A Mind among Men
A Ranma Fanfic
Written By : Noaki ([email protected])
Disclaimer : I do not own in any way shape or form any
part of Ranma. I only use it's characters and some of its
storyline.
Conversation Key :
[" "]=Thoughts
" " =Speaking
* * =Telepathy
{" "}=Panda Signs
\" "/=Other Languages
Chapter Two
Tears
+----------------------------------------------------------+
What has happened (Time line):
This fanfic started a week after the failed wedding attempt. Ranma sits on the roof and thinks (Hell let out for a snow day) about an upcoming challenge. He finally decides to use a scroll that could very well drive him insane for life. After reading the scroll, a big change comes over Ranma. He leaves for a ten day training trip and comes back very different. After a day at school the preparation for the upcoming battle is completed and the fighters gather in the early morning. The fight continues and Ranma wins, and chooses to break the engagement with Akane. Soun agrees and uses a subclause in the pact to honorably break the engagements. Genma blames it on Ranma.
+----------------------------------------------------------+
Genma slowly looked up at Ranma. He idly noticed Nodoka approaching in the background, but put it aside for now. "I guess you are right Tendo, the pact could no longer be carried out anyways." he said while staring at Ranma.
"What do you mean Genma?" Soun asked.
"The agreement was my son would marry one of your daughters, and I have no son." Genma said in an icy tone.
Ranma stopped moving, stopped breathing, his face went blank, and his eyes wide and unfocused.
Kasumi blinked then softly said "Oh My!" as she walked over to Ranma and pulled him into a comforting embrace.
Akane got pulled out her mallet and got ready to attack Ranma for cheating on her with her sister when she remembered they were no longer engaged. So she was going to smack him for flirting with her SISTER. Then Genma's works sunk in a bit. "What do you mean Mr. Saotome? Ranma is standing right there." she said pointing towards the stunned boy.
"Who is Ranma? There is no Ranma in our family." Genma said as Nodoka joined the group.
"Did you take a blow to the head Genma? Ranma is right here. What are you talking about?" Nodoka asked.
"The only Ranma I know is a dishonorable bastard, one that ran from his duties. It would be a shame to have someone like him tarnishing the Saotome name." Genma replied coldly.
A short sob came from Ranma, then he stood up straight. Unshed tears sparkled in his eyes. He slowly turned to his mother. "Mom... Mrs. Saotome, I wish to speak to you later if you would." he said softly, then turned to face Genma. "You did no less than I should have expected from you. After all, if I won't do your work then I'm just a broken tool. Since you think I have run from my duties, remember your own duties as well. I may not have a family now, but you never really did." Ranma said to Genma before walking off towards the Tendo compound.
"Where do you think you are going?" Genma shouted after him.
"I'm going to get my pack... and I don't know after that." Ranma said without stopping.
Genma watched his ex-son walk off, he turned to his best friend. "Shall we go home Soun?" he asked.
"Yes, we shall. After all, you must clear your possessions out of the guest room." Soun replied in a similar tone to the one Genma used earlier.
"What? What do you mean by that?" Genma stuttered, a worried look crossing his face.
"I mean that you are no longer welcome to stay at our home." Soun replied.
"Why?" Genma mumbled, then turned towards Nodoka. "Nodoka! Glad you made it! Sorry you were late. Shall we go home now?" he asked smugly.
"Yes, I shall go home after I make a stop at the Tendo's." Nodoka replied.
"Very well, I must pick up a few things anyway, or whatever is left that the boy hasn't stolen by now."
"I said _I_ will be going home. I do not care where YOU go, but you are not welcome to follow." Nodoka said. She turned and nodded to the Tendos, then they all started walking back in the direction of the Tendo compound.
"Why? Why would they abandon me? I did nothing wrong... It's all Ranma's fault!" Genma muttered before turning to find some shelter for the rough nights ahead. If one were to look closely a tear could be seen running down his face.
Genma walked away from the middle of the battle field as a thick fog seemed to roll over the field, and all over Nermia. It was as if the very earth was saddened by this turn of events and wished to hide away for a while.
_ _ _
_=-+-=_=-+-=_
"Ranma! Don't you understand? You can stay here!" Akane shouted as Ranma continued to pack his few belongings.
"Oh my, where will you go Ranma?" Kasumi asked.
"I have to leave, it's time I figured out what I really want from life." Ranma said, a slight smile forming on his face. "Don't worry, I'll try to keep in touch no matter what."
Kasumi smiled at hearing this. "I have one more question before you leave." Kasumi said as Ranma was shouldering his pack and preparing to jump out the window.
"What is it?" Ranma asked as he turned to face Kasumi.
"How did you know Dr.Tofu proposed to me?" Kasumi asked.
"I saw it in your eyes." Ranma replied, then jumped out the window and disappeared into the fog that had gathered.
"What kind of answer is that? Stupid jerk..." Akane said then ran off to her room, a tear rolling down her face.
_ _ _
_=-+-=_=-+-=_
Ranma hopped over the closed gate of the Tendo compound and got ready to walk down the street. A slight noise was heard and he spun to face it.
"Ready to go home son?" Nodoka asked when Ranma faced her.
"I'm not your son anymore." Ranma replied sadly, looking down at the ground at his feet.
"Genma is not my husband anymore." Nodoka retorted.
Ranma looked up at his mother in surprise, then a grin formed on his face. He stepped forward and gave her a big hug.
Nodoka was surprised at Ranma's sudden display of affection, but took it in stride. ["He has been through many changes recently it seems, I'm sure he has many more surprises tucked away."] "Let's go home for now, tomorrow we will get our names put back on my family's registry. Soon Genma will be the only Saotome in Japan. And we can be a family again." Nodoka said happily, a tear in her eye.
Ranma let his mother out of his embrace and smiled. As they turned to walk towards their new home, three figures could be made out in the fog ahead.
"Who is there?" Nodoka commanded, hand reaching for her katana.
Ranma however was able to recognize the three figures, his new senses were quite useful in many cases. He stopped his mother's hand while he called out to the three. "Hello Ukyo, Shampoo, and Kodachi."
The three girls stepped forward under a street light. "Hello Ran-chan\Airen\Ranma-sama." they all said. (Respectively to Ranma's comment, duh.)
"Can we help you?" Nodoka asked politely.
"Is it true that Ranma-sama knows the Ryu-Tsume?" Kodachi quickly asked.
"Yes, I am the sole user of the Ryu-Tsume. Why do you ask?" Ranma replied.
Kodachi looked to be on the verge of tears. "As you know, my father and brother are quite insane. What many people do not know, is of my younger sister. She had decided to be a great martial artist, and nothing could stand in her way. So she got a hold of a secret training manual. The manual described the training for the Ryu-Tsume. The training destroyed her mind, and she killed our mother. Seeing mother dying she snapped out of the trance she was in, and took her own life as well. I am afraid I must break off my engagement you for I could never love someone who could use such a destructive and evil style. Goodbye Ranma." she said. She quickly turned and walked away, a single tear rolling down her face shining in the light from the street lamp.
Ranma sweatdropped. "It was THAT easy to get rid of her all along?" he mumbled.
Nodoka nodded slowly. "If you had ended up married to that particular girl, I would have forced you to commit seppuku for your own sake."
"Shampoo no blame Airen's mother... Shampoo would no force even Mousse to crazy rose girl." Shampoo added, also with a sweat drop.
"Ran-chan..." Ukyo said quietly.
"What is it Ucchan?" was the reply.
"I... I know that I was to be married to Ranma Saotome according to the deal our fathers made... since you are no longer a Saotome, I guess I can't call you my fiancee anymore. But I would like to be your friend, and one day... maybe more. I never wanted you for you name." she said softly.
"... Thank you Ucchan. That does mean alot to me." Ranma replied. "That you'll be my friend that is." he added quickly when he noticed the 'My Son Is So Manly' glint in his mother's eyes.
"Shampoo want Ranma to know Shampoo love Ranma for Ranma being Ranma. Kiss of Marriage is given to person, not to name. Shampoo no give up so easy." Shampoo said, a small grin at the edges of her mouth.
"So it's not as easy to keep you two away huh?" Ranma said, a grin forming on his face.
"Not on your life sugar." Ukyo replied, a grin on her face as well.
"Shampoo never give up Airen!" Shampoo said between giggles.
"I'm glad I still have two friends that care. For now I want to go home and get moved in. I just know that the days ahead will be interesting." Ranma said, almost happily. ["Maybe this is all for the better."]
"Come Ranma, I want to show you your new room so you can unpack. Then we can re enroll you in school, maybe Juuban High." Nodoka said.
Ranma face-faulted, then was drug off by his mother into the fog.
The two girls just stood there looking down the street after Ranma and his mother.
_ _ _
_=-+-=_=-+-=_
It was only a few minutes later that Akane rushed out onto the street. She noticed Shampoo and Ukyo standing there, both peering into the fog with eyes clouded with unshed tears. "Did Ranma leave already?" she asked, looking in the same direction with her own tear filled eyes.
"Yes." both other girls replied, not turning their heads.
"That jerk... he didn't wait for me to say goodbye." Akane said softly, another tear rolling down her cheek.
Both Shampoo and Ukyo turned to look at Akane. Ukyo took note of the tears. "I thought you didn't love him." she said, her tone of voice almost accusing.
"I don't... but I wanted to tell him to give me time. I could use another friend." Akane said before running back into her house.
"Aiya..."
"You said it sugar..."
_ _ _
_=-+-=_=-+-=_
"Ranma, I just got off the phone with the principal of Juuban High. You'll start taking classes tomorrow." Nodoka said as she walked into Ranma's new room.
Ranma's new rooms wasn't huge, but it wasn't tiny either. It had a small bed, a bookcase, a desk, and a large window looking out over the koi pond in the back yard. A small picture frame was on one wall, an image in it that surprised Ranma. He was currently staring at it.
"I see you like that. I have a friend who does computer graphic editing. I... convinced... Nabiki to loan me some pictures she had of you. My friend was more than happy to make that photo." she explained as she walked up to stand behind her son.
The picture in question was rather interesting. In the background were images of Ranma and Ranma-chan fighting various opponents. In the middle was the image of Ranma and Ranma-chan leaning back to back and smiling.
"Thanks Mom. It's nice to have a reminder like this." Ranma said happily.
"Reminder?" Nodoka asked, confused as to what her son meant.
"Yes, a reminder that I am half boy and half girl. It's taken me a while to accept it, but it's something I can't change. Even if I could, I don't know if I would now." Ranma answered.
["My son is growing up so fast. I wish he had never gone on that trip, or that I had gone with him. I've missed out on so much of his life."] Nodoka thought sadly.
Ranma turned to his mother. "Trust me, you don't wish you could have been on the trip. And I'm here now, so don't worry." he said.
"It's almost if you read my mind." Nodoka said with a smile.
"I did."
"..."
"I think I have some things to explain. This will take a while, let's go sit downstairs and have some tea."
"..."
Ranma took his mother's hand and carefully lead her downstairs.
_ _ _
_=-+-=_=-+-=_
Ranma walked into the room carrying two steaming cups of tea. He sad one down for his mother then sat down across the table from her.
Nodoka smiled at her son, he was acting so much more grown up than just a few short weeks ago. "Now then, I think you have some explaining to do."
Ranma nodded. "You remember about the neko-ken, right?"
"Of course. I still haven't figured out how to punish Genma for that." Nodoka replied, her voice cold and icy.
"Well shortly after that, when I was acting like a cat, I ran across a nice woman. She knew about the neko-ken and was determined to help me. I would sneak away from Pops every night and spend an hour or two talking and learning with her. Her name was Kionai. She helped me expand my mind and contain the neko-ken." Ranma said, smiling as he thought back to those times.
"But I thought you couldn't control it." Nodoka countered.
"Well, it seems that having control over the neko-ken meant it was a part of me at all times. It's hard to suppress right now, but was nearly impossible to suppress back then. I had begun to display cat like behavior constantly. In order for me to be able to fit in, she locked the neko-ken away again. It had the unfortunate side effect of locking most of my memories of her training away too." Ranma answered. "Anyway, she had given me a scroll. This scroll had the phrase to unlock my memories, and the neko-ken, printed on it. The danger of this was, if I wasn't prepared, I could go into the neko-ken permanently."
"You took a risk like that?" Nodoka asked, eyes wide in surprise.
"I had to. I'm a very strong fighter, but I knew that Happosai and his team would be difficult to take down if they worked together. I felt that being forced to marry Akane like that wasn't for me. It ends up I was right. So I read the scroll. The changes literal happened overnight. The differences were amazing. It was like my mind was behind a thick fog that suddenly cleared. Things that were so hard to figure out before were simple now. After that I left to train in my new abilities. Well, remember how to do them mostly. I still can't do everything I learned, but I am working on it." Ranma said.
"I heard that you had done something strange to that Chinese boy during the battle, was that something you learned?" Nodoka asked.
"Mousse? Yhea. He threw a bunch of training pots at me and I stopped them in midair then threw them back at him. Then I just picked him up telekineticly. I would have done something mean, but was interrupted." Ranma said.
"Amazing. Now I have one more question." Nodoka said.
"What is it?" Ranma asked.
"Explain the tail." Nodoka said, in a blunt, matter-of-fact tone.
Ranma couldn't help but to face fault.
"Well, it seems that having the true neko-ken under my control again is changing me slightly. I grew the tail while I was out training. It's easy enough to just wrap around my waist like a belt. If you were to look closely at my eyes, you could tell the irises have changed shape slightly. Also, I can grow fur... but it itches really bad. I think my ears are changing shape too, but I could be wrong. Also the Ryu-Tsume has made a few changes to me as well. But I think those have stopped for the most part." Ranma said.
"Ryu-Tsume?" Nodoka inquired.
"Yes, the Dragon Claw techniques. It's a modified form of the neko-ken. It's not as fast as the neko-ken, but the attacks are much more powerful. I'm working on a way to combine the two together and use them at the same time, but until I figure out how I can just switch back and forth between them." Ranma answered.
"Genma didn't throw you in a pit of dragons or anything did he?" Nodoka asked worried.
"He wouldn't be alive today if he tried something that stupid. Two people found me while I was training. It seems my mind wasn't very focused, and was putting out some random psychic energy. When Skuld and Urd came out to inspect the energies, they thought I was a demon for a while. They helped me focus better. When they found out I knew the neko-ken, I think I was purring or something in my sleep, the decided to teach me the Ryu-Tsume."
"They didn't throw..." Nodoka started before Ranma interrupted.
"No, actually they handed me a nice little book - it even had pictures. I figured out how to modify the neko-ken instead of going through with the Ryu-Tsume training. Which only involved interacting with dragons in certain ways. I wonder what type of weird training Kodachi's sister put herself through for the technique?" Ranma said quickly to prevent his mother from worrying.
"Any changes I should know about from that?" Nodoka asked, slightly worried about the thought of her son breathing fire or something.
"Only two that I know of." Ranma replied sheepishly.
"And they are?"
"I have a pair of wings for one. I don't want to show you right now, it hurts pretty bad to grow them." Ranma said.
"What do you mean grow them?" Nodoka asked.
"It's a technique of the Ryu-Tsume. I can hide the wings, then regenerate them later. I'm hoping I can adapt the technique to work with my curse. But even if I do, I'll still change with water." Ranma said.
"What is the second?" Nodoka asked.
Ranma pulled one of his bracer off of his forearm. Beneath it was black scales. They grew to form bracer made of dragon scale. "I was lucky they grew only on my forearms, I can hide them beneath my bracer or just tell people they are exotic bracer. You would think that they would be hard, but they are pretty soft. I don't really know why." Ranma explained.
"This is much to think about. But for now we must get you a school uniform. You do start tomorrow after all." Nodoka said as she began to stand.
"Err, mom? There is a problem with school uniforms." Ranma said.
"What is it?" Nodoka asked. "I'm sure we can modify it slightly if you don't like the color or something."
"It's not that, it's my curse. Wearing a girl's uniform as a boy is VERY embarrassing. Unless I wrap my chest, which hurts really bad when my curse activates, I have... problems with the boy's uniform." Ranma explained, cheeks red.
"Oh. Well then, we'll just have to explain to the principal about your curse and why you can't wear a uniform tomorrow." Nodoka said. "Now come along, we have to buy you some new clothes anyways. Those are beginning to get a bit small."
"Yes mam." Ranma said as he reluctantly stood to follow, putting the bracer back on his arm as they left the house.
_ _ _
_=-+-=_=-+-=_
Meanwhile - in a dark, smelly dimension.
["Those damn Sailor Scouts! How can they ruin my plans so easily? Nikyo will not be pleased with me..."] a tall man with long brown hair and wearing a suit of black armor thought as he returned for the Earth realm, his mission - to capture territory and establish a beach head of sorts for the invading armies - failed. He stopped before a large black circle in the middle of the room. All around him various leaders of the military and local governments from this dimension stood, awaiting the Emperor.
The black stone circle began to ripple, as if it was made of water. A small child-like figure slowly rose from the stone, sitting in a large blood-red crystal throne. "So Ukemi, what do you have to say for yourself?" the person said in a childish, yet plainly evil voice.
"Emperor Nikyo, somehow those damn Scouts found up before we could establish a forward base. They targeted the dimensional beacons before we could get them to safety. It seems they have learned a few things since our last encounter." Ukemi said quickly.
"Enough of your excuses. If you weren't so valuable to me, I would kill you where you stand. But believe this, if you do not bring me a victory soon, I will leave you on Earth for the Scouts to kill! And that's only if you are lucky." Nikyo said. "Now begone. You better come up with a working plan soon, for your own sake." he said as he and this throne sunk back into the black stone. ["Soon I shall capture the Earth realm and add it to my empire. And I can finally get out of this dark and smelly dimension! Anyone who stands in my way will be crushed!"]
_ _ _
_=-+-=_=-+-=_
At a small shrine temple in Juuban, a small gathering of girls sneezed at once.
At the local Juuban mall a boy with a black pigtail sneezed.
+----------------------------------------------------------+
Welcome to the third chapter of this series. Well, welcome to the end of it.
As you can see I have decided to cross this story over with Sailor Moon. And I will say it here and now.
RANMA WILL NOT BECOME A SCOUT, AND WILL PROBABLY NOT MARRY A SCOUT!
Thank you. The Scouts will be used mostly as a story plot. Since I had only sat down with ideas for the opening of this fic when I created it, I never planned too far in advance. I figured I would just write as the story came to me. Having the Scouts in here allows me to create of the wall, and stupid, opponents to keep the storyline moving. If you don't like it, then tell me, but also include an alternate idea. If enough people give me a good one, I might rewrite the story using it.
Also, I have decided to start a vote on who Ranma will pair up with. Keep in mind that I might use the outcome of this vote only as a plot device (AKA Ranma goes out with this person until he meets whoever he does marry, if he marries) and is mostly just to get feedback from my readers. Do me a favor and email me ([email protected]) instead of posting your vote in a review. Review votes may or may not be counted. Give me any char from any series you wish (include the series if it's not Ranma or Sailor Moon)
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Vote Count:
Shampoo : 1
Belldandy (Oh, My Goddess!) : 1
Kasumi : 1
Saturn & Pluto : 1
Ami : 1
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Noaki ([email protected])
[email protected]
A Ranma Fanfic
Written By : Noaki ([email protected])
Disclaimer : I do not own in any way shape or form any
part of Ranma. I only use it's characters and some of its
storyline.
Conversation Key :
[" "]=Thoughts
" " =Speaking
* * =Telepathy
{" "}=Panda Signs
\" "/=Other Languages
Chapter Two
Tears
+----------------------------------------------------------+
What has happened (Time line):
This fanfic started a week after the failed wedding attempt. Ranma sits on the roof and thinks (Hell let out for a snow day) about an upcoming challenge. He finally decides to use a scroll that could very well drive him insane for life. After reading the scroll, a big change comes over Ranma. He leaves for a ten day training trip and comes back very different. After a day at school the preparation for the upcoming battle is completed and the fighters gather in the early morning. The fight continues and Ranma wins, and chooses to break the engagement with Akane. Soun agrees and uses a subclause in the pact to honorably break the engagements. Genma blames it on Ranma.
+----------------------------------------------------------+
Genma slowly looked up at Ranma. He idly noticed Nodoka approaching in the background, but put it aside for now. "I guess you are right Tendo, the pact could no longer be carried out anyways." he said while staring at Ranma.
"What do you mean Genma?" Soun asked.
"The agreement was my son would marry one of your daughters, and I have no son." Genma said in an icy tone.
Ranma stopped moving, stopped breathing, his face went blank, and his eyes wide and unfocused.
Kasumi blinked then softly said "Oh My!" as she walked over to Ranma and pulled him into a comforting embrace.
Akane got pulled out her mallet and got ready to attack Ranma for cheating on her with her sister when she remembered they were no longer engaged. So she was going to smack him for flirting with her SISTER. Then Genma's works sunk in a bit. "What do you mean Mr. Saotome? Ranma is standing right there." she said pointing towards the stunned boy.
"Who is Ranma? There is no Ranma in our family." Genma said as Nodoka joined the group.
"Did you take a blow to the head Genma? Ranma is right here. What are you talking about?" Nodoka asked.
"The only Ranma I know is a dishonorable bastard, one that ran from his duties. It would be a shame to have someone like him tarnishing the Saotome name." Genma replied coldly.
A short sob came from Ranma, then he stood up straight. Unshed tears sparkled in his eyes. He slowly turned to his mother. "Mom... Mrs. Saotome, I wish to speak to you later if you would." he said softly, then turned to face Genma. "You did no less than I should have expected from you. After all, if I won't do your work then I'm just a broken tool. Since you think I have run from my duties, remember your own duties as well. I may not have a family now, but you never really did." Ranma said to Genma before walking off towards the Tendo compound.
"Where do you think you are going?" Genma shouted after him.
"I'm going to get my pack... and I don't know after that." Ranma said without stopping.
Genma watched his ex-son walk off, he turned to his best friend. "Shall we go home Soun?" he asked.
"Yes, we shall. After all, you must clear your possessions out of the guest room." Soun replied in a similar tone to the one Genma used earlier.
"What? What do you mean by that?" Genma stuttered, a worried look crossing his face.
"I mean that you are no longer welcome to stay at our home." Soun replied.
"Why?" Genma mumbled, then turned towards Nodoka. "Nodoka! Glad you made it! Sorry you were late. Shall we go home now?" he asked smugly.
"Yes, I shall go home after I make a stop at the Tendo's." Nodoka replied.
"Very well, I must pick up a few things anyway, or whatever is left that the boy hasn't stolen by now."
"I said _I_ will be going home. I do not care where YOU go, but you are not welcome to follow." Nodoka said. She turned and nodded to the Tendos, then they all started walking back in the direction of the Tendo compound.
"Why? Why would they abandon me? I did nothing wrong... It's all Ranma's fault!" Genma muttered before turning to find some shelter for the rough nights ahead. If one were to look closely a tear could be seen running down his face.
Genma walked away from the middle of the battle field as a thick fog seemed to roll over the field, and all over Nermia. It was as if the very earth was saddened by this turn of events and wished to hide away for a while.
_ _ _
_=-+-=_=-+-=_
"Ranma! Don't you understand? You can stay here!" Akane shouted as Ranma continued to pack his few belongings.
"Oh my, where will you go Ranma?" Kasumi asked.
"I have to leave, it's time I figured out what I really want from life." Ranma said, a slight smile forming on his face. "Don't worry, I'll try to keep in touch no matter what."
Kasumi smiled at hearing this. "I have one more question before you leave." Kasumi said as Ranma was shouldering his pack and preparing to jump out the window.
"What is it?" Ranma asked as he turned to face Kasumi.
"How did you know Dr.Tofu proposed to me?" Kasumi asked.
"I saw it in your eyes." Ranma replied, then jumped out the window and disappeared into the fog that had gathered.
"What kind of answer is that? Stupid jerk..." Akane said then ran off to her room, a tear rolling down her face.
_ _ _
_=-+-=_=-+-=_
Ranma hopped over the closed gate of the Tendo compound and got ready to walk down the street. A slight noise was heard and he spun to face it.
"Ready to go home son?" Nodoka asked when Ranma faced her.
"I'm not your son anymore." Ranma replied sadly, looking down at the ground at his feet.
"Genma is not my husband anymore." Nodoka retorted.
Ranma looked up at his mother in surprise, then a grin formed on his face. He stepped forward and gave her a big hug.
Nodoka was surprised at Ranma's sudden display of affection, but took it in stride. ["He has been through many changes recently it seems, I'm sure he has many more surprises tucked away."] "Let's go home for now, tomorrow we will get our names put back on my family's registry. Soon Genma will be the only Saotome in Japan. And we can be a family again." Nodoka said happily, a tear in her eye.
Ranma let his mother out of his embrace and smiled. As they turned to walk towards their new home, three figures could be made out in the fog ahead.
"Who is there?" Nodoka commanded, hand reaching for her katana.
Ranma however was able to recognize the three figures, his new senses were quite useful in many cases. He stopped his mother's hand while he called out to the three. "Hello Ukyo, Shampoo, and Kodachi."
The three girls stepped forward under a street light. "Hello Ran-chan\Airen\Ranma-sama." they all said. (Respectively to Ranma's comment, duh.)
"Can we help you?" Nodoka asked politely.
"Is it true that Ranma-sama knows the Ryu-Tsume?" Kodachi quickly asked.
"Yes, I am the sole user of the Ryu-Tsume. Why do you ask?" Ranma replied.
Kodachi looked to be on the verge of tears. "As you know, my father and brother are quite insane. What many people do not know, is of my younger sister. She had decided to be a great martial artist, and nothing could stand in her way. So she got a hold of a secret training manual. The manual described the training for the Ryu-Tsume. The training destroyed her mind, and she killed our mother. Seeing mother dying she snapped out of the trance she was in, and took her own life as well. I am afraid I must break off my engagement you for I could never love someone who could use such a destructive and evil style. Goodbye Ranma." she said. She quickly turned and walked away, a single tear rolling down her face shining in the light from the street lamp.
Ranma sweatdropped. "It was THAT easy to get rid of her all along?" he mumbled.
Nodoka nodded slowly. "If you had ended up married to that particular girl, I would have forced you to commit seppuku for your own sake."
"Shampoo no blame Airen's mother... Shampoo would no force even Mousse to crazy rose girl." Shampoo added, also with a sweat drop.
"Ran-chan..." Ukyo said quietly.
"What is it Ucchan?" was the reply.
"I... I know that I was to be married to Ranma Saotome according to the deal our fathers made... since you are no longer a Saotome, I guess I can't call you my fiancee anymore. But I would like to be your friend, and one day... maybe more. I never wanted you for you name." she said softly.
"... Thank you Ucchan. That does mean alot to me." Ranma replied. "That you'll be my friend that is." he added quickly when he noticed the 'My Son Is So Manly' glint in his mother's eyes.
"Shampoo want Ranma to know Shampoo love Ranma for Ranma being Ranma. Kiss of Marriage is given to person, not to name. Shampoo no give up so easy." Shampoo said, a small grin at the edges of her mouth.
"So it's not as easy to keep you two away huh?" Ranma said, a grin forming on his face.
"Not on your life sugar." Ukyo replied, a grin on her face as well.
"Shampoo never give up Airen!" Shampoo said between giggles.
"I'm glad I still have two friends that care. For now I want to go home and get moved in. I just know that the days ahead will be interesting." Ranma said, almost happily. ["Maybe this is all for the better."]
"Come Ranma, I want to show you your new room so you can unpack. Then we can re enroll you in school, maybe Juuban High." Nodoka said.
Ranma face-faulted, then was drug off by his mother into the fog.
The two girls just stood there looking down the street after Ranma and his mother.
_ _ _
_=-+-=_=-+-=_
It was only a few minutes later that Akane rushed out onto the street. She noticed Shampoo and Ukyo standing there, both peering into the fog with eyes clouded with unshed tears. "Did Ranma leave already?" she asked, looking in the same direction with her own tear filled eyes.
"Yes." both other girls replied, not turning their heads.
"That jerk... he didn't wait for me to say goodbye." Akane said softly, another tear rolling down her cheek.
Both Shampoo and Ukyo turned to look at Akane. Ukyo took note of the tears. "I thought you didn't love him." she said, her tone of voice almost accusing.
"I don't... but I wanted to tell him to give me time. I could use another friend." Akane said before running back into her house.
"Aiya..."
"You said it sugar..."
_ _ _
_=-+-=_=-+-=_
"Ranma, I just got off the phone with the principal of Juuban High. You'll start taking classes tomorrow." Nodoka said as she walked into Ranma's new room.
Ranma's new rooms wasn't huge, but it wasn't tiny either. It had a small bed, a bookcase, a desk, and a large window looking out over the koi pond in the back yard. A small picture frame was on one wall, an image in it that surprised Ranma. He was currently staring at it.
"I see you like that. I have a friend who does computer graphic editing. I... convinced... Nabiki to loan me some pictures she had of you. My friend was more than happy to make that photo." she explained as she walked up to stand behind her son.
The picture in question was rather interesting. In the background were images of Ranma and Ranma-chan fighting various opponents. In the middle was the image of Ranma and Ranma-chan leaning back to back and smiling.
"Thanks Mom. It's nice to have a reminder like this." Ranma said happily.
"Reminder?" Nodoka asked, confused as to what her son meant.
"Yes, a reminder that I am half boy and half girl. It's taken me a while to accept it, but it's something I can't change. Even if I could, I don't know if I would now." Ranma answered.
["My son is growing up so fast. I wish he had never gone on that trip, or that I had gone with him. I've missed out on so much of his life."] Nodoka thought sadly.
Ranma turned to his mother. "Trust me, you don't wish you could have been on the trip. And I'm here now, so don't worry." he said.
"It's almost if you read my mind." Nodoka said with a smile.
"I did."
"..."
"I think I have some things to explain. This will take a while, let's go sit downstairs and have some tea."
"..."
Ranma took his mother's hand and carefully lead her downstairs.
_ _ _
_=-+-=_=-+-=_
Ranma walked into the room carrying two steaming cups of tea. He sad one down for his mother then sat down across the table from her.
Nodoka smiled at her son, he was acting so much more grown up than just a few short weeks ago. "Now then, I think you have some explaining to do."
Ranma nodded. "You remember about the neko-ken, right?"
"Of course. I still haven't figured out how to punish Genma for that." Nodoka replied, her voice cold and icy.
"Well shortly after that, when I was acting like a cat, I ran across a nice woman. She knew about the neko-ken and was determined to help me. I would sneak away from Pops every night and spend an hour or two talking and learning with her. Her name was Kionai. She helped me expand my mind and contain the neko-ken." Ranma said, smiling as he thought back to those times.
"But I thought you couldn't control it." Nodoka countered.
"Well, it seems that having control over the neko-ken meant it was a part of me at all times. It's hard to suppress right now, but was nearly impossible to suppress back then. I had begun to display cat like behavior constantly. In order for me to be able to fit in, she locked the neko-ken away again. It had the unfortunate side effect of locking most of my memories of her training away too." Ranma answered. "Anyway, she had given me a scroll. This scroll had the phrase to unlock my memories, and the neko-ken, printed on it. The danger of this was, if I wasn't prepared, I could go into the neko-ken permanently."
"You took a risk like that?" Nodoka asked, eyes wide in surprise.
"I had to. I'm a very strong fighter, but I knew that Happosai and his team would be difficult to take down if they worked together. I felt that being forced to marry Akane like that wasn't for me. It ends up I was right. So I read the scroll. The changes literal happened overnight. The differences were amazing. It was like my mind was behind a thick fog that suddenly cleared. Things that were so hard to figure out before were simple now. After that I left to train in my new abilities. Well, remember how to do them mostly. I still can't do everything I learned, but I am working on it." Ranma said.
"I heard that you had done something strange to that Chinese boy during the battle, was that something you learned?" Nodoka asked.
"Mousse? Yhea. He threw a bunch of training pots at me and I stopped them in midair then threw them back at him. Then I just picked him up telekineticly. I would have done something mean, but was interrupted." Ranma said.
"Amazing. Now I have one more question." Nodoka said.
"What is it?" Ranma asked.
"Explain the tail." Nodoka said, in a blunt, matter-of-fact tone.
Ranma couldn't help but to face fault.
"Well, it seems that having the true neko-ken under my control again is changing me slightly. I grew the tail while I was out training. It's easy enough to just wrap around my waist like a belt. If you were to look closely at my eyes, you could tell the irises have changed shape slightly. Also, I can grow fur... but it itches really bad. I think my ears are changing shape too, but I could be wrong. Also the Ryu-Tsume has made a few changes to me as well. But I think those have stopped for the most part." Ranma said.
"Ryu-Tsume?" Nodoka inquired.
"Yes, the Dragon Claw techniques. It's a modified form of the neko-ken. It's not as fast as the neko-ken, but the attacks are much more powerful. I'm working on a way to combine the two together and use them at the same time, but until I figure out how I can just switch back and forth between them." Ranma answered.
"Genma didn't throw you in a pit of dragons or anything did he?" Nodoka asked worried.
"He wouldn't be alive today if he tried something that stupid. Two people found me while I was training. It seems my mind wasn't very focused, and was putting out some random psychic energy. When Skuld and Urd came out to inspect the energies, they thought I was a demon for a while. They helped me focus better. When they found out I knew the neko-ken, I think I was purring or something in my sleep, the decided to teach me the Ryu-Tsume."
"They didn't throw..." Nodoka started before Ranma interrupted.
"No, actually they handed me a nice little book - it even had pictures. I figured out how to modify the neko-ken instead of going through with the Ryu-Tsume training. Which only involved interacting with dragons in certain ways. I wonder what type of weird training Kodachi's sister put herself through for the technique?" Ranma said quickly to prevent his mother from worrying.
"Any changes I should know about from that?" Nodoka asked, slightly worried about the thought of her son breathing fire or something.
"Only two that I know of." Ranma replied sheepishly.
"And they are?"
"I have a pair of wings for one. I don't want to show you right now, it hurts pretty bad to grow them." Ranma said.
"What do you mean grow them?" Nodoka asked.
"It's a technique of the Ryu-Tsume. I can hide the wings, then regenerate them later. I'm hoping I can adapt the technique to work with my curse. But even if I do, I'll still change with water." Ranma said.
"What is the second?" Nodoka asked.
Ranma pulled one of his bracer off of his forearm. Beneath it was black scales. They grew to form bracer made of dragon scale. "I was lucky they grew only on my forearms, I can hide them beneath my bracer or just tell people they are exotic bracer. You would think that they would be hard, but they are pretty soft. I don't really know why." Ranma explained.
"This is much to think about. But for now we must get you a school uniform. You do start tomorrow after all." Nodoka said as she began to stand.
"Err, mom? There is a problem with school uniforms." Ranma said.
"What is it?" Nodoka asked. "I'm sure we can modify it slightly if you don't like the color or something."
"It's not that, it's my curse. Wearing a girl's uniform as a boy is VERY embarrassing. Unless I wrap my chest, which hurts really bad when my curse activates, I have... problems with the boy's uniform." Ranma explained, cheeks red.
"Oh. Well then, we'll just have to explain to the principal about your curse and why you can't wear a uniform tomorrow." Nodoka said. "Now come along, we have to buy you some new clothes anyways. Those are beginning to get a bit small."
"Yes mam." Ranma said as he reluctantly stood to follow, putting the bracer back on his arm as they left the house.
_ _ _
_=-+-=_=-+-=_
Meanwhile - in a dark, smelly dimension.
["Those damn Sailor Scouts! How can they ruin my plans so easily? Nikyo will not be pleased with me..."] a tall man with long brown hair and wearing a suit of black armor thought as he returned for the Earth realm, his mission - to capture territory and establish a beach head of sorts for the invading armies - failed. He stopped before a large black circle in the middle of the room. All around him various leaders of the military and local governments from this dimension stood, awaiting the Emperor.
The black stone circle began to ripple, as if it was made of water. A small child-like figure slowly rose from the stone, sitting in a large blood-red crystal throne. "So Ukemi, what do you have to say for yourself?" the person said in a childish, yet plainly evil voice.
"Emperor Nikyo, somehow those damn Scouts found up before we could establish a forward base. They targeted the dimensional beacons before we could get them to safety. It seems they have learned a few things since our last encounter." Ukemi said quickly.
"Enough of your excuses. If you weren't so valuable to me, I would kill you where you stand. But believe this, if you do not bring me a victory soon, I will leave you on Earth for the Scouts to kill! And that's only if you are lucky." Nikyo said. "Now begone. You better come up with a working plan soon, for your own sake." he said as he and this throne sunk back into the black stone. ["Soon I shall capture the Earth realm and add it to my empire. And I can finally get out of this dark and smelly dimension! Anyone who stands in my way will be crushed!"]
_ _ _
_=-+-=_=-+-=_
At a small shrine temple in Juuban, a small gathering of girls sneezed at once.
At the local Juuban mall a boy with a black pigtail sneezed.
+----------------------------------------------------------+
Welcome to the third chapter of this series. Well, welcome to the end of it.
As you can see I have decided to cross this story over with Sailor Moon. And I will say it here and now.
RANMA WILL NOT BECOME A SCOUT, AND WILL PROBABLY NOT MARRY A SCOUT!
Thank you. The Scouts will be used mostly as a story plot. Since I had only sat down with ideas for the opening of this fic when I created it, I never planned too far in advance. I figured I would just write as the story came to me. Having the Scouts in here allows me to create of the wall, and stupid, opponents to keep the storyline moving. If you don't like it, then tell me, but also include an alternate idea. If enough people give me a good one, I might rewrite the story using it.
Also, I have decided to start a vote on who Ranma will pair up with. Keep in mind that I might use the outcome of this vote only as a plot device (AKA Ranma goes out with this person until he meets whoever he does marry, if he marries) and is mostly just to get feedback from my readers. Do me a favor and email me ([email protected]) instead of posting your vote in a review. Review votes may or may not be counted. Give me any char from any series you wish (include the series if it's not Ranma or Sailor Moon)
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Vote Count:
Shampoo : 1
Belldandy (Oh, My Goddess!) : 1
Kasumi : 1
Saturn & Pluto : 1
Ami : 1
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Noaki ([email protected])
[email protected]