Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Bound to Stay ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

 

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“Blah, blah, blah” - indicates Japanese speech unless specified differently.

# Nerima, Tokyo, Earth # - indicates locations

/Hmmm…/ - indicates thoughts

 

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Bound to Stay by Kalissa

 

 

Chapter 8

 

# Nekohanten #

 

There weren't a lot of customers at this particular hour, though by the lunch time rush the place would be packed. As usual Ku Lon was cooking while Xian Pu was serving the tables, Mu Tsu was at the back sweeping the floor. When a small bell on the door jingled announcing new customers Xian Pu hurried over to great them and assist them in finding a table.

“Welcome to Nekohanten plea….Airen!” Xian gloomped Ranma. “Airen take Shampoo on a date, yes?”

“No. Get off me.” replied Ranma in perfect Mandarin. Xian was so shocked that she actually let him go and took a step back. She had not more than

opened her mouth to speak again when her Arien completely ignored her in favor of greeting the Amazon elder.

 

“Ku Lon.” Ranma said calmly greeting her with a nod and a rather smug grin as he addressed the Joketsuzoku (is that how they're called???) elder in her own tongue.

///the whole conversation with Ku Lon is in Mandarin///

“Son-in-law. You came sooner than I expected.” greeted Ku Lon while carefully studying Ranma's new appearance. Xian told her of the changes she had seen in her husband to be yesterday but the elder was still surprised to see them for herself. Instead of the boy that she knew (and grudgingly respected) there stood a man, a warrior and if her senses didn't deceive her, not even a human.

 

“We needed to talk sooner or later and I just happened to have a spare minute.” Traces of Ranma's usual confidence lingered in his tones as he spoke ever so respectfully to the older woman.

 

Ku Lon nodded her consent and motioned Ranma to follow her to an isolated table, barking orders at her granddaughter and telling Xian Pu to bring them tea and take over the kitchen.

 

Ranma sank gracefully into the offered chair across from Ku Lon and kept quiet while Xian was serving them tea.

When she left Ku Lon was first to break the silence

“How did this happen?”

“Happosai.” Ranma said as if it explained everything.

The elder sighed

“What did that moron do this time?”

“Apparently Happi got tired of me interfering with his `fun' so he managed to open a Portal where I got sucked in, and then to be sure that I wouldn't come back the bastard severed my soulbond with this dimension.” Despite the rather morbid topic Ranma sounded as if he was talking about the weather instead of an attempt to end his existence permanently.

Ku Lon sat absolutely still, stunned by the simple revelation, this time the old letch had gone too far even by his rather loose standards. After a moment though she asked another question

“Am I to assume you took care of him?” Ku Lon questioned softly.

When Ranma simply nodded she continued. “What did you do to him?”

“He's alive if that's what you mean but I can assure you he's wishing for death right now.”

“How so?”

“I opened my own Portal for him. I have a couple of friends on the Ninth Level of Hell and they'll be more than happy to look after Happi for the rest of his pathetic and torture filled life.”

Ku Lon chose not to comment on the screams she heard last night suddenly aware that neither her conscience nor her stomach wanted to know the details. Instead she opted to return to the original topic

“How did you manage to come back then? I only know of one way…You didn't!?”

“Don't be ridiculous I'd forsaken that idea as soon as I found out how many of dimensions there are. I wasn't about to waste my life that way. No, it was a pure accident that I made it back here.” (1)

“The Demon?” understanding dawned upon the elder.

“Mhmm. I was chasing him and we ended up here. And before you ask, yes I'm a Hunter though it's more of a hobby.” was his nonchalant reply.

“Interesting…”

“Not really, we have more important matters to discuss.”

“Indeed. So are you or are you not?” (2) Ku Lon asked with curiosity.

“I am, and that's not what I'm talking about.” said Ranma with a hint of impatience coloring his voice.

“Oh? There's something more important than a fact that you were human a week ago and now you're as far from being one as it gets, and a Traveler no less.” sarcasm was practically dripping from her words as the elder stared across the table at her ponytailed son-in-law.

Ranma shrugged

“The Change was necessary at that time, besides the Neko-ken was already there I needed only a little push to become a true Shad'R. (3) Now that I've satisfied your curiosity, call off the Kisses of Death and Marriage.” Ranma said in the same bored voice.

“What? Why pray tell should I do that son-in-law.” Ku Lon was not pleased with the direction their conversation had taken on.

“Because the only reason you want me is to sire children for your village and we both know that after the Change I'm unable to do so.” his tone was that of a tired parent.

“But you can still teach our warriors as well as fight alongside them.” the Amazon elder replied stubbornly refusing to let the male she spent last two years in pursuit of slip out of her grasp.

“Ku Lon” Ranma's voice was cold and held a razor's edge to it “I will not come with you willingly and you will not be able to force me. Do NOT make the mistake of becoming my enemy.”

“Or what!? What can you possibly do!?” Ku Lon challenged the man sitting across from her.

“I always get what I want and if I have to destroy a village or two in the process I will not think twice about doing it.” Ranma's voice was colder than glacial ice as he replied.

“You wouldn't dare.” snarled the Amazon / How dare this fool threaten me!? /

“Now would I? You forget Elder I'm not an innocent boy anymore…quite the opposite. If you want me to prove it by making a blood bath out of your village you just need to say a word.” His worlds a growl more than anything else

“You're a monster!”

“Perhaps, but you forget that I tried to be civil, it was you who refused to hear a voice of reason behind my request.” Ranma was once again calm and as Ku Lon realized more dangerous than ever before. The promise inherent in matter of fact words was plain, his words were a statement… they were a promise and not a threat.

Furious dark brown eyes stared at the ice cold blue-grey ones, the silent battle of wills continued for nearly ten minutes before Ku Lon finally

looked away unable to withstand Ranma's gaze any longer.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked in a voice still laced with fury. She may have lost but she'd be damned before she showed her despair to a man.

Ranma could easily see through her facade but wisely decided not to press the matter any further, he had achieved his goals, gotten what he wanted and that's all that mattered.

“Cancel the Kisses and go back to China.” Ranma had to fight to keep a smile of his face.

“Done.” agreed the Amazon albeit slowly and very grudgingly.

“Thank you. Goodbye Elder it's been a pleasure knowing you, please give my regards to Xian Pu and Mu Tsu. Oh, and one more thing I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anybody about our talk, they have absolutely no need to know about any of this.” With that said Ranma walked out of the Nekohanten finally allowing himself a grin that scared the wits out of everyone who saw it. /That went a lot better than I expected! Now to see Biki…/

 

Ku Lon put her head in her hands and thought about what she'd just done. A short week ago she would've never believed Ranma's threats. His intrinsic good nature had always made his threats less than believable. Even now she could barely believe them and wouldn't have if not for the look in his eyes, the once laughing grey-blue orbs were now cold and ruthless, windows into the soul of the person he had become. Even when he talked about slaughtering her entire village there was no hesitation whatsoever, no pity, no inkling that he was anything less than prepared to carry out his threats if he deemed it necessary. That's what scared her the most. The Ranma she knew would have never willingly taken a life of another, this Ranma seemed not to care whether he had to kill one or one hundred, he was a perfect warrior and she respected him for it, but she also feared him for the same reason.

 

The Amazon elder sighed and got up from the table. It was time she broke the news to her grand granddaughter (and she knew that Xian Pu was NOT going to take it well) and the duck boy. The sooner they left the better, there was nothing left for them in this country. She just hoped Xian Pu won't do anything foolish to anger Ranma, her great-granddaughter was as stubborn as her former Arien and she never new when to stop.

 

# Furinkan High #

 

Nabiki was waiting impatiently for the final bell to ring, though the emotion didn't show through her accustomed mask.

She'd spent the majority of the day thinking of Ranma and the obvious changes not only in his appearance but in his personality as well. For once she didn't know how to react to him. Ranma in control of himself, his mouth and his surroundings was something she was not used to. Given the lack of a better plan Nabiki decided to act as usual and try to earn as much money as possible in the process. Ranma had already given her three gold coins, a windfall that if handled properly and through the right connections could start her on the road to wealth of her own. He also said that he will pay for her assistance later this day. If he had paid her that much for what little information she had given him on the roof Nabiki could only imagine how much he'll pay for `assistance'.

Never one to miss an opportunity, she had earned some money earlier in the day by selling Kuno the news of Ranma's return, his cure as well as cutting a few other deals. However they were but a drop in the bucket to compared to what she planned to get from Ranma.

 

Not for the first time the middle Tendo wondered on the origins of those coins. She had done some research but couldn't find anything even remotely similar on the internet or in any of the schools library books on coins and antiquities. Obviously wherever he had been Ranma had stumbled upon a lost treasure or something like that. The coins had the strangest design, on one side there was a fire breathing Chinese dragon and on the other a tiger was walking forward as if intending to come out of the otherwise smooth surface.(4) The images were extremely detailed and skillfully done, obviously made by a master.

 

Thoughts of the coins inevitably led her back to the man that had given her them in the first place. Nabiki was angry at herself for losing control when near him, one touch from Ranma and she had been reduced to a quivering mass of hormones. She had found herself more than a little aroused by his commanding presence, he was much like the tiger on the coin, a deadly beauty. Even so when not being confronted his attitude was strangely gentle at least towards her. Ranma's cold business tones sent shivers down her spine while his soft gentle words of comfort and reassurance caused butterflies to flutter in her stomach. This wasn't a cute boy that she knew a week ago this was a drop dead gorgeous man who didn't allow anyone to walk over him, a perfect man in her eyes.

 

Nabiki was jolted from her musings by the bell. She motioned for her underlings to follow her to the courtyard so they could conduct their business. She always went there so that those who needed to buy some information or return their debts could easily find her.

Waiting for her there in a shade of a tree and leaning casually on the boundary wall stood Ranma. Today he wore a black robe with blue tigers artfully embroidered on its front and back. It was similar to the one he wore yesterday and clung to his frame just as tightly, giving a first rate view to all that wanted it. His hair was once again pulled back in a ponytail with two loose strands framing his face. Nabiki took a deep breath and steeled herself before approaching her quarry. It would do her reputation no good to faint like that girl to her left. She adopted a neutral expression as she drew nearer, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart at the same time.

“What's with the good mood?” Nabiki couldn't help but notice his grin and the rather insane sparkle in those impossible eyes.

“Isn't seeing you not a good enough reason?” he asked his own question and flashed her a charming smile. “Anyway, it's nothing that can't be discussed later are you ready to go?”

“I need to take care of some matters first if that's not a problem.” Nabiki responded defiantly.

“Sure just make it quick, I have a lot planned for today.”

“Whatever you say Saotome.” Her sarcasm was answered with another dazzling smile.

 

x x x

 

Ranma's observation of the students was interrupted by the bokken wielding moron known as Kuno.

“So the demon finally decides to show his cowardly face! I see you finally dropped your disguise and are now showing your true colors! How could you kill my darling pigtailed goddess you vile creature…”

At that point Ranma stopped listening and looked at Nabiki she was the only one who could've told Kuno that he got rid of his curse. The girl visibly swallowed and refused to make an eye contact. Ranma entertained en idea of actually becoming angry with her but then smirked as he thought of something else, he needed to deal with Kuno anyway and this was as good a time as any.

The vicious smile that appeared on his face left Nabiki slightly shaken.

Ranma walked over to the wannabe samurai and simply grabbed him by the collar ignoring both the shocked looks the crowd gave him and the struggling Kuno he silently walked into the school building shutting the doors with a loud /bam/ as if daring anyone to follow. As it was nobody was stupid enough to ignore his implied warning that he desired some privacy and what's more important they weren't suicidal to challenge him on the matter.

 

In a matter of moments Ranma found an empty classroom and slammed the struggling kendoist into the wall. Not giving his prey a chance to recuperate Ranma lifted him by the neck.

“Now you pathetic fucker you will shut up and listen. I'm a very powerful demon…”

“Aha, so you finally admit it!”

“Oh yes, but I'd suggest you to shut up before I loose my patience.”

“How dare you treat a noble samurai like this!? You--” Kuno's speech was interrupted by Ranma's fist.

“I hope a broken jaw will make you less talkative. Now listen good you piece of shit because I dislike repeating myself.” Ranma shook him a bit to get his point across. “You can have your precious Akane. I've lost my interest in her.”

“How da--” Kuno's angry response was cut short by a viscous punch to ris ribs. Both the delusional samarui and the demon clearly heard Kuno's ribs crack and the sudden whoosh of the upperclassman loosing his breath.

“When I tell you to shut the fuck up I mean don't fucking open your shit filled mouth scum. Understood?”

All Kuno could do was manage a weak nod of agreement through the pain and terror he was feeling.

“Good.” Without wasting any time Ranma went in for the `kill'. The former martial artist turned Hunter transformed and snarled at Kuno showing off his deadly fangs and digging his equally lethal claws into kendoists neck. “I don't care what you do Kuno but if I ever see your disgusting face again you're going to suffer like no other human ever has” Ranma used his limited ability in the Psionic(Mind) Arts to fill the empty space in his prey's mind with visions of the inhuman tortures that awaited him should he continue to challenge Ranma.

 

Kuno was undoubtedly a delusional idiot but even he understood what was said. The visions flashed behind his eyes, lasting no longer than fraction of a second each, nevertheless he saw every gruesome detail and heard every desperate shriek of pain and fear that he made while being tortured. Kuno knew that those visions would stay with him forever, terror filled nightmares finding him every time he closed his eyes.

 

A wide eyed and shaking Kuno looked at the feral cat like eyes of the man no creature standing in front of him and effortlessly holding him up by the neck.

“A-a- anything, I-i-i'll do anything”

“Never cross me again and never mention this talk to anyone. Oh and you will do good to keep that insane sister of yours away from me I'm getting tired of her obsession.”

“Y-yes of course. You'll n-never see m-me or K-kodachi ever again.”

“And..?”

“A-a-and this t-talk n-never happened.”

“Good boy.”

The last things that Kuno saw were fangs that flashed in a toothy smile and the slitted eyes of a demon.

 

After knocking the kendoist out Ranma paused. Kuno lived in a fantasy world of his own making. If he left matters as they were the idiot would either totally block the encounter from his mind or somehow twist the memories to something more to his own liking. After a minute of thought Ranma decided to leave a reminder for him, a tangible warning that the boy couldn't easily disregard.

He took Kuno's right arm and starting under the wrist with his ki Ranma burned into the flesh one of his symbols, a stallion striking out with its front legs and under it he left a short message `Never Speak Of The Devil'.

Satisfied with his handiwork he left to find Nabiki, there were a lot of things that still needed to be done.

 

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As Ranma appeared behind Nabiki unnoticed by anyone, he decided on a small and essentially harmless revenge, to make her scream and hopefully jump in surprise. Leaning to whisper in her ear in a low voice Ranma said

“Are you done yet?”

“Arghhhhhhh!” Nabiki's screams shocked those who knew her. Who knew Nabiki could be so loud? And quite agile too, not many could twirl around in mid jump like that. “Bloody hell, Ranma!? How did you…? Oh, never mind that, what happened?”

“Nothing to worry about. You” Ranma pointed to a girl standing to Nabiki's right “Take care of Kuno he's in the room 4a.” he returned his attention back to the Tendo sister “I hope you've done what you wanted because we're leaving.” Ranma was all business and no fun. He took Nabiki by the elbow and led the shocked girl off the school grounds.

 

Nearly halfway to the dojo Nabiki finally came out of her shock inducted stupor. She stopped and turned to Ranma

“Ok, what the hell was that about?”

“What exactly are you talking about?”

“You know damn well what I'm talking about! What did you do to Kuno and why the hell did you decide to scare me half to death!?”

“I wouldn't talk if I were you Nabiki. You should thank your lucky stars that I'm in a good mood otherwise you would have found out why nobody double crosses me.” Ranma's words had an edge to them “I'm not happy about being sold…not after I've already paid you more than generously. Now control your temper missy and stop screeching like a banshee.” Nabiki gaped at his words, making a pretty good imitation of a fish. “If you're finished with your pointless questions lets get down to business.” Ranma looked at the girl beside him to see her give a curt nod of agreement.

“What happened today?”

“Not much. Everybody's talking about you and the fight, five students transferred not wanting to see another one or be killed in the process for that matter.”

“Speaking of which, what happened with the dead bodies.”

“Miss Hinako called the police, they came while we were in class and took away the bodies. They asked some questions and after hearing our answers decided that an attack of a wild animal was as good explanation as any or at least better than being killed by something straight out of a video game. The local department stopped bothering to investigate cases that involved martial artists not long after you arrived. A wise decision in my opinion.” Nabiki shrugged and looked at Ranma “You said you had something planned for today; what is it?”

“Not now, we will talk when I'm sure that nobody will overhear. Right now I want you to do what I say.”

“Sure what do you want me to do?”

“You will enter the house alone and tell everybody that I will not be coming home for dinner, tell them you have some work to do and don't want to be disturbed. After that go up to your room and open the window I'll join you in a couple of minutes. Make sure you lock the door, I don't want anybody interfering.”

“Ok I'll do it but why go to all this trouble?”

“Can you imagine what will happen the second that I come into the room? My ears have been abused more than enough for one day I don't want to neither hear a pointless lecture on how to treat my fiancée nor deal with your sister. So to answer your question, I'm just trying to save myself a killer headache.”

“Oh.” was Nabiki's intelligent reply.

They stopped in front of the gate and Nabiki made a move to open the door but then stopped with indecision

“What if they ask me where you are?”

“Hmm, tell them I'm running errands for you or something like that, improvise. Anything else?”

“I don't think so.”

“Then go.”

 

Ranma watched as Nabiki entered the compound, he waited until she was inside the house before jumping onto the roof. Ranma listened as Nabiki moved into the living room and after a short exchange with Kasumi and Nodoka headed upstairs to her room locking the door behind her. Meanwhile Kasumi went into the kitchen to start on dinner and Ranma took that opportunity to talk with the elder Tendo. He silently slipped into the back door that led to the kitchen and taking great care not to startle the girl he moved to stand behind her.

 

Feeling a presence behind her Kasumi turned around and nearly jumped at seeing Ranma standing there.

“Ranma-kun! Oh my, what are you doing here Nabiki said you would be back after dinner.”

“I know. I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Of course, what can I do for you?” she was surprised with such request but opted to give it a try.

“I don't want anybody to know that I'm here. You see Nabiki and I have something to do and after this morning I doubt that we can work without interruptions. Can you bring our dinner to Nabiki's room, I'd really appreciate it.” Ranma gave Kasumi a charming smile that made her knees weak.

“Oh my, if it's really necessary…” she could understand Ranma's reasoning but she didn't like the prospect of lying to her family either.

“It is.”

“Ok, I'll do it.” still uncertain she agreed

Then happened something that Kasumi was totally unprepared for, Ranma hugged her and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips before whispering in a low voice

“Remind me to thank you properly later.”

All Kasumi could do was stand there as Ranma exited as silently as he appeared. She brought her had to her lips and her knees buckled she sunk to the floor with a furious blush covering her features. Ranma had kissed her something she dreamed of for the last year or so actually happened! But still he was her sister's fiancée it wasn't proper and he had all those girls chasing after him…Then the implications of what he said finally caught up with the elder Tendo. Kasumi's face was now redder than a tomato and her eyes resembled a pair of dinner plates. /He couldn't have actually meant that, could he? No, it must be my imagination. Oh Gods, Kasumi get a grip he would have never said something like that! / The self proclaimed housewife of the Tendo household managed to compose herself and finally started on dinner. A slight pink tint to her cheeks the only reminder of Ranma's earlier visit.

 

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(1) -“How did you manage to come back then? I only know of one way…You didn't!?”

“Don't be ridiculous I'd forsaken that idea as soon as I found out how many of dimensions there are. I wasn't about to waste my life that way. No, it was a pure accident that I made it back here.”

In chapter 3 it was pointed out that for Ranma to get `home' he needed to search through all dimensions manually, meaning stupidly traveling from one dimension to another until he found the right one.

 

(2) - “Indeed. So are you (not a human?) or are you not?”

“I am, and that's not what I'm talking about.”

Basically Ku Long asks if Ranma is non-human as her senses told her last night or if she was mistaken and he answers that indeed, he's not a human.

 

(3) - The Change as Ranma called it is literally changing your species. When Ranma mastered the Neko-ken his body was forced to adapt and as a result took on some feline traits to complete the change and become even more powerful he needed to drink a bit of Shad'R blood.

Shad'R is a nearly extinct race of so called `neko (cat) warriors'. They are very similar to werewolves only they turn into different felines and are able to do so at will. They have three forms: a human form (they look completely human), their true form (a humanoid one, something similar to what Ranma transformed into) and an animal form (they take on a form of a giant feline, whichever they posses the traits of)

Because Ranma already started to transform into something similar thanks to Neko-ken drinking a little of their blood allowed him to become a true Shad'R a tiger to be exact.

The story of why it was necessary and all other details will be revealed later in the story.

Becoming sterile was simply a side effect of the Change. I guess that ceasing being human and turning into something else can do that to you.

 

(4) - In Hell those rich and powerful enough often print their own money the only condition is that coins must weight a certain amount. Silver and gold coins are the main currency in Hell and of course they can be used as money in all Known Worlds.

`The coins had the strangest design, on one side there was a fire breathing Chinese dragon and on the other one a tiger walking forward as if intending to come out of the otherwise smooth surface.'

This is Ranma's personal money. The tiger signifies his nature as a Shad'R and the fire breathing Chinese dragon is his official insignia though he also has another more personal emblem, a stallion striking out with its front legs.

(In chapter 3 it was said that The Dragon is how Ranma is known in Hell.)

 

 

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Author's Note: I'm currently trying to figure out what to do after Ranma settles in and becomes comfortable. I have some ideas but I would really appreciate it if you send me your suggestions. If you have an idea and want it to be used in this fanfic please email me at lostangel13 at hotmail.com or leave a review. I can't promise that I will use it but if it doesn't disturb the plot I that have in mind I will try to, and of course I'll give full credits to you for the idea.

Again, many thanks to all my reviewer's, you guys are the best! And let us all bow to Ranger 5 who pre-reads this story and corrects my mistakes. Believe me if it wasn't for this saint you would've had a very hard time reading my blabbering.

Someone commented on my poor grammar, well what can I say… English is my second language. I think that explains it.

 

Ja ne,

Kalissa