I suppose I can't avoid asking for C & C.
This has been spell-checked for British English, so some of the
spelling errors are actually spelled correctly.
First a short explanation for those who didn't get through Night
Thoughts:
This story takes place several years after the end of the manga - Lin
Lin and Ran Ran are sixteen and has been relocated to Nerima (and
Furinkan) while most of the original cast are away at various
universities and colleges.
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 etc. does not belong to me, but to Rumiko
Takahashi and others whom I can't quite remember at the moment.
I merely use them for what might be a blatant copyright infringement
or possibly acceptable under the fair use doctrine. Since most new
characters can trace their origin back to the copyright above, I
probably can't claim any rights to them either.
HERE WE GO AGAIN
A Ranma 1/2 fan fiction by Hans Holm
"speech"
<thought>
Prologue
Lin Lin was pondering the injustice of it all. Ever since she and Ran
Ran had been relocated, not entirely unwilling, to Japan she had
developed a habit of making lists and was currently listing all the
injustices she was subjected to. Number one on the list at that
particular moment was the fact that, since Mousse was home from
university, she had to sleep in Ran Ran's room. Even if he was getting
a degree that would greatly benefit the village if he should return (it
would also benefit if he choose not to), she couldn't see why he had to
get his old room back for the week. When it was Lin Lin and Ran Ran
who did the visiting, he had always slept in a cage. The twins couldn't
see why he shouldn't now, even if he wasn't cursed any longer.
The second on the list, which was normally number one, was that Ran
Ran had developed a number of bad habits since they moved to Japan.
The current leader of these were snoring. Ran Ran's snoring was so
loud it reverberated throughout the Nekohanten. As it was also quite
obvious that she only snored this loudly when Lin Lin was either
sharing a room with her, or having a test first thing in the morning,
Lin Lin had come to the conclusion that Ran Ran was doing it on
purpose. Another of Ran Ran's newly acquired bad habits (using Lin
Lin's definition of the word) was that of not having to wear glasses.
Lin Lin, on the other hand, had to and now had to deal with people's
assumption that she was Mousse's little sister. Other bad habits that
Ran Ran had developed included cutting her hair (Lin Lin still had the
"official Chinese Amazon girl haircut"), making friends with the
popular kids at school, going to a lot of parties and clubs and, Lin Lin
suspected, behaving in a way unbecoming of a Chinese Amazon.
True, she herself wasn't strictly following all Amazon rules anymore,
or rather wouldn't if she got the chance and wasn't busy with training,
school, homework and waitressing. However, she felt that the
defeated-by-outsider-male rule was really the main point of the whole
moving-to-Japan deal. Which brought her to number three on the list:
boys.
When Shampoo was sixteen, Nerima had been swarming with eligible
martial artists. The current crop of Nerimian boys couldn't punch
their way out of an extra-strength garbage bag and most of them
probably couldn't out-think one either. The martial artists, and even
the non-martial artists, of "the Ranma era", that Lin Lin was familiar
with were rapidly becoming ineligible. Ranma had been pretty much
inseparable from Akane for years, even if Shampoo hadn't, in theory,
given up yet. She gave Cologne regular, monthly reports on her lack
of progress, but when she visited she used to tell Lin Lin and Ran Ran
what jerks the guys she actually dated turned out to be. Mousse, who
had given up on Shampoo and was pointedly attending another
university, denied having a girlfriend. Nabiki and Kuno (who also had
been inseparable, even after the so-called Superglue incident was
resolved), however, pointed out that there was a girl who dragged him
to parties and movies, got him to pay for those movies (and dinner)
and, according to rumour, had been known to wake up in the same
bed. Ryoga was married to Akari and the "okonomiyaki-guy" was
still a girl. The list went on and on. If Lin Lin had known that the
current crop of eligible martial artists in Nerima had been virtually
non- existent, she would have stayed in the village even if this meant
the perpetual risk of losing to someone from the Musk dynasty and
daily exposure to Feng Feng. Feng Feng had been OK when they were
kids, but since puberty he had been increasingly...trying, much like a
second-rate Mousse without the latter's good points (like martial arts
skill and chasing someone other than Lin Lin).
Chapter One
Lin Lin decided she hated Mondays. She particularly hated this
Monday because someone had moved the stairs an inch or two, which
meant another "wear your glasses"-lecture. She had almost overslept,
Ran Ran had hogged the bathroom (as usual) and she was now getting
close to being late for school.
A few blocks away from Nekohanten, she was stopped by a nervous-
looking garbage man carrying a paper bag.
"E-excuse me, m-miss. Y-you work at the Nekohanten, right? Is this
one of yours?", he asked, showing her the contents of the bag.
It was a cat...a very flat, dead cat. It had a strange bald spot on its
forehead. It bore no resemblance to Shampoo's cat form whatsoever.
Lin Lin informed the obviously relieved garbage man of this and ran
on (mentally listing suitable punishments for him, if he had made her
late).
Just a few blocks from Furinkan, rounding a corner, she ran into
someone else. Literally. With some force. She bounced off said person
and landed on her back. From the sound of it, the other person was
also knocked over.
"Watch where you're going, you stupid bitch. If you've made me
late for school, I'll make you pay.", he growled at her.
"I make you late?", Lin Lin screamed at the somewhat fuzzy figure
while trying to find her glasses, "I'm not the one standing around at
blind corners! If I'm late, I'll really..."
"Whatever. Here are your glasses.", he interrupted, before turning to
run in the direction of Furinkan. Lin Lin gave chase, hoping she still
had time to make it to school, and that the principal was still on
vacation.
* * * * * *
"Class, before he and Lin Lin go stand in the hall for being late", Mrs
Tendo (nee Ninomiya) said, "I'd like to introduce the new transfer
student - Kazumi Ono".
As he presented himself ("blah...blah...moved here to study under my
cousin...blah...blah"), Lin Lin and the rest of the class got their
first proper look at him. Kazumi Ono had short reddish-blond hair but
otherwise looked so much like a younger version of his cousin that it
was scary. He also got so many and obvious admiring looks from his
female classmates, that it made Lin Lin retch. Well, it made her
uncomfortable, anyway.
"You didn't defeat me, is that clear?", she stage-whispered once they
were alone in the hall.
"What are you talking about?"
"Just admit it, OK?"
"Admit what?"
"When I ran into you before. It doesn't count as a defeat."
"What are you talking about?" The exchange had by now passed
normal conversational volume and was approaching shouting.
"YOU DIDN'T DEFEAT ME!!"
"THEN WHY WERE YOU FLAT ON YOUR BACK MOMENTS
AFTER WE MET!!"
At this point they had managed to attract the attention of most of the
nearby classes who wasted no time in misinterpreting this last
comment.
"...right after they met!?"
"...but I thought Ran Ran was supposed to be the loose one..."
"Don't you have to fight him first?"
"...do you think they're a couple?"
"...oh my, they sound just like Ranma and Akane..."
"Oh gosh, the cute one's are always taken!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!!", Lin Lin screamed, "I CHALLENGE YOU!
AFTER SCHOOL. THE FOOTBALL FIELD."
"I don't fight girls...", Kazumi started.
"DON'T THINK YOU CAN TALK YOUR WAY OUT OF THIS!"
Lin Lin aimed a series of kicks at him, most of which he managed to
dodge.
"I don't...I mean...uh...today is no good. How about tomorrow
instead?"
The last kick sent Kazumi into first a wall and then unconsciousness.
"You're on. Tomorrow it is."
Back in the classroom, Ran Ran was the only one keeping calm.
"Hey, Ran Ran, Mousse's sister just challenged the new guy to a
duel!"
"What a surprise. 5000 yen says she'll throw the fight."
"Why? And since when did you start taking bets on fights?"
"I told you about that defeated-by-outsider-male rule, didn't I?
There's no way my, uh, Mousse's sister can afford to pass on an
opportunity like this. Since it sounds like she's trying to fill
Akane Tendo's shoes, I'm picking Nabiki's while I still have a
choice."
"Does that mean you'll start dating Matsu-sempai of the kendo club?"
"No."
The rest of the day was surprisingly calm. Lin Lin and Kazumi glared
daggers, and other sharp instruments, at each other. Ran Ran tried to
figure out how to get a betting pool going with the current crop of
martial artists,
* * * * * *
"You know, sis. You shouldn't give in so easy", Ran Ran told Lin Lin
on the way home.
"What are you talking about?"
"Come on, sis. This "I can't fight you today, how about tomorrow"-
thing. Did you really fall for that?"
"I thought he was going to stay unconscious for the rest of the day.
And what's all this "sis" stuff, aren't you worried your friends will
figure it out?"
"They can't figure it out when we're standing next to each other or
make the connection between us and the Chinese Amazon twins that
used to show up in Ranma's days. I don't think I need to worry.
Anyway, I've got 5000 yen riding on Ono-kun, so make sure you lose.
OK?"
"What! There's no way I'm going to lose to that...that jerk!"
"What jerk?", Cologne asked, suddenly appearing behind them.
"Oh! Great-grandmother, Lin Lin got in a fight with a new student in
our class. They're having a re-fight tomorrow.", Ran Ran explained.
"A re-fight? Why?"
"Well, first he knocked Lin Lin down, then..."
"He didn't defeat me, OK? I just ran into him and fell..."
"Flat on your back! The whole school must have heard it."
"It wasn't a real defeat. Besides, I knocked him out later."
"Quiet, children. Somebody defeated Lin Lin, correct?"
"NO! HE DIDN'T DEFEA..." WHACK!!
"OK, somebody had an inconclusive fight with Lin Lin and there'll be
a re-fight tomorrow."
"It wasn't inconclusive. I knocked him out."
"Then why the re-fight? Who is it you're fighting, anyway?"
"Because she'll never get a boyfriend, unless she tricks someone
into fighting her."
"He's Doctor Tofu's cousin. Kazumi Ono. He just moved here."
* * * * * *
"So, how was your first day at your new school", Mrs Ono (AKA
Kasumi) asked.
"Great.", Kazumi muttered, "first this crazy Chinese girl runs into me
and makes me late, then she picks a fight with me and knocks me out.
Then she wants a re-fight tomorrow."
"Oh my. She must really like you then."
Kazumi facefaulted. "What are you talking about?"
"She's a Chinese Amazon. They have this rule that say that if they are
defeated by a male outsider they have to marry him. So if she wants a
re-fight then she must want to give you another chance to defeat her."
"Or maybe she's just a violent maniac, who wants to beat me up.",
Kazumi muttered. <She was kind of cute, though.>
"Well, you just let her beat you tomorrow and she'll leave you alone."
"You mean I should lose on purpose. To a girl!"
"As far as I can tell you have between to choose between getting
beaten by a girl, who's already beaten you once or getting a violent
maniac for a girlfriend. Think it over."
Pondering this dilemma interfered with Kazumi's sleep, but his
cousin's kids didn't help matters, either. Since the re-fight wasn't until
the afternoon, Ran Ran really outdid herself with the snoring, just for
the hell of it. Things had been pretty dull recently, anyway.
END
Chapter One
NOTES:
This will, eventually, include several new characters (mainly
previously unheard of cousins and younger siblings) to make sure that
the twins schooldays are as eventful as Ranma's. If this bothers you I
would appreciate if you pointed out any official characters the same
age as the twins.
This probably needs another name, since there's another Ranma-fic
called Here We Go Again (on the other hand that one has
been finished a long time.)
If anybody remembers the story ideas I posted a few weeks ago
(and even if nobody does) - the first, very short chapter of Mousse's
Surprise - now called Duck and Peaches at the foot of Flower Mountain
(because he has to stop being surprised eventually)- should turn up at
the Mousse and Shampoo Fanfic Archive sooner or later
(it's currently at the messageboard).
(www.angelfire.com/md/MousseShampoo/index.html)
It will probably appear at the FFML once there's more of it.
I could probably need more pre-readers.
For both fics.
Hans Holm