Part 1
Invitations
Town Theme (Dragon Quest VII)
Ranma trudged downstairs after his bath. His mind was still occupied with the thoughts brought about by his unusual dream. Could the possibility of a cure for his curse exist outside of the Naanichuan? Was it a sign of future events? Would there be a price? And if so, what? He had become so occupied with his pondering that he failed to notice he had already reached the dining room.
“Good morning, Ranma-kun,” Kasumi chimed as she sat a bowl of rice and second bowl filled with miso soup at his place on the table. Ranma took another moment to think how Kasumi was always cheerful, no matter what. His thoughts were once again in vain. “Mornin’,” he muttered, his mind again occupied with last night. However, the aroma of the breakfast before him and how it made his mouth water quickly caused him to forget the weight on his mind and within less than a minute, the food half-gone.
The morning ritual had become so routine that no one else took a second look at Ranma as he wolfed down his breakfast and Kasumi cheerfully gave him a second bowl of rice and commenting on how nice it was to have a healthy appetite. He ate this second bowl a little more slowly and glanced around. Genma was in his panda form, heartily eating everything that had placed before him, including an attempted theft of the pickle in Ranma’s miso soup (which he easily stopped). Soun was eating much more slowly and looked very deep in thought, or despair. Ranma would have wagered a lot of money that Soun had lost yet again to Genma, but the events with the Gambling King taught him a hard-earned lesson about the dangers of gambling, especially against cheaters. Speaking of cheaters, Ranma thought as he turned his eyes towards Nabiki, who had already finished eating, was writing down numbers and making calculations on her abacus. Kasumi was already cleaning up and beginning to wash the dishes. Happosai was nowhere to be found, which worried him. More so, however, was Akane. She still looked as ready to explode as she was when she woke him up.
Even though she had splashed him awake this morning, Akane was still mad for some reason, and Ranma hoped it wasn’t him. But he would probably never find out, knowing her. What could it have been this time? Ranma asked himself in thought, she’s really been on edge more so than usual lately. If I even mention something she doesn’t like, she won’t just get annoyed; she’ll get enraged. Must’ve been when I tried to keep Ryoga out of her room again, or when she caught me at Ucchan’s last night so I didn’t have to eat her cooking, or when Shampoo attacked her twice yesterday saying that if Akane was dead, she could marry me. Or maybe… Ranma continued to rattle off possible solutions in his mind as to why his fiancé was so tense lately when she stood up, glared at him, and said, “Come on, Ranma, we’ll be late for school.” Since Ranma was never a big fan of having a black eye, he simply shrugged and followed.
As he ran along the fence, keeping in pace with Akane below, Ranma was silently praying that today would be semi-normal for a change. In hopes of starting out that way, he had suggested to Akane that they take a slightly different (albeit longer) route to school in order to possibly avoid Shampoo. Surprisingly, Akane agreed without a sharp comment added to it. Those hopes were shattered as the sound of a loud, familiar “Nihao!” was heard right as Shampoo rode in from behind on her bicycle, jumped off, and gave him a nice good morning GLOMP that knocked him off the fence.
“Ranma! You take Shampoo date, yes?” the purple-headed Amazon asked as she hugged her Airen to a near rib-breaking point.
“Shampoo,” Ranma wheezed, he couldn’t breathe. “You know I have to go to school…”
“No!” Shampoo screamed louder and hugged him tighter, “Ranma date Shampoo!”
“How were you able to find me anyway? We’re taking a different route to school…” Shampoo failed to loosen her grip, but she smiled, “No can hide from Shampoo. Shampoo love help find Ranma.”
The young man only gulped as his eyes turned at Akane who, as he expected, was already glowing blue from her anger and rushing at him, mallet in hand. Ranma desperately tried to pry himself away from Shampoo but hadn't even come close as he immediately found himself not only torn from her arms, but also flying through the air with Shampoo’s cry of “Aireeeeeeeeeeeeeeennn…!” following him.
“The clouds are so nice and quiet today…” Ranma said to himself in his half-daze as he reached the apex of his flight courtesy of Akane’s Mallet Airlines. He sort of envied the peacefulness in the air, unlike his life on the ground. He didn’t bother to look down to see where he would land, the result tended to be the same no matter where. He sighed and closed his eyes, waiting for the impact with the cold water.
Down on terra-firma, Kuno Tatewaki was standing just inside the Furinkan High School gates waiting for the one who his mind had been set to crush, kill, and destroy. Today is the day in which I shall defeat you, Saotome Ranma, he thought, “Then your claim on both my pig-tailed goddess and the lovely Tendo Akane will be relinquished. Then, at last, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High’s honor shall finally be restored!” He hadn’t realized that he had spoken those last statements out loud. Kuno threw his head back and laughed, drawing the attention of several students. He imagined his victory over Ranma and his ‘double’ date with the pig-tailed girl and Akane. He became so preoccupied with both his laughter and vision that he failed to notice what looked like a meteorite headed straight for him.
“I hate to say this, Kuno,” Ranma said as he picked himself up from the unconscious Kendo Club captain after he had broken his fall, “but it looks like I owe you one.” He grinned as he dashed into the school building, thinking of what Akane’s expression will be when she found him already in the classroom and completely unhurt. The new route to school and Shampoo had actually helped him out today.
Fifteen minutes and one chewing out from Akane later, Ranma sat in class, already bored out of his mind as the substitute teacher was reading off from the roll. Hinako-sensei, along with many of the students were out sick with a pretty nasty flu virus that had been going around the area.
“Tendo Akane-san?” the teacher called.
“Here!” Akane replied.
“Saotome Ranma-san?”
“Here…” he muttered, barely audible enough to understand.
“Kuonji Ukyo-san?”
No response. Ranma’s eyes widened.
“Kuonji Ukyo-san?” The teacher asked again before marking her as absent.
Hmm, so Ucchan’s got it too, that’s too bad Ranma thought, then grinned as an idea slammed into his mind. I can go and visit her during lunch and maybe she’ll want me to stay with her for the afternoon. The perfect way to get out of these pointless classes! He didn’t notice that Akane was reading his face and scowling. Because of the thought of only a half-day of classes for Ranma, lunchtime would be a long way off.
He’s up to something, Akane thought as she glanced over at Ranma just enough to put him in her peripheral vision, he’s watching the clock more than usual. Like Ranma, her day had started miserably: When she woke up, she found Happosai in her bed wearing a very poor disguise of P-chan. The old lech didn’t know what hit him as her mallet sent him over a distance that would have made any pro golfer jealous. After she had whacked Ranma during the incident with Shampoo, she immediately produced her bonbori from wherever she keeps them (much like her mallet) and attacked. Fortunately for the youngest Tendo, a car drove by, splashing a puddle left over from the pervious night’s rain onto the Amazon, leaving her to scamper back to the Nekohanten in cat form. Akane thought that things couldn’t have gotten worse, until she ran across a pervert who flipped her dress up with a yo-yo. He quickly found himself eating the pavement.
The only thing that had started out good was that when she got to school, she didn’t have to put up with Kuno’s irreverent poetry because he had already been knocked out cold by someone, or something. Although that had lifted her spirits a little, Akane was still feeling frustrated with Ranma and yelled at him before class started in order to feel even more better. She didn’t intend to be mean like that, even though he always brought out the worst in her. She began to worry that she was treating Ranma as more of an object to be hit in order to relieve stress than a human being. If they did get married, what was to stop her from treating him like that for the rest of his life? Akane pushed those thoughts aside and turned her focus to school until it was time for lunch, also keeping a semi-constant vigil on Ranma.
Meanwhile, right outside of the district, Happosai was just beginning to wake up from one of the best sleeps he’d ever had. Only his eyes opened to find himself face-down in a gigantic puddle of mud. He had learned from his previous mistake of sleeping with Akane on the roof and in order to keep her from beating the tar out of him, Happosai fashioned a very well-padded disguise of her pet pig, but maybe it was a little too well-padded. The martial arts ‘master’ stood up in his P-chan disguise to find himself in the midst of several large hogs. One of them walked up to the runt, sniffed him a couple of times, then snorted with enough force to knock Happosai further back into the mud, which was just starting to harden due to the late morning sun.
Back at school, Ranma was beginning to doze off. What good is Math going to do me anyway? He thought and looked at the clock for the umpteenth time. Only five more minutes… Come on, Ranma, you can make it… He still hadn’t noticed that Akane was still checking up on him every now and then.
What is that jerk waiting for? She thought, he’s only going to be more impatient this afternoon. Ranma’s attitude toward school reminded her of something that an exchange student from the United States had told her about. She had said that oftentimes you could see cars with bumper stickers that read “I’d Rather Be Fishing” or “I’d Rather Be Hunting.” Akane chuckled to herself when she got the idea to paste a sign that said “I’d Rather Be Practicing Martial Arts” onto his back. A loud THUNK interrupted her thoughts as she heard Ranma’s head hit his desk. Akane felt more sorry for the desk, especially since it was his head that had hit it.
Ranma didn’t feel his head hit his desk as sleep overpowered him, but the dream he was having was exactly the same as the previous night’s, only from a different perspective. This time, he could see himself traversing along the labyrinth like he was watching some kind of adventure movie.
“I hope Shampoo’s all right,’ the dream Ranma said to himself, “it’s been over since we got separated.” Separated? Ranma thought, Shampoo was with me… in here… alone…? He swallowed hard and watched the same events that he remembered from last night unfold: the rank smell, the decorated, self-opening door, the chamber as it lit up, the sweet taste of the mysterious liquid that cured his curse. But at least now he would be able to see whose body it was hung from the large doorframe… if the ringing of the lunch bell hadn’t startled him into waking up.
“Dammit, not again!” Ranma swore, ignoring the eyes of all those who turned his direction. He quickly realized what time it was and what he’d planned, and began to dash out the door, leaving most people with the impression that he’d forgotten his lunch (which he had done).
“Ranma!” Akane yelled as she sprinted to follow him, “Where are you going?”
“As if an uncute tomboy like you needs to know everything I do!” he called back as he headed outside. This lit the flame.
“Ranma no baka!” she shouted as she chased him while throwing various buckets, chairs, desks, mops, and even a couple of male students that were within reach at him, yelling “Baka!” with each throw.
Outside the building, Kuno was just recovering from his unconsciousness. “That foul Saotome must have done something to immobilize me,” he said to himself as he walked towards his classroom. He could see a cloud of dust heading his way and grinned when he saw that his opponent was the cause of it.
“Saotome Ranma!” he challenged, “Today is the day that I smite thee!” and charged forward. Ranma didn’t even reply as he simply leapt over the Kendo artist and over the school wall.
“Coward! Come back and fight me!” Kuno called after him.
“Look out!” came Akane’s voice from behind him.
“Huh? Akane?” he turned towards the sound of the voice, only to be immediately hit between the eyes by a flying desk, and once again knocked out cold.
“Oh! Kuno-sempai, I’m so sorry!” was the last thing he heard.
“That was almost too easy,” Ranma said as he crouched on a nearby rooftop after he had insured his getaway. “But now I owe that bastard another favor,” he grumbled and watched Akane look around for him for another minute. She must have seen him as he stood up and headed off because he could hear her shout, “Ranma no baka! Go off and see Ukyo for all I care! I hate you Ranma! I wish I’d never met you!”
Up in her room, Ukyo was laying in her bed, staring at the ceiling, and feeling absolutely miserable. Her temperature was over 101 and the doctor ordered her to stay in bed for an entire week. As if that hadn’t been enough, Konatsu was off on a training trip, so there was no one to run the shop. This is going to cost me a lot of money, she thought, then sighed. She turned her head towards the window when she heard a light but familiar tap on it. Her face immediately brightened when she saw who was there. Ukyo held up her finger in a “just a minute” manner, put on the mask she had worn to the doctor’s, sat up slowly, managed to get out of bed, walk to the window, and open it.
“Ranchan, you naughty boy,” she said, smiling behind her mask, “Didn’t you know you’re not supposed to sneak into a girl’s room like that? Come on in, you’re a sight for sore eyes.”
“Hiya, Ucchan,” he said as he climbed inside. His eyes widened a bit when he saw her. His cute fiancé’s eyes showed fatigue and lack of energy, but what shocked him was that all her could see on her was a large T-shirt that covered her down to the tops of her knees. He wanted to know if she was wearing anything under it and swallowed. Before he said anything, Ranma swept her into his arms and picked her up.
“Oh, Ranchan,” she said, blushing, “what are you doing?”
“Putting you where you belong,” he said, smiling as he set her back in bed and covered her up again.
“Thanks, Sugar,” Ukyo giggled, but immediately fell into a coughing fit.
“Sorry I made you get out of bed, Ucchan,” he sighed as he sat on the side of her bed, “I guessed you had the sickness that’s been going around when I didn’t see you at school. So I thought I’d come take care of you and help out while Konatsu is away.” He smiled at her again, hoping that she wouldn’t figure out that his real intent on coming here was to cut classes. After all, Ranma had no Poker Face ability whatsoever.
”Ranchan,” she said sternly, giving him a look that made him sweatdrop, “did you have another fight with Akane? Is that really why you’ve come here?” Ranma gulped. “But that’s okay,” she continued, sounding slightly more cheerful, “you can always talk to me about it, day or night, in sickness in health, for better or worse. We’re friends after all.” She hoped he would get the marriage reference, but knowing him, it would go in one ear and out the other.
“Thanks, Ucchan. But for once I want you to get what’s bugging you off of your chest, then you can hear me out. You should be feeling a bit better in order to help someone else feel better. You can’t bandage a comrade’s wound with two broken hands. So how are you feeling?”
Ukyo grinned again. “Before I answer that, I think you should do something about your… appearance. After all, it wouldn’t be good for you if someone caught you in my bedroom here with me, alone.”
Ranma saw her point and sighed, “be right back.”
She only chuckled, “Come back here. I was just kidding. No one’s going to burst in on us.” Ranma gave her a look of “Yeah right” and re-seated himself. “So how are you feeling?” he asked again.
Ukyo coughed again and sighed before saying, “I’ve really been better, Ranchan. This virus hit me overnight, I had to wait almost two hours to see the doctor, then another half-hour to pick up some horrible-tasting medicine. I’ve been confined to bed for a whole week so I can’t open the shop. Actually, I’d only been home for ten minutes when you arrived but,” she smiled again, “your coming here has been the best thing to happen to me today.” She reached out and took Ranma’s hand. “Thank you, Ranchan.” Another smile formed behind her mask and she spoke again before Ranma could reply, “So tell me, what’s bugging you?”
“I’m surprised you still even want to listen since you’re sick and it’s just the same old thing; Akane.”
“Tell me anyway, you just said it’s good to get these things off of your chest.”
Ranma didn’t realize that he was still holding Ukyo’s hand and spoke, “Akane’s always mad at me, as you know, but lately it’s been far worse than normal. She hardly gives me any time to wake up before splashing me with cold water or throwing me into the pond. She’s beginning to hit harder and with less warning when Shampoo tackles me. And for some reason, today’s been worse than the last week combined. When she saw me leaving the school, she threw everything within reach at me. Then, when she saw me headed towards here, she once again said she hated me and never wanted to have anything to do with me.”
“Maybe she’s just having a bad day,” Ukyo comforted.
“She’s had bad days every day since I’ve shown up and our parents forced our engagement.” Thinking about that made Ranma’s blood boil. “I still can’t believe that that happened! My Pop has always forced me into the craziest of situations and leaves me to sort out the mess on my own. And half the time it wasn’t my fault or I didn’t know anything about it!”
“I know…” Ukyo sighed as she remembered the incident of when she was to become his fiancé. Ranma only continued, “Don’t we have our own ability to think, decide, and act for ourselves?”
“Ranchan, you’re right,” Ukyo lifted her head a bit when she heard that, “the freedom to make decisions is a gift given to us that nobody can change or take away.”
Ranma calmed down for a moment and realized the power behind her words, ‘Nobody can change or take away.’
“You’re exactly right, Ucchan!” he exclaimed, “I’ve had enough and that’s what I’m going to say! Tonight I’m going to tell Pop and Mr. Tendo that if Akane and I are going to get married, it will be if, and only if we decide to marry each other! I’ll tell them that I’m going to choose my own fiancé and the family honor that could be lost because of it be damned! I am my own person!”
“Ranchan…” Ukyo’s voice seemed to soften a bit. She was absolutely shocked that he, Saotome Ranma, a man who devoted his life to honor, had just said that. But wait, she thought, he said the family honor be damned, not his personal honor. Maybe there is no more honor in the Saotome family after all that Genma has done. Her thoughts were interrupted by another large coughing fit, followed by an enormous yawn.
“Guess I’ve worn you out,” Ranma said, “want me to leave so you can rest?” Ukyo shook her head.
“Please stay, Ranchan, but only if you want to.”
Ranma, now realizing he still had a grip on her hand, gave it a little squeeze and said, “Why would I want to let my best pal down?” He reached over with his free hand and felt her forehead, “You’re burning up. I’ll get you a damp cloth. Be right back.” After watching him leave, Ukyo sighed happily.
What’s wrong with me today? Ranma thought as he headed downstairs and into the kitchen. I always knew Ucchan was cute after I learned she was a girl, but seeing her like that made me feel strange. Like I never wanted to leave her side, or even let go of her hand. Maybe I’m just getting too soft and feeling pity for her because she’s sick. Yeah, that’s it. By this time, Ranma had found a small bucket and cloth. He began to fill the bucket with cold water and soak the cloth, hoping that reaching into the water wouldn’t be enough to trigger his curse when the front door of the shop slammed open, even though it had been locked.
“Where is Furinkan High School!” Ranma immediately knew the voice, Ryoga. He ran back into the dining area, where indeed, Hibiki Ryoga was looking around for someone to ask for directions.
“So here you are, Ranma!” he shouted once he had seen him,” looks like I won’t have to find the school after all! We’re going to finish this unsettled business once and for all, here and now!” He reached for his umbrella.
“Ryoga, you moron!” Ranma retorted, “Haven’t you noticed that you’re at the Ucchan?”
“Wha?” Ryoga blinked and looked around, realizing that he did know this place, but quickly regained himself. “Never mind that, we fight here and now!”
“Much as I’d like to knock you around some, I don’t have time to deal with you, Ryoga! Ukyo is sick in bed and…” a brilliant idea came to his mind, “so is Akane! She’s at home, sick in bed!” Ryoga nearly dropped his umbrella.
“Akane-san sick?” he asked, “I must go to her!” and dashed back outside the restaurant, failing to notice a well-worn piece of paper that had been stuck on his pack flutter to the ground.
“That idiot,” Ranma muttered, “not only is he headed in the completely opposite direction, but now he’s littering,” and bent to pick it up and throw it away. “Ucchan’ll kill him for making any kind of mess in here.” Just as he was about to toss the paper, he quickly noticed some kind of drawings on the other side, as well as some Chinese characters that were worn and faded. Figures that it’s Chinese, he thought as he upped the stairs (completely forgetting about the cloth and bucket), I’ll have to get the old ghoul to translate these, probably.
Ranma re-entered Ukyo’s room where she immediately looked up and asked, “Ranchan, what was that noise? What happened down there? And what are you holding?”
“Ryoga stumbled into the shop and challenged me,” he replied, sitting back on the bed, “but I got rid of him. When he *cough* left, he dropped this,” and showing her the paper.
“It looks like a type of maze on the top,” she examined, “this middle portion looks kind of like Japan, but I’m not sure because it’s so faded. And these characters, isn’t this Chinese?”
“Yeah, I might have to ask the ancient witch to translate ‘em. Or if I get desperate, I might even ask Mousse or-“ A loud THUD shook the building, knocking down one of the walls inside Ukyo’s room interrupted him. On the other side of the settling dust stood a familiar figure.
“SHAMPOO?!” Ranma and Ukyo exclaimed in unison.
“Lost boy say that Ranma in with spatula girl,” Shampoo growled, “find Ranma in bedroom! Shampoo no can forgive!” She raised her bonbori, “Spatula girl… I KILL!” and charged towards the bedridden Ukyo with death in her eyes.