Earlier parts at http://nftzu.anifics.com/admatter.html
(Continued from [FF] [R.5] Age Don't Matter Week 02: Martial Arts)
-----
Three days later, Tendo household
-----
Soun and Genma were playing go, while Kasumi was watching TV. The chime
shook in the late morning wind, and the doorbell rang.
A few moments later, the doorbell rang once more.
Kasumi briefly glanced at the two elder martial artists, who were both on
one knee, apparently wanting to answer the summons, but both unwilling to
leave the other unguarded with the board. She sighed and went to the front
gate.
Nabiki and Akane entered. Between them, they had three unopened umbrellas,
which they left at the door with their sneakers.
The three sisters entered the receiving room. "Well?" Soun asked, concerned.
Nabiki sat down in one ungraceful movement. "He wasn't in the park, and he
wasn't in the shopping arcade. Dr. Tofu still hasn't seen him. The only
person who seems to have seen him was the old lady close to the canal - the
one who splashes the road all the time? - but she seems to think that her
dog looks like him."
Kasumi snorted a snicker but covered it quickly.
Soun nodded gravely, seemed to concentrate for a moment or more, then asked,
"Well, Saotome?"
Genma quickly jerked back into a low heavy seat, hand flying to his glasses.
"Well, Tendo, it would seem that the boy's not planning to have himself
found." Both fathers nodded grimly.
"That's it?" Nabiki didn't sound like she believed anything she was
hearing. The tension she accumulated in the last few days was increasing
her intensity and volume. "We wait until HE COMES BACK??"
"Nabiki!" Kasumi snapped at her sister, but didn't follow up her challenge.
"What if he was lying injured somewhere?" She leveled a fierce stare at
Genma, who didn't seem to acknowledge it. "Even if he's on some training
trip, or some meditation journey, he's got to have someone making sure he's
okay!" Akane was nodding her easy assent.
"Nabiki," Genma answered levelly, "Ranma is thirteen, and as competent a
martial artist as any of you three. He has dedicated his life to honing his
skills. If he feels the need to seek training on his own, he is entitled to
it."
Nabiki was about to retort when Kasumi spoke. "Father, if any of us were to
leave on a training trip, would you allow us?"
Soun felt his daughters eyes shift to him. "Um... well, Saotome and I went,
err, on our own, and... we weren't much older... and, um..." He suddenly
broke down in torrential sobbing.
Akane quickly made her way to his side, patting on his back, and fighting
back tears. She quickly spat, "Nee-san!"
Nabiki looked at her older sister, who had turned to turn off the TV. She
could hear Genma patting her father's back as well, muttering something
about having sons and daughters. She didn't feel up to challenging him
again, and only wondered, "Ranma, where did you go?"
-----
Kasumi spirited away to the kitchen, mouth taut as a circus tightrope. She
went up to a cupboard, and leaned on the counter. She let herself sag a
little.
-----
Elsewhere in Tokyo
-----
Ranma faced the vending machine and reluctantly inserted his last few coins.
He pushed a button and waited for the beverage can to fall into place.
He walked over to a nearby bench, and placed his hefty baggage in it before
taking a seat. He took care to open the can, and drank slowly, nursing his
nourishment in a manner so that he would feel most refreshed.
The old woman sharing the bench turned to watch him drink a little, then
stop, then take a breath, then drink another small amount. She smiled, then
took note of his backpack. She squinted in thought, then turned back to
sitting straight and breathing deeply.
He stopped for a moment, taking stock of his location, looking for road
name-markers and landmarks. He leaned forward, and trying squinting, then
sat back onto the bench, clutching the bag to his chest.
The old lady turned to him again, then she shuffled a bit closer. "Sonny,
would you mind if I asked you a question?"
Ranma was a little surprised, but he shook his head to indicate that a
question would be all right.
She leaned in a little closer. "Are you running away from home?"
He shook his head, his eyes widening. He said, in a whisper, "I'm trying to
get back home."
She was taken aback for a moment. "You're lost, son?"
He nodded, tears beginning to form in his eyes.
"There, there," she said, comforting him with a few pats. "There's a police
booth a few blocks down the road, you could ask them for directions."
"I-I tried that, granny." He was shaking then. "The police, the policeman
said he c-couldn't help me."
She stopped, and blinked. "Why did he say that, son? Did he say why?"
Ranma wiped his eyes, and sniffled. "I-I don't remember... don't
remember... where... I used to live."
"There, there," she repeated, ruffling his hair.
When he had calmed down, she asked him, "What's your name, son?"
"R-Ranma, granny. Ranma Saotome."
She was silent for a few moments. "Saotome, you say? Ranma Saotome?" She
laughed under her breath. "Yes, I think I can help you, my boy."
-----
At the Tendo dojo
-----
It started to rain in Nerima.
Nabiki opened the door to the dojo, fully expecting to find Kasumi,
vigorously practicing. Today, her sister was in her leotard, and a full
compliment of rhythmic gymnastics equipment had been brought out: two clubs,
the ribbon, a hoop, and a small rubber ball.
Right now, the floor exercise that Kasumi was performing involved the hoop,
which she was holding in her right hand. She executed simple throughs:
leaping gazelle-like into a split while rolling the hoop in her hand, making
it look like she was jumping through the hoop. She even risked a
double-through, though she tagged the hoop with her toes. She bit off a
curse, and tossed the hoop. Nabiki caught the red-and-white ring and caught
her sister's attention.
Nabiki watched Kasumi wipe her face of sweat, and stepped forward to close
the gap between them to about arm's breadth. The eldest sister finally
looked into her eyes, and Nabiki asked, "Did you ask him to leave?"
"Nabiki," she started.
"Oh, come on, sister," Nabiki chastised none-too-harshly.
"You 'come on', Nabiki," Kasumi replied hotly. Then she wiped her face.
"Sorry," she said through the towel.
Nabiki sighed. "I know you've been on edge since they've arrived, Kasumi.
And that you've been fighting with Ranma." Kasumi seemed to protest, but
Nabiki cut her off, "I heard the two of you the night before he ran off."
Kasumi looked like she bit off something unsavory and wriggly. She took a
while longer to nod. She sat down, cross-legged, cradling the towel in her
lap.
Nabiki sat down as well. "Aren't you worried about him?"
Kasumi's face turned to contempt. "Worried? About Mr.
I-Just-Came-From-A-Training-Trip-In-China? Feh."
"You sound just like Mr. Saotome."
"Don't get me started on him." Kasumi crossed her arms.
"Yeah," here Nabiki smiled ironically, "and Dad's all 'my friend's son is
going on a sacred meditation trip'."
"Good riddance, I say," Kasumi muttered.
"Kasumi!"
"Look, Nabiki," Kasumi countered, "if you like him all that much, go keep
looking for him. He's a nuisance when he's here, and he's a nuisance when
he's not."
Nabiki kept quiet and looked at her sister, assessing her statements. "You
know," she said finally, "Akane told me Ranma was probably going home."
"Great," Kasumi ranted, raising and dropping her arms in resignation, "he
makes us all worry so he can go back and feel accepted."
"Not here, Kasumi. Their home."
"Oh." The elder sister mulled it over. "Going back home to mommy?"
"Hey," Nabiki warned.
"Geez, so he's a momma's boy. Great martial artist needs his mommy - "
Nabiki was close to her limit. "Listen to yourself, will you?"
Kasumi seemed about to say even more when she took Nabiki's advice.
"He's been on their training trip for seven years, Kasumi. He hasn't seen
his mother for longer than we'd - " Nabiki stopped herself, and tried to
find better words.
"It just doesn't seem fair, y'know?" Kasumi bowed her head, and was shaking
it.
"Tell me about it, sis." Nabiki looked earnest. "Tell me."
-----
Somewhere in Tokyo
-----
The old woman leaned on Ranma's arm as they walked down the road. "Turn
right here, Ranma."
"Yes, granny." Every step gave him further push, hoping that the next house
would be his house.
A while longer, and a few more turns, and then, she tugged at his sleeve.
"Yes, granny?"
She pointed to the house on their right.
"Here?" Ranma sounded like he didn't want to believe it.
"Yes, here, son." She walked up to the doorbell and pressed it.
A few moments passed, and Ranma felt emotions welling up inside him,
confusing him. He felt like pacing, and put down his bag.
The door opened.
"Yes?" The woman went to the gate and met them.
"Nodoka? Nodoka Saotome?"
"Y-yes?" Nodoka looked to the old woman, then to the young man beside her.
Ranma was wide-eyed, looking at the woman who was his mother for the first
time since he had been taught to appreciate all that should be held dear.
"Mother?"
-----
Age Don't Matter
an alternate history Ranma 1/2 story
by Nikholas "Switch" F. Toledo
I know that Ranma 1/2 is not mine. It belongs to Rumiko Takahashi,
Shogakukan, Kitty Film and Viz Communication. Luckily, it also belongs to
all of us. Long live the masses!
Next: I don't know what's wrong with you, son.
As per usual, C&C is welcome, and anyone willing to be a pre-reader or a
continuity consultant will be given the load as soon as they want it.
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