Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Know this, Saotome ❯ Life Needs Help ( Chapter 2 )

I DON'T OWN RANMA 1/2! I own Yoko, Sorano, and Kanaye, as well as this fanfiction.

Beware of my sad attempt at humor!

Life needs help

~

Ranma was rudely awakened by his father's harsh badgering.

"You're getting lazy, boy! Look's like I'll have to train you harder!" Genma Saotome declared. He proceeded to beat on his son with greater intensity, increasing his blows.

The boy dodged another strike and leapt at him. However, he hadn't fully awakened, and after scoring one hit he went down with a backhanded slap.

Genma snorted.

"Weak."

Trudging off to scrounge for more food, he left his son to get ready for whatever he had planned for that day. Ranma curled into a ball, shivering at the blast of the cold on his body.

`I gotta get up, or I'll freeze.' he tried to get himself moving, but the cold had cramped up his muscles, and he curled up again. The wind blew, picking up leaves and stray twigs. It bit at his neck, and he flinched. He squeezed his eyes shut.

Why did he have to suffer through all of this pain? What had he done to deserve this? He remembered his musings of the night before. Why couldn't he have just stayed with his mother?

Opening one eye with some difficulty, he strained to keep the wetness from his eyes. No, a true martial artist did not cry.

Why he followed Genma when he shouldn't have, he didn't know. But he felt there was no need to question the subject further.

He started to slowly count to ten, trying to savor the temporary warmth his body gave off.

1…2…3…

He opened the other eye and adjusted himself to the bright morning light. He squinted at the intensity of it and looked away from the sky.

4…5…6…

Ranma shivered, and he started rubbing his blue-tinted toes.

7…8…9…10.

Quickly uncurling himself, he hastily got up and began to load his supplies into his pack. If he hurried, he could start on his katas and keep warm before the temperature got to him.

~

In Japan:

The sun highlighted the head of a brown haired boy. His hardened eyes showed that he had suffered, and wasn't about to give up in his quest for revenge. Along with him he carried a sack of cooking materials slung over one shoulder by a strap, a portable stove, and basic necessities.

Strapped across his chest was a bandoleer of eye-catching weapons, curiously shaped like spatulas. Slung across his back was a larger spatula, sharpened to a razor edge. It glinted in the sunlight and flashed.

With every step he took led him closer to where his next destination was. With every step, he left his hometown behind him, and his father.

He remembered the last words spoken to him.

~Flashback~

"…Ukyo, go after them and satisfy our family honor. They have dishonored us and you will make sure they pay."

He bowed, bangs hanging over his eyes. They flew back as he came up with a new determination that should not have been witnessed on a face so young.

"I will." And with that, he left.

~End Flashback~

Ukyo Kounji gritted his teeth and bent his head, staring blankly at the dirt path laid out before him.

"I will, and you will pay; Genma…and Ranma Saotome." He snapped his head up. His eyes narrowed as they burned with an intense fire.

"I promise."

~

Somewhere in Mexico:

"Argh!" The young Hibiki brought his hand down on a nearby boulder as he found himself in another foreign country. This however, was a mistake.

"OW!" He clutched his hand and hopped up and down. Bending over, Ryouga hissed in pain.

Pain.

It was what he felt everyday. It wasn't only physical; emotional as well. He hated turning a corner and finding himself on the other side of the world. It made him feel so helpless…and lost.

The foreigners, or actually natives, didn't help much either. The children laughed at his pathetic ness, and soon afterwards they feared for their lives as they met his temper. Any older citizens usually told him directions, which he followed miserably in the wrong direction.

All he wanted was to go home, and see his mother and father again. Even if it was just once. Closing his eyes, he tried to recall the last time he had seen them.

Almost nothing came up in his search, and he gave up on trying. Soon he wouldn't have enough memory of them to be able to recognize them if they were right in front of him. This led him further into his depression. There had to be *somebody* to blame for all of this.

Dejectedly he dropped his right hand and trudged on. Maybe he'd see them once more, or get back home someday.

Maybe.

~

"<Xian Pu! Wait!>" A bespectacled boy ran after a purple haired girl. He had his arms outstretched to hug her, but he didn't notice that the girl was apparently disgusted.

"<Lwoh Buoh Toh!(1)" Stay away from me you blind idiot!" She yelled. The boy became confused at that comment.

"<But Xian Pu! Don't you love me?>" He asked tentatively.

"<NO!>" And with that, she ran off, trying to loose him. Unfortunately, he took her actions the wrong way and kept after her.

"<Oh, I see! You're just playing hard to get! Then I shall win your heart!>" Xian Pu screamed in frustration and led him on a wild chase through the Amazon village.

A duo just off from their guard shift caught sight of them as they ran past.

The shorter one scowled.

"<The Elders have let that boy too much freedom. Why don't they set him in his right place?!>"

Her companion also was puzzled.

"<I don't know. Maybe they like to watch him suffer.>"

They both winced as massive amounts of excessive violence occurred. The victim had happened to be Mu Tsu, who had finally provoked the purple haired girl beyond healthy stress limits.

"< I think so. Either that or he gets his punishment enough.>"

The taller nodded sagely and they strode away from the "carnage" to discuss other topics with friends.

~

"Akane-chan, it's time to wake up. You have school today." Kasumi gently shook her sister awake.

"Okassan…5 more minutes…" Kasumi bit her lip at Akane's mutterings. It had been three years since their mother died, but the family was still affected by it. Although she didn't show it, she still missed her mother and wished for her to be still with them everyday. Kasumi had to be strong to keep them together, or they might have already been in the streets. Trying not to break down at what was taking place, she shook harder.

"Akane-chan, you're going to be late!" The girl shot up out of bed and faced her sibling. Brown eyes widened in shock.

"Late?!" She jumped out of her bed, not bothering to fix the sheets or say good morning, and grabbed her clothes. She took off for the furo, leaving her sister standing in her room, still standing there.

Kasumi sighed. At age nine, she had to give up almost all of her life to work in her mother's place. Juggling school, house chores, and caring for her family was tedious job. Sometimes she wanted to give it all up and cry her heart out.

It wasn't fair to any of them. Soun had lost the one he loved to a sickness, and he had been mourning ever since. Nabiki still reminisced about what it would have been like with Kimiko still around. However, she didn't mull over it for long. She also had to find ways to pay for their bills and taxes.

And Akane…

Akane was dealing with it, but she still took it hard. She'd noticed that she had been more fixed in practicing her martial arts, and lost her temper quite a bit. A teacher had sent a note home with her one day, saying that she had frightened a student because they were talking about their okassan. In front of her.

Of course they didn't know that hers had died, but Akane had been too quick to act.

Kasumi stared at the unmade bed, imagining a happy 6-year-old Akane lying in it. She almost couldn't picture it.

`Where is our future going?'

~

*SLAM*

The green haired girl closed the records book with a snap. Unfortunately, the large library amplified the sound, and she had to wince at the intensity of the noise. A sizable amount of dust rose forth in her face and up her nose.

"At-choo!" The book dropped to the marble floor loudly, and Yoko flinched. She sighed, coughing slightly with the dust that had entered her throat.

*Today is not going so well…*

The girl glared at the offending object labeled "Ranma Saotome-6 Volume 6 (5|12)". She never liked the record books anyway. Somehow they always irritated her, and they ended up being pummeled through a sold object of some sort. Or they happened to get her hurt (2).

Sorano found out afterwards, too. Yoko winced at the thought. She happened to be very protective of them, as she said memories were important.

"Rrowwl…" Yoko turned at the sound of her comrade's voice. "Kanaye? What're you doing here?" The eleven-year-old neko-boy shifted uncomfortably on his two feet, holding onto an old bookcase to keep him standing. "Mreow." The girl, intrigued, raised an eyebrow.

"Try something? What are you talking about?" He chose not to answer and stared at his feet, muttering something in cat under his breath. His grip on the bookcase tightened as he swayed over to one side, and he steadied himself.

Then he opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He closed it again, and began to rock back and forth on his feet.

The girl frowned, starting to loose patience.

"Well if you aren't going to tell me, then I'm leaving." She began to walk down the hall when he caught her arm. She whirled around, eyes blazing.

"Let go. Now, or I'll start carrying out my threats." The girl ground out between her teeth. He just stood there, looking at her emitting strange sounds.

"Mre...buh…kuw…" Yoko immediately stopped struggling and stared at Kanaye. She had trouble moving her mouth as well.

"Ar -are you trying to say something?"

The boy furrowed his eyebrow in response, trying to remember a page in his ridiculously large dictionary.

"Bah…guh…" He ran a tongue over his sharp canines. "Bahg…" Then he screwed up his meager memory of Japanese and blurted out his word.

"Baka!" For a moment they stood there, his hand clutching her arm. The moment turned into a minute.

Kanaye reacted first, jumping up and celebrating his first successful word.

"Baka baka baka baka!" Then he thought of another word to add.

"You baka!" He laughed in her direction.

He completely forgot that he needed something solid to keep standing upright, he didn't know what the words really meant, and that his companion was standing right next to him.

Unfortunately for him, she knew exactly just how great his first word was, in definition and use.

"You think you're so smart, eh?!"

She punched him into the wall while he was hopping up and down, and he landed with a splat. He collapsed to the floor, but instantly popped up once again. The forces of gravity decided to be cruel and since there was on object to stand up with, he fell again.

"Baka." He looked up to see Yoko standing over him, hand on katana. "Mreooww???" He said in complete virtue. He began to notice something was up with the green-haired martial artist. He was saved from questioning what was wrong, which he found out when she unsheathed the sakabatou.

For the next few minutes, all the virtuousness he could have mustered just then was beaten out of him.

~

Kanaye tapped his comrade on the shoulder. Yoko stopped in mid-step, being careful not to drop her package. She turned and faced him.

"Yeah?"

He pointed to the labeled package she held in her hands.

"What's the incense for?"

"Oh, this…" She opened the box and pulled out a stick of incense. It wasn't like regular incense, however. It was twice as thick and was decorated with gold designs.

"It's what I use when I'm talking to Ranma." Kanaye blinked.

"Talk? How? We live inside the guy, so that's a bit impossible." She tapped him on the nose.

"That's where you're wrong, Kanaye. A mind doesn't necessarily reside inside one's body. And even if the Mind was/wasn't inside, there are still many channels in which we can do other worldly things." Yoko noted his confused look and sighed.

"Here, I'll just show you." She spun on her heel and led him out across the yard, making her way to the outer buildings of in which they resided. She winded them through a courtyard and behind the dojo. A small shrine-like shelter stood out of place in the middle of the grassy yard. It was boarded up, although not held by nails.

Walking up to the shrine, she set the box down and pulled at the boards. They came away easily, and she tossed them to the neko-boy, who set them in a pile. Finally she wrenched away the last board and sunlight filtered into the cracks of the shelter. Two holders of some sort stood before the "altar", which were shaped like foxes.

There was a black stone set upon the "altar", and in it was carved:

The one who speaks can see

The one who speaks may perish

The one who speaks shall consider

What it is to speak freely

To see and create is a blessing

And a curse to many

"To be wise" Are only three words

Calmness may decide what

Will be seen

"Wicked." Kanaye wolf-whistled, rolling his eyes.

"So, what is this for?"

"I told you-"

"Yeah, I know." he grinned. Yoko frowned at him.

"Don't be cheeky." he shrugged.

"Whatever."

She set about to whatever she was up to, setting the holders straight and dusting off the stone. Then she took out the incense decorated in gold and set it in the right holder. Yoko bowed her head and took out another incense, this time black. It was put into the left holder.

Yoko stepped back and bowed. She clapped her hands twice, keeping them there in front of her.

`Calmness may decide what will be seen…One must clear the mind to choose the path…' She closed her eyes and let her stress go and give way to a calm, subtle feeling.

Kanaye fidgeted. Whatever she was doing was putting him on edge. He sensed something, and his ponytail flew up as he felt an odd draft sweep over him.

The tops of the incense began to flicker, releasing their scent into the air. Smoke began wafting up from the tips, swirling into a screen-like object. Forms took shape in the screen, and it started to clear out. Soon Kanaye could see his look-alike training in some woods.

Yoko opened her eyes and sighed in relief.

"Great, it worked. I haven't done that in a while." Kanaye, still intrigued by the moving picture, heard her comment and tore his eyes from the screen.

"How come? It's pretty cool."

"I don't talk to him anymore. I gave up a while ago." He was puzzled.

"Why? Wouldn't it be good for Saotome?" Yoko blushed and tugged at her messy ponytail.

"Well…In all the times I've tried it, the advice failed or something else happened. The last time I talked to him, he was on a fence, and so caught up with talking with me that he didn't notice a low tree branch. And he was running while so, too."

~

Kanaye sighed. He was sitting about a ten-minute walk from the dojo under a tall tree that hadn't been yet knocked over. They had so many fights occur in the forests that he wondered why Ranma hadn't received some kind of brain damage. Or maybe that was why Ranma was so brash and rude nowadays. His mind certainly showed some rough edges.

Sorano had stuck him outside after he had tried to sneak some food from the dinner she was making. A record book met his face when he tried to claw through the door, and he now had to give a report on what happened to the pigtailed martial artist had learned that past week.

The Neko-ken symbol scratched his ear as he thought. Why couldn't he get a little snack? After all, he was a growing boy and needed more food. But she kept telling him he'd get fat from all of the extra "nourishment". How could he get fat when he fought and trained daily? Nah, she was just trying to get him out of her hair.

Kanaye lazily flipped through the pages, skimming over the detailed paragraphs on what was happening with his "charge". He stopped at page 372, catching a paragraph that interested him slightly. It read:

Ranma walks into the classroom, a bit nervous as he hasn't been around so many people his age. The teacher

turns to the class, clearing his throat. The class instantly sits up with their eyes alert up to where the chalkboard is. His teacher speaks:

"This is Ranma Saotome, minna-san. He will be spending the rest of this semester in our class. Ranma, you will sit next to Ekiguchi, in front of Hibiki. Hibiki, raise your hand." A sweatband-clad boy who has just put away a worn down map raises his hand. He doesn't pay much attention to what is going on, but takes notice of Ranma as he sits down.

The teacher picks up some chalk. "Now we will learn -

Kanaye flipped through about twenty or so pages, moving on to look for something more interesting, and he stopped at lunchtime.

The students from the all-boys school attend lunch, which is portrayed as a battlefield. Various last food articles are tossed into the jostling crowds and are fought over. A cafeteria woman yells out, "Last curry bread of the day!" She hurls it out over the students, who are already pushing and shoving to catch it.

A boy jumps up suddenly and shouts, "It's mine!" As his hands begin to close around the food, Ranma comes out of seemingly nowhere and springboards off of his head. He flips backward and catches the bread. Landing on the cafeteria floor, the students clear out as he lands and the other bread contender crashes to the floor.

The other boy leaps up and points an accusing finger at Ranma. "You dare steal my bread?!" Ranma stares in confusion. "Huh?" The other boy, now known as Ryoga Hibiki continues to rant. "I challenge you, bread thief, to a fight." Ranma shrugs and persists to devour the bread. "Sure. Whe-

The neko-boy stopped reading as he sensed someone enter within the clearing. Without warning he punched straight up, letting a red-gold streak pummel through the leaves and shearing off a high branch. The limb was separated from the trunk instantly, and began to fall. The object residing on top of it bounded down with it, although they used the other limbs and the trunk to do so, rather than free-falling.

The branch crash landed onto the ground, snapping in half.

The person landed on a branch suspended a little-ways to the left, and hooked their legs around it. They swung down and until theirs and Kanaye's faces were facing each other.

They grinned. "Hey neko, what're you doing sitting around?"

Kanaye scowled at the intruder's face. "Reeoowl."

Yoko's grin was replaced with a look of mock hurt. "Why me, of course. Then why'd I ask?"

The neko-boy resisted the urge to smack his head. The female martial artist was bound to make wisecracks wherever she could stick them. Sarcastic comments, she called them, and for a while he went around wondering what she meant.

Finally he had enough gall to ask what sarcastic meant, and when he found out, he swore vengeance on the girl. Apparently every time she had made a comment to his face, she was insulting him. For a while afterwards, they hated each other's guts. This also had the meaning of a small war. A couple hundred or so boulders, trees, ditches, and grassy plains were also involved involuntarily.

"Akamatsu made me check up on Saotome an' report."

"Sounds fun."

Kanaye rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, very."

Yoko smiled.

"You tried to sneak food, didn't you?"

He growled.

"Yah, what of it?"

"Oh, nothing."

"Nothin' my foot."

The girl twisted herself onto the tree branch and dropped down to sit by him. She looked curiously at the book.

"So what happened?" The neko-teenager left the argument hanging and turned back to the records book. "Saotome's got himself `nother rival. Name's Ryouga Hibiki."

The girl merely raised her eyebrow and lay back onto the tree trunk. She put her hands behind her head and kept silent. For a moment, she didn't speak, and he kept staring at her, waiting for an answer. Then she snorted.

"Typical boy. Honestly, what is it with you guys and your stupid grudges? Geez, boys are really immature…" She opened her left eye and watched him as she was studied with another scowl. "That includes you too, kitty-*chan*."

"Shut up!" Kanaye lashed out at his green-haired companion with a fist, growling loudly. He missed as she dodged, and he angrily returned his eyes back to the book. Not to read, though. Yoko knew this exactly.

The girl flipped back from under the tree and smirked, also taking on a feline-like look, although more sly.

"My point exactly. Looks like you aren't all that great, huh Mr. Neko-ken?"

The boy's eyebrow twitched ominously, as he hardened his blank stare on the records book. His grip tightened on the

covers as he felt his anger level go up. Way up.

Yoko grinned. "Aww…poor widdle Nekky-chan. Does kitty need a hug?"

The neko-boy roared and threw down the book labeled "Ranma Saotome -13 Vol 10-(14|21)". It was imbedded into the dirt, and would have made Sorano angry had she known of it, but he didn't care too much about it at the moment.

Unfortunately, this created the effect of the pony-tailed martial artist forgetting a certain bandanna'd boy.

He leapt up in frustration and gave chase after Yoko. "Come back here, you moron! When I get my hands on you, you're gunna be wearin' a dress (3), complete with make-up an' a black eye!!"

The earlier severed branch met his forehead with a resounding thwack, catching him off guard. He fell back onto his rear none-too-softly.

This distraction let Yoko take off through the trees quietly, leaving Kanaye cursing profound words not meant to be heard by little kiddies.

After all, it wouldn't do to get caught and be forced into a *dress*, now would it? Nooo… that would be *much* too horrible. Especially if you were one who spent your time trying to distance yourself from "girl stuff".

~

A/N: The next chapters will have more Ranma and the NWC in it, don't worry.

~

Three years later:

~

Ranma plunged head first into the cold water, going into slight shock as the cold closed in on his body. He righted himself slowly, feeling a strange tingling sensation as he floated upwards. Then, his eyes widened as he noticed something off about his body. Quickly he swam upwards to the surface, starting to become nervous of what it was.

He gasped as he broke the surface, starting to shiver from the cold drafts that were blowing around him. Then he heard the Jusenkyo Guide prattling on about a drowned girl…

Then it clicked.

The teenage martial artist looked down, and saw something sticking out. A *something* that shouldn't have been there. He moved his hands to and patted his chest. He felt something. With slightly shaking hands Ranma took the opening of his gi, braced himself for the inevitable, and wrenched open his top.

What he saw created a chain reaction of his brain temporarily shutting down and functions controlled by instinct took over as he saw a pair of woman's assets on his, or hers actually, chest.

"AAUUUGGGHH!"

~

Yoko cried out in surprise as her leg buckled out from under her, sending her to the ground. Kanaye hopped down from his perch and snorted, watching as she spat out some dead grass. "Mou, what are you, wimpy? It was only just a little hike."

That is, if you can call scaling a mountain a small hike.

The girl growled. "I am *not* wimpy or prissy or whatever. I don't know what happened…I was just fine until my leg gave out and I ate dirt, okay?!"

She pushed herself up on her knees and glared at the neko-teenager, wishing she could strike him with lightning or something, but no, she was just measly old conscience who couldn't do anything (of the sort). Yoko wasn't the all powerful Ranma Saotome, in whose mind they resided in.

Kanaye smirked and "mreowed" as an innocent guesture.

It was entertaining for him to get out the more aggressive side in his companion, since she almost always kept her anger in check otherwise.

But he nowadays he had to draw the line at his fun when she started trying to shear off his neko ears with her katana(s). She had traded in her old dulled one for a set of sharp weapons, and she always managed it to hide them somewhere so he couldn't take them.

Unluckily for him, he didn't know that the 16-year-old had discovered hyperspace, a sub-dimension accessible to only girls. Or at least until a guy figured out the secret. Actually, at least one has.

As he opened his mouth to comment some more, his heightened senses alerted him of something and he stopped. His ears swiveled toward the cliff edge, detecting something that shouldn't have been there.

"Eto(4)…" Kanaye turned his head toward it and furrowing an eyebrow, tensing up as he did so. With a small jump he leapt to the edge, crouching down till he was on all fours. The green-haired girl frowned and stood up, also keeping herself alert. Finding nothing wrong, she made her way to her friend and queried, "What is it?"

He gave no response as his eyes swiftly surveyed all of the visible land marks, from the canyons to the lake. As she stood there watching him, she noticed a small detail that didn't catch her eye, or rather ear, several minutes ago when they were walking.

The girl took her gaze from Kanaye and panned the scenery as well.

Everything was still. Nothing stirred, and the wind was unusually absent, so the foliage wasn't moving out of place. The setting and the mood seemed to darken as she stumbled onto this fact.

"It's quiet…" An eyebrow shot up and she faced the neko-boy once again. "But there's no thought-oni around here, or I'd have known it."

Kanaye snorted. "Of course not." He then took on a more serious tone, laced with a growl. "Somethin's gonna to happen. Ya know how in those disasters animals know it'll happen before humans do?" He gestured at the empty landscape set in front of him. "Here's your answer…" His sentence turned into a hiss and his hands curled themselves up once again, flickering with the start of his ki claws.

Yoko nodded slowly. "Yeah, but wh-"

Her sentence's end was sheared off as a loud crack interrupted her. A rupture carved its way forcefully in the canyon floor, the fractured cliff walls falling into the rivers. Vegetation toppled down as well, uprooting as the "earth" shook fiercely.

The cliff that they were standing on split into several jagged pieces, breaking free from the rest of the landform. The girl reeled backwards as she found herself falling. "Kanaye!" A gloved hand caught hers. "Hold on!" His attempts were in vain, as another tremor made its way through the mind, the rest of the cliff edge broke off with a bang, flinging them to the depths below.

Two yells echoed out from under, covered up as soon as the "earth" shook again and more chasms fell to submission, clouds of dust rising to meet the sky.

~

Jen Tai Yaung: See, I updated! I'm so happy with myself!

R&R

(1)- "Lwoh Buoh Toh" literally translates to carrot head. (I know my mandarin! ^_^) Carrots actually improve your vision, but I had to put this in! Lol*

(2)- She fell off a sliding ladder when she tried to get one in the first chapter.

(3)- Over her clothes, people. This ain't hentai.

(4)- Eto…- Hmm…