Maison Ikkoku Fan Fiction / Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / X/1999 Fan Fiction / Love Hina Fan Fiction / Hellsing Fan Fiction ❯ 1/2 Saga Volume 1: 1/2 Moon ❯ Tales from China (Revised 11/10/03) ( Prologue )

---Author's Notes---

Welcome to the prologue of the 'Half' series. There is no sex in this chapter, at least nothing NC-17, this just helps to explain Ranma's origin in the '1/2' universe. As this deals with child prostitution those who find this offensive please stop reading, although there are no explicit descriptions the implications are readily evident in the narrative. We (Eric and I) in no way condone the act of child prostitution which is why there will be no descriptions of such a deplorable act. I hope you enjoy!

---Title---

Tales From China

Being the Prologue of the '1/2' saga

By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton

---A province of China---

The boy walked into the restaurant, his clothes in tatters and blood seeping from a flesh wound on his cheek, collapsed into a chair near the door and begged for food. Mai had seen it all before, the restaurant was near enough to the rural road so that the sight didn't surprise her any longer. The boy was perhaps eleven or twelve, thin and wiry with an athletic frame and well-developed muscles, Mei watched with a keen eye and followed the waitress as she took pity and gave the transient a bowl of rice gruel.

The aged woman oftimes called 'Mei' was in her late forties, still of gentle beauty and quick of mind. The customers all watched with interest as the proprietress drew the waitress back and urged her into the kitchen, followed by the clanging of pots and aroma of hot food.

Mei's chegosam wrinkled provocatively as she knelt down next to the boy. The regulars all knew exactly what she wanted from the young man, especially since the boy seemed virile and handsome of face and chest. Some looked down in sympathy for the boy, knowing the fate that awaited any young urchin from the street. Ranma just happened to fit the bill for this month's impressments. Smooth face, scarred delicately to heighten his chiseled features, firm buttocks and the martial-artist's body. Oh yes, Mei knew this one would fetch a pretty penny. With evident relish, she led him to the backroom and began to undress him.

The patrons continued their meal for several minutes longer before filing slowly out; people of less desirable means would soon fill the establishment. The waitress brought the tray of food into the living-quarters where Mei was still going over the boy's nakedness.

Her callused hands kneaded his skin, testing the supple flesh of his thigh, his neck, his behind; paying careful attention to the dangling sack between his legs and the limp phallus jutting from his hairless crotch. The phone calls had been made and the Ladies were on their way, soon Mei might have a tidy sum for the fresh meat in her hands. She allowed the blushing boy to eat as she fantasized, he was still nude but seemingly uncaring of his situation, only blushing when the woman stared at him or touched his skin. Years of nudity in the wilderness had scathed that particular inhibition from his personality. Seeing someone else naked was an entirely different matter, though. Ranma did not speak.

The entire time in China had been a nightmare, Genma muddling his way from town to town, not knowing one iota of Chinese. Ranma was far too young to understand the predicament and thus thought of the journey as a long and grueling training trip. As he was still young he had been picking up some of the regional dialect and could passably ask for directions and food in broken mandarin and Cantonese. The woman and the waitress spoke neither, or in such a form that Ranma could not follow, as they conferred and pointed at the naked young boy sitting in their back room. Suddenly a knock was heard from the entrance and Mei stood, walking to greet her guest.

The beaded curtain was brushed aside by aged hands as an impossibly old-looking woman hobbled in with a cane. She wore brightly embroidered clothes and carried herself with an air of authority. Even at the age of ten, Ranma knew true authority when he saw it and she reeked of power. This was a woman to be obeyed…

<I assume this is the one?> Madame Gao was not one to be kept waiting, she clicked her tongue once when the answer was not forthcoming. Her time was valuable. <Pack him up, I'll give you two thousand.>

Mei looked downcast and raised her hands in protest. <Surely, Madame Gao, he's worth far more than that! I have three other buyers coming who would pay me a minimum of five for such a young specimen.> The wrinkled 'Madame' frowned angrily and hit the woman in the shin with her stick. As the proprietress crumpled to the carpet the little woman loomed over her threateningly.

<I will pay you what I want to pay. This one is malnourished and foreign. One factor outweighs the other. I'll give you three.> She looked to the two women who had arrived with her. <Get him ready while I finished my 'talk' with Mei.>

---Madame Gao's home, Hong Kong---

"Now listen here, young man, these are the rules."

"My name is Ranma."

"Excuse me?"

"I said my name's Ranma, what are ya deaf old hag?" The crone smiled evilly before she struck him soundly between the legs with her staff. Not too hard, she didn't want to damage his merchandise, but just hard enough to cause maximum discomfort.

"You will learn to listen to your elders, child…Ranma. Now listen to me! We will clothe you, we will feed you, and we will pay you a modest percent of your fee for your own purchases. In turn you will obey the rules of my house and learn to correctly pleasure a woman." The once again naked boy winced at his swollen testicles before looking up from the carpet.

"What do ya mean, 'pleasurin' a woman'?"

"Oh yes, I think you'll do fine, young Ranma." A young specimen to teach all the carnal arts…she'd enjoy breaking him in at her leisure.

"I'm a martial artist old hag-" He bit back the rest of his cry as she turned back to him with cane upraised. "Er…I mean, ma'am I'm a martial artist - I don't have time for all this crap!"

"Oh but you do, Ranma. There are many 'martial artists' in this area. If you agree to work for me I'll try to arrange some training…but only if you're good."

"The hell with you!"

"Than I guess you aren't very devoted to the art." She sighed. "You'll just be a failure anyway." She knew his type very well.

"I'm no failure!" Genma's furious face flashed somewhere far back in his memory, the selfish man bitching and moaning, whining on and on about how his son was a weak little girl. Ranma's brow furrowed in sudden decision. "I'm no weak little girl! I'll take whatever you dish out, old ghoul!"

"Let us hope so young Ranma…let us hope you survive this training…"

---Nine years later---

Desiccated lips pursed in irritation as aged hands fell to the burnished wood of her writing desk. A solitary oil lamp illuminated her study; an archaic form of light, perhaps, but one she found more comforting as her years went by; casting warm shadows across the tinted paper screens fencing her workroom from the remainder of her apartments.

One shadow moved behind her.

"Come here, Ranma." Madame Gao, now looking older than before but still as spry as ever, looked up from her writing table and held out a checkbook and passport. "Here are your things. Everything else should be taken care of…you'll find your address in your wallet." After all the time they had spent together, after all he had learned under her harsh but fair teaching, it all came down to a tattered blue leather checkbook and a wrinkled paper booklet stamped by a notary of the committee.

"Thank you, Gao-sama." Ranma stepped out of the shadows nude and plucked the papers from her hand. His prodigious endowment, fostered by good nutrition and stretching techniques, hung heavily from between his legs and dripped fluid on her floor. She turned not one jot in his direction but she could tell he had just come from bed. The copious splotch of white on her rug attested to his recent whereabouts.

"You've been with that girl of yours again, haven't you Ranma?" There was a young red-head from the West that had been with him since shortly after he'd been bought. She too was in her employ but as a courtesan and entertainer. Her choice of employment was not due to the Madame's magnanimous nature, rather it was the result of an unfortunate occurrence soon after the waif had been brought to her attention. Were it not for Ranma the poor girl would have been a complete loss; thankfully his kind hand (which just happened to be the hand of her savior from that unpleasantness) had helped her overcome the majority of her fear. Unfortunately, she would lie with no man save Ranma. It was a mixed blessing for she could be hired as a legitimate performer and helped to lead credence to Gao's façade of purity. Times were getting desperate for her what with the new regime and their stringent anti-prostitution laws. That was in public only, as their president's wife and daughter routinely employed Ranma's services. "She's a good match."

"She and I are just friends. She's just helping me with the new tantric positions."

"Of course," she replied with a knowing smile.

"Believe what you will." Ranma flipped through the checkbook and noticed the large amount of money in his account. "This isn't all of it, is it?"

"No, the rest is in your savings accounts here. You can access them through one of your local banks."

"I'm sorry to be leaving, you've been very good to me Gao-sama."

"Don't flatter me, Ranma, it will get you nowhere. I'm sorry to see you go…"

"Aw…I didn't know you cared."

"I'm just sorry to lose my favorite money-maker. You have made my operation what it is today." She returned to her paper-work.

"Will you release her?" The wizened Madame smiled evilly and clicked her lacquered nails together. "You won't will you."

"Come now, Ranma, I'll never release her! She's my only trump card, she's going to make sure you come back and visit this old woman again before she dies." Gao stood in front of Ranma, only coming up to his crotch, and fixed him with a withering glare. "Besides, can you really tell me to my face that one girl will be able to satisfy your lusts?" Ranma didn't speak. "I thought not." She turned away and tucked her papers into the drawer.

"I promise I'll come back to visit you all…you're like my family here, even the clients." One in particular sprang to his mind, a brunette with a fiery temper and crystal blue eyes. She was the rough one…the sado-masochist.

"Pah! I have no time for sentimentality! Get going or you'll miss the boat! I've arranged for that girl to accompany you to Japan, but don't you get any ideas. She _will_ be coming back."

"Thank you, Madame Gao, may you be blessed with long life and sexual potency." Ranma intoned in Mandarin, bowing, before disappearing back into the shadows. Thus she was alone in her room as a lone tear rolled down her wrinkled cheek.

"Good luck…my son…"

---The End, to be continued in '1/2 Moon'---