Ranma 1/2 was created by Rumiko Takahashi and its characters belong to
her, and her alone. I'm just kinda borrowing them. The story below is
for entertainment purposes only, and not to be used commercially.
...Obviously.
"Learning Curve"
Part VI (v1.3)
by: J. Wagner
A long, pregnant silence followed the trio as they walked out of
Nerima Ward and inexorably to the supposed location of Ryouga's house.
Nabiki was leading, so they weren't traveling at anything approaching
the clip Ryouga or even Akane were used to. But she alone knew the way
there. While walking, Nabiki took a moment to understand just how the
lost boy could get so lost. Many roads in Tokyo, she had to admit,
were narrow, one-way, unnamed, and had no street numbers. Walking
around outside your neighborhood, almost anyone would end up lost.
Looking back at him, Nabiki checked to make sure he hadn't wandered
off.
He hadn't. Though the Hibiki boy took the opportunity to brood, and
every time he stole a glance at the youngest Tendo daughter, he'd
quietly snarl under his breath, and his mood would darken just a
little bit more. Nabiki found herself oddly frustrated by the whole
thing. True, she didn't need to talk to him or even enjoy his company
to get the job done, but even then... even then she'd wanted, just a
little, to get to know him better. He was an outsider, who didn't seem
intimidated or afraid of her. He was a mystery in many ways, and at
the same time, he seemed like a nice enough person. I'd be nice, for
once, to carry a non-extortionist conversation with someone.
"This is stupid!" Akane finally broke the silence.
"Huh?" Both Ryouga and Nabiki stopped and looked at her.
"I've forgiven you already," she said sharply, and whapped Ryouga in
the back of the head with a small mallet. Hibiki seemed surprised, but
Nabiki wasn't impressed. Small ones like that were easy - even Kasumi
could 'use' them. Her father had insisted on giving a minimum of Tendo
style Anything-Goes to all his daughters, though only Akane had
broadened that knowledge and put it into general use. Or abuse,
depending on how one looked at it.
"You may have." Ryouga watched and wondered where the small mallet had
suddenly disappeared. "But I haven't. I was such an idiot. Such a...
just an idiot."
"I guess it was kind of pathetic." Akane elbowed him when he bit his
lip and started to glow green. He seemed to respond to violence a
little better than words. "But we all do stupid things sometimes."
"Not me," Nabiki interrupted, and they started walking again.
"So why'd you do it, anyway?" Akane broached.
"Youmrsde," he mumbled.
"What was that?"
"You... kissed me. As a pig." Ryouga massaged his temples, suddenly
feeling a headache coming on. "It was the first ...only time a girl
had kissed me. Hell, it was the only time anyone besides my parents
had shown kindness to me. I guess it really is pathetic, but when you
held me, I was just happy. It was like someone actually loved me. Even
if I knew it wasn't me... it was P-chan. A stupid little pig. It
would've been easier if you just tried to cook me, or something. At
least I'd know what to do then. I've been in that situation enough
times."
"Of all the people to want to cook you..."
"Nabiki!" Akane pouted, and scowled. "I'd like to be friends, Ryouga.
You're a nice guy, and there seem to be precious few of those in my
life. Just forget about the pet pig thing. As far as I'm concerned, it
never happened."
Ryouga thought briefly about arguing that point, but decided to simply
nod and agree with her. "Sure."
Nabiki took this opportunity to bring up something else entirely, more
along the lines of what she needed, and perhaps wanted, to know. "Are
you going to be staying in Nerima, with Ukyou, for very long?"
"I dunno." Ryouga shrugged, and looked around. He vaguely remembered
this place. It was a card shop he passed by all the time back when he
was little, and his mother would take him shopping... until they both
got lost and separated for the next intervening few weeks. "I've got
the fight with Ranma, and my friends there, but I'm just not too sure.
It'll depend on how things go, I guess."
"Oh. I see." Nabiki thought about that.
Ryouga laughed, half heartedly, "That's kind of the reason I came
back, you know. I don't have anywhere else to go. My feud with Ranma
is about the only life I have."
"What about school?" Akane asked. Had he already graduated, or...
"I dropped out of Junior High School to pursue my revenge." He gave
them a serious look when he noticed the way they were looking at him.
"Understand, it wasn't a difficult decision for me. The only times I
ever got to school at all were when I got lucky, and found it by
chance, or when I followed another student... like Ranma. When I got
there, the only thing that kept me even remotely sane was my ability
to defend myself. I barely passed my courses, because I missed two out
of three classes, and exams, and because the teachers and staff though
I was just being tardy. They said I had a fear of school, a school
phobia or some nonsense. I wasn't afraid of school, I just hated
going. I hated being mocked most of all... when Ranma humiliated me,
over and over again, it was the last straw. I quit going altogether."
"Of course, they complained to my parents." He actually smiled at
that, before settling back into a comfortable frown. "My parents had
problems of their own to deal with. Dad made me promise to keep up my
studies, and bought me some books to read while I wandered aimlessly.
I kept my promise. I always keep my promises."
"But you never graduated?" Nabiki idly kicked a small rock aside as
they kept pace.
"No." Ryouga brushed it off, like nothing. "There's no point. I tried
to register to take the placement tests for High School once, but..."
"You got lost?" Akane finished.
"Yeah." He ran his hand through his hair, nervously. "It's ok, though.
I'm used to it. You could call me home schooled; except for how little
time I'm actually at home. Luckily, mom and dad bring new stuff for
me, and leave it in the kitchen, or in the family room, or wherever
they find themselves, so I rarely have to buy the books myself.
Absentee parent teaching, I guess. There's probably a ton of stuff
waiting for me when I get there."
"That's good. I don't think Ranma would even give school a second
thought except that we force him to go." Akane gave his backpack a
sidelong glance. "Do you...?"
"Oh, sure. I've got everything in here." He reached back, let the pack
slide off his shoulders and into the crook of his arm, and rooted
around with his other hand. Finally, he took out a large book, and
handed it to her. "That was a good one."
Akane stared at the cover, took a few quick steps and showed it to
Nabiki. She looked at it for a few seconds, than read out loud for her
sister. "Literary Classics... of the ...um..."
"Renaissance."
"Why is this in English?"
Ryouga shrugged, and took out another. "Okasaan always buys stuff in
English. Here's one in Japanese."
"Human Anatomy and Physiology: from cells to systems?" Nabiki reeled
back. "Is this a university biology textbook?"
"I think pop got that one from a university book store, yeah. It's all
straight memorization. My parents, they get stuff that catches their
eye wherever they can, I guess, and drop it off for me to pick up. No
real rhyme or reason to it, just, 'Wouldn't it be nice if Ryouga knew
more about electrical engineering?' And they get the thing. That
particular book came with a CD, too, but I lost it a few months ago...
not like I have a computer to use it with, anyway. I end up losing
most of my books, sooner or later, unless I can manage to get home and
put them away in my room somewhere. Most of the time I never get to
finish them, too."
Nabiki skimmed through the 'biology textbook' as if the cover was a
trick or something and the inside was a coloring book. A face fault
followed two seconds later. Ryouga, meanwhile, took out two more
books. "Here's a math one - a bunch of the pages on Chapters six and
seven got soaked a while back in Thailand, though, before I could
finish studying it, so I'm looking for a replacement."
Akane's eyes were wide as saucers. "Statistical Analysis?"
"Not too hard, but very boring. Nabiki, you might like it, though." He
took the books and put them back in his pack, while taking some
smaller soft cover ones out. "Okasaan also got me a bunch of English
Literature stuff you've probably read before to keep me 'grounded in
the arts,' as she likes to say. 'Works of Shakespeare,' 'Western
International Politics 1920 to 1950,' 'Twilight of the Idols/The Anti-
Christ' by a German philosopher named Nietzsche, 'Groundwork of the
Metaphysic of Morals' by Kant..."
"You've read all that stuff?" Akane thumbed through the Nietzsche
book. "This isn't English..."
"Oh, that one's in German."
Nabiki had, at least, read some Shakespeare before, though never in
English. She was one of the better students in her English class, and
she could read parts of the book fairly well, but others didn't seem
to make much sense. She handed it back to him, then thought of
something. "If you read all this stuff because your parents want you
to, what do you do for... you know: fun?"
"I used to own some manga when I was back in junior high... but that's
all at home. It's too bulky to carry with me, and it's too delicate
for most long trips. And to tell the truth, I never had much anyway.
Mostly, I focus on the Art." Ryouga busied himself by putting the
books back into his backpack, and started to walk in a perpendicular
direction without noticing. Fortunately, Akane acted quickly, grabbed
his collar, and pointed him back in the right direction. "Though,
about two years ago, I met this guy at the University of Kyoto was
into science fiction, and some of that was interesting. I bought a few
books to read on the road, but ended up losing them out in the woods."
Suddenly, a loud bark cut him off.
The group turned, and saw a dog, black on one side, white on the
other. To the amazement of both Tendo girls, Ryouga opened his arms to
receive the animal and was actually bowled over. The two Hibikis
rolled and wrestled for a moment, before Ryouga lay, pinned, and had
to endure a severe face licking. Struggling meekly, he pushed her away
a bit before giving her a big hug. "Shirokuro!! How are ya, girl? Have
you been guarding the house, Shirokuro? Did you maul anyone who tried
to break in? Did you girl?"
"All right, that's enough now." He unclamped the dog's play bite on
his forearm, and started to get to his feet, suddenly self-conscious.
"Let me up. Come on. We've got guests."
"Hi there." Akane bent over, and reached out to the dog, a little
cautious. Most animals took a liking to her, but this was still a dog
she hadn't met before. There was no point being reckless. Shirokuro
gave her master a quick look, before letting Akane pet her on the head
and scratch behind her ear. "What a nice doggie!"
"Smartest animal I know." Ryouga beamed, proud.
"I'll say," Nabiki said and held out her hand. Shirokuro sniffed it,
no doubt smelling money. "How does a dog get herself on the seven
o'clock news?"
"No idea." Ryouga clasped his hand together, anxiously. "Shirokuro.
Let's go home, girl. Home."
The dog gave a quick bark, and headed down the street, slow enough for
everyone to easily follow. They came, quickly, to a nice looking,
middle-income house, with 'Hibiki Residence' written on a sign at the
front. It was comfortable looking and quite homey. It actually seemed
to exude an aura of ...near normalcy. Truth be told, Nabiki had half
expected either a run down shack that no one lived in, or a crazy
dojo.
"Ah, home sweet home!" Ryouga took out his keys and unlocked the front
door as Shirokuro went in through the dog door. The second he stepped
inside, a shower of heavy furniture, assorted weights, and a whole
kitchen sink buried him like an avalanche. A single piece of paper
wafted down, and Nabiki caught it, carefully stepping around the mess.
"Ryouga. There are thieves everywhere. Watch out for traps. Love Mom."
Nabiki tapped a finger on the upturned sink with its stereotypically
exposed bent pipe. "Everything and the kitchen sink. Cute."
"Annoying, you mean!" A hand waved in the air a bit. He was tempted to
Bakusai Tenketsu the hell out all the junk, but decided against it.
Aside from making (more of) a mess, it might hurt Akane or Nabiki.
Slowly, he removed himself from the pile, quickly moving the heavy
objects to the side where his mother would generally put them back up
when she found her way home. Closing the door behind him, he finally
looked around and mentally congratulated himself.
Home!
He'd finally made it home!!
"Hey." Ryouga faced Nabiki, and nodded in thanks, hands clenched and
eyes brimming with happy tears in a manner that reminded her of the
Tendo patriarch himself. "You've fulfilled your end of the bargain,
Nabiki. Thank you."
She almost said something she never intended. Almost. Dismissing all
she'd done and gone through on a spur of the moment whim would be both
a lie and turning back on her plans. Still, looking at him, happy for
once, she couldn't help but feel good that she done something that had
such an impact. Even though it had originally been for self-serving
purposes, she wondered now, whether she would have done it just for
free, if he'd asked. Why not? It'd be nice for someone to think kindly
of her, for once.
Though not necessarily vain, Nabiki did think highly of herself - she
was proud, proud of her independence, her intelligence, and her body.
And the behind the back whispering and chiding she got for it never
seemed to fade or go away. Sometimes she wondered if it was simply her
lot in life, whether she would end up alone and ultimately unloved, in
a mansion, by herself. It was an unsettling thought, and subject,
because she wasn't entirely sure that such a thing wasn't her destiny.
"We made a deal." She smiled back and patted him on the shoulder. "I
was just living up to my end of it."
A chorus of high-pitched yelps and barks heralded a small wave of
black and white puppies, lead by Shirokuro herself. The little dogs
clustered around the humans, and three jumped straight up and into
Ryouga arms. He took a few moments to pet and check each one, looking
for distinctive marks or coloring. He was still curious as to who the
father of Shirokuro's litter was. There were numerous neighborhood
dogs who could be the potential sires, and only one or two he thought
really worthy of the honor. Akane had her hands full, too, with two
dogs that were busy licking her face. One, however, walked slowly up
to Nabiki, and yipped, demanding to be picked up.
"Not going to jump, hmm?" Nabiki knelt down and looked at the
imperious little puppy. Finally, Nabiki scooped her up, and slowly
stroked the dog's fur. It was soft - softer than Shirokuro's, and the
black was more like brown than the dark onyx of her mother. Without
even thinking about her, she scratched the puppy's chin. "Lazy
little... do you have a name?"
The puppy stared up at her and panted.
"Do you want one?" Nabiki asked. Though several of their neighbors had
dogs, the Tendos hadn't since Kasumi had been born. "How about
'Dollar?'"
"So... umm." Ryouga looked around and slowly got his bearings on where
everything in the house (hopefully) was, as he put the puppies in his
arms back down. "Do you two want anything to eat or something?"
"Sure!" Akane headed for the kitchen; putting her two back on ground
level as well.
"Don't let her in there alone." Nabiki leaned over and whispered, a
little hastily, still holding Dollar.
"Huh? Why?" He asked.
"She's not exactly 'at home' in the kitchen, if you catch my drift."
"I ...don't, to tell the truth." He shrugged, and headed in himself,
checking the fridge. Akane seemed to be rooting through a cupboard
with practiced ease. There were, all in all, always a few perishable
foodstuffs in the Hibiki Home, for obvious reasons, but the family
maintained a well-stocked supply of dry consumables, canned goods, and
exotic preservatives. Anything that could be hoarded for a year or so
without going bad was in generous supply. Noticing a plate on the
kitchen table of shriveled up noodles, he inspected it with a casual,
but practiced, eye. From the consistency of the noodles, the dryness,
the layer of dust, and other minutiae, Ryouga deduced the date of
preparation at about eight to nine weeks ago. When he picked up the
plate, it set off a small 'click' sound, revealing a well-hidden
pressure-pate.
Interesting.
Leaning back, he caught the small dart in midair between his index and
middle fingers.
"Gone shopping. Eat this for lunch. Mom." Ryouga folded the note, and
put it aside, along with the dart. He also noted that this table was
one of their many spares. Curious. Then he saw the old table, broken
in half, carefully propped against the far wall. Inspecting it, he
noticed the indentation of fingernails clawing furrows in the thick
English oak. His mother had always been a very strong woman, and this
meant father had to have been around at the same time. He was a happy
for them. He knew his parents rarely saw each other. It was a good
thing they were so passionately in love, or... Ryouga didn't broach
that thought further.
On the fridge itself had been a note from his father about a business
trip to Hokkaido. He'd estimated being home by summer, which meant
it'd be well after next Christmas before he saw him again. Ryouga
nodded somberly to himself - he'd have to remember that and try and
catch up to them next time. Akane still seemed busy looking for stuff
to make. She was oddly eager. Strange, too, his Martial Artist's
danger sense was tingling.
"I've got some things I want to drop off in my room," he called out to
either of the girls. "But I, uh, don't want to..."
"I know," Nabiki volunteered, and put Dollar on the floor, allowing
Akane to go back to trying to mangle a bag of crackers in an effort to
open the package. "I'll make sure you don't live up to your name, lost
boy."
Ryouga bit back a retort, and went up the stairs into his room.
Navigating the house generally wasn't a problem. He'd been born and
raised here, and actually knew his way around, but it never hurt to be
careful. More than once he'd gotten overconfident in his ability to
NOT get lost in the house and had ended up in someone else's' place of
residence without even noticing that he'd gone outside. Or maybe he'd
been in someone else's house all the time, and had mistaken for his
own... whatever. Regardless, it never hurt to take along a spotter,
when you happened to be a Hibiki.
Nabiki was about to open the door to the room he'd come to, when
Ryouga grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him. The sudden move,
and the sudden closeness, made her blush. He had an arm around her
waist, but her mind raced. He didn't seem the type! Kasumi would
probably smile... vacantly, and Akane would probably slap him. Of the
two, the latter seemed most appropriate, but why wasn't her body
responding?
"Careful. It's electrified." He pointed to the tiny hidden wires
attached to the knob, and disguised carefully to look like part of the
door. He let go of her wrist, then her altogether, and reached up to
his forehead, taking out a bandanna. It straightened into a blade on
command, and he bent over, carefully cutting the current. "She's
getting better at her traps. I barely saw this one."
"What? You mean like the front door?" Nabiki gladly felt her composure
return.
"Yep. Mom has traps everywhere. She's a little eccentric, I suppose."
He opened the door safely.
"Yeah. Just a little." Nabiki sighed - so much for normalcy. Ryouga's
room was large, a little larger than her own, and lined from wall to
wall with framed pictures and posters, a few of them family portraits,
but most of far off lands and places, in addition, two large racks
held innumerable souvenirs, many from Japan, and many from overseas.
She also noticed a few College fliers, showing off university colors
or teams. Almost half of an entire wall was solely devoted to a
library of books. Everything looked recently cleaned, amazingly
enough, since she knew Ryouga hadn't been home in well over a year.
There were also a few new books lying on his bed. The calendar on the
wall, proudly displaying a set of 'martial arts umbrellas' was set to
the wrong date. As in wrong date: month AND year.
Ryouga started to unpack, no doubt thinking about exactly how much he
was going to tell her (she doubted he'd actually tell her everything),
when Nabiki noticed someone at the window. She spoke up, "Anyone you
know, Ryouga-kun?"
"Eh?" He looked just in time to see the girl set off one of the traps
and get electrocuted. Moving quickly, he disarmed the wires leading to
the window, and opened it up, retrieving the girl who was slumped
limply on a tree branch, still faintly smoking. She had black hair,
done up in two pigtails, and a red and black irregularly schemed
bandanna, immediately reminiscent of Ryouga's own. Overcome by
immediate curiosity, he checked to see if she had layered them, but
found that it was purely ornamental, and that there was only one. She
had on a plain red sweater and a brown overall type dress. What was
shocking, though, was her rapid breathing and recovery from the shock,
and her teeth. There were two prominent canines on her upper jaw.
"Na... nani?" Ryouga gulped, got up, closed the window, came back, and
hesitantly shook her shoulder a bit. "Miss?"
"Ryouga..." The girl's eyes opened and focused on him. There was a
very brief glimmer of fear, then anger, then surprise, before she
lunged and embraced him. "Ryouga! Big brother!"
"B... Big Brother? What are you talking about?"
She instantly started to sniffle. "You're so mean... how could you
forget about your little sister Yoiko?"
Ryouga's lips moved but nothing came out.
"It's no surprise you don't recognize me. You're never home anymore."
"I... I have a little sister? How could I miss something like that?"
Ryouga's mind raced. He had totally missed out on Shirokuro having a
family. He hadn't even seen his parents in ...years. He looked the
girl in his arms over. She couldn't be more than 10. Still,
considering that his parents were gone more often than at home, it
wasn't that much of a stretch to assume... to believe that this girl
could be his sister. How else would she know his name, and know about
the family curse, and have the teeth, and the family style of
bandannas! His parents had never mentioned having another child,
though. Then again, maybe, just maybe, this was only his half-sister.
It didn't matter! He wasn't alone!
"I have a sister!" Tears began to build up and drip down his cheeks,
as he caught her in an embrace. He was careful not to crush her, but
also knew, in his heart of hearts, that she could take it. Hibikis
were tough like that. True enough, the girl didn't seem to mind the
force he was hugging her with, which would probably have broken the
rib cage of a normal adult. "I'm so happy!"
"Me too, big brother!"
"Yoiko, this is Nabiki Tendo." He let her go and motioned towards
Nabiki, who seemed to be looking at the new girl suspiciously.
Yoiko seemed nervous, and her hand shook a little when she waved.
"Hello... Nabiki-san."
"Isn't she polite?" Ryouga smiled, pride filling his chest. What a
nice sister he had!
"Nice to meet you, too... Yoiko." Nabiki gave a small, predatory
smile. "Didn't you know about the traps?"
Yokio big-sweated, but Ryouga didn't seem to notice.
"I bet my big brother is really strong!" Yoiko wisely changed the
subject. "Can you show me some of your Martial Arts moves, big
brother? Please?"
Ryouga laughed, scratching the back of his head. "Sure! I was going to
show Nabiki that stuff anyway!"
As the trio got up, and headed downstairs, Nabiki made a lunge for
Yoiko's hair, but the younger girl was too quick, and caught her hand.
Behind Ryouga's back, she smiled, and waved her finger back and forth,
silently chiding the middle Tendo daughter. As always, Ryouga was
oblivious, going on and on about how cute and nice it was to have a
sibling. He waved to Akane, telling her that he'd be in the backyard,
and she responded by saying she was making snacks for them. To his
surprise, both Nabiki and Yoiko seemed to freeze up at that comment.
He dismissed it immediately as a quirk, and led them into the
backyard. It was spacious, and while not the size of the Tendo's, of
course, it was more than large enough to accommodate an area for
sparring and practicing. It was also a little brisk out, but the week
as a whole hadn't been that cold for late autumn. Ryouga stood by
himself, and did some stretching and limbering up, while Nabiki sat
down on the porch with Yoiko. After a few seconds, he faced Nabiki,
his hands on his hips. "So? How versed are you in Martial Arts,
Nabiki?"
"I have some cursory training in Tendo Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu." She let
some pride seep through as she continued, "More than Kasumi. Less than
Akane, of course."
"Sounds all right." Ryouga nodded. "Where should I start?"
"How about with your evaluation of your last little skirmish with
Ranma?" Nabiki didn't need to see Yoiko, to know she was getting more
nervous by the second. "Doesn't that sound good, Yoiko?"
"Umm... sure," she said, weakly. "Whoever this Ranma guy is."
"How did you know he was a guy?" Nabiki teased. 'Ranma,' after all,
was one of those names either a boy or girl could have.
"Ah." Ranma/Yoiko stammered. "Well, my big brother would never fight a
girl!"
"Quite right, Yoiko," Ryouga missed the nuance behind the exchange
completely. "Well, when I came back from my training overseas, I'd
expected Ranma would slack off with only his lazy father around. I
wasn't surprised, then, when we met and exchanged words."
Yoiko frowned slightly.
"He goaded me about being more lost than usual, and a few other
things. It was pretty much the same shallow drivel he always spouts
when he wants to show everyone how much of a ...jerk he can be. I let
the first few slide, because, in a way, I'd missed the ribbing, and I
knew the idiot didn't know any better. But he kept at me and at me,
until I yelled 'Saotome! Prepare to Die!' and attacked. I'd hoped that
he would attack me, so I could get a good appraisal of his non-verbal
offensive skills."
Nabiki laughed a bit, but Yoiko wasn't smiling.
"Instead, he let me attack. By the look in his eyes, I could see he
was more than a little surprised when I tagged him on the first blow,
and sent him flying back and into a wall. I held back, not wanting to
cripple him just yet, and let him get back up. He made a snide comment
not quite proper around my little sister or any lady, so I won't
repeat it, and attacked. I went fast, keeping myself around his level,
and compared his style to what I remembered of it. It was easy to see
the influence that fighting Mousse and Ukyou had on him. His movements
were..." Ryouga searched for the words. "Restrictive to anti-weapon
techniques. This was useful for him when I tried, though not
seriously, to attack with my belt sword and bandannas, but it hindered
him in open handed and close quarters combat. By now, in all
likeliness, he's started to narrow the gap. His father, though as much
of a coward and oaf as his son, would be quick to correct this."
Yoiko grudgingly agreed at that. Though Genma hadn't explained it, he
had significantly increased the speed and power behind his blows, even
though it tired him out sooner, in their training exercises. It was a
subtle shift from how Ranma's father normally sparred with his son.
Virtually no amount of training would much narrow the endurance gap
between Ryouga and himself, but speed and strength he could work on in
the time he had.
"As the fight continued, another thing became obvious. Ranma's
endurance and stamina had actually somewhat decreased from before.
He's obviously grown complacent fighting his father, Mousse, Kuno and
Ukyou, who are all themselves lacking in that department. I can only
assume that most of his fights end before he really even breaks a
sweat. The difference in raw strength between us, again, has widened
significantly. Even when I allowed him to hit me repeatedly with his
somewhat superior version of the Kachuu Tenshi Amaguriken, I barely
felt the blows. As it stands, aside from pressure points and attempted
lethal blows, he has no way of hurting me at all with his bare hands.
This, coupled with his comparatively limited repertoire of special
techniques and my expanded knowledge of different styles, and
familiarity with his own, will be his biggest personal hurtle to
overcome."
"And his speed?" Yoiko broached.
"He's still damn fast, I'll give him that," Ryouga admitted. "He's
always been slightly faster than me, because I'm a little larger and
more geared towards raw hitting power. I suspect that by the next time
we fight, he'll either be on par with my new speed, or have exceeded
it. However, that advantage won't help him in a fight if he can't hurt
me, overpower me, or fight at full power as long as I can."
"I wouldn't underestimate him," Yoiko warned.
"I'm not," Ryouga assured her, and turned back to Nabiki. "Well?
More?"
"Very interesting, Ryouga-kun. And your opinion of Ranma personally?"
"As a fighter, or as a human being?"
"Both."
"As a fighter he's formidable. In keeping with his training, and the
doctrines of Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu, he's extremely agile and versatile,
creative and opportunistic. He finds a weakness, and exploits it...
often ruthlessly, from what I've observed and heard of him. While an
excellent martial artist, as a human being I find him lacking. His so
called 'honor' is almost non existent, in my opinion." Ryouga noticed
Yoiko getting a bit anxious and decided to explain himself. "He
promises to keep secrets, and yet he takes every opportunity to
indirectly expose them. He's untrustworthy. Additionally, perhaps as
part of his upbringing and training, he's also rude, short sighted,
selfish, a glutton...."
"At least he isn't a pig," Yoiko blurted out. Ryouga flinched,
noticeably, and Nabiki smiled.
"You're digging your own grave," The middle Tendo daughter whispered.
"It's really very entertaining."
"Shut up," Yoiko whispered back, then turned to Ryouga. "Please, big
brother, continue!"
"He's more animal than man, really. And the way he flaunts his curse
to get what he wants, and to manipulate people is disgusting! True, I
made a mistake. Not a night, not a day goes by that I don't loathe
myself for what I did, and for what I almost kept doing. Ranma,
however, seems to have no remorse for his actions, and his indecision.
He goads others into fighting him, and then denies blame. He toys with
Kuno, alternating encouraging him to hit on his female form, and then
bashing his face in. He mocks Akane, mercilessly exploiting even the
smallest fault, and never... NEVER does he show remorse. He has no
concept of right and wrong... only what he wants, or does not want.
He's a pre-Madonna and a narcissist."
"Interesting. I agree with a lot of that Ryouga-kun. He has bad
manners, too," Nabiki pointed out, enjoying the moment.
"So I've heard."
"He also runs around topless at home in his girl form. No modesty. No
modesty at all."
"That sick bastard! ...Pardon my language, Yoiko."
"And he snores like a chainsaw."
"Yeah! That night I snuck in to fight him; he was really tearing it
up! Thrashes around like a scared rabbit, too."
"Probably nightmares about losing his masculinity!"
Ryouga laughed. "Probably!"
Yoiko spoke through gritted teeth. "So, big brother, how about showing
us some of these so called 'special techniques,' hmm?"
"Oh." He scratched behind his ear. "Right. Well, first..."
"Come and get it!" Akane walked out, carrying a tray of 'crackers.'
"Why are they green?" Nabiki quirked an eyebrow, and regarded the
plate like one would an angry cobra.
"They're my own special recipe!" Akane enthused.
"Hey, crackers! I'm starving!" Ryouga didn't feel like mentioning that
he was pretty much always hungry. Taking one, he saw that Yoiko was
giving the food a wide berth. "Yoiko, why don't you have one? Akane
here is a guest, and it's not polite to refuse the food she so
graciously made for us."
"Says you. I don't feel like poison today, thank you kindly."
"Yoiko." Ryouga's tone became stern. Akane suddenly noticed the girl
for the first time, and her eyes narrowed in recognition.
"Are you kidding?" Yoiko waved off the offering with vigor. "It looks
like pieces of cement with green moss growing on it! Can't that tomboy
girlfriend of yours cook?"
"You're being... very rude, little sister. Very rude." He took a step
towards her. "Say you're sorry, Yoiko."
Yoiko backed up a little, looked around, and jumped up and over the
fence. Ryouga watched her go with a mixture of fear and shock, and
tensed to follow, when his legs simply gave out, and he fell to his
knees. Without noticing, he dropping the crackers, and squeezed his
eyes shut. "What have I... done? Yoiko... I'm sorry..."
"Ryouga, calm down. She'll be back." Akane put the tray down and went
over to try and get that green color out of his aura. "You just kind
of scared her."
"You don't understand." He looked at her, at both Tendo sisters.
"She'll be lost... I'll never see her again... I... I've screwed up...
Just when I find someone... I chase them away. I'm such an idiot!"
"She wasn't," Nabiki began, and then thought again about telling him
the truth. He might not take it well - in fact, it would've been
wiser, in hindsight, if she had simply exposed Ranma right off the
bat, instead of playing around. The Lost Boy seemed genuinely hurt,
bordering on devastated, by 'losing' the sister he had just met.
Unsure, both of the situation, and herself, she slowly crept over, and
draped her arm over his broad shoulders, which were vibrating with
tension and every intake of breath. Akane looked at her, then, almost
with amazement, and gave a weak smile.
"Wonderful," Nabiki thought, sharply. "This is all Ranma's fault!"
Helping him to his feet, and no longer eager to see him show off his
techniques so she could decide whether to rig things in Ranma's favor
or not, she started to lead him inside, when Yoiko jumped over the
wall again and into the yard, carrying one of the puppies. The phone
inside rung, but Ryouga ignored it and ran over to Yoiko, catching her
in a bear hug like embrace, while the puppy jumped out of her arms,
saving him or herself. Ryouga was crying, and held her even tighter.
"I'm so, so sorry, Yoiko! I didn't mean to yell at you; it's just that
I want you to have better manners, like a real lady! I want things to
be better for you than they were for me!"
"Um... ok! Ok!" The near crushed girl gasped.
"Ryouga, phone!" Akane walked out with a wireless phone in hand. "It's
your father."
"Thanks." He took the phone, let go of Yoiko, and held it to his ear.
"Yeah. Hi, Dad - yes, they're real. No! Yeah. Lost her around where?
No... haven't seen her, but I'll keep an eye out, like usual. Oh, and
I ran into Yoiko, too. ...You know, Yoiko. My sister?"
Yoiko gulped.
Akane bit her lip.
Nabiki noticed the dogs had fled to the safety of the house and that
Shirokuro was watching things unfold with the canine version of a look
of trepidation, while slowly nudging the back door closed. ...Smart
Dog.
"You... don't... have a daughter? No, I'm sure mom wouldn't..." Ryouga
looked at Yoiko again, presumably looking for features they didn't
have in common. The fangs were, after all, from his mother's side....
He thought.
"Hey, pal." Ranma pulled off the wig, and took out the fake set of
fangs. "Get a clue, huh?"
"I'll... talk to you later... dad." Ryouga's eyes flashed, and the
phone in his hands crushed like so much tissue paper. He was literally
shaking with rage. "It was... Ranma... RANMA!! You won't live to see
our duel. You won't even live to see the sun set today."
"Hold on a sec, buddy!" Ranma held up his hands.
"You wanted to spy on me.... you wanted to toy with me?!" The snarl on
his lips grew, exposing fully his larger than normal canine teeth.
"Damn you Ranma! Damn you to hell!!"
Ranma looked from Ryouga to Akane, to Nabiki, both of which were
backing off. From the look in their eyes, he wasn't exactly about to
get either of their support in this. Silently cursing, he threw aside
the last of his disguise, rallied his self-confidence, balled his
fists, and took a fighting stance. He'd trained damn hard the last
week, and he was the best he'd ever been. Even if he was in girl form,
it was time to perform. Time to show them that Saotome Ranma wasn't to
be trifled with and mocked. He felt a rush as his Battle Aura
manifested around him, snapping to life out of thin air, sheathing him
in power.
Then, Ryouga's aura began to appear.
The first signs took the form of a heaviness in the air, heavy Ki,
pushing at Ranma's shoulders and knees, and flattening the grass
around the Lost Boy for two or three meters. Ryouga was crouched,
snarling, his arms crossed in front of him, when barely visible white
crackles of electricity began to dance from his faintly glowing body
to the ground, scorching the crushed grass as it hit. The faint glow
manifested, then disappeared, manifested a little more, disappeared,
and finally exploded like an overloaded light bulb. The flash was
almost blinding, and when it cleared, a heartbeat later, Ryouga was
engulfed in an inferno of red, black, and white fire, dancing up into
the air like ethereal claws reaching for the heavens. Air was kicked
up, and as pieces of paper and grass neared the pyre, they caught fire
and burned, even as they lazily swirled around the lost boy, paying
homage and penance to his released power. Never before had Ranma seen
him this angry, or manifesting this much battle aura.
'He's a monster!' Ranma blinked, hoping that what he was seeing was
some kind of mirage. Calming himself, he was only consoled by the fact
that, unlike Happosai, Ryouga couldn't project his aura, though the
intensity was eerily similar in that both were beyond Ranma's
experience with the phenomenon. The flames seemed to recede a bit, as
Ryouga lowered his arms and gained more control, until they burned
only a few inches from his body, now tightly under control.
Ranma moved, when he saw Ryouga's eyes finally focus on him totally,
and still caught the edge of the heel kick to the abdomen. The world
became blurry for a second, and he was thankful that he'd had his Ki
to cushion the blow, or else it might have blown his (her) kidneys out
through his back. As it was, he was damn stunned, and crashing into
the wall didn't do anything to help. The pigtailed boy turned girl
didn't see the next blow coming, but he knew it was, and focused on
moving to the left. Blurring from the motion, Ranma barely avoided an
axe chop that shattered the wall behind him into so much dust and
gravel.
'I need time to think! Need time!' Ranma's mind raced, desperate, as
Ryouga's eyes again fell on him. His elbow proved to only be a fake,
and when Ranma dodged it by a hairsbreadth, the Lost Boy's knee
connected with Ranma's sternum, knocking the wind out of his
transformed female body, and sending him into the air. The pigtailed
boy/girl got only a few inches skywards, when a backhand intercepted
him and send him screaming like a misguided rocket into the ground,
tearing a long furrow into the ground.
"Ryouga! STOP!"
"Damn it! You're going to kill him!"
Ryouga skip-jumped over to where Ranma lay, bruised, beaten and
bloody, his head lolled off to the side slightly, a swelling eye and
bloody lower lip marring the otherwise good looks of his female form.
His clothes were torn and dirty as Ryouga lifted him by what was left
of his collar, straight armed, and shook the body slightly. Ranma
blinked, and slowly came to, his vision messed up by his left eye. He
reached up, trying to pry Ryouga's fingers lose from his shirt, but
found it impossible - it was like trying to bend a vice made out of
inches of tempered steel. With his last bit of energy, Ranma's feet
blurred in a version of his Kachuu Tenshi Amaguriken, striking
Ryouga's chest and midriff hundreds of times in the span of a few
seconds. None of the blows seemed to even warrant the Lost Boy's
attention.
A simple heat butt had Ranma seeing a miniature version of the
cosmos.
"Having fun, Saotome? Was it worth it?" He shook Ranma again,
harder this time. "Was it worth it? Answer me, you bastard!!"
"Freeze!"
"Put the lady down NOW!"
Ryouga's eyes moved to two police officers that had just left their
car, as it was still rumbling, the engine left on. They both had
pistols drawn, the usual .38 caliber revolver, aimed at him, and only
then did he notice that the streets were almost deserted. Had he been
in possession of a clearer head, just then, he would have realized
what the situation appeared to be: a large, angry and dangerous
looking man holding a beaten and battered woman up like a rag doll,
shaking and yelling at her. As it was, he saw the guns, and dismissed
them. They were aiming at his chest. His Tekimen Kongou Gishu made him
effectively immune to being shot there, and at this range he could
probably dodge the low powered bullets if he had to anyway.
"You're more trouble than you're worth Saotome." With a sneer, he
dismissed the officers and faced Ranma, leaning in closer. "I hate
you, do you know that?"
Ranma spat something unintelligible, and Ryouga gave him another hard
shake. The lost boy got ready to finish the job with a tried and true
uppercut-to-the-sky. "How do you like being toyed with, huh?"
Gunshots.
'They actually shot at me? Damnit...' It was Ryouga's experience that
most Japanese officers would much sooner run at an offender with their
baton out and whistle blowing. Ryouga turned, intending to take the
bullets to the chest and discourage the two unusually aggressive
police from interfering. It had worked before, but when the three
rounds hit, instead of feeling a hard, but not piercing impact, he
felt almost nothing. The impact was wrong. Not like before at all.
Surprised and puzzled by this, when Ryouga looked down at his torso,
he saw three red stains on his nice yellow shirt that Ukyou had
given... him.
The pieces instantly fell into place, but it was too late to do
anything about it. His carefully controlled aura faded like a blown
out candle, and his grip on Ranma's collar disappeared. He heard some
shouting - Nabiki's voice mixed with Akane's, and the police yelling
something. He was still on his feet, and stumbled forward a little,
when another three dull thuds, almost knocked him back and off his
feet. Again, he analyzed the unique feeling, amid the growing
dizziness. Running his hand down his face, and by his neck, he felt a
spurt of wetness, and was distantly glad it was too warm to trigger
his curse.
He blinked a few times, and felt another of the odd feelings just
under his shoulder, as a fast blur hit the two things in the distance.
Suddenly thirsty, he licked his lips and tasted coppery liquid that he
finally connected with blood. It wasn't refreshing. He wanted some ice
water, not over his head mind you, which would set off his curse, but
some ice water in a nice glass. Maybe he should go to the kitchen and
get some? With a straw - maybe a curly straw, like his mother used to
give him. Blinking again, he found himself swaying a bit, falling out
of someone's grip, and hitting the ground. It was softer than his
pervious experiences with concrete. Looking up, he saw brown hair and
brown eyes: Nabiki. She seemed to be saying something, probably
complaining about all the blood on her nice money-green shirt.
Gods, what a headache he had.
Some more minor Author's Notes
The storyline is most closely following the manga, but I'm not shy to
dip into the anime as a supplement. I can imagine people saying right
off the bat that Ryouga's too powerful here - keep in mind the months
of intense training and wandering he's gone through, and his renewed
focus on beating Ranma for the sake of beating Ranma. This Ryouga is
both less obsessive, less naive, and more willing to think things
through, because of his greater experience, and his 'getting over' and
recognition of his infatuation with Akane relatively early in the
series.
Without her being the prime focus of his world, this Ryouga has become
more like he initially was rather than what he eventually became. The
same Ryouga who picked up his Iron Cloth techniques, weapons, etc...
on his own, between chasing Ranma into China, and appearing in Nerima
maybe a year or two later (or much less, if you subscribe to Genma
taking Ranma straight to Jyusenkyou in China, getting cursed, and
being back in Japan just a few weeks later). He also recognizes things
more as they are - don't expect him to attack Ranma out of the blue
yelling, 'Apologize to Akane right now!' He is, for all intents and
purposes, Ryouga before Akane kissed his pig form.
This mentality, combined with his training and experience makes him
extremely formidable, though it should be noted that Ranma himself is
rapidly improving and starting to catch up - Ryouga knows this, and
expects it almost eagerly. To put his level of strength and ability
*roughly* into focus, the following can be used as a basic guideline
(noting beforehand that fights are won or lost by more than
measureable attributes):
Ranma Saotome (Arrival in Nerima / BT fight / Latest fight)
Speed: 10 16 18
Strength: 10 10 14
Endurance: 10 16 16
Technique: 10 14 16
Adaptability: 20 20 20
Special Techniques: 10 14 14
'Ranko' Saotome (Arrival in Nerima / BT fight / Latest fight)
Speed: 12 18 20
Strength: 8 8 12
Endurance: 10 12 12
Technique: 10 14 16
Adaptability: 20 20 20
Special Techniques: 10 14 14
Ryouga Hibiki (Arrival in Nerima / BT fight / Latest fight)
Speed: 8 14 22
Strength: 16 20 30
Endurance: 16 22 36
Technique: 8 12 20
Adaptability: 16 16 18
Special Techniques: 14 18 30
Ukyou Kuonji (Before Nerima /Arrival in Nerima / Latest fight)
Speed: 6 10 10
Strength: 6 8 8
Endurance: 6 8 8
Technique: 6 8 8
Adaptability: 10 12 12
Special Techniques: 4 6 8
Shan Pu (Before Nerima /Arrival in Nerima / Latest fight)
Speed: 6 6 6
Strength: 8 8 10
Endurance: 8 8 10
Technique: 8 8 8
Adaptability: 8 8 8
Special Techniques: 6 6 8
Mu Tzu (Before Nerima /Arrival in Nerima / Latest fight)
Speed: 8 8 10
Strength: 8 8 10
Endurance: 10 10 12
Technique: 10 10 10
Adaptability: 10 10 10
Special Techniques: 4 4 8
Akane Tendo (Before Ranma / Early post-Ranma/ Latest post-Ranma)
Speed: 4 4 5
Strength: 4 4 5
Endurance: 6 6 6
Technique: 6 6 6
Adaptability: 6 6 6
Special Techniques: 2 2 2
Do I even need to do one for Nabiki and Kasumi? ...I didn't think
so.
The other potential bone of contention is probably how I portrayed
Ryouga's intelligence and his academic standing. He never seems to go
to school, and never even gives it much thought beyond being there to
better know Akane. Now, either he's dismissed academics altogether, or
he studies by himself. Given a non-Saotome family, even if they are
absentee, I'd figure his parents would encourage the latter. His life
divided then between martial arts, and his studies, and having pretty
much NO knowledge of what he was supposed to learn in class... and you
see how I got what I did. Those who remark to Ryouga's stupidity, I
point to this: He somehow tracked Ranma all the way to the exact right
part of China, survives on his own, tracked Ranma back all the way to
the exact school he was attending, and numerous other things. It's
largely his obsession with Akane, and his naivete, coupled with his
curses (which he cannot help) that make him foolish in the manga
(anime Ryouga is far more comic in nature). Again, before his
infatuation and eventual listless love with Akane, he seemed to be of
above average intelligence, IMHO.
As my mother always says, there's a difference between book smarts
and common sense. On the occasions Ryouga's academic standing have
been brought up, though never revealed fully, he proved a dedicated
student and one willing to study. His personal self-doubt, however,
and constant problems with Happosai and Ranma in regards to Akane,
precluded any verification of where he would, or would not stand. So,
using my Writer's License (tm) to solve the issue in a manner
befitting my mad schemes.
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