Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Spring of Drowned Vampire Girl ❯ Chapter O1; The Tendos ( Chapter 2 )

Vampire1/2 chapter one.

 

Nabiki was engrossed in the newest thing to come into her possession. She had just had one of the strangest experiences of her young life by meeting a panda and an odd young girl. The girl was in the dojo with her younger sister and the panda was curiously absent, to have been replaced by an older guy who was talking to her father. During the entire thing, the girl had dropped a small book and Nabiki had picked it up.

 

So far the thing was far fetched but an interesting read. Too bad it couldn't have been true, nothing like that could ever actually happen. It was keeping Nabiki busy until dinner was ready, so she didn't care where her distraction came from.

 

She vaguely recalled Kasumi telling her to inform Akane that the bath was ready , which she did before going back to the book. She had already burned through half of it when Akane started to scream about perverts and somebody in the bathroom as well as grabbing something large from the backyard to drown him with.

 

That's when the young man made his entrance.

 

“I'm Ranma Saotome, sorry about this.”

 

Before anybody knew what happened, they were all in the dinner room by the backyard looking at an older man in a white gi and an younger man dressed just like the girl had been dressed in earlier, a red Chinese shirt and black pants.

 

“I am Genma Saotome, and this is my son…”

 

“Ranma Saotome.”

 

“What are you trying to pull? What happened to the girl and panda from earlier?” Nabiki fired off a salvo of her questions at the pair.

 

“Hmmm, how to explain this? I know!” Genma said before throwing his son out of the house and into the pond in the back yard with a large splash. The water settled a little before bursting forth to reveal the girl from earlier. Red hair, pale skin, little fangs, quite a bit shorter than what she was as a boy. Nabiki was shocked. He was the girl from earlier, but that was impossible. She quickly brought the book up and started to flip pages, looking for something that she had skimmed over while reading.

 

The neo girl had kicked her father into the pond as well, turning him into a panda, before staring to trade blows with him.

 

`Jusenkyo spring of drowned vampire girl second most cursed spring in all of jusenkyo's hundred springs, only surpassed by yeti riding ox carrying swan and eel spring.' Nabiki read the passage to herself. Looking up at Ranma for confirmation that this was indeed true. `The curse does not make you evil, and there are ways around the curse of the vampire, but the way is fraught with peril.'

 

Ranma and Genma went to get some hot water before continuing the meeting. Kasumi a concerned look on her face and Akane was not so silently fuming. Nabiki was weighing the pros and cons of the situation. Flipping through the book to look at one thing or another while trying to determine the best route for her and her family.

 

Ranma and Genma came back into the room and sat back where they were before to continue the conversation.

 

“Please tell my daughters what happened in China to cause this.” Soun prompted.

 

Soon the story of that fateful day was laid out for the family, only a few details were missing, such as the vampiric part of the curse, but Nabiki couldn't blame Ranma for the omission. If it were her, she wouldn't have revealed so much so soon.

 

“The legendary springs of sorrow, their true horrors have always been shrouded in mystery, but now…” Soun said.

 

“Whaddya mean `True horror'? What was the idea, dragging me to a place like that in the first place?” Ranma had grabbed Genma by the front of his gi, only to have the old man toss him out into the pond again with little fanfair.

 

“You sound like a woman! Weren't you prepared to sacrifice your life for the art?”

 

“My life? Yes, my manhood? No!” Ranma screamed while splashing Genma with a pail and started to throw punches at the old man.

 

“You just went too far, Mr. Saotome!” Kasumi angry was a rare sight.

 

“Yeah! Even for Martial Arts training!” Nabiki was in agreement with her sister.

 

“What ever made you do something so dangerous?” Kasumi yelling in anger was a first.

 

The panda was nonplused by it and simply tossed a pad to her with Chinese writings on it.

 

“It's Chinese. A map…and guide book?”

 

“Something about …'Training grounds'”

 

“No wonder…you can't read Chinese can you?”

 

It was at that moment, after the panda had acknowledged his ignorance of the Chinese language that Soun upended a tea kettle full of steaming water on the panda's head.

 

“So. When doused with hot water, you return to human form.”

 

“Well, it needn't be quite that hot.”

 

“When doused with cold water, you become a girl…but hot water turns you back into a boy!” Ranma saw the hot water coming and barely dodged out of the way.

 

“Hot water! Not boiling!” She yelled, eyeing the steam coming off the water.

 

“No sweat. Your problem isn't so terrible, after all!” Soun stated, wrapping an arm around the pale girls shoulder and patting it.

 

“My Daughter Kasumi. Nineteen. And Nabiki. Seventeen. And Akane. Sixteen. Pick the one you want. She's your fiancé.”

 

“Oh, he wants Akane!” Kasumi was quick to avoid the engagement. Nabiki was looking at the red head girl, noting the look of calm panic on her face. She decided to make a move now and see if she could figure something out.

 

“Wait, daddy. I would like to know more about Ranma before he makes a decision.” Nabiki smirked confidently.

 

“If you're so interested in him, he can be your fiancé.” Akane yelled. “I'll never marry that pervert!”

 

“Say…Whaddya mean `pervert'!?” Ranma yelled.

 

“You looked at my body, pervert!”

 

“Hold it! You walked in on me!”

 

“It's different when a girl sees a boy!”

 

“They're already a perfect couple!” Soun said with Genma.

 

“He's a couple by himself! And if you ever…”

 

“Goodbye!”

 

“Where are you going boy?”

 

“Back to China! To find a way to change back for good! This is no time for “fiancés” By the way…You took a pretty good look at me, too. Besides, it's no big deal for me to see a naked girl. I mean, I've seen myself plenty of times, right? And I'm built better to boot.!”

 

Ranma didn't get very far after Akane flattened him with a table.

 

“Now that he had coming!” Was Genma's only response.

 

Ranma awoke a little while later, she was alone except for Nabiki.

 

“Ah, you're awake. You okay to talk?” Nabiki couldn't pull of Kasumi's motherly concern but she was doing her best.

 

“Oooooo, my head. I guess so. Tell me I'm not engaged to that girl.” Ranma clutched her head as she sat up.

 

“Not yet, but everybody seems to take it for granted that you two are. That's not important though, I have a few questions for you regarding your curse.”

 

“Whaddya wanto know?” Ranma was suddenly nervous.

 

“I want to know if you told us the whole truth about your curse.”

 

Ranma looked into the eyes of Nabiki and saw that she would not get away with lying to the girl. Mainly because Ranma knew that she was a horrible liar to begin with, but the eyes told her that it would be worse if she even tried.

 

Sighing “No, my curse is worse than just turning into a girl.” Ranma said, she reached for her pack and started to rummage in it, looking for something. “Where is it?”

 

“What are you looking for?”

 

“A book that explains my curse better than I can, it was right here.” Ranma said in frustration.

 

“You mean this thing.” Nabiki smirked as she held up the item of Ranma's search.

 

Ranma's eyes narrowed in suspicion

 

“No I didn't go through your pack, you dropped on your way in the door. So this is true then? You really are a…”

 

“Shhh…Don't say it. Yes, I am. No, I won't. Yes, but as little as possible, and only when I have to. It burns like hell. No they don't, and no I'm not.”

 

“Huh?” Nabiki was more than a little shocked at the barrage of answers she was getting with out asking any questions. “What are you talking about?”

 

“Your questions. Look at the back of the book.”

 

On the back of the book, there was a title that read, `Common Questions you will hear once somebody knows.' There was a list under it that went with the answers that Ranma had provided. `Are you really a vampire? Will you suck my blood? Do you have to drink blood? Does sunlight kill you? Will crosses repel you? Are you joking?'

 

“I see. Hold it Ranma, I'm not done yet.” Nabiki waited for Ranma to sit back down before continuing. “I've read a lot of this book tonight, I'll admit to being a little scared, …” Nabiki could see the pale girl start to wilt at the admission. “But I'm also quite intrigued. I have a good feeling about you, Saotome. You never made a decision tonight about which one of us you wanted as a fiancé. Since it is Family Honor, I don't think that you can just walk away from it.”

 

Ranma had to admit to that, even though that was precisely what she had been planning to do during the fight with Akane before getting thwacked with the table, it wouldn't change that it was Family Honor on the line. As much as it galled her, she was going to marry a Tendo.

 

“Right now, everybody has accepted that Akane is going to be your fiancé. Akane is the martial artist of the family now, but she has issues with her anger, has issues with boys in general, and you didn't make the best impression on her to begin with. I, on the other hand, already know the darker side of your curse and I am willing to accept you irregardless. I think you have potential, but just need a push in the right direction, and I like to think things through before acting. Think it over, and give an answer in the morning at breakfast.”

 

Nabiki got up at that and started to head to the kitchen, leaving a bewildered Ranma.

 

“I think the bath is still ready and you missed dinner while you were out. Go up and change and get something to eat.” With that Nabiki was out of the room.

 

Ranma's head still hurt from where the table had hit her. Nabiki had given her a lot to think about, which didn't help her headache any. The fact that Nabiki knew and didn't freak out was something that pleasantly surprised Ranma to no end.

 

Ranma stepped into the changing room of the furo to undress before washing. Ranma wasn't sure about what Nabiki meant about Akane, she had seemed really nice and was really cute, up until she walked in on her in the furo. I'd like to have her as a friend, Ranma thought to herself as she put the last of her clothing into the bin. She was about to open the door to the furo when it opened up to reveal a naked Akane.

 

“You” Akane's face matched her voice, filled with venom and promised pain.

 

Pow

 

Something clicked in Ranma's mind when Akane's hand met her face. She suddenly understood what Nabiki was telling her earlier. Akane had already stormed out of the furo, leaving Ranma to the bath alone with her thoughts.

 

Ranma was deep in thought the rest of the night, occasionally looking up at both Akane and Nabiki while eating. Akane had a scowl on her face, twisting her features into one of disgust and rage at the idea of being engaged to whatever Ranma was. Nabiki, on the other hand, was cool, treating Ranma like a person and being nice.

 

Mornings at the Tendo household had, until this morning, been a peaceful affair. Kasumi would get up to start the day and breakfast, Akane would jog a little and do some morning katas, and Nabiki and Soun would get up just in time to eat breakfast. This morning was the first day of Ranma and Genma's occupation of the Tendo household and was also the host of the first all out morning sparring session between Ranma and his father.

 

Breakfast was called and the two newest additions to the household quickly joined the others at breakfast. Akane was still glowering in anger over the insult of being engaged to Ranma and took every opportunity to glare at the young man. The looks were not lost on the pigtailed martial artist, and his thoughts were turned back to what the middle daughter had said to him the night before.

 

He quickly finished breakfast with the usual gusto of Saotome speed eating and then waited patiently for everybody else to finish before he said that he had something to say about last night.

 

“I just wanted to say somethin' about what happened last night. Mr. Tendo, while I don't think that now is a good time for me to be engaged to any of your daughters, you did give me a choice.”

 

“I did, if I remember, you chose Akane, isn't that right Genma?” Replied Soun, oblivious the dirty looks given to him by Akane, Nabiki, and Ranma.

 

“Daddy, I'm not marrying that pervert!” Akane roared with outrage.

 

“Mr. Tendo, I didn't choose her and it is apparent that she doesn't want me. So I am letting you know that I am forced to choose Nabiki to be my fiancé.” Ranma said quickly and loudly before the situation could get any further out of control.

 

Nabiki smirked at the announcement while Akane was in something of a state of shock. Soun was a little surprised at what Ranma had to say, but couldn't deny what he was seeing and had heard. Contrary to popular belief, Soun was an intelligent man and he could pick up on the clues around him. Its just that when it came to certain situations involving family honor and wedding plans, he entered into tunnel vision. Nabiki the fiancé fit into that tunnel vision just as easily as Akane the fiancé did at this point.

 

“Is this acceptable to you daughter?” Soun asked Nabiki in an unheard display of concern over the matter of the engagement. This was to be expected. Soun knew who kept the house and family in the green with money and didn't want to threaten the financial peace by angering his middle daughter.

 

“Since Akane doesn't want him, yeah I'll take him.”

 

“Then it's settled. Nabiki shall be Ranma's fiancé” Soun said.

 

“Now that everything is settled, we really need to be getting to school.” Nabiki said with a meaningful glance at Ranma.

 

“School?” Ranma was looking confused, he hadn't been to school in awhile.

 

“Well, we are going to be staying a while.” Genma said.

 

“It's the same school that me and Akane go to. Hurry up and I'll walk you there.”

 

The walk to school was a pleasant one, Ranma was walking along the top of the fence while Nabiki was strolling with him along the ground. Akane was behind the new couple, still smoldering in the bad mood created by last night's events and this morning's complication. Akane was aware that she had been rejected by Ranma and was aware that it was exactly what she wanted, but couldn't help but be angry at the rejection.

 

Ranma and Nabiki were discussing the engagement, or rather, Nabiki was telling Ranma what she thought of it.

 

“I'm not ready to get married yet, but I know daddy won't give up on something when he gets his mind set on something. I think that it would be best if we just went along with it for right now.” Nabiki was saying calmly.

 

Ranma was nodding silently. He was inclined to agree, his father had never pushed him to do something other than the art this hard before. It was actually kind of disconcerting to see the old man focus on something other than training.

 

Ranma jumped down off of the fence when a gap appeared. Just as he was landing, a splash of cold water went right into his face. Almost immediately the warm feel of the morning sun became an excruciatingly painful burning. Ranma dropped to the ground and curled up into a ball while howling at the pain.

 

Akane watched the change happen and was shaken by the scream of pain coming from Ranma after he had gotten splashed. Nabiki was startled by the sudden screams of pain, but quickly shook it off and reached into her bag for the thermos that she had prepared that morning for something like this. Soon, Ranma was getting back on his feet while giving the old woman who had been washing the sidewalk a dirty look.

 

“Come on, we need to get to school.” Nabiki said, grabbing Ranma's hand, pulling him away from the water slinging lady.

 

###

 

Nabiki pulled Ranma into the school yard and past the large group of students that were gathered waiting for Akane to arrive. Ranma took notice of the large crowd and turned a questioning eye towards Nabiki. Nabiki shrugged and gave him a look that said she would explain all in a minute. They were actually in the building when the sounds of combat started outside.

 

Ranma was about to head back outside when Nabiki stopped him.

 

“Don't Ranma. This happens every morning and nobody has gotten hurt yet. Besides, look at the clouds.” Nabiki pointed at the darkening sky that was threatening a small downpour. The memory of earlier that morning clamped onto Ranma's spine, making him shiver.

 

“What is going on though? Why is everybody attacking Akane?” Ranma asked while being pulled along by Nabiki, he was no longer threatening to go out side.

 

“Kuno is what is going on. He's an upperclassman that has a crush on Akane. He made an announcement at the beginning of school that only somebody that beats Akane could date her, thus the crowd. The only reason anybody listens to him is because he's the captain of the kendo club.” Nabiki said while stopping in front of Ranma's home room.

 

“That's horrible. How does Akane deal with it?” Ranma said with a shocked look on his face.

 

“So far she's undefeated. I think that she enjoys the attention and the chance to train. She's never seriously hurt anybody yet. Here's your room, I'll see you at lunch. I've got to run or I'll be late.” With that, Nabiki left him and ran off to her own room. Ranma sighed and walked in to talk to the teacher.

 

###

 

The day past quickly for Ranma, after he was introduced to the class and was seated next to Akane, he quickly zoned out and stopped paying attention to the teacher. Akane was feeling better, the cathartic experience of beating on the pervert squad always made her feel better, and beating Kuno never got old.

 

Nabiki wasn't paying attention in class, her attention was on the booklet that she had liberated from Ranma the night before. The booklet was old, but had been printed off and it was obvious that it wasn't a first generation copy. The booklet was thin and only covered the basics of the curse.

 

The booklet listed the many things that the newly cursed should avoid and what they should expect in the future because of it. One of the first things mentioned was the effect of the sun on the cursed form.

 

The sun, while painful, is not fatal. The pain is so intense that prolonged exposure to it would inevitably drive one insane, so even brief contact is discouraged.

 

Nabiki thought about the morning's incident when Ranma had gotten splashed and could agree that the incident must have been painful for the young martial artist.

 

As long as you are not bleeding to death when splashed with cold water or spend to much time as a vampire, you should never feel the hunger for blood. If you do, then animal blood will satisfy your hunger.

 

A warning, never change from your cursed form if you haven't feed and you are hungry, the hunger marks how much blood is in your body, to become mortal without it is to invite death.

 

It was this passage that convinced Nabiki that Ranma wasn't a danger to her family. There were many things about this curse of Ranma's that intrigued the young woman. It was one of the reasons that she had encouraged Ranma to chose her for the engagement. The other reason was that she knew that she would handle the truth better than Akane would.

 

Now how to either keep Ranma's curse a secret or to break it to the family so that they don't freak out at the boy, Nabiki thought to herself. It didn't help that every time during the day that Ranma would get wet and change he would shut down, often in extreme pain. Nabiki knew that Ranma couldn't help it.

 

The contents of the book that Nabiki was reading were actually quite short, most of the little booklet was actually the same information repeated in different languages. Whoever wrote this certainly wanted to make sure that they were understood, wait a second, who did write this? Nabiki started to look at the booklet with greater attention to detail when she had that thought.

 

The fruits of her labors was a phone number, almost casually laid out on the last page of the booklet, there wasn't anything to draw any attention to it, yet the way it was presented left no doubt in Nabiki's mind that it wasn't a printer's number.

 

 

 

It had been several weeks since Akira had received the phone call from his contact in China. The contact, a trustworthy if somewhat unreliable person, had given Akira the address that he was now watching. He had been watching it for the past few weeks waiting for a specific somebody to return.

 

Akira had been rewarded for his patience last night when he had witnessed the arrival a strange panda and a small red headed girl just after sunset.

 

They certainly fit the description that old guide gave me, but now I just have to watch to make sure that she doesn't break the masquerade in her innocence. Akira thought to himself while he was perched up in a tree just out of the Tendo Dojo.

 

Nobody ever took notice of the stray cat that made itself at home in the tree.

 

 

 

Author's notes:

 

The story truly diverges when Ranma goes into the spring. From there, everything is different.

 

The nature of the curse; all will be explained in due time, but for right now, I'll let you know that at this point in time, Ranma cannot be killed or really harmed by sunlight. However, it is extremely painful for him to be exposed to it in his cursed form.

 

Beyond that you're going to have to wait until next chapter for more information on the curse.

 

I've never really liked the Kuno character, this includes reading as well as writing his lines, I just don't think that I can write that kind of delusion.

 

Catch you on the flip side.