The Three Saotomes
Part 19
Genryu and Ukyo.
+++++++
Ranma smiled as he sat down drinking tea at the table with Kasumi. It
was early morning, and the day had not yet started really. A cloud of
anticipation seemed to hover over all the events in the household though,
as only four days remained until the tournament.
"When will you be returning to school?" asked the eldest girl as she
poured herself a cup.
"On Monday, the tournament will be on Friday, and two days of rest
should be enough after that," said the boy calmly. He seemed almost
completely relaxed.
"Well, I hope this doesn't disrupt Akane's studies too much," murmured
the girl nervously. It was very obvious she didn't care for Ranma's stand
on preparing for the fight.
"Akane's a good student, she won't have any trouble catching up. I'm
more worried about Genryu than her," he replied with a small smirk.
"Yes, well. I suppose her grades have been getting better, especially
since she stopped fighting at school so much," muttered Kasumi as her
frown lessened slightly.
"We'll stop training in two days or so, and we'll be taking it easy
until the tournament. I don't want to risk any injuries," said Ranma with
a small frown. "Genryu never was very good at understanding that, I
imagine Akane will be the same. It's really best if we ease off a bit
before something like this. Most of what I'm going to be doing is mental
preparation for them."
"What about you?" said the girl in mild surprise.
"Kasumi, I've been ready for this for quite some time now," he said with
a heavy sigh.
"Oh," said the girl. It was clear she didn't really understand him.
"You dried up old pervert! Get the heck off a me!" said a familiar voice
from upstairs.
"Sound's like my little brother is up," commented Ranma lazily.
Happosai bounded down the stair rail and landed in the middle of the
table cheerfully. "Well! Good morning Ranma! I can see your brother has
grown into a healthy young man!"
"Don't you mean 'well endowed young girl'?" asked the boy with a hint of
amusement in his tone.
"Well, there's that too," said the old man as he sat down and lit his
pipe.
"Be careful old man, Genryu isn't as easygoing as I am about certain
things," said the boy as he sipped at his tea lazily.
"Oh well, howz about we get started on your training then?" said
Happosai cheerily.
"Sorry Grandpa, I'm going to be in a tournament this week. I'll be
training with Genryu and Akane until it's over with. I'll be glad to do a
little work with you after that," said the boy calmly.
"Oh? Is that so?" said Happy with a sudden interest.
"I'm afraid so, using new training methods would be a bad idea before
something like this. I know all the competitors, and it won't be an easy
fight," said the boy calmly as he set his cup down.
"Actually, I agree with you boy. It's good to know you've still got a
head about you. Your little brother is too short tempered, and Genma and
Soun are idiots."
Ranma nodded and looked out into the yard. He frowned as he noticed the
sun poking up over the horizon. "Hmm, Akane isn't up yet..."
+++++++++
"Ack!" sputtered the youngest Tendo as she sat upright in bed, soaking
wet and freezing cold.
"I didn't think I'd have to do this anymore. Really Akane, you're
slipping..." said Ranma as he waved his finger back and fourth in her
face as she coughed up some of the remaining water. He casually tossed
the bucket over his shoulder and it clattered to the ground in the
corner. "We've got a lot of work to do."
"You Asshole!" snapped the girl as she stood up and glared at him for a
moment.
Ranma grinned at her and backed away towards the door. "Well, well, a
white shirt? Akane, I know you love me, but my heart belongs to
Nabiki-chan!" he said in a singsong voice as he turned and left the room.
Akane blinked and cocked her head in confusion, until she noticed her
reflection in the mirror. The shirt she had worn to bed was indeed white,
and very thin and wet too. Everything was clearly visible. "You bastard!
I'll kill you!" screamed the girl as she tore through her closet looking
for her dogi.
+++++++++
Happosai bolted forward with his arms spread as he saw Akane's door
open. "Akane! Good morning!" he cried as he made a beeline towards her
chest. However, he had never witnessed Akane in full-blown 'Kill Ranma'
mode before, and was easily swatted aside as she charged down the stairs
towards her target, who was waiting in the yard.
The old man found himself punched face first into the wall and he simply
stuck there, inside a small crater.
++++++++
About a half-hour later, Ranma sat with Akane just outside the home with
a wide smirk on his face. Akane was looking pretty pathetic and beaten
from her battle, but still feeling much better in spite of it.
"So now what?" grumbled the girl in her usual grumpy tone.
"Well, we're going to take it easy for the next few days. We'll get into
it tonight, but now, just a light spar in the morning, and that's been
taken care of," said Ranma with a small shrug.
Genryu jumped down from his own morning ritual in the yard, with Genma
landing in the koi pond behind him. "Take it easy? Are you nuts? We've
only got four days left!"
"That's right," said Ranma before Akane could put in her opinion as
well. "We need to let our muscles relax a bit, and we can't afford an
injury now. We aren't going to stop completely, but we are cutting back
on what we're doing a bit."
"Fine," grumbled Genryu as he walked away.
Akane blinked in surprise at this, she was really expecting more of a
reaction from the younger boy than that. Something must have been
bothering him.
Nabiki walked up to Ranma and sat down opposite her younger sister.
"Ranma, I've been meaning to ask you. What happened with Ukyo the other
night? Genryu's been real quiet ever since then."
"Why don't you ask him?" said the boy as he glanced at her for a moment.
"That doesn't seem like a good idea with the way he's been acting
lately," replied the girl calmly.
"Oh, I see. I don't really know, he hasn't said anything to me either,"
replied the boy with a casual shrug.
"You mean he didn't talk with you about it?" said Nabiki in shock. "I
thought you two were, kinda close," she muttered.
"We are. One of the reasons for that, is that he knows I won't tell
people about private things he tells me. So even if I did know, I
wouldn't say anything. You'd have to ask him anyway," said Ranma as he
stood up.
"It doesn't seem like you to not talk with him though," commented Akane.
He was usually very protective of the younger boy.
"I can't solve all of his problems. Sometimes a man has to find the
answers he needs for himself," said the boy with a small glance back at
them as he continued on his way. "That's what it means to grow up."
The two girls looked at each other and stood up, each going about her
own business.
Ranma paused in the hallway and looked up the stairs where his brother
was slowly moving towards the bedroom. He was going to speak with him
about it anyway. It had been almost two days, Genryu had been stewing for
long enough. He sighed and turned to follow him.
++++++++++
Genryu looked up as a soft knock sounded on the door of the bedroom.
"Yeah?"
Ranma poked his head in and frowned. "How long are you going to be like
this?"
"Like what?" snapped the boy in irritation as he turned away. He had
been just sitting in the middle of the room.
"This is about Ukyo isn't it?" said the older boy as he walked in and
closed the door behind himself.
"Something like that," muttered Genryu dejectedly.
"Well, out with it," said Ranma with a heavy sigh.
"I dunno..." muttered the boy as he turned away again.
"Man, this must be really bad," said Ranma with a small sigh as he put
his arm on the boy's shoulder.
Genryu jumped slightly and dropped something that he had been playing
with on the ground. He snatched it up quickly and hid it in his palm.
Ranma was looking at him with his eyes narrowed. "Genryu, you didn't."
"I didn't what?" muttered the boy as he turned his head away.
"I saw what that was Genryu, don't lie to me," said Ranma calmly as he
stood up and pushed his hair up from his face with his fingers in
frustration. "Oh damn."
"Well, we just didn't know what to do!" said the boy softly.
"What the hell are you doing here?" said Ranma as he hit his head
against the wall gently for a moment as he tried desperately to think of
how this might have happened.
"I couldn't just leave, ya know?"
"Were you planning on telling us anytime soon?"
"Yeah, after the fighting was over. Next week," muttered the boy
halfheartedly.
"Pop is gonna blow his top, I can't believe you got married. How the
hell did this happen?" muttered Ranma as he thought back to that night.
The pair had vanished for about six hours. He had thought it was for a
heart to heart talk, or at least a begrudging conversation.
"Ukyo still had the contract with her. She said she had to do it now, or
she'd never get the nerve to go through with it. I kinda felt the same
way, it was just so awkward. We figured it was best to just get it over
with."
"Ukyo said that?" said Ranma with a small disgusted look on his face. He
knew for a fact that the girl wasn't that shy. "Wait, back up. You told
her you thought she was cute didn't you?" muttered the older boy, more to
himself than his little brother.
"Yeah. How did you...?" said Genryu with his eyes growing wide with
shock.
"You idiot. She duped you. Oh well," said the Ranma with a small sad
smile. "So, how far did you get little brother?" The older boy pulled his
little brother into a headlock and rubbed at his hair.
"Huh? What are you talkin about?" cried the boy as he struggled in his
grip.
"Come on tell me! Did you like it?"
Genryu turned bright red and looked up at the older boy despite the
position he was in. "I didn't do nothin!"
"Huh?" Ranma dropped the boy like a lead weight. "Why not? You're
married."
"I uhh," muttered the younger boy in embarrassment as he tried
desperately to think of a way out of this mess.
"You do know where she's staying at least?" asked Ranma with his eyebrow
raised slightly.
"Yeah," grumbled the boy as he hung his head.
"Well, we'll just go pay her a visit. I hope you two at least got a
photo. Mom's gonna kill you if you didn't," said the older boy
cheerfully.
"A'course I did!" snapped the younger boy angrily.
"Lemmy see," said Ranma cheerfully.
"Uh, okay," muttered Genryu as he pulled a rather battered looking photo
from his shirt.
Ranma tried his best, he really did, but in the end he just couldn't
hold it. He burst out laughing and clutched at his sides as he rolled on
the floor.
Ranma and Ukyo were standing in front of a stupefied looking priest, who
was being held hostage by spatula point. Both teens were obviously
completely wasted, Ukyo still had the bottle of sake in her grip. The
uncertain looking Genryu was giving a small victory sign, with a nervous
smile on his lips. Also, both teens looked quite male wearing, matching,
cheaply rented, tuxedos.
"Shut up! It ain't funny damn it!" snapped Genryu as he snatched the
dropped photo off the ground.
"Haa haaa! We...ha...we'd be better off not telling...hee hee...mom
about the picture!" Ranma fell into another fit of laughter and managed
to calm himself down again after a long moment.
"Ya jerk!" snapped Genryu as the older boy sat up and wiped the tears
off of his face.
"I'm sorry. That was probably the best wedding photo I've ever seen. At
least you've got one, although I'm surprised you remembered it," Ranma
almost fell into another fit of giggles, but managed to drive it back
again.
"Well, I guess," muttered Genryu as he pulled it out of his pocket and
looked at it again.
"At any rate, you should start wearing the ring," said Ranma with his
face suddenly growing serious. "I know about it, and there's nothing
anyone can do about it. So there's no point in hiding it anymore."
Genryu nodded and looked down at the small ring of gold in his palm. "I
guess so."
"We're going to see Mom tonight by the way," said the older boy with a
small frown on his face. "Don't worry, it's not about this. Pop has been
hiding from her, I want to know why, and what we can do about it."
"Hiding?" muttered Genryu, he didn't really look surprised.
"Yeah. It might not be a pleasant trip, so we won't bring Ukyo to meet
her just yet," said the older boy calmly. "I think the both of us should
be there."
Genryu looked at his brother and frowned. The older boy's face was dark,
almost angry looking. He had a feeling that the boy knew something, if
not everything about what was going on. Suddenly Ranma smiled as he
looked back before leaving him alone in the room. Genryu felt a chill run
down his spine, he had seen that look on his brother's face before.
Nothing good had ever come of it.
+++++++++
"What the heck are you two doing here? Can I get you something to eat?"
Ukyo Kuonji stared at the two boys standing in her doorway.
"Is that any way to talk to your older brother?" said Ranma with a
vicious looking smirk.
Ukyo fell silent and looked at Genryu with an unreadable gaze for a
moment.
"Don't worry, he didn't blab your little secret. I caught him with the
ring," said the older boy calmly. "So, what are you going to do now?
Three days ago you couldn't even talk to him."
"Do?" said the girl with a slightly confused look on her face.
"I expected you to take a little time you know. Getting him completely
drunk wasn't a bad idea I'll admit." Ranma sat down on one of the stools
in front of the grill and smiled at her. "You could have sent me an
invitation at least."
"D-drunk?" muttered Ukyo with a blank look on her face.
"Yeah, real great picture too," commented the older boy as he pulled the
photo out of his shirt and looked at it before turning it to her. "I
assume you bought the rings, Genryu doesn't have much money."
The younger boy pat down his chest and paled. "Hey! When did you?"
"Relax," said Ranma as he winked at him. Genryu sat down and said
nothing.
Ukyo snatched the photo away from the older boy and screamed. "Wha-?
When did? How?"
Ranma raised his eyebrow at this and frowned. "You... don't remember
this? Do you?"
Genryu looked at the floor and poked at the ground with his foot. He had
yet to speak to either of them.
"You two idiots do remember what happened that night, don't you?" said
Ranma as everything finally started to make sense. Neither of them spoke
and they both avoided looking at one another. "Oh man. This just keeps
getting better and better. What the hell happened?"
Ukyo was the first one to gain enough courage to speak. "I brought him
back here, we decided to talk for a bit, about old times. You know, get
to know each other better. I got a little depressed, and he tried to
cheer me up. Said I was cute or something. I've never had a boy tell me
that before. Anyway, I decided that we could have a few drinks, maybe cut
some of the edge off the last ten years for me. That's the last I
remember of that night."
"I remember a bit more, but after we left here it all went blank,"
muttered Genryu sheepishly.
"So, you two idiots have been avoiding each other ever since, hoping the
problem would just go away? Is that it?" snorted Ranma with his frown
growing even longer.
"Something like that," said Ukyo.
"Yeah," agreed Genryu with a heavy sigh.
"Sorry to say it, but you two are on your own," said Ranma as he stood
up and started to walk out of the small restaurant.
"Huh?" said Genryu and Ukyo as they watched him leave.
"Wait! You've got to help us!" said Genryu as he chased after his
brother for a moment.
Ranma paused and looked at them, both were watching him expectantly.
"Hey, the only person who can help you now, is sitting on the others side
of that grill. I've done enough damage." He turned and walked out of the
door leaving them alone. A moment later he stuck his head back inside.
"I'm going to see mom on my own, you stay put. We'll visit her together
later. You've got more important things to deal with right now."
Genryu nodded and turned to look at his wife, who was scraping at the
grill and trying her best to ignore him. Her face was almost completely
red.
"Uh, hi," said the boy as he sat down at the counter.
Ukyo swallowed and merely nodded in reply as she continued her work.
+++++++++++
Ranma stood outside the Saotome home with a page from the telephone book
in his hand and simply stared at the door for a long time. "This is going
to be tough." He raised his hand and knocked three times, and waited.
After a moment, the door slowly opened part way. "Hello?"
"Uh, Mom?"
"Ranma?"
"Hey! It's been a while!" he said cheerfully. Mentally smacking himself
over the head immediately afterward. As soon as the words left his mouth,
the woman inside the house was crushing his chest as hard as she could.
"Oh! My son!" He could feel her chest heave up and down as she sobbed
into his chest.
"Mom, I can't breathe!" he gasped. It wasn't really true, but the
position he was in was far from comfortable.
The woman paused and stepped back away from him. "Where is your father,
and Genryu?"
"Genryu's got some important stuff to take care of right now, and Pop...
well, I'd say he's still hiding from you."
"Hiding?" said the woman in shock. "Why on earth would he do that?"
Ranma felt his stomach knot up suddenly. He knew the real reason why,
but didn't want things to blow up in his face. He had to give her one
chance. "I was hoping you would tell me."
++++++++++
"This contract, is a sacred oath I took with your father. It states that
if your father did not bring the two of you up as men among men, you
would all commit ritual suicide. Bringing honor upon the Saotome name, by
ending the line." Nodoka held out the page to her son and smiled.
"You would enforce this?" said the boy with his eyebrow raised.
"Of course I would," said the woman curtly. "It is my duty, as a wife,
and a mother."
"How... odd," commented the boy lazily. "That does explain things
though."
"You seem quite manly, how is your brother? Is he as manly as you are?"
the woman's voice was full of hope.
"Probably a bit more actually, he's always had a real macho attitude
about things. Pop pounded that into him as best he could, I tried to do a
little damage control over the years, but even I can only do so much.
That boy is a little too manly for his own good."
"I am pleased," said the woman formally as she rose to her feet and
smiled at him.
"Don't sound too happy. He's manly in spite of what Genma did to him,
not because of it," snorted Ranma in reply.
"Speaking ill of your father, is not manly Ranma. You should respect
him," said the woman with her lips growing tight suddenly.
"I'm the one who spent ten years being dragged across the countryside by
the likes of Genma Saotome. I think I know him better than you," replied
the boy with a slight bow.
"What? He is my husband!" snapped the woman with a sudden anger about
her.
"And you haven't seen him for ten years. People change mother, there is
much you do not know. I'm here to make sure you do hear about it. I'm
giving you the benefit of the doubt right now. Although I am your son, I
do not know you," said the boy calmly as he remained seated in front of
the small table where they were conversing.
Nodoka simply glared at him. "How dare you speak to me like that! I am
your mother!"
"A mother who has just told me that she has every intention of killing
her own child, if he is not manly enough for her. No, you are a threat to
my family at the moment," said the boy with a deadly calm about him, his
gaze was ice cold as he stared her down. "However, I will see how you
react, when I tell you everything about us first. Then we will decide if
I am disrespectful, or just cautious. Is this acceptable?"
Nodoka fumed with anger as she glared at the boy in front of her. "He
cannot be my son! Genma would never raise such a boy!" she thought to
herself. However, she merely nodded and sat down next to him again, but
only after pulling the family katana off the wall and placing it across
her lap.
"Now, where to begin? Ah yes, Neko-ken sounds like a good place," the
boy smirked humorlessly and nodded to himself. "The first of many
mistakes."
++++++++++
Nodoka put the kettle down and stumbled back, falling down to the ground
and almost dropping the katana that she now had tightly gripped in her
hands. "Ranma?"
"Yes, it is a curse. Your honorable husband is once again at fault,"
said the boy calmly.
"Genryu?" muttered the woman as she looked away from him.
"A rather attractive, young girl," replied the boy.
Nodoka closed her eyes and a single tear rolled down her cheek. "Then my
husband has failed."
"I don't think he did," replied Ranma coolly. "Genryu is more of a man
than Genma Saotome will ever be, and that old fool was manly enough to be
your husband, wasn't he?"
Nodoka looked up at him with a rage in her eyes, but his calm glare
forced her to back down slightly.
"We have faced demons, warrior tribes, martial arts masters of all
kinds, terrible mythic beasts, and even a man who is more dragon than
human, and we have always managed to survive. I have personally seen to
it that Genma's idiocy did not damage him to badly, and to top that off,
he has just married a lovely young woman whom I'm sure you'll like to
meet. Hardly the life of a woman I'd say."
Nodoka nodded numbly and stood up, regaining herself again. "You barge
into my house, treat me like a stranger, and frighten me with things I
cannot possibly understand. You expect me to think of you as a true man?"
"No. I demand it. I have shown you nothing but the truth, and your
attitude right now is proving my worries correct. I will not allow any
harm to come to my little brother, no matter what. I will protect my
family, and although I am very sad to say it, for the last ten years,
that did not include you."
"What is it you want?" she snapped at him and firmly slapped him across
his face.
"That paper destroyed. I want it gone, I want any possible danger to my
family gone forever, but I can't do that can I?" He looked away from her
and stood up turning his back and walking towards the door.
"Wait! What about Genryu? My husband? Where are they?" cried the woman
desperately.
"After everything I told you? You still want to see them?" he said with
a small smile forming on his face.
"I am his mother! Your mother! Please don't turn your back on me! What
happened to you? You were such a sweet child! Now..."
"I'm a monster, right? A jerk, an asshole, any number of horrible things
you could name? I'm nothing but a failure, a miserable failure. I'm tired
of existing as nothing more than a beast on the road, feeding off the
helpless, however indirectly that might be. You want your honor avenged?
Fine, I'll satisfy our family's honor, alone. Only after I'm finished
with what I have to do." With that said he turned and looked at her
again.
"Oh Ranma! What has that man done to you?" said Nodoka with horrified
tears rolling down her cheeks.
"More than you'll ever know," replied the boy firmly. With that he
walked towards the door again. "I'm bringing Genryu by again on Sunday
with his father. I have your word? Please."
Nodoka frowned and looked at him for a long moment. "I..." she hung her
head. "You have shamed our family, you know that?"
"I don't care about shame anymore. Your husband saw to that," replied
Ranma coldly.
Nodoka nodded. "Very well. I shall recede my claim on their lives."
As he opened the door, Ranma looked back at his mother one last time, is
eyes were misty as he watched her for a moment. "Mother. Genryu, if you
give him the chance, I swear he will not disappoint you."
Nodoka nodded silently, after he left, she fell to the ground in tears,
and the pain in her heart grew more and more with each passing moment.
Outside, Ranma clutched himself in the chest and fell to his knees. His
entire body was shaking and tears flowed freely down his face as well. He
glared up at the sky and growled under his breath, forcing the bile back
down his throat, he felt it burn as it churned inside his chest. Finally,
he lurched forward and threw up in the street. He slowly sat up again and
wiped his chin absently, a cold fire burned in his eyes and he watched
the dark storm clouds that were approaching in the distance, still over
the ocean.
"I can feel you coming you bastard. I'm waiting, soon we'll end this,
for good," he slowly rose to his feet and staggered away towards the
dojo.
++++++++++
TBC...
Next time: The last day.
Well, Ranma works in mysterious ways. Perhaps you can amuse yourselves
trying to figure this one out? Bwahahahahahahahahaaa!
The Music I used while writing this is rather somber really. Strangely
enough, I used music from some of my Final Fantasy Music collection CDs.
I know that this chapter seems a bit odd, especially when compared to the
rest, but it will all make sense in the end, [I hope.]
C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com
Previous parts can be found at Http://www.fanfiction.net and R&C Books
International Fanfic Company at Http://members.nbci.com/rc_books_int.html
Ja!