Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. They belong to the wonderful Romiko Takahashi and her licensees (Viz Communications in North America). This work is strictly for the non-profit enjoyment of fans. No copyright infringement is intended. ========================== Benaai Chapter 1 A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by TeW Last Update: Sept 27, 2000 Status: active ========================== *click-clack*, *click-clack*, *click-clack* The sound of a giant panda walking down the streets of Nermia. *click-clack*, *click-clack*, *click-clack* The cadence is a bit off, maybe because the panda is carrying a small girl, who happens to really be a boy, over one shoulder. *click-clack*, *click-clack*, *click-clack* A lot of stories start this way, Some start a bit earlier, some a bit later, and some start out with interesting variations. There are no variations here. The panda is walking just as it should, the girl looks as she should, there is nothing unusual in the pair of backpacks the panda is carrying in one huge paw. *click-clack*, *click-clack*, *click-clack* No differences that we can see. While that might mean that they haven't happened yet, it could also mean that this pair hasn't seen them yet. They might have even happened over twenty years ago, say just after two young men burried their old master in a cave. *click-clack*, *click-clack*, *click-clack* Men who turn into pandas should do a better job of keeping their nails clipped, don't you think? *click-clack*, *click-clack*, *click*.... Now we see a difference. The panda pauses where he hasn't paused in other variations on this story. The panda turns and heads to a tea shop. He shakes the girl on his shoulder as he nears the door and growfs a few times when she begins to stir. The girl is set in front of the tea shop. The panda growfs again. "Sure, sure, pop. Get so hot water. I know the drill by now." The girl stomps into the shop. A few moments later a young man and his father are walking toward the Tendo dojo. "So what's up pop? Are we going to this dojo or not?" "We're going, but something is wrong. The wall is badly damaged, and there's somone waiting at the gate." Now they will see the difference, and so will we. * * * * "Here's the dojo wall boy, the gate is around the corner." The old man effortlessly jumped to the top of the two meter high wall followed immediately by the boy. "This is not good." The man said. "Woah, it looks like a bomb went off!" The boy agreed. "It did." A girls voice. A weary, dead sounding girls voice, but unmistakable. "Who're you?" The boy asked. "I should be asking you that, this is my house. I'm Akane Tendo and this is the Tendo Dojo, or what's left of it." Ranma jumped down. "Sorry, pops was worried. My name is Ranma Saotome and this is my father Genma Saotome." There was a spark of interest in the girls eyes, just for a second, and her face came alive. It died out quickly, but it changed Ranma's view of her. He'd thought she was older, now he realized she was close to his own age. "So you're Genma and Ranma. I've been waiting for you two." Genma jumped down next to Ranma. "I'd like to speak to your father please." "Father is dead. That bastard Happosai killed him and Nabiki and nearly Kasumi." The girl jestured helplessly with one hand, which Ranma noticed was in a cast from the elbow down. "The master?" Genma whispered, his eyes wide with fear. "The master is still alive?" "Not anymore. Look, I want to talk to you two. The last words I remember my father saying were about you and I want to know what he meant. Why don't you come in, most of the house is still intact, at least the first floor." "I...of course." Genma answered. "I am very sorry to hear my old friend is dead, and I wish to hear how it happened." Ranma watched his father carefully as the girl led them through the gate. He was pale and trembling. This girls father must have been pretty important to the old man for him to react like this. * * * * Ranma looked around as he slid his pack off. The main room had been cleaned up, but there were obvious signs of damage all around. There was a family shrine in one corner, with pictures of a man in a brown gi, a girl about Akane's age, and a middle aged woman. Genma went to the shrine and paid his respects first. They all sat at the table. The girl didn't offer to get any tea or refreshments. Ranma figured that had more to do with the trama she'd obviously suffered than any lack of welcome. "So what happened?" Genma asked. "Happosai. He came here about a month ago. I won't go into what he did, let's just say he wasn't a welcome guest." "Say no more, your father and I trained under him for years. I knew his perversions well." "He was angry for something my father did. He made demands of my father, to 'pay him back'. Amoung them was that he be given one of my sisters as a...plaything." Ranma gapped, not sure he believed what the girl was suggesting. She nodded at him as if to let him know she was serioius before continuing her story. "Father refused. The bastard knocked us all out and chained us to this huge bomb in the dojo. He said he'd simply let the bomb go off and kill us if my father didn't agree to his wishes. I tricked him. I got him to come close enough to grab him and hold on. If we were going to die, he was going with us." "A brave move, and difficult. The master's speed was legendary." Genma's tone was the same he used when Ranma mastered a difficult technique. "He knocked me down, stunned me, but by then father had him. He held him to the bomb. Nabiki, one of my older sisters, had gotten hold of the family sword. She hacked at the chain holding my oldest sister and I to the bomb. I was still stunned through this, so I don't remember many details." The girl switched her gaze to Ranma. He leaned back slightly, away from the pain and loss in her eyes. She looked down at the table and continued. "Nabiki got through the chain. My older sister carried me out the door and the bomb blew up before we were halfway across the yard. My sister - Kasumi - took the brunt of the blast. She's just out of intensive care, staying at a clinic near here." Now the girl looked steadily up at Genma. "The last thing I remember my father saying was..." She closed her eyes as if to remember better. "He said 'You've lost you bastard, Genma is still out there, and Ranma and Akane will carry on. But you'll be in hell where you belong.' Or something close to that." She opened her eyes again. "Then today a postcard came for my father, saying you two were coming. Obviously I wanted to know why my father's last words were of you." * * * * Genma was stunned. His old friend dead. The dojo that he worked so hard to create all but destroyed. Genma knew enough about inheritance taxes to know there was no chance of saving the dojo now. Should he just cut his loses? Or should he try to complete the dream his old friend and he had of a combined school being taught by their combined families. Genma signed. He was about to be noble, it went against the grain and always meant hard work, which he hated. He'd do it for his old friend, who suffered the consequences of the way they had imprisoned the master so long ago. "Your father and I were the only two masters of the Anything Goes School. It was always our intention to create a combined school to be taught here. Toward that end we made promises to join our families together by the marriage of our children." Ranma grumbled under his breath, but thankfully didn't say anything stupid. The girl stared for a moment, then shook her head. "Well, that's not going to work. There's no dojo to teach in, and soon the house and land will have to be sold off to pay taxes. Even without the taxes I doubt I could keep things going. Maybe if Kasumi was doing better..." "Tendo-san," Genma stressed the family name. "You or perhaps your sister are now the head of the family. If you decide - against your father's wishes - to cancel the promise between our families, I will not fight it. However, I think you should reconsider. Your father wanted this." Genma was rather proud of the way he'd managed to sound reasonable and bring up her father's memory at the same time. "You don't get it, do you? There's nothing left! No dojo, no money, nothing. We're broke, and won't have much even after the house is sold." Akane sounded a little histaricle. He'd have to get her to Nodoka. Maybe having to help the Tendo girl would distract her from the little promise he'd made. "The dojo is only a small part of what your father had planned. The joining of the families and the art were always his desire." "You...still want this, even without the dojo or father?" Akane asked. Even Ranma, dim as he was when it came to women, noticed the plea in her voice. He held out his hand to her, which she took with a look of confusion. "Well I guess that means we're engaged." He said, shaking her hand as if sealing a deal. "I..." She begain, looking into his eyes for a moment, then back at Genma's. "This is what he wanted?" She asked. "Yes." Genma assured her. Akane nodded. Then covered her face with her hands and wept. Genma had to tell Ranma to put his arm around her. The boy was definitely backward when it came to women. * * * * Once Akane had recovered enough Genma sent them to stay at the clinic where Akane's olders sister was being cared for. He just said he had to take care of some family business and ran off, saying he'd be back no later than the next morning. Akane went in to see her older sister, while Ranma stayed out in the waiting room. He'd just started reading an old magazine to distract himself from this whole finacee business when the doctor came in. "Hello! What can I do for you today?" He asked cheerfully. "I'm just here with Akane Tendo. She's in seeing her sister." "I don't think I've seen you around before. Are you a friend of hers from school?" Ranma reached back and played with the base of his pigtail, a habit he had when nervious or embarassed. "Not exactly. I guess she's my fiancee." "That's...interesting. I've known Akane since she was quite young, and she never mentioned a fiancee." The doctor didn't sound threatening, exactly, but you could tell he wanted an explaination right away. "Neither of us knew about it, our fathers arranged it a long time ago. We practice the same school of martial arts and I guess...well I don't really know what it's all about, just that I'm honor-bound to it." Ranma admitted. "You know what happened to Akane's father and sister?" "Yeah, she told us. My dad was pretty upset. He and Mr. Tendo trained together." "Would you like some tea?" The doctor asked. Ranma relaxed a little. The doctor must have decided he was okay. "Yes, thanks." "Since I won't have a receptionist until Kasumi is better, I'll get it myself. Be right back." Ranma sighed and went through the magazine back on the table. This was just too wierd. He was tempted to duck out and not come back, he'd really rather be looking for a cure to his curse. He just couldn't do it though, his father had made it a point of family honor. To Ranma it seemed like one more mouth to feed when they didn't always have enough as it was. Maybe pop was planning on getting a regular job now. He'd just have to wait and see what happened. * * * * It was a full hour before Akane came out, Ranma was getting seriouly bored. "So what do we do now?" Ranma asked. Akane sat next to him and shrugged. "You okay?" He asked. Akane got very still for a second, then shook her head. "No, I'm not." She whispered. Ranma was already out of his depth. He didn't know how to talk to a girl, much less one that was having problems. "I...I have so much trouble seeing her like this. She seems so...still. She was always so active, always working on something in the kitchen or the house. Now she can hardly move, and it'll be months before she can really use her right arm properly. It's so *damn* hard to see her like this. But..." "But?" Ranma prompted after a moment. "She's the only family I have left. She's all I have now." Ranma didn't know what to say, so he just sat there, looking at her as well as he could without turning his head. She was really quiet pretty, even cute if she would smile a little. Dr. Tofu came in and squatted on the floor in front of them. "Akane, Ranma, I just got a call from Mr. Saotome. He would like you two to go to his house. He said not to take too long, because dinner would be in a little over an hour. Here's the address and the directions. " Dr. Tofu held out a slip of paper. Ranma took the slip. "We've got a house?" "You better hurry, Akane needs to pack." the doctor said. Ranma nodded. Akane looked up and nodded too. "Okay get going. Don't worry Akane, I'll take good care of your sister. Worry about yourself for a while." "I know you will Dr. Tofu, and thank you." Ranma jumped up, he was eager to get going. If they had a house, then what about other family? He vaugly remembered his mother, though he hadn't thought about her for years. Akane smiled a little at him, probably because he was grinnig like an idiot at the thought of maybe seeing his mother again. Ranma grabbed her hand and started dragging her back toward the dojo. * * * * "You packed yet?" Ranma called up the stairs. Akane had warned him not to go up, that there were spots that were unstable and might collapse under his weight. "Just about." Akane yelled. "Any idea how long we're going to be?" "Nope. Pop and I usually move around a lot, but he's been talking like out training trip is about over. Maybe a pretty long time, and...." Ranma cut himself off. He didn't know what was going on, but if this place was going to be sold, and pop had a house, and Akane was his fiancee, then wasn't she going to stay with them? Akane appeared at the top of the stairs with a large backpack. "And?" She asked. Ranma didn't want to say it, but he didn't know what else to say. "Well, I guess you'll probably be living with us. So eventually you'll have to move everything you want out of here." "Oh, I guess." Akane came down the stairs and looked around. She looked about ready to cry, but either couldn't or wouldn't let herself. She nodded decisively and turned to him. "Right, do you think it would be possible to carry the shrine too? I know it's big, but it's really about all that I need from here except a few photos and such. Kasumi's things are already at the clinic." "I guess we could. Couldn't we come back and get it later?" "I'd rather not. It's hard to be here, and anyway, the could collapse if we get a strong wind." "Ah...okay we'll take it." Ranma could carry it, as long as he didn't get wet. "Go get it and I'll get the photo albums and meet you out front." The shrine wasn't heavy, but it was ackward to carry. He'd definitely have trouble carrying it as a girl - his arms were too short in that form. When Akane came out to the gate he handed her the slip of paper with the address. "Here, I don't know the area and can't see over this thing anyway." They walked for about ten minute before Ranma called for a break. "How far is it?" He asked. "Pretty far yet, ion the far side of the high school, not even in Nermia." "Don't suppose we could take a bus?" Ranma had seen several go by and hoped Akane was just going to pick up the correct route. "There's a bus, but...well I don't have any money." She sounded embaressed. Ranma certainly knew that feeling. "Been there. I've got a little, if it's enough then let's take one. I don't like the looks of those clouds." Much to Ranma's relief he had enough and there was a bus that took them almost to the house. Ten minutes later they were standing in front of a gate that he found errily familiar. Feeling excited and scared at being in a place that might be more than just a temporary campsite, and might even contain his mother, he swung open the gate and walked up the path and into the house. "I'm home." He called. * * * * Nodoka heard the call. She dashed out of the kitchen and into the entryway. She had to admit that she was nervious. Her husbands insistance that they set asside the agreement, at least until Akane was taken care of, worried her. What kind of son did she have that her husband was worried she'd judge him unmanly? He'd said something about a curse, but nothing that made any sense to her. He was standing there looking around and smiling, a backpack held in one hand. He certainly looked manly enough. Ignoring decorum she rushed up to him and took him into a fierce embrace. "Oh, my son, how I've missed you." "Mom! It's so good to see you again." They stayed that way for a minute, saying nothing with their empty words and everything with their embrace and tone of voice. Nodoka broke off when she saw a girl peeking around the edge of the door. This must be Akane. She released her son and gave the girl a warm hug to. "Akane, I was so sorry to hear about your family. If I'd known I would have had you staying here immediately." She released the girl, who looked a little unsure. "Come in daughter. This is your home." The girl nodded and steped in. There were unshed tears in her eyes and she looked tired and drawn, not to mention half-starved. Well she could do something about the last. "You two are just in time. Go wash up and we'll have dinner." That got their attention. They both nodded egarly. She was rather happy to see Ranma help Akane get her pack off - her worry about his sexual preferences releived by the way he looked at the girl when she couldn't see. She pointed them toward the bath and went into the kitchen. She'd better make sure there was enough food. * * * * Akane sat at the table and nibbled food while Ranma and his father ate like starved wolves. She'd done the same at first, with somewhat more manners, but had filled up quickly. This was the first decent meal she'd had in a week, but she was to tired to eat anymore. Nodoka had treated her like a member of the family, not a guest. She'd dished up food for Ranma while Nodoka did the same for his father, serving the men and elders first as was traditional. She'd fussed over her, saying they should trim her hair and that she needed to eat more. She felt like she *belonged* again. Her mouth twitched into a tiny smile and something deep inside her relaxed. Kasumi was taken care of, and now she could worry about herself for a while. Tonight she was well fed, warm, and would be sleeping in a house that wasn't about to collapse. She closed her eyes just for moment, a moment that stretched out until she was sound asleep. === End Chapter 1 ===