Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma and Ranko ❯ Reunions and greetings ( Chapter 1 )

Author's note: This is my first attempt at a fanfiction project. I can't promise much, but I'll give it the old college try. Rated M for pervertedness.

 

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“So what's this Ranma Saotome like?” Nabiki Tendo asked, gathered with her two sisters and father in the living room of their home.

“I don't know, I've never met him.” Her father, Soun Tendo, replied. Neither of the three Tendo sisters were thrilled at the prospect of an arranged marriage being set up with a man they had never met, though each of the sisters was facing the situation in the own way.

Kasume, the eldest, was, as always, determined to be a good daughter, and hid any concerns she had at the idea of marriage behind a warm smile and calm demeanor. Nabiki, the middle sibling, had already worked out three strategies to get out of the deal, including threatening to sell the Tenjo dojo and live off the proceeds. Akane, the youngest sister, hotheaded as ever, had already reached for a pair of barbells, preparing to channeling her frustration into a muscle building exercise.

“Daddy,” Akane said, feeling an ache in her hands that came from holding the barbells a little too tight, “What about our feelings? How can you marry us off to a man you've never met?”

“First and foremost, it is my duty as head of the household to ensure the continuation of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts.” Soun said authoritatively. “An arranged marriage to a gifted martial artist will ensure the survival of our noble dojo.”

Not that he cares about any of my accomplishments, Akane thought. At the age of sixteen, Akane had already become the most skilled martial artist in town, defeating the boys at Furikan high school in combat on a regular basis. Since I'm a girl, he'll never consider me capable of running the school alone.

“But father…” Kasume's Kasum began, but the sentence would go unfinished, as the family's attention turned to a knock at the door.

“That must be him right now,” Soun said, excitedly running and opening the front door.

“You must be Ranma Saotome,” Soun, said embracing the young person waiting outside the door. “I'm so glad to meet you.”

Soun soon took a step back, realizing the young person seemed… chestier than he was expecting.

“Wow, he is cute,” Nabiki said, having followed along with Akane and Kasumi.

“Um, father, isn't that young red head, a woman?” Kasume asked, hand over her mouth.

“I'm Ranko Saotome,” the young red head said. “Sorry about this.”

 

A moment later, Soun was seated at the edge of the living room table, while his three daughters sat across from, and stared in amazement, at the strange young girl.

“But, I don't understand… I thought Genma was coming with a son!” Soun said.

“I'm Ranms'a twin sister, Ranko.” The young girl explained. “I was told by my mother that my brother Ranma was going to be introduced to a finance at the Tendo school when he turned sixteen, so I decided to come here and meet up with him, though it seems I've arrived here first.”

“That's certainly a relief,” explained Soun, who had been worried that there was no Saotome male to marry a daughter off to.

“So what's your brother like?” Nabiki asked. She had no intention of being married off against her wishes, but was not averse to being introduced to a cute boy.

“My brother is the greatest martial artist in all of Japan, a veritable man among men,” Ranko said excitedly.

“Hmmmph” Akane said, as if so say we'll see about that.

“How old is he?” Kasume asked, being unable to find interest in boys below her age of 19.

“16, like me,” Ranko said.

“Is he cute?” Nabiki asked.

“He definitely was the last time I met him,” Ranko said, with a smile.

“How tall is he?” Akane, asked, as if she wanted intelligence on an enemy opponent.

“Last time I met him, about three feet,” Ranko said. “You see, the last time I actually saw my brother was when he was five. That's when he left with my father to go on a training trip to China.”

“So in other words, he's written letters to you telling you how strong he is,” Akane said. “A lot of boys like to brag and talk a big game, but if Ranma is like the boys I know at Furikan high, I bet I can kick his ass.”

“Oh, Ranma doesn't brag, at least not to me,” Ranko said. “Our dad doesn't let him write letter to me, since it would corrupt his training.”

“Huh?” Akane asked.

“You see, since the age of five, my brother has been kept away from any feminine influence, since it would weaken him. My father's been raising him to be the ultimate man.”

“That is total nonsense,” Akane said. “There's nothing unfeminine about martial artists. A woman can be just as good a martial artist as any man.”

“Maybe as good as a regular man, but not as good as Ranma.” Ranko said with certainly. “I'm a pretty good martial artist myself, but I'm sure that even I'm no match for Ranma.”

“So you think you're a pretty good martial artist,” Akane said, eager to channel her frustration at the arranged marriage situation to physical violence. “Ranko, I challenge you to a match. And when Ranma gets here, I'll defeat him too.”

 

A moment later, Ranko and Akane stood in opposite each other in the dojo room, in a martial arts ready stance.

Akane started off with a punch, but Ranko took a step back, out of her range. Akane punched again, but Ranko jumped to the left, away from her fist. Akane let loose a combination of step kicks, but Ranko took a step back each time, edging towards the dojo wall.

She sure is hard to hit, thought Akane, used to slugging it out with boys who charged head on and didn't dodge blows. Time to change tactics.

Akane charged full- out at the red headed girl, determined to make some physical contact. Ranko nimbly lept into the air and flipped over Akane's head. As Akane fought her momentum and began to turn around, Ranko placed her palms on the floor and did a back kick, knocking Akane's feet out from under her, and causing the youngest Tendo to hit the floor on her buttocks.

“Not bad,” Akane said. “But you can't dodge forever.” Akane got up and charged towards Ranko again, leading with a blow that, if it had connected, might have knocked Ranko through the wall. However, the pig tailed girl fell to her knees and jabbed her right hand into Akane's stomach. With her left hand, she tripped Akane off of her feet. Akane hit the ground face down. She growled, and began to get back up on her feet.

Ranko had had enough. She liked a good fight, but it was clear that Akane, while physically powerful, lacked the fine skills to stand up to her. Ranko smiled sheepishly, and put a hand on her head.

“I'm actually used to fighting against opponents who are physically more powerful than me,” she explained. “So I've developed a fighting style that allows me to use an enemy's strength against them.” In fact, Ranko was already an expert in three distinct fighting styles, which ranged from speed to strength based, but there was no point in bragging to Akane. “I can show you some tricks later if you like.”

“How did you learn to fight like that? Is your mother a martial artist too?” Akane asked, slowly stepping towards Ranko, trying to come up with an alternative attack strategy.

“No, my mother doesn't believe that women should be martial artists, and wouldn't let me join a dojo. I mostly learned from watching matches at local dojos and practicing the techniques that the men used when nobody was around.” Ranko neglected to mention that, after hearing through the grapevine that Ranma had gone off to China, she ran away from home and went on a training mission of her own.

“That is so unfair,” Akane said, suddenly dropping her fighting stance. “And you probably have more talent than most people out there!”

Akane knew what it was like to be a lone girl martial artist. At Furikan High, if you female and interested in martial arts, you were expected to do rhythm gymnastics or figure skating, where appearances were more important than actual fighting skills.

“Maybe we got off on the wrong foot,” Akane said. After all, it wasn't like the engagement thing was the red head's idea. “Do you want to be friends? Why don't we cool off and take a bath together?”

 

“I guess I first got into martial arts after Ranma left with my father,” Ranko said, as the two girls were soaking in the Tendo bath. “Ranma and I used to do everything together, and suddenly, like that, Ranma was separated from me, and part of my identify felt ripped away. I was concerned that,, while we were separated, Ranma would turn into someone completely different from me, and I'd no longer feel connected to him again. I kept wondering about his training, and what sort of changes it was bringing to his mind and spirit That was when I first started studying martial artists.”

She's got a bit of a brother complex, thought Akane, suddenly understanding why Ranko has been so quick to talk about the prowess of her brother.

“So you haven't seen him in ten years?” Akane asked.

“No. I hope he still remembers me.”

 

At the moment, Ranma and Soun arrived at the Tendo household, and after a quick greeting, were seated with Nabiki and Kasume. Genma started bragging about the journal he and Ranma had taken through the training grounds of China, though he mentioned regretting that they had needed to head back for their rendezvous with the Tendos before reaching the legendary training grounds of Jusenkyo. Ranma, being embarrassed over the whole arranged marriage thing, was quiet during this discussion.

He's a bit young thought Kasume.

I bet this block head barely has a thought in his head that doesn't involve martial arts, thought Nabiki. Besides, from the looks of it the father and son wandeed around China with just a backpack and the clothes on their back. They're probably dirt poor.”

“So, anyway,” Soun said. “This is my eldest daughter Kasume, she' nineteen, and this is my middle daughter Nabiki, she's seventeen. My youngest daughter Akane will be down in a moment, she's sixteen. Pick any girl you want, Ranma, and you may marry her.”

“You'll probably choose Akane,” Nabiki quickly stated. “After all, she's a martial artist like you.”

“And she really is sweet,” Kasume said. “That is, once you get to know her.”

They suddenly heard feet coming down the stairs. In the excitement of meeting his future son-in-law, Soun had neglected to mention Ranko. “That's probably her now.”

Ranma suddenly recognized the red headed girl running down the stairs.

“Ranma!” Ranko shouted, giving her brother a hug.

“Wow, she sure is affectionate,” Genma said. “They're already the perfect couple.” Ranko took her arms off of Ranma and glared at Genma. They staired at each other for ten seconds.

“I must say Akane, you're just as cute as your father…” Genma started to say.

“Don't you recognize you own daughter!” Ranko replied, punching Genma in the face.

“So you must be Ranma!” Akane said, marching into the room. “This is what I do to strange men who come into my home and demand that I marry them!” Akane lifted up the living room table and slammed it down on Ranma's head, knocking the boy out.

“Aww, Ranma, you should have ducked, after I kept telling them how great you were!” Ranko said, unsympathetically.

 

A bucket of cold water to Ranma's face woke the young martial artist up. He found himself in sparsely furnished Japanese style bedroom with his red headed sister looking down at him admiringly.

“Oh, Ranma, I've been waiting so long to see you again,” Ranko said.

“It's great seeing you too, sis,” said Ranma, sitting up. “You've gotta tell me what you've been up to while I've been training.”

Ranko began to fill Ranma in about some of the details of their time apart, how she began to grow interested in martial arts when thinking about the adventures her brother was having without her. How she started attending martial arts competitions as a spectator, which their mother did not mind, since she considered it appropriate for a woman to cheer on male family members at sports. Ranko explained how she started practicing the moves she watched in secret, while hanging around martial arts competitions and listening any news about the male Saotomes. She told Ranma how she eventually heard that Ranma and Genma had gone off to train in China, and decided to run away on her own training mission.

“You went to China?” Ranma asked, filled with shock at the idea.

“Yeah, and it wasn't always pleasant.” Ranko said. “It's not always safe for a woman traveling alone. I had some tough experiences beating up perverts, or running away from groups of them. To be honest, it was pretty risky in the beginning, but fortunately I was able to survive my early encounters with troublemakers. As I traveled on, I grew stronger, both from the traveling through the wilderness and the scrapes I ended up in. By the end, there was hardly anyone in China who could stand up to me.”

“I finally got word of the path you and dad were taking from a travel agency, and thought I'd go a step ahead of your path and make it before you to Jusenkyo. But your tour guide arrived their without you and told me you were swimming back to Japan to meet the Tendos. I managed to stow away on an airplane and make it here first.”

“Sis, you never should have done all of that,” Ranma said, with his hands on Rankos shoulders. “You could easily have been killed, abused, or worse. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you.”

“I knew the risks,” Ranko said. “But I remember something Dad used to say to the family. `The true path of a martial artist is fraught with peril.'”

“Well, you have a point there,” Ranma admitted. “But nevertheless, that's enough with unnecessary risks, it's my job as your brother to protect you.”

“Are you going to protect me from now on, big brother?” Ranko asked with watery eyes. “Anyway, what are you going to do about this fiancée thing?”

“That was dad's idea, and I don't really want anything to do with it. I guess I'll just ignore their plans and maybe it'll blow over. Where's pop, anyway?

“Oh, he came too some time ago, but I think he's hiding from me.” Ranma wasn't surprised at that. His father would often run from confrontation, especially family squabbles, rather than facing it head on.

“You should go back to sleep for the night,” Ranko said. “If you stay up now, you won't be on a normal sleep schedule. I'll be bunking with you tonight.” Ranma noticed that Ranko had set a sleeping bag next to his own.

“Ok, first I'm gonna take a bath,” Ranma said, grabbing a change of clothes and moving towards the bathroom.” He stoped outside the bathroom door, noticing his sister was following him.

“I'm coming too,” Ranko said with a grin.

“What?”

“We used to take baths together all the time, bro.”

“Yeah, when we were five. Forget it!”

“I can't believe you're being shy around me just because we haven't seen each other in a while.” She said, with an expression that Ranma would almost call a pout.

“It's just too weird, even if you are my sister!” Ranma replied.

“Lot's of siblings take baths together,” she said.

“Not in modern times,” Ranma replied.

It is true that many Japanese families in the country still take baths together, he thought, but its just too weird,, particularly if you haven't seen each other in a while..

“Give me some space. Besides, you already took a bath today,” Ranma said, stepping into the bathroom and shutting the door on his sister.

That girl sure turned out wild, he thought, throwing off his clothing and stepping into the bath.

A moment later, Ranma was relaxing in the warm water with his eyes clothes, meditating on the strange events of the day.

His meditation did not last long, as a very nude Ranko flung open the bathroom door, swiftly closed it behind her, and jumped into the tub.

“Banzai!” she shouted.

 

Akane was almost asleep for the night when she heard a shout and a splash coming from the bathroom.

“What the heck do you think you're doing you crazy tomboy?”

“Aww, don't be such a girl. You're a man aren't you?”

What the heck are those two doing? She thought.