Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ To Follow The Ten Thousand Yen Horse ❯ Here Come The Saotome Brothers ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: Ranma1/2 and all related characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi and Viz inc. No money is being made from their use in this work of fanfiction.

 

 

To follow the ten thousand yen horse

By

Robert K. Hackney

 

 

Chapter one: Here come the Saotome brothers

It had just finished raining in the Nerima ward of Tokyo. That was nothing unusual in and of itself, for it was the rainy season in that part of Japan. What was unusual was the sight of a teenage girl with red-hair tied in a pig-tail (rare in Japan-the red hair, not the pig-tail) being chased down the water streets by a giant panda (even rarer in Japan) that was carrying two backpacks over it's shoulder.

“No way! I don't want any part of this, you old fool!” the girl cried as she ran. The panda, heavy as it was, caught up with her and swatted her backside, sending the girl skidding towards the intersection.

The girl, however, turned as she skidded and, when she came to a halt, took up a battle ready stance. “Oh, so that's how you want to play, eh Pop?” The panda growled in reply, took up a similar stance, and swung at the girl. She dodged effortlessly and swung back at her furry opponent.

“I still say the whole thing sucks! The redhead shouted as she dodged and punched at the panda, “Picking my fiancée for me without even asking!” A small crowd had gathered to watch the scuffle, and jaws dropped when to everyone's surprise, the girl grabbed the panda's right forepaw, twisted around, and flung the exotic beast over her shoulder. The panda landed with a thud, knocking down a street sign underneath it.

The girl took several short breaths then picked up one of the backpacks the panda had dropped. “I'm going back to China now,” she declared. “I don't care what you and my brother do.”

As the girl turned away from the panda, somehow the street sign it had knocked over floated up and whacked the girl on her head. “Sorry about that, little bro,” a mysterious voice called out, “but I'm wet and tired and I want a hot bath and at least one night on a dry futon. We can figure out what to do later.”

The panda got up on it's hind legs-apparently it had only pretended to be injured-scooped up both the backpacks and the girl, then growled at the onlookers. The spectators, all suddenly remembering that they had business elsewhere, immediately dispersed.

 

Soun Tendo stretched out his arms as he went out to get the afternoon mail. This particular shower had lasted from early in the morning until fifteen minutes ago and he hadn't been outside all day. He hadn't been an especially active man since his wife died several years ago, but he hated to be cooped up inside.

The mail was the usual-the phone bill, the gas bill, the electric bill-nothing out of the ordinary-until he came to a postcard illustrated with a panda eating bamboo. He flipped it over and saw that it was postmarked “China.”

“Am returning from training in China,” read the postcard. Bringing both Kinma and Ranma with me. Saotome-kun.”

Tears slid down the face of the longhaired mustachioed man as he read the last sentence. “At last, Kinma and Ranma are coming. And soon, very soon, Kinma and Ranma will both be here.”

 

A nineteen-year-old woman with her chestnut hair tied back into a ponytail that hung over her shoulder was in the Tendo kitchen, stirring the soup she was cooking for dinner. She was about to lift the ladle to taste when all of a sudden she heard her father call her name. “Kasumi!”

Kasumi poked her head out of the kitchen. “What is it, father?”

 

Another girl, this one seventeen and with her hair in a short bob, was lying stomach down on her bed, reading a magazine. “Nabiki!” Soun's voice cried out.

 

Soun went through the house. He found his two older daughters, now he was looking for the youngest. “Akane!” he cried as he went from room to room. “Akane!” No answer.

“Blast it, where is that girl?

 

The girl in question was in the Tendo family dojo, dressed in a yellow gi bound at the waist by a red belt, her long blue-black hair held back in a thick ponytail. She breathed in and out as she laid the blade of her right hand on a pile of cinderblocks. Slowly, she brought up her hand and suddenly, without warning, smashed the pile to bits.

“Whew,” Akane Tendo sighed as she stood up and wiped her forehead. “That felt pretty good.”

“No wonder the boys all think you're so weird, Akane.” Akane turned her head and saw her sister Nabiki standing in the dojo doorway.

“So what, she replied curtly.” Not everyone thinks that the whole world revolves around-“ she spat out the last word as though it were an obscenity-“BOYS!”

Nabiki crossed her arms and gave a smug smile. “Then I guess this news Daddy has won't interest you at all.”

 

“A friend of your's is coming?” Kasumi Tendo asked. The three sisters were in the family dining room and kneeling down at the table with their father.

Soun Tendo nodded and smiled at his daughters. “Yes, Genma Saotome; we trained together in our secret art, just after Akane was born.” The head of the Tendo household continued, “He will be bringing with him his two sons Kinma and Ranma.”

The three sisters reacted differently to that last bit of news. Kasumi thought about how much extra she would have to prepare for dinner, Nabiki-who handled most of the Tendo finances-thought about how three freeloading houseguests would affect the family budget, and Akane was just plain angry about the thought of two teenage boys sleeping under the same roof as her.

“There's one more thing,” Soun added, worming up to the subject. “If one of you girls were to marry either Kinma or Ranma, and carry on this training hall, then the Tendo family legacy would be secure.”

The three girls all looked at each other. They dearly loved their father, but knew he wasn't exactly the brightest of men. Since their mother had died more than ten years ago, he had slacked in running the Tendo family school of “Anything-Goes” martial arts; in the past two years his only student was Akane. If not for the Swiss bank account and fifteen shares of Sony stock that had been the late Mrs. Tendo's dowry-and managed by Nabiki-the Tendos would have lost the dojo and been out on the street years ago.

“What are these two like?” Nabiki finally asked. “Are they cute?”

“Are they older than me?” Kasumi asked. “I don't like younger men.”

“I don't want any part of this at all,” hmmphed a grumpy Akane. “Besides, how do we know if they're any good?”

“Oh, they should be,” Soun chuckled. “My friend has been taking his sons on a voyage of training around Japan for the past ten years; recently they crossed into China.”

“Oooh, China!” Nabiki crooned.

“Who cares if they hiked all the way to China?” glowered Akane. “I bet I could beat them both up with one hand tied behind my back!”

“We'll soon find out,” Soun smiled. “They'll both be here any minute!”

Suddenly, there was a knock on the entryway door, and some muffled high-pitched screams. “Oh, someone's at the door father,” said Kasumi.

Nabiki was the first to get up and head for the door. “Oh, it must be Kinma and Ranma!”

“At last!” Soun cried as he got up and followed his daughter. Kasumi came after him, gripping the cross she wore around her neck and praying that at least one of the prospective fiancés was older than her. Last came Akane, staring down at the floor, not excited in the least to meet either of the sons of her father's friend.

“Saotome-kun, old friend-“ Soun rushed towards the door, then stopped when it opened. At the door and walking straight into the Tendo hallway was a giant panda carrying a small person and three backpacks over its shoulder.

“So father, is this your friend?” asked Kasumi.

Soun shook his head franticly.

“Oh, so this panda just decided to visit, it that it?” sarcastically chimed in Nabiki.

The panda stared down at the humans for several seconds, then dropped the backpacks and placed the small person it was carrying right in front of them.

Soun looked at the person, who had red-hair. “You wouldn't be-

The red-haired person looked up at Soun and answered in a very high-pitched voice, “I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry about this.”

Nabiki looked at Ranma. “He IS cute.”

“At last you're here!” Soun cried out as he grabbed his future “son”-in-law into an enthusiastic hug-and backed away in shock. “You're-you're-“

Nabiki peered over at Ranma and ran her hand over two VERY ample mounds underneath the red Chinese shirt Ranma wore. “'He' is a girl.”

Ranma blushed. “Please, I wish you'd stop that.”

Soun blinked, then stared for several seconds. “A-a g-girl?!!” he cried out, right before he fainted.

Soun woke on the floor of the family dining room. His daughters and Ranma were kneeling over him with the panda behind them.

“This is all you're fault Daddy?” Nabiki looked down at her father. “Don't you know the difference between a boy and a girl?”

“Well, Genma told me he had two sons!” Soun shot back, then suddenly thought to himself: Two sons?

“Does this look like a boy to you?” Nabiki squeezed Ranma's right breast. “Does it?”

“Please, I wish you'd stop that.” Ranma said in a low voice.

“Why don't you leave her alone?” Akane asked her sister. She was in a better mood now; learning that at least one of the boys was really a girl had cheered her up considerably. “A guest is a guest.”

Two sons. Soun Tendo suddenly stood up and looked at Ranma. “Where's Kinma?”

Ranma looked down at the floor. “He'll be along shortly,” she said, adding “he's already closer than you think.”

Nabiki looked at Ranma. “'He' isn't a girl too, is he?”

“No.” For some reason Ranma's face turned crimson. “Whatever else he is, Kinma's 100 percent guy.”

Soun brightened up. “Good, then we'll be able to carry on our plans as we'd hoped!”

Akane looked at her father and shook her head, then at Ranma. She felt sorry for the girl; obviously the day had been rough on her. And the way Nabiki was fondling Ranma's chest certainly hadn't made thing better. She walked over to Ranma and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Hi,” she said as the redhead looked at her. “I'm Akane, want to be friends?”

Ranma looked at her and nodded. “Sure.

 

The two girls stood facing each other in the dojo. “You study kenpo, right?” Akane asked.

Ranma nodded “A little,” she said nervously.

“Well why don't we have a little match, then?” Akane got into a stance, then smiled as she saw Ranma squirm. “Don't worry, I won't hurt you.”

Akane punched with her left. Ranma dodged to the right, then left at Akane's second punch, and jumped as the bigger girl gave a swirling kick.

Akane took several breaths. Why am I missing her, she wondered, is she reading my moves? “Alright,” she declared, “this time I'm not going to hold back!” Akane pulled back her arm and swung hard-and her fist crashed into the wall.

“Huh?” Akane felt a poke at the back of her head. She pulled the fist out of the wall, turned and saw Ranma staring at her.

“Hahahahaha,” The redhead laughed.

“Hahahahaha,” Akane laughed as well. “You're pretty good. Is your brother as good as you?”

“Nah,” Ranma said casually. “I've been nailing Kinma since I was seven and he was eight. He is a master with the Bo staff, and not bad at Kyodo*.” She sighed. “Of course, when I was practicing, he'd spend his time-.” Her voice trailed off.

“Spend his time doing what?” Akane asked.

“Finding ways to separate people from their money.”

“He's a con artist?” Akane said.

Ranma shook her head. “Not exactly. He rarely lies and always holds up his part of the bargain. But you always better pay close attention to what you think he's saying, or he have all your cash.”

“Well,” Akane shrugged, “I'm just glad that you're a girl.”

“Huh?” Ranma asked as Akane turned towards the door.

Akane looked back at Ranma. “Its just-I'd really hate to lose to a boy!”

Ranma just stood there, staring as Akane walked out of the dojo. “You're going to have tell her sooner or later, little bro.” a voice called from behind Ranma.

Ranma jerked her head around and saw nothing. “Oh Kinma, I hate it when you do that!”

 

While Ranma and Akane were having their sparring session, the panda got on all fours and walked towards the bathroom. Everyone else was busy; Kasumi was back in the kitchen, Nabiki was outlining the next month's budget, and Soun sat at the table, thinking of what to say when Kinma arrived. No one paid any attention as the big, bear-like cousin of the American raccoon entered the bathroom and got into the furo filled with hot water.

 

Ranma followed Kasumi to a small-unfurnished room at the far side of the upper floor of the Tendo household. “Here you go Ranma,” Kasumi said, “You can use this room.” Ranma sighed as she laid down two backpacks she was carrying. For such a small girl she sure is strong, thought Kasumi. “Now, would you like a hot bath before dinner?”

“Uh, no thanks,” Ranma said, red coming to her cheeks.

“Please, I insist,” Kasumi said as she handed over a bunch of towels. “You must be all sweaty from your workout.”

“Okay,” Ranma reluctantly nodded.

 

Ranma entered the bathroom, took off her clothes, and splash herself with a bucket of water. “Brrrr,” she chattered through her teeth, “that's cold!”

Another bucket seemed pick itself up and upturn, the spilled contents formed a partial outline of a man. “Yeah, sure is little bro.” The outline turned his head and even though it didn't show, Ranma was sure it was grinning. “Or should I say sis?”

“I'm warning you, Kinma, if you poke me like that girl Nabiki did, you're gonna be in a world of pain.” Ranma snarled, holding up a fist.

“Okay, okay,” Kinma held up his arms and backed away. Turning to the furo, he looked down and saw bits of black and white fur floating in the hot water. “Looks like the old man was here.”

“Yeah and he's probably down explaining everything to them now.” Ranma shrugged, then added. “C'mon, lets get normal.”

“Alright, little bro.”

 

Tears ran down Soun Tendo's face as the man across the table from him told his story. “So that's how it is.”

The stranger nodded. He was an average height, middle-aged man, heavyset with muscle that was beginning to go to fat. He was dressed in a white gi and sports glasses. A white towel was wrapped around his head, perhaps to hide the fact that he had recently gone bald.

“How I suffer for you and your boys.” Soun turned his head out towards the open sliding door that led to the family courtyard. “The path of a true martial artist is fraught with perils.”

 

Ranma and Kinma sat across from each other in the furo. Ranma had now changed from a small busty redheaded girl to a medium sized well-muscled young man with black hair. Across from him sat a young man a little taller and somewhat heavier than him, his own hair tied back a simple ponytail.

“Well, you've had your hot bath Kinma,” Ranma put in, “now what are we going to do?”

“Well, like you said, Pop's likely told them everything,” Kinma said. “We'll figure out what to do from there.”

“I don't care what you and Pop do, I'm going to find a cure!”

“Ranma, remember what the guide told us,” Kinma said in what was meant to be a reproachful tone. “There is no known cure for what happened to us. We have to accept we may be like this for the rest of our lives.”

“Easy for you to say!” Ranma turned his head from his brother. “When you get wet, you're still a guy!”

“Ranma,” Kinma started then rested his head on his hand, “I feel bad for you. Really, I do. And I don't like this arranged marriage thing Pop told us about anymore than you. But if we stay here awhile, maybe-“ his head lowered and his eyes began to water-“maybe we'll finally get to see Mom again.”

“Yeah.” Ranma lowered his head as well. “At least you remember her a little. When Pop took us on this training journey those years ago, I was so small, I can't remember her at all.”

Kinma nodded, sharing a moment of empathy with his brother. “And Pop rarely talks about her. All he ever told me was the reason he took us from her on this training journey was to make men out of us.”

Ranma snorted sardonically. “Great job he did there.”

 

Akane came up to the bathroom. She'd gone for a short jog after her sparring session, thinking about the way the day had gone. She had just met someone better at martial arts than her; at least that person was a girl. She'd always prided herself in being a better fighter than anyone else, including the boys. But Ranma seemed more than willing to be friends and told her she was better than her brother. And Nabiki had shown some interest in the possible engagement; with luck she'd be the one marrying Ranma's brother.

She entered the changing room got out of her clothes. She began to place them in the hamper when she noticed two pairs of baggy black pants and two Chinese-style silk shirts. One was the red shirt Ranma had been wearing, the other dark blue. She wondered just who the other's shirt that was, then shrugged, grabbed a towel, and opened the door-

 

Ranma and Kinma began to rise out of the tub. “Might as well go out like we are,” Ranma said nonchalantly.

“Yep,” Kinma agreed. “Pops probably explained everything to them right about-“ Suddenly the two brothers looked at the door and saw Akane Tendo standing there with only a towel covering her nakedness.

 

Akane closed the door to the furo, dressed into her jogging clothes, and stepped out into the hallway. Once she closed the bathroom door behind her, she let out a long, loud SCREAM.

 

Soun Tendo and the strange man looked up in surprise as Akane ran into the dining room, still screaming. The two men quickly grabbed they're drinks when she suddenly grabbed the table and and yelled “I'll drown them BOTH in the bathtub!”

Nabiki and Kasumi came into the dining room. “What's the matter Akane?” Kasumi asked.

“They are TWO perverts in the bathtub!” Akane roared back.

“Well gee, Akane, why didn't you just clobber them then?” asked Nabiki.

“Because I got scared. Is that all right?”

Ah, excuse us,” a voice called from the hallway. The three sisters looked behind them to see two teenage boys wearing the clothes Akane had seen in the bathroom earlier. The taller boy spoke “I'm Kinma Saotome and this is my BROTHER Ranma. Sorry about this.

 

All seven people were now seated in the dining room. Soun looked at his daughters. “Perhaps we should start again.” He motioned towards the bespectacled older man, “This is my dear old friend-“

“Genma Saotome.” The stranger waved a hand at the two young men sitting next to him. “And these are my sons-“

“Kinma.” The taller boy bowed his head. He looked somewhat like his father in the face including the sports glasses, but half a head taller and whipcord lean where Genma was heavy. His long hair was tied back in a ponytail.

“Ranma.” The shorter boy gave his name. His hair was long like his brother's, but braided into a pigtail.

Kasumi looked at Ranma. “Are you really her? The same girl we saw before?”

Ranma's face clouded before he nodded. “I am.”

Nabiki peered over at Ranma. “Are you a crossdresser?” Ranma's face turned red as Kinma suppressed a snicker. Nabiki then looked at the older Saotome brother. “And you? How did you get in the house and into the bathtub without us seeing you?”

“How do I begin?” Genma rubbed his chin. “Ah, I know.” Before anyone could say anything he grabbed his two sons by the neck, and tossed them both out the sliding door-and into the koi pond.

Instead of Ranma or Kinma, however, a red-haired girl wearing the same clothes as Ranma emerged from the pond. “Whadya do that for?!”

“Oh my.” Nabiki said.

“Ranma's a-girl now,” added Kasumi.

“And Kinma's-“ Akane began, then stopped, “Where's Kinma?”

Genma walked out to the pond. “I am so ashamed,” he said as he looked at his now female younger son, “I have a son who turns into a GIRL!”

Suddenly something knocked Genma into the pond. All three Tendo girls gasped to see the Panda who dropped by earlier. “It's your fault this happened to my brother, Pop!” Kinma's voice called out.

“Where is he?” Akane wondered aloud.

“I'm over here,” Kinma's voice said. Akane looked to her right. “Right behind you.” Akane looked behind herself but saw nothing. “Not even close.”

Nabiki looked straight at Akane. “I guess that answers your question, little sister.”

 

Can anybody guess what spring Kinma fell into? I have the second chapter ready, but I won't post it until I get some guesses!

 

 

 

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