Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ You Can Never Go Home Again ❯ Reconciliation ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ is property of Rumiko Takahashi, Sailor Moon is property of Naoko Takeuchi, Tenchi Muyo! Is property of Masaki Kajishima and Hitoshi Okuda. In other words, I own the plot, but not the characters.

A Ranma ½ Story
By Steel

You Can’t Go Home Again

Part 1
Reconciliation



A cup cracked, all around the world.

A flock of crows, thirteen in number, fell dead from the sky, all around the world.

Thunder rolled, on a clear sky, all around the world.

In unison, numerous voices said “An omen” all around the world.



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The repetitive sound of soft material padding against the sidewalk resounded, the noise belonging to the cause of the omen.

Twenty years ago, he had walked out, disappeared without a trace, without a warning, with only a reason. Now he had come back, to make peace with his past, and if need be, cut off ties with the same.

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He had changed, in some ways, and not at all in others. He was still confident, but less cocky, for he had more skill to back it up. Slow to anger, but quick to cool, he had many enemies, but unlike before, he had more friends.

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He had made a choice regarding love, but one that no one had ever expected. He hoped that those that he had left behind were happy, because he did not wish unhappiness on anybody, unless it meant the suffering of others. Then he wished them death.

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He came up to the entry of his destination, and stared at the sign on the front, and sighed.

‘Just as I thought…’

He walked around the side of the building, and sharply rapped on the door. A few moments later, it opened, revealing a young woman, with long blue hair and a bandanna on her forehead.

“My name is Hagane Ryu. I wish to challenge the master of the Tendou Dojou.”

She looked at him for a moment, before breaking out laughing. “You, challenge my mother? She’d crush you in an instant! Who do you think you are? My parents were members of the Wrecking Crew, the ones who defeated the Phoenix God Saffron!”

He raised an eyebrow. “What would I have to do to challenge your parents?”

She sneered at him. “You would have to beat me first. But you won’t, because I’m a martial artist too!”

‘Like mother, like daughter I suppose…’ he thought amusedly.

“Then gather your witnesses, miss, and we shall fight.”

She glared at him, before turning around to face the interior of the house. “Mom! Dad! Some weirdo wants to challenge the dojo!”

‘Weirdo?’ He thought to himself. ‘Psh…how unimaginative.’

“Follow me” she threw of her shoulder, beckoning to the inside of the house. The ‘young’ man followed her into the wooden-floored Dojou, where they took their places on opposite sides.

An older couple came in, a tall, well built man with black hair, and a woman with blue hair. She nodded, as if indicating the fight to start.

Ryu procured a piece of paper, that said that the match was official, and made the older couple sign it. They were unhappy, but did so without a word, seeming to realize that something was going on. The man rolled up the paper and stuck it ‘in’ his gi.

((A/N: I don’t know how a challenge is formalized…so I guessed.))

“Are both fighters ready?” The man asked in a deep voice. “Yes? Then…start” he intoned.

Immediately, the young girl whom Ryu was opposite rushed him, a right hook coming towards his face. At the last minute, he brought his arm up, and stepped inside her guard, the fist slamming into her stomach and throwing her back a couple meters, and causing her to skid even farther.

“I win.”

The girl gaped at him for a moment, and then stood up angrily. “I’m the best teenage martial artist in Nerima! You couldn’t have beaten me! You cheated!” Behind her, her parents were nodding in agreement.

Ryu ignored her, and looked to her parents. “Hibiki Akane, Hibiki Ryouga, I challenge you for your dojou sign.” They looked at each other for a moment, before bursting out into laughter.

The man chortled “You obviously haven’t heard of our reputation. You can’t beat us…your not good enough. We killed a god.”

“No,” he replied, “Ranma did.”

The two turned to him, eyes filled with anger. “What do you know of Ranma?”

The man smirked back. “Fight me, and I’ll tell you. Win or lose, I’ll tell you.”

They looked at each other, and then nodded, before Akane stepped forward. She rushed him, and punched just like her daughter had, but faster than most people would have been able to track. She ended up just like her daughter had as well.

‘She hasn’t changed a bit’ he thought maliciously. “Now. Ryouga Hibiki, fight me! Show me your true power! Show me that you have improved in twenty years!”

The man looked at him angrily, but wary, realizing that this was a better than normal fighter. “You’ll pay for what you did to Akane!” Ryu looked nonplussed.

‘Whoa…déjà vu’ he thought to himself. The other man took a stance, before rushing at him. “Ryu Hagane, prepare to die!” he rushed at the ‘younger’ man, throwing a punch that would dent a stop sign, instead of his usual…a punch that would dent a tank.

The other man jumped up at the last second, and landed on the incoming fist, before kicking Ryouga in the face and sending him back. The other man stood up, not even slightly bruised. Then again, he probably could have fallen from the edges of the atmosphere and survived.

“Don’t toy with me. I told you…fight me at your true power!”

“But…”

“Listen, I’ve survived getting hit by the bullet train, I can survive getting hit by you.” ‘Ryu’ let loose a bit of his power and it burst into being, a glorious golden white framing him. The other man started glowing green, before attacking his full speed.

‘Ryu’ dodged all the attacks, making them miss him by mere millimeters. When Ryouga started to charge Ki into his attacks, ‘Ryu’ merely used a bit of his own to neutralize the other. Finally after not being able to hit the ‘younger’ man, Ryouga stood back and took a stance.

“SHI SHI HOKUDAN!!!” he yelled, a green beam of heavy ki lancing out from his palms and utterly destroying the wall behind ‘Ryu’…who had dodged at the last second.

‘Disappointing…he hasn’t improved much at all’ Ryu thought to himself.

“Pathetic” he sneered, before smashing his foot into Ryouga and sending him into and through the dojou wall. ‘Ryu’ jumped after him and mercilessly “tap-danced” on the man’s stomach, sending him into the Koi pond and causing a gout of water to explode into the air, 20 feet tall. A pig started to crawl out of the pond, before ‘Ryu’ snapped his fingers and the pond heated up, turning the black pig back into Ryouga.

The other man rushed over to him and started to pull back a punch, but ‘Ryu’ held up his hand. “I don’t want to fight you right now, because you aren’t enough of a challenge.”

Ryouga snarled and his green aura expanded, grass at his feet withering and dying. Ranma snapped his fingers and tendrils of golden white wrapped around the depressed man and pushed his Ki back into him.

“I don’t have time for your shit. The others will be here soon, and everybody needs to hear my story. I’m cutting off links to my past, and this is part of that quest.” He gestured and the man followed him inside, unable to attack. Inside as well were two women, Akane Hibiki and her daughter.

‘Ryu’ glared at them. “It’s been twenty years, and I had hoped you would change. But I’ve been charged with telling my tale, and therefore I will. So shut up and listen pig-boy, kawaiikune otemba, because as soon as the others get here you will hear my tale?”

They glared at him, and the teenage girl was about to shout, but tendrils of ki shut her mouth.

“Listen you stupid assholes. I’m back, and I’m hoping you know who I am. But since your brains are obviously so small, I’ll give you a little hint.” And with that, he bound up his long hair into a pigtail once more, and glared at the three.

“…Saotome…” Ryouga breathed.

Ranma growled. “Not Saotome. Once Saotome, once Rurouni, soon Nokami. I’m not the same social weenie I was before. No…it’s been twenty years, and I’ve changed, even if you haven’t.”

The girl looked at him strangely. “Ranma Saotome, the coward of Nerima? That’s you?”

Ranma’s eyes widened, and then narrowed angrily. “Coward…of…Nerima? What the hell kind of moniker is that? I fought a hell of a lot better than the rest of the people in this town for two years, and that’s thanks I get? I killed Saffron, for pity’s sake.”

The girl’s eyes widened. “My parents killed Saffron, while you hid and cowered in the background.”

Ranma looked at her angrily. “What is your name, little girl?”

She lifted her head proudly. “I’m Hibiki Ayami, heir to the Tendou-Hibiki School of Anything Goes Martial Arts.”

“God how I hate that name…at least address it by its proper title.”

“Proper title?”

“Musabatsu Kakuto Ryu. Obviously miss ‘perfect’ over there taught you about as much as she knew at your age…pathetic. Anyway, you’ll find the truth as soon as everyone gets here…the rest of my captive, and some not captive, audience.”

With that, he used his Ki to seal her mouth as well, and sat in a meditative position, his presence erasing itself from the world in an advanced form of the Umi-Sen-Ken, most Higher Intelligences not even being able to sense him.

The three Hibiki’s merely sat and stewed, though their thoughts were…violent.

It was hard to tell which of the Hibiki senior’s had the most violent thoughts–Akane or Ryouga.

‘That damn baka hentai…I knew he wasn’t dead. Worthless pervert. He cheated…again! I bet the only reason he’s holding me here is to do something perverted to me and my daughter. Wait! He’s holding Ryouga too…that must mean that he’s going to do something perverted with Ryouga! Wait! Ew….PERVERT! But they both did have tight bodies….arg…Ranma was making her think like a pervert, that pervert!’

‘Ranma’s back! He must be here for Akane…but Akane’s mine! He enjoys making my life horrible! He must want to do perverted things to women, for he is the enemy of women. Since he enjoys making my life horrible…he must have gone after Akari! I haven’t seen her for 18 years, so he must have done something horrible to her! And not stopped with her, either….that evil man!’

‘The Coward of Nerima, defeating Saffron…it can’t be. But he did defeat my parents and myself. But I’m better than anyone besides my parents in Nerima! He must have cheated. But still…’

Somehow, they managed to get words out.

“YOU WON’T RUIN MY LIFE EVEN MORE, RANMA!”

“YOU WON’T GET AWAY WITH YOUR PERVERTED DESIGNS ON RYOUGA!!”

The rest of the room looked at her, and cringed.

“Ryouga, I hate your guts…but let us never speak of this again.”

“Agreed, Ranma. I may hate your guts…but that’s just gross.”

“Akane…never, ever, ever mention something like that again.” Ranma replaced the bindings, and took a short nap, making sure his wards were strong enough to alert him to visitors.

The Hibiki’s once again stewed, but there was nothing that they could do about it.


Nodoka Saotome arrived first, silk bundle in arm, as always. The years had been kind to her, and the little beauty that she had lost was more than made up with an inner glow. On a closer look, she hadn’t lost any beauty at all truthfully…in some ways she seemed younger, possessing a timeless aspect to her face. The face of a Mother.

Once arriving, she ran to greet her son, and gave him a large hug, before glaring at Akane and her family, her gaze softening just a bit when reaching Ayami, but hardening to a diamond-like strength when passing over Ryouga. She turned to her son.

“How are you, Ranma?” She asked, quietly.

“Good, mom. How are they?” His face was relaxed, as if having a confidence with his mom he had never had (in their experience) before.

“They’re coming with Hotaru-chan and Ryoko-chan in a bit…after all, they know your story, and merely want to be here for the aftermath. I don’t know the whole story, so that is why I am here.” She eyed him.

He sighed. “Mom…Genma is going to be here as well, and I need you to try to keep your peace for at least a little bit. You have my permission to do whatever you want to him after my tale is over, but try to hold on while I speak. There will be times where you are hard-pressed, that I admit.”

“Only one question, son…where you approved, and what level?” She asked querulously.

He laughed. “No need to be worried about that. I had an audience with the big guy himself, and he put me in a funny position.”

“The big guy himself? Don’t call him that, it is disrespectful. Anyway, what is your position, my son?” She was getting excited, and the Hibiki’s were confused by the conversation.

“Chaos/Destiny 1st Class, Unlimited, Self-Sealable, Self-Incarnated, Dimensional Portal.”

Her eyes turned into stars and she broke out victory fans. “WAI!! MY SON IS SO MANLY!!”

Her son sweatdropped. “Mom…could you tone it down a little? Please?”

“Of course, my MANLY son!!!” She exclaimed.

“Hey, I’m keeping an eye out for the others…could you help me whip up some food? I’ve got all the ingredients in my pocket.” He reached into his small pockets and started to pull out massive quantities of ice-cream, cakes, and other stuff.

Nodoka saw the food, grabbed it, and immediately rushed to the kitchen to prepare it. It certainly wouldn’t be very womanly to leave guests hungry, would it? (A/N: Neither is carrying around a katana to kill your husband…err ex-husband) She disregarded the fact that it wasn’t her home in the first place, and busied herself with the food.

Ranma went back to napping…I mean watching for intruders.


The second to arrive were the Kunos, with their entourage: white vans, men in white coats, and white jackets that kept their arms firmly pinned to their sides. One of the doctors, with a badge indicating authority above his nameplate walked up to Ranma, who was standing outside.

“I don’t understand why you’ve had these two brought to you today, Dr. Saotome, but may I say it’s an honor to meet you?” The man gushed. Ranma sweatdropped, then handed the guy a book. He opened it, read the front cover, and than ran off enthusiastically.

“Yeesh…even the doctors are loony now…” Ranma muttered to himself. He looked over the two bound forms, and sighed.

“Mmmph mm mm mpph, mphh mm MPPH mpph” Was all that could be heard from one, roughly translated to: Foul Saotome, I shall SMITE thee.

The other was just as bad. “Mmmph mm mph mm mph, MPH mm” Which could be roughly translated to: My Ranma-sama, TAKE me!

Ranma knew exactly what they were thinking, and sighed, as both began struggling.
“Listen you two brain dead idiots, I’m going to tell my story today, and you’ll stay quiet, or I’ll make you stay quiet. Capische?” When they looked at him, not understanding, he repeated “It’s a foreign term…it means okay?”

One of the white-wrapped bundles nodded enthusiastically, a hint of black coming out, before Ranma frowned and stopped the aura. The other tried to move its right arm, and little blue sparks started coagulating in the sky, before Ranma stopped that as well.

“Damn…you guys are just as screwed up as ever…” he said while dragging them behind him into the house, and leaning them against the wall. White bundle #1 glared at the Hibiki’s, White bundle #2 only glared at Ryouga. Ranma took in the second bundles gaze, and sweat dropped.

‘Kuno is going after Akane…and her DAUGHTER? Geez…he’s even worse than I thought. Pedophile. I’m almost surprised, though, that Kodachi didn’t go after Ryouga after I left…’

His mother was in the kitchen, and all those that were with him were unable to talk, so he went back to sleep…err… monitoring the wards.


The next to arrive was Genma Rokubungi (A/N: Kudos to those who get the reference…tell me in a review). He stalked over to his son, and belted him one. Or at least he tried to.

“Stupid boy! Leaving your guard open like…huh?” he stopped as his fist was caught by the young man who still had his eyes closed.

“Stupid bastard…sit down and shut up before I–or mom–kill you.” Ranma told him calmly. The other man started sweating at the mention of his ex-wife, splashed some water on himself, and sat down in a corner playing with a beach ball.

Ranma started to go back to sleep, before a flying sign missed him by mere inches. Growling, he got up and stalked over to the overgrown bear and belted it across the face. His mother heard the commotion and walked out, snacks balanced in hand. Seeing who it was, her face grew grim.

Purposefully, she ignored Genma, and walked back into the kitchen. The panda started after her, but after a razor sharp katana slammed into the wall next to him, drawing some blood on his neck, he stopped.

Ranma splashed him with *boiling* water, and he glared at his “son” before looking at his ex-wife and pleading, in a whiny tone “But No-Chan…won’t you help me make the boy live up to his responsibilities?” She ignored him and walked away.

The man snarled for a second, before his face turned to weeping. “Oh, my son is so dishonorable; he has even turned my wife from her rightful place at my side. What a disappointment my son is.” His weeping stopped when he was kicked in the groin by his son. He was then shut up like the rest of the idiot squad, and his son went back to sleep…err…checking the wards.


A little while later, the Kuonji’s arrived. Although they didn’t have quite as much animosity towards Ranma (Konatsu didn’t have any at all), there was still quite a bit of tension between them.

To a normal eye, Ukyou was the man, and Konatsu was the female. The reasons for this were quite easy to explain. Ukyou still dressed fairly masculine, her main goal never having been reached. In addition, her effeminate looking husband Konatsu didn’t mind being looked at as female–he had been raised as one.

Konatsu merely smiled demurely at Ranma, who cringed after the ninja looked away. Ukyou gave him a blank face, her love and hatred for him canceling each other out. However, when she saw the plight his father and the Hibiki’s were in, a small smile cracked the calm façade that had overtaken her face. They seated themselves, waiting for the other guests to arrive.

Ukyo leaned against the wall, one eye open and the other closed, knowing that with Ranma’s presence, danger was quite possible. Konatsu merely…sat and smiled.

Ranma went back to sleep.


The next group to arrive wasn’t nearly as peaceful. In fact, you could almost say that they were prepared for war. Who were they? The Amazons.

Asleep, but with his senses extended, Ranma heard a rhythmic sound.

Tap tap tap…

Tap tap tap…

Tap tap tap…

Tap tap tap…

Tap tap tap…

Pause.

A small tendril of Ranma’s Ki lashed out, snaking through the doors and catching the large siege-engine bolt that had been flying towards the walls of the house. It turned it around, and threw it back, smashing the siege engine into pieces.

Standing, Ranma strode out towards the gate. The sight that greeted him was one that upset and disappointed him, but also one that he had expected. Instead of acquiescing to his requests and coming by their selves, Cologne and Shampoo had brought a large contingent of warriors with them, the females clamoring for his blood.

Cologne had a calm and collected look on her face, but Ranma could feel that, under the surface, she was a roiling mass of hatred and anger.

“Son-in-law, we have come for you. Come peacefully and we won’t have to hurt you. You stand no chance.” As one, the Amazons raised their various weapons–swords, bonbori, bows, maces, and other nasty looking implements.

The young looking man laughed. “Hurt me? Cologne, you couldn’t hurt me if you tried! You insult me. Not only do you underestimate me, but you ignore my nice, peaceful, request to come with only Shampoo.”

The purple haired women stepped up. “Husband come back with Shampoo now. Law says so. Weak men no know what to do. That why Shampoo come back to pick stupid husband up.”

Ranma scowled at her, commenting scathingly. “You still can’t speak passable Japanese, Shampoo…why is that?”

Shampoo shook her head and glared. “If husband followed through with responsibilities, Shampoo would no have to be in this stupid country. You are bad husband, but Shampoo can teach you better.”

“Bad husband?” he trailed off, muttering to himself “There are a few girls who would disagree with that…”

“Anyway, you two are going to come inside with me. The rest of you…stay out here. I don’t feel like dealing with the rest of you right now.” He gestured, and his Ki picked up the two Amazons he was most familiar with, and restrained the rest of them. He walked back in the house, a shell-shocked Cologne and Shampoo trailing behind him.

After placing, and restraining them, he sat down, and looked at the assembled audience.

“I know that most of you are likely wondering what is going on right now…why I have you here. I’m here, because I need to reconcile with my past, even if the people from it don’t want to. I’ve already told my story to Mousse, Saffron, Taro, Ryu, Herb, and Happosai. I want you to hear my story…to understand what has happened to me in the last few decades. Don’t speak…merely listen.”

He stopped and took a deep breath, before continuing.

“This is my story…”