Ranma 1/2
- The Code of Honor
by TKHM
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and Sakura Taisen are owned by their respective
owners.
The Code of Honor
by TKHM
Part 2 - Cherry Blossom
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Sakura Shinguji, or more accurately, Sakura Oogami, was crying
against her husband, Ichirou Oogami's shoulder. They were in a room
listening to the radio. The year was 1945.
"It's time for us to bear the unbearable." The voice from the
radio said.
World War Two was finally over, after the destruction of two
cities by the atomic bombs. The Oogami family had never really approved
of the military's decision of invasion, but Ichirou Oogami was only a
captain, and was powerless to persuade the government to do otherwise.
Sakura looked up at the husband with teary eyes.
"It's really ironic that we saved this country from demons
all those years ago, only to have it falling apart in the hands of
its own officers....." she paused before adding: "...and two bombs."
"I know Sakura-chan." Oogami replied. "But we have done
our part protecting this country from demons, and we have tried in every
way
possible to stop the military from attacking. We've done our best to
serve
this country. We should not be ashamed."
"It's just so....unfair!" Sakura started crying on her husband's
shoulders again. "All our struggles....are in vain! Who knows the
country's
worst enermies are humans afterall?"
Oogami patted his wife on the shoulder. "Shhh. It's okay....
really..." Oogami looked at the sword in his wife's hands. "Aren't you
going to give the sword to our son?"
Sakura looked at the sword for a moment. "This is the heirloom
of the Shinguji family I inherited from my father. Since I have no
brother,
it would be the heirloom of the Oogami family from now on."
Sakura stared at the sword for a long long time. It had been
her sword for so long that she couldn't remember not having it. And now
she had to give it to her son. She was going to miss it.
"Um Sakura-chan?"
"Hmm?"
"We are going to be late for the meeting if we don't go now."
"Yes! We are going to see everybody after so many years!" Sakura
momentarily forgot the war and the sword as she ran happily out of the
door. Oogami sweatdropped. Then he walked into his son's room to wake
the
boy. It was lucky that his son survived the war, many young men were not
so lucky.
***
Shiori Oogami looked at her surroundings with a look of
puzzlement on her face. She'd just arrived in Nerima, and was surprised
to see so many holes on the walls. She glanced at her right, and saw
some knives sticking into the pavement. She shrugged and walked on,
stopping when she walked in front of a store window. She looked at her
own reflection and sighed. Her parents had said to her so many times
that
she looked just like her great grandmother when she was young. And the
funny part was that they were right. They once showed her the picture
of her great grandmother and Shiori thought it was she that was in the
picture. Even though she didn't remember taking a picture with a young
man and seven girls in some weird military uniforms. She had learned
the fighting style of her family and inherited the family sword. Her
family had even told her that it was in her blood to fight demons, but
she considered it nonsense. There was no demon in the world, just some
superstitions. She looked up, and saw that she had arrived at her
destination. She walked to the front door and knocked.
Kasumi Tendo was cooking dinner in the kitchen when she heard
the someone knocking on the door. She carefully walked around the
remains
of a chair that was destroyed by her youngest sister with Ranma's head
and
opened the door.
A teenage girl was standing in the doorway, carrying a suitcase
and a wrapped bundle. She was wearing a pink kimono with cherry blossoms
drawn on it. Very stylish. And the way her long dark blue hair was tied
into
a ponytail with a red ribbon seemed to go perfectly with her kimono. She
put down her suitcase while facing Kasumi.
"May I help you, Miss?" Kasumi asked politely.
"Yes, does Ranma Saotome live here?"
"Yes, please wait for a moment."
"Ranma-kun! Someone's here to see you." Kasumi called.
"If it's Ryouga trying to kill me, tell him to go away, I ain't
getting any time for that." Ranma called from upstairs.
"No, it's not your friend Ryouga, it's a girl." Kasumi replied.
"What? A GIRL wants to see RANMA?" Akane asked from the sitting
room. The angry girl walked to the door and faced the stranger.
"Who are you? What do you want from Ranma?"
***
Shiori was a little taken back by the anger that was directed
at her. This girl should learn some manner! She quickly composed herself
and replied in a calm, but cold voice.
"I am Ranma Saotome's fiance. Shiori Oogami."
The angry girl and turned to the boy that just came down from
upstairs.
"RAAAANNMMMAA....you didn't tell me you have HER as your
FIANCE!!"
The boy slowly retreated back with his hands waving in front of
him.
"No! No! It's not what you think! I don't know anyth..." Too
late. Ranma had already been sent through the wall by Akane's hammer.
Shiori frowned. "I don't see you have any right to hit him
like that." The angry girl's face turned red as steam started coming out
from the top of her head. "He's my fiance."
"I AM HIS FIANCE TOO BAKA!!" The angry girl then threw a
punch at Shiori's face. This girl really needed to know how to treat
a guest. Shiori jumped away to avoid the punch and unwrapped the bundle
while she was in the air. She pulled out her family sword and unsheathed
the glowing sword. It was then the angry girl charged with a straight
punch. Shiori made a couple lightling quick slashes and jumped
back. The anger on the angry girl's face slowly disappeared as a look
of bewilderment replaced it. The girl had just realized that her clothes
was
in pieces. Shiori was very careful with her sword and didn't
cut the girl at all. She sheathed her sword and stood there.
The girl was too shocked and took a step back. She failed
to see a small rock behind her and tripped, falling to the ground.
***
Ranma slowly got up from the ground, holding his head. He
looked up, and saw the stranger leaped away while unsheathing her
sword. He opened his mouth in horror when he saw the stranger used her
sword on Akane and now Akane was on the ground, obviously hurt by the
stranger...or killed.
"Akane!" With that he leaped towards the stranger and attempted
to land a kick in her face. How dare she hurt Akane like that? She'd
pay dearly.
***
Shiori looked up when she heard the boy, uh, Ranma Saotome
screaming something. She had only enough time to roll out of the way
when
he did a roundhouse kick to her shoulder, only to have it block by her
sheathed sword. She leaped back a couple feet and faced Ranma.
"Wait, why are you attacking me?" If anything, Ranma should
thank her for humuliating that angry girl who hit him. Ranma didn't
answer
though, instead he put his hands together in front of him.
"Moko Takabisha!"
Shiori's eyes widened when a blue energy ball flew towards her.
She quickly leaped to her left to avoid it. The energy ball sailed pass
her and demonished a wall behind the shocked girl.
Shiori put her hands on the handle of the sword, but couldn't
decide whether she should use it against Ranma or not. That hesistation
costed her, as Ranma landed a punch into her stomach. Shiori bent down
in
pain and dropped her sword. When she looked up again, she saw Ranma
pulled
back his fists.
"Amaguri-Ken!"
She attempted to block the quick punches with her hand, but
she wasn't fast enough. She blocked the first hundred punches, but the
other three hundreds got through her defense and she was beaten to the
ground. She gasped in pain when she felt three of her ribs broke. She
lay on the ground panting when she saw Ranma walked towards her slowly,
for the final, killing blow.
"No! Ranma! Wait!" a voice behind him called.
***
Nabiki didn't know what exactly was going on, but from where she
was standing, she clearly saw Akane tripped and fell herself while Ranma
started attacking the stranger madly. He had beaten her to the ground
and
was slowly advancing to the girl. He was going to kill her if she didn't
do
something fast. She tried to call him to stop, but her tongue failed
to do that. The calm and composed Nabiki Tendo was scared. Scared
because
it looked like Ranma was going to kill the girl. She tried to call him
to stop again, and this time, it worked.
***
"No! Ranma! Wait!"
Ranma stopped. It was Nabiki's voice. He turned, and was
immediately fascinated from what he saw. Nabiki was white like a sheet
and she was trembling too. It wasn't everyday that you see the Nabiki
like that. He shooked his head a bit and the red haze seemed to be
lifted
from his eyes.
"Akane is not hurt! She tripped and fell herself!"
Then the girl...he turned around, and saw that she was gone
with her sword. Her suitcase remained at the front door, however.
"So much for not hitting girls Ranma." Nabiki commented with
her usual sacastic tone. Ranma ignored her and looked at his hands.
There
was blood on them.
***
Shiori slowly walked on the street as tears filled her eyes.
She couldn't believe what happened. Ranma had almost killed her. She
was alone in this strange city and she couldn't make it back home with
these injuries. She looked into the dark sky in despair. Where could
she stayed? She had expected to have a place to live it after finding
Ranma, not like this. Not like this at all. It was then she realized
something.
She had left the suitcase at the Tendo Dojo!
Cursing herself silently she turned around to go back, but
was blocked by something. She fell to the ground due to her weakened
state. She cried out in pain when the pain of the broken ribs threatened
to overwhelm her.
"Going somewhere? Don't you want to have fun with us?"
***
Tatewaki Kunou was walking on the street with his photo
of his loves in his hands. Someday, someday the great Tatewaki Kunou
would defeat the evil sorceror Ranma Saotome and would save his two
true loves. For he was the great Blue Thunder! With that he raised his
bokken, and a flash of lightning was seen in the night. Just as he was
in this pose, a strong wind blew his one of his photos from his hands.
"Noooooooooo!!!!" Kunou ran off after the photos.
***
Shiori looked up, and saw three bald men standing in front of
her. Each of them was wearing a leather jacket and had a 4 feet chain on
his hands. The fat one walked near her as she tried to crawl back. He
caught her in the leg and started pulling her to himself.
"You are not going anywhere."
Shiori screamed as her ribs' condition was aggravated by
the pull. She could feel her ribs being pulled out of place and
punctured one of her lungs, causing her to cough violently. She grabbed
her sword, unsheathed it, and attempted to drive it through the fat
man's
belly. Unfortunately, the motion caused a sharp pain on her chest and
she
lost her grip on her sword. The three men laughed at her attempt of
defending herself. Shiori, with her remaining strength spent, could only
sit there helplessly. She made another cough, and discovered that she
had coughed out blood. One of the man swung his chain and hit Shiori on
the side of her head. Shiori felt a sharp jolt as her head snapped back.
She needed to focus. She could not be beaten like this.
Focus. Why was the world turning black?
The last thing Shiori saw was a picture of a girl with a red
pig-tail flying past her.
***
Kunou pushed away somebody and found the picture of his
pig-tailed goddess. It was beside an unconscious girl. He picked up
the picture and started laughing loudly in joy. Lightning flashed
over his head as he made a pose with his bokken pointing at the
sky.
Wait a minute, something didn't seem quite right.
A 'G-I-R-L' lying UNCONSCIOUS in the street?
Kunou looked at his surroundings, and saw that he was standing
between an unconscious girl and three men who were glaring at him.
"Hey sonny, you've just spoiled our fun you know that? Now we
have no choice but to turn you into a bloody pulp!"
The three men swung their chains at Kunou, but they were
blocked by Kunou's bokken. Kunou finally realized what the men were
trying to do to the girl. He held his bokken with two hands in front of
him and started his speech.
"How dare you attack an innocent girl like that? Have you no
honor? I see that you are going to defile this fair maiden. And I, the
great Blue Thunder of Furinkan, Tatewaki Kunou, shall not let this crime
go unpunished. Prepare yourselves against the vengeance from heaven!!"
Just as he was finished, he was smacked in the face by a rock.
"Enough talk sonny. What happened to you, watched too much
Sailor Moon? How about saying that you fight for love and justice, eh?"
Kunou shook his head a little bit. The rock had done minimal
damage to the great Blue Thunder because his head had been trained for
taking hits for months.
"Very well. Defend yourselves!! Strike! Strike! Strike! Strike!
Strike! Strike!........" Kunou started swinging his sword in 360 degrees
in repetition. The fat man barely knew what was happening as he was
hit on the face by the bokken. One overhead slash cut his chain, and a
horizontal slash broke his left arm. The other two men, finding their
leader beaten, charged at Kunou. Kunou's bokken cut the two chains with
the same ease and one man found his right leg broken while the other was
stabbed in the chest. And Kunou wasn't done with them yet.
They would soon find themselves in a hospital with some broken
bones.
***
"Get away from me! Get away from me!" Shiori woke up screaming.
She opened her eyes, and saw a small man in ninja outfit standing in
front
of her. She looked at herself, and saw that she was half naked. She
quickly
covered her chest with her arms and started screaming at the small man.
She
looked around, and saw that she was lying on a bed. She quickly sat up.
"What are you doing? GO AWAY!!" She tried to punch him in the
face, but she could not find any strength left in her body.
"Uh miss, I am tending your injuries." The small man replied.
He held up some bandages for her to see. "You shouldn't move around that
much, I just finished setting your ribs in the right position. Don't
worry,
you are in my madame's room."
Shiori blushed, but didn't complain anymore. He was right,
her chest didn't hurt as much now. He was pretty good with treating
injuries. The small man wrapped the bandages around her body carefully,
then
turned around and called for his master.
"Master Kunou! The lady is awake."
"Very well, Sasuke, are you finished tending her injuries?"
"Yes master."
"Then I shall come in."
A moment later a handsome young man came into the room. Shiori
noted that he was carrying a bokken. So he practice kendo too. She
wondered
how good he was with his bokken.
"Hello, fair lady. I am Tatewaki Kunou, the Blue Thunder of
Furinkan High. Nice to meet you." he held out his right hand. Shiori
stared
at his outstretched hand for a second, then held out hers and shook it.
"Wha...what happened? Did...did they..." Shiori asked. She
began to feel her tears filling her eyes again.
"Fear not, lady. I smote them with my bokken before they could
do anything to you."
"Thank..thank you so much." She couldn't keep her tears anymore,
so she let it flow freely down her face. She tried to bow to the young
man
in front of him, but almost fell over the bed she was on. The young man
and
quickly caught her from falling. Shiori looked at her savior with tears
in her eyes, then hugged him.
"........" the Kunou was caught completely by surprised, but
after letting his hands hang by his side for a few seconds, he hugged
her
back. He released her, however, when Shiori began to cough violently.
"Sasuke! Get some water for her."
"Yes master." the ninja quickly leaped out of the room.
"Are you all right?" Kunou asked. "Your left lung is punctured.
Do you wish to go to the hospital?"
"No, that's okay, I just need some rest. I heal pretty fast."
"Do you wish to have me get you home?"
Shiori started to sob after hearing that question. Kunou was
confused and didn't know what to do.
"I have no home now. I've just dishonored my family."
"Why?"
"I am engaged to Ranma Saotome."
Shiori was surprised to see Kunou suddenly stood up with pure
anger on his face. "Again! That foul Ranma Saotome, enslaver of women!!"
He started telling her how Ranma used his foul magic to bent women for
his
own needs.
Shiori sweatdropped. After a few minutes of talking, she finally
managed to calm Kunou down. Sasuke came back with a glass of water, and
Shiori drank it. Then Sasuke leaped out of the room with the empty glass
in
his hand.
"Please continue."
"As I said, I am engaged to Ranma Saotome. But it seemed like
he had a fiance already."
"Akane Tendo?"
"I think it's something like that. That girl just attacked me
for no reason so I cut her clothes up with my sword." She pointed at her
family sword at the corner of the room. Kunou frowned at that statement,
but didn't say anything.
"Then....then Ranma suddenly attacked me and....injured me
pretty badly...I was wandering in the street with my broken ribs when
the three men tried to....tried to..." She paused. "Then you came and
saved me. But I can't go back home because I failed to fulfill the
engagement."
She looked up, and saw Kunou looking REALLY angry.
"That foul Saotome! I've always assumed he would only bent women
to his wills, but it seemed like he has gotten lower and begun attacking
women! I would not allowed it!" He paused after noticing Shiori's sad
expression. Shiori still needed a place to live with, and Kunou, being
the
noble samurai, could provide hospitality to her.
"Lady?"
"You can call me Shiori."
"You can stay here if you want to."
"Thank you, but if is it okay? If it's too much..."
"Nonsense! You can be in the Kunou Mansion as long as you want!"
"Thank you so much." Shiori could not believe what that her
savior was so nice! A sharp contrast from the way Ranma treated her.
Sasuke chose this moment to leaped into the room with three sets of
pajamas
in his hands.
"These are my madame's, Lady. I am sure she wouldn't mind your
borrowing some of hers."
"Thanks."
It was late at night already, so Kunou showed Shiori the
guestroom that she would be staying in. After changing into a set of
pink
pajamas, she untied her hair and lay on her new bed, she was asleep soon
afterwards.
It was a long day.
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Author's Notes:
Sakura Shinguji and Ichirou Oogami are characters of the
japanese Sega Saturn Strategy/Dating game Sakura Taisen. Shiori's my
character to fit the timeline. 'Sakura' means cherry blossom in
japanese,
which explained the reason I put 'Cherry Blossoms' as title of this
chapter. If you want to form an image of my new character Shiori, think
of Sakura in Sakura Taisen if you know the game.
This is not suppose to be just a hilarious nonsense story, it
you think it is, then I am a big time failure writing fanfiction.
ENGLISH
is NOT my primary language and I am relatively INEXPERIENCED at
fanfiction.
And yes, Kunou is the main character in this story. Scary,
isn't it?
TKHM
tkhm@hotmail.com
ICQ# 16751025