[Ranma/SM][FanFic] Sailor Ranko Just Add Water, Chapter 12
Bill Heineman
The ongoing saga of "Sailor Ranko", set after "Sailor Ranko: Tunnel Vision"
Based on "Sailor Ranko" by Fire and "Twice in a Millennium" by Kevin D.
Hammel and acknowledging "Black Moon - Eclipse of the Sun" by Arthur Hansen
By Bill Heineman
I don't own these characters. Please don't sue me, kill me or cover me with
chocolate syrup.
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Ranma noticed that it getting near two o'clock. He had to be at work at
three. He realized that he couldn't go to work in his condition since his
waitress job was for Ranko Saotome and not Ranma. He called the sushi bar
and said that Ranko was sick and if Akane could take her place. After a few
words to Ranko's manager to convince him that Akane could do the job, Akane
was accepted. Akane got dressed and left in the nick of time to get to
Juuban to keep Ranko employed.
Ranma sighed. He hadn't appreciated how useful his Sailor Sun teleportation
ability was until it was taken from him. It only drove more stakes through
his heart. He really missed being able to transform into Ranko. He missed
her.
"RANMA!" came the cry from the laundry room. Ryoga was trying to fight Ranma
but just couldn't find the room Ranma was occupying. Ranma was sitting in
the living room on the couch.
Ranma leaned over to Akari who was sitting across from him. "Why is Ryoga
mad at me? I didn't do anything to him."
Akari cracked a tiny smile in embarrassment. "He still has nightmares about
the day you pushed him into the spring of drowned piglet. I've tried to have
him go to therapy about it." He looked toward the laundry room where Ryoga
was trying to escape. "He can be so stubborn."
"Why is he the lost boy again? I thought that he didn't do that anymore
since you and he got engaged."
"My husband does that when he gets mad or emotional." He looked down and
started to cry again. "I'm the reason he's mad. I wish I known that Happosai
was going to change me. I don't want my darling to be angry."
Ranma heard a commotion from outside the dojo. "Where are you Ranma?" Cried
Ryoga. "Show yourself!"
Ranma was amazed how single-minded Ryoga had become. "I'd say he really
needs therapy." He reached over the table and lifted Akari's head, "Please
talk to him, and let him know that his enemy is Happosai. I want to help you
change back." Ranma saw Ryoga wander to the dojo. "If he's like this, he'll
only get in the way."
Akari nodded, "Please do me a favor Ranma. Please don't call him names
anymore. He really hates that." He got up and went to the dojo. He opened
the door and called inside. "Ryoga!"
Ryoga heard Akari's male voice and filled up with anger. He gritted his
teeth and tensed up his muscles thinking about the fact that his wife was a
he.
Akari stood at the dojo doorway. He asked softly, "Ryoga, please answer me."
Ryoga couldn't resist. He turned and gazed at Akari. The sun was shining
from behind Akari and gave the appearance of a golden halo around him. The
light masked his male features out. The silhouette and the long hair made
his wife look for a moment like the girl that Akari truly was. Ryoga melted
at the sight. "Oh Akari." He went to his wife and held him. Ryoga held his
eyes shut. He only wanted the vision of his wife in his true form to be in
his mind.
The moment didn't last. The pressing against Akari's flat chest was enough
to break the spell. Ryoga broke the embrace and took a step back.
Akari shed another tear. "Please Ryoga. Don't be angry. I know you'll find a
cure for me."
Ryoga turned around and his battle aura formed around him. He wanted to
destroy something.
Akari felt a little more masculine. He got angry. "Listen to me!" Ryoga
shuddered at the loudness of Akari's voice. "Don't turn your back on me!"
Ryoga was surprised at the forcefulness of Akari's voice. He slowly turned
his head to look behind him.
"Are you going to help me or not?" Akari stood with arms down and a stern
look on his face.
Ryoga turned his body around and gaped his mouth opened and closed.
"Ranma and the others are looking for my cure. Happosai is behind
everything." Akari looked away, "If you love me. Help them. Please." He
turned, cried and ran to the house.
Ryoga stood there for a few moments. He churned his thoughts around and
blended them into a fine puree. It was clear to him. Happosai was the enemy.
Happosai was the one who must pay.
He slowly walked out of the dojo and toward the house. He stayed focused on
the job at hand. He needed information. Ranma had the information. He had to
stay focused. Ryoga went to the living room where Ranma stood up. Akari was
weeping in the love seat across from Ranma. Ranma didn't raise his fists,
but he was ready to fight in a moments notice. Ryoga stood next to his wife
and held his shoulders. He faced Ranma, "Tell me what I need to do."
Ranma let out a breath. "We look for clues."
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Ryoga and Ranma searched Happosai's room. They found and took all of the
ancient looking books and artifacts away. Ranma snuck away for a moment to
call Sailor Mercury on his communicator. Even though Ranma could no longer
transform, he was still considered a part of the team.
Sailor Mercury arrived to help catalog and sort all of the items of magical
nature. She scanned the pentagram and numerous scraps of paper littered
about. Ryoga gleefully wiped away the pentagram. Anything that Happosai
created was a target for Ryoga's wrath.
They sorted through Happosai's stolen collection and decided that they would
have to send these things to a secure location to prevent something like
this from happening again. Notes, papers, scrolls and sealed magical boxes
were packed in several crates and carefully placed into a rented truck. It
was to everyone's surprise that Soun didn't have a driver's license so they
had to ask Haruka to rent the truck and drive the stuff off to the airport.
Everything was loaded onto the next flight to America so that Giles can
destroy what can be destroyed and lock away the rest forever.
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Ranma saw it was getting late. He tried to get his henshin stick to teleport
back to his apartment in Juuban and was reminded again of his ability loss.
He bid everyone goodbye and started to go home. Nodoka followed him outside.
Ranma stopped outside the front gate. Nodoka held her son's shoulder. "Do
you want to talk about it son?"
He leaned against the wall. He tried to detect the presence of others with
his Senshi powers but couldn't. He used his martial arts skills and knew
that Taro was close. "This way mom." He led his mother away from the
compound and a few blocks away. They stopped at a small park and sat on a
bench.
Ranma picked up a pebble and threw it at a tiny pond that was in front of
the bench. "Things are different again for me, mom." He sighed, "Why can't
my life be stable?"
"I can't answer that. I know you will find a way to make things right."
Nodoka gave a look of motherly compassion.
"Part of me is missing." He grew resolve. He stood up and assumed a manly
pose. "I'm going to get it back." He faced his mother. "Mark my words. I'll
punish that little freak."
"If it means anything to you son. I never liked Happosai either. However, I
owe him for one thing."
Ranma was ashen; "You owe a favor to Happosai? Why?"
Nodoka remembered her past, "I don't owe him a favor. I just owe him. You
see it was because of him I met your father."
Ranma knew this was not going to be pretty. He sat down next to his mother.
"Happosai introduced you to dad?"
Nodoka turned around to see if they were alone. She blushed, "Not exactly,
well, what happened was that Happosai tried to molest me. Your father came
to my rescue. He pulled Happosai off of my..." She looked down at her chest.
"Then he and Happosai fought in front of me. Your father was beaten to
protect my honor. I helped him up and took him to my home where I helped him
recover."
Ranma listened.
Nodoka continued, "Well, he was so manly standing up for me. I fell in love.
We were married shortly thereafter. A little over a year later, you came to
me." She emitted a happy glow thinking about Ranma's birth. "At first I
didn't mind Genma's training journeys with Soun, but I started asking your
father to take more responsibility at our home. I had to raise you by
myself. I held a job cleaning houses to make ends meet."
Nodoka started to be happy; "Your father took a big interest in training you
in martial arts. You were taught how to kick only a week after you started
to walk. By the time you were three, you could break bricks with your hand.
You were a black belt when you were five. He spent every moment when he was
home training you. I was so proud of you."
Nodoka started turning sad. "Your father acquired debts during his training
journeys. He left on a trip and I had bill collectors stop by asking for
money your father promised them. One day, Genma came home and he was
overjoyed. He said that his old master would not be returning anymore. He
was now the master of Anything Goes martial arts. That was one of my
happiest days I can remember. My husband was going to stay home."
Nodoka shed a tear. She wiped it away. "That was the day that Soun and Genma
had trapped Happosai in that cave. I had a feeling that Happosai was Genma's
teacher in the martial arts. Genma didn't want to tell me that the man who
tried to molest me was his martial arts master."
Nodoka started to convulse as she held back from openly weeping, "Happosai's
training ruined your father. He became a thief and a liar. He stayed home
all right, but he and Soun went out drinking almost every night. Soun was
drowning his sorrow about his wife's death and Genma; well he just wanted to
drink. It wasn't long after that, that all the people Genma stole from on
Happosai's behalf found out where we lived. People arrived trying to avenge
whatever Happosai had done to them."
Nodoka looked up at the stars. Tears flowed from her eyes and glistened in
the moonlight. "I spent all the money I saved to pay for your father's
debts. The bill collectors just kept coming. Your father then announced that
he was going on a training journey and he was taking you with him."
Ranma shivered at the story of his childhood from his mother's point of
view.
"I argued with him." She gave a little laugh. "I actually hit him." She
giggled, "I hit him with a lot of things. I didn't want him to take you from
me."
Ranma swallowed, "That was when my dad made that promise, wasn't it?"
Nodoka gently nodded, "He invoked the name of our family honor. He pledged
that he would make you a man among men and that this journey was the first
step to achieve that. Only after you and he signed that damned contract did
I allow you to leave with him." Nodoka grabbed Ranma around the neck, "Oh I
missed you so."
Ranma returned the hug to his mother. "I.. I didn't know."
"I had no idea that Genma wouldn't return for so long. If I had known, I
would have never let you go."
Ranma looked at the moon high above. It was showing through the night clouds
giving an eerie light to the Tokyo skyline. "I never knew."
Nodoka pulled away from Ranma. She controlled herself to stop crying. "I owe
Happosai one thing."
"What mom?"
"A good beating. A beating that the gods would fear. His training of my
husband made him into the man he is today. He is a coward and a liar. He is
not the man I married."
Ranma grew scared, "You aren't thinking of divorcing dad are you?"
Nodoka shook her head violently, "No! Of course not! He is my husband.
Somewhere deep inside of him is the man I married." She grew sullen.
"Someday, I'll find him again."
Ranma held his mother's hands. He wanted to go back in time and somehow give
back the missing years to his mother. It was a wish he couldn't make come
true.
Nodoka gave a look of disgust, "I don't understand why Soun tolerates that
evil little man. I would move out if our home wasn't a pile of debris."
Ranma smirked, "Well mom, I owe Happosai a good beating too."
Nodoka turned serious, "Ranma, please promise me this. Don't kill him."
Ranma pulled back. "Uh..."
"As much as that man has caused my life to suffer. He was the one who made
it possible for you to be born. I would have never taken your father in had
he not defended me." She gazed into Ranma's eyes and smiled the smile of a
mother in love with her child. "I would never change my life in any way if
it meant that you would not be my son." Nodoka moved forward and kissed her
son on the cheek. "I love you Ranma. I am proud to be your mother."
Ranma stuttered, "Uh... Mom... I can't protect him. Happosai has done so
many terrible things."
She grinned, "Well, you can beat him up. He deserves that." She grew
serious, "Just don't be the one who kills him."
Ranma did not want make this promise. He so badly wanted to be the one who
removed Happosai from this plane of existence.
"Promise me." Nodoka commanded.
Ranma softly spoke. It was barely above a whisper, "I promise." He hoped he
would not regret this promise.
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Ranma and Akane were once again on the roof of the Apartment building in
their morning sparring session. They laughed when they saw a sign taped to
the fire escape saying that rooftop access from the hours of 5 AM to 7 AM
was "at your own risk". The apartment manager had a sense of humor.
Akane was overjoyed that Ranma was showing her the Hiryu Shoten Ha
technique. He taught Akane how to run in the circle to prepare for the
punch. Ranma was impressed at how quickly Akane mastered the first step. He
didn't raise his battle aura so that Akane could practice the final blow but
not send Ranma into the stratosphere. He thought about having the next
sparring session in a remote location so Akane could perform the final
action and create the tornado. He was so happy at his wife's progress that
he grabbed his wife and kissed her passionately.
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Ranma was eating his lunch in the schoolyard thinking about his mother's
request. He didn't know if he could hold back from killing Happosai. He
wondered if there were things worse than death. The possibilities made Ranma
happy. Maybe there was a way of having his cake and eat it too.
Minako was worried. They had an exhibition volleyball game and the school
they were challenged from played by a different set of rules. She asked
Ranma, "Have you heard of something called 'Martial Arts Volleyball'?"
Akane and Ranma rolled their eyes. Ranma replied, "Please don't tell me that
you're going to play that."
Minako sipped her drink, "Well the coach accepted already and the team for
St. Hebereke High School will be here right after school. He's been studying
the rules since this morning."
Akane moaned the moan of someone knowing that the bus she was riding had
gone over a cliff and the crash was seconds away, "I hope you have major
medical coverage. Our team is going to have to deal with exploding
volleyballs, sticky nets, and physical contact."
"You've got to be kidding!" Minako couldn't believe such a game existed.
Akane leaned back on the grass and crossed her legs. She gently kicked one
leg back and forth. "Nope. We played a lot of martial arts sports in Nerima.
I played martial arts volleyball a few times." She reached into her book
bag. "I knew about the match, so I brought this." Akane handed a book to
Minako, it was titled, "Martial Arts Sports for dummies. Nerima Press. By
Rumiko Takahashi."
Minako opened the book. "Martial Arts Gymnastics? Martial Arts Badminton?
Martial Arts Okonomiyaki? What sort of a person would come up with this?"
Akane shrugged, "I don't make the rules. I just play by them."
Minako turned to the chapter marked "Martial Arts Volleyball". She dropped
her jaw lower and lower with each turn of the page. "I'm asking the coach to
forfeit. This is ridiculous. Check this out, 'Volleyballs can be made of any
material which includes lead, steel and TNT. You cannot use a ball that
contains magical enchantments or has the ability to track opponents.' Who in
their right mind would play this game?"
Akane took it casually, "Looks like we will. The coach shouldn't have taken
the challenge from Kodachi."
Minako whimpered. She turned to Ranma, "Please say you can change to Ranko."
Ranma got depressed and softened his expression. "Ranko... I don't know
where she is. I'm certain she would have played with you." He got very
depressed.
Usagi and Rei glared at Minako for reminding Ranma of his loss. Minako
shrunk and leafed through the rulebook. All of the girls kept quiet around
Ranma, he didn't want to think about Ranko right now. He mourned her.
Ami glanced around, "Has anyone felt any evil? Anything that would lead us
to Happosai?"
Everyone shook his or her heads no.
Usagi finished her lunch, "Remember, after school, we transform and start
patrolling the city looking for him. When he shows up, it's going to be
quick and painful. Let's make sure that it's Happosai that it's painful
for." Usagi turned to Akane and Minako, "You two will patrol around here
after your game."
Akane and Minako shook their heads, "Right!"
Usagi looked at Ranma, "Ranma, you need to stick around here. I have a
feeling that Happosai might try to do something to you first."
Ranma gasped, "I doubt it. There isn't anything he could do worse than what
had already done to me."
Ami looked at Usagi and then told Ranma, "Well, if I'm not mistaken, he
summoned the demon to get at you. Unless you've got a better idea, you're
still our bait."
Ranma didn't have a better idea. "Ok. I'm the bait. I just want to know when
and where is that unnatural thing going to show up. This waiting is killing
me."
Yoshi slowly approached Ranma. Ranma came on guard. Yoshi stood five meters
away and was ready to run away, "Ranma."
Ranma didn't want to talk to him, "What do you want?"
Yoshi sat down and kept his distance. He sighed, "I just wanted to
apologize. I'm sorry for how I acted to you."
Ranma raised an eyebrow. Anything that would reduce the number of attacks on
him was welcomed, "Ok. I accept your apology." He looked for the others.
"Where are your friends?"
"I don't know. I was wondering if you knew."
Ranma shrugged, "Why would I know?"
Yoshi looked around and then dropped his face. "They were supposed to do
something yesterday. I hadn't seen them and they didn't come home last
night."
"Well, that's not my problem."
"So you hadn't seen them since yesterday?"
Ranma was getting curious, "No, why should I see them?"
Yoshi was now worried for his friends, "I guess that old man did something
to them." He got up to leave.
Ranma jumped up and grabbed Yoshi. "What old man? Was he about this tall?"
Ranma held his hand about seventy centimeters off the ground.
"Yes, he was really short and he was bald on top with white hair around his
head. He was bug ugly." Yoshi tried to remember what the man looked like.
"Did you get his name?" Ranma was hopeful.
"No. But I remember he said that he wanted us to get some water for him."
Ranma was getting anxious, "Water? What kind of water?"
Yoshi was getting a little scared at Ranma's behavior, "He called it special
water. We were supposed to come here to school yesterday and he was supposed
to take us where the water was."
"Is there anything else? Did he say what the water was for?"
"He said it was for revenge and that we were going someplace dangerous to
get it."
Ranma looked closer into Yoshi's eyes, "Did he say where?"
"Only that it was dangerous. Uh... He said it wasn't in the sewers."
"Did he mention the word Jusenkyo?"
Yoshi wondered what that was, "Jusenkyo? What's that?"
"Never mind." Ranma had a thought, "Did you say yesterday was when he was
getting the water? It wasn't on Saturday?"
"No, we hung out at the arcade Saturday. We were supposed to meet him
Sunday."
"We?"
Yoshi was embarrassed. He didn't want to know his friends anymore, "Uh... I
didn't go. I... I didn't want to bother you anymore. I... I really am
sorry."
Ranma let him go. "Thanks for letting me know about the old man. Oh, do me a
favor. If you see the old man, call me." Ranma reached for his schoolbook,
grabbed a slip of paper and wrote his phone number on it. "I really need to
find this guy."
Yoshi looked at the phone number and slipped it into his pocket. "Thanks."
He looked at Akane and gave a wave. He focused back on Ranma, "You've got a
cute wife."
Ranma smiled at the compliment. Akane slightly blushed. Yoshi left to look
for his friends.
Ranma sat down, "Ami, you got that?"
Ami had her computer out and was trying to figure things out. "Now, this
doesn't make any sense. Was Happosai getting more Nannichuan? If that's the
case, why didn't he get it himself?"
Makoto answered, "Maybe he had someone else get the first batch and then
something happened. He used those guys to get another batch."
Ami was deeply concerned, "That's a lot of water to get. Let me show you
something." She pulled up some text. "The demon has the ability to channel
magic. It needs a sample and then it can amplify or modify the spell to
almost any power level. So just a bucket of Nannichuan is all it needs to
cast a spell to turn all women into men. Is it possible that it wants to
change women into something else?"
Usagi wanted to scream, "Don't say that!"
Rei agreed, "Yeah! Don't freak me out!"
Makoto deeply sighed, "I don't want the change into anything! I'm happy the
way I am."
Minako whimpered, "Martial Arts Dining? Martial Arts Tea Ceremony? Martial
Arts Ice Skating?"
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Happosai was hiding in the rafters of the gymnasium of Juuban High School.
>From his hidden vantage point, he had an excellent view of the girls
performing gymnastics. Happosai was not looking at the girls, he was lying
face up so he could hear the girls but not see them. Happosai's true voice
called out, "Please turn around! I want to see the pretty ladies! WAAHHH!"
The demon controlling Happosai's body was pleased. Its energy level was
almost at its peak. Soon, it would show itself and show the true evil it
possessed. It had spent the last twelve hours enchanting the Jusendo water
with the spell that would perform the transformation. The pain and suffering
would be devastating for Happosai.
In a few hours the world will fear the avatar of suffering. It was good to
be free.
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Author's Notes: Next episode, we find out exactly what is the
transformation? Tune in next time, same panda time, same panda channel.
Please review my story. It makes me feel oh so happy and prevents me from
hiding in your bushes and peeking in your window at night.
Bill Heineman
November 25, 2002
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bur...@contrabandent.com
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