Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma OneHalf: First steps ❯ Book Two, Chapter Eight ( Chapter 18 )

Ranma Onehalf: First steps. Book Two.

Chapter Eight.

Smoke drifted upwards out of the yard and was caught by the breeze. It drifted out over the neighborhood and brought with it the smell of charcoal and bratwurst. Decorations bobbed around like butterflies and music could be heard.

There was a party being held at the dojo, and the two guest of honor were Master Sargent Bill Evans and Lia Saotome. Evans had advanced to second dan* and had been promoted to Master Sargent, and Lia had completed her Neko -ken training and to celebrate they were having a beer and brats bust**.

The whole school was there, along with the extended family. Genma and Soun were discovering the joy that is a Mickeys 'hand grenade'*** and Nodoka, Kasumi, and Nabiki were sitting on the porch while the men ran the barbecue with Evans.

Lia and Matoko were suntanning on the roof while Christian and the rest of the kids played in the yard. Ranma glanced up at the roof and saw Lia applying some suntan lotion. A brief frown appeared on his face as he saw Lias suit.

"Something the matter Ranma?" Akane asked as she came up for some more brats.

"Nnnh." Ranma grunted in reply.

Akane glanced upwards at the roof and saw what Ranma was looking at. Looking back at Ranma Akane smiled.

"You don't like Lias suntanning." she chided him.

"I don't got a problem with that." Ranma answered as he checked the grill.

"Really." Akane said. "I think you do. You're not comfortable with her having a figure, are you?"

"I don't have a problem with her figure Akane." Ranma said as he looked up. "Just with what it's wrapped in."

Akane glanced back at the roof, where Lia was laying back down having finished with the suntan lotion. As she lay back you could quite clearly see she was in a green bikini which covered but also showed off her figure.

"Whats wrong with a bikini?" Akane asked.

"I got by without one when I was her age." Ranma grumbled.

"Ranma, you baka she's a girl." Akane said as she gave him a light swat on the head. "And the sooner you two realize it the better."

"I think we both know that by now." Ranma said dryly. "I mean, it's fairly obvious."

"I'll believe that when she goes on a date." Akane said as she finished putting the toppings on her brats.

Ranma growled in response. Akane chuckled and turned back to him.

"Come on Ranma, sooner or later she's going to discover boys and-"

"It's not that." Ranma said as he held up his hand. "We got gate crashers."

Akane blinked and extended her senses. She was irked to find five people on the property perimeter.

"I count five." she said in English as she began to munch on a brat.

"Eight. Three of 'em ducked outta range." Ranma answered her.

"So whats the plan?" Akane asked as she finished her brat.

"Go over to the porch and tell our fathers. I'm tell the guys and I'm going to send Tatewaki over to you. Tell Mom to give him her katana." Ranma said. "And the next time Christian makes a pass tell him to warn Lia and stay with her."

Akane nodded and turned back to the house. To the observer it appeared she stopped to chat with the men drinking on the porch before sitting down with the rest of the women while Ranma and the men talked.

Lia was lying face up when she felt a shadow fall across her face. Twitching her nose she smelled dirt, sweat, grass, and mustard. She immediately identified it as belonging to Christian.

"You're in my light Christian." she said.

"I got a message from Mom." Christian said.

Lia cracked open an eye to look at her brother. "What is it?" she asked.

"She said it was the 'shampoo incident all over again.'" he said with a puzzled look on his face.

"Rats!" Lia said as she open both eyes and sat up. "I had to wear the one swimsuit I can't fight in today!"

"Well, you did decide to go with Nodoka when you went shopping for swim suits this year." Matoko said as she sat up.

"Tell me about it. And all I got is a towel to cover up with." Lia groused. "Next time I'm keeping a t-shirt handy."

"That would be a good idea." Matoko said as she checked her lotion. "So whats the 'shampoo incident'?" she asked.

Lia shrugged. "Some crazy Chinese woman Dad and Mom knew when they were kids. She tried to make Dad marry her and when he didn't she tried to kidnap me." she said.

"What happened to her?" Matoko asked as she began to eye the area around the house.

"I mauled her." Lia said as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "Can I borrow your lotion?" she asked.

"Sure. Why?" Matoko asked as she handed the bottle over to Lia.

"Cause I'm gonna be out." Lia said.

Flipping the lid on her tube of lotion open Lia turned and squeezed behind her. There was a scream and a crash behind them as a ninja fell off the roof with a face full of SPF -30 suntan lotion.

"Sneak up on me? I don't think so." Lia said as she closed the cap.

Matokos eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "I didn't even see him." She said as she looked at Lia.

Lia arced an eyebrow at her sister. "Matoko, I've got to teach you chi sense." she said.

When the ninja Lia had squirted with tanning lotion fell off the roof the remaining seven ninjas jumped the wall and rushed the house. Five of them for Ranma while the other two went acted as a screening force.

They were met head on by the entire Anything Goes school. The resulting fight was quick, violent, and very one -sided. After the fight was over there was only one ninja who was still conscious.

Munching on a brat Ranma walked over to where he was being held against the wall, the Saotome blade against his throat.

"Okay, who hired you?" Ranma asked the ninja.

"..." answered the ninja.

"Silent type, huh?" Ranma said. "We have ways around that. Akane?"

Akane stepped forward as she cracked her knuckles. "My turn." she said.

"What are you going to do?" Tatewaki asked as he stepped back.

"Why, ask nicely of course." she said with a smile.

The ninja started to sweat as Akane approached him. Ranma chuckled as he stepped back to allow Akane room to work.

"I suggest everybody cover their ears. This is gonna get a little loud." Ranma said.

"Wait!" Lia called from outside. "Don't start yet!"

Lia came in a few moments later with Matoko and Christian. "Sorry. Had to adjust my top." she said with a sheepish grin.

Akane chuckled as she faced the ninja. "I believe we were asking you about who hired you." she said as the ninja gulped.

The ninja had an extreme high threshold for pain and was heavily trained in resisting interrogation. All told it took Akane only ten minutes of polite questioning to get him to talk. What he said echoed around the room for several moments afterward.

"Marriage contract?!" Ranma yelled. "What marriage contract?"

"It was signed by Genma Saotome agreeing to marry his son to Takato Sanos daughter." the ninja wheezed as he sat up.

There was a splash and everyone turned around to face the panda sitting in the corner.

"Pops, you didn't by chance happen to forget something?" Ranma asked.

I'm just a cute little panda Genma signed.

Ranmas right eye twitched as he read the sign. "Right. Pops, we are gonna have a little talk after this." he said.

The panda broke out into a cold sweat and got ready to run, but a glare from Nodoka made him sit back down. Turning back to the ninja Ranma addressed him.

"Sorry, but your gonna have to tell Mr. Sano that the contract is void. I'm already married." Ranma said as he put his arm on Akanes shoulder.

"Oh, that's not a problem at all." said a new voice.

Everyone turned and looked in the direction of the new voice. Lias eyes bugged out as she realized there was someone standing next to her. Instinct took over and she swiped at him, only to hit air. Lia blinked and tried to figure out how he moved so fast as Ranma spoke to him again.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I am Mr. Takato Sano." he said with a bow. "And like I said, you're being married is no problem at all."

Ranma gave him a funny look. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Read the contract." answered Mr. Sano as he tossed a envelope to Ranma.

Ranma grabbed the envelope and handed it to Akane to read. While she read it Ranma kept an eye on Mr. Sano.

"Yadda, yadda, yadda,..." Akane said as she skimmed the contract. "Hold on, 'if the son of Genma Saotome and the daughter of Takato Sano don't marry the contract passes onto their children and onto the next generation until the obligation is met'."

Everyone in the room was silent for the next few moments as the information sank in. Ranma and Akane were the first to react. Their battle auras flared to life and the room was bathed in a white glow.

"You mean because I because I married Akane, one of my children has to marry one of your grandchildren?" Ranma asked in a quiet voice.

"Yes. That's what the contract states." Mr. Sano answered.

"Well, there's a way around that." Akane said as she turned the contract into ash with her chi.

"Just so you know, that was a copy. And it's been entered as public record, so destroying the original won't help you either." Mr. Sano said with a smile. "I have a grandson the same age as your daughter Lia. I'm sure they'd get along-"

"WHAT!!!" Lia shrieked at the mention of her name.

Mr. Sano turned to Lia and gave her a slight smile. "I'm sure you'd like him. His name is Naota-"

"I'M NOT MARRYING A HENTAI!!!!!" Lia screamed, her battle aura flaring to life.

"I can assure you, Naota is a perfect gentleman-" said a surprised Mr. Sano.

"DIE HENTAI!!!!" Lia screamed as she swung a mallet at him.

Mr. Sano sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I can see you're not thrilled with this arrangement." he said.

Lias eyes bugged out as she realized that Mr. Sano was now standing on her mallet head, which was buried in the floorboards. Her aura began to have red accents to it and her pigtail stood out and began to wreathe like a snake.

The rest of the family began to back away from the immediate vicinity of Lia, recognizing the warning signs that her temper was about to blow and trying not to make any sudden moves. Mr. Sano, however was either unafraid or unaware of just how bad Lias temper was.

Stepping off the mallet head he waved for the ninjas to follow him. "So I'll let you think it over." he said. "And you decide not to, well, there's always the great grandchildren. Goodnight."

The house was quiet for several moments after Mr. Sano and his ninjas departure. Ranma glanced over and saw the panda trying to sneak away.

"Going somewhere Pops?" he asked, breaking the silence.

Genma froze like a deer in headlights.

Now I can explain... he signed.

"PANDA DIE!!!!" Lia screamed, releasing her mallet back to Hammerspace and extending her chi claws.

Help! was all Genma could sign before Lia pounced on him.

Fur began to fly as Lia began a systematic mauling of her grandfather. Things went from bad to worse for Genma when she was joined by her parents. Everyone moved to the porch to watched when the fight spilled out into the yard.

"Ma-chan, why is Lia and Mom an' Dad beatin' up Grandpa?" Christian asked from his position on Matokos lap.

Matoko smiled and gave her little brother a scratch behind the ears. "Because Genmas is an idiot." she said.

"Oh." Christian said. "Can I help?" he asked.

Matoko chuckled and shook her head. "No, I think they doing okay on their own." she said as the pandas bellows of pain grew louder.

________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ _________________

"I hate bloomers." Lia grumbled as she pulled up her gym shorts.

"You're not the only one Lia." Matoko said as she pulled her t-shirt on. "They make me look like I have thunder thighs."

"How that's possible with your figure is beyond me." Lia said as she sat back down. "At least they don't turn you into a hentai magnet."

Matoko and Lia both shared a chuckle at their respective figures. As Lia out of her locker a sudden scent made her stop. Closing her eyes Lia sniffed the air searching for that scent. She smelled all the normal scents she associated with the locker room, the smells of sweat, bleach, and the soap from the showers all mingling together.

Overlaying all of those was the scents of the hundreds of girls who had used the locker room, what she had always considered to be a soft scent. Intermixed with all of those was a distinct sharp scent that Lia tried to place.

Opening her eyes Lia looked around for the source of the scent. Seeing nothing in her immediate vicinity Lia expanded her search.

"You lose something Lia?" Matoko asked as she finished tying her shoes.

"No." Lia answered. "I smell something."

"What is it?" Matoko asked.

"I don't know." Lia said. "It smells familiar..." she said as she glanced up at the ceiling.

A flash of movement drew Lias attention to the nearest air grate. Lias eyes grew wide as she recognized it as a male scent.

"HENTAI!!!!" Lia screamed as she leaped to the top of the lockers.

Matoko stood up as Lia ripped the grate out of the wall and went into the air ducts. As the other girls in the locker room screamed and tried to cover themselves she realized Lia had gone after the intruder in nothing more than her sports bra and gym shorts.

"This can't possibly end well." Matoko thought as she grabbed one of her t-shirts. "I had better bring her one my shirts. She'll probably need the extra coverage."

Stepping out of the chaos erupting in the girls locker room Matoko took her bearings and tried to figure out where her sister went. Seeing there no boys running from the locker room she decided Lia wasn't there. Faint shouts drew her attention the main school building itself. Running into the building she followed the screams.

Matoko was running down a hall when a crash four classrooms ahead of her told her Lias pursuit of the hentai had ended. A shriek from Lia followed by the sounds of several bodies hitting the floor confirmed her earlier suspicions of it not ending well.

Sliding open the door Matoko found a large chunk of ceiling ripped out and two sections of the air ducts hanging down. A stunned Lia was lying on the pile of debris with her arms wrapped around her chest and every male in the class was passed out with a major nosebleed.

A glance up at the ducts revealed a torn purple sports bra caught on one of the support brackets. Matoko was able to surmise what had happened: her sister had been chasing the hentai through the ducts when a section of the ducts had given way, and on the way down her bra had caught on the support and had been torn away.

And of course Lia had the luck to land in one of the freshman classes. Chuckling at the hilarity of the sequence of events Matoko stepped up to her sister and handed Lia her t -shirt. Lia gratefully accepted the shirt from her sister and put it on.

The shirt was tent on Lia but it did the job of covering her while she and Matoko went back to gym class. As they walked down the halls Matoko noticed the slight blush on lias cheeks.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah." Lia answered with a nod. "The full Neko -ken is taking some getting used to. Predator instinct and all that."

"You're not the only one." Matoko said. "What happened to the hentai?" she asked.

Lia scowled. "He got away when the duct collapsed on me." she said. "But I got his scent, so I when I find him he is so gonna get it." Lia said, smacking her fist into her palm.

"Give him one for me Lia." Matoko said with a chuckle.

The rest of the school day passed with out incident, and Lia was unable to find the hentai that had been in the ducts. However news of what had happened had spread far and wide and Lia found herself with no shortage of other hentai to deal with.

Lia and Matoko walked home after school in silence, rather than with their usual banter. The events of the day had left them both drained and they were both tired.

"What a day." Matoko sighed as she rubbed her eyes.

"You said it Matoko." Lia agreed. "I sure learned something today."

"Oh? What is it?" Matoko asked.

"Put on a shirt before you go chasing hentai." Lia replied.

Both girls shared a tired chuckle as they walked along. They walked in silence for a few more blocks until Lia grabbed hold of Matokos arm and stopped.

"Hold on a second." she said as she slipped into the Umi -Sen -Ken.

Matoko stood in the street for a few minutes and wondered what Lia had picked up. The sound of feet scuffling on pavement followed by a fist hitting cardboard. She turned around and saw a boy jump out from behind a pile of boxes, followed by Lia.

She watched as Lia and the boy fought. With her limited knowledge of martial arts it appeared to Matoko that Lia and the boy were evenly matched. Lia was limiting herself to her regular attacks so the fight for the moment was even.

Unfortunately the boy hadn't considered Matoko to be a threat, so it caught him completely by surprise when she tagged him on the back of the head with her book bag. The boy dropped like a ton of bricks.

"I had him Matoko." Lia said as she looked down at the boy. "But thanks anyways."

"You're welcome." Matoko answered. "How did you know he was there?"

"I smelled him, just like before." said Lia.

Matoko blinked in surprise. "Before? He's the one in the vents?" she asked.

"Yeah. I'd recognize that smell anywhere." Lia said with as gave the boy a kick in the ribs. "Wake up!"

The boy groaned and rubbed his head. "Nnnhhh... What hit me?" he groaned.

"My trigonometry homework." answered Matoko. "Who are you?" she asked.

"And why were you spying on us? You didn't get enough of a show from the locker room?" Lia asked.

The boy got to his feet and dusted himself off before responding. "I am Naota Sano, of the Hagakure school." he said simply.

Matoko and Lia were silent for several moments as a gust of wind blew down the street. Finally Matoko spoke.

"You're one of Mr. Sanos grandchildren?" she asked.

"Grandchild." Naota corrected. "I'm his only one."

"Oh." answered Matoko. "So we're both engaged to you?" she asked.

Naota shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. The contract says only the biological children can be married." he replied.

"Phooey." Matoko said.

"And that leaves you, Lia." Naota said as he turned to Lia. "So that means- hey why are you glowing?"

Lia had been silent throughout the exchange and now her battle aura had flared to life. There was a twitch in her right eye and her pupils had shrank to pinpoints. Behind her Lias pigtail had become infused with chi and was now wreathing like a snake.

Matoko carefully backed away and to the side as Naota held up his hands and tried to placate Lia.

"Now, there's no need to be violent..." he said as Lia cupped her hands in front of her.

"PERVERT SMASHER!" Lia screamed as a ball of chi formed in her hands.

"Wait..." was all that Naota was able to say before Lia fired her chi at him.

There was a flash and a blast of hot wind and Naota was sent flying.

"Dad never said anything about thiiiisssss...." he said as he went flying into LEO.

"Nice." Matoko said as she watched Naota fly.

"You're welcome." Lia answered. "Whoa." Lia said as she was hit with a dizzy spell.

Matoko grabbed hold of Lia and supported her until the dizziness passed. "You okay?" she asked Lia.

Lia nodded. "Yeah. Dad's right." she said. "I should hold off on the fireworks until I build up my chi reserves."

"I agree." answered Matoko. "How about we go home now?" she asked.

"Lets." said Lia.

In a canal five blocks over Naota surfaced and spit out a mouthful of water.

"Well, that went well." he said as he swam to the edge and started to climb out. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ______

*If that doesn't sound like much keep in mind second dan in Anything Goes is equivalent to sixth or seventh in other forms.

**yes, I know that Ranma swore off alcohol, but it doesn't mean that others can't drink. Remember, Ranma abstains because he cant hold his liquor.