Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ One straw ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]


`One Straw', crummy title I know but…..
Chapter 1
Disclaimer)- `Attention all readers, it's come to my attention that my disclaimer has gone missing. It's long and wordy with a few humorous passages and answers to the name of Dis. If anyone happens to see it could you contact me and let me know where it's at? It's my only defence against legal attack dogs and I'm feeling kind of exposed here.' Looking down at feeling a breeze, `Oops!' Reaching down and doing up fly, `Okay so maybe not as exposed as I once was.'
Let the fic begin.
“Ranma Saotome! Pay attention, this is not your bedroom.” Hinako Ninomiya was known for her patience when it came to dealing with the delinquents in her class, or at least the lack thereof.
Ranma blinked as he surfaced from the crook of his arm and looked at the teacher at the front of the class, and then in typical fashion chose to ignore her. It wasn't that he didn't want to pay attention it was more that he was too tired to do so, plus she could bore the tits off a bull with her inane drivel. He'd often felt wiped out after one of his more strenuous battles but this went beyond even that, this was bone deep fatigue, the first time he could actually remember feeling like this in fact. Throw in the fact that he hadn't slept well since his victory at Phoenix Mountain and it made even more sense that his head had given in to the forces of gravity and he'd fallen asleep for just a moment. The day before had also been possibly one of the worst he'd ever had to endure, what with the failed wedding and the screaming match that followed. As per usual it had all been deemed to be his fault, and everyone seemed intent to tell him so at the top of their respective lungs if need be.
After tossing and turning all night he'd come to the conclusion this morning that he was getting to the point that he was tired in a totally different way, he was tired of taking the blame for other people's actions. He was extremely tired of being used by everyone to justify their needs, Akane's need for a punch bag, Nabiki for the income, his father just used him indiscriminately and without a thought to the repercussions. Soun wanted the schools joined will they, nil they, and his mother didn't object to that goal as long as it saw her with grand-children. The Amazons were a totally different kettle of fish, they wanted him for his potential as a breeder, to them that was all he'd ever be even if he was the best warrior any of them had ever seen and would be an asset to their tribe. As for his old pal Ukyo, well he wasn't sure about her, the only time he'd asked her about the future she saw for the two of them she'd confessed that he'd be helping her run the restaurant, when he'd mentioned his martial arts she'd looked at him blankly as if to ask what on earth he was talking about. It seemed the only art she considered was the art of okonomiyaki, any other was beside the point, a waste of time and effort, and as such why would her husband want to do that. He blinked again as an eraser bounced off his head as the teacher stood at the front of the class tapping her foot in irritation an image that was totally ruined by the fact she was waving a super size lollipop around.
“I'm warning you Ranma you had better start paying attention in this class.” Ranma being the consummate diplomat that he was and on a short fuse thanks to yesterday replied rather hastily.
“Yeah an what'cha gonna do bout it teach?” He slammed his hands down on the desk in front of him and waited for the expected response. It wasn't lost on those around him that the table legs sank several inches into the concrete flooring with the only evidence being the puffs of white powder that escaped the holes.
“That's quite enough you delinquent, Happo Go En Satsu!” She pulled a five yen coin out of her pocket and held it between her fingers as she called out the technique that had driven fear into the hearts of delinquents at Furinkan High School for the last year.
“So ya want my ki do ya? Well here ya go take it!” Ranma's usual response to hearing the dreaded technique was to power down his aura as much as possible before it washed over him, now he'd chosen to do the exact opposite. The students between him and Hinako Ninomiya scrambled to leave their desks and get out of the way. Which was fortunate as Ranma fired up his battle aura for the first time in memory, in fact the only person present who had seen it previously was Akane and then only vaguely. Sure the students had seen him annoyed before, but angry? No, he'd never been this angry, and unfortunately all the anger he'd suppressed chose that moment to break free from his restraint. The aura blasted out picking up tables and blasting them to the front of the room, papers that swirled in the maelstrom of energy ignited and added bright flares as they flashed to fiery deaths in an instant. Akane was stunned as her fiancé's aura quickly dwarfed her greatest efforts, not only that but instead of the cold control that he usually displayed this was like standing next to a blast furnace. Ranma pointed his open palm at his teacher and released a steady stream of ki into the sucking maw that the small coin had become.
Hinako almost sighed in relief as she realized that her coin could drain all of the incoming ki, she'd been frightened at seeing all that ki for the first time. As she expanded into her adult form she felt her personal reserves being stretched and the fear returned as the stream of hot ki didn't cease, she couldn't even use her `Change return' technique until the ki stopped coming, and then her senses caught up with the fact that the coin wasn't remaining cool, in fact it was becoming uncomfortable to hold as it heated up with all the hot ki passing through it. Ranma stood up even as his teacher dropped the coin she'd used to drain him with now that it was starting to get to the point of singing her skin and changed his ki to his usual confidence based ki. He raised his other hand to join the first and leveled a low powered Mouko Takabisha at his currently adult seeming teacher blasting her back over her desk to land sprawled under the blackboard. He was angry yes, but he wasn't ready to kill anyone, yet.
Ranma walked towards the front of the class in time to hear her prediction that he'd be expelled over this, he just smirked as he addressed her.
“Don't bother getting up sensei, I know the way out,” and sauntered from the room sliding the door closed in his wake.
Ranma left behind him a stunned silence, no one had ever witnessed anything like it, regardless of all the martial artists battling in the area on a regular basis, the only person present who had was Akane and she was presently backed up into the far corner of the room. She hadn't even reached for her mallet to deal justice to the baka like she normally would, she'd never seen Ranma act quite like this though. Several of the students rushed to get the nurse as others clustered around the downed Hinako, her fingers were going to need tending shortly as they were already a mass of white blisters from the intense heat. Laying forgotten and crushed on the floor the melted remains of her lollipop slowly congealed as panicked students rushed around wondering what to do.
Ranma walked down the hallway looking neither left nor right as he made his way to the stairs. He had an uneasy feeling as he approached one of the classes and craned his neck to look in to see Nabiki counting a small pile of yen notes. He briefly wondered what she'd sold to get the money, it couldn't have been her soul, it wouldn't be worth that much to anyone, before dismissing her antics. He continued down the stairs, and out into the yard knowing that it couldn't really be that easy but hoping anyway.
Sure enough out in the yard the resident Kuno was waiting for him, hakama flapping in the slight afternoon breeze, classic pose with his hand resting on the hilt of the bokken shoved through his belt.
“And lo, the mercenary was correct, the foul fiend runs from the mighty `Blue Thunder' with his tail between his legs like the whipped dog you are.”
“I'd shut your mouth Kuno.” The only change in his expression as his anger peaked yet again was a slight tightening around the eyes.
“I listen not to the likes of you, you are not a man. You are a black hearted fiend that twists the loves of my life to his wicked desires. I shall vanquish you in the name of that love.” He drew the hardened wood of his blade and held it in high guard.
“Yeah right.” Ranma snorted as the larger boy made to thrust his blade.
“I strike….” He'd barely begun to move when Ranma blurred from sight and reappeared with his hand wrapped around Kuno's, with crushing force he pushed the hilt back into the samurai wannabe and listened in satisfaction as the boys breath exploded from him. His foot came around and swept the others feet out from underneath him as the palm of his left hand lashed out and connected with Kuno's sternum with a resounding crack as he flew back towards the perimeter wall. He hit it with such force that the concrete couldn't stand up to the impact and crumbled on top of the already seriously injured delusional boy adding even more injuries.
“So Nabiki screwed me over again huh? Looked like she made a fair bit of cash out of it as well.” He turned around and walked back into the school building, he had some more business to attend to it seemed.
Nabiki looked down at the money she'd just earned, Kuno was such an idiot he'd pay exorbitant rates for even the simplest information. Who was she to argue with that kind of earning potential? It felt good to hold the money in her hand, but even better to count it. She rifled through the notes once more doing a quick count, yep still there, five thousand yen, and it was all hers. The teacher looked on knowing he'd lost two students for the rest of the afternoon, Kuno probably wouldn't make it for being in the nurses' office and Nabiki wouldn't pay attention to him while there was money to be counted. Like the rest of the class he was totally surprised when the door was ripped off its runners and went crashing into the back of the class, thankfully missing any of his students.
Standing in the door was Ranma Saotome, the expression on his face didn't bode well for anyone who got in his way, but he had to try.
“What's the meaning of this? You can't just barge in here and disrupt my class like….. this.” He finished lamely as he tried to glower at the martial artist, but the cold light in his eyes quelled his faux outrage, the slightly bald man backed away gulping as Ranma stalked into the room with out making a sound. He walked over to Nabiki and stretched out his hand.
“What do you want Ranma?” Her eyebrow rose in a perfect Spock maneuver.
“I want that money.”
“You and everyone else, but you've got Buckley's of getting any money out of me.”
“I wasn't asking, I was telling you. There seems to be some confusion about how much crap I'm prepared to take as of this moment.” Nabiki goggled at him as his words washed over her ears. This was Ranma? He must have been possessed or something, he wasn't that smart.
“You'll have to take it out of my cold dead fingers Ranma, and you don't have the guts.” She sneered as she played her trump card, he'd never hit a girl and that was the only way he'd get it.
“Well fancy that Nabiki, maybe you should send out some invitations to your funeral.” With a startled gasp her gaze flew from her currently empty hands to the five thousand yen he was fanning out for her inspection.
“You give that back right now Ranma!” She went to jump up but thought better of it as his aura became visible.
“Or you'll what? You gonna add it to my tab? Try it, you ain't getting a single yen out of me. Maybe you'd like to sell me out to all my rivals? Nah it can't be that, I mean you're too smart to repeat the same punishment over again, and you've already sold me out once today. You gonna take more compromising photos of my girl side? It's not like I'm smart enough to catch you at it, now is it? I suppose that leaves making my life hell. Gotta tell ya Biki it's just a little late for that. I'm already here, I just gotta figure out who's gonna join me. You volunteering?” Nabiki prided herself on her ability to judge people, most of what she did walked a fine line between too much pressure and not enough, and that old cliché about the eyes being the windows of the soul was as true as they come. The look in Ranma's eyes sent a chill down her spine and back up it as she felt the fine hair on the back of her neck rise as the guy she'd labeled a `Martial arts jock' stared at her expressionlessly. Her eyes widened as she noted something behind him.
“Back off Akane.” He didn't even bother to look around.
“Ranma no baka! Don't you threaten my sister!” Her mallet appeared in her hand and she started her swing only to have a ball of ki incinerate it just above her hand.
“You don't listen too well do ya Akane?” His cold blue eyes never left Nabiki, who was beginning to know how a mouse felt when it found itself looking into the dead eyes of a snake. Her knees started to quake as she reassessed the dupe she'd been ripping off for just over a year.
Akane on the other hand was incensed at her fiancé, he never took her seriously. She was good enough at martial arts, he should at least look her in the face.
“Damn you Ranma, why won't you take me seriously. I'm a martial artist too!”
“Whine a martial artist too!” Ranma mimicked her in a high nasally tone. “Oh I'm sorry Akane I know that should have been, `I'm a martial artist too!'” His tone was no less scathingly sarcastic for all the fact that he said it right the second time.
“Fuck you Ranma! You will take me seriously!” She was beyond furious by this stage, she was just shy of the berserker she'd always threatened to become, but she held onto a fine margin of control.
“You want me to take you seriously? Fine have it your way Akane.” He was still looking at Nabiki when he said it, so she understood the next words from his mouth were for her. “You'll keep, seems your sister wants to play.” He straightened up to his full height of a hundred and seventy-eight centimeters and rolled his shoulders while he turned to face his on again off again fiancée.
“So ya want me to take you seriously?” He repeated. “You think you've got what it takes to face me down. You know me Akane, I only ever took one fight real serious and the other guy didn't walk away from it. You sure you want it? I got no problem making it three for three today.” Ranma's expression never changed and she saw his eyes for the first time that day, she suddenly felt like she'd painted herself into a corner and there was only one way out and that was through him. Nabiki whimpered as she attempted to stop her sister from fighting this new Ranma, she'd never seen him or anyone like this. He was more like a monster than the easy going rube she remembered. How could one trip to China have made this much difference in his character?
Ranma watched as Akane gathered her tattered nerves and manifested another mallet, he'd never dodged her attack before even when he was watching it come at him. This time was different though, he didn't cringe, he didn't stutter out an apology, he just stood impassively as it approached and at the last instant he reached out almost as an afterthought and rested a finger against the striking surface of the mallet. Watching Akane it looked like she shimmered as the force of the impact against his finger was reflected back into her, if she didn't have her teeth clenched together she might have shattered them or bitten her tongue off. As it was the world seemed to blur for her as her system tried to absorb the force of the blow she'd unleashed, she'd once hit a wall with her mallet when she wasn't prepared and had hurt herself, this was several orders of magnitude beyond that. She could feel the pain in her arms, shoulders and back, and the distortion in her eyes was making her feel nauseous. Ranma just looked at her with utter contempt as she collapsed to the floor.
“What? That's it? After all that bragging, an you ain't got more than that? You aren't worth my time Tendo.” He turned away. “Now I think I'm gonna head home, anyone else wanna try an' stop me?” He swept the room as everyone frantically shook their heads. “I didn't think so.” As he left the room Nabiki was already moving to her sisters' side to help her.
Back out in the school grounds he was heading for the gate when a small round object headed towards him.
“Yo bein da bad keiki! I be havin to teach you de better manners, yah?” Principal Kuno wasn't prepared to have his coconut bomb batted back towards him with a negligent flick of Ranma's wrist. It went off in his face leaving him looking slightly charred around the edges as he continued his rant. “Yo been hurtin my Tachi!” He gestured to the perimeter wall where an ambulance had pulled up and the paramedics were working to clear the rubble so that they could get to the fallen kendoist.
“He had it coming old man. You wanna join him? Bank shot!” The Mouko Takabisha struck the principal in the chest and knocked him flying towards the gate. The crazy man just clipped the right hand gatepost in passing which corrected his trajectory enough that he landed near the back of the open doors to the ambulance.
“Ah well, like they say practice makes perfect.” He chuckled to himself as he walked past the smoldering body of the head of House Kuno, the old man let out a groan as he passed as if to protest his leaving the school grounds but Ranma just chose to ignore him as he sauntered out into the real world.
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“Ranma Saotome! Pay attention, this is not a bedroom.”
Ranma blinked as he looked at the teacher at the front of the class then groaned as a sense of déjà vu washed over him. Before things could get out of hand he stood up and headed for the front of the class.
“What do you think you're doing Ranma?”
“I'm going to Dr. Tofu's, I don't feel too good.” Ranma felt fine really, there was just the over-riding urge to kick the ass of anyone who got in his way. He ground it under the heel of his self control as he looked at the diminutive teacher.
“You don't look sick to me, are you being a delinquent? Cause if you are I'll have to punish you!” She took a five yen piece out of her pocket and widened her eyes in surprise as she found herself facing a ball of ki larger than she was, being as she was so sensitive to ki she knew there was no way for her to absorb even a tenth of the energy present before it overwhelmed her. She knew that it'd get nasty if it came to that.
“I said I don't feel too well sensei,” he said softly without any particular emphasis, Ranma's expression never changed as he regarded her, waiting for her next move.
“Now that you mention it you don't look too good, why don't you take the rest of the day off?” She watched in relief as the ki flickered for a moment and disappeared as he walked over to the window to leap out into the school yard. Before she could blink he was over the wall and running down the street, she didn't know where he was going and didn't particularly care as long as he wasn't staying here and threatening her with large amounts of ki. Akane watched in amazement as her fiancée threatened the teacher, then saw him smile as she backed down and let him go.
“Excuse me Ninomiya sensei, permission to find out what's wrong with my fiancé.”
“Stay where you are Akane Tendo, one delinquent in the class is more than enough.” She hadn't put her five yen away just yet. Akane stood up and moved to the front of the class.
“You don't understand sensei, I'm going.” She manifested her aura and pulled it into a large ball of ki just like Ranma had done, one thing was missing though. Hinako Ninomiya could tell that this amount of ki she could handle easily, it was the same size as Ranma's had been but didn't have the same density. She smiled as she suddenly filled her loose dress much better and looked down at Akane's withered body.
“Now class where were we?”
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Ranma knew exactly where he was heading, Dr. Tofu had only been back for a few months but he'd already had to avail himself of the doctor's services on a number of occasions. Today was a little different as he didn't know what was actually wrong, he just felt uneasy with the flashes of déjà vu he'd been experiencing recently. That and the nearly homicidal tendencies he was feeling from time to time ever since the run in with Saffron.
The office used to be on his way to school and as such it wasn't too far out of the way, now however it was in the opposite direction but the lessons in school had been a waste of his time and so he didn't feel guilty at all for ditching them. It was also a possibility that his vision might come true if he stayed any longer. That thought amongst others frightened him, not that Ranma Saotome would ever admit to fear. Soon enough the clinic came into view and he pushed open the doors, a jingle announced his arrival and the receptionist looked up at him.
“Oh hi Ranma, Dr. Tofu is with a patient at the moment, though he shouldn't be long, if you'd like to wait?” The young receptionist looked up from her computer screen.
“Yeah thanks Atsuko, I'll just wait over here.”
“Would you like some tea while you wait?”
“Nah but thanks for the offer.” Ranma nodded politely to Atsuko which would have shocked many of the people at the Tendo residence. He moved over to the waiting area and picked up a fairly recent magazine to read, Atsuko went back to the files and answered the phone a couple of times. By time she was back in her seat Ranma was absorbed in the magazine and seemingly not paying attention to his surroundings.
“Hiya Doc! How's it going?” Ranma smiled without looking up, Tofu had been trying his favourite trick out once again, even though he hadn't succeeded in the previous month, he said it had to do with the challenge.
“I'm well Ranma, how about yourself? No new injuries to report I hope?”
“Nah nuthing like that Doc, you know me. Pretty much indestructible these days.”
“Yes, indeed. So what do I owe the pleasure of your company to?” The older man straightened the glasses that had slid to the end of his nose with a finger.
“It's gettin worse Doc.” Ranma didn't elaborate, Dr. Tofu was fully aware of the situation they were discussing.
“Really? I was hoping things might get better without the constant stress on you.” He looked up at Ranma's snort.
“Yeah it might if I was stress free. You know what my life's like Doc?” Ranma's shoulders slumped a little before shrugging it off again.
“Unfortunately I do Ranma. I've got a little time till my next appointment, why don't you come into my office and we can discuss it in privacy?”
“I'd like that Tofu sensei, I always feel better after we talk.” He smiled genuinely for the first time in days as his friend led the way into his office.
“So, I think the last time we spoke was over that mess with your mother. I'm glad that had a happy ending. So has much happened since then?”
“You might say that….” Ranma went into an in-depth retelling of his trip to China to rescue his fiancée from the Phoenix people and Saffron, and unlike with most of the people he'd spoken to he didn't need to carefully edit what to tell them. Dr. Tofu had one of the best collections of esoteric books outside of a university library, and even they couldn't match some of the rarer works he had in his possession. He was also unique in the way he approached it all, he'd read a great deal of his library and as he did so he made note of each subject, the rough page number and so on, he also had the volumes arranged on the shelves using a similar decimal system to most libraries. Instead of covering mainstream lines though the numbers covered subjects such as magic, potions, botany, so called mythical beasts, ancient geography (he'd found some fascinating ruins that way.), the list of subjects was almost as long as a reference libraries just much stranger. Since he'd known Ranma he'd managed to convert his written lists into a computer database so now he could run a search and a list of books with related material would come up. He called it the `Codex Esoterica' and it had been invaluable in some of Ranma's escapades, or even filled in the gaps after the dust settled.
Tofu Ono carefully jotted down the book and page numbers he would be looking for when his day finally finished, it fascinated him when he was brought into contact with strange creatures, but to be honest being a chiropractor paid better in most cases.
“I see, so nothings really changed,” he rubbed his chin in thought for a moment as he closed down his computer, he wouldn't need it for a while. “What happened at the wedding, I heard there was quite a ruckus with un-invited guests.”
“Yeah you could say that. Let's just say that Mr. Tendo ain't too happy about his dojo being leveled, both the Kuno's brought weapons, not that Ukyo or Xian Pu were any better with exploding food. Then there was the fight over my cure, I didn't even know there was one until after Happosai drank it thinking it was sake. The ceremony was supposed to be a secret you know? One guess who told everyone, I hope she made a lot of money, cause I ain't paying for the repairs, even though she tried to blame it all on me. In fact the only ones not blaming everything on me are Khu Lon and Kasumi.” After admitting that Ranma went into more detail about the wedding and the aftermath.
What had ensued would live in his memory for a long time. It wasn't the other fiancées turning up, it wasn't the Kuno's gate crashing, though he was going to pay that back at a later date, nor was it the betrayal he'd felt as all the other cursed men in the neighbourhood had made a mad dash for the casket holding his cure. It'd been a combination of those things added to the screaming match that'd happened right after the smoke and dust started to settle.. That was when the accusations had started to fly and he'd discovered that even though it had been Nabiki who'd issued invitations to the rival fiancées and his rivals that it was his fault that every whack job in Nerima had turned up at the ceremony. He was responsible for the fact that Ryoga had taken out the roof with a Shi Shi Hokoudan. That Ukyo had taken out the East wall and part of the North with her exploding okonomiyaki, and Xian Pu's entrance through the South wall hadn't done much for its stability once the roof and East wall were gone, then the shockwave from Ukyo's attacks had demolished the rest of it. He'd only just managed to save the Tendo shrine from the destruction of the dojo. Had anyone thanked him for doing that, hell no, that'd be asking too much. Nabiki's only contribution to the `discussion' afterwards was to tally the expected damages and present `him' with the bill, the whole bill and nothing but the bill. There hadn't even been an attempt to discuss collecting payment from the other combatants. Akane had been on hand with mallet in hand for both the attack and the screaming match, and Ranma was thoroughly sick of being hit with and for other people's faults.
The pig-tailed martial artist had spent the night awake thinking about the situation as it currently stood. Ukyo it seemed was missing from school that morning, he was pretty sure he didn't give a damn as to why either. She'd obviously made a choice the day before, he'd offered her friendship, the only thing he'd been prepared to offer at the time and she'd thrown it back in his face with a vengeance. The only other thing that could stress him more was the look of disappointment on his mothers face when she saw the chaos descend on her son.
Dr. Tofu stared at Ranma when he finally ground to a halt.
“What?” Ranma asked.
“I'm surprised you haven't snapped and killed someone yet.”
“I'm thinking about it Doc. I dunno, I may not get a choice if I keep havin these dream things.”
“Well they're not dreams, and the toxicology report came back blank so it can't be drugs.”
“Huh?”
“You remember the blood sample I took? Well the hospital I'm affiliated with ran extensive tests on it and came up negative. Sometimes chemicals can cause strange mental problems, and though it was unlikely I had to make sure that wasn't what was happening to you. There's a drug called LSD that was quite popular in the sixties and seventies that left traces on the walls of veins after prolonged use, even when the people using the drug gave it up they'd have hallucinatory episodes for decades as the traces broke off of the vein wall and traveled into the brain. I thought some effect of either the Amazons, the Kunos or maybe Akane-chans cooking might have done something similar, but nothing showed up. Now that you've told me a little more of your life story I have another hypothesis.”
“Go on.”
“I think it's totally stress related. Hold on a second while I explain. First up I suspect you've been suppressing the urge to choke someone who desperately needs it for a couple of years now, there's also the fact that there are so many problems in your life right now that you could be forgiven for feeling the need to hurt someone. In fact it's very surprising you've managed to stay in control as well as you have.”
“So you think its stress?”
“No, I used to think it was stress, I now believe that it's akin to something called `combat fatigue', that's where people who are subjected to battle field conditions suffer mental break-downs and can't tell friend from foe, they also get to a point where they don't care about or for themselves anymore. Most go catatonic, but in rare cases the sufferer can go berserk, which means they don't live very long on a battlefield. You on the other hand are getting to the point where you could quite easily snap and really hurt someone, maybe even kill someone. I'd have said it was extremely unlikely to happen but I've seen changes in you, changes that I don't like.”
“So what can I do Doc, I mean I gotta do something, and soon.”
“You're correct Ranma it'll have to be soon. First thing you need to do is reduce the trouble with all your fiancées and rivals, failing that you've got to get away to as stress free a place as possible.”
“Right! You know how likely that is. I've got some of the best trackers in the world around me, Xian Pu tracked me from China in a couple of days, Nabiki, she ain't no pushover either. Pops ain't too bad though I think I could get away from him, especially as he'll do most of his searching in sake bars. Then there's Ryoga he don't track me as much as home in on me, I don't know how he does it, he could find me in the middle of a forest in China given enough time. It's just himself he can't find.”
“I know all this Ranma, and while as your doctor I can't advise a youth to run away. As your friend I'd say you need to go to another country, someplace far away. Maybe change your name, change as much about yourself as you can. Make it as hard as possible for them to track you, I'd even suggest warping your ki signature if you can.”
“So that's what it comes down to? You know I ain't a coward Doc, I can't just run away and let them win!”
“Let them win? That's the only concern you have? If you haven't noticed Ranma your ki reserves are much deeper than they were even a few weeks ago, maybe as much as three or four times. If you lose it you could destroy a rather large part of Nerima trying to take out one of your rivals.” Ranma blanched as he thought about some of his own discussions with Dr. Tofu over the development of the Shi Shi Hokoudan, and the likelihood that Ryoga could take out a large crowd of people without realizing what he'd done until the depression left him and then it would get worse. The thought that he was capable of doing something like that if he snapped was sobering.
“I wouldn't…..”
“You might not even notice till you're watching the aftermath Ranma, that's the thing with berserkers they only find out how effective they are after they come back to themselves, if they do.” He pinched the bridge of his nose as he thought about the possibilities. “I understand that money might be a problem for you so I'm going to give you some of mine…”
“I can't take that from you Doc!”
“You'll damn well take it and be happy, at least I won't charge you interest like some would.” He smiled to attempt to take the sting out of his words.
“I suppose, but I don't like it. I think you might be right, I've gotta get away somehow and without the money I couldn't get away far enough or fast enough.”
“Hmmm, are you open to suggestions?”
“Yeah, okay Doc you might as well tell me where to go, everyone else has.” He smirked for a moment before the reality of the statement struck him and he winced.
“Never a truer word spoke in jest Ranma. I think you need to go to a totally new place, somewhere where no one would suspect you of going. I think you'd do well in the United States.”
“America, you kidding, what would I do there?”
“You'd have the time to de-stress, maybe you could take your studies seriously for once, you could start a brand new life with no expectations and no fiancées. Think about it at least.”
“Yeah I think I can do that Doc, I owe ya several.”
“I'm in no hurry to collect Ranma, return the favour when you can.”
“Right, see ya later Doc. Like I said it always helps talking to you.”
To be continued……
Authors notes)- Hi everybody! I'm working hard on several fics at the moment and reading many more. While I was working I had a flash of inspiration and this is the result. alright I admit it ain't much but I wanted to write it anyway, so sue me. Rumiko Takahashi if you're reading this you don't need to take that last request seriously, I've found my spare Disclaimer once more and it's locked and loaded by the door you have been warned.
As always C&C, review, drop a line, let me know what you think, you get the idea.
Porthos112 22/2/07