Howdy!
Well, to everyone who was expecting yet another Ronin Summer chapter... this
needed to come out first. It was just an idea I felt like getting started
on, and I don't think it's been done that often before. I'll be getting to
work on Ronin Summer 4 in a few days, and try to run both series at the same
time. Consider this news as good or bad as you want it to be, and try to
enjoy this
while you wait. C&C is, as always, appreciated greatly.
And we're off! ^_^
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-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER : As if you didn't know, Ranma 1/2 is the
creation of Rumiko Takahashi. It is currently owned by Viz Video
and Viz Comics, as well as Kitty Video in Japan. All of the
characters here are copyrighted, trademarked, and completely
NOT MINE. I am protected only by the fact that Takahashi-sama is
FAR too nice a person to sue me. ^_^
THE PATH
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction
by Morgan Hudson (dataraven_659@excite.com)
"The path of a true martial artist is fraught with perils..."
-Soun Tendo
Chapter One : Where Journeys Begin...
"I'm home!" Akane Tendo groaned as she slid her shoes off and
padded into the strangely empty house. "Dad?" Silence answered, as
she walked towards the kitchen. "Kasumi, have you seen..." The girl's
voice trailed off as she entered the room. The stove was off, the pots
were still in the cupboards, and her older sister was nowhere to be
seen. "Kasumi?"
Slowly, and with an expression of concern on her face, Akane
walked up the stairs, each step creaking in protest as she began
searching the upper floor. "Ranma? Mr. Saotome?"
No response. Akane folded her arms and scowled. "Where is
everybody? This isn't funny!"
"Oh, no... oh, no... this is horrible..." A wizened old
voice floated through the air, and Akane's scowl turned into a hidden
smile. Happosei! He'd know what was going on, and he'd tell her if she
had to squeeze it out of him! Setting her jaw, the girl stormed over
to the old pervert's room and opened the door.
A three-foot tall old man was rooting through a thick wooden
box, his bald head gleaming in the afternoon sun as it filtered through
his window. A pile of scrolls and books dwarfed the dimunitive master
of Anything-Goes, and he seemed to have completely missed the
appearance of his favorite glomping target.
"This is horrible indeed," he grumbled to himself, bouncing
across the room, "horrible! Tomeo Kumogen, after all these years!
I have to help those two morons..."
Two morons? Akane's eyes widened. He must mean Dad and Mr.
Saotome! She rushed into the room, but the little man had already
hopped out the window, and was long gone. What was going on here?
Carefully, the youngest Tendo daughter brushed aside some
scrolls and looked into the box Happosei had been rummaging through.
Maybe there were some answers in here...
The book drew her attention immediately. She wasn't even sure
why : it was far from the most impressive tome in Happosei's collection
of ancient scrolls, just a battered leather notebook, not that
different from Akane's own diary. A brass clasp held the book shut,
and Akane's fingers seemed to unsnap it of their own accord.
Suddenly, she looked around suspiciously. Happosei could come
popping out the woodwork and grab her at any second... this wasn't
the best place to get caught reading his manuscripts alone. Tucking the
book into the front of her school dress, Akane snuck carefully out of
the room.
**********
Kasumi Tendo tossed her long ponytail back over her shoulder
and somehow balanced three grocery bags at once. "We're nearly there,
Ranma!" She chirped merrily, and a walking pile of packages behind her
gave muffled thanks to the gods. He was used to hard training, but this
was ridiculous.
"Oh my, it seems Akane is home." Kasumi smiled gently as
she set her packages down on the counter and almost instinctively
moved Akane's schoolbag from the tabletop to its proper place next to
the door. "I wonder how her tutoring is going..."
The pile of bags trembled slightly, then self-destructed,
spilling all over the table and revealing a handsome young man in
Chinese clothes, his long black hair tied back in a pigtail. "Who
cares? Not me!"
"Well," Kasumi said calmly as she tied an apron over her yellow
blouse and blue skirt, "could you please tell her and Mr. Saotome that
dinner will be ready in a few minutes?"
"Sure, sure..." Ranma wandered off into the house, hands in his
pockets. "Yo, AKANE! Where ya hiding?"
**********
In the attic, Akane slowly cracked open the old book, coughing
as a cloud of dust rose from its interior. Every yellowed page was
covered in the familiar pinched scrawl of her father, and she was
surprised to find a pair of pictures stuck to the front cover. One, as
she saw when she lifted it closer to the light, was of two strange
young men in school uniforms standing in front of an old shrine. The
taller of the two carried a long spear on his shoulder, and wore
glasses. His hair was dark and short, with the exception of a long
rat tail that was draped over one shoulder. His partner was shorter,
and solidly built, with a bandanna around his neck and a
devil-may-care grin that reminded her of Ranma.
"Hey!" Loud coughing ensued, and an incredibly dusty Ranma
Saotome crawled up the ladder into the attic. "What're you doing up
here, Akane? Kasumi's making dinner!"
"Oh, uhm..." Akane quickly hid the book behind her back.
"Nothing!"
Ranma sat next to her, folding his legs under him and raising
an eyebrow. "Uh-huh, yeah, sure. What 'cha reading?"
Akane blushed. "It's, uhm... one of Happosei's old books.
Nothing special, really..."
"Right." Ranma snorted. So she was trying to teach herself
some tricks from one of the old perv's books, huh? Well, no way he'd
let HER know something about the Art that HE didn't! "Why don't you
read it out loud, then? We got time."
Akane gulped. Ranma wanted her to read to him? That was so...
so sweet, almost like something a real couple might do! Could that
mean...? "Uh, okay, sure!" She opened the book, and started reading.
**********
January 17, 1965
Thunder rolled across the third field of Furinkan High as the
two students faced each other. A throng of classmates surrounded the
pair, murmuring and whispering. The rumours of this fight had been
circulating through school all week : the greatest martial artist in
Furinkan, engaged in an actual duel with the mysterious new kid. Class
bookies had been taking bets since last Saturday, and currently the
odds were even as to who would win.
Silence fell as the school champion stepped forward to speak.
His long tail of black hair waved dramatically in the howling wind as
he planted his spear firmly into the grass before him. "This is your
final chance, stranger," he stated boldly, a flash of lightning
reflecting off of his glasses. "Back down now, or face the vengeance
of heaven itself! Recant thy foul and insidious slander against the
glorious Megami Toshiro, and you may yet live to see another day."
The new kid sneered and took off his school jacket. "Man, you
gotta be kiddin' me. All I do is ask some chick out, and you get a
stick up your butt! What's your problem, buddy?"
"Buddy?" The crowd gasped as their champion scowled. "I am
the undefeated champion of this school's karate club! The rising new
star of the high school fencing world! The sound of my voice strikes
fear into the hearts of my enemies..." A peal of thunder rang out, and
lightning flashed. "My peers call me the Crimson Lightning of Furinkan
High!" The boy bowed slightly, lifting his spear into a ready
position. "Soun Tendo, age... sixteen."
The stranger chuckled. "What, did you swallow a dictionary?"
Reaching up, he tightened the bandanna around his neck and extended
one hand. "Name's Genma Saotome... nice to beat ya!"
Soun reached out to shake the shorter boy's hand, and Genma
promptly kicked him in the shin, pulling on his arm and tossing him
into the mud. The first drops of rain began to fall as Soun leapt to
his feet and charged, swinging at Genma with the haft of his spear.
The boy ducked, and punched Soun in the stomach.
The fight went on for nearly an hour, as the rain began to fall
harder and harder. Soon, the entire field was little more than a bog,
and both boys were coated from head to foot in muck. Undaunted, the
two continued to struggle, even as most of their audience drifted away
to their nice, dry homes. The spear stood several feet away, completely
forgotten by the two young men wrestling in what was rapidly becoming a
giant mud puddle.
"I shall... NEVER surrender, Saotome!" Soun hissed, rolling on
top and forcing his opponent's face into the mud. Genma responded by
grabbing a handful of the slimy topsoil and hurling it into Soun's
face. The taller boy gagged and fell over backwards, wiping at his
eyes with both hands as Genma struggled to his feet and lunged,
tackling Soun and headbutting him with a loud crack.
"Ahem!" Both boys suddenly looked up to realise that they were
completely alone in the field, with one noticeable exception : an
aristocratic old man in a business suit, carrying an umbrella in one
hand and a thick sheaf of manila folders in the other.
"Hello, Principal Ono," the boys chorused in disgust.
**********
"Huh!" Ranma crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.
"My old man was a real jerk when he was our age!"
Akane bit her lip. I will NOT say it, she told herself. I may
be THINKING it, but I will not say it.
"I mean, fighting over some girl... how stupid can you get?"
Ranma continued, completely missing the irony. "And why was Mr. Tendo
such a drip? I mean, he sounds almost as bad as that Kuno dolt..."
"Fine, Ranma! If you don't want to read this with me, just go
away! I'll read it myself!" Akane turned her back on the pig-tailed
martial artist, sniffing imperiously.
Ah, geez... Ranma groaned. He had gone and done it again. Akane
had actually been acting nice to him while they were reading, and now
he'd gone and screwed it up as usual. Why did she always have to be so
sensitive? "Akane," he tried, "let me see the book." Maybe it would
give him some tips on handling Tendos, or at least a few embarassing
stories about the old man.
"Really?" Akane smiled shyly and handed the book to Ranma,
carefully leaning her head on his shoulder as he opened the book and
picked up where she had left off.
**********
"Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome." Principal Ono shook his head
solemnly as he sat at his desk and glared at the two mud puppies
trembling in front of him. "You two think you're very special, don't
you?"
"No, sir." Soun was studying his shoes, while Genma's eyes
darted around like a rat trying to find the way out of a cage.
Principal Ono shook his head and opened the folders before him.
"Oh, but you are, Mr. Tendo. In fact, you've set a school
record for most consecutive kendo victories, most championship
trophies... and most times caught fighting on school property." Soun
had the good grace to look a little embarassed before Principal Ono
turned his attention to the other pile of turf.
"As for you, Mr. Saotome... well! You're practically royalty!
The King of the Troublemakers, you are. Five schools in four years, and
more reprimands for misconduct than I would have believed existed, had
I not seen an equal number in Mr. Tendo's file over here."
Genma shrugged. "Hey, I ain't never started no fights!"
Principal Ono raised an eyebrow. "And yet, somehow, you draw
them like a magnet. Am I supposed to believe this is hereditary? I
think not." He snorted. "You two," he concluded, "are troublemakers.
Troublemakers and delinquents, and I will not have such students in my
school! We at Furinkan have a long reputation of respectability and
stability! If we let students such as yourselves run loose, chaos
will soon follow."
"Yes, Principal Ono," the boys chorused.
"And," the principal continued, "if I learn you two have been
fighting ANYWHERE, for ANY reason, I will immediately expel you both.
Am I making myself absolutely clear?"
"Yes, Principal Ono," the boys chorused.
"Now get out of my sight," he finished, "and for heaven's sake
clean yourselves up. A little water never hurt anybody."
**********
"This is all your fault," Genma said over the hissing of the
gym showers. "I just transferred here, and you already got me in
trouble! What kind of kid gets picks a fight on the first day at
school? My mother's gonna KILL me!"
"Silence, vermin," Soun growled as he ducked his head under
the shower's stream and washed the mud out of his hair, "lest I forget
our vow to the Principal and smite thee where you stand!"
"And that's another thing," Genma said, rubbing a bar of soap
in his hands and lathering them up, "how come you talk so funny? It's
like you think you're some guy in one of those samurai movies or
somethin'."
"I merely speak with refinement, something gutter trash such as
yourself couldn't possibly understand."
"Hey, you just watch it, pal!" Genma threw down his soap and
lifted his fists. "Just 'cause I said I wouldn't thrash you again
doesn't mean you can call me names!"
"Thrash me?" Soun laughed. "Surely you jest, Saotome. I would
have certainly given you the drubbing you deserve had Principal Ono
not rescued you." Reaching out, he turned the shower off with a squeak
and walked over to the change room, scrubbing his hair dry with a
thick white towel.
Genma's shower squeaked off moments later, and the boy stormed
into the change room, hands on his hips. "What the hell do you mean?
Ain't no way you were gonna beat me, Tendo. Not ever."
Soun chuckled as he pulled on his gym shorts, the only clean
clothing available. "If you're so certain, how about a rematch?"
"A rematch?" Genma blinked as he propped one foot on the
bench and began tying his shoes. "But I thought you said..."
"Not a fight, you fool." Soun smiled devilishly. "Come to my
family's dojo, and we shall settle this like gentlemen. A game of
shogi."
**********
Kasumi's voice broke Ranma and Akane from the spell the story
was casting over them. "Ranma! Akane! Dinner!" There was the sound
of footsteps, and Akane's older sister climbed the stairs and
sneezed. "Oh, my! It's so musty and dirty up here, Akane. You really
shouldn't hang around such awful places... why, you'd catch a cold!"
Akane sighed. As of tomorrow, she knew, the attic would be
spotlessly gleaming, and smell vaguely of lemon, like every other part
of the house. Her sister was like that.
Kasumi leaned over and looked at the book in Ranma's hands.
"Why, Ranma! Wherever did you get one of father's old journals?"
"Kasumi?" Akane looked at her sister in confusion. "You know
about this book?"
"Oh, yes! Father used to have a great many of them. All about
his travels and his training with Mr. Saotome... it sounded so very
exciting..." Kasumi smiled sadly. "But he never let me read them. He
said it wasn't fitting for a young lady of my age." She let her fingers
trail over the cover of the book. "I haven't even seen any of these
since I was a very little girl... I thought for sure that father had
destroyed them..."
Ranma shrugged. "Well, you wanna read for a bit? My eyes are
starting to bug me anyway..."
Kasumi blinked in surprise. "Oh! I don't know... maybe, after
dinner..."
"Dinner can wait, Kasumi! We'll heat it up later!" Akane handed
her sister the book, and Kasumi slowly opened it to the first page and
started reading silently to herself. After catching up, she cleared
her throat and began to read aloud.
**********
The shogi board was perfectly set on the low table between the
two. Soun, playing black, went first. After examining the board, he
carefully lifted one of his pieces between his index and middle
fingers, and slapped it down. Genma smirked.
"You sure you wanna put that there, Tendo?"
"Be silent and play, you wretch!" Soun crossed his arms and
watched as Genma insolently picked a piece almost at random, and placed
it directly next to his own. That fiend! He was trying to build a
ladder : it was the most basic tactic in Go, and one that usually wound
up splitting the board evenly. In this case, it would force Soun to
take far less territory than he preferred : losing him the game.
Soun grinned. Well, he'd show that knave! He wasn't going to
fall for the trap. Instead, his next piece went on almost the
exact opposite side of the board. Let the fool worry about blocking me
on two fronts, Soun thought, and we'll see who outmaneuvers whom.
The game went back and forth for the next several hours, and
Soun Tendo began to get frustrated. He turned around to check the
clock, and when he looked back, the board seemed... different, somehow.
Was this uncouth lout cheating? Soun tried desperately to remember
where he had put his last twenty pieces, but drew a blank. Well, two
can cheat as well as one, he thought to himself, and smiled.
"Saotome, are you thirsty?"
Genma shrugged. "I dunno. A little. You wanna go get us some
tea?" Hey, if Soun was going to be dumb enough to leave him alone
with the board, Genma figured, it was hardly his fault for taking
advantage of the oppurtunity...
"No." Soun grinned. "Not that I don't trust you, of course,
but it's bad luck to leave the table during a game, don't you know.
I'll have my mother bring us refreshments."
Genma nodded. "Okay..." he looked up to speak to Soun's
mother, who was smiling down at the two boys. "Can I have my tea plain?
I'm kind of a traditionalist at heart..." Soun took advantage of the
other boy's distraction to judiciously rearrange some key pieces.
Genma looked back at the board and blinked. Hadn't he already
moved all of those pieces out of order? Maybe he had only been planning
to, and hadn't gotten around to it... well, he'd just wait until Soun
checked the clock again.
**********
"Wow," Ranma said drily, "intense... shogi... action."
"Be quiet, Ranma!" Akane punched her fiancee in the shoulder.
"It'll get better! Give it time!"
"Owwww... can't you ever take a joke?"
**********
"Well," Genma muttered as the two boys walked back to school,
"we played shogi all weekend, and all we proved was that we're both
lousy cheaters. That was a great plan Soun. I'm really impressed."
"Be silent, Genma." Soun shouldered his spear and glanced over
at the boy walking next to him. "And I wasn't cheating."
Genma smirked. "You tried to eat my pieces, Soun. Either
you're a really bad cheater, or you're a really hungry idiot."
Soun chuckled a little. "Mayhap, but YOU'RE the one who tried
to convince me we were playing the opposite colours!"
"YOU'RE the one who believed me!" Genma shrugged. "All I did
was take advantage of you being dumb. I hardly call that cheating!"
Soun started to laugh out loud. "And... and when I turned the
table around when you weren't looking... and you FELL for it..."
Genma leaned against the wall and laughed until he couldn't
even stand up straight. "That was a CLASSIC! And what about when I
'accidentally' knocked all the pieces off the board?"
Soun fell to his knees and clutched his stomach, laughing
until tears streamed down his face. "Oh, stop it! That one was
fantastic! I have got to remember that one for next time!"
"Yeah..." Genma chuckled, and wiped a tear from his eye.
"Anyway," Soun said, picking up his spear from where he had
dropped it, "we had best get to class, before Principal Ono..."
"Ah, forget about that dried up old prune! Let's cut class
today!" Genma grinned and put his arm around the taller boy's
shoulders. "I heard about this shrine on the outskirts of town that
everybody says is haunted by demons. Wanna go?"
Soun bit his lip. "That seems unwise..."
"Oh, is the big bad martial artist afraid of a few ghosts and
goblins?" Genma began to make clucking noises.
"Cut that out, I just don't want to get in trouble..."
"Soun, you're missing the point!" Genma smacked himself in
the forehead. "Girls, man. GIRLS! If we can find this old shrine, we
have the perfect place to take girls when we... you know... wanna be,
like, alone and stuff."
"OH..." Soun's eyes widened. "Well, if there truly ARE demons,
I suppose it would be my duty as a martial artist to get rid of
them..."
"Go with that thought, Soun old buddy!" Genma laughed. "This
plan is so perfect! Nothing can possibly go wrong!"
**********
"HAH!" Ranma laughed. "And you call ME a pervert? Our pops were
a million times worse than me!"
"I wonder if there really are demons in the shrine?" Kasumi
asked, turning ahead a few pages.
"I wonder who Tomeo Kumogen is, and when he's going to show
up." Akane said frankly. "Happosei mentioned that name, and I could
have sworn this was the book he was looking at..."
**********
"Careful, Tendo," Genma cautioned as Soun pushed his way
through the underbrush, spear held at the ready. "There could be
monsters anywhere! Lurking in the branches, hiding under the ground,
maybe even right behind you! AAH!"
"You're not funny, Saotome. You think you're funny, but you
just aren't." Soun cast an irritated glance over his shoulder and
continued moving through the thick forest. "There had best be a shrine
out here," he complained, "because with the bus ride and the hiking,
we'll be gone all day. Are we even still in Japan?"
"LOOK OUT!" Genma suddenly cried, and ducked.
"Oh, what now? You and your stupid jokes..." Soun turned
around, and was kicked in the face by the ninja who had dropped from
the trees. He crossed his eyes, giggled slightly, then collapsed.
Genma squawked. "Listen, I don't know this guy, we barely even
met before today, I mean he was trying to kill me just last week..."
The ninja raised one hand. "Shut up, you're bugging me. Just
tell me where the shrine of Karamori is, all right?"
"Karamori?" Genma chuckled nervously. "What a coincidence!
My friend and I were just heading there ourselves. He's a martial
artist, see, and he got this damn fool idea that he should..."
"Wait." The ninja shook his head. "You... are martial artists
also? And you seek to destroy the Nameless One?"
"Uhm... if that's what you heard, then sure, okay."
The ninja nodded to himself. "Good... I had feared I would face
this evil alone." He bowed. "Tomeo Kurenai, of the Kumogen clan. I am
honoured to make your acquaintance."
Genma bowed in return, thinking quickly. "Uh... Genma Saotome,
and my friend there is Soun Tendo. We're from the Tendo Dojo in
Nerima." Well, he said to himself, we are FROM the Dojo. That's where
we started this morning.
"Very well then, Genma Saotome and Soun Tendo. Will you allow
this humble warrior to join you in your quest to contain the Nameless
One?"
"Uhm... if that's what we're doing..." Hey, Genma figured,
never argue with a ninja.
**********
"Oh, man," Ranma groaned. "The more things change..."
"So THAT'S Tomeo Kumogen," Akane murmered. "I wonder what he
would have to do with our fathers today... and where are they?"
"Put the book away, Akane," Kasumi said gently, "it's time for
dinner now, and then we go to bed. We can read more in the morning."
"I suppose," Akane admitted, and tucked the book back into
her dress. After Kasumi and Ranma had already headed downstairs, she
quickly tucked the two photos into her pocket and followed after them.
**********
After changing into her pajamas for bed, and hunting in vain
for her darling P-Chan, Akane snuggled under the covers and pulled out
the two photos. The first, of the two young men, she smiled at for
a moment and flipped over. There, on the back, was scrawled 'Soun Tendo
and Genma Saotome : friends forever'.
"Good night Dad," she whispered, "and good-night Mr. Saotome.
Wherever you are, and whatever you're doing."
Then she pulled free the second photograph. It was of a very
beautiful woman, with long flowing brown hair, who had a familiar
smirk. A few years younger, and with shorter hair, she would almost
have looked like Nabiki. "Good night, Mom." Akane whispered, and
turned out the light.
TO BE CONTINUED...