Greetings,
Its a bit long for a teaser but I just want to show SOMETHING has been done.
Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Scene opens with the author flipping through a large pile of
papers.
"Hmm..no….no…. ..heh that was a good one but no…no..saw that one last
week..
Arrrgh..screw a disclaimer joke." The author turns to you, "You're outta
luck pal.
Now go read the damn story."
Mad-Hamlet is proud to present
A Drain Bramaged Inc. Production
Curse of Silence 1.3
A continuation of the original Curse of Silence written by C.Jones of
www.furinken.net
Written with his permission.
Key:
"Talking"
< Thinking >
{White Board}
The rain had finally ceased; the light of the sun beamed down on the wet,
soaking, Tokyo ward of Nerima, rending asunder the last dissipating remnants
of the storm. Inside a small ice cream shop a petite redhead held the
sleeping form of a slightly taller, dark haired girl.
After 'dealing' with the manager, Ranma had made every effort not to disturb
Akane from her impromptu nap. Ranma needed the quiet anyway to deal with her
own tumultuous thoughts.
<Why did I say all that stuff, > She thought, < I never talk about that junk.
Pops always was going on and on about it being a distraction and we true
followers of the Art didn't need it; that it was unmanly. >
A part of her mind, recently awakened and strengthened from the events of the
last two days spoke with clear authority. < Pops was wrong. He wanted me to
ignore Akane because of her disability. He practically doesn't accept me when
I'm a girl; hell he barely looks at me much less talk. Stupid old man, he
practically lives in his panda form. >
Ranma had never heard the word 'hypocrite' before but she knew a raw deal
when she saw one.
<Akane ain't weak. Not cause she's a girl an' not cause she's mute. If
anything she's stronger 'cause of it. > Ranma frowned thoughtfully, < Not that
that's much consolation I bet. >
Ranma glanced at her own arms, different from the ones she knew. These were
slim, still strong but shorter that what she was used too. <Sure, like this I
am faster but..I still hate this curse. >
Akane chose this moment to move slightly and Ranma was distracted from that
line of thinking as Akane settled down again leaving Ranma to bask in the
warmth of another persons embrace.
<Curse? What curse? >
Awareness returned to Akane. She didn't want to wake up; it was so warm and
comforting where she was right now. The arms holding her so gently reminded
her of when mother held her when she had trouble sleeping…waitasecondhere!!
Arms? Holding her?? What the hell??? Akane sat up quickly nearly hitting
Ranma's chin with the top of her head. Ranma and Akane started at each other.
<Ranma was holding me! Baka hentai!! > Instinctively Akane began to get
angry; memory frantically burst in with recollections of the discussion over
ice cream and its subsequent results.
Almost reluctantly Akane pushed her growing ire aside and gently, part of her
was definitely protesting at this point, pulled herself out of Ranma's embrace
and sat down beside her.
"Um..hi., Ranma said, "Are you… OK?"
Akane nodded and reached for her white board.
{I'm feeling better. Sorry about creating a spectacle.}
Ranma shrugged, old habits die-hard. "I got no problems with that Akane. I'm
glad I could help is all."
< Riiiggghhtt, > Whispered the new voice in Ranma's mind, < You were just
helping. >
{I'm glad. Do you really like me? >
Ranma's eye's bulged. That had come out of nowhere. "Yeah..that is..yeah
Akane I really do like you. I haven't had a friend in a long time and I ain't
letting go o' the one I got now."
Ranma was afraid Akane would start crying again; it wasn't that she didn't
like comforting her but at the same time she really felt out of her element
and wanted some time to ponder. She needn't have worried. Akane smiled in
relief then happened to glance at a nearby clock.
{I'm going to be late for school!}
Ranma could barely make out any understanding of the frantically scribbled
out symbols but the hastily moving Akane, stuffing her book bag, straitening
her hair, running to a nearby sink and washing her face, was easy to pick up
on.
"I thought we were done with school." Ranma said.
{My special school. I can't miss that.}
"Well if you can wait a few minutes, mind if I tag along?" Ranma said while
handing back the white board and placing some money on the table. Akane seemed
to think for a second before writing....
{I'd like that Ranma. I can introduce my beautiful fiancé to my friends.}
Akane laughed silently as Ranma visibly paled. "Can I get some hot water
please?" She shouted.
***
Ten minutes later Ranma, now male, found himself standing in front of a
small, two story, building. It was a wholly unremarkable building, a few
windows, grey fading pain and a walled off back yard. There were no signs or
colored lettering in any of the windows, just the building. Akane dragged his
arm and started dragging him inside anyway.
Inside the front door their way was blocked by a large, heavy, metal framed
door. The glass was lined with steel wires and Ranma noticed the windows being
equally secure.
< Awful lot of security. Wonder why? > He wondered.
Akane pushed a small button beside the metal door and a few seconds later
Ranma saw, through the glass, a young man in a wheelchair. He rolled up to the
other side of the metal door and pushed a button on his side of the door. The
lock released with a click and he held the door open allowing Ranma and Akane
inside.
"Hello Akane, how are you?" The young man asked. "And who's you're friend?"
Ranma glanced at Akane and saw she was not writing on her white board,
instead her hands and fingers were moving, forming symbols and using gestures
to write other symbols in the air. The young man watched her hands intently.
Ranma's brain suffered a rare fit of deductive reasoning.
< Sign language? > He thought, < Of course she knows sign language. Should
have figured she didn't write everything down. Ranma no baka. >
An outthrust hand interrupted Ranma's self-recriminations. Ranma realized the
hand belonged to young man in the wheelchair before taking the hand giving a
firm shake.
"Hello Ranma, I am Jiyuuomoi Taka. Pleased to meet you, I'm the teacher and
owner of this small school. I'd bow but.."
"Hi," Ranma said, "I 'm Ranma Saotome and I guess Akane told you all
that..uh..it's nice to meet you too Jiyuuomoi-sensei." The last part was said
more as question then a statement, which it was; as if Ranma was unsure of how
to behave, which he was.
Taka waved off the title with one hand, "Spare me the honorifics, simply
'Taka' will do fine."
The small party of three made their way into a small room. There were several
comfortable looking chairs around the edge, a blackboard against the far wall
and a large table around which the chairs were centered.
"Make yourselves comfortable." Ranma sat in the nearest chair while Akane sat
on the armrest. Ranma noticed this and felt pleased, then nervous, the
pleased, then nervous and this would probably had continued ad infinitum had
not Taka interrupted.
"So tell me about yourself. Akane says you study martial arts, are you any
good?"
An uncomfortable and alien feeling of modesty settled on Ranma's shoulders as
he felt his face get a little hot. "Well..a little I guess.." He began. Akane
gave him a playful whap on the back of the head. "OW! Hey…"
Akane ignored him as she wrote on her whiteboard and then held it out for
both Ranma and Taka to read.
{Ranma is being uncharacteristically humble. He can beat me easily.}
Taka blinked. "That.." He began, "That is impressive. More so because you
admitted it Akane."
Now it was Akane's turn to blush. There was a flurry of erasing and writing;
now the board read:
{Not that easily.}
The corners of Ranma's mouth curled up into a familiar smirk and his mouth
began to open of it's own volition. The new part of his mind, awakened the
night before and strengthed by the events of the day rang a warning that was
loud and clear, bypassing the, up till recently, nigh unstoppable Saotome
Foot-in-mouth technique. Ranma stopped, reconsidered his words and somewhere
and angel earned it's wings.
"She's right," Ranma said, "Even though I've only sparred with her once I can
tell she has real potential. If she ever did some serious training she could
easily become a great martial artist." He shrugged, "Maybe even as good as I
am." Ego got a last dig in, "Someday."
Akane gaped; true she knew she thought she was good but the level of mastery
Ranma displayed spoke of a mastery she could scarcely conceive of, much less
aspire too. But here he was now, telling her that she did have that potential
she should could aspire too such heights and, in a roundabout way,
complimenting her. She felt a warm tingle spread out over her skin and had to
repress a shudder as she tried to cope with the flood of emotions, which in
turn, killed the tingle and replaced it with anxiety.
< From one extreme to another. > Akane thought, she signed internally. < It's
all just so fast. >
The possibility of further contemplation was scattered to the four winds by a
new voice, "KANE-CHAN!!!"
The powerful yell echoed off the walls and the windows visibly shook in their
frames. Ranma, Taka, and Akane winced at the intensity. Ranma whirled to face
a possible threat and saw, lumbering toward them, a giant. There was simply no
other way to phrase it. The man was huge. Easily clearing seven feet tall and
with a powerful frame. He was wearing a simple black t-shirt and jeans. His
arms and chest bulged underneath the t-shirt. His biceps were easily as big
around as Ranma's thigh and his chest was clearly defined over the strained
fabric. The giants long, powerful legs carried him across the room, his own
thighs as thick as Ranma's waist. < Just enough muscle for maximum power, but
not enough to slow him down or cost him flexibility. This is not good. > Ranma
thought. The giant was going straight for Akane and Ranma moved to intercept.
A surprisingly strong grip on his forearm held him back. "Relax," Taka
murmured, "They're old friends. Watch."
The giant swept Akane up off the ground and cradled her like a child while he
spun around in place, whirling Akane around and around.
"Kane-Chan, its so very good to see you. I've missed you very very much! Yes
I have!" The giant was still bellowing.
Ranma blinked, "Good friends eh?" He half asked.
"Very." Taka replied blandly.
"When was the last time they saw each other?"
"Yesterday."
Ranma blinked again.
"Shiro is…enthusiastic." Taka explained.
"Ah." Ranma replied as if fully understanding.
The giant named Shiro gently put Akane down. He bent over so he could look
her right in the eye without her having to look up at him. Taking a few deep
breaths, as if to prepare for something difficult, Shiro said, "Kane-Chan I
have a serious question; very serious. Will you listen?"
Akane nodded solemnly.
The giant beamed, "Do you know Jackie Chan?"
Ranma had to grab Taka's wheelchair to keep from falling over. Akane merely
sighed and shook her head. Shiro didn't seem to be upset at this confession.
"No? That's too bad. I was hoping you knew Jackie Chan. Oh well; maybe you'll
meet him tomorrow. "
Taka put his head in his hands, "Every day." He muttered.
"What?" Asked Ranma.
"They do this every day."
"Is it some kind of joke?"
"Oh no, they're deadly serious." Taka said.
"But…that's stupid! I mean, doesn't he know that? Can't he figure out that
Akane doesn't know Jackie Chan?"
Taka gave Ranma a look, flat, plain, no outward expression or message, just,
a look. Ranma groaned. He'd seen that look before and was fully aware that
somehow, in some way, he had screwed up.
Taka held his gaze a few seconds before finally saying, "I'll assume you're
merely ignorant and choose not to be insulted for Shiro's sake."
Ranma visibly bristled. "Whaddya mean by that?"
Taka held up a placating hand. "Ranma you must be a pretty OK guy if Akane
likes you as much as she seems too so I'm not going to take this last few
exchanges too personally. Have you ever heard of 'mental handicaps.'
Ranma stuttered, "No. Not really."
"Not surprising. It still isn't acknowledged in modern Japan. OK, short
version," He gestured to where Shiro and Akane seemed to be having a deep
conversation, Akane was using sign language and Shiro would occasionally nod
or shake his head and then respond in kind.
"How old do you think Shiro is?" Taka asked.
Ranma studied the large figure of Shiro. After a few seconds he gave up, the
boy's size threw off many of the physical clues that Ranma could use to
determine a rough estimate of age. "I dunno. Early twenties maybe?" He
shrugged.
"Try around mid-teens. Fifteen to be precise."
"What?" Ranma eyes grew wide. "No way!"
"Yes way." Replied Taka in a tone of voice that implied he'd had this
conversation before. "At least he's that old physically. Mentally he's far
younger; I'm not too sure where exactly but somewhere between seven and nine
years old."
Ranma felt his knee's begining to weaken. He wasn't really clear on
everything he was being told. Or maybe he didn't want to understand.
"I…I.."Ranma swallowed audibly, "I'm not sure I understand. What do you mean
by 'mental age'?"
Taka inwardly sighed being careful not to let it show. In his mind he cursed
the society, his society, that not only allowed this kind of deliberate
non-understanding, but practically encouraged it.
"It's like this Ranma, the human body ages at it's own rate. Growth, height,
weight, all occur based on chemicals in the body. Sometimes there are spurts
of rapid growth, like during puberty and in the late teens. It is possible for
the body's schedule to be thrown out of wack, and that's one thing that
happened to Shiro here. His body started growing and didn't stop; but that's
relatively minor compared to the other problem."
"M..minor?" Ranma's mind struggled to process this information that was being
thrust down its figurative throat. It was so alien, so wrong, the mind and
body worked. That was it. There was no other possibility; oh sure the body
could get broken but that took outside interference but it didn't just break
by itself! It wasn't possible!!
< Sure it is. > A voice in his mind spoke up, < What do you think old age is?
< Well..yeah, > Ranma argued, < But that's happens later. To other people,
you don't just start out broken! >
< Shiro looks pretty real to me. >
Ranma was torn away from his internal debate by Taka continuing his
explanation.
"Relatively minor; you also have to understand that the mind grows and
matures at its own schedule as well. Maturity and responsibility are not just
taught to us we grow into them as well. Also there's the changing priorities
and desires; as you get older your ideals, values and expectations change and
what you're going to do to meet and satisfy the desires you have change as
well." Taka gave a soft chuckle, "When I was a child I ate, spake, and slept
as a child, but now I am a man and have put away childish things."
"Huh?" Ranma asked.
"Paul, First Letter to Corinthians, its from the Gaijin bible. Shiro, you
see, will never put away his childish things. His mind cannot grow any more.
For the rest of his life he will be, for lack of a better term, a child."
"How?" Ranma's question was blunt and to the point. He was beyond all
surprises now.
"It's complicated," Taka scratched his chin thoughtfully, "Lots of things can
cause brain damage. Drug using mothers, the unborn fetus being physically
injured, physical injury can also leave one brain damaged. In Shiro's case I
don't know for sure."
Ranma felt torn. His first reaction was fear. It horrified him to know that
everything he took for granted, the absolute command he had over his body, the
home of who he was, his mind, was that vulnerable. Then came pity, sympathy
for the poor, stupid giant who would never grow up, never have children, never
become a man.
< NO! > Ranma's stubbornness came to the fore, < I am not Pops. So he's
different, he's a little busted up, big deal. >
Ranma watched Akane and Shiro sitting on the floor still conversing in the
language of signs. Shiro seemed to be giggling about something and Akane was
trying not to laugh but was failing miserably. She couldn't even get hands to
work right she was laughing so hard.
"Shiro can't be that..um…handicapped." Ranma said. "He's got sign language
down cold."
"Hmm..yes." Taka responded, "That is strange. Academically he is very slow.
He can do basic arithmetic and can read up to a sixth grade level but other
then that he has an incredibly hard time learning new things. Except for sign
language. He mastered that in under a year, when Akane first came here she had
to resort to her board to communicate, then Shiro picked up sign language and
the two were inseparable."
____________________________________________________________________
Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com/?N=1