Team Tendo
A Ranma � fanfict by Tangent
Pre-reading and editing assistance by:
Lord Talon,
Nvrmore,
And some guy named Steve.
DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma �' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko
Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfict has been
produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other
characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled
from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime,
literature, or possibly even *GASP* American comic books!).
ATTACH CHAPTER ONE, PART ONE HERE:
Dinner went by relatively quickly, with Ranma finishing last despite
being the fastest eater. He had eaten his meal with a desperate fervor, as
if he expected the food to be taken away at any moment. He had also
happily accepted seconds, thirds, and contributions as everyone ate a
little of what Akane had prepared and then passed it on to Ranma
(including Akane). He ate it all, with not a grain of rice left in his bowl or
scrap of food left on his plate to show that he had eaten at all.
"It never ceases to amaze me when you do that, Tendo," Mousse
commented. "When I think on how badly your father mistreated you, I wish
we had tried harder not to let him get away..."
"You didn't really know, Mousse," Ranma responded as he set his
chopsticks down. "None of you did. I'm just glad that he's gone. And stop
calling him my father!" he commanded. "He lost the right to that a long time
and a pit of cats ago, even without what he did to me over the past four years!"
"Just what did he do to you, Ranma?" Nodoka prompted, worried about
what had happened to her first son.
Ranma looked at everyone waiting expectantly, and knew that he could
put it off no longer. "Well..."
Ranma had summarized the hell that he had lived through for the past four
years. The intense training, the needless abuse. The nights of fitful sleep in ever
more complex and secure bonds. Genma had taken him out of Japan within a
month of his kidnapping in order to evade the authorities, choosing to wander the
hinterlands of Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, and China instead. Always they had
moved on whenever it looked like the locals might be sympathetic to Ranma's
plight. They were nearly always on the go. Occasionally, Ranma would get away
for a while, but Genma had always caught him afterwards and had punished
Ranma's efforts abusively. Ranma would recover, wait for Genma's guard to drop
once more, and try again.
Finally, Genma had led his son to the Cursed Springs of Jusenkyo. Rather than
listen to the guide, Genma had leapt to one of the poles instead, instructing Ranma
to do the same. Ranma took the opportunity to hightail it away from him instead,
but the old man's guard hadn't been as low as he had thought. After a brief and
violent altercation, Ranma had been tossed all the way back to the training ground
where he landed in one of the springs.
When Ranma had come up for air, Genma had been so stunned by the
transformation that Ranma had taken the opportunity to run off in another direction...
"Wait," Nabiki interrupted. "What do you mean by 'transformation'?"
"I got cursed at Jusenkyo to take the form of whatever had last drowned in the
spring whenever I come into direct contact with cold water," Ranma explained. "If
someone will get me some, I'll show you what I turn into. Hot water returns me to
my true form until it happens again though, so it isn't really that bad to live with.
Heck, it's worth it just for the fact that octopus-face hates the fact that I turn into
a girl."
"Nani?" was the collective response of the Tendos as they facefaulted.
"Never mind," Ranma continued, seeing that his family was too stunned for any
of them to go get some cold water. "I think the tea has cooled off enough..." With
that, he upended his cup over his head... and became a girl with red hair, expressive
eyes of a slightly brighter shade of blue, and a bemused expression. She was
obviously shorter than before, and was disconcertingly cute considering that she had
been quite male only a moment ago.
There was much twitching among the group.
"I can see why Genma would be upset with your curse, Ranma," Nodoka commented
after a moment. "When he had dragged you off the first time, ten years ago, he had
made a vow to raise you to be a 'man among men'..."
Ranma snorted at this. A distinctly male gesture, that seemed odd coming from such
a cute girl. It seemed somehow reassuring to his family, as if the change was only
physical. The effect was somewhat ruined by the vaguely feminine nature that her
mannerisms assumed after the transformation. Ranma did not appear to be aware
of this aspect of the change.
"It ain't so bad, really, once you get used to it," Ranma explained. "I guess the
fact that the old man hates it so much helped me to accept my curse sooner than
I would have though." Her voice dropped a little as she continued. "It's a little weird,
not recognizing the sound of my own voice or my reflection in the mirror. Actually,
it's my hands that disturb me the most, since they are what I see most often..."
Ranma trailed off quietly.
"We will just have to learn to accept it as a family then," Nodoka stated. She
remembered the seppuku pledge that her former husband had made, and had also
remembered officially absolving Ranma's part in it after the police had returned him
to her the first time. Ranma was her child, regardless of what Genma had done.
Nothing would change that. They would get through this somehow.
"Thanks, Mom," Ranma replied. "Anyway, I actually managed to stay ahead of
him for a few days this time. I think I'm a bit faster as a girl, and I can fit through
smaller openings quicker too. He only caught me once after that and... and..."
Ranma broke off, shuddering convulsively and fighting back tears.
"And what?" Akane asked for them all.
Cologne whispered something gently to Ranma, who nodded and turned around,
lifting her shirt. Her back was a mass of faded bruises, mostly healed after two
weeks of recovery, but still terrible to behold.
* * *
Ryoga wondered briefly just where on earth he was. He had originally set out for
school over a year ago, and had long since resigned himself to the fact that he
would have to take placement tests... again. He silently cursed his nonexistent
sense of direction once more, before continuing on his way.
Then he heard a scream. A girl's voice, crying out in agony. Racing towards
the sound, he soon heard meaty smacks, as for heavy impacts against flesh, that
these screams where punctuating. As he cleared the rocky crest ahead of him, he
saw a redheaded girl tied face-down to a boulder and stripped to the waist. Her back
was a mass of welts and bruises, newly formed
and horrifying to behold.
The cause of all this pain was glaringly obvious. An older man in an off white gi,
wearing glasses and a bandanna over his head, beating the girl mercilessly with a
Bo staff. Ryoga's blood boiled with anger as he increased his pace. What he heard
as he closed in only served to increase his rage...
"I'm only doing this for your own good, Ranma!" the man grunted angrily, with no
trace of compassion in his voice. The Bo staff was raised high once more.
Ryoga plowed into the man at a dead run, and thus began one of the toughest
fights he had ever had to date...
Ranma-chan, thankful for the respite and sending silent prayers for her savior's
success to the kami, worked her bonds quickly. They weren't nearly as complex
as the bonds she slept with that she had earned gradually over the years of nightly
escape attempts. They hadn't needed to be, since her tormentor was wide-awake
to watch her. Now that he was distracted, she could get away easily. Briefly, as
her limbs came loose, she once again fantasized about a stage career as an
escape artist. She had certainly had enough training for that at least. Genma never
did seem satisfied with her martial skills, no matter how much she had improved.
Even the few times she had beaten him were not enough. A moment's more
reflection, and she was free.
Grabbing her gi top quickly, she once again ran for her life. Even with all the
pain she was feeling, she ran dead out. If the old man caught her again, she knew
she would die... slowly. Maybe the old fool wouldn't really mean to do it, but she
would die just the same. He had taken Ranma's becoming a girl as some sort of
personal affront, and thus something else to beat Ranma for. With a weapon this
time, the first time outside of sparring that she was hit with something more solid
than a fist or stick. This had to end, and soon...
* * *
"The fool tried to beat the curse out of her," Cologne explained softly. "She
barely survived as it was, for he had inflicted a horrible amount of punishment
upon her. It took a tremendous amount of courage for her to try to escape again
so soon after such a beating, and had we known then what he had done, we would
not have let Genma escape so easily."
"I'll kill him," Nodoka uttered weakly. She, like the rest of the Tendos, had
become quite pale. Even Mousse and Shampoo, who had seen Ranma's back
before when it was much worse, still grew ill at the sight. Ranma put her shirt
back down.
"Not if I kill him first," Ranma stated flatly, her face awash with a mix of despair,
fear, and hate before she calmed down again. "Octopus-face got away, but he'll try
again. I've got to be better than he is when that happens," Ranma's voice cracked
as tears began to course down her cheeks. "I've just got to! I... I can't go through
that again! I... I'll kill myself first if he gets me again!"
"No, Ranma," Akane pleaded for them all. "Don't even think about such things!
We'll face him together! I'm a much better fighter than I was then! I won't let him
take you away again!"
"No, Akane," Isomu stated firmly, for all that he was only eight years old. "We
won't let him do it again!"
"None of us will," said Kasumi, who had taken Ranma into her arms and was
rocking her back and forth gently.
"Your training will pick up as soon as you have fully recovered, son," Soun
stated, choosing to ignore the gender issue for the moment. "As fast and as far as
you can go. I will not fail you again!"
"I'll kill him before I let him hurt you again," Nodoka swore under her breath, angry
as only a mother defending her child can be.
"Together then," Nabiki stated as she ran through her various contacts and began
to lay plans for defense. "Team Tendo will withstand any assault."
"Together," Ranma said tentatively.
"Together!" they all said again as one.
Cologne just looked at them and smiled. [They will do nicely,] she thought to herself.
[They will do very well indeed...]
Nodoka watched as Cologne expertly applied a special herbal lotion to Ranma's
back. Her son turned daughter was currently lying prone on a futon, in part to make it
easier for the amazon Elder to reach her back, but mostly because it was more
modest than sitting would have been. Besides, between the effects of the healing balm
and Cologne's tsubo (pressure point) technique, Ranma was usually sound asleep by
the time the treatment was finished. This time was no exception, and Cologne chuckled
lightly as Ranma's breathing became regular and her head slumped down to rest on her
arms.
"I'd like to thank you for looking after my," Nodoka hesitated for a moment, confused
about Ranma's curse, "...child." She silently berated herself for her difficulty in accepting
Ranma's curse. As she had said earlier, they would have to learn to accept it as a family.
"No need to thank me," Cologne replied as she continued to rub the lotion in. "It is
merely my duty as her... 'other' mother to see that she becomes well again."
"'Other'?" Nodoka prompted.
"Ranma was adopted as an amazon after her altercation with her father in our village,"
Cologne explained. "While I hadn't been there at the time, I was told that she put up quite
a show for someone so obviously in pain."
"Genma fought... her, even after what he had already done?" Nodoka could not hide
the horror that crept into her voice.
Cologne corrected. "From what I was told, Ranma had run into the village during the
last fight of our tournament, grabbed a spear, and leapt to the top of one of the poles
supporting the suspended log. Which," the amazon Elder said, "was an impressive
feat even before we knew that some of her ribs were cracked."
* * *
Ranma waited with dread and anticipation for Genma to catch up with her. It was too
much to hope for that her rescuer had defeated him. Even if he had, Genma would not
honor the terms demanded of him for his loss. He would come. And he would try to
punish her again.
"No more," Ranma stated to herself as she positioned her self atop her perch.
"This time, either you die... or I do. I'm not going to take it any more!" As she readied
the spear for battle, her thoughts flickered briefly to the dagger she had snatched
along with it. The weapon that she would use to take her own life if she couldn't
defeat the old fool this time...
Ranma's focus sharpened once again as she saw a familiar figure becoming visible
over the ridge. Genma was dodging the armed women, much as Ranma herself had,
but much less politely. Ranma had never shoved any of them out of the way.
"Well," she muttered to herself, "I suppose it was too much to ask for the guy to
keep him busy longer than that. He was only about my age, after all." With that, she
braced herself for the upcoming fight...
* * *
"Perhaps we should call Dr. Tofu," Nodoka mentioned, hoping that she wasn't
insulting her guest, but not willing to treat Ranma's health so trivially. Concern for
her child overrode her curiosity for the time being, and the conversation took a
different track.
"If that will make you more comfortable, then by all means call your doctor,"
Cologne chuckled lightly. "Ranma is near the end of her healing process now, but
it never hurts to have another healer. Besides, I don't intend to stay in Japan
indefinitely, so your Doctor should be told of Ranma's condition."
"You are welcome to stay in our home while you are in Japan, of course,"
Nodoka offered.
"I thank you," Cologne replied, "but no. I have already made other arrangements.
Ranma is nearly completely healed now, and I will commence with her training as
an amazon warrior when she is, but there is another wound in her heart that can only
be healed properly by family. The Tendo clan has been her family longer than I have,
so she will heal that wound more quickly here."
"But surely you are our family as well, if you have adopted hi... her," Nodoka
countered.
"It is kind of you to say so," Cologne said. "But it would be better if we handled
the matter carefully. After all, while Ranma has been adopted as an amazon, I am
not a member or ally of the Tendo Clan yet. We shall talk more on such matters
later however. The hour grows late and this young one is already fast asleep."
Ranma snored gently from the futon she had been laying on, having missed most
of their conversation, but dreaming peacefully all the same...
TO BE CONTINUED...