Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranito ❯ Chapter 1

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Ranito
By Louise McCrowe

The living room was silent, Nabiki sitting at the table, going over some papers. At her side, a book was open, Nabiki glancing at it occasionally. She went back and forth between the book and the papers, jotting down something every once in a while, a look of concentration plastered on her face. She lowered her head a bit, rubbing her eyes with her left hand. A sigh escaped her lips, soft and weary, as the pencil tapped the paper in a slow, rhythmic manner. Up and down, the pencil went, up and down, up and down, and up...

Nabiki let out a low grunt of frustration, throwing the pencil across the room. Before the pencil hit the wall, it was caught by a figure that was hidden in the shadows until now.

"Eh, ten cuidado, muchacha," the figure said, "podría haberme equivocado y pensado que lo hiciste a propósito." She walked closer, coming into the light. "Bueno, no me importa," she continued, "dime, ¿donde está mi novio? ¿Dónde está Ranma?"

"Ay, dios mío ¿Ranma tiene además otra novia?" Nabiki said, incredulous.

"¿Qué? Pe-Pero ¡no! Soy yo, ¡Champú! ¿Eres tonta además de codiciosa?" the Amazon said, pointing to her face.

Nabiki stared at the buxom teenager long and hard for a few seconds, then shook her head. "No, no te creo. Si fueras Champú, al menos, hablarías como una gringa."

"¡Ah!" she said, "mas eso era solamente porque el inglés y el japonés son muy difíciles. Es mucho mas fácil hablar en esta forma. Como tuvimos todos que aprender la lengua al mismo tiempo, claro que hablamos al mismo nivel." Shampoo looked around. "Me cansa hablar contigo. ¿Donde está Ranma? Tengo una nueva receta y quiero su opinión."

Nabiki stood up, and shrugged her shoulders, her hands outstretched. "No lo sé," she said.

Shampoo muttered something under her breath, probably in Chinese or some other weird Asian tongue, and produced some money, putting it in Nabiki's hand.

Nabiki did a quick count and pocketed the money. "Gracias. De veras, no lo sé. No soy su secretaria, pues. Te puedo decir que él no está aquí." She took the pencil from Shampoo's hand and sat back down. "Ahora, si no me vas a ayudar con mis deberes, me cansa mirarte cuando no estas persiguiendo a Ranma."

---*---

Somewhere, on a dark alley, far far away, Ryoga walked, downcast. He stared at the map on his hands, desperately trying to make heads or tails of it. He glanced up, as storm clouds were quickly gathering right above him.

"¡Que no panda el cúnico!"

---*---

"Oye, pero... pensaba que seria gratis, po," Ranma said.

"Mira, Ranito," Ukyo said, "no soi torpe. Tengo un restaurante, y tengo cuentas que pagar. Ahora, deja de ser jetón y dame los 1,500 pesos."

Ranma patted himself down until he found where his wallet was. Opening it, a small moth flapped rapidly away.

"¡Libertad! ¡Libertad!" said the moth before flying straight into an open flame.

Ukyo took the money, and stuffed it down her blouse. Tenderly, she took Ranma's hands in her own.

"Mira lindo, te quiero, sabes que si. Mas ya ha pasado casi un año, y nada ha cambiado. No te libraste de ninguna de tus otras novias, no me has dado ninguna satisfacción, y TODOS tus problemas persisten. TODOS, Ranma, ¡TODOS! ¡Créemelo! ¡Dime algún conflicto antiguo del que ya te hayas librado!" She paused then, to let Ranma know it was his turn to speak.

"Bueno..." he paused, deep in thought, "Chuta, tienes razón."

"Si, Ranito, tengo razón. Yo te he esperado por años, querido... y además he *esperado* por ti." She squeezed his hand hard, getting a yelp out of Ranma. "Soy joven todavía y, ¡carajo, no aguanto más! ¡Si no lo hago contigo, lo haré con el primer hombre que vea!"

At this point, Ryouga walked in the restaurant, and after taking a look around, proclaimed, "¡Yo quiero Taco Bell!"

Ukyo looked intensely at him for a few moments, then turned back to Ranma.

"Lo juro, Ranito, créeme, aunque él se pierda camino a la cama, ¡lo haré!"

"Sabes que él es un cerdo, ¿cierto?"

"No me importan sus maneras a la mesa..."

"No. Cerdito. Como chanchito. ¿Cómo P-Chan?" He took a glass of water with the hand he'd managed to wrestle free and overturned it on Ryouga.

"¡Buíííííí í!" P-Chan bweened.

Ukyo stared at the little pig eating Ranma's Okonomyaki, and said, "Y me recuerdo. No tienes ningún amigo normal, Ranito. ¡Ninguno! ¿Por acaso procuras a estos casos?"

"Te tengo a ti-¡AAAAAah!"

"No soy tu amiga, Ranma, soy tu novia," she said, her voice grim.

"¿Da-daisuke y Hiroshi?" Ranma said, struggling both in remembering someone and with the pain.

Ukyo thought about that for a bit. "Tal vez. ¿Los has mojado?"

"No, pero no hay manera de que ellos sean maldeci--¡AAah!"

"Los mojarás. Hoy mismo."

---*----

Over at the Nekohaten, Shampoo was sweeping the floors of the kitchen, rush hour already over, having had no luck finding Ranma.

"Bésame.... bésame mucho..." she sang, dancing with her broom. "Como si fuera esta noche, la última vez..." She twirled about, increasing the rhythm. "Que tengo miedo perderte, perderte después..."

Mousse came into the kitchen, dressed not in his usual white robes, but in a black traje de charro.

"Quiero mirarme en tus ojos," he sung, waltzing close to Shampoo, barely missing a beat. "Tenerte muy cerca, verte junto a mi," he went on, grabbing the broom along with her, the two of them step stepping in the kitchen, smiling. "Piensa que tal vez mañana yo ya estaré lejos, muy lejos de aquí," he said, and moved in for a kiss.

Shampoo quickly shoved the broom upwards, hitting Mousse square in the jaw. She proceeded to hook his ankle, flipping him over.

"Si solamente fuera verdad," she said with a sigh, stepped over the prone body on the floor, and kept on step step stepping around the kitchen with her broom.

"Bisnieta," Cologne said, entering the kitchen. "Venga para acá, chica, que tengo que decirte algo," she continued, and headed upstairs.

"Ya, bisabuela," Shampoo replied, and followed her great-grandmother upstairs.

"Champú, he recibido noticias de nuestra villa, y temo que tengo malas nuevasCologne brought from within the folds of her clothing a thick envelope, already opened.

"Bisnieta," she said, handing Shampoo the letter, "¡Ranma es tu hermano!"

"No... no! No te creo!"

"Bisnieta, escúchame. Es una historia larga o es complicada." The old woman stopped, as if to gather her thoughts. "Nunca te lo dijimos, pero... fuiste adoptada por la mujer que creías ser tu madre. Dieciséis años atrás, una mujer muy extraña pasó por nuestra villa. Estaba moribunda, y desesperada. Tenía consigo una cesta con una muchachita muy pequeñíta." Cologne fidgeted with something inside her robes. "Mira, tengo conmigo una foto de ti cuando chiquita. La pedí algunas semanas atrás, pues me empezaba a acordarme de algunas cosas muy incomunes." She handed Shampoo an old, faded picture. Although the colors were all resembling sepia due to the age, the baby that looked a bit like a young Ranma clearly had purple hair.

---*----

"Oye, viejo, ¿qué me cuentas?" Ranma said, breaking the silence between him and his father.

"Ah, nada, solo estoy pensando en algo," he replied. "Ranma, tienes que acordarte después de casarte con Akane..."

"¿Si todavía piensas en esto? Desiste, viejo."

"¡Escucha-me, insolente! Ten cuidado para que ella no engorde después de estar embarazada. Tu madre, después de tenerte, algunos pocos meses después, ¡empezó a inflar como un balón! Quedo tan triste que se fue por algunas semanas. Nunca la vi tan gorda..."

"Conociendo-te, con seguridad la mandaste quemar su gordura." Ranma stood up.

"Detalles, m'hijo, detalles," Genma said, and, as he noticed his son grabbing the bucket filled with cold water, added, "¿Que vas a hacer con el balde, niño?"

Ranma sighed, and he opened the door of the dojo. "Voy a cumplir una promesa a una amiga."

---*---

Akane was walking down the street, P-Chan nestled in her arms, happily being nestled. She was coming back from grocery shopping for Kasumi when she met P-Chan hanging outside of Ucchan's.

"Pero ¿qué haces aquí, chanchito mío?" she had asked the little piggy, who wasn't really moving much ever since eating a huge okonomiyaki.

He had kweened and bweed, bobbing right and left in a lethargic manner.

"Ven acá," she had said, and she had then proceeded to pick him up. Even though the preceding scene could have been assumed, and it was quite frankly unnecessary for the story, it was felt the pace was starting to pick up and something had to be done about that.

As she continued walking down the street, Akane noticed Shampoo as she sped past her, jumping across rooftops.

"Qué extraño," she remarked, "normalmente, atraviesa la ciudad en su bicicleta. Bueno, por lo menos no anda detrás de Ranma." She hugged P-Chan closer, much to his delight. She traveled on, much relieved with the fact that Ranma was supposedly at home now, which was the opposite direction.

Quickening her step a bit, Akane continued on home, unaware that the arcade where Hiroshi and Daisuke hung out after school was in Shampoo's way, and that Ranma had gone there.

---*---

Shampoo saw her prey on the street below, carrying an empty bucket. She decided she had no time to waste, and so jumped straight onto his back, driving him into the ground.

"Ola, Ranma," she said, smiling.

"Que diablos... Champú, ¿qué quieres ahora?" Ranma said, getting up to confront her.

Ranma had gotten used to a lot these last few years from the people around him, but at the same time, he'd gotten used to the bizarre patterns they developed. Things such as Shampoo landing forcefully nearby (sometimes on him) on her bike or through a few walls wasn't something that would rattle him, and as such, Ranma himself went on as was expected of him. That is to say, he would complain a bit and wait for whatever crazy explanation would be forthcoming.

He wasn't expecting a kiss. A tight embrace, an offer for a date, some sort of warning, those would be 'normal'. Outright kissing was very odd. A particularly sloppy kiss, too, Ranma noted, wet and sloppy.

After the initial shell shock, Ranma tried to pull back, only to discover that the kiss, just as suddenly as it had begun, had ended. Ranma stared, perplexed, at Shampoo, who was smiling sadly.

"Ch-chapo qa--" Ranma began, but wasn't able to feel his mouth. At first, he thought that it might be because of the shock, but he soon realized that he truly couldn't feel his mouth, and now his cheeks had gone numb as well.

Shampoo spat out a little blue plastic bag, and said, "Perdón, Ranma, pero no te preocupes. Solo te hará dormir por algunas horas. Estarás en buenas manos hasta entonces."

By the time Shampoo finished, Ranma was out cold.

---*---

Ranma felt as if his arms were made of lead, their weight an unequivocal reminder of gravity. He tried moving them, but he couldn't tell if he was actually moving them. He tried opening his eyes to check his surroundings, but his eyelids insisted on staying close together, and Ranma was in the position to tend to agree with them.

When he finally managed to open his eyes, he saw Shampoo standing over him, his arms and legs bound by heavy steel chains.

Groggily, he said, "¿Champú? Pe-pero, ¿qué haces?"

"Serás mi novio, Ranma, de cualquier manera," she said, and got closer, crawling onto the bed.

"Champú, escúchame, piensa en lo que estas haciendo," he said. Ranma felt his throat go dry as she continued forward, unabashed.

"¡Alto!" came a voice from above. Shampoo turned her head in its direction, while Ranma tried to do the same. Up from the rafters, a hooded girl jumped down.

"¿Y quién eres tú?" Shampoo asked, sensing an ebbing familiarity.

The girl sneered. "¿Que no me reconoces? Talvez esto te ayude," she said, and removed her hood. Beneath, a familiar face looked back at them.

"¡Hermana!"

---*---

"Entonces, ¿Champú creía ser mi hermana?" Ranma said, perplexed.

Everybody was gathered in the Cat Cafe, listening to Cologne explaining the situation. Ranma was in between Shampoo and Akane (Shampoo clinging to his arm), Ryouga was at Akane's side (not P-Chan), and Ukyo had left to take care of Ucchan's, saying something about Otro de sus problemas, no tengo tiempo para esta mierda. The newcomer was seated beside Cologne, unhooded.

"Si. Me había olvidado que Champú tenía una hermana gemela, que se fue a vivir a otro pueblo cuando chica," the old woman said.

"¿Como diablos pudiste olvidarte de una cosa como ésta? ¡Te recuerdas perfectamente de todo el resto!" said Ranma, still getting used to the idea of two Shampoos.

"Entonces, ¿vés? No hay problema. Yo no soy tu hermana, ¡ella lo es!" said a jubilant Shampoo.

Everybody pretty much nodded in agreement, perfectly understanding the situation. Ryouga looked around the table, baffled.

"Pe-pero... wh-cómo, hacer," he begun, then stopped. He drew a deep breath, then continued, "This makes fucking no sense! She isn't, but her sister is? What the hell is the matter with you people?" He got up, ready to confront Ranma, tripped, and got lost in a plot device. No one saw where he went exactly, but since it was Ryouga, they safely assumed he got lost.

"Y ahora, Ranma, por desgraciar mi hermana, prepárate!" the newcomer said, brandishing a broadsword. "Y tal vez," she thought, "me vencerás."

---

Para cualquiera que le parezca que Ryouga es demasiado torpe en este fic, en realidad él no pudo comparecer a todas las aulas, perdiendo-se todo el tiempo. El pobrecito está intentando aprenderlo solito, y sin ninguna ayuda, ya que seria ridículo si los personages le enseñaran en-camera. Si a cualquiera le gustaría continuar esta historia, hágalo nomás.

-mccrowe