Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Circle That Binds ❯ Part 2 ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Ranma and Co. is Copyright Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan, Inc. 1993
Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Viz Communications, Inc.
A Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction/Danny the Dog by S³

Circle that Binds - part 2


Kasumi started back home, sure that was the best place to find Genma, when she passed by a familiar building, belonging to the family doctor, Toufuu Ono. Actually, she was in luck, doctor Toufuu was out front sweeping the steps, maybe he'd seen one of the errant Saotomes. "Good morning Doctor," Kasumi stopped to greet him.

"Hmm? Ah, Kasumi, what a surprise to see you," Toufuu began fiddling with the broom as he addressed the young Tendou. "I don't think I've seen you since," the doctor's face fell in memory, and he struggled for a more pleasant thought. "Well, at any rate, what brings you by? Nothing serious I hope." Toufuu set the broom aside at some point, and had clasped his hands behind his back.

"Actually, I was wondering if you might have seen a young boy pass by this way recently? Or a larger man in a white gi? They're father's guests, and aren't familiar with the area. The boy wandered off, and I'm out looking for him."

Toufuu appeared thoughtful, "Akane and a few other kids walked by earlier, but no one that I didn't recognize. How old is the boy? I can keep watch if you like."

Kasumi figured the doctor probably hadn't seen Ranma, since he would have had to be watching the rooftops. That meant that Genma hadn't gone this way either. "Ranma's my age actually, the boy staying at the house," she was about to try and describe him when she noticed the doctor had seized up, and had gone pale. "Doctor, are you alright?"

The Doctor didn't respond right away, but the color finally started to return to his face once she spoke to him. "I-I'm sorry Kasumi, I must've swallowed wrong. You were saying," he coughed into his hand a bit, rather unconvincingly.

Ranma, he's about your height, I think, probably a little thinner though. He's wearing a plain t-shirt and jeans, and his hair is all puffy," she held a few strands of her hair out in an approximation of Ranma's hairstyle. "Like this."

Toufuu did his best to hold back a chuckle. "I'll call your house if I see him. Sorry I couldn't be of more help to you, Kasumi."

"Not at all, well, I need to get back. Have a good day, Doctor," she departed with a smile. Perhaps she'd run into Genma on the way home. He did say that Ranma did this sort of thing from time to time. It was entirely possible the boy might return before Kasumi herself did. Besides, even if he wasn't there, she did want to change into something more appropriate for an excursion. Akane would have some of Kasumi's old clothes in her closet. She'd just have to reclaim them for a little while.

As it turned out, neither Genma, nor Ranma had been at her house. When she asked her father, he'd told her that Genma hadn't been back since he first left that morning. Now here she was aimlessly wandering around Nerima looking for a boy she hardly knew, and she wasn't quite sure why. Did she feel sorry for him? Was this out of pity? That was only part of the reason she realized, though couldn't put into words the rest. There was obligation, certainly, to the safety of her houseguest, but that didn't truly extend beyond certain boundaries. For all his eighteen years, Ranma functioned as a child might, and therein lay the obligation she felt. Still.

In another time and place, the boy who was Ranma might have been feeling a sense of accomplishment, a welling pride. In the here and now joy was the only tangible thing, and a bit of hunger. He stood atop the roof of Furinkan High School, on the edge, smiling down at the town spread out before him. Had he gone very far? It certainly didn't seem like it. Below him, the place was full of people; he'd seen them through the windows on his way up. It didn't really matter, since no one paid him any attention. Everyone was too busy to play, and most of them looked sad and tired anyway.

He thought about heading back. Unfortunately, taking another look down, it was hard to tell which way it was to the place he needed to go. Once he got back to the ground, he could find it, he was certain.

Ranma wandered around for the better part of an hour, trying to find the way back, which ended up being a lot harder than he'd first thought. All the houses looked the same to him, and he'd been up top on the way to the big building, so the streets were unfamiliar. This wasn't making him happy, and Genma would be angry if he took too long, he knew that from experience. Other times, when he'd wandered off, it had been away from town, and much easier to find the campsite again. There were too many distractions here, among the houses. So much so, that he didn't hear his name being called, not until the person was almost on top of him.

"Ranma, there you are, I've been looking everywhere for you," a familiar voice called from over the boy's shoulder.

He spun around, only to find the Kasumi was right behind him. He couldn't place the look on her face, but it seemed like a happy one, so he smiled back since it seemed the thing to do. She might have been about to say something, but instead she put a hand on his shoulder for a moment, and asked if he was ready to go back to the house. Ranma just followed her lead.

"I'm home," when Akane walked in the door, she was surprised to find her sister sitting on the couch. At second glance, Kasumi was taking a nap, with her head propped up on a cushion. Usually, her sister was getting ready to make dinner at around this time. To catch her sleeping was almost foreign.
"Hey, sis, wake up, it's almost five o'clock." Kasumi only stirred into a more comfortable position.

Decided, Akane went upstairs to put her bag away, her sister could use the rest. Besides, now Akane would have the seldom chance to put together a meal. She hadn't cooked in ages, other than in home economics class, and that had only been a handful of times. Headed toward the stairs, Akane took two
steps and found herself sprawled flat on her face.

"What the," a backward glance found her staring at the shoulders of that damn dog boy. "I'm not making a habit of this," she groaned, and levered her legs off of his body. "Why's he sleeping right here in the middle of the floor," she shook her head, and got up to go to her room.

Ranma stretched, and sat up. He didn't know what had woken him, but now that he was up anyway; "Hungry," a rumble from his stomach agreed completely. There was no sign of either Genma or the mustachioed man nearby, but he did find the Kasumi. She was still not awake, though this was not a concern to Ranma. He knew where the food was; he'd seen the Kasumi getting it before.

He stuck his head into the refrigerator, eyed the contents, and closed the door with a small thump. He didn't want vegetables, and the only other thing in there had been assorted plastic containers, none of which appeared very appetizing. The kitchen itself wasn't more than a nook really, with a few cabinets, a sink, and two cupboards. The things under the sink didn't smell like food, so he ignored them in favor of exploring some of the low cabinets. They were full of pans, pots, and things, nothing edible though.
Ranma was disappointed, but not disheartened just yet.

Back in the living room, Ranma lightly prodded Kasumi a few times, and shook her shoulders a little when poking her received no response. "Hey, open your eyes, hey," Ranma leaned in, the buckles on his collar jingled softly as he did his best to wake her.

"Mmm, Akane, leave me alone," Kasumi muttered into the cushion. She burrowed her face a bit deeper to get away, which only served to make Ranma increase his efforts. "'kane, c'mon, what time's it?" Kasumi rolled back over and hedged open one sleepy eye to find the clock above the television. She found herself staring into a pair of gray eyes instead. "Oh my," she exclaimed, startling the boy from his position scant centimeters from her face. "Ranma, don't scare me like that!" When he didn't turn away, she began to feel a little self-conscious.

In the end, it was Kasumi who broke the impromptu staring contest, and found the clock instead. "Ah, it's getting late," she moved to get up, "I'd better get started, or father might decide to order take-out again. He always calls the expensive places," she shook her head in exasperation. Making a small list in her head, the brunette nodded to herself, "I just need to make a quick trip to the corner store," she noticed Ranma was still focused on her, "What do you think, I don't really want to leave you here by yourself, so shall we go," it wasn't really a question that she expected him to answer, but she got an eager nod just the same. "Good, I'll put a note by the phone, in case father or Akane come home before we get back," she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and went to do just that.

By the time Akane returned down from her room, Ranma and Kasumi were already on their way, though the note went unnoticed by the younger Tendou. She did however see that her sister wasn't on the couch, and there was no lazy log to be found blocking the way into the living room. Shrugging, she decided that her sister must have gone up to her bedroom, or maybe she was soaking in the furo.
Where Ranma had gone, she could care less. If she was lucky, he and his father were back on the road. Just in case, she'd make a little extra, that way there would be enough for lunch tomorrow barring the return of the Saotomes. Akane turned on the small radio sitting on the windowsill and rolled up her sleeves. This would be so exciting; it'd been too long since she was last in charge of the kitchen!

Soun and Genma came back only minutes before Kasumi and Ranma walked in through the front gate, the latter carrying a few grocery bags. Kasumi had decided on a quick dish of steamed chicken, Shiitake, and long onion, which would only take twenty minutes to prepare, perhaps a little longer with the addition of Ranma and his father. So it was the two men that first encountered the interesting smell wafting out from the Tendou kitchen, not to say anything of the state of said kitchen, which Kasumi found out for herself.

"Kasumi, you're back," a watery-eyed Soun appeared almost too glad to see his eldest daughter. That Genma's eyes were watering too didn't escape the tall girl, catching her off guard. She wasn't aware of too many men aside from her own father that let emotions get the better of them. And then a staggering wave of freshly cut onion struck her along with the astringent scent. "It's Akane isn't it," she caught on to the situation almost immediately. "I'd better go check on things, I do hope she didn't put them all into the steamer again. Let's go put the bags away, Ranma."

"It stinks," Ranma understated, crinkling his nose as he followed close behind the Kasumi. He'd stuck by her all the way from the house, to the store, and back. He'd even carried the plastic bags that she'd given him without complaint. He gathered that the Akane was doing something in the kitchen, and that it was something she shouldn't be. He frowned and went to go see just what it was. He didn't like that his eyes were burning, and that it only grew worse closer to where Kasumi was headed.

Frankly, the kitchen wasn't half as bad as Kasumi had been dreading. Either her little sister was improving in her culinary experiments, or she'd run out of ingredients. It was the latter, Kasumi expected. Usually, the counters were cluttered, and the cabinets would be almost bare, with the oven and both stove burners on at the same time. Today, there was one pot, and an allergy inducing rice steamer working overtime. Behind her, she heard the plastic bags hit the floor, and the rustle of the curtain. Well, she didn't blame the boy for taking off this time. "Akane, I thought we talked about this already," Kasumi began from the entrance. "The fan needs to be on when one is cooking."

Soun and Genma exchanged glances at the snippets of debate that reached their ears from Kasumi's domain. Ranma had come out right after dropping off the groceries, and was sitting on one of the cushions that he'd taken from under the table. They didn't have to wait long for most of the smell to dissipate, though the chatter did not, even if the girls were now being relatively discreet about it. Soun was just happy that they weren't having a shouting match. Those were exceedingly rare, but they did erupt from time to time. "Saotome, I think things are well under hand. Shall we finish that game?"

"Indeed, Tendou. We can finally concentrate, and see the pieces at that," Genma concurred, taking off his glasses to dab at his reddened eyes. The two returned to the game of shogi that they'd started that morning before Ranma had gone on his whirlwind tour of Nerima.

The conversation that the sisters were carrying had since taken a decidedly different turn along the way, far from food, fans, and onions in the rice steamer. "Why does he stay like that, Kasumi? His own father even said that he knows what's been going on once he changes. I mean, why not stay a girl all the time. At least he'd be human," Akane finished washing her hands, waving the towel to make a point.

"Akane! That's a horrible thing to say. But, I don't really know, and it's not fair of either of us to guess. You'd have to ask Ranma for an answer to that."

"Ask him? What good's that going to do? He'll just stare at me, or walk off. It's only been a day, and I know that much," the younger girl folded her arms.

"You know what I meant. You'll have to wait until he changes. Mr. Saotome told us that it happens on and off again, maybe even more than once a day. I think with certain matters, you'll have plenty of time to talk to Ranma, one way or the other," Kasumi stirred the pot of impromptu leek soup. She'd been able to salvage most of what Akane had already begun. It bothered her to waste food, and her sister had to learn to cook, if only for herself.

"I could just, you know, accidentally spill a cup of water on him," Akane said under her breath.

"Which wouldn't be very nice, would it. Let's leave our guests to themselves. Father hasn't been doing well lately, and this is the first time he's taken an active interest in things other than the news. He quit the neighborhood watch last month remember. It's doing him good to have his old friend around."

"I know, I know. I was just joking anyway, 'kas."

Kasumi raised a brow at the contrite expression Akane was sporting. Her little sister hadn't been joking, and they both knew it. "Set out the bowls, the soup's about done."

Dinner was unexpectedly smooth, though Kasumi had to seat herself between Akane and Ranma, in case the former reneged on her earlier words. Once Soun was assured that both daughters had prepared the food, he gave it a try, while pretending like nothing had been wrong. Genma didn't know enough to care otherwise, and Ranma just picked at his bowl, which smelled too much like onion for his taste. Eventually his hunger got the better of him, and he dug in.

A week went by, and small routines quickly began to develop. Despite Akane's earlier sentiments, she had yet to try anything to force the change in Ranma. As far as the curse went, the only time he became a girl was during the scant few moments when he washed off before getting into the furo. After
Kasumi found out just how much her guest hated bathing, she made sure that he understood that everyone else took a bath each day, and he was expected to as well.

Though, the first time, once she'd heard Akane's story of how Ranma had just been standing there, for what had to have been more than thirty minutes, Kasumi asked Genma if he usually accompanied his son. Genma informed her that there was less opportunity to bathe while on the road, and yes, the times when the two of them had gone into town, they more or less bathed together. After the curse, it was much harder though, and the option of going to a bathhouse had been ruled out. A man could take his son, but it wasn't acceptable to take a grown daughter. Though a more pertinent reason was that the boy would not stay in his cursed form for extended periods of time. Even Genma didn't know the reason, not for sure, anyway.

So that was the way of it, Genma made sure his son bathed, and otherwise spent all of his time talking, or playing shogi with Soun, with a few drinks downed here and there. Akane left Ranma alone, so long as he kept out from underfoot. The two of them had nothing in common, so long as he remained as he was. After hearing of his lifetime of martial training, she still had a mild desire to see the fruits of that labor, but the docile boy that loafed around her home held no promise to that effect. She kept to her room, or the dojo, and the only time she was together with everyone else was to eat. Hers was a solitary existence, especially with her sister spending most of the day home with Ranma.

Kasumi found that the simple-minded boy was very easy to get along with. He didn't say much, if anything at all, but she found that she could tell what he was thinking just by looking at his expression. Most of the time. He helped her carry things from the store, and since he was a bit taller than she was, at least whenever she could get him to stop slouching, he was able to get things for her from the higher shelves and cabinets. Recently, she'd even had him helping her with things in the kitchen, and small easy chores around the house. Lately, Ranma had taken to polishing the porch and the hallways, where he could run around on all fours, which he seemed to enjoy quite a bit.

Even despite Akane's on again, off again brooding, the house was quiet and comfortable. It was a peace that surely couldn't last forever.

The first Sunday after the arrival of the Saotomes, the Tendou home received another visitor. When Kasumi heard the front bell, she was in the middle of preparing lunch. Akane was still at school, and the fathers were out in the back yard, patching up part of the dojo wall where the younger Tendou had miscalculated during one of her spear kata. With hands covered in flour, she searched around for the hand towel. Ranma had been sitting quietly on the couch, but perked up at the sound of the doorbell.

The boy was up and moving before Kasumi finished drying her hands.

By the time she made it to the front, the door was already hanging wide open. She could see Ranma with his back to her, and another person standing in front of the boy. It looked like they were talking to each other, but she knew that couldn't be the case. She moved to the doorway to see who was paying a visit to the house, when Ranma staggered backwards, falling on his side. For the first time, Kasumi was able to get a clear look at the visitor.

It was a man, maybe around Doctor Toufuu's age. He stood a good head taller than either Kasumi or Ranma, and appeared squarely built under the slacks and cream-colored button up shirt he was wearing. He lowered his leg and it was then that Kasumi realized this man must have kicked Ranma.

"Ranma," she called out, moving to the fallen boy's side. "What are you doing, how could you just hit him like that," she looked at the stranger, with wide accusing eyes.

"The punk owes a whole lot more, and I'm here to see that he pays, with interest," the man's voice came across cold and distant, in a way that set the hair on Kasumi's neck on end. "Now move, this has nothing to do with you. Just him and the old man," he craned his neck, looking into the house.
"He's in there, isn't he? Get him, and I won't have to go in myself," there was no sympathy in the tall man's voice.

When Kasumi didn't make as if to get up, the stranger frowned. "Saotome, I know you. You and your bastard son! If you get out here now, you might be able to say your goodbye's," he punctuated his words with a blinding fast kick into the boy's chest. Ranma had been trying to get back up, but the harsh blow bowled him right into Kasumi, who cried out.

"This is pathetic. You can't be the kid who took down Hideki. Get up, and fight, damn it." A third kick caught Kasumi's shoulder when she tried to pull the unwitting boy into the house. "Shit, let go," he reached down and wrested her protective grip away.

"Stop hurting him! Father, Mr. Saotome, help," she cried, unable to stop the vicious man from lifting Ranma, and bodily tossing him off the front step. The boy landed in a heap on the grass, barely moving. "He's not even fighting back, you're going to kill him!"

"That's the plan."

Holding her numb arm, the brunette swayed on her knees, willing herself to stand. She had to protect Ranma as long as she could. She looked quickly around for anything that she could use as a weapon, but found nothing. For once, the front porch was too clean. Instead, Kasumi tried to jump on his back. "Leave him alone," she managed to wrap her good arm around his neck, though she could feel her grip was tenuous. It didn't take long for him to dislodge the sudden weight.

Almost as soon as Kasumi hit the ground, a white blur slammed bodily into the vindictive stranger. Arms with a deceptive strength encircled the girl, and a wary Soun who had his eyes fixed upon Genma and the unknown man gingerly picked her up.

"Are you hurt?"

There was a faint tremor under her father's words, enough that Kasumi knew he was on the verge of tears, or anger. It was getting harder and harder to delineate his moods, and now was not the time for a nervous breakdown. "I'm, alright father. Ranma's the one that needs help right now. That man wouldn't stop kicking him, even after Ranma fell," she felt Soun nod.


"Genma and I will handle this. Go inside and call Doctor Toufuu," Soun put his daughter down, and turned away. He knew she'd probably been slightly hurt, but he did his best to ignore it. She was a grown woman, something he'd accepted long ago, and she could handle herself if it came down to it. The fact of the matter was that a stranger was threatening his home, and he would do use everything he had to prevent any more tragedy. There was more than enough hanging over his head as it was. Soun wanted answers from this man who had imposed upon his family, but from the look of things, he would have to wait until the situation was resolved, one way or the other.

After the surprise attack, Genma thought he'd surely have the upper hand, but his opponent was faster than even the portly martial artist had anticipated. Packed an assortment of powerful kicks too, he began to realize as more blows slipped through his guard. While the older man could normally hold his own, it had been quite some time since his last real fight. He dare not spar with his son, not after the last incident, so was out of practice against a live opponent. However, a life on the road did inure a man to certain things, so what was a little bit of pain in comparison?

Just over a minute later, both men were breathing hard and the brutal pace was beginning to flag. Genma was certain he'd be feeling this fight in the morning. Most of the kicks that had landed were to his right side, and it felt like half of his ribs were bruised which in turn limited his breathing. But, quite a few of his own strikes had wormed through the tight blocks of the tall man. From the marks on the man's neck, Genma had almost succeeded in ending the fight for good. He just had to keep pressing forward. "Don't move!" The command echoed loudly through the yard, but went unheeded.

The tall man skipped to the side, "I don't think so Saotome. You really expect tricks like that to work?"

But, Genma was unfazed. Nothing in Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu failed, it simply became part of another technique, and thus the heavy man used the latent energy from his rooted stance to launch an intercept. He caught the tall man with a sweeping forearm to the chest, nearly bowling him over. What happened then, Genma wasn't quite sure, his outstretched arm was grabbed and the next thing he knew he was staring up at the clouds, laid flat on his back. The azure blue was blanketed by a descending shadow as a pair of knees smashed into the downed man with terrible accuracy.

It had happened so fast that Soun wasn't able to intervene. He watched in mounting horror, as Genma was effectively taken out of the fight. "Saotome!"

"Stay out of this old man. My business is with these two," the tall man spoke as he walked toward where Ranma was, not a little unsteadily. Sometime during the fight, the boy had gotten up and stood by Soun to watch his father. "Kid, it's your turn."

"The collar Tendo," a weak voice rasped. "My boy's collar," Genma managed to wheeze out between coughs. There was blood in his spittle.

Soun didn't immediately make the connection; though he remembered the tale his friend had shared that first night a week back. His eyes went to the catch on the plain black collar around Ranma's neck. Genma had warned him of the consequences if that collar were ever to be removed. Dare he risk it?
Kasumi's face rose up in his mind's eye, she was hurt. His little girl was crying. "Kasumi! Spirits, forgive this weak father," Soun lamented as his fingers closed around the catch. The black collar dropped to the ground, a mere shadow in the grass.

There was no separation from the moment the collar came off and the attack. Soun blinked and the boy was gone from his side, appearing next to the stranger in the same span of breath. To say he was startled would be a gross understatement, for the speed at which the young Saotome moved it was inhuman.

The tall man had almost no warning, nor time to bring up his hands in defense before the boy was on top of him. He saw the first fist racing toward his head, but not the elbows that followed it. He made an attempt to sidestep and find an opening, but his feint was ignored. Pain blossomed in his guts as a knee dug into him, cutting his stance, and driving most of the air from his lungs. Striking blindly, he managed to push the boy back, but the respite was fractions of a second.

Ranma swayed to the left, and swung back around with his right hand grasping for the man's throat, and the other bursting through the feeble guard to dig into the floating ribs. His first strike was rebuffed, but when his right arm swung wide, he kicked upward with one leg shooting vertically up against his chest. His heel caught the man just under the chin, snapping his head back. Ranma's fingers shot forward into that space, and locked onto the throat sure as any vise.

At that point, Soun understood what his action truly meant. This wasn't a fight. It was an execution, and his was the hand that had flipped the switch. It was true, the whole story Saotome had related to him. "Genma, my friend, what have you done," the words whispered pale into the wind. "What have I done?"

The boy followed his gurgling target to the ground, unrelenting the hold he had on the man's throat. Any time there was excessive motion from the body beneath him, he struck with his free hand, to the temple, ribs, and joints till there was no more than a mild twitch. The face under him slowly turned a sick shade, and soon there was little left in the wild eyes that stared up into his own. An all too familiar click came from behind.

Genma managed to slip the collar back around his son's neck before anything irrevocable was done. The boy slumped, completely releasing his hold on the now unconscious man. "Enough boy, it's over. Go back inside," the older man was haggard, holding a hand to his bruised ribs. He couldn't rest though, not yet. "Tendou, this man is going to need a doctor. I stopped Ranma in time, but," the rest went unspoken, as the two men glanced at each other, then down at the battered form splayed on the grass.

In the house, Kasumi put down the phone; the doctor was on his way. She'd heard the fighting, but had been too busy trying to get her point across to Toufuu. She thought of the man dearly, since he'd helped so much with the family growing up, especially after last Christmas. However endearing his behavior toward her was, it certainly did not help in moments like this. While she didn't share Toufuu's feelings, she could respect them. And she did, most of the time. But, the man could be so inconveniently obtuse. That reminded her of Ranma for some reason.

Which may have been why she nearly jumped when she turned around and found the boy in question standing almost right behind her. She noticed several splotches of blood on his shirt and face. "Ranma, oh, you're always too quiet. Let me see what that man did to you," try as she might, she couldn't find anywhere that was cut and bleeding. Under his shirt, he sported at least three distinct bruises that were already turning nasty colors. Nothing felt broken, but Doctor Toufuu would be a far better judge of that than she. Letting his shirt back down, it didn't occur to her to be embarrassed for feeling him up, Ranma was injured after all. "Where are father, and Mr. Saotome?"

When the doctor arrived, Kasumi excused herself. She'd related the situation to him over the phone, and her father would handle the rest. Toufuu could handle himself for short periods of time around her, but it wasn't in anyone's best interest if the doctor's thoughts dwelled overlong on the Tendou girl.

Soun and Genma had brought the beaten man into the guest room, and laid him out with no small care. The portly martial artist professed no familiarity with the stranger, and from his exploits, Soun didn't doubt that for a minute. Genma had a long tab, and it would likely follow him to the grave, if not beyond. They were going to have to play this off as a formal challenge, since anything else would be considered above and beyond.

After Doctor Toufuu had tended to the more serious injuries of the stranger, he gave Genma a salve, and asked after Ranma. "K-Kasumi, mentioned your son, was also involved in this?"

Genma nodded, "He was, but the boy's fine. Nothing a night's sleep won't cure. Which is more than I can say for myself," he managed a weak chuckle. "I stepped in before things got out of hand. This fellow issued a challenge to the Saotome Ryu, and as heir, Ranma accepted accordingly. The match started out fine enough, but this fellow began aiming for joints and vital areas. My son reacted to disable him, but they ended up in a clinch. From there on, it was hard to intervene as you can imagine."

"I, see," Toufuu didn't look quite convinced, but let it go for the moment. He gestured to the comatose man, "Aside from three broken ribs, minor internal bleeding, and a chipped tooth, the rest of the damage is superficial. He may have a mild concussion," the doctor adjusted his glasses. "I've left a balm for the bruising and swelling, but I'll need to go back to my office to get the ingredients for his internal problems. I'd say a few days rest would set most of it back on track. I'd like to check up on him again tonight, just to make sure the blow to his head didn't cause lasting damage."

Soun nodded assent, and followed the doctor to the door. "We'll watch over him, and call you if he wakes up. I appreciate the help once again, Doctor Toufuu." He returned to the guest room once Toufuu was gone. "Why did you keep him from seeing Ranma? Kasumi told me he'd been beaten."


"I looked at the boy myself, he's fine, just a few bruises. Besides, I don't need some doctor telling me what I already know about Ranma's condition. What if word of the curse got out? I have to keep the boy's best interests in mind, Tendo."

"I hadn't thought of it quite like that, my friend."

"You've only known the boy a short while, I'm sure you'll see that he's fine just the way he is," Genma rose, then grimaced. "Up for a drink, Tendo? I know I could use one after all of this."

Kasumi found Ranma sitting by himself at the top of the stairs. That alone struck her as a bit odd, since normally the boy kept to the first floor. She didn't know why, but it might have had a little to do with her sister. Akane had made it clear how she felt about the boy, even if Kasumi thought the girl was being too stubborn about it. "Is everything all right," she asked as she sat down next to Ranma.

Ranma was slumped over, staring out over his knees. "Don't know."

It was hard for her to get even an inkling of what was floating around in his thoughts, but she tried, "Are you hurting? We have medici-."

"No," the curt response cut into Kasumi's words. "Broken. I broke him." Ranma drooped even further.

That only confused the brown-haired girl even more. When Ranma didn't say anything else, she prodded again, and tried to make sense of it, "What do you mean Ranma? Something today?" The only thing she could think of was that man who was asleep in downstairs. But, she was certain Mr. Saotome had subdued him. So, what was Ranma talking about then?

"Yes," his reply was so terse Kasumi almost missed it.

She wanted to be sure, even if it was almost pure conjecture on her part. She often had to fill in the gaps when talking to Ranma. "The man who hit you, you broke him?"

"Yes."

"Broke him how?"

Ranma held his hands out to Kasumi for a moment, then let them drop. It took a little while, but Kasumi thought she understood. He'd fought back once she'd gone inside. But, his father was injured too. What had really happened out there? She'd missed something important, important enough that Ranma was affected by it. Then again, she'd seen the damaged done to the sleeping man, and it was substantial. She'd have a talk with her father, after this that was certain.

What puzzled her still, was the fact that Ranma had shown no sign of retaliation when he was being kicked. What would prompt such a change? She looked over at him, trying to work it out in her head. Her eyes fell on the one thing that was out of place. Rather, the one thing that was unfailingly always there, the black collar around Ranma's neck.

Her thoughts turned back to the time Akane had tried to touch that collar, and the strong reaction from Ranma. What was so special about the bit of leather and metal that Ranma would be so adverse to someone else getting close to it. She'd thought all along that it was sentimental, but after spending her days with the boy, she realized how wrong that was. Not that he wasn't capable of being thoughtful and caring, but that he hadn't ever really displayed a deep attachment to anything as far as she'd seen. He didn't have a favorite food, place in the house, or anything for that matter. Every day had been like a fresh day for Ranma.

Kasumi found herself reaching out for the thin line of the collar.

"Kasumi, the doctor's on his way," Soun's voice carried up from the hallway. Startled, she blinked and patted Ranma on the shoulder.

"Don't go anywhere, I'll be back in a few minutes. I need to go help downstairs."

Ranma watched her leave, and then closed his eyes. There was still pain in his side, but he ignored it. Such feelings were common, and never lasted too long. He was hungry though, but the Kasumi was busy with other things. He would sit, and wait here where it was quiet.

Downstairs, Kasumi checked in on the mystery man in their guest room. Despite the tailored clothes, they hadn't found anything that would identify him, no wallet, no business card, nothing. Mr. Saotome had done the searching, probably since the man had been after him, and Ranma. Toufuu had also asked after the man's identity, but when no one was able to figure it out, he relented. It would have to wait until their impromptu guest woke up. For now, he was out cold, but most of the color had returned to his face. Kasumi left when the front bell rang. It would likely be the doctor.

Toufuu only stayed long enough check in on the patient, and to deliver the internal medicine to Kasumi, along with written instructions. He left shortly, satisfied that there was no sign of permanent damage, and that the mild concussion was nothing more.

Once the doctor was gone, Kasumi went to go speak with the fathers. However, she ended up leaving them be, since they'd apparently gone through a whole bottle of sake and were passed out on the back porch. It would be useless to bother them. In the meantime, she decided instead to start dinner, after she found out how Ranma was doing. However, even those intentions were interrupted when Akane came through the front door in a huff.

"I'm home," Akane's tone was tighter than usual. She lightened up a bit once she saw Kasumi by the stairs. "Kas, you won't believe what this jerk at school did today," she put her bag down by her shoes before walking over to her sister. "One of the upperclassmen told me he wanted to date with me," she made a face.

"You don't sound happy about it," the older girl pried.

"Of course I'm not happy about it. The guy's too, everything. I don't know. He's the captain of the kendo club, and I hear he's actually pretty good, but he thinks just because of that, he's better than everyone else. It doesn't help that his family is pretty rich."

"My, I take it that you don't like him very much then."

"He's not that bad, I guess. It's more the way he confessed to me. He did it in front of the whole school, recited bad poetry, and gave me an arm full of flowers. It was embarrassing."

"I see. What did you say to him after that?"

Akane crinkled her nose, "I turned him down of course." She stood, holding the railing at the bottom of the stairs, "But I don't think he got the hint. He just smiled and told me 'fear not, we'll surely meet again,' at least, that's what I think he said. He must've watched one too many episodes of Tora-san."

Kasumi watched Akane brush past Ranma on her way to her room. Unsurprisingly, neither acknowledged the other.

"Don't be too long, Akane. I'm starting dinner soon," Kasumi thought for a moment before adding, "Oh, there's a, well, a guest of sorts, sleeping in the Saotome's room. It'd be best to stay out of there until we can send him on his way."

Akane poked her head out of her room then thought better of it. "Okay, whatever you say, Kas. I don't even want to know," she slid the door shut, and left well enough alone. There was too much to deal with, without adding more unwanted problems.

That left Kasumi to deal with Ranma, and whatever was bothering the boy.

Shading her eyes from the light streaming in through the kitchen blinds, Kasumi went about cleaning up from breakfast. During the night, their erstwhile guest had taken his leave without warning, and privately, she was glad. Her shoulder still hurt where his shoe had dug in, and the area was yellowed with bruise. Even so, now that the man was out of her house, she found it that much easier to relax and carry on. Last night's dinner had been, at best, uncomfortable.

While she'd planned on finishing her conversation with Ranma, time had not really permitted it. Not when she'd been left to tend two hung-over men, and a stressed sister. It felt like lately, she was living someone else's life. Or rather, hers had been put on hold. It had, she knew, for some years now.
It probably always would be, unless her father started taking care of himself, however unlikely that might be. As for her sister, Akane seemed apt to move out as soon as she finished with school. But, that wasn't important quite yet.

And then, there was the boy who'd show up without warning, burdened with so many of his own problems. Kasumi both envied his easy disposition, and felt a sort of pity toward the limits imposed by his child-like mind. But, there was a difference in the contrite Ranma of last night, and the aloof boy that had first shown up on the Tendo doorstep. She was sure of it. Kasumi couldn't pinpoint exactly what had changed, just that he didn't act quite so, distant. It certainly didn't stem from a fear of people; that much had been clear from the start. Ranma'd been amiable enough toward both herself, and even Akane, that first afternoon.

Moreover, the past week had proved to her the boy's attitude, both when they were out around Nerima, and when it was just the two of them in the house during the day. There was of course, the fathers, but it was getting harder and harder to regard the two men as more than moving furniture for all they did. No, Ranma did his part when and if he could. He was quiet, timid, and obedient. Three things that was ideal, in a pet perhaps. Or a housewife, she thought, not without an inkling of self-depreciation. Kasumi might as well have been describing herself, and when she realized it, she found that she was bothered.

Fading footsteps, and the front door clicking shut was all the warning Kasumi had before her sibling left for school. Not that it was anything so unusual, but Akane had also been quiet at breakfast. She'd gone straight to her room after eating last night as well, though Kasumi had though the two of them would talk a little more about a few things, namely the boy who'd approached Akane. At the time, Kasumi had attributed her sister's mood to either that, or perhaps not wanting to be downstairs with a stranger in the house. If it was the latter, she understood, and the former, she could empathize with.

Ranma's attitude, and the not-quite-sober fathers had only amplified Akane's sour mood. That had been last night, though anyone comparing that to the mood of the morning would have found a near match. Waking up to find the bothersome man gone, had improved things only marginally, and most of that was merely in favor of Kasumi's perception. All she knew was that she felt better. Akane hadn't seen the man, so either didn't care, or didn't bother. Genma and her father were both too hung-over to think much of anything other than their own misfortunes, and Ranma, his expression was no different from the night before.

Kasumi finished putting all the dishes away, and dried her hands. A quick glance at the clock showed she'd been lost in thought for nearly ten minutes. That's about when she noticed something out of place on the counter. Akane's lunch was sitting there, still waiting to be taken.

Looking over her shoulder every so often to make sure the sullen boy was still following along, Kasumi made her way down the sidewalk toward Furinkan. She'd almost decided to just let Akane find something to eat in the lunchroom, but she didn't want to leave it at that, not when spending money was so tight. She sighed, Ranma continued moping, and the houses passed by in a tired blur.

It could be taken that Ranma wasn't having a good day. Not that he distinguished it as such, since in his mind, there was little difference between one day and the next. But, somewhere deep down, in places that only his curse brought to the surface, he was troubled, and worried. He felt bad, in a way that was eating at his subconscious and bleeding over into his waking existence. It didn't help that the Kasumi wasn't happy, which only added to the constricting tightness in his chest.

He knew it had something to do with the man who'd attacked him. Exactly how, Ranma wasn't capable of understanding. Nothing had happened then, that hadn't happened before. With Genma, there had been plenty of similar occurrences, and Ranma had acted according to what was expected. So what then, was different this last time? The boy frowned and followed after Kasumi, the rings on his collar keeping time to the light pad of his feet.

Overhead, a lone crow took flight from its perch atop a light post.

Kasumi was at a bit of a loss. They'd come all the way to the school, only to find that the gate was closed. She'd completely forgotten about this little facet of school life. Which is probably why she stood there, staring at the bars like they were the strangest things in the world, her sister's parcel nestled safely in one arm. "It looks like we're stuck out here, Ranma."

Ranma, too, looked at the gate, then at the building beyond, and finally back to Kasumi. He didn't know why they'd come here, though he recognized it, this was the high place. He pressed his face to the gate and raised his eyes to Furinkan's roof. He remembered looking down on everything from there, and the feeling that faintly lingered. The Kasumi didn't sound like the Kasumi he was used to being around, and Ranma himself felt sad; maybe that could be fixed.

Stomach lurching was about the only way the eldest daughter of Soun Tendo could describe the following seconds as her charge suddenly scooped her up and bounded from the ground, to the top of the wall and over the school gate. The whole of it was so sudden that she almost dropped the box she was holding; instead she'd reflexively clutched it to her bosom. Words of admonishment were scarcely on her lips when the two of them were off again.

She wasn't sure what Ranma was up to, all she knew was that the boy was running what felt like full tilt right at the wall to the side of the front entrance to the school. What was he thinking? "Ranma, we need to go inside, not," she shut her eyes as she felt the two of them leave the ground. There was a momentary pause, and she risked a peek, "up the side?" Kasumi was dumbfounded that Ranma was not only able to leap from window to window, but to do it while carrying her. Moreover, he apparently only paused long enough to gauge the next interval before leaping again. The scope of his actions barely made it through her awe when they reached the top. All told, the trip had taken less than a minute, at most. Kasumi had trouble finding her feet when Ranma finally released her.

For the moment, Kasumi was at a loss. Torn between a sense of bewilderment, and uncertainty, it was hard to find words for what she felt. She wasn't upset at the boy, not really. She wasn't angry, nor sad, a little worried maybe, but nothing quite so concrete that she felt able to name it. It was hard, and Ranma wasn't helping, not in a way that she could make sense of.

"Why are we up here, Ranma? You can't just do things like that, not without warning," it felt like talking to a wall for all the reaction she was getting from the boy. He had his back to her and was leaning on the rail, looking out at something only he could see. "Ranma," she queried when he didn't respond. "Ranma I'm ta-,"

"Look," it was more of an entreaty than a statement from the boy who would be a dog.

Despite her mood, Kasumi did her best to see what it was that he'd come up here for. "I'm afraid I don't see anything out there Ranma."

"Look at that," he spoke again, not taking his eyes off the sight of the homes sprawled out before him.

"Can you tell me what it is I'm looking for?"

"That," he said as if it were the single most obvious thing. He turned his head toward her when it became apparent that she wasn't seeing what he saw out there. She didn't see the town, the houses, the lives played out before her. The picture that hundreds of lives had painted in as many years. Ranma didn't quite think of it in those terms, not in his present state of mind. But, it was something like that for him, a sense of quietude, subtle movement, and life all rolled into one. It was an echo of what he'd found, travelling through the countryside with Genma. Surely, Kasumi could see it as well. "That," he repeated, resting his arms on the railing.

They stood up there for a long time, one just being, and the other trying to come to terms with what that meant.