nabiki had been startled, but she hid it well. She seemed to be most
intrigued by his money-earning potential, and his future chances of
success in the Empire. She kept him up-to-date on Ranma's weekly
activities, and he thought he detected in her a more than merely
mercenary interest in Ranma at times, but he could not say for certain.
His middle daughter had become quite difficult for him to read since
she had started at the Academy.
Otsu Mitsuma had reported back immediately after her lunchtime
meeting with Nodoka Saotome. She was evasive at first, until he had
pressed her on the matter, but she finally told him the whole story, and
of her failure to obtain a firm decision from the Saotome woman. He
had apparently misread Nodoka somewhat, taking her at face value,
but it was of no matter. He was still certain of Nabiki's superiority in
being able to deal with any challenges over the matter of Ranma, even
those that he himself might have inadvertently set into motion. She
deserved to have the best, and he would use every resource that he had
at his disposal to get it for her.
Soun was distracted from his thoughts when he heard the gentle
clattering of a tea service touching down on the table next to him, and
he stubbed out the remains of his cigarette. He nodded to Kyouko, and
she poured out some tea for him and handed him the cup. He took the
cup with a slight nod of his head then waved her away. She bowed
briefly from her kneeling position before standing and withdrawing.
Taking a sip of his tea and enjoying its warming feel within him,
Soun smiled out at the rising sun and raised his cup slightly in salute.
*It is good to have such a dutiful child as Nabiki to follow after me in
the Directorate,* he thought proudly. *Her skills at subterfuge are
already impressive. I am sure that she will be able to yoke down that
boy Ranma in no time, just as I will deal with the boy's father. It will
be... good to see Genma again, after all these years. He and I have so
much catching up to do, since our own long-past days of youth
together at the Imperial Academy. I wonder if he even remembers
me?* A cold smile crossed his face.
******************************
The world seemed to be running in slow motion. Distorted human
figures sprang at Nabiki from the shadows, her fists and feet moving
to defend herself from the onslaught. The roar of engines sounded, as
if from a very great distance away, along with the occasional sharp
crack of gunfire. She did not know where she was, only that she had
to keep fighting. When she spared a glance at herself, she sucked in a
breath at seeing herself in her counterpart's male form.
A single figure moved to engage him, and Nabiki-kun grabbed him
in a martial hold, feeling an odd sense of deja vu, as this all seemed to
be so very familiar. He suddenly sensed danger behind himself and
turned around to see, dragging the struggling figure of the man he
held around as well, and everything seemed to be moving even slower
now. There were more sharp sounds of gunfire, words shouted at him
that he could not quite make out due to the distortion from the slowing
of time. The body held in his arms jerked as he instinctively used it as
a living shield from the hail of gunfire, the eyes of his enemy widening
in surprise as he died.
Then all was quiet for a moment. Nabiki-kun looked down into
sightless, accusing eyes. Blood was everywhere, on the ground, on his
clothes, and on his hands. The body slipped out of his grip,
disappearing into the blackness now surrounding him. But the blood
clinging to his hands was so brightly crimson, and he could only stare
at it in horror. She hardly noticed when the warm liquid transformed
her back into a girl. Time seemed to stop.
There was so much blood.
So much blood on her hands.
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
A scream ripped its way up from the depths of her soul.
******************************
Nabiki rolled over with a gasp and eyed her alarm clock, uncertain
where she was at first, her heart beating like a trip-hammer. Her
dream shredded into oblivion, not even the faintest memory of its
actual contents remaining, only a fear of something... horrible. She
lay on her side for several minutes, panting, feeling her breathing
gradually slowing back to normal. Not since those first few months
after her mother died, had Nabiki been disturbed by any nightmare.
She had secretly learned how to deal with them.
Shutting off her feelings had been the secret. Feel nothing, and the
world could not harm you. Emotions were a weakness, a frailty, and
she had locked away the ones that made her feel weakest behind a
mask of cool indifference. Compassion, empathy, and love were all
forgotten, and Nabiki Tendou allowed herself to be reborn into her
new role as the Iron Bitch. Her father became her role model, and she
emulated his ways of dealing with people around him: always acting
from a solid position of strength, never showing weakness, and finding
a certain grim enjoyment in making someone caught in one of her
webs squirm. The barriers that she constructed around her soul had
been strong, reinforced by several years of denial, until the day that a
certain young man had walked into her life and made her feel again.
The barriers had cracked, the shields around her emotions exposing
an intolerable weakness whenever she was around him, her own body
betraying her by feeling such strong desires for him. Nabiki hated
Ranma for making her feel so weak, but she wanted him too, not that
he seemed to notice or care, which strangely irritated her a great deal.
Nabiki had tried her best to keep him away from her, maintaining her
distance as she studied him from afar, knowing that her father wanted
them together. Her mask of cool disdain for him acted as a refuge for
her, and her usual sardonic wit acted as a weapon to draw blood
whenever she had to speak with him. It had worked... for a time.
Until her experience in Ranma's lab, only two days ago, when she
had seen another way that things might have been for her, and the
many barriers so carefully built up around her emotions had been
broken. She was now in a slow process of rediscovering herself, and
she was finding odd changes taking place deep inside, unexpected and
sometimes rather disturbing ones. They confused her and left her
feeling uncertain who Nabiki Tendou was anymore, but one thing was
quite clear to her now. She was a fighter, a warrior who never gave
up, no matter what the odds were against her, and she would win this
battle to reforge herself anew. The old Nabiki Tendou may have been
slowly dying inside, being eaten away by a cancer of the soul that she
had never acknowledged, but the new one held the promise of great
things yet to come.
Nabiki looked once more at her radio alarm clock with a sleepy,
little frown on her face, her hand tapping the button atop it a few
minutes before it would have gone off on its own. Now that she was
awake, her newfound need to begin her morning training was pushing
her out of bed once more. She touched her cheek where she had been
bruised by Ranma's fist yesterday and felt no pain, and she grunted
contentedly at that. Today she would have another try at testing her
skills against Ranma, and even perhaps besting him during their
training time together. She was confident that she would win today
against the pigtailed martial artist, and she was looking forward to
seeing his reactions when she did so.
Her thoughts paused as she felt a sudden warmth in her cheeks at
the thought of him.
Ranma.
Nabiki shook her head with irritation. She was determined that she
would not allow herself to be swayed by a copy of feelings for another
Ranma in that other life, but it was so tempting. That other Ranma
loved that other Nabiki, perhaps as much as she loved him, but neither
of them had ever said the words. It would have been so easy for her to
let herself feel the same way for this world's Ranma, but she refused to
live her life as a copy of another. She was Nabiki Tendou, daughter of
Soun and Kimiko Tendou, and her life was her own.
Still, Ranma Saotome was going to be her husband someday, if her
father had any say in her life. Regardless, Nabiki intended to deal
with Ranma on her own terms, walking her own path and not simply
relying on the inherited feelings of some other woman. She was also
now a warrior, like her mother before her, and she was Ranma's better,
no matter what he may have thought.
Nabiki suddenly smiled an impish, little smile.
Like her counterpart, she would teach Ranma that he should follow
her lead in this life, like his counterpart followed hers in that other
life. After yesterday, she knew that her fighting skills were a little
better than his own. Perhaps only fractionally better, like her body
was in marginally better shape, but she was now just enough better
than he was that she should have a slight edge over him in their
conflicts with each other. She even suspected that this would force
someone with such a strong desire to be the absolute best, like Ranma
apparently now was, to work even harder to try and surpass her. She
would then have to work equally hard to maintain her slight edge, or
at least not fall far behind him as their respective levels of skill went
up, a surprisingly attractive prospect that should keep both of them
motivated to try and outdo the other in their training. She even knew
how to encourage him to do so, not that she was looking at it from
quite that perspective at the moment.
She was going rub his nose in the fact that she had the edge on him.
Springing out of bed with a graceful movement, Nabiki once again
found pleasure in the new agility gained from her counterpart. The
lithe muscles in her body twinged slightly at such activities so early in
the morning, but they responded easily, almost fully recovered despite
the heavy efforts that she had put herself through yesterday. She softly
landed on the floor of her room, her arms easily holding her up in a
brief handstand, the muscles in her body flexing, her posture as poised
and graceful as that of a gold medal gymnast performing on a balance
beam. After a few moments of posing like that, Nabiki pushed off
with her hands and flipped back to land on her bare feet, making only
a very slight thumping sound when they contacted the floor. She stood
briefly in front of the mirror, turning her face to one side to see how
much of the bruise on her cheek was left.
The contusion was completely gone, to her relief. Nabiki knew that
she was not a very vain person, but the idea of a livid bruise on the
face was an unappealing concept for any girl. As she posed a bit in
front of the mirror, she studied her barely shoulder-length hair in back
and considered the thought of letting it grow out longer and possibly
putting it into a braid. It was strangely appealing to her. Wrinkling
her nose a little at the unexpected thought, she briefly smirked at her
reflection and turned away from it to get dressed.
Nabiki opened up her closet door and began rummaging around
inside her closet for several moments, before finally pulling out one of
the sets of her newly-bought training clothes to use for her morning
activities. Today she decided to go with a blue Chinese-style shirt.
Filling up one end of the closet, there were now half a dozen similar
silk shirts, all in blue, green, or red, each one paired off with an
identical pair of black gi pants. She slipped off the plain, silken
nightwear that she usually wore to sleep, briefly standing naked save
for only a pair of pink panties. She pulled a white sports bra out of
another drawer and slipped it on, adjusting it deftly to support her
breasts comfortably. The rest of the outfit went on rapidly, and she
flashed her reflection a victory sign as she headed out into the hallway.
Soun looked up as his middle daughter came bounding down the
stairs. He blinked as he took in what she was wearing, the grace that
she moved with, and the look on her face. The girl before him wore
the face of his daughter, but the mannerisms she now had were very
unfamiliar to him. Their eyes met, and she smiled at him with the
same sort of smile that she used to wear as a child. It jarred him a bit
to see it on Nabiki once again. She had not smiled like that since
before her mother's death.
"Good morning, Daddy," said Nabiki, snapping a quick and jaunty
bow in his direction. "Isn't it a lovely morning?"
"You're up early, Nabiki-chan," observed Soun calmly, his eyes
once again studying her odd mode of dress. *She looks like one of
those Arena fighters,* he thought with surprise. "Have you taken up
your old morning training routine again?" He briefly remembered
when Kimiko was still alive, her getting all of the girls up at dawn to
train for two hours a day before school.
"Oh, I'm back in full training, Daddy," said Nabiki casually. "I'll be
outside in the training hall if you need me for anything this morning."
She jogged out, leaving her father to stare after her in further surprise.
Soun reached out and picked up another cigarette from the pack,
lighting it up with a smooth motion, and contemplated the unexpected
change to his life. He did not think it would affect his plans, but he
would keep a closer eye on Nabiki until they saw fruition.
As she entered the training hall for the second time in as many
days, Nabiki paused once again to take in the feel of the place. Even
moreso than yesterday, she could feel her mother's lingering presence
here, a reminder of happier times in the past... before the dark times...
before her death.
Shaking her head, Nabiki went about setting up the area for her
morning practice. When she was done, she flopped down onto the mat
and began to stretch. She felt a tightness in the muscles in her back
and shoulders, from her heavy exertions yesterday, and she slowly
worked it out, feeling the blood warming up her body for her morning
training. Despite the heavy workouts she went through yesterday, she
felt great. Her mind was clear, and even the dream from this morning
was already forgotten. She had told herself that it must have simply
been a nightmare, and she was not going to let it ruin her day.
When her body was finally limbered up, Nabiki hopped back up to
her feet and went over to the heavy bag. She began driving punches
into it, putting as much power into each strike as she could. The thick
chain holding the heavy leather bag suspended in midair jingled as she
unleashed punch after punch into the bag. A hundred punches from
each fist became two hundred, and then three hundred. Her shoulders
and arms were burning from her efforts, sweat soaking her frame and
dripping down her face as she breathed deeply. Her hands, toughened
by her Academy training and the training that she had done with her
mother as a child, were only a little bit reddened from the numerous
impacts.
"That felt pretty good," murmured Nabiki, rolling her head around
on her neck, hearing the bones cracking and popping slightly as her
vertebrae realigned. She eyed the bag, feeling her strength returning,
her lungs no longer heaving, and smiled at it.
Nabiki's right leg lashed upwards in a kick, putting her hips behind
her efforts as she proceeded to work the muscle groups in her lower
body as hard as she had worked the upper ones. Minutes passed as her
feet smashed into the heavy bag with incredible force, rocking it back
on the chain with louder jingles. Side kicks alternated with spin kicks
and leaping kicks, her legs demonstrating much more endurance than
her arms and shoulders had. When she finished three hundred strikes
with each of her legs, she felt less winded than she had after her
punching workout.
She finished her morning exercises with practicing a kata, feeling
her body flowing through the motions as she mixed Karate, Kung Fu,
Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, and several other styles into a graceful
combination of forms. Muscles that she had not worked with simple
punching and kicking practice made themselves felt to her, small
twinges of discomfort as she maneuvered around the mat. She ignored
the minor pains, even while she marveled at how much more aware of
her body and her surroundings she was today, even more so than she
had been yesterday.
Finally, she was finished, and she mopped the sweat from her face
with a clean towel from a small stack by the door. She quickly cleaned
up the training hall, and then she went back inside the house to take a
quick wash and soak before leaving for the Academy.
******************************
Ranma eyed his opponent, half hidden in the darkness. Sweat
dripped down his body, droplets silently falling from his face to the
soft mulch of the forest floor, and his breathing was deep as he waited.
The night was quiet around them, not even the cicadas sounding, the
only noises reaching him were those of his opponent breathing, in soft
gasps like his own breath now came, a sign of the intense efforts that
they had made against each other before now. He had still not seen
her face clearly. Even when they had engaged each other from up
close, it had remained cloaked in shadow, but he knew that he had to
overcome her.
The girl sprang at him, one of her hands lashing out at him in a
quick punching attack. He blocked the strike and grabbed the arm,
using her own momentum to lock the hold into place before she could
halt herself. He pulled her close to him as they struggled intensely,
warm bodies meshed together into a tight embrace as they tried to get
leverage against each other, their strength evenly matched. Ranma
felt his opponent's lithe muscles moving underneath her soft skin as he
held her, her body straining against his grip, while he maneuvered his
free hand to strengthen his hold upon her. She was strong, as strong
as he was, and that was oddly exciting to him.
They were almost the same height, he noticed, as he struggled as
hard as he could to capture her other arm and finally win the battle
between them. Their hot sweat mingled together as he felt her body
gathering itself for an escape. A scent tickled his nose while he was so
close to her, redolent of musk and wildflowers. The elbow of her free
arm suddenly slammed into his gut, but he did not ease up. As he
quested to capture her other limb, his free hand grasped something soft
and yet firm around her front, somehow warmer than the rest of her
body was. He heard a soft gasp of surprise from his opponent, and he
felt her body suddenly quivering slightly in reaction to his touch, the
powerful and sleek muscles moving beneath her very womanly curves,
like soft velvet overlaid on steel.
The next thing that he knew, they were both down on the ground,
her body pinned beneath him, her lips locked against his own in a very
passionate, openmouthed kiss. They still struggled, wrestling with
each other, but each now desired something other than defeat for their
opponent. Her tongue probed into his mouth, setting off a firestorm of
desires within him as he returned the kiss with equal fervor. He still
could not see her face clearly, only a hint of a profile, a flash of eyes
filled with passions to equal his own. Her hair color and length even
seemed to shift from moment to moment in a random fashion, from
purple to red to brown to black and then back through the colors.
The deep kiss finally ended, and his lips moved down to her jaw
and then to her throat, as he felt her gasp and sigh softly and lustily
underneath him. Warm breath touched one of his ears as her voice
whispered gently to him. The words were familiar, and the voices, but
they all seemed mixed together to form a single female voice speaking.
"Wo ai ni, Ranma-kun," passionately whispered the female voice.
"Ranma-sama, wo da airen. Ohhhh... Ranchan." Her lips nibbled at
his earlobe. One of her hands was held fast by one of his, their fingers
interlaced together, her palm warm against his own. His stroking
thumb and littlest finger felt the calluses on the edges of her hand, a
clear sign of a trained martial artist. His free arm stroked down her
side, enjoying the athletic feel of her body. He felt the fingers of her
other hand running through his hair as her lips kissed his throat. Her
legs were loosely wrapped around his hips.
Ranma lifted his head, enjoying the soft feel of the girl's lips on his
neck, eliciting a groan of pleasure from him. When he glanced up for
a moment, he noticed another figure standing nearby, and their eyes
met.
"Interesting dreams you have, Ranma," said Ranma-chan dryly.
******************************
Ranma jerked awake.
*Wh-what was that all about?* he asked himself in confusion. The
memory of the martial artist girl held in his arms in his dream began
to quickly fade, and Ranma wondered why his mind had conjured up
such an odd amalgam of the girls he knew without coming up with an
answer. He could not say for sure, uncertain if he wished to explore
the meanings behind the odd dream right now.
Peering at his clock slightly bleary-eyed, Ranma grimaced at the
displayed time. Dawn was just occurring, and he was awakening even
earlier today than he had yesterday. He stumbled out of bed in the dim
light, and the only thought on his sleepy mind that he could seem to
focus on was that he had to get ready to train. In a mental daze, he
dressed himself in a T-shirt and a pair of shorts, before he quietly crept
downstairs to the yard. The morning air was still.
When Ranma got down to the yard, his thoughts cleared a bit and
focused. He picked out a large, open area in the yard and sat down to
begin stretching and warming up, the concrete slab cold against his
buttocks as he stretched his legs out in front of himself. The brutally
rigorous physical training at the Academy had added a significant
amount of muscle to his frame and given him a solid core of physical
excellence, but he still felt... less than what he now knew that he was
truly capable of doing. He had never really cared about physical
fitness before, until his experiences with that other Ranma, so this
realization was quite a shift for him in his mental paradigm.
His body's limits were still unknown to him, but with each day of
training he seemed to grow just a little bit faster and stronger. Testing
himself against an opponent like Nabiki on a regular basis would push
him along even more quickly in his development, as her skills seemed
to be roughly equal to his own. He was looking forward to wiping the
smug smirk from her face when they sparred again. He was confident
that he had taken her measure yesterday as a fighter. Today he was
going to beat her.
Dwelling within Ranma now was a sort of hunger, a deep-seated
desire to grow stronger as a fighter, to surpass his current levels of
ability, and also those of his unexpected, new rival. Although, when
he allowed himself to be totally honest, before putting up a fresh wall
of denial, his surprising, new feelings for Nabiki were not those for
someone who was only a rival. She had always been coolly distant to
him in the past, whenever she was not being sardonic in addressing
him, so the new Nabiki was somewhat unsettling but also strangely
alluring. Her mental abilities were equally intriguing; the spark of
mental combat with her was just as strong as engaging her physically.
Still, the thought of a girl matching him in martial arts ability, even
knocking him out in sparring (though he had also knocked her out as
well), was a definite spur to improve himself. He knew that within his
body were the burgeoning seeds of the fighting skills from that other
Ranma Saotome, through a quirk of fate imprinted deeply within his
own brain, nerves, and reflexes, and he now knew that Nabiki had also
received the same sort of 'download' from her own counterpart. They
kept clamoring at him to be allowed to awaken, to bring those skills to
full bloom within himself, so he intended to do just that.
After several minutes of rigorous stretching, feeling the warming
blood beginning to flow into his limbs as he loosened up, Ranma felt
himself waking up more and more. He rolled over on the ground and
began doing pushups, taking it slow for maximum muscle tension and
strain. He felt the muscles in his shoulders and arms complaining
slightly, but he kept at it, forcing himself to perform. Sweat began to
drip from his face as he pushed himself.
When he was done with that, he shifted to other calisthenics, his
mind focussing on each muscle group that he could work without
weights. As he exercised his body, his thoughts drifted to some of his
more intellectual pursuits, ones that he had been neglecting a bit as he
explored his new physical skills. The power surge problem in the
Resonator was a concern, but he was planning on testing the circuitry
to see if he could figure out where the power spike was coming from.
If he could not track it down, then he might have to consider running
the risk of another one occurring. He rested for a moment as he
weighed his options on the matter.
Standing back up, Ranma brought to mind a long and difficult kata
that he wanted to perform, one that should help him begin shoring up
some of the weaknesses in his defenses that he had noticed in himself
during his sparring against Nabiki. He slowly stood up and stretched
himself from side to side, much more aware of the state of his muscles
and conditioning than he had been even as recently as a week ago.
*I'm not going to be second best to a girl,* Ranma decided firmly,
as his fists and feet began weaving their way through a pattern that
was already ancient when a carpenter's son from Galilee had walked
the Earth long ago. *I just have to work harder, discipline my body
better, embrace the warrior skills now within me, and I can become
the best. No girl can be as good as I am. After all, I'm Ranma
Saotome.* He smiled at that thought, his arms still varying between
attack and defense patterns, feeling a little bit more confidence and
speed in his movements. Though his face did grow slightly troubled
as the memories of Ranko and Ranma-chan briefly demanded his
attention.
When Nodoka came downstairs a little while later to fix breakfast
for the household, as well as planning what she would pack Ranma for
his lunch, she heard some strange sounds coming from the backyard.
Curious, she looked out the kitchen window and saw her son doing the
most amazing performance in the backyard. She watched in surprise
as her son did flips and tumbles like an acrobat, as his body flowed
through what she vaguely recognized as a complex kata of some sort,
one that brought back a number of memories for her of some of her
own martial arts training as a young girl. Ranma's movements had an
almost unconscious grace to them, but there was also the occasional
brief hesitation, like he was practicing skills that had grown rusty.
*What did Genma teach Ranma while they were gone?* Nodoka
wondered, her hands absently working at filling and pouring cups of
water into the household rice cooker. She studied Ranma's style and
noted that it appeared to be a form of Kempo of some sort, and it
looked very effective. *He moves well, but, as far as I know, Genma
dearest hasn't practiced since he was a young man. Did he teach
Ranma how to move like that? I would say that my son has been in
training for years to have such a level of skill.* Nodoka had never
taught another person, still considering herself to be a student of the
martial arts, but she could discern one of great skill when she saw it.
She continued her usual routines for cooking breakfast, but her eyes
were never far from watching Ranma. She kept wondering why he
was putting himself through such a level of effort.
Genma came into the kitchen area a little earlier than was his wont,
coming up behind his wife. He saw that Nodoka was engrossed in
watching something in the back yard. Genma gently cleared his throat
behind her. "What are you looking at, dear?" asked Genma curiously.
"Oh, Genma dearest, come and look at our son," said Nodoka, her
eyes bright, entranced by Ranma's demonstrated abilities. "He looks
so manly."
"Eh?" said Genma, surprised. *I wonder what Ranma is up to
now?* he thought. He moved up next to Nodoka and stared out the
window, blinking in surprise at what he saw, as Ranma put his body
through its paces. *He's... quite good,* noticed Genma, watching the
movements of fist and foot that Ranma was doing. *I guess that the
Academy must have changed their training since I attended there as a
young man. Ranma certainly never had time to pick up anything like
that when we were on the road.* Seeing Ranma practicing fighting
movements with such obvious skill ignited a measure of paternal pride
in Genma for his son, but it was tinged with worry as well.
"Isn't he skillful?" asked Nodoka with a smile, turning back to look
at Genma. "Our son has the makings of a great martial artist." She
reached out and squeezed his hand gently. "Dearest, why ever did you
keep such a thing secret from me? I didn't know that you let Ranma
learn how to fight."
"But I didn't," said Genma, almost sounding defensive. "I never
even knew he was interested in learning." Genma watched his son
some more, a smile appearing on his face. *Still, Ranma honors his
ancestors with his fighting skills,* thought Genma even more proudly.
Still, the nagging memories of his own days of youth, and the enemies
that his own martial arts skills had earned him, troubled him. They
were part of the reason why he had turned his back on the martial arts
as a way of life so many years ago. *I hope that Ranma can avoid the
same mistakes that I did not. The last thing that my son needs in his
life is to have a bunch of silly adolescents who can only think with
their fists fighting with him all the time. He is going to have a better
life than that.*
"Well, he obviously picked it up somewhere," said Nodoka, her eyes
glinting slightly with tears of pride. *Dearest raised him well,* she
thought as she looked back at Genma. On impulse, she kissed him on
the lips.
"What was that for?" said Genma, blinking.
"For raising our son so well," replied Nodoka. "He is a scholar and
a warrior. His prospective wives will love him." She hugged him for
a moment and then went back to her cooking efforts and watching her
son bound around the back yard.
Genma looked at Nodoka's rapt attention on Ranma's activities and
smiled again. He was puzzled by Ranma's sudden show of skill, but
pleased as well. *Still, it's nice to see Nodoka-chan so happy,* he
thought, looking at his beloved wife warmly. *I guess I'll just have a
talk with Ranma and find out how he knows what he knows. It looks
like Kempo, but I'm not sure. His style is strange.*
Meanwhile, Ranma finished his morning training and slumped to
the ground into a seated position, his lungs gasping for air after the
heavy exertions that he had just put himself through for the last hour.
What felt like rivers of sweat were now running down his face and
neck. *That's enough for this morning,* he thought, panting. *I don't
want to wipe myself out before this afternoon's sparring with Nabiki.*
He stood up and wandered over to the garden hose, pulling it free and
quickly turning on the faucet. A stream of cold water spewed forth
from the end of the hose, causing a brief shiver of fear to wash over
him, which he quickly shrugged off. He held the end of the hose to his
mouth and drank until his thirst was finally satisfied before turning the
water off.
"Son?" asked a voice behind him, as Ranma replaced the hose.
"What are you doing?" He turned around to see his father standing
behind him, a puzzled expression on his face.
"Hey, Pop," said Ranma, waving a hand at his father in greeting. "I
was just practicing." Genma nodded, as if that explained it.
"I thought that you and I needed to have a talk," said Genma, sitting
down on a chair on the back porch. He tossed Ranma a towel. "You
haven't been yourself lately. I am curious as to why."
Ranma blinked as he caught the towel. He had been expecting such
a question for some time now.
"I guess I have been acting rather strange the last few days, Pop,"
said Ranma quietly. He quickly dried his face and laid the towel
across the back of his neck. He saw his father watching him with a
thoughtful expression, before briefly gesturing at him to join him in
the chair next to him.
"The sudden change in your manner of speech is one of the things
that has your mother concerned," observed Genma pointedly, before
turning his gaze to watch a flock of birds that suddenly flew overhead.
"It concerns me too. I raised you better than that."
"My speech?" Ranma paused as he went over what he had just said.
"Oh," he said quietly. He sat down in the chair and rubbed the towel
against the back of his neck. "There's actually a very good explanation
for that, as well as the other changes." Ranma looked at his father.
"Go on," said Genma. He removed his glasses and cleaned the
lenses absently with a small handkerchief. "I'm listening."
"I want to start off by telling you the good news, Father," Ranma
said with a grin. As Genma replaced his glasses, Ranma's grin got
even bigger. "I did it."
"Did what?" asked Genma in a puzzled tone. He pushed his glasses
up the bridge of his nose with his index finger until their position
suited him and frowned in confusion.
"I've proven your theory of parallel worlds," said Ranma excitedly.
"I've seen them! Pop, you were right." Genma looked very surprised.
Whatever he had expected to hear, it was not that.
"Slow down, Ranma," said Genma calmly, startled at the way that
his usually thoughtful son was acting. "Do you mean that Resonator
device you were working on? You finished it? You tested it?" Genma
sat back in his seat and wondered. He had always prided himself on
his ability to know people. The mannerisms of the boy before him
kept shifting back and forth from the son that he knew to someone that
he did not.
"Yes," said Ranma happily, nodding eagerly. "I was finally able to
work out the last bugs in the system a week ago, but it's still pretty
crude. I'm not sure how deeply across the parallel timelines that I can
reach, or how long I can sustain a synchronization lock, but it worked.
I saw other worlds, Pop. Other timelines." Ranma smiled broadly.
"I'm not sure, but I also think I can only tune into the most probable
worlds out of all the potential worlds that exist on each quantum
band." Genma sat there in stunned silence as Ranma chuckled.
"Don't you see, Pop? I proved you right. The parallel worlds do
exist."
"You're telling the truth," said Genma in an amazed tone. He began
to chuckle softly as he got up and gathered Ranma into a hug. "My
son.... Your father is proud of you." He felt a tear at the corner of each
eye as he hugged Ranma. "Your father is so proud."
"But there were some unexpected... side effects," said Ranma in a
muffled voice, his face buried in his father's robe. Genma did not hear
him at first. The elder Saotome's mind was filled with visions of the
honors that he and his son would earn in the Ministry of Science for
this accomplishment. Ranma began to struggle, and Genma let him
go with a smile.
"Pop!" shouted Ranma, irritated at the older man. "I said that there
were some unexpected side effects." Ranma backed up a couple of
steps as Genma blinked. *Geez!* thought Ranma. *The old man
never listens to me.*
"Side effects? What sort of side effects, Son?" His voice was filled
with concern.
"I was a little overconfident in my first full-power experiment," said
Ranma quietly. "There was a power surge while I was in the mind of
one of my quantum counterparts. It left me... changed."
"In what way, Son?" Genma sat back down. His expression spoke
only of worry for Ranma.
"I gained some of his personality, and I also absorbed a fair measure
of his skills in the martial arts," said Ranma, and then he began doing
a kata to demonstrate. Genma sat stunned as Ranma went through the
complex sequences of motions flawlessly. Ranma's body was tired, but
the movements were already almost second nature to him.
"So you got into a fight the other day to test your new abilities?"
asked Genma quietly. His eyes studied the ground. *I hope that he
isn't following in that phase of my life,* thought Genma, remembering
all the troubles that he had fallen into then. It was a part of his life
that he had never even told Nodoka about, coming before they had met
each other. She was a woman who prided herself on being a true lady,
so he knew that she would not have understood. *Still, there were a
few moments when it was not so bad of a life.* The images of several
girls that he had known at the time crossed his mind.
Ranma blinked, and stopped what he was doing. "No, Pop, it wasn't
like that at all," said Ranma, waving his hands in the air in front of
him. "The fight was sort of an accident. I was doing better at sparring
in physical education, and A... one of my fellow classmates decided to
challenge me after school."
"I see," said Genma, nodding. *And so it begins,* he thought with
an internal sigh. "That would also explain the changes in your speech
patterns, your manners at meals that your mother has told me about,
and even the way that you're standing now." Genma kept nodding as
his brain processed the possibilities. His son had become a martial
artist, and he imagined that he could sense trouble looming on the
horizon because of this. *Fighters attract other fighters,* thought
Genma contemplatively as he sat there, with another gentle, mental
sigh. *Still, I can offer Ranma the benefit of my hard-won wisdom
before matters get too far out of hand.* He paused and remembered
some of his friends and enemies from that time in his life. *So many
memories.*
Ranma suddenly seemed to realize that his posture was one of
relaxed readiness. He put his hands behind his head and laced the
fingers together while he chuckled nervously. "Sorry... Father," he
said, slightly distressed to discover that it was actually taking a minor
amount of effort to control his speech. "I wasn't anticipating anything
like this happening. I was caught unprepared."
"That was foolish, Son," scolded Genma. "You should have set up
some sort of safeguards for that. I thought I taught you better than to
make such mistakes." Genma stood up and began to pace a bit.
"I was prepared for a power failure, but the surge came from within
the system itself," said Ranma quietly. "I don't know what might have
gone wrong. The surge itself was minor, but it's the only thing that I
could think of to explain the results." Ranma stared miserably at the
ground. His father was always a careful man, and Ranma could feel
his disappointment. *I don't think I'll tell him about Nabiki yet,* he
thought. *One disappointment in a day is enough. I think I should
just deal with her myself anyway.*
"Well," said Genma slowly after he thought about things for a few
moments. "The damage doesn't appear to be as serious as I thought,
and I think you might have even come out ahead in the deal. I want to
look over your equipment for myself. That is, unless you think your
old man can't offer you any pointers anymore?" Genma smiled as
Ranma looked up in surprise.
"Sure, Pop!" exclaimed Ranma, smiling. "I'd love your help!"
"Does your counterpart have a Genma Saotome for a father?" asked
Genma, feeling a sudden curiosity.
"Yes," replied Ranma, his expression shifting into a grin. "I think
you might find him to be... interesting." Ranma eyed his father. *At
least you haven't caused me any trouble in my life like that fat bastard
did to my counterpart,* he thought with relief.
"Hmm... I think I will have to see what you've accomplished for
myself," said Genma with a paternal smile. "Perhaps my experience
will be able to offer you a new view on how to proceed from here."
"Well," said Ranma thoughtfully. "I still need to check over the
circuitry. I want to try and find the bug before it gets used again."
"Tomorrow is Sunday," said Genma as he nodded in thought. "I
will have the whole day free to assist you." Genma got up and walked
with his son into the house. "I confess that you've awakened an
unexpected curiosity in me, Son." He clapped Ranma on the shoulder
proudly as they walked. *A chance to see how my life could have been
if circumstances had been different,* thought Genma with a smile. *I
wonder if I'm a good father in this other world that Ranma received
his new skills from?*
******************************
Akane felt the bright light of the morning sun slide across her face
through her window. She twitched her nose, grumbled for a moment,
and then woke up with a dainty yawn. She had been having a pleasant
dream about Ranma, one that brought a faint blush to her cheeks as
she thought about it. The yawn turned into a full-body stretch that
brought mild twinges from a few areas on her torso, but they were only
the feelings of a slight stiffness in her muscles rather than pain. She
yawned a third time, not used to sleeping in like this, and she pushed
back the covers on her bed.
Rolling into a sitting position, Akane smiled at the morning sun and
stretched her arms back, letting the cloth of her cotton pajama top pull
tight to her breasts. Her stomach rumbled gently with hunger as she
gathered a change of underwear from her dresser and headed for the
bathroom.
"Mornin', Sis," said Nabiki rather lazily when Akane entered the
bathroom. The middle Tendou sister rested in the furo, faint wisps of
steam curling around her as she let her muscles relax. The hot water
felt heavenly after her intense morning workout.
"Morning, Nabiki," chirped Akane as she made her way to the sink.
She slipped off her pajamas and tossed them into the hamper. She
eyed the fading remnants of the bruises on her body with a critical eye.
She could tell that she wasn't going to be back into full fighting shape
until Monday. She curled a hand into a tight fist. *Damn that rich
bitch, Kodachi Kunou,* she thought sullenly as she looked herself
over.
"Nice bruises, Akane," said Nabiki in a mildly sarcastic tone. "It
looks like Kodachi worked you over pretty good."
"Hmph," grunted Akane dismissiveley. "She just got lucky against
me. I'll take her apart for sure the next time. She's just a pampered
noblewoman after all."
"If you say so, Akane," said Nabiki, standing up reluctantly from
the hot water. She stepped up and out of the water, picking up a towel
to dry herself and rubbing it briskly over her body. "I think you may
have met your match."
Akane made another dismissive sound at the thought of Kodachi
Kunou being her equal in a fight.
"Remember to take it easy today," said Nabiki. "No working out in
the training hall." She headed for the door, the towel wrapped around
her body. "I'll see you downstairs at breakfast."
"Okay," replied Akane. "I'll be down shortly." She sat down on the
bathing stool, filled the bucket that sat next to it with water from the
tap, and then dumped it over her head with a faint shiver. Nabiki just
watched her younger sister with a slight smile.
A little later, the three members of the Tendou family in residence
sat around the dining table eating breakfast.
"What happened to you, Daughter?" asked Soun, looking at Akane
as she ate her breakfast hungrily. She grimaced a little for a moment
before answering, and Nabiki spoke first.
"Oh, Akane got into a fight at school yesterday with another girl, a
new cadet at the Academy," said Nabiki. "She's going to be staying
home for a day or so to let herself heal up. Isn't that right, Akane?"
"Yeah," said Akane, looking disgruntled.
"I see," said Soun, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. He shook one
loose and slowly pulled it free from the pack with his lips, his other
hand reaching into his shirt pocket for his lighter. He stuffed the pack
back into a coat pocket and pulled the cigarette from between his lips
with one hand. He quickly lit his cigarette and then took a puff from
it. Nabiki moved a little bit out of the line of drifting smoke and kept
eating. Soun studied the beaten up condition of his youngest daughter.
"Akane-chan, are you sure that you're all right?"
"Oh, I'm fine, Daddy," said Akane, waving her hand negligently in
the air for a moment. She moved with a certain amount of care in her
actions, apparently favoring her ribs. "I just got into a scuffle with a
new cadet at the Academy, an annoying b... girl named Kodachi
Kunou."
"Kodachi Kunou, you say?" asked Soun, taking another puff on his
cigarette and blowing it out through his nose. Nabiki could tell that he
was surprised from the subtle changes in his posture.
"Yeah, she lost though," said Akane very proudly, her battered and
bruised face beaming with pride. "She was trying to take my Ranma
away from me." Soun blinked again, suddenly wishing that he had
been coming home more nights before this.
"Your... Ranma?" asked Soun, unable to keep the surprise out of his
voice at this latest revelation. "Is this the same Ranma Saotome that I
have been hearing about you beating up for the last month or so?"
"Oh, Ranma isn't a wimp anymore, Daddy," said Akane, her face
glowing a little with passion. "A few days ago he finally gave me a
taste of what he's really capable of... and I want more." She broke out
into a disturbing smile, desire igniting in her eyes, and licked her lips
briefly. "He's stronger than I ever knew. Very strong."
"I see," said Soun, even though he did not, puffing on his cigarette
in thought for several long moments. *This is quite a surprising
change,* he thought, looking over at Nabiki briefly and considering
the change in his middle daughter this morning. *Was that because of
Ranma somehow? Could I have been wrong about the boy?* He then
shook his head almost imperceptibly. *It doesn't matter. He is still
going to wed my little girl, Nabiki. I will see to that. This new
development in him changes nothing.*
"Well, I'm sure that he was just lucky against you, Akane-chan,"
said Soun with a smile. "Your father knows how strong a fighter that
you are. You do your mother's memory proud." Akane beamed with
another smile, and Nabiki looked briefly amused.
"Ranma is a capable opponent, Daddy," said Nabiki casually, her
eyes looking to her father's face. "He gave me this, didn't he?" She
gestured at the almost unnoticeable bruise on her face, causing Akane
to suddenly look at her sister in surprise.
"W-what?" cried Akane, a deep frown appearing on her face, and a
surge of anger suddenly filling her. "When did you fight with Ranma,
Nabiki?"
"Yesterday afternoon," said Nabiki casually. "He and I are now
taking a special training class together. We did some sparring."
"Huh?" exclaimed Akane, blinking in surprise. She looked at her
sister suspiciously, but could not detect anything through Nabiki's
sudden poker face. "So, why wasn't I put in this class?"
"Oh, that's probably because I put through a transfer to a new school
for you yesterday," said Soun absently, gesturing at Akane with his lit
cigarette, perhaps hoping to defuse through his words the quickly
growing tension between his two youngest daughters. It did take
Akane's growing wrath away from Nabiki, but it only transferred it to
himself instead.
"WHAT?!!" screamed Akane at her father, apparently startling
Kyouko in the kitchen, as there was a brief clatter of falling dishes.
"How could you do this to me, Daddy?! A transfer? Where are you
sending me to?"
"I managed to get you a position at Furinkan Military Academy,"
replied Soun calmly, but within he was annoyed at being screamed at
in his own home. "As soon as you are able to attend, then that shall be
your new school from now on." Akane abruptly deflated in surprise.
"Furinkan," Akane said softly, as if tasting the word. "That was
where Mother went to school, right?" She looked at her father, and he
simply nodded once, taking another puff of his cigarette. Akane very
rapidly calmed down as she considered the matter, her brief explosion
of temper dissipating as quickly as it had erupted. On the one hand,
she felt a flicker of excitement at the thought of walking the same halls
that her mother had walked when she was her age. However, it would
also mean leaving Ranma alone with Kodachi, an unpleasant prospect.
She knew that young men were all driven by their hormones, and to
her, Kodachi Kunou looked like the type to try and seduce him away
from his destined place by Akane's side with her feminine wiles. She
had heard many of the sordid stories about how casually hedonistic
that the upper nobility were. However, there was also the very
pleasant opportunity to attend a school filled practically to the rafters
with some of the toughest young warriors in the Empire for her to
fight with. Akane looked up to see her father watching her with a
distant sort of look on his face.
"It sounds like a wonderful opportunity for you, Akane," said Nabiki
with a supportive smile, genuinely pleased at this surprising turn of
events, knowing how much her younger sister loved fighting. This
action would neatly separate Akane from Ranma. Her father was a
step or two ahead of her again, it seemed, since she had been planning
to talk with him soon about this very subject. "Just think of all of
those strong, new, _male_ opponents for you to challenge. After all,
Furinkan's cadet population is easily well over eighty percent male.
Perhaps even closer to ninety."
Akane blinked and looked at Nabiki as a very familiar light slowly
appeared in her eyes, an anticipation of battles to come.
"Over eighty percent?" asked Akane, her lower lip briefly pulled up
between her teeth as she considered the matter. Under the table, her
right hand tightened into a fist as she felt an almost pleasurable sense
of anticipation at the thought of facing each and every one of those
strong, young, warriors-in-training in turn. But then her thoughts
popped back to remembering her wonderful new feelings from when
she had fought with Ranma, and the intense excitement that she felt
when facing off against him.
"The best warrior-trainees in the Empire attend Furinkan," said
Nabiki softly, her voice almost coaxing now. "Each of them fast,
strong, and tough. All well-trained in combat and the martial arts."
*Most of them aren't too bright, but then neither is Akane at times,*
thought Nabiki with an internal chuckle. *This is for the best, little
sister. Ranma's potentials would just be wasted on you, I'm afraid. He
is so much more than a mere fighter.* She felt a little bad at tricking
Akane like this, but she mollified her unexpected appearance of
conscience with the thought that it truly was for the best. Sensing
Akane's resistance weakening, she went for the kill and said, "Not to
mention the fact that you would be following in Mother's footsteps."
Akane felt caught on the horns of a dilemma. Choose to stay with
Ranma, or take a chance on finding an even better fighter at Furinkan
Academy. She weighed the choices in her mind, an image of Ranma
in a fighting stance on one side of a scale, and a small army of tough,
young men offering new challenges to her on the other. She blinked.
When she considered it in those terms, it was an easier choice. Plus
she would be training to become an officer in one of the armed forces
of the Empire. She would then be able to fight the Empire's enemies
directly, not scurry around in the dark like her sister Nabiki liked to.
*Besides, I know that Nabiki isn't interested in him,* she thought,
remembering her sister's long-standing, cool disdain for Ranma. *So I
could have her keep an eye on him for me, until I can see for myself if
there are any decent fighters at Furinkan. I'm sure that she wouldn't
mind keeping Kodachi away from him for me, if I asked her for help.*
"Well, Akane?" asked Soun, blowing a long stream of smoke up
into the air from his mouth. "The transfer paperwork has already gone
through. Will you do this for your family honor?"
"I'll do it on one condition," said Akane, turning to look at Nabiki.
"Big sister, would you keep an eye on Ranma for me? I don't trust that
little debutante, Kodachi, to be left unwatched around him." She put a
pleading look onto her face. "I just need you to do it until I can see if
there are any decent fighters at my new school."
"Of course Nabiki will do such a thing," said Soun quickly. Akane
had just given him a wonderful idea. He turned to a mildly surprised
Nabiki. "Daughter, please do as Akane asks and stay close to Ranma."
"Uh, sure thing, Daddy," said Nabiki slowly, feeling a little weirded
out by this particular change of fortune. Akane came around the table
and gave her a hug.
"Thanks, Nabiki!" said Akane loudly. However, more softly she
whispered into Nabiki's ear, "Don't let that pampered bitch Kodachi
near my Ranma, okay? I don't trust her at all, but I'm glad that I can
count on you to watch out for my interests with him. Will you be all
right without having me around as your enforcer?" She let go of her
sister and knelt next to her with a smile.
"I'll manage," said Nabiki with a sardonic smile. She flexed one
hand and considered what it would be like to act as her own enforcer
for a while. The thought didn't hold quite as much appeal as it once
would have, but there was a potential for more money to be made with
her new abilities.
"Excellent. Then it's all settled," said Soun calmly, grateful to his
clever daughter Nabiki. He gave his two younger daughters a brief
smile, and then called Kyouko to bring them the rest of breakfast.
******************************
At the Kunou mansion, Kodachi sleepily opened her eyes and
smiled, a soft languor fading as her body woke, a feeling almost like
decadence washing over her for having slept in like this. The sheer
silk nightgown that she wore moved across her skin feather light as
she sat up and stretched. Her muscles were still a little tender in
places from the fight yesterday, but she felt satisfied at the outcome.
Ranma had walked her home. He had chosen to spend time with
her, and that had made her feel so happy. Even the lingering stiffness
and remnants of pain in her body was a small price to pay for that
shining time. She hugged herself lightly, the treasured memory of
Ranma's all-too-brief time with her making her feel joyous. She would
face a thousand fights with Akane Tendou to have more time with
him, to have him walk home with her again.
Kodachi got out of bed and padded over to the window, opening it
to feel the morning breeze wafting in. She inhaled deeply, smelling
the sweet scent of her mother's blooming roses from the garden two
stories below. It was strangely appropriate for her mood. *I am like a
newly-budded rose,* thought Kodachi, inhaling the fragrant scent of
the flowers once again. *I have awakened to a new life, and it is a
wonderful one, filled with possibilities.*
As she leaned on the windowsill, Kodachi heard the family car
departing from the front of the house, taking her brother to classes.
She briefly looked at the clock on the wall of her room and wondered
why he was leaving so early. *Perhaps my brother has a morning
meeting with the members of that silly Duelists Club of his,* she
thought with a smile. She felt a little guilty for having the day to
herself to relax like this, but it would allow her time to plan her
strategy for next week.
"Now, whatever shall I wear today?" Kodachi asked to the air,
opening the door to her walk-in closet, itself the size of a typical
Tokyo studio apartment. She hummed lightly to herself as she
considered some of her more casual outfits. Her gaze passed by
several silken and lace outfits in one area, and she blushed lightly at
the thought of modeling such things for Ranma, astonished at herself
for thinking such brazen things about him. She felt rather naughty but
also happy to imagine the look on his face to see her dressed in such
nightwear, her only desire to please him.
Kodachi finally pulled out a soft kimono to wear, her thoughts now
filling with thoughts of Ranma, and a brief fantasy of the heinous
beating that she fully intended to bestow upon Akane Tendou when
next they met. Both were a source of contentment to her.
******************************
***** Earth #0001-812
Ranko Saotome was quite excited by the potentials that this day
offered as she finished getting ready for classes. After many weeks of
chasing down a large number of blind alleys, she had finally managed
to come up with the proper mixture of rare earth elements that made
up the composition of the quantum flux coil. Yesterday, showing just
how much of a genius that she was, she even managed to obtain her
first solid synchronization lock with her new coil, one made using the
last of her available materials. Today, she was going to make history
and show the world how brilliant that she was.
Carrying the last of breakfast into the dining area, Ranko gave her
mother a sullen look, an act that had become all too common an
occurrence, before settling at her usual place for meals. She grumbled
under her breath as she served breakfast to her family, her punishment
for her resistance to her mother's wishes. Bridal training, the term
made Ranko want to gag. Nodoka narrowed her eyes slightly at the
continuing brazen willfulness of her only daughter and quietly picked
up her bowl of rice. Ranko immediately began eating after giving a
whispered thanks for the food, and Nodoka shortly joined her. She
purposely ate a little faster than was proper for a young lady, but not
fast enough to earn a comment from her mother, apparently testing
Nodoka's limits.
Genma sat at his usual place at the table, the quiet patriarch of the
Saotome household. When his wife and daughter were at odds, he
knew that he dare not utter a single word of comment to either of the
two extremely strong-willed women in his life. That lesson had been
learned when they both took umbrage at his reasonable suggestions,
and he had eaten raw seaweed and sushi for a month. Genma wisely
ignored them and quietly hid behind his morning paper. He was
convinced that his life would have been much easier, if only Ranko
had been born a boy.
*Damn women and their foolishness,* grumbled Genma in the
privacy of his thoughts. He peeked at the two women over the top of
his newspaper for a moment, noting the angry glares that Ranko kept
giving to her mother every now and then. *Things would be a lot
happier if only Nodoka would leave well enough alone. An arranged
marriage will not make Ranko into a better girl. Where does my wife
get these silly notions?*
Nodoka sat at her place at the table and quietly simmered with
anger at her daughter. Genma had taken their little girl from her to
train as a scholar, but he failed to teach her the proper manners that a
young lady of noble breeding should have. Determined to correct all
of the 'flaws' in Ranko's demeanor, she knew that marriage was
exactly what was needed to straighten her daughter out. After all, her
marriage to Genma calmed her down, and she was never that wild and
willful as an unmarried girl, Nodoka noted to herself firmly. And it
was that very same thought fueling her determination to find the right
husband for her only daughter.
*Ranko wouldn't even look at any of the portfolios that that nice
Mitsuma-san gave me,* thought Nodoka as she sipped her tea. *Even
the one on that handsome-looking Tendou boy. He sounds like he has
a fine future in the Empire ahead of him, and his family is of excellent
background.* The Tendou boy being younger than Ranko, even by a
few days, was worrisome at their young ages though. How would
Ranko handle being the mature, responsible one in the relationship,
when the boy would expect her to obey his every whim? She calmly
looked over at Genma, but he was currently still under retreat behind
his newspaper wall. Nodoka sighed softly. *What is a mother to do?
A son would have been so much easier to manage.*
*Where the hell does Mom get off trying to set me up with some
loser guy like Kaneda Tendou?* Ranko thought fiercely as she filled
her mouth with another bite of food and chewed quickly. *After all,
I'm smarter than that macho idiot is by a long shot, and I beat him in
every fight we have. Stupid Kaneda! Why can't I just meet some nice
guy? I'm sure that would get Mom off my back.* She swallowed her
rice and tried very hard to forget the vivid image of a completely
naked Kaneda staring at her in the locker room. On her first day some
joker had switched the signs on the doors, and she had walked into the
men's side by mistake.
After Ranko had gotten over her initial surprise, beating up Kaneda
in a rapid flurry of blows in the process of dealing with her shock, she
had run out of the locker room like she was on fire. Her face had been
as bright red as her hair, and she had sworn to get even with whoever
had pulled such a nasty prank on her. Kaneda's older sister Nabiki
had been very sympathetic and had offered to help her after that, and
the young scholar girl was grateful, even though she didn't trust the
other girl very much at the time and still didn't care to turn her back
on the middle Tendou child. Nabiki had later told her that she was
never able to uncover the true identity of the mysterious prankster, to
Ranko's great disappointment.
However, Kaneda had apparently not taken well to being beaten up
by a girl, as far as Ranko could tell, and that had begun their regular
series of fights. Ever since that first memorable meeting in the locker
room, almost every morning or afternoon, and sometimes both times,
Kaneda would challenge her to fights, ones that she had always won.
Ranko continued them because they were good training for her martial
arts skills, and the chances to beat up Kaneda were rather therapeutic
to her. *And this was the guy that Mom thought that I might marry?
Kaneda Tendou is about the last guy that I could ever see myself with,
the stupid, macho, jerk!*
After she finished eating, Ranko quietly waited at the table until her
parents finished eating and then took all of the dishes into the kitchen.
She left them soaking in the sink so that she can clean them when she
returned home in the afternoon. That task finished, she mumbled a
few brief words of farewell to her parents and headed for the front
door. She totally ignored her mother eyeing her, their battle of wills
continuing unabated. Ranko slipped on her shoes, picked up her bag
from its position by the door, and left the house quietly.
Nodoka watched her daughter leave out through the front gate
before turning to face her husband. "Genma," she softly sighed at
him. "Why can't I get through to the girl?" There was no response,
only a slight rustling of the newspaper. Nodoka counted to ten slowly,
a faint twitch of anger in her right eye, an expression that her daughter
duplicated exactly during her own times of stress. "Genma?" Her tone
of voice was dangerous now.
"Yes, dear," murmured Genma absently, his attention focused on
the business section of the newspaper. There was an all-too-brief
period of silence from beyond the paper barrier. Some sixth sense
caused him to look up to see his wife glaring at him with one of her
less pleasant looks. A nervous swallow suddenly filled his throat. He
folded the newspaper up calmly, knowing that Nodoka had been
slowly growing increasingly more and more volatile over the weeks
since he and Ranko had returned home. The image of the perfect
daughter that she kept trying to cram Ranko into was the main cause
of her stress. For the life of him, Genma couldn't understand why she
so often blamed him for Ranko's failures.
"Genma Saotome," said Nodoka in a chilly tone of voice. Her gaze
pierced right through Genma's soul, as it always had. "I expect you to
pay attention to me when I speak to you. Now, what are you going to
do about your daughter?"
"Do?" asked Genma in surprise. "What do you mean, Nodoka-
chan? Ranko's just going through a period of adjustment. She'll be
more amenable to the idea of marriage if you leave it be for awhile."
He started to pick up his newspaper again, confident that he had dealt
with the problem satisfactorily. Nodoka's hand slammed down on the
paper, the twitch back in her eye.
"Genma..." said Nodoka in a rising tone of voice, a warning of an
imminent storm. "This is not a matter to be taken lightly! I want you
to talk to the girl and make her see reason. An arranged marriage is
what is expected of her. What is best for her. Don't you agree?"
"Of course, Nodoka-chan," Genma said in a soothing tone of voice,
placing his hand over hers. "You know that I only want what is best
for our daughter. Why don't you show me some of the portfolios that
the matchmaker gave you?"
With a sudden smile, Nodoka stood up from the table and went to
gather the requested materials. *Genma will back me on this,* she
thought happily as she gathered up papers. *Ranko's spent too much
time away from the Empire, soaking up foreign ideas about what is
proper. I should have taken care of this years ago. Instead, I now
have to deal with a defiant teenaged girl while I conduct a search for
my future son-in-law.*
******************************
Ranko kicked a stone from her path as she walked dejectedly down
the street, and she briefly watched it shoot over the fence to land with
a small splash in the drainage canal that paralleled her path to the
Academy. A few moments later, she noticed she was being followed.
Whirling around, she faced him.
*Great,* she sighed heavily upon recognizing him. *Just what I
needed today.*
Pleased that his mere appearance had apparently taken the words
from Ranko's lips, leaving her speechless with admiration for him,
Tatewaki Kunou walked forward. His Whitehall Academy uniform
was freshly pressed, and a bouquet of red roses was in his hands. He
had a broad smile on his face, quite the opposite to the put upon look
that Ranko now wore.
"My lady love," said Kunou smoothly, pressing the flowers into
Ranko's hands with a well-practiced move. "I can continue on for yet
another day, now that mine eyes have beheld thy beauty once again. It
would be the greatest honor if you would allow me to be your escort
through these streets." He stepped back and smiled very warmly at
her. His ever-present bokken was at his side, thrust through his belt in
a near semblance of the manner that samurai wore a katana.
Ranko heaved another put upon sigh and tried to ignore the brief
tingling that had run up her arm from the brief contact with Kunou's
hand. *I don't need this after putting up with Mom last night and this
morning,* she thought, anger growing within her. *Why can't this
moron just take a hint? Do I have to beat him up to get him to back
off from me?* She attempted to distract herself by sniffing the flowers
as she turned around, missing the brief, calculating look that crossed
Kunou's face.
*It is as Sanzenin-kun said,* thought Kunou as he gazed at the
beautiful girl standing before him. *The way to capture a woman's
heart and soul is to be gentle, yet insistent. I will restrain the passions
that flare so brightly within me for thee, oh beauteous Ranko, for as
long as is required for thy heart to turn to me. Nothing in this world
shall stand in my path of conquest of your heart, not even my own
unfulfilled desires and yearnings.* He watched her, feeling a longing
to hold the redhead burning within him that was almost beyond his
ability to withstand. Almost, but not quite.
A brief memory of the first time that Kunou had seen her on the
street filled his mind's eye for a moment. Ranko had walked past him
while he was shopping for a present for Asuka Saginomiya, reading a
book with half of her attention as she strolled along. It was not until
she had passed within a few feet of him that he had received a vision,
like the heavens had opened up to him and bathed her in a golden sort
of light that only he could see. It was something that he had only once
before beheld, when he had first laid eyes upon Asuka, but she was
now forgotten. In that single instant all of his previous thoughts about
the White Lily vanished like smoke in a hurricane.
Ranko had sensed something different around her and had looked
up to see Kunou gazing at her. Their eyes had met, and a brief spark
of electricity seemed to pass between then. She had angrily stamped
down on her unexpectedly strong feelings for the stranger eyeing her,
the memory of her first boyfriend souring her on the idea of having a
boy in her life again so soon. *Love at first sight is for idiots and
suckers,* she had thought as she purposely broke eye contact and
stalked away.
Kunou had come within a hair's breadth of sweeping her up in his
arms and declaring his undying love for her. It was only due to the
unexpectedly thick press of the crowd coming between them that had
prevented it. By the time he had freed himself from the embrace of the
crowd, Ranko had disappeared. But she had been wearing her blue
uniform from the Imperial Academy, and that had given him a place
to start.
*Fortune smiled on me indeed that day when I encountered the
beautiful mercenary, Nabiki Tendou, and learned the name of my one,
true love,* Kunou thought with a wistful sigh. He had felt a similar
sensation to that of his first sighting of Ranko, when he had touched
Nabiki's hand as he gave her several thousand-yen notes. *My love
was sorely tested that day indeed, when I was tempted by another
woman who was so fair indeed.* Yet the thought hovered in the back
of his mind, to take them both for himself. It was a pleasant one.
"Whatever," said Ranko finally, deciding to humor her love-smitten
suitor. "You can walk with me if you want to." She turned her feet in
the direction of the Academy and began walking. Kunou immediately
fell into place at her side, his hand on the hilt of his weapon as if eager
to draw it in her defense. It was almost charming to her how eager
that the young noble was in trying to please her. It was also more than
a little annoying to Ranko to have a man look at her that way, as if she
was just some fragile thing that needed protecting. Such an attitude
chafed her sensibilities.
As the two walked away, a pair of figures silently emerged from a
nearby alleyway. Blonde hair framed a coldly beautiful face as Asuka
Saginomiya, also known as the White Lily, watched her unexpected
and secretly detested rival for the affections of the young samurai. She
turned back to look at her companion, Kodachi Kunou, who was now
eyeing Ranko with a malevolent gaze.
"How long has this been going on, Kodachi-chan?" asked Asuka in
a calm tone of voice, as if she was asking about the weather. Kodachi
frowned and thought for a moment.
"For over two weeks now," replied Kodachi. "I did not think it was
anything serious though, until last night."
"Last night?" asked Asuka, arching an eyebrow.
"He asked my father and mother to approach the Saotome's about
arranging a marriage with the little harlot," said Kodachi coldly. "As
if someone such as that could wed into the noble Kunou family. She is
nothing but common street trash, despite my brother's many claims
about the noble blood that she descends from. I absolutely refuse to
accept someone like her into my family. My dearly beloved brother
would be much happier with someone like you, my friend, a daughter
of one of the Noble Families."
"Of course he would," said Asuka, primping slightly as she smiled.
"The higher nobility should stick to its own, and not associate with the
lesser-born in such a fashion." She refused to admit it except in the
privacy of her own thoughts, but the new object of Kunou's affections
might even be better built than she herself was, and that irritated her a
great deal. She turned to face her companion with a smile. "I thank
you for bringing this small matter to my attention, Kodachi-chan. I
shall deal with the little cow in a manner that is suitable for one of my
exceptional personal abilities." Asuka cracked her knuckles and
smiled, anticipating with pleasure the severe beating that she would
give to Ranko after classes today. "You won't be disappointed, my
friend. I shall grind this Ranko Saotome wench into a fine paste.
After all, am I not the greatest fighter from among all of the cadets
attending Blackhall Academy?"
"You are, Asuka-chan," said Kodachi quickly. "Ranko Saotome
will fall before you. Then you can claim my brother back for yourself
and do with him as before." She smiled at the blonde girl.
"A perfect plan, indeed," said Asuka with a sparkle in her eyes. "A
pity that the fight won't last long though. I do sometimes long to have
a true challenge to my abilities."
The two young noblewomen looked at each other briefly and then
laughed in a matching manner.
******************************