C&A Productions Presents
A New Work of Ranma Fanfiction
The Ties That Bind
Chapter 1: Most Unlikely of Siblings
Written By Chris McNeil
Original Concept Provided by Robert Morrison
Soun Tendo stared at the postcard, tears trickling down his face. It
had been so long, and now... "T-they're coming at last!" he cried. "Oh, how
I've waited for this day!" Quickly, he got up and searched for his daughters.
There was not a moment to lose.
"KASUMI!" he cried, even as he walked into the kitchen and saw her
slicing a watermelon.
"What is it, father?" she replied. He quickly told her the good news,
which elicited a small widening of her eyes. "Oh my," she replied. Then she
offered him a slice, which he gratefully accepted, and continued her work.
After cautioning her to come out to the dining room in a few minutes, Soun
walked out and over to the stairwell.
"NABIKI!" he called, and then, "AKANE!" After a few moments, his middle
daughter walked out of her room with a yawn, but there was no sign of his
youngest. Soun felt a flash of irritation that she should be out on this most
important of days. "Where -is- that girl?" he muttered.
********
At the moment, "that girl" was on the last leg of her morning jog. The
fresh air and pleasant sensation of the blood waking up in her veins, combined
with the beautiful spring morning, had put her in a good mood, and as this was
Sunday, she thought about going over to see Yuka later, and perhaps going out to
the rink. As she ran into the dojo with a cheerful cry of "I'm home!", she
whipped off her sweaty running outfit and pulled on a fresh white gi.
Still filled with energy, she quickly set up two concrete blocks,
concentrated for a moment, and with a fierce kiai smashed her fist through them.
Her blow had been perfect. Standing up from the rubble, she sighed with
pleasure, grinned, and wiped her forehead. "That was nice," she said out loud.
It was definitely going to be a great day.
"There you go again, Akane. No wonder the boys all think you're so
weird."
Akane turned and scowled at her older sister. Boys were -not- what she
wanted to think about on Sunday. "So why should I care?" she replied irritably.
"Not -everybody- thinks the world revolves around boys, Nabiki."
Affecting a look of disappointment, Nabiki turned away, crossing her
arms behind her head. "No?" she said. "Then I guess this wouldn't interest
-you-."
********
"FIANCEES!?" Akane exclaimed in disbelief.
Completely missing his youngest daughter's mood, Soun smiled. "Yes, the
sons of a very good friend of mine. If two of you were to marry them, than we
would most certainly have heirs to carry on the training hall, and the Tendo
family legacy would be secure."
"Wait a minute," Akane interrupted angrily. She could -not- believe
this. The day had started off so perfectly, and now... "Don't -we- have some
say in who we marry?"
"Akane's right, father," Kasumi added. "We haven't even met these boys,
after all."
Soun chuckled. "Oh, you needn't worry about that. They'll be here
soon."
********
Several minutes ago, it had started raining. This was not unusual...
Tokyo was prone to sudden, short rainshowers, especially in the spring. No, it
was nothing unusual at all...certainly not unusual when compared to the sight
which greeted the pedestrians on a certain street in Nerima ward. As dozens of
people looked on in astonishment, they saw a short, red-haired girl running down
the road. She had a pigtail, was dressed in a red, Chinese-style shirt, black
pants and slightly oversized bracers, and was carrying a backpack and a pair of
shoes in her hand. Unusual, certainly, but she was not what made the passersby
stare. No, what had attracted everyone's eye was what the girl was running
-from-...a huge, black and white panda which was racing after her with
surprising agility.
As they goggled, the panda growled and made a lunge at the girl, who
leaped into the air, tossing her backpack aside. "Cut it OUT!" she cried,
flinging herself back into a powerful dropkick that sent the panda skidding on
its back down the wet road.
As it got to its feet, another girl came walking up from behind, also
carrying a backpack and shoes. She was considerably taller than the first, and
had short blonde hair with no pigtail. She wore a tight green vest that was
somewhat less than modest, baggy green pants, black bracers, and a dull orange
sash. Her face wore a disgusted expression. "If you two don't stop fighting,"
the girl said in a surprisingly husky voice, "we are never going to get there."
The panda, rising to its feet, nodded solemnly, provoking even more mutters from
the crowd.
"Who says I -want- to get there?" said the red-head sulkily. "I mean,
this whole "fiancee" business..." The panda made an irritated growl and took a
swipe at her. Angrily, she seized its paw and flipped it over, sending it
sprawling against a signpost. Flicking her pigtail back over her shoulder, she
grimaced at the second girl. "We should be going back to China. Heck, you
should be helping me drag him back."
The blonde looked down at herself for a moment, and seemed to see
something she didn't like, for when she looked up she had a scowl. "All -I-
want right now is a hot bath. After that, we can discuss going back to Chi..."
Suddenly her eyes widened. "Ranma, look..." Even as the red-haired girl began
to turn to see what had alarmed her companion, though, a signpost crashed
against her head and she collapsed. "...out." the blonde finished lamely. The
panda, who had wielded the signpost, slung the red-haired girl over her
shoulder. "Was that really necessary, oyaji?" she said flatly. The panda
merely snorted and turned. After a moment, it growled ferociously at the
gawking passersby, all of whom immediately remembered pressing appointments
somewhere else. The blonde rolled her eyes and picked up the other girl's
discarded backpack. "This is going to be a -long- day," she muttered, and then
hurried to catch up with the panda.
********
"At any rate," Soun continued, "they have been on a training voyage."
Pausing for effect, he added, "Recently, it seems, they crossed into China."
Nabiki leaned forward, her face showing open interest. "China?
Really?"
"So they were in China," said Akane flatly, looking away. "Big deal."
"Are they cute?" asked Nabiki with some excitement.
"How old are they?" inquired Kasumi almost simultaneously. "Younger
men...well, they're not usually my type."
Soun laughed a bit nervously as his two older daughters looked at him
expectantly. Finally, he cleared his throat and said seriously, "I'm afraid I
have no idea."
Nabiki's eyes narrowed, her excitement snuffed out as if it had never
been. "No idea?" she repeated cooly.
"I've never met them." Nabiki rolled her eyes and seemed about to
unleash a barbed comment when suddenly there was a loud crash of the door
opening and several muffled shouts and bangs.
"We have visitors," noted Kasumi, rising to her feet.
"Oooooh! It must be them!" cried Nabiki, and without further adieu both
her and their father were running down the hall towards the door. Kasumi
followed more slowly, adjusting her hair, while Akane trailed. Her lip curled
slightly at the sounds. Boys. And loud, noisy boys at that. Why did her
father ever make such a STUPID...
She stopped, staring in disbelief, as her father and Nabiki ran back
around the corner frantically, pursued by a...a -panda-? And the panda seemed
to have something over its shoulder, that was kicking and struggling...she heard
a muffled voice, and then the person the panda was carrying raised himself up.
"Let me DOWN, pop!" the...boy?...said. "This ain't exactly the way to
introduce ourselves!"
"Father..." said Kasumi, startled, "is -this- your friend?"
Soun shook his head emphatically, prompting an irritated Nabiki to say
sarcastically, "Oh, so this panda just happened to visit, huh? Happens all the
time!" Akane simply stared, too surprised for words. They all looked, however,
as the panda put down its burden; a short, red-haired guy in loose clothes.
Before anyone could react, another person walked around the panda, standing
slightly behind the first. This one, however, was obviously female despite her
somewhat boyish looks, which were right now occupied in glaring at the panda.
Akane blinked, confused. Wasn't there supposed to be -two- boys? Her father
stepped forward, hesitantly pointing at them.
"You..." he began, then swallowed and continued, "...wouldn't be..."
The girl looked at him, then sighed. "Panma Saotome. And that's
Ranma," she said, jerking a thumb at the short boy, who looked away.
"Sorry ‘bout this," he mumbled.
Unknowing or uncaring of the boy's obvious reluctance, Soun grasped him
by the shoulders. "At last you've come!"
"He IS cute!" added Nabiki, glancing around her father's arm.
Meanwhile, Soun pulled the boy into a fierce hug.
"It's so good of you to come!" he cried. "So..." and then he broke off,
his eyes widening. Shoving the boy away from him, he stared incredulously down
at him. Akane looked to see what had alarmed him, and her eyes widened as she
noticed the definite bulges on the "boy's" chest that would have been very
apparent in tighter clothing.
Scowling, Nabiki walked forward and poked at the new arrival's chest,
which caused 'him' to blush somewhat and quietly ask her to stop. Ignoring the
protest, Nabiki turned to her father and flatly stated, "'He'...is a girl."
********
"Poor father," Kasumi sighed, wetting a cloth, "He's so disappointed."
Soun Tendo was lying on a futon, tears leaking from his eyes. He had had a
small nervous collapse after the revelation of Ranma's actual gender, but seemed
to be recovering now.
"HE'S disappointed?" snapped Nabiki. "Some fiancees these are!" As
she spoke, Ranma looked down, obviously uncomfortable, while Panma, sitting next
to her, grimaced and muttered something under her breath. Akane felt a surge of
sympathy for them, and glared over at her sisters.
"Stop it, you two!" she said. "Boys or girls, they're still our
guests!"
Nabiki snorted, and continued as if Akane hadn't spoken. "This is all
your fault, daddy. You should have made sure!"
"He said they were SONS!" protested their father, coming to life at
last. Angrily, Nabiki reached over and grabbed Ranma's chest again.
"Do -you- see a son here?" she demanded. "Well, do..." she broke off as
her hand was seized in an iron grip and jerked away from Ranma's chest. Looking
over in surprise, she blinked as she saw her hand was held by Panma, who was
scowling.
"I think your point has been made," she said, dangerously quietly. "How
would you like it if I fondled YOUR chest in front of everybody? Especially
if..." she broke off, looking away, then shoved Nabiki's hand away. "Just cut
it out."
Akane thought that now would be a good time to try to defuse the
situation. Truth be told, she was glad they had turned out to be girls anyway,
and it was unfair to make them feel guilty because of their gender. Standing
up, she gave the two a warm smile. "Hey, how about we go to the practice hall?"
The two looked up; Ranma in slight confusion and Panma with surprise and a bit
of suspicion. Both to be expected, she supposed, after the awful reception
they'd gotten. Well, she'd see what she could do to fix that. "My name's
Akane," she said. "Want to be friends?" Ranma gave her a small, hesitant
smile, while Panma merely cocked an eyebrow, but her expression seemed less
hostile than before. Both followed her out as she led them to the dojo. "You
guys do Kempo, right?"
"A little," Ranma replied. Panma looked at her for a moment as if about
to say something, but then apparently decided against it.
"Well, why don't we have a little match, then?" she invited as they
entered the dojo. The two girls looked dubious, so she added, "Just for fun.
Don't worry, I won't hurt you." Ranma still looked unsure, but Panma abruptly
smiled and waved her hand.
"Sounds good to me," she said. "Why don't you take this match, Ranma?"
"I guess," said the red-head, quickly moving to be opposite Akane. She
didn't attempt to take any sort of fighting stance, however. Panma, chuckling
over something, walked over and leaned against the wall. Akane could feel the
girl's sharp blue eyes on her, but ignored them, concentrating on her opponent.
Ranma still hadn't made any moves towards a proper stance. It looked like this
wasn't going to be much of a match after all. That was strange, since with all
the training her father had said they did, she would expect them to be pretty
good...
Charging forward, she threw a simple straight punch. She was somewhat
surprised as Ranma sprang into the air to dodge it, but quickly countered with a
thrust kick, forcing her to swing her legs apart or be tagged. As she landed,
slightly off-balance, Akane smiled and fired a sharp jab...which was dodged.
Instinctively she shot out with another kick, but Ranma ducked it with ease and
then returned to her casual upright stance. Akane scowled. "What's wrong?" she
demanded. "Attack me!"
Quickly, she fired off a series of jabs, but every one was dodged or
ducked by Ranma with apparent ease. Breathing heavily, Akane took a step back.
The girl had still not attempted to counterattack. Why was she missing? Was
Ranma reading her moves somehow? Alright, maybe this was going to be tougher
than she thought. Eyes narrowing, she shifted her stance slightly, bringing her
fists low. This time for real, she thought. Suddenly, she charged forward, her
fist snapping out with incredible speed...and smashed through the dojo wall,
wood easily splintering from the force of the impact. Akane froze with
disbelief for a moment, and then felt a tap on the back of the head. Slowly,
she turned...and saw Ranma. The red-haired girl rubbed the back of her head, and
laughed a little. Akane joined in a moment later, a bit weakly. She had never
expected that anyone could be so...so FAST. She'd have to train harder if she
was going to keep up with them.
Panma didn't laugh, but as Akane glanced at her, she smiled slightly,
and then abruptly stood straight and began to walk for the door. "I'll go draw
a bath, br...Ranma," she tossed over her shoulder. Ranma blinked, and her laugh
cut off.
"Are you sure..." But Panma was already gone. Ranma stared after her
sister for a moment, until Akane cleared her throat.
"Umm...you're pretty good," she said. "Is Panma that good too?"
"Panma? Uh, yeah...yeah, we're about equal, I guess. Not quite the
same, but..." she thought for a moment. "Yeah, actually we're tied right now.
I guess we'll have a match soon."
Akane was somewhat confused by that. Did Ranma mean they actually had
fights all the...no, noone could possibly want to do that. Maybe they just did
spars until first strike or something. Yeah, probably it. "Well, I'm kinda
glad you turned out to be a girl," she said, turning to head out the door as
well.
"Huh?" said Ranma. "Why's that?"
Akane looked back over her shoulder. "It's just...I'd really hate to
lose to a boy."
"Uh...yeah." Ranma looked nervous for some reason. She probably hadn't
quite relaxed yet, Akane decided. Well, that would be fixed soon, if she had
anything to say about it.
********
Ranma rinsed the soap off herself, shivering. That water was -cold-!
Walking over to the bath, she looked over at Panma, who was leaning against the
side of the tub, relaxing. "Looks like you've been here awhile."
"The old man had already been here."
"Great," muttered Ranma, sliding into the steaming water with no
hesitation, and immediately heaved a sigh of relief.
"My sentiments exactly," Panma commented.
"So NOW what are we supposed to do?" Ranma demanded.
********
"Hey, Akane," said Nabiki, poking her head out of the kitchen.
"Oneechan says the bath's ready."
"Thanks," replied Akane. She could definitely use a nice bath, and it
would be a good chance to chat with Ranma and Panma. Heading upstairs, she
grabbed a towel from the closet and stepped into the bathroom. If a hot bath
couldn't relax those two, nothing would.
********
"You're asking -me-?" said Panma incredulously. "How should I know?"
"Aren't you the one with all the answers?" responded Ranma with a smirk.
"Not for this, thank you very much." Panma paused, then grimaced and
added, "but if you ask me, we should probably get it over with."
********
Shedding the last of her clothes, Akane picked up her towel and headed
for the door to the bath. She could hear Ranma and Panma talking behind it, but
the voices were muffled. Smiling, she reached for the handle...
********
"You're probably right," said Ranma reluctantly.
"Aren't I always?" grinned Panma.
Ignoring that, Ranma walked to the side of the pool and began climbing
out. "Well, like you said, might as well..."
The door slid open, and Ranma's head jerked over, to see Akane standing
in the door, naked except for a towel that was, thankfully, draped over most of
her front. For a moment, there was utter, stunned silence. Then Akane slowly
looked down, taking in Ranma's muscular, obviously male chest, and certain
other...definitively male features. Then the door slid shut again, with her on
the other side. There was a moment of silence as Ranma, his face crimson,
stared at the shut door. Then the silence was broken as Panma snickered loudly.
Ranma looked over at him with a baleful expression, which if anything, increased
his brother's mirth.
"Well," he said between chuckles, "that sort of takes the matter out of
our hands, doesn't it?" Ranma opened his mouth to reply, then winced as an ear-
splitting shriek came from the bathroom.
"Maybe -you- think it's funny..."
"Look on the bright side, brother mine," said Panma, looking serious.
"If they push the fiancee thing, at least now you know that one is well-built!"
Ranma's flush returned, in spades. "She's average..." he mumbled.
Panma laughed uproariously, jerking a thumb at the door, where they
could still hear the scream, getting fainter as the girl ran throughout the
house. "She certainly...seemed to think...YOU were pretty average, too!" he
gasped, then nearly collapsed with fresh howls of mirth at his brother's
indignant expression.
Muttering to himself, Ranma climbed out of the water and grabbed his
towel. "Yeah, well we better go explain before she does something crazy."
Still grinning hugely, Panma climbed out as well. "To -you-, maybe. I
don't think she even noticed me." He elbowed Ranma in the ribs. "Maybe you
weren't so unimpressive after all, huh?"
********
"EEEEEEEEEYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Screaming at the top of her
lungs, Akane ran down the stairs, out to the garden, and looked for the nearest
heavy object. She found it in the stone shrine, and with an effort she ripped
the large rock from the top of it. She had had to stop screaming for this, but
that wasn't too bad, because it allowed her to give voice to her thoughts.
"I'll weigh him down! I'll drown him in the bathtub!" As she began stalking
back inside, she was met by her sisters.
"What is it, Akane?" asked Nabiki. "What's the rock for?"
"There's a PERVERT in the bathroom!" she snarled.
Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't you just kill him?"
"Because I was AFRAID!" shot back Akane. She certainly had been. Just
walking in there, and some...some GUY there...it had been enough of an effort to
stay long enough to whip on her gi and slippers.
"That's odd," said Kasumi with some concern, looking over at the hall.
"I thought Ranma and Panma were in there just now..." Both she and Nabiki
blinked, staring.
"Who are -you-!?' asked Nabiki, as Akane turned around. Standing there
were two boys. One was slim, with short blue-black hair and grey eyes. His
features were more than a little effeminate-looking, and he was dressed in the
same outfit Panma had had on earlier, though the green vest fit that male chest
somewhat better. His lips were twitching as if he was trying to keep from
grinning.
The other, Akane realized with a surge of anger, was the pervert from
the bathroom, and oddly, he was dressed in -Ranma's- clothes. They also seemed
to fit him much better than they had fit the red-haired girl. He was looking
down, flushed slightly with embaressment, and was rubbing the back of his head.
"Uhh..." he said hesitantly, "I'm Ranma Saotome, and this is Panma."
"Sorry about this," added Panma with a perfectly straight face.
Notes:
"Oyaji": a derogatory way of referring to one's father, rather like calling him
"old man" in English.
"Oneechan": Older sister.
