Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma T ❯ Here's Ranma! ( Chapter 1 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Disclaimer: All characters and concepts in this story are owned and copyrighted
by their respective creators. They DO NOT belong to me. I'm just using them in
this story I wrote for fun.

<text> is spoken in Chinese
text is animal signs, for cursed people
*text* is thoughts
~text~ is sounds/actions

Ranma T
By Trooper1023

Chapter 1: Here's Ranma!
________________________________________________________________ ____

Outside a typical Japanese home, a man in a brown gi with long black hair and
a slim moustache was checking his mail. A wooden sign that read, 'Tendo
Anything Goes Martial Arts Training Hall,' was posted in the front.

Soun Tendo observed the dark mists moving across the horizon for a short
moment. The freak storm had come and gone so quickly, it seemed as if it were
an omen of some kind. Shrugging, he returned to checking his mailbox and
discovered a postcard with an odd picture of a panda on it. He turned it over
and read:

'Bringing Ranma in from China.'
'Saotome.'

He began to cry joyfully. "Finally, my old friend will be coming here, and his
son too. How I've waited for this day!" He ran back into the house excitedly
calling for his three daughters. "Kasumi! Nabiki! Akane!" A frown replaced his
smile. "Akane? Where is that girl?" Kasumi was in the kitchen as usual, while
Nabiki was in her bedroom reading some new manga. However his youngest was
nowhere to be found in the modest house.

Down in the dojo, a girl in a light yellow gi breathed in, calmly and easily,
as she stood in front of a pile of concrete bricks. Slowly she raised her
right hand, forming it into a blade-like shape. Her shoulders tightened, then
her hand came down in a blur of speed as she let out a loud yell. "HI-YA!"
Dust, splinters, and chunks of clay flew everywhere as the pile disintegrated
through the middle. Akane sighed in satisfaction, as she shrugged her long
blue-black hair from her shoulders. "That felt good..."

Suddenly a girl with short brown hair wearing a tank top and shorts appeared
in the doorway catching one of the brick pieces underneath her foot. It was
her older sister, Nabiki. "There you go again Akane," she spoke derisively,
taking a snapshot of her sister out of a small camera she always had handy.
"No wonder the boys think you are weird."

"So? Why should I care?" Akane growled sourly wiping moist hair from her
forehead. "Nabiki, not everyone believes the world revolves around, ugh,
boys."

Nabiki just looked at her, bored, before turning around to walk back to the
house. "Then I guess you won't be interested in this. Daddy is quite excited."

Akane frowned. 'Boys', and 'Dad excited', that was 'not' a good combination.
__________________________________________________________ __________

Outside the Tendo residence, all seemed peaceful. A gentle breeze whispered
through the various trees around the large house, while the birds chirped
among themselves, hopping along the swaying branches.

However the peacefulness of the day was shattered amid the discussion within
the Tendo home.

"FIANC...E?!" two shocked voices called out, followed by a slightly quieter "Oh
my!" Gathered around the family table, Kasumi, Nabiki and Akane sat aghast at
what their father had just explained to them.

"We have a fiancÈe, father? Why didn't you tell us before?" It takes a *lot*
to faze Kasumi, and the fact that she was looking a little startled displayed
just how overwhelmed she really was.

"He did it so we wouldn't run away from home before he got here." Nabiki said
sarcastically. Then she smiled. "On the other hand, there is still time..."
She frowned. "Nah, too expensive."

Akane wore a scowl so hot it could have melted an iceberg. "Dad, I can't
believe you did this!" However none of what they said seemed to pierce their
father's bubble of joy.

"My greatest wish is at last to come true!" He smiled joyfully. "The Anything
Goes School of Martial Arts will continue if one of you could marry my
friend's son, Ranma, and carry on the dojo." The girl's realized then, just
how important this was to their father.

Soun continued, "And they just recently returned from a long training trip
through China."

"Ooh, China!" Nabiki exclaimed. Traveling meant they had money.

Akane scowled all the more. "I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!"

Kasumi looked down at her hands thoughtfully. "I do hope he's not younger than
me," she put in. "Younger men are so... young."

"And I wouldn't mind if he's cute. What does he look like?" Nabiki looked
expectantly at her father.

Soun shrugged a little self-consciously. "I have no idea." He frowned as he
thought about it. "I've never met him."

Kasumi accepted this in her usual calm way, as the oldest she had more
experience with their father's goofiness.

Nabiki did a double take. "Engaging your own children, sight unseen?! Father, I
think you've gone a little too far this time. We've never even meet this guy!"

Soun wasn't fazed at all. "You want to meet him? That's already been arranged."

Nabiki frowned, while Akane's scowl grew darker, if that was possible.
_____________________________________________________________ _______

It was a quiet day in Nerima, Tokyo, as people went about their business. At
least until a very well built young man came running up the street, yelling at
something behind him. While his obvious level of fitness did turn the heads of
some of the females on the street, this wasn't what caught most people's
attention; it was the giant panda chasing the boy. People scrambled to get out
of the way as the panda closed on its target.

"KUSO! Can't ya just leave me alone for once!" The panda answered by taking a
Martial Arts stance and attacking the boy. A crowd formed, and stunned
onlookers expressed their thoughts that such a dangerous animal should be
locked up.

Any worries about the boy's safety disappeared however, as he danced around
the panda's attacks with a grace and skill that was simply amazing. Even as he
evaded, the boy kept yelling at the panda, as if it could understand. "Just
who the hell do you think you are, engaging me to some girl I've never even
met!" Many of the unattached females among the onlookers groaned as they
realized that this fine specimen was already taken. The boy punctuated his
accusation, with a "OYAJI-" one, "-NO-" two punch combo, followed by a
"-BAKA!!" snap-kick. The panda staggered, then flew backward under the force
of the kick. The animal slammed into a wall and lay still.

"Jeez Pop, you're getting worse by the day. Now I'm outta here!" With that,
the boy started to walk away. Unknown to him, the panda had revived. It crept
up behind the boy and smashed him over the head with a sigh that read This is
for your own good, boy! The poor boy slumped to the ground, only to be picked
up by the panda and carried off. The crowd dispersed, rather disturbed by what
they had seen.

Nobody took notice of the brown sash wrapped around the boy's waist that
seemed to shift slightly whenever he moved.
________________________________________________________________ ____

Soun laughed confidently. "But, having Genma Saotome as his father, what could
go wrong?" Then came the sound of knocking. Actually it was more like banging.

"Oh my," Kasumi's exclaimed. "Could that be them, father? And I haven't even
prepared anything yet." She stood up.

"Since the card came today, I bet it's them," Soun explained excitedly. "Oh it
has been so long Genma! And now that you are here, the schools will be
united!" His eyes started to water as if about to start another round of
ecstatic weeping. Nabiki went to answer it, while Soun followed excitedly.

Akane glared at his back. "Dad!" As she was about to continue to call out more
complaints, Nabiki and her father ran back into the room. Nabiki looked
terrified.

"Run! It's a dangerous animal!" she shouted in horror as she tried to hide
behind her father. At that point, the 'dangerous animal' waddled in. They all
stared at the strange sight. A giant panda stood at the entrance on its hind
legs. One massive arm was holding a largish person over its furry shoulder.
The other was carrying a travel pack. Its human baggage was struggling
violently, a mass of spiky black hair quite visible.

"Chikuso! Leggo'a me al'ready!" came out of the struggling pile of limbs.
"Can't you see you're scaring them, baka?"

"Do you know these people, father?" Kasumi asked. These two couldn't be them.
After all one of them wasn't even human. Soun just shook his head wildly.

"So this panda just decided to drop in uninvited?" Nabiki asked impertinently,
now that she was safe behind her father's back.

Nobody got a chance to answer Nabiki's question. "Let... go... of... ME!!!"
~CRUNCH~ Twisting on the giant panda's shoulder, the 'human baggage' slammed a
knee into the panda's face. Then the person launched themselves into the air
using the animal's head as a spring board, and sending the panda crashing to
the ground outside. All three Tendo girls did a double take as the person
touched down in front of them. It was a boy all right, though young man would
probably be a better description.

He had on slightly damp Chinese-style clothes, which consisted of a red
sleeveless shirt, forearm bracers, and flowing black long pants. The shirt was
plastered to his body, showing off an impressive chest, while the muscles on
his arms and neck looked like steel cords under his skin. The brown sash
around his narrow waist further accentuated his powerful upper body. *What a
hunk! The money I could make as this guy's agent...* Nabiki went off into her
dream world, yen signs in her eyes.

He had coarse black hair; a short pigtail hung off the back of his head, and
the rest of his hair seemed to be everywhere at once, standing up in spikes
even under the weight of the rainwater. A couple of bruises and scratches
marked his face, but these just seemed to add to the aura of raw power he
projected.

Eyes like black orbs glared furiously out at the panda. Then their dark gaze
Softened and he turned. "Um... I'm Ranma Saotome," he said, turning to the
Tendos. "Sorry about this."
________________________________________________________________ ____

The silence was defining. The three girls tried to get their mouths working as
they attempted to stop blushing unreasonably. Then Soun jumped up and wailed,
"Finally, you've arrived!" He burst into tears and gathered Ranma up in a huge
hug.

"Hey, what are you- OOF!" Ranma struggled to regain his balance and
disentangle himself from Soun without hurting the man. "Let go'a me!" he
grunted. When the Tendo patriarch didn't, he looked to the three sisters and
asked, "Is he always like this?"

Nabiki rolled her eyes and said, "Unfortunately, yes."

Finally, Soun broke his embrace. He looked Ranma up and down and said, "What a
fine young man my old friend has raised." Suddenly he frowned and asked, "Well
Ranma, where is your father Genma?"

Ranma looked embarrassed as he scratched the back of his head. "Could you get
us some hot water? My father, ah... will be here shortly."

Kasumi got up. "Sure, Ranma. It will be a few minutes until the water is
heated though."

"That's alright."

Akane finally got her brain back in gear. *Hmm... he's too bulky to be a real
martial artist, since all that muscle will slow him down in a fight. He's
built more like a wrestler, but that does mean I'll have to watch out for his
obvious strength.* Finished with her assessment, Akane asked, "Dad said you're
a martial artist. What do you practice?"

"Huh? Oh, I know some kempo..." he began.

"Do you want to spar in the dojo?" Ranma started to fidget uneasily. "I
promise I won't go full out." If anything, Ranma looked even more uneasy. He
was currently remembering the last female he fought in a match... and the
consequences.

"Um... ok, sure." He finally decided, and got up to follow Akane out to the
dojo. After a second, Nabiki went after them.

Akane went in first, and walked straight into the large ring. Moving to one
half, she gestured Ranma into the other half and got into an offensive stance.

Ranma debated whether or not he should get into a stance or not. In the end he
decided that it would be better to take a stance in respect of the girl as a
martial artist, no matter how good or bad she might be. After all, he wanted
to make a good impression, right?

As Akane expected, Ranma got into a defensive stance. What caught her by
surprise was the fact that his stance seemed to be one that mixed speed with
strength. *What is he doing? Is it possible for someone as big as him to be fast
enough to use that stance effectively?*

Ranma-saiya was steadily getting more and more nervous. He had no idea just
how tough this girl was, and since he was in his cursed form (though nobody
else knew it) he had a LOT of extra strength that he needed to hold back.
Moreover, he STILL didn't like hitting girls, although the bunch of Amazons
in China had proven to him that, properly trained, a girl could be just as
formidable as a guy. What he decided after that incident was that he still
would not hit a girl... unless she had received heavy martial arts training,
like himself. In that case, he would treat the girl as a martial artist, and
respond to threats accordingly. Of course, he was never going to go full out
against a girl immediately; instead he'd use only as much skill and force as
necessary.

Ranma settled on dodging her blows, blocking if needed *Doubtful.* and waiting
until she wore herself out.

"Ready?" she asked, and Ranma nodded. "Ok... 'cause here I come!" Akane closed
the distance and launched a straight right punch. It wasn't very fast, really
intended to test the reflexes of the other. But Ranma was gone by the time her
fist would have hit. *What the?* The next three punches came no closer to
their mark. *Is he reading my moves?!* A snap kick and the follow-up left hook
missed as well. *I don't believe this! How dare he mock me!* "All right, this
time for real!" Akane lashed out in a fast spin kick, but Ranma again slipped
around it. She roared in fury and launched a flurry of strikes. He dodged them
all.

"KUSO!!! Stop dodging already!" Akane was thoroughly pissed off now. She wound
up and threw her biggest haymaker with a wild scream.

~THUMP~

Akane stood frozen in her punching stance. Her best, most powerful punch,
aimed at his chin, had indeed landed. But not where she expected. He hadn't
dodged it, nor had he blocked it with crossed wrists. Nor had he taken the
punch in the face. No... Ranma CAUGHT her punch in the palm of his left hand.
With no apparent effort what so ever.

Ranma-saiya was analyzing Akane's performance. *Hmm... She's strong. Not as
strong as that Amazon girl, but still pretty impressive. Almost no control
though; she doesn't know how to use her strength effectively. And her
movements are jerky, not smooth and flowing; she's probably self-taught.*

Meanwhile, Akane's brain started working again, and she was unwilling to admit
defeat just yet. She pulled back, noticing that he did nothing to stop her,
and with a roar she drove in again. This time Ranma flipped over HER, landing
behind Akane and tapping the back of her head with a finger. The tiny bit of
extra momentum was enough to send her sprawling into the dojo wall. She
bounced off and landed hard on her butt.

Then the sound of a pair of hands clapping filled the dojo. Looking over at
the door with a groan, Akane saw Nabiki standing there with an amused look on
her face. "Very impressive Ranma. Akane here is the local champion, 'The Best
Martial Artist in Nerima,' and you just took her apart." The middle Tendo
sister turned to face Akane. "I guess she'll have to start breaking even more
bricks if she wants to regain that title."

Akane started fuming. *I AM the best martial artist in Nerima, and NOBODY is
going to take that away from me!*

Ranma scratched the back of his head with one hand. "Ah... thanks Nabiki." She
left, and Ranma turned to Akane. "You want some help?" he asked, extending a
hand to help her up. She just slapped it away.

"No!" she denied hotly. "I don't need help from some BOY!" Akane scrambled to
her feet, furious, and was gone from the dojo.

Ranma stood there, scratching his head again. *Wonder what that was all
about...* He shrugged. Just then, Kasumi entered the dojo.

"You must be rather sweaty after your workout, Ranma-kun. Why don't you go
take a nice bath? It's all prepared for guests."

Ranma responded intelligently, "Huh? Oh, thanks Kasumi-san." And he headed for
the furo. *A nice hot soak will feel good, not to mention allowing the Tendo's
to see the 'real' me. Although I do like my saiyajin form...*
______________________________________________________________ ______

Akane fumed. Not only had that BOY humiliated her, he'd done it in front of
her sister! *ARGH! I'll show him! I'll show that macho jerk what a REAL
martial artist can do!* She was so lost in her thoughts that Akane failed to
notice the occupied sign on the bathroom door, or the cloths in a corner just
inside.

She stripped off her sweaty gi, then slid open the screen to the furo... just
in time to get a COMPLETE view of their new guest. Ranma spun around and got a
similar view of Akane. *Whoa... kawaii!*

"... Why you perv-" she froze in the middle of her sentence, staring at a part
of his lower anatomy. Ranma had just enough time to remember that he was STILL
in his cursed form before Akane screamed.
_____________________________________________________________ _______

"AAAAIIIIEEEEE!!! GET AWAY FROM ME YOU FREAK OF NATURE!!!" Akane came flying
down the stairs in nothing more than a bath towel and scrambled behind her
father. She was pointing back up from where she had come. Soun, Nabiki, and
Kasumi all looked where she was pointing... and saw Ranma at the top of the
stairs, a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Akane what is it?" Nabiki asked in exasperation.

In response, Akane pointed again and yelled, "He's a freak! No way I'm gonna
marry him!!"

Ranma stiffened. *Marry?! What's going on here?*

Everyone in the main room except the new man with the bandanna around his head
looked specifically where Akane was pointing. The remaining Tendos froze when
they saw what she was pointing at. The furry brown "sash" that was previously
attached to the back of Ranma's pants was now waving and curling on its own
accord. Ranma-saiya noticed the stares at the newest part of his anatomy.

"He... he's... got... a TAIL!!" Akane stuttered.

To be continued...
__________________________________________________________ __________

Next time: Ranma's Secret

Author's Notes:

You will notice that, although Ranma is in his cursed form for a lot of this
chapter, I still refer to him as "Ranma." This is because that part is told
from the Tendo's perspective, and they don't know about Ranma's curse. After
they find out about it, I start using "Ranma-saiya" again.

And yes, Genma *did* knock out Ranma-saiya with one of his signs. Look at it
this way: if (in the canon series) Akane can smack Ranma around from the
beginning to the end of the manga WITH THE SAME MALLET out of hammer-space,
there's got to be something going on there. I figure it's the same with
Genma's signs. He can still knock someone out with them, no matter how strong
they get.

Also, you will notice that Ranma is actually acknowledging that Akane is a
pretty fair fighter. No, she isn't *nearly* as good as Shampoo, but like the
other martial artists in this fic, I've powered her up a bit, just to make
things more interesting. Oh, and I'm also considering whether or not to have
Ranma eventually start training Akane.

Update: 6/29/01

Finally! I have Ranma 1/2 manga volume 1! I've made a few changes to this
chapter now that I have it, but the chapters from here on out will be both
close to the manga, and very different.

Update: 9/3/01

Just changed the scene where Genma-panda drags Ranma-saiya into the Tendo
home. I figured that with Ranma-saiya's increased strength, he should have no
trouble freeing himself from Genma's grip.

Updated last: 2/8/02

Changed the order of scenes to more closely match the manga.

C&C to: bjhaberman@prodigy.net


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