[Ranma][X-Over][Fanfic][The Bet] Fist of Orion 1-3
Gregg Sharp
FIST OF ORION part the first: Saint Ukyou?
trademarks owned by a whole lotta OTHER people.
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com/
email: metro...@mindspring.com
this is just an idea sketched out that (like way too many)
started taking off on its own. The idea was to come up with
a different approach to the "Saint Ranma" thing i'd done awhile
back as it had too many elements duplicated in other people's
works.
============================================
The Kami Plane, Mimir's Well__________
"The timelines are merging back to normal
quite satisfactorily," Hephaestus looked up from his
inspection at the Fate and the Norn. "Some are lasting
a BIT longer than we originally estimated."
"I see." Atropos looked from Hephaestus to
her colleague from a different pantheon. "What of your
entry? Surely you won't let it fade completely?"
Skuld shrugged. "It's terminated, or might
as well be. After that one godling and that moderator guy
threw up in it, then Shen Long took it over..."(1)
Atropos shrugged. "So some collapsed early,
some collapsed late, and these temporary timelines are
just mixing up. I mean, look at this one over here."
"Is that the one where Akane eats the Supersoba
and Nabiki convinces her sister to keep the strength and go
with electrolysis?"
"No, that's over there. Pity it also increases male
tendencies towards aggression and sex drive. No, this one
over here."
Skuld blinked. "Looks like they're all welded
together, doesn't it?"
---------------------------------------------
Genma turned to his six year old son. "Okay,
Ranma, you know the drill. Run in, grab some food, and
keep that guy chasing you."
"Hmmmph." Ranma nodded his head. Maybe
they could go back and visit Ucchan afterwards. He missed
his buddy.
"Go," Genma commanded in the same whispered
voice.
Ranma shot near the stranger, his arm reaching
out in passing to snag one of the fish roasting on stakes
above the fire.
Genma never even saw the stranger move, he was
just suddenly fully extended, a finger stabbed out into the boy's
back. Ranma stumbled and collapsed.
Genma continued to watch as the man picked up the
fish and reset the stake so that the fish continued to cook.
Using all the sneakery he had, Genma circled the clearing
to get a better look at where his son had collapsed. Ranma's eyes
were open and unseeing, and it didn't look like the boy was breathing.
Genma thought back to the move he'd seen the stranger
use. The speed and accuracy of the pressure point move. Genma's eyes
widened. Hokuto Shin Ken.
Leaving his dead son behind, Genma fled. Against a practitioner
of Hokuto Shin Ken even the Yamasen and Umisen techniques would be
assaulting a tank with a butterfly.
------------------------------------------------
Kenshiro looked up as the other intruder abandoned the child.
As he had thought, gypsies. Someone took in a stray child, taught the stray
that they were the child's parents, and then used the child to commit
crimes.
They were especially bad in places like Paris.
Ambling over, he hit two more pressure points on the child,
taking him from a near-death state to mere sleep. A few more and he could
blank the child's memories of the false father.
Then, well, ever since Bat and Rin had left, he'd missed having
anyone around.
------------------------------------------------
"I made a deal with the boy's father," the okonomiyaki seller
frowned, having recognized the child from across the park. It had only
been six months after all.
"The father was a 'gypsy' I suspect," Kenshiro said quietly.
"So you've engaged your daughter to this boy? Even though he has
no house or last name to give her?"
"Yes..." Kuonji-san considered. The boy had finally managed
to stop his daughter from trying to beat him into flat little pancakes.
"Until
this, they got along well and I doubt I'll be alive much longer..."
"Disease? Curse?"
"Poison. Both my wife and myself were exposed to a nerve toxin
during that Shadowlaw terrorist incident two years ago in Kyoto. My wife
died last year, I'm not expected to last much longer. Ukyou wasn't exposed.
That was one reason I was so anxious to make this arrangement."
Kenshiro nodded, thinking that this Genma had known of this,
and still had abandoned the child? "Fine. She can come with us."
-----------------------------------------
"Orphans, Kenshiro?"
Kenshiro nodded, with the two children on either side of him.
"The boy was being raised by a thief impersonating his real father. The
girl was engaged to Ranma as part of a deal where the thief made off with
her father's foodcart."
"Ah, a gypsy then." Lochi nodded.
"Before I continued the boy as my heir, I thought..."
"Prudent." Lochi nodded. Helping Kenshiro to resolve
some of his problems had proven to be a wise investment. Of course,
that still left Jagi out there somewhere, and they'd never seen Raoh's
body. Still, Kenshiro had averted a lot of potential tragedies.
Kenshiro shrugged.
"They don't speak Chinese, do they?" Lochi glanced
at the continued incomprehension on the part of the two children.
"They're Japanese."
"Hmmm. How long will you be gone?"
"I can always go visit Rei and Mamaya while you check
them out. Maybe they've heard a clue as to where Yuria can be found."
"Good idea." Lochi grinned and floated up off the ground,
drawing gasps from the two children. "In the meantime they can train
with my ward Shiryu. If the girl doesn't want to train in the martial arts,
I'm sure Shunrei could use a hand."
Ranma and Ukyou spoke in unison. "<Can _I_ learn to do
that?!>"
Kenshiro smiled slightly at that. "They do that a lot, oh,
and I hope you like some sorta Japanese pizza called an okonomiyaki."
----------------------------------
When Kenshiro returned to the encampment by the
waterfalls, he knew the answer before speaking to Lochi.
Ranma, Ukyou, and Shiryu had obviously become fast
friends, and had turned competitive.
Lochi confirmed this. "They're amazing, Kenshiro. The
boy is like a sponge for the martial arts, absorbing almost any technique
and if it will make him a better warrior, will take on any training. The
girl's chi is extremely high, with training I can see her attaining Silver
at least. With Shiryu, each challenges the other the outdo their latest
best."
"Then none will make a suitable Heir for the Hokuto style."
Kenshiro wasn't too unhappy about this, his own life being an excellent
case in point for allowing the style to pass on.
"The boy has a lot of it already. If you don't find a suitable
Heir..."
"There can only be one Heir to the Hokuto style," Kenshiro
reminded the sensei of a dozen other styles, "if none of these have the
killer instinct necessary for the True Heir, then let them remain happier
without it."
------------------------------------------------
Ukyou pivoted, sliding slightly in the gravel underfoot as
she twisted to avoid the fist slamming down into the dirt near her.
"You can do it, Ucchan!"
Ukyou smiled slightly at the support from her Ranchan,
but otherwise concentrated on the titan before her. Essex was a
massive and powerful creature, a neandrathal standing well over
fourteen feet in height.
"STONE FIST!" Essex slammed another punch into the
space recently occupied by his opponent. As had been happening,
gravel sprayed up and the hard ground beneath was shattered.
Ukyou ran up the extended arm, aiming a Lightning Kick
into her opponent's Adam's apple, then a tumbling leap to send her
past her opponent's quick grab.
The crowd roared, Ranma's voice being the only one
raised in her support from the group.
Essex began to turn. Ukyou used the opportunity to
gather her power as she'd been taught. "Psi, chi, my connection
to the cosmos, through seven senses to step into the world beyond.
Canis Major Special Attack!"
Essex' sensei, Cassiopeia Saint Hillari, called out a
warning to her pupil. It was ignored as Essex was already almost
fully into berserker mode.
"NOVA FLARE!" Ukyou turned her aura into a fierce
white glow and shot forward to meet her opponent.
There was a moment of realization in Essex' eyes as
the brightly shining warrior met him in a flying dragon kick.
The crowd went silent as Essex left the battle circle
as if someone had parked a JATO (Jet Assisted TakeOff solid fuel
rocket) on his chest. From the thick trail of smoke coming from
his leather cuirass, some present could easily imagine such a
thing happening.
Ukyou was just catching her breath when she
felt herself picked up and whirled around.
"You did it, Ucchan!" Ranma laughed aloud and
seemed as happy as if he had been the one to win a
Silver Cloth and the attendent status as Silver Saint Canis
Major.
Ukyou looked at the trail of gravel that had been
fused together by her passage and realized she was going to
have to work on controlling and directing that heat aura before
she went into battle with Ranma. "Yeah, Ranchan. But they've
only got a Bronze Cloth left for you to win."
Ranma winked, confidently. "Hey, with you here to
root me on to victory, that Lynx Cloth is mine!"
-----------------------------------------------
Gemini held his hands up as the young warriors swarmed
towards him. "ANOTHER DIMENSION!"
"Ranchan, LOOK OUT!"
Ranma stared as the hole in space/time rolled across his
Ucchan and they both vanished.
"PEGASUS U-SEN KEN!" Seiya began his swarming meteor
punch against Gold Saint Gemini.
Shiryu circled his arms, drawing his own power forth.
"DRAGON SHOZEN HAU!"
Ranma looked down at the scrap of white ribbon on his arm.
The bandage that Silver Saint Canis Major Ukyou(2) had tied around his
arm when he'd gotten wounded during the fight with Gold Saint Taurus.
The bandage made from the ribbon she usually tied her hair with.
"NEBULA CHAIN!" Andromeda Shun used the pointed chain
while the round chain lengthened into a defensive ring. The chain stopped,
like the other attacks, just before striking the Gold Saint.
Ranma looked up, aura flaring up around him. He didn't care if
drawing this much power incinerated him at the moment. "DIE, YOU F*CKING
B'STRD!"
---------------------Mimir's Well------------
Skuld blinked. "That's an attack?"
Atropos let out a sigh. "That's NOT the name of the attack,
Skuld-chan." Privately, she thought it SHOULD be.
--------------------------------------------------
Ranma was inside the reach of the larger figure, slamming
punches and kicks into the figure without pause. His aura continued to
build, burning whiter and hotter as he committed himself.
Shun waited until the Gold Saint was distracted, then fired
his pointed chain through his enemy's face mask. He was a little
suprised to see the length of chain vanishing within.
Ranma continued, finally causing the Lynx armor he was
wearing to fly apart and reform as another armor entirely.
The others stared, recognizing the Cloth, even as they realized
that Ranma was too far gone in anger and grief for the change to even
register consciously.
"You are NOT getting away," Ranma growled, summoning his
energies into a single attack that he directed along the path of the chain.
"ORION STARCRUSH!"
All over Sanctuary, chi or cosmos sensitives blinked and looked
toward the House Of Gemini even as a glowing pillar of silver fire formed
and
the walls of the building came apart.
Those who were sufficiently sensitive that they could see within the
pocket dimension of Athena's Walk, could tell there had been a similar
explosion
at Athena's temple at the end of the Houses of the Gold Saints.
--------------------------------------------------
"Puny ones, the power of a Bronze Saint is miniscule before the
majesty of a Gold Saint. How are you, weary from your battles up to this
point,
going to handle a fight with a GOD?" Gemini Saga's aura flared, as Ares
increased his hold over the twin who had become the head of Athena's Temple
and therefore the person best placed to kill the infant goddess.
Athena Saori stepped forward, ready to face the monster herself.
Ranma slowly pulled himself up from where he'd literally been
pounded into the pavement. "Not...so...fast...you... BASTARD!"
"Not quite yet," agreed Pegasus Seiya as he pulled himself up.
"For Ukyou, for Athena," agreed Dragon Shiryu, though he was
still bleeding rather profusely. "We will not fall THAT easily."
"Stand aside," Saori commanded, rapping her staff against the
ground. "Seiya, Shiryu, Hyouga, Shun, Ikki, Ranma. You have done well,
but this whole thing started with Ares and myself. So shall it end. No
further lives will be ended by this battle between Ares and me."
Gemini Saga smirked. "How noble and pretentious, as you are
in ALL your incarnations. DIE, ATHENA!"
Ranma watched as Saga re-established control for a brief moment.
As Athena focussed a blast capable of slaying even a Gold Saint through the
other's opening. As the terrible battle at last ended.
He turned, not listening to the talk behind him turning to
other things, to the accumulated revelations of the past year and of the
reunification of Sanctuary under Athena's rule. Ranma knew now why
Phoenix Ikki always stuck to the outrider position, never remaining with
the group. It wasn't that Seiya was a cocky little jerk, Ranma knew he had
a lot in common with the shorter boy. It wasn't that Cygnus Hyouga tended
to get positively obsessive with the memories of his mother and weird
everyone out with that stuff. It wasn't even the way that Andromeda Shun
tended to stare at you, particularly in the gym locker room...
No, you just couldn't get any serious brooding done until you
could get away by yourself.
Stopping near the damaged House where Pisces Aphrodyte had
been killed in a bishonen battle, Ranma looked to the stars and wept for the
friend he had lost.
-----------------------------------------------------
The big tournament was being held when the stranger
wandered in. He stepped over to the first prize and seemed to be
considering it when the current betting favorite in the 14-15 year
old category saw him and took exception to his ignoring her.
Shampoo stopped in mid sentence when the boy turned
towards her. He was her own age, and yet something in his eyes told
her that he had just been through a terrible tragedy.
Shampoo heard whispering behind her, and felt a flush of
anger. How dare they try to make it out as if she'd allow a well-built
cute young male body to influence her decisions?! Snarling slightly,
she pulled out her bonbori and prepared to make a few choice threats
to this outsider male. She'd prove that she'd never be so weak as to
allow defeat by a mere male.
She couldn't be Champion until next year, but she was fifteen
and full of pride at the moment.
"Miss," the boy said in oddly accented Mandarin, "if you're
about to threaten me, I would strongly suggest you reconsider. You are
in WAY over your head."
Shampoo blinked and a new wave of whispering broke out from
the crowd. Again all this talk about how Shampoo must really have taken a
liking to this male. "Then I challenge you! I cannot accept this idea that
ANY male
is a better fighter than an Amazon woman."
"Amazon?" The boy blinked. "Never heard of Amazons in China.
Master Lochi sure didn't mention them. Well, if you want a challenge..."
Cologne had been ignoring the whole thing until that name was
dropped. Then she did something that caused consternation within the ranks
of the Amazons.
Cologne fell, speechless, off her cane. Her eyes blinked and she
tried to gauge the boy's chi level. She was stunned by what she saw there
and the realization that her great granddaughter was about to formally
challenge a Saint. Not just a Saint, but a Silver Saint at that.
Shampoo stepped forward, ready to formally strike this boy as
means of issuing a challenge. She never made it.
The boy stepped forward in a blur of motion, his fist burying
itself in Shampoo's stomach and doubling her over.
Shampoo shot across the assembly grounds, past the challenge
log, and impacted rather noisily into the second story window of the
Community Bathing House.
Ranma shook his head, then looked around. "Look, people, err
Amazons, however you're supposed to be addressed. I just really got a lot
on my mind just now. I'm sorry for the interruption, and I'll leave now.
Just...
I'm sorry." Hanging his head, Ranma left.
Everyone's eyes tracked from the trudging warrior to the window
of the Bathhouse, to where Cologne was staring at the boy, and back to the
boy himself. There was a village-wide, synchronized, blink.(3)
Cologne hastily kept anyone else from attacking the boy. One
was enough. For now, at least.
--------------------------------------------
next: can you go home again?
(1) "Bet: King Of Fighters"
(2) Why Canis Major? Dog totem stands for loyalty and fierceness,
qualities Ukyou has in great quantities, the opinions of the
True
Knights excepting. There's another reason for the Orion (Ranma)
and Canis Major (Ukyou) referents, but that's way down the line.
(3) Sorry Jared, i wrote this scene and that line was too perfect not
to
paraphrase. gomen ne.
SAINT SAEYA: This is a series i saw back in the Old Days before you could
get subtitled/dubbed tapes at the videostore. It dealt with the
reincarnation of
the ancient Greek pantheon (Athena and Ares in the first plotline) and their
champion warriors, the Saints.
Bronze Saints are the lowest level, having a power level roughly
along
the line of Ranma and Ryouga near the end of the Ranma 1/2 series. Wearing
their special armor (Bronze Cloth) increases their chi/cosmos levels by
roughly
double. Silver Saints are (supposedly) ten times more powerful than a Bronze
Saint. Gold Saints are one hundred times more powerful than a Silver Saint.
This completely diverges from the original plotline, more so
after the
first plotline (Athena Vs Ares).
HOKUTO NO KEN/FIST OF THE NORTHSTAR: A heavily angst filled journey
dealing with Kenshiro, Heir to the Hokuto Shin Ken, an assassin's martial
arts
style that deals with pressure points. Kenshiro's most commonly used move
causes bodies to explode from internal pressure/vibrations.
Kenshiro needed to "break the fists" of his brothers in order to
fulfill the
duties of the Heir. He failed to do so, and for the rest of the series is
dealing with
all the deaths, pain, suffering, and generally bad things that have come
about
mainly because of his youngest brother Jagi and his BIG brother Raoh
(Ken-ou).
In this version, Kenshiro found help and has had a better time
of it. Rei
(Southern Cross Waterfowl Fist) has settled down in a village with his
sister and
a girl named Mamiya. There has been no nuclear or bacteriological war. Yet.
Raoh was stopped by Libra Lochi, though no body was found. (Y'all know what
THAT means.) Yuria is still missing, and Kenshiro is wandering the world
looking
for her.
Bat and Rin were the male and female kid sidekicks in Hokuto
No Ken,
and were adult freedom fighters in Hokuto No Ken 2. Here they're just two
kids
who are living out peaceful little lives in a small Chinese village.
FIST OF ORION part the second: Home again?
trademarks owned by a whole lotta OTHER people.
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com/
email: metro...@mindspring.com
comments welcome, flames and comments about
ancestry are not.
on the other hand, if there's something you like here, let me
know what it is so i can keep doing it.
this is just an idea sketched out that (like way too many)
started taking off on its own. The idea was to come up with
a different approach to the "Saint Ranma" thing i'd done awhile
back as it had too many elements duplicated in other people's
works.
----------------------------------------------------
Nodoka Saotome opened the door to see a
strongly built young man, tall and with a sense of raw power
about him, standing there looking decidedly uncomfortable.
She estimated his age at being sixteen.
"Uhm, excuse me," the boy mumbled. "Is there a
Genma Saotome here?"
She smiled at the boy, thinking that he was here
to study martial arts. "He's in back, practicing with his daughter.
May I say who's here to see him?"
The boy obviously struggled with a decision. "Tell
him that Ranma Saotome is here to see him."
Ranma didn't expect the woman to faint.
----------------------------------------------------
"How could you be Ranma?" The chubby looking
man stared at the boy uncomfortably sitting at the table. "My
son died in a ...training mishap."
"Two years ago, while learning to explore my inner
reserves, I broke through some mental barriers that had been
placed by a well meaning practictioner of Hokuto Shin Ken."
Everyone present noted how pale Genma had suddenly turned.
"Do go on," urged Nodoka, sipping at her tea,
proper decorum having again been achieved.
"He believed I was an orphan being used by a
'gypsy' or someone who steals children in order to have
them commit crimes that the 'parent' can then profit off of.
It is common in some parts of the world, and in truth, I
WAS being used in such a manner."
Genma turned another shade paler and began
to visibly sweat when Nodoka's eyes glittered in his
direction. "Gee...uh...I don't remember it like that."
"You don't remember having me swipe food
for both of us as part of a game?"
"Papa! That sound like game you show me!"
Little eight year old Ranko chirped.
"Errr...." Genma was now whiter than his gi.
"In any case, you don't have to worry about
Ucchan, the child you abandoned on the road." Ranma
sighed and stared at the table.
"Ucchan? Dearest, why don't you explain
about children you've left behind?" Nodoka was maintaining
her usual aura of calm with an effort at this point.
"Uhm, err, I, that is," Genma tried to figure out
how he could lie to his wife. It wasn't easy, she'd gotten
to know his body language really well over the past few
years.
"Ucchan was Ukyou Kuonji. A girl that I was
engaged to when father stole her family's dowry."
"Dearest?" The aura of calm was beginning
to crack.
"Errr."
"Oboy, Daddy, did you engage me to
someone?"
"Ahem, I..."
As Genma had not immediately answered
with a negative, the aura of calm around Nodoka was
in serious danger. "Dearest? I think that the response
to you taking my daughter on that training trip is going
to have to be 'no.' I really must insist."
"Oh?" Ranma blinked at his sister. "So,
Ranko, where were you going to go train?"
"China!" Ranko clapped her hands and
smiled.
"Errr..."
"Dearest," there was no hint of warmth in
Nodoka Saotome's voice, "did you not say that you
were just planning a little trip into the mountains?"
"Well, yes..." Genma nodded. He hadn't
said WHICH mountains, after all. And it would have
been after Ranko had been trained in the legendary
CatFist to make her an invincible warrior!
"So, Ranko, are you training in the
Anything Goes style?" Ranma looked with a gentle
smile at the sister he hadn't known he had.
"Yup!" Ranko's head bopped up and
down and she made an enthusiastic noise.
"That's good." Ranma looked back to
his parents, realizing he still didn't feel particularly
close to either of them. He did feel a bond of
kinship with his sister, though.
"Excuse me, Ranma?" Nodoka broke
into her son's musings. "Where is this 'Ucchan'
anyway?"
"Oh, like I said, Father doesn't have to
worry about her...she died a little over a year ago."
"Oh my. I'm so sorry," Nodoka couldn't
miss the very real grief hanging over this stranger
who was apparently her son. She was still in a bit
of shock about it all. "How did it happen?"
Ranma sighed. "Kenshiro took Ucchan in
shortly after he 'rescued' me from Father. It turned out
that Ukyou's father was dying and he had no relatives
for Ucchan to go live with. That's why he was so happy
to engage his daughter off at that age. Her mom had
died a while back, don't know the details.
"Anyway, Ken had gotten some help from
this really old and powerful sensei in China when he
was kinda on his own, and so took me and Ucchan to
this guy so Ken could continue to look for some girl
named Yuria.
"The sensei's name is Lochi, and he knows
dozens of martial arts styles himself. He taught me and
Ucchan, plus his own ward Shiryu. Shiryu and Shunrei,
me and Ucchan, we were like a little family of our own.
Learned a lot from 'em.
"Anyway, there was this guy named Saga.
Tough old guy who was out to assassinate some girl
named Saori. Since Shiryu and Lochi were pledged to
assist this gal, me and Ucchan agreed to help." Ranma
decided to keep the whole thing on a much simpler level
than had occurred. Let them think it was just a bandit
king and some martial arts stuff.
"Anyway," Ranma continued into the silence,
"Saga had this special attack, sorta magic, where he
caused the air to swallow up a victim. Ucchan...got caught.
She..." Ranma's voice broke. They'd been friends for years,
trained together, ate together, maybe he'd even come to
love her, but now he'd never know.
Ranma was startled by the gentle touch on
his shoulder and he looked into his sister's tearfilled eyes.
"Don't cry, big brother," Ranko said in a sad voice, "we
here now."
Ranma looked to his mother, to see sympathy
there, and then at his father to see... relief? Whatever it
was, it was gone again in a moment. Ranma took a deep
breath to compose himself. "Well, anyway, Saga's dead.
I've been wandering since then until I heard there was a
family named Saotome here in Juuban practicing the
Anything Goes style of martial arts."
"How nice, now, Genma. Why don't you tell
me what else you might have failed to mention about these
training trips?" Nodoka's voice had developed an odd
sing-song tone to it.
"Son," Genma said, standing up. "You're
sixteen now, so there's something we have to do NOW."
Ranma blinked. "What?"
"Go meet a friend of mine, this is VERY
important." Genma also wanted to give Nodoka some
time to calm down. He knew her well enough to know
that when her eyes glittered like that and she started
to sing her sentences, that she was about ready to unwrap
her katana. She'd never gotten to the point where she'd
completely unwrapped the thing yet, and Genma wasn't
anxious to see the blade in all its glory.
Genma decided to make a phone call, just
to warn his old buddy that Ranma was coming. He
couldn't give a lot of details, though, as Nodoka was
listening and this MIGHT just push her over the edge.
Edges and Nodoka just seemed to spell
bad news to Genma's viewpoint.
-----------------------------------------
"What is this, a dojo challenge?" Ranma
blinked at the sign, then nodded. No doubt it was a
rival school, and he was here to challenge it. No
problem.
"Uhm, not exactly," mumbled Genma.
"Oh, you must be...Ranma?" A short haired
girl in a kimono looked down at little Ranko with an
expression of distaste. "Please tell me you aren't Ranma."
"Nopenopenope!" Ranko chirped happily.
"I'm Ranma," Ranma identified himself. The
girl didn't move like a martial artist, so what was going on here?
Nabiki's gaze almost clicked audibly as it locked onto
Ranma. "Well well well. My goodness. So YOU'RE Ranma?"
Ranma nodded and returned the girl's smile as best
he could. "Yes, and you are?"
"Oooh, he IS cute," Nabiki called back into the
house. Nabiki turned back to Ranma. "I'm Nabiki Tendo, your
fiancee."
Several people in the courtyard stiffened at that
remark. Genma was still wondering if maybe he should go on
a training journey until things had calmed down.
"Saotome, I thought you said that your son was
dead?" Soun looked over the four people standing in the
yard. "Now, Nabiki, that hasn't been determined."
Nodoka glanced at her husband and motioned her
daughter closer to her.
"Excuse me," Ranma was polite, calm, and wanted
to stop this immediately. "Did you say 'fiancee' or did I hear
wrong? How many fiancees did you arrange for me?"
This proved the signal for the situation to deteriorate
"Now, dearest!"
"SA-O-TO-ME!!"
"I HATE BOYS!"
"Oh dear, oh my."
"Papa look so funny!"
Nabiki looked the situation over, decided that this
Ranma fellow was fairly cute, and began working out angles
with her usual efficiency. Motioning him and the little girl
inside, Nabiki smiled at the look of relief to pass over both
faces.
"Everybody getting real loud," Ranko said.(1)
"Yeah, and it doesn't look like they're gonna
reach any kind of decision soon." Ranma sighed.
Akane paused at the doorway, then followed
the small group in. "Say, Ranma, you're the Heir of the
Saotome School, right?"
"Uhm, actually, I think Ranko here is." Ranma
indicated the eight-year-old. "I've trained fairly extensively
in other martial arts for quite awhile."
"Oh, well," Akane mumbled. She really wanted to
fight someone and determine her progress in the martial arts.
The morning crowd at school, or even Kuno, were hardly a
fitting benchmark. "Would you like to get in a quick bout
out in the dojo while they're arguing?"
Ranma shook his head. "I don't think that'd be a
good idea. The martial arts training I've gone through, especially
after the past few years, have been against REALLY tough
opponents."
The temperature dropped. "Are you saying that
I'm NOT?"
"Oh, I'm sure that against your average fighter you're
quite capable. You also have some good chi potential but you're
not trained to use it properly."
"I'm not trained properly? Average fighter?" Akane
began to twitch.
"Is she always this selective in her hearing?" Ranma
asked the shorter haired girl.
"No, she must like you." Nabiki raised an eyebrow.
"Well, why don't you let her get it out of her system, then we
can talk. If you make it quick we can get it done before the 'adults'
have gotten their stories straight."
Kasumi had noted that two of their guests was with
her two other sisters and went to the kitchen. She was a strong
believer in proper decorum, and some hot tea might help everyone
calm down. Especially in drizzly March weather.
---------------------------------
Ranko sat next to Nabiki on the sidelines, trying to
duplicate the older girl's posture exactly.
"Akane Tendo versus Ranma Saotome, round-o one,
FIGHT-O!" Ranko had been playing Street Fighter II.
Akane leapt forward, ready to prove herself. She
punched, she kicked, she threw a rapid series of strikes that
would have cut a swath through the morning gantlet. Ranma
didn't seem to be there for any of the blows.
"WHY WON'T YOU FIGHT ME?!" Akane began to
work herself further into anger. They were going to engage her
to someone this insufferable?
"Because it isn't right to pick on the weak," Ranma
answered, then realized that might not have been the right thing
to say.
Akane's eyes widened and her right eyebrow began
to twitch. "We-we-WEAK?!"
"Ah, Ranma, if you don't go full out against her, you'll
never hear the end of this." Nabiki mentioned from her place. Ranko
was merely staring at big brother.
As Akane was not currently attacking, Ranma partially
turned from the battle to address Nabiki. "But that wouldn't be
right, miss."
"It's Nabiki." Nabiki watched as Akane rushed forward
to take advantage of the lapse. "Watch yourself."
R-RIPPP!
Akane danced back, a torn scrap of ribbon hanging in
her hand. "Take me seriously yet?"
Nabiki paused. The look on Ranma's face was of someone
who had just gone past shocked as he looked at where the ribbon
had been tied to his sleeve. The eyes continued to get darker as his
gaze swept over to where Akane was holding the scrap up. A piece
of the ribbon lazily drifted down to the dojo floor.
"C'mon. Oh, the big bad fighter lose his pretty ribbon?
NOW will you fight me for real?"
"Uh oh!" Nabiki and Ranko managed simultaneously.
Akane paused and an old English phrase about sowing
the wind came to mind. The battle aura pouring off of Ranma right
now was stronger than she'd ever felt. "Oops. Errr."
"You...little..." Ranma's chi flared into an incandescent
golden aura.
Akane braced herself against the sudden wind blowing
from this boy across the dojo floor. She considered apologizing, but
realized the boy most likely wouldn't even register it from that
expression.
Genma, Soun, Nodoka, and Kasumi came running to the
dojo doors in time to see the display. Little rocks began to float up
into the air. The dojo walls were rattling.
"You have taken something precious from me," growled
Ranma. "You wanted me to fight you for real, DID YOU?!"
"That was from his girlfriend who died," Ranko helpfully
pointed out to Nabiki what was currently two scraps of cloth, one
still being held by Akane.
This was sufficiently loud that everyone's eyes tracked
to the two pieces of cloth, to the determined look on Akane's face,
and back to the glowing martial artist.
"Oh my," Kasumi summed up.
Ranko thought of something. "BREAK!"
The aura and wind snapped off. Ranma still looked like
he could and would chew Akane up and spit her out. He was
shaking but nobody there thought it was from fear.
Kasumi came in, gathered the scrap of cloth from
the floor, tugged the other one out of Akane's hand, then sat on
the sidelines and began sewing them back together.
Just as everyone began to relax, Ranko thought of
something. "House rules. No chi attacks, no permanent injury,
no destroying the dojo. ROUND-O TWO, FIGHT-O!"
Nabiki stared in alarm as Ranma shot across the dojo
floor, almost seeming to disappear in a blur.
Akane raised her arms in an "X" shaped block.
Ranma thrust his finger forward three times in a rapid
move that was merely a blur to everyone present who was watching.
Kasumi and Nabiki couldn't make the move out at all.
"Don't ever do that again," Ranma warned Akane,
then turned to Kasumi to see if she could do anything with the
ribbon.
Akane slumped to the floor, twitching and making odd
noises in the back of her throat.
"What did you do to her?" Nabiki scrambled across the
floor to where her sister was lying in an untidy pile.
"I hit a few pressure points. She'll be OK." Ranma paused.
"You REALLY wouldn't want to see what I could do to her if I went
flat out."
"Urk!"
"What kind of pressure points?" Kasumi looked up from
her sewing.
"Well, you're the one I owe a favor to, since you're doing
that. So, anything you want her to do around the house?"
Kasumi paused. "Well, if she could help clean once in
awhile, that would be nice."
Ranma winked. "Gotcha." He walked back to the twitching
Akane, tapped a series of points so quickly that Nabiki couldn't
see them, then whispered in the girl's ear.
"Zombie pressure point?" Kasumi asked brightly.
"That's really not a good name for it," Ranma sighed.
"It's sort of a posthypnotic kinda thing."
Akane got up and glared at the boy. "Whatever you did
didn't work, you..."
"Tendo-san," Ranma said tiredly, "I COULD have hit
a pressure point combination that would've caused your muscles
to rip free of the supporting tendons in both legs. I COULD have
hit your Mute Button. I could have hit your 'pleasure points' and
left you writhing in ecstasy on the floor of the dojo. I know just
enough Hokuto Shin Ken to be dangerous. That's why I usually
use the style Lochi taught me, but that uses chi."
Ranko hmphed as she nodded happily.
"So, Ranko, how did you know the House Rules,
anyway?" Ranma looked over at his precocious little sister.
"Didn't!" Ranko grinned. "Made it up. You plenty
PO'ed brother!"
"Ranko, such language!" Nodoka chided her
daughter, though she was pleased that her daughter was
fairly quick on her mental feet.
"Daddy taught me." Ranko nodded again. "He
also teach me <censored> and <very censored> and <oh
boy is this censored.> He also said <you wouldn't believe
how censored> once when he was trying to teach me to
drink."
Everyone immediately forgot about any lapses
of control on the part of Ranma as their gazes audibly
clicked on the portly man in the glasses.
"Uhm, well, I, errr..." Genma loosened the neck
of his gi.
Kasumi stood up, handed the ribbon back to
Ranma, and smiled sweetly. She turned, and with the grace
of a ballerina crossed to directly in front of Genma
Saotome.
Some were reminded of a ballerina. Ranma,
Genma, and Ranko were all reminded of large feline
predators.
With suprising speed for a non-martial artist,
Kasumi grabbed the older man's gi and pulled him to where
she could look directly into his eyes. "Mister Saotome,
do you really think this is appropriate material to teach
a young lady?"
"Erk..."
"Kasumi, isn't it?" Nodoka asked sweetly. "If
I may? He's my husband, so it is my responsibility to
correct his behavior..."
"Oh, of course, Mrs Saotome." Kasumi stepped
back. "Be my guest."
"Thank you," Nodoka Saotome inclined her
head. "You are most gracious."
Genma started to move when his wife's hand
grabbed the neck of his gi and pulled him into the exact
same position he had been in a moment ago.
"Dearest? Do you really think this is appropriate
material to teach your young daughter?"
"Erk!" Genma repeated.
=================================
(1)- Before i get a lot of e-mail correcting Ranko's speech patterns,
THIS Ranko is a little girl. Little girls, unless they're trying really hard
or named Ami Mizuno, aren't that proficient with language. She's eight
and has spent most of her life training in the martial arts.
She starts getting better at Japanese in the next month/chapter.
FIST OF ORION part the third: Trial & Error?
trademarks owned by a whole lotta OTHER people.
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com/
email: metro...@mindspring.com
this is just an idea sketched out that (like way too many)
started taking off on its own. The idea was to come up with
a different approach to the "Saint Ranma" thing i'd done awhile
back as it had too many elements duplicated in other people's
works.
-------------------------------------------------
Everyone noticed Akane's sudden compulsion to
clean the dojo and start scrubbing the foyer. Nabiki was
thinking of ways to put this to use. Kasumi was thinking of
the extra time she might have in her day.
Genma was scared.
"Son," Nodoka said, her eyes tracking the girl
who was angrily muttering as she tried to get that stubborn
stain out of the wood. "Don't you think that's a bit much?"
"Nah. It'll wear off."
"What're you talking about?" Akane sounded
puzzled. Why were people staring at her? What was wrong
with everyone? How could she most efficiently clean out the
tracks to the sliding door?
Soun and Genma shuddered. What a terrifying
technique.
"Sis, did you realize that you're polishing the
phone?"
"Yeah, so?" Akane paused. "You suppose the dojo
floor needs varnishing?"
"Oh my," Kasumi added, but with a faint smile.
Akane was doing a good job, too. A brief, guilty, and immediately
discarded thought came to her about getting Ranma to do this
to Nabiki and her father so they cleaned up after themselves.
----------------------------------------
"Well, THAT went well," Ranma grumbled. He had
not enjoyed this and was debating whether having finally
found his family was really worth all this hassle.
"Son," Nodoka started then paused. "I still have
some trouble with the idea of my son returned from the grave."
"Didn't die." Ranma said. "Came close a few times
but didn't get there."
"Nopenopenope," said Ranko, riding on her big
brother's shoulders. Big brother was quite obviously healthy.
Genma grumbled a bit.
"Now, dearest, the Saotome and Tendo lines can
still be joined. I must say, though, that you and Soun choosing
Akane initially was ill-conceived." Akane had blown up,
oddly enough AT Ranma. She'd referred to him as an
insensitive jerk and a monster. Ranma had agreed and asked
what point she was trying to make.
"As a sparring partner, possibly, as a pupil, she
has considerable promise. As a fiancee?" Ranma glared at
his father. "Sometimes I have doubts about our relationship
myself, and I REMEMBER being sent out to steal food for
you during that training trip."
"Remember!" Ranko nodded. "Papa-san say is
good training! Just like panty raids with HIS old Sensei!"
"Errrr," Genma sweatdropped, hanging his head
a little bit. Silently praying to all-merciful Buddha that his
wife HADN'T heard that.
Nodoka had some strange ideas about what
constituted manly behavior, though raising a daughter
had tempered those views somewhat. She didn't say a
word, however, merely adding an item to the list of things
she planned on discussing with Genma later.
Ranko grinned down at her big brother from
her position on his shoulder, the eight year old noting
that Ranma seemed to barely notice the weight. After
careful consideration, and noting the way the eldest
two Tendo girls had been inspecting her newly found
brother...
She'd have to do something so big brother
didn't go escaping. "So you going to school with 'Biki?"
Ranma sighed. "That was part of the deal.
I don't have to marry one immediately, but I have to
get to know Nabiki and Kasumi. Meanwhile I can train
Akane in basic chi manipulation and some of the basics
of a few styles that I was taught."
Genma grumbled some more, phrases about
how "honor demanded the lines be joined" and "the
boy doesn't know what's best for him" carrying quite
clearly to the group.
"Father, you were correct once. Ucchan,"
Ranma hesitated at the feelings that her name still
brought up within him, "Ucchan was also one of your
arrangements. In that case you had chosen well. It
is still too soon after her death for me to even consider
some backup arrangement you may have made."
--------------------------------------
Kuno glared at the young man arguing
with Akane. No, it was worse than that. He was
talking to Akane calmly about technique.
"Hold there, who are you to talk
in such a familiar way to Akane Tendo?!" Kuno
held his bokken at the ready.
"He's another one?" The boy looked
down at Akane from his considerable height. At
Akane's nod, the boy grinned. "Okay, watch carefully
and I'll demonstrate."
"This is MY fight," grumbled Akane under
her breath, but a little curious herself.
"But wait, is it not proper to introduce
oneself first?" Kuno raised his bokken over his head
in proper melodramatic fashion. "I am Tatewaki Kuno,
rising star of the kendo world, my peers call me the
Blue Thunder Of Furinkan High!"
Lightning pealed. The strange boy snickered.
"I'm Ranma Saotome. I'm her instructor in a
couple of esoteric martial arts styles. Shall we dance?"
"Insolent whelp!" Kuno started forward
only to realize that the boy had already closed the gap
and there was an open palm strike heading for midchest.
It turned out to be a feint, and the strange
boy punched out rapidly, raining blows over the front
and sides of the kendoist.
Kuno slammed into the school wall, bounced,
and hit the ground.
"Which style was that?"
"Wing chun style kung fu. Just because it
was come up with by Buddhist nuns, don't discount it.
It's a very powerful style. Ucchan made pretty good use
of it. I also think you'd be good at a couple of other
styles..."
Kuno staggered to his feet after a moment,
only to find he was going to be late for class.
-------------------------------------
The teacher looked up. "We have a new
student today, Ranma Saotome, who has recently
come from an extended trip in China."
Taller and broader than the gym teacher,
with shoulders wide enough that a eight year old girl
could comfortable ride on one for nearly an hour,
and a lean but quite obviously muscular form,
Ranma was being eyed by a number of the girls in
the class in an entirely predatory manner.
Ranma bowed slightly towards the
class, not entirely sure how he was supposed to
act in such an unfamiliar setting.
"You can take a seat over by
Mister Fujihara near the window."
Again there was rampant
whispering from a number of the girls present.
In this case it was HOW he was moving that
served to impress.
"Mister Saotome, this is an
English class, so I'd like to gauge your
ability before we get into today's lesson.
Why don't you tell us a little about yourself
in English?"
Ranma could feel the scrutiny
from all around him and particularly from
Akane. "<Uhm. Okay. I'm better at Chinese
(well at least Mandarin) than English. One
of my...associates back in China was American,
and another from England was.>"
"Not bad, Saotome, not bad. Well,
everyone turn to your primers, the sample
conversations on page 39."
--------------------------------------
Ranma sighed and followed Nabiki
into the house. It had been a long day and it
was far from over.
"So, Ranma, how was your day?"
"Fine, Kasumi." Ranma bowed
slightly to his other fiancee. "I'm fine. How
are you doing?"
Kasumi blinked. Someone actually
was concerned about her and inquiring as to
how SHE was doing? "F-Fine."
Akane stepped out of her room,
having changed to her yellow gi from her
school uniform. "Let's get this over with. It's
not like I really have to learn any of this stuff
anyway."
Ranma shrugged. "It's a pity, then.
I think all three of you have some excellent
potential."
Nabiki nearly dropped from where
she was listening. Kasumi blinked. Had she
missed something?
"You must be mistaken. Neither
Kasumi nor Nabiki have practiced the Arts
since I was little."
"Make you a bet," Ranma said
with the beginnings of a smile. "If either of
your sisters cooperates with me, I can get
them to where they can take on and beat
that guy who was at the front of the school
in...say, one month."
"Dream on." Akane smirked.
"You haven't got ANYTHING I want that
bad."
Nabiki's eyes widened as she
recognized that a trap had been laid and
her youngest sister was heading straight
for it. Ranma was using a carrot approach,
when Akane was expecting a stick.
"Hmmm. How about," Ranma
appeared to be thinking about this, "if I
win, then you have to learn flower
arranging. If YOU win, then I talk to our
folks and get this whole training thing
dumped."
Akane scowled. "FLOWER
ARRANGING? Why that?"
"It's quiet."
Ranma stepped away from Akane
and walked into the kitchen. After a moment,
Kasumi followed.
Akane blinked. "I think I've just
been insulted." She sounded uncertain.
Nabiki smirked from her
eavesdropping position. Well, Akane DID
get loud on occasion. Nabiki continued to
smirk as she backed away from the wall,
setting her water glass on the desk.
She turned and came to a
complete stop.
Looking at the broad
muscular chest of someone who had
somehow managed to sneak into her
room without her knowledge.
"Well, Nabiki? Wanna
train?" Ranma smiled down at her.
\---------------------------------------------------\
"Well, this wasn't QUITE how
I had planned to do this," Ranma confessed.
"Still, it's do-able, I think."
"Ah, but, Ranma-kun..."
"Don't worry, Kasumi. We're
not working on that sort of thing." Ranma
shrugged. "I know you're not inclined to
be violent."
"I'm sorry, Ranma-kun, even
Nabiki is betting against you." Kasumi
looked down. "I'm afraid I just am not
much of a fighter."
"Nonsense, Kasumi." Ranma
put his hand beneath her chin to nudge
her head up. Looking into her eyes, he
smiled. "You have the heart of a samurai,
it's just you have trouble with the idea of
hurting someone, right? Trust me, that is
NOT such a bad thing. However, I'm not so
proud that I don't know when I could use
some help. So, I took the liberty of asking
someone to help in this little endeavor."
"Help?" Kasumi blinked, as
far as she could tell they were alone.
"Master Lochi, I think aikido
or hwarang do. What do you think?"
The air shimmered and a
squat purple figure smiled up at Kasumi.
As Kasumi got her heartrate
back under control, she realized that she'd
just leapt up into Ranma's arms. She
decided that it was improper to stay there
much longer. Of course, her knees felt a
little weak right now and falling down
would be rather undignified. Better to
tolerate this for the moment.
Kasumi, having found a reason
not to move for the moment, turned her
attention back to the odd monk.
"I think," Lochi said after a
moment, "Ranma, that you're rather more
like Saeya than either of you will admit. Your
mouth moves much faster than even your fists.
Still, she DOES have some promise, doesn't she?"
-------------------------------------
A month passed.
Kuno gestured with his bokken
at the girl wearing normal houseclothes,
including the frilly apron, and carrying
(of all things) a simple broomstick. "Surely
you jest. I am to fight... "
Ranma smiled and noted the
young physician staring at Kasumi. Particularly
the WAY the man with the glasses was
staring at Kasumi. "If you win, I relinquish all
claim to Akane Tendo."
That Ranma HAD no claim other
than as a trainer was completely lost on the
kendoist.
"Very well then! I accept!" The
Blue Thunder drew his bokken back into a
ready stance.
"Of course if you lose, however
unthinkable that might be, then you also call
off the morning attacks on Akane. Agreed?"
"I fail to see the problem." Kuno
read the nervous stance of the girl standing
there and calculated how much force it would
take to make her surrender. Surely not much.
Akane glared at Ranma, how dare
he involve Kasumi in this? She couldn't fight,
and how much could she have learned in one
month anyway?
Nabiki took bets, thinking along
the same lines. A short old man she'd never
seen before was putting down heavy money
on her sister. Nabiki smirked and recorded the
bet, grateful to be able to get THIS sort of
money in an afternoon's work.
Nabiki smiled a bit more as she
saw her sister standing there looking very
self-conscious. Kasumi would come back
to the house from this one-month stay over
at the Saotome's house and all would be well
in the household again.
Nabiki's smile faltered a little bit as
little Ranko solemnly held a cute black
piggy bank up in her hands and placed "all this
on Kasumi-chan!"
Akane decided she had had enough,
as she noticed Ranma going over to talk to
Doctor Tofu. Akane stalked over to her sister.
"Oh, Akane! It's good to see you again!"
"Kasumi, you don't have to go through
with this nonsense! When the match begins, forfeit."
"Oh my, Akane, I couldn't do that. I would
be showing disrespect to my sensei." Kasumi smiled
at her sister. "This might be fun."
"Fun? Kasumi, this is Kuno. He won't
hesitate to strike you."
"Akane, promise me you won't try to
interfere, will you?"
Akane frowned and turned away from
Kasumi. She'd have to take this up with Ranma.
Her eyes passed over the crowd and stopped.
Who were these extra people anyway? A lean
bishonen type leaning against a tree. A Chinese
boy with long hair. Some others, all quite formidable
warriors from what she could read of their
movements.
"After all, my new friends are here to
see my first challenge fight. I can't let them down."
Kasumi continued to smile. Why, she hadn't realized
that there were so many ways to end a fight without
actually hurting your opponent.
Ranma stepped away from Doctor Tofu
to raise his hands over his head and call for silence.
"This is a match to decide several issues here. In this
corner, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, the kendo
champion 2nd dan, Tatewaki Kuno."
Kuno blinked as he heard various boos
and hisses coming from a number of the spectators.
His eyes picked them out of the crowd and he frowned
as he realized he didn't recognize any of them. Well,
they would watch and learn.
"In this corner," Ranma said after a brief
pause, "Kasumi Tendo. Centauri Alpha Bronze Saint
Candidate."
The crowd went from "mainly silent" to
"you could hear people breathing" for a few heartbeats.
"No way," said Nabiki, breaking the silence.
A cold hand of dread had just found her heart. "In one
month?"
Kasumi looked down, blushing. After all,
she was just a trainee and would never go on to become
one of the elite warriors. It just wasn't her nature.
"BEGIN!" Ranma swept both hands down.
Kuno bounded across the cleared area and
swept out with a casual strike.
Kasumi seemed to blur slightly and was
now standing a few feet away, hands clasped behind
her back and blinking at the kendoist.
Kuno frowned. Perhaps this would not be
quite as simple as he had thought. "Strike-strike-strike-
strike-strike-strike-strike!"
Dodge, weave, leap, each move seeming
both lazy and casual. Her only use of the broomstick
seemed to be as just something to occupy her hands.
Kuno was rapidly losing his temper. Kasumi
was looking only mildly winded. More amused than
anything else.
Akane dropped the call for Kasumi to
forfeit. Her sister was reading Kuno's motions and
was responding before the kendoist had truly
begun an attack.
Kasumi floated above a vicious slash,
and even the most combat-inept of the observers
was taken by the way she seemed to hang weightless
briefly.
"Pardon me." Kasumi's broomstick tapped
out lightly against a spot near the lower back of the
Blue Thunder. "I'm really sorry about this."
"Kasumi, that wasn't his sleep spot."
Ranma called out from the sidelines. "That was his
shiatsu explosive castration point."
The vast majority of males in the audience
winced and brought their legs together, just imagining
the awful possibility that this wasn't a joke.
"Oh my."
Kuno's reply was a whimper.
Akane tried to memorize the move.
Kuno tried to turn and face the girl
now behind him but his legs were not cooperating.
"Uh oh." Nabiki began sneaking off.
Kasumi, apologizing profusely, hit the
proper areas and sent the Blue Thunder into a deep
dream where Akane Tendo ministered to his wounds.
Nabiki almost made it to the gate.
---------------------------------------
"Actually, Doctor Tofu was the BACKUP
plan. You didn't know he was a practitioner of an old
branch of Hokuto Shin Ken did you?"
Nabiki stared at nothing in particular. "I'm
going to have to declare bankruptcy before I graduate
high school..."
"No worry, I loan you money, you just
sign here on voucher," Ranko passed the pen and
paper to the stunned Nabiki.
Nabiki absently signed it, still lost in
the financial ruin she had found.
"Ranko! You've picked up some
bad habits from your father." Kasumi scolded
the little girl then read the document. "Oh my!"
Nabiki could have sworn that she
couldn't feel any more low. She had the sensation
of being on a freefalling elevator suddenly.
"What?!" (1)
"Ranko has agreed to pay off your
debts," Kasumi said with a worried tone. "There's
just one little thing..."
"Yupyupyup," chirped Ranko, taking
the contract back. "Now big brother has a reason
to stick around!"
"Oh my," said Kasumi and Nabiki
simultaneously.
-------------------------------------
(1) Yes, i know Ranko's contract for Nabiki
wouldn't stand in a legal court. No hanko, and a
legal document handwritten by an eight year old girl
isn't likely to be taken seriously by anyone in the
real world.
This is a Ranma fic, however...