Standard Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 characters and situations
are copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, and are not my
property. I'm just borrowing them to write an enjoyable
fiction. This work is copyrighted to the author, and in
no way is it to be sold, altered, or just plain old
renamed. This work is by a fan for fans for free!
A Feather in the Wind,
Chapter 1
As the morning light creeped up the eastern
horizon, piercing battle cries shattered the peace.
This however was normal in this neighborhood, for
this is the Tendo dojo, and the morning training
sessions of the Saotomes' has long since been ignored
by the rest of the neighborhood.
"Come on Ranma!! You can do better than that!"
Genma yelled as he smoothly blocked a punch.
"Grrr.. Try this!" Ranma ducked low and tried
a leg sweep.
"Hah! Try again boy!" Genma taunted again as
he jumped over the attack. As this battle raged
on, a different battle was being waged... in the
kitchen.
"More flour right?"
"That's salt Akane. No, that bag there, that's
right!" Kasumi gently tries to train her
younger sister in the fine art of cooking. Kasumi's
seemingly impenetrable calm was visibly
strained as Akane enthusiastically grabbed at random
ingredients.
Akane and Kasumi both looked out the window as
they heard a splash.
"Looks like Ranma is going to need some hot
water soon." Kasumi smiled and turned to put the
kettle on.
"That idiot, he should be better than that by
now," Akane muttered to herself as she continued
to try to make breakfast, "Kasumi, are you sure you
don't add soy sauce to this?" she muttered
absently as she dumped half a bottle into her
concoction.
"Now your dead old man!" Ranma-chan yelled as
she leapt from the pond and continued to attack
her father in a frenzy.
"Remember your focus Ranma! If changing into a
girl causes you to lose focus, maybe we should
start tomorrow's session with you as a girl" Genma
grinned at the look of anger his 'son' showed,
then slowly faded into a calm expression as she
reformed into a proper stance again. "That's better
boy! Now, lets break for breakfast!" As he started
to walk into the dojo, he felt two small hands
grab his doji and hurl him into the pond.
"Maybe you should focus some more pops" Ranma-
chan gloated as her father resurfaced as a giant
panda.
"Growrf" was about all he could manage as he
climbed out of the pond.
"Mr. Saotome, Ranma! Breakfast is ready!"
Kasumi called from just inside the house. "I've
also got some hot water for you two!" She smiled
sweetly at them as she held up a kettle.
After Ranma and Genma had changed back and
dried off, they gathered around the table for
breakfast. Nabiki and Mr. Tendo joined them a few
seconds later, Nabiki still looking only half
awake, but she quickly woke when she noticed the food
siting in front of her.
"Hey Kasumi, who made breakfast this morning?"
she asked with a bit of dread starting to creep
in as she continued looking at the ...food.
"Well," Kasumi smiled "I did make most of it,
but Akane made some of the dishes"
"Oh great, pick and choose your poison" Ranma
groaned as he looked at the dishes.
"Watch it Ranma, I tried really hard to make
this so you had better eat it and like it!" Akane
glared from her seat as Ranma eyeballed the food,
trying to pick out something that he thought Akane
didn't make. "Are you gonna eat it or not?" Akane
practically screamed at them. At the sound of
her voice, everyone grabbed some food at random, not
daring to pick and choose. Ranma looked at the
substance at the end of his chopsticks warily and
took a bite.
Almost immediately his eyes watered and his gut
twisted into knots. Akane glared at him balefully
as she slugged him.
"Come on Ranma! It can't be that bad!" The
hit bowled him over. He opened his mouth to
respond, but no sound came out. He clutched at his
throat desperately. Akane scowled at him again.
"I thought I told you to stop hamming it up!"
"Oh my! He's choking!" Kasumi half screamed.
Akane fell backwards as Genma leapt over the
table and repeatedly slammed on Ranma's back.
"Breathe boy! Dammit, breathe!" he bellowed.
Ranma's face started to turn blue, and Genma
swore under his breath as he gave one more mighty hit
to his son's back. Ranma frantically grabbed
for a glass of water. Kasumi gently closed his hand
around it and helped him drink. There was an
aganized second of silence before Ranma gasped quite
audibly before he collapsed in a heap. Only the
rise and fall of his chest prevented further panic.
Akane looked stunned at his prone form for a
full minute before she crawled over to where Ranma
lay still.
"Are you okay? Ranma?" Ranma squinted and saw
that it was Akane that was kneeling next to
him. ::She's concerned? How long was I not
breathing?:: he thought, but all he could manage was
a
nod.
"Good one Akane," Nabiki deadpanned, "It's a
good thing we let Ranma take the first bite."
"Nabiki, that wasn't very nice" Kasumi scolded
her sister, "Akane tried very hard this morning
to make a good breakfast"
"Son, are you all right?" Mr. Tendo spoke for
the first time that morning, the only response
he got was a kind of strangled groan. "Akane, help
me get him to his room." Without waiting for a
response from his daughter he started lifting one
side of the barely conscious Ranma. Akane blinked
a couple of times, and then moved to help her father.
::What did I mess up on it this time?:: Akane
thought, ::I thought I did everything right...
That idiot, why does he always have to overreact like
this, I mean it can't be that bad, can it?::
They dragged Ranma into his room, and laid him down
on the futon. Kasumi came in a few minutes later
with a small basin and a washcloth. As she gently
placed the cloth over his forehead, Mr. Tendo
quietly left the room. Akane stood there trying to
figure out what she did wrong with the recipe.
"Don't worry Akane, Ranma will be just fine,"
Kasumi completely misread the expression on
Akane's face.
"It's not like that!" Akane snapped, but her
face suddenly softened. ::What if he doesn't
recover from this? Oh what do I care anyways, that
insensitive jerk.:: Despite her own thought,
tears welled up in her eyes. Akane looked over at
Ranma again and sighed. "Umm Kasumi?"
"Yes Akane?"
"I... I'll take care of him. Really, it's my
fault," she sighed, "You better go and make
breakfast for everyone else." Akane knelt next to
Ranma's still form, not watching her sister leave,
or even noticing that she had shut the door behind
her. All that was apparent in her world right now
was Ranma's still form, the tears running down her
cheeks, and the guilt racing through her mind.
::I should have tasted it first, I should.....:: A
million things that she could have done
differently raced through her head. She had cooked
for him before, and somehow something always went
wrong. But all the other times, Ranma was at least
awake and moving about, now he just lay there,
still and pale, just barely breathing.
"Ranma," Akane barely whispered, "I wish that
just this once you would pop open one of your
eyes and call me un-cute, or a tomboy, anything just
let me know your alive...."
"Tomboy." Ranma croaked out as he opened one
eye and looked for Akane. Akane's face suddenly
went bright red, and she looked down at the floor.
"You were awake?"
"Not really," he gasped "the only thing I heard
was that you wanted me to call you a tomboy or
something" Akane smiled a little bit at this, "I just
wish you'd learn how to cook and quick, another
meal like this will be my last..." he flinched as
Akane's aura sprang into a blinding glare.
"Ranma you jerk!" Akane screamed as she
slapped him. She then looked at Ranma before she
rearranged him on his futon and put the washcloth
back on his forehead.
"Huh, what happened? Akane?" Ranma stuttered
into silence as he slowly realized that this
would be a good time to keep his mouth shut.
Out in the hallway, Kasumi smiled and ushered
two old men away from the door. "Let them be
Father, just let them be." She gently scolded them.
Neither one of them had the heart to ignore
that gentle admonishment.
Several days later, an advertisement showed up
in the newspaper.
"Look! A fair! This is great!" Mr. Tendo
gushed, "You'll take good care of my daughter at
the fair won't you son?" Mr. Tendo glared at Ranma.
"Aww come on... Why do I gotta take her to some
dumb fair?" Ranma objected, oblivious to the
bright blue battle aura that was starting to form
around Akane.
"You will take her to the fair Ranma!" Mr.
Tendo yelled, changing into his demon-head mode,
startling Ranma and breaking Akane out of her battle
aura, "She is your fiancee, this fair is a
perfect opportunity for you two to go out and have
some fun, and maybe, just maybe not fight!" his
face alone was enough to discourage even Ranma from
talking back. "Now, do you understand, son?"
Ranma's only response was to nod his head.
"You'll do fine boy!" Genma said as he moved
pieces to his favor on the board, "After all,
it's up to you to carry on the Saotome School of
Anything goes martial arts!"
"All right all ready! I'll go I'll go!" Ranma
held his hands up in surrender to this. Akane
was too stunned to even react when her sisters
suddenly stormed her.
"What'll you wear?" "I should trim your hair a
bit to make it look nicer.." "What an
opportunity! You'll have so much fun" "Maybe the
black kimono with the flower?" "No the....."
Ranma stared after them as they hustled Akane
upstairs, still talking excitedly. He sighed to
himself. Why couldn't anyone make a fuss over him,
without trying to marry him? Just a little
depressed by that, he vowed to himself to really try
to get along with Akane while they were at the
fair.
When it came time to go to the fair, Ranma and
Akane hurried away from their parents. The last
minute paternal advice as to the best spot for
couples to be alone had caused both of them to blush
furiously.
"Geez you'd think they'd mind their own
business" Ranma grumbled as he walked next to Akane.
He was wearing a dark blue yukata, with a very
detailed red dragon on the back and deep red
scrollwork embroidered around the edges. Akane was
wearing a black kimono with a bright yellow
sunflower on it. Ranma recognized it as the one that
she wore at the Doll inn.
Ranma may have been grumbling at their parents,
but inside he was smiling. ::Wow, I'm glad she
chose that one, it sure makes her look so cute! If
only she could be like this all the time....::
Akane, for her part was pleased that they got a
chance to be alone. ::Now if only he'll keep his big
mouth shut, we might actually have a good time.::
Once they reached the fair, Ranma and Akane
wandered around for while, and then they started to
play the games. Ranma won several large fluffy
dolls for Akane at the ball throw, and was actually
a little embarrassed at the way she hugged them all
and squealed with girlish delight. ::Man she
sure can be cute when she's not angry...:: Ranma
thought. The more they wandered the fair, the more
they began to enjoy each other's company.
"Akane, we're running a tad low on cash," Ranma
spoke as he poked around in his coin purse for
any more change, "We might have to leave soon."
"No way!" Akane grinned, "I've still got all my
money remember? You don't have to pay for
everything you know."
"I just thought, well uh..." Ranma was at a
loss for words, he never expected that they could
get through a trip to the fair without getting
splashed, or having multiple fiancees or rivals
showing up. A chill ran down his spine, and he
looked nervously around, expecting to see Ryouga
charging him or something.
"What's the matter Ranma? Cat got your
tongue?" Akane grinned viscously at Ranma as he
shivered.
"Geez Akane, don't kid around like that," he
muttered something else under his breath.
"What was that Ranma? I couldn't hear you?"
"Stupid Tomboy" was Ranma's unthinking
response. To his surprise, Akane didn't hit him, in
fact she wasn't paying any attention to him at all.
Grateful for small miracles, he relaxed, and
then tried to see what she was looking at. "Hey
Akane, whatcha looking at?"
"Look over there, What's that?" Akane pointed
to a crowd gathered around a tent in a dark
corner of the fair. The tent seemed out of place at
the fair, but the crowd around it suggested
something special.
"Dunno, want to find out, Akane?" Ranma said as
he tried to read the sign from where he was,
relieved at the same time that she hadn't heard him.
"Sure, who knows, it could be something fun!"
Akane smiled and started walking towards the
booth. They both were shocked when they could
finally read the sign.
"The world's only earthbound angel?!?" Akane
read in surprise.
"Aw come on Akane, it's probably just some doll
that you hafta look through a little hole to
see." Ranma shrugged, "There's no such thing as
angels anyways...."
"Right, and there's no way to change from a boy
to a girl with just water either." Akane shot
back. Ranma looked hurt for a second and then just
turned back towards the counter. There was a
considerable line, and as they waited they over heard
snippets of conversation, mostly centered
around whether or not the 'angel' was real or not.
"Come one come all, see a real live angel!" A
positively evil looking man yelled to the crowd,
"It's only 300 yen fer a couple, she's shy so only
two at a time!" The man waved a cane at the crowd
as he took money from the next couple. The man had a
scar running down one cheek, a black eye patch
and what looks like some sort rash along his neck and
up the other side of his face. Whenever he
smiled, he showed gapped yellow teeth. All in all,
he appeared to be the sum total of the worst in
human life. He gleefully took money from each couple
and stuffed it into a locked box, and
practically pushed them into the tent with a brusque
wave of his cane.
"Come, come see the angel! Feel her mighty
presence!" he droned on and on, his voice sounding
an awful lot like gravel being poured across a
washboard. Ranma and Akane tried to ignore his
rambling speech and his horrid appearance and tried
to think of more pleasant things. They were
trying so hard to ignore him, that when it came time
for them to pay to get in, they almost didn't
give him any money. A quick poke from the man's
cane made Ranma react instantly, he knocked the
man's cane out of his hands, caught it, and held the
end against the man's throat.
"Don't ever poke at me again, got it?" Ranma
growled at him as he passed him the money. The
startled man just looked at him and sweated. Ranma
grunted at him and walked into the small,
brightly colored tent, still grumbling about it when
Akane's gasp made him pay attention to what was
in the tent.
A beautiful young girl was sitting on
something, they couldn't tell what because of the
huge
white wedding style dress completely surrounded it.
The lacy white material practically glowed in
the dim light of the tent, and embroidered patterns
of flowers could be seen. She had large emerald
green eyes and extremely long red hair that cascaded
down her bare back with an indeterminable amount
on the ground. Ranma and Akane didn't notice any of
this, all they could see were the huge, deep
purple wings that merged with her back seamlessly.
She wasn't paying any attention to them, and
sighed as she shifted her wings to what may have been
a more comfortable position.
"Wow... Are those real? Are you really an
angel?" Akane gasped as she walked towards her, the
'angel' started and looked at Akane and gave her a
wan smile.
"Yes they're real," The girl flapped her wings
a few times, causing Akane's hair to swirl, and
the dust on the floor whirled into tiny dust devils.
Akane gaped a little, but Ranma was skeptical.
Ranma looked closely at her face, and noticed some
faded bruises that were mostly covered by makeup.
He felt his fists clench involuntarily.
"If you're an angel, why don't you just fly off
or something, instead of being miserable here?
I mean that guy don't look like he's the type that
earned heavenly favor." ::Not to mention he's
beating the crap out of you!:: his angry thoughts
seared through whatever enjoyment he had of that
evening. Now he had a powerful urge to hurt
someone.
"Hey you in there, move along quickly!" The
man shouted from behind his counter. Ranma turned
and walked towards the man, cracking his knuckles,
who paled a bit and quieted down. ::Heh, one
wrong move dirtbag and you'll be wishing I'd just up
and kill you....::
Feather noticed this and smiled a genuine
smile. She leaned forward to whisper to Akane, "I'm
not supposed to tell you this, but I'm not really an
angel, just a poor girl who can't leave.." she
started to look hopeful as she pleaded with Akane
using her expressively large eyes.
"That's sad, why can't you leave? Too poor?
The guy's you father, what?" Akane asked,
realizing that the girl was miserable here. Giving
another empty smile, she lifted the dress and
revealed that her leg was chained to a large iron
ball. "Ranma!" Akane hissed, "Get over here!" she
beckoned to him, and started to get angry when he
didn't move quickly. "Hurry up stupid!! This is
important!!"
"I was just glaring at that guy again, seems he
wanted to get us out of here when you started
talkin' with her." Ranma grinned, "I think he's
still a little scared of me, now watcha want?"
"Can you break this?" Akane asked pointing to
the leg iron. Ranma looked over the cuff, and
then tested the chain.
"Piece of cake Akane, I'm surprised you didn't
try first, after all you're such a mac...." He
was silenced by a firm application of Akane's fist.
"Shut up you jerk, fine then...." Akane knelt
down and with a brief shout, she chopped at the
chain. A couple of the links on the chain shattered
from the blow. The girl quickly stood up and
hugged Akane.
"You don't know how many times I've wished I
could do that, but I've been so weak for so long,
I just couldn't......oof!" Her breath exploded out
of her.
"Worry about that later, we gotta get out of
here!" Ranma yelled as he grabbed both girls
around the waist and started to run... fast. Akane
struggled for a second until she head the
loudest noise she had ever heard, which was followed
by a meaty THWOCK.
"What was that?" Akane screamed as she shook
her head, trying to clear the bells out of her
ears.
"That was a gun, I ain't crazy enough to tangle
with that guy with you two around, a stray shot
could ruin my life without ever hitting me...." Ranma
ground out as he ran, ignoring the pain in his
leg so he failed to notice Akane's blush.
::Man, Akane's gonna have a fit when she
notices how close that bullet came to hitting
her...::
More shots rang out, but from a fading distance, and
a few whizzed past their ears. "Akane can you
see him?"
"No, wait there he is, he's searching the
bushes, he doesn't see us right now." Akane said
after a short pause to look around.
"Good, we're ducking in here" Ranma suddenly
turned right, and then turned left, right into an
empty looking house. "I hate to break in, but we
need a place to hide, what the?!?" Ranma was
startled to discover that the door was unlocked.
"Lucky break, it's open" was all he said before he
pushed the girls inside and, after glancing around
outside again, shut and locked the door.
"Hey who's there?" a familiar voice shouted.
Akane looked up in surprise and shock.
"Ryouga! Leave the lights off, It's me and
Ranma!" Akane yelled. Unnoticed behind her, Ranma
slumped to the ground.
::Why would Akane want me to leave the lights
off? Oh well, it's amazing enough that I made it
home, but now Akane shows up minutes after I do?!?
It must be fate!:: Ryouga continued in those
happy thoughts until he realized something, Akane
had sounded scared. The gears turned in his mind,
::Akane needs me!:: was the only conclusion he
reached, and amazingly, the lost boy made it to his
front door in a matter of minutes.
"Akane What's wrong?" he practically shouted,
then he noticed the blood that soaked her kimono,
"Akane are you hurt?" Ryouga was next to her in an
instant, looking for injuries, or obvious tears
in her kimono.
"I'm not hurt Ryouga..." Akane started to talk,
but she choked on her words.
"Excuse me, but I don't think he's doing that
good right now.." the winged girl interrupted, as
she pointed to the unconscious Ranma.
"RANMA!!!!" Akane scream practically shook the
house "I must call Dr. Tofu, Ryouga! Stop the
bleeding, please you got to help! He's your friend!"
she dashed out of the room, trying desperately
to remember where she saw a phone from last time she
was there. Ryouga looked mad for a second, then
turned to Ranma. ::If he dies, then Akane will be
mine, but where is the honor in that? He got hurt
helping Akane, and I should be the one to send him to
the gates of hell, without the help of some
base coward who hides behind a gun!:: Ryouga pulled
the cloth of the yukata away from the wound and
methodically ripped the material into strips. ::My
bandannas aren't long enough to make a
tourniquet for his leg, but this'll do the trick...::
Ryouga quickly twisted the strips tight and
noted when the bleeding stopped. Absently he noted
that there was an exit wound.
"Akane I've stopped the bleeding, but he's lost
a lot of blood, and there's two holes in his
leg." Ryouga shouted over his shoulder, "Tell the
doc to hurry" ::After all, I still need to kill
him in a duel of honor.. WHAT THE?:: Ryouga had
finally noticed the girl standing nearby, looking
altogether frightened. That wasn't what startled him
though, what had were the wings that were
coming out of her back. "Who the hell are you!"
Ryouga shouted, jumping up and backwards, slamming
into the wall, denting it slightly.
"My names Feather, please I'll tell you more
later, he needs help!" she was practically in
tears as she said this, as Akane entered the foyer.
"We saved her from this guy who forgot that
slavery is illegal. He was using her as an
attraction in a freak show." Akane ground her teeth
in anger as she returned from calling Dr. Tofu,
"This same guy is also the one that shot Ran.."
Akane bit off her words as someone knocked at the
door. She looked at it apprehensively...:: What if
he followed a trail of Ranma's blood here?
What'll we do?:: Then she noticed that Ryouga was
already opening the door. "No!" she screamed!
"Aha! There ya are!" The evil looking man
grinned as he pointed his handgun directly at Akane,
"Now Feather, be a good girl and come back with me,
or your friends are all gonna die!" He fired a
shot that trimmed a bit of hair from Akane's head.
Akane screamed in terror as Ryouga charged the
man. The man pointed the gun at Ryouga, and was
about to shoot, when suddenly Ranma grabbed his
ankle and pulled him off balance. The gun went off,
but it missed Ryouga cleanly whose aura suddenly
started glowing a bright yellow.
"You dare to shoot at Ryouga Hibiki, and
Akane?!? SHI-SHI-HOKKODAN!!!!" Ryouga yelled as he
released his chi at the man. The chi-blast hit the
man squarely in the chest and threw him backwards
and dropped him onto the lawn, out cold. "Akane you
ok?" Ryouga turned to her, all she did was nod.
"Good going man!" Ranma spoke weakly from the
floor where he was slowly pushing himself into a
sitting position, "but you better go tie him up, he
might wake up soon and he'll be waving that gun
around again." Ryouga almost objected, but he went
outside and tied the man up with quite a few
bandannas.
"Heh, I tied them all really tight, so he's
going to be real uncomfortable when he wakes up."
Ryouga grinned maliciously when he returned.
Dr. Tofu showed up shortly after that, along
with the police. While he was examining Ranma,
the police asked everyone questions about what had
happened. Akane told them about how they found
out about Feather being enslaved and used as a freak
show exhibit, and what they did about freeing
her. She also told them about the frightening chase
through the streets with a wounded Ranma
carrying both of them to hopeful safety. Feather
recounted her tale of slavery and abuse at his
hands, how he wouldn't even feed her half the time,
and insisted on only giving her the leftovers
from his meals. About how he beat her if they had a
slow day, and many other things. Ryouga told
them what little he knew about what happened, and
couldn't keep a look of rage off his face when he
heard everything that had happened to her.
"Akane, Ryouga?" Dr. Tofu said after the police
carted off their unwanted guest, "It looks like
Ranma will be just fine, it was only a flesh wound,
but he lost a lot of blood, so he still needs to
go to a hospital for a transfusion."
Akane couldn't take any more, and just broke
down crying in Dr. Tofu's arms. Ryouga went in
search of the phone so he could call the Tendo's and
tell them what happened, and he promptly went
into the closet. An ambulance came and took Ranma to
the hospital. Akane stayed behind, she
couldn't bear to even look at Ranma as he was right
then. She seemed frozen in place, tears running
silently down her cheeks. ::His face looked just
like it did after breakfast the other day...My
cooking is as bad as getting shot!:: was the only
thought in her mind at the moment, and she
couldn't get rid of the image of Ranma laying on the
floor, his life slowly ebbing out of his body,
pooling in a dark red circle around him. Ryouga
chose this moment to find his way out of the closet.
He decided to forget about the phone, and just try to
get Akane and her new friend back to the dojo.
An idea struck him like a bolt of lightning.
"Dr. Tofu! I need to get her and Feather over
to the Tendo Dojo right away!" Ryouga looked a
little sheepish, "But I need you to lead me
there....I don't think I could find the way there
before
next month..." he looked down and fidgeted a little
bit. Dr. Tofu laughed a bit, and nodded.
Ryouga absently put his pack on his back and picked
up Akane, "Feather, we're going to Akane's
house, you'd better come along," Ryouga did a double
take, because now he couldn't see any wings on
the redhead. "How in the?!?"
"Oh, my wings?" She said as she pointed to her
back, "I can make them come and go as I please.
It makes sleeping on my back a heck of a lot easier
don't you think?" she tried to smile, but
couldn't.
Dr. Tofu led them straight to the dojo, and
excused himself at the gate.
"I'd love to come in, but it's late and I
shouldn't impose. Besides, I need to go check on
Ranma at the hospital," He waved as he left. Ryouga
looked over at Feather, and saw that she was
practically dead on her feet.
"Come on, a few more steps and we'll be there"
He tried to encourage her with a smile, but
with Akane being unresponsive in his arms, and the
general look of gloom of the small group, he
sighed and led them into the dojo. Amazingly enough,
he didn't even stray off course in the
slightest.
"Oh my! Ryouga please come in! Where's Ranma
at?" Kasumi greeted them at the door, "And
who's our guest?" she added as Feather stepped from
behind Ryouga.
"Please ma'am, my name is Feather, and I'm
sorry to be the cause of all this...trouble."
Feather barely spoke loud enough to be heard.
"What happened to Akane?" Kasumi gasped as she
noticed that Akane was still crying in Ryouga's
arms.
"Let's just get her to bed, and then I'll
explain everything." Kasumi couldn't keep her
patented smile for long once she saw that everyone
was splattered with blood.
"No, take her to the bathroom and I'll clean
her up, you'd better tell father about this."
Ryouga nodded and followed Kasumi into the bathroom.
He put Akane down as gently as he could, and
then tried to find the living room again. After
wandering the house for a few minutes, he found the
living room just as Feather was finishing her tale
for rest of the Tendos and Genma.
".....and that's what happened, I'm so sorry
for being a trouble." Feather was kneeling in
front of Mr. Tendo, who was wailing at the injury to
his son in law, and how Akane was lost in her
own world.
"Cheer up Tendo," Genma whispered into his ear,
"An experience like that is sure to make them
closer, after all, Ranma tried to take that bullet
for Akane...."
"So, what your saying is that for the last ten
years that guy has had you chained to a chair,
and charged admission for each one that wanted to see
you?" Nabiki asked. When Feather nodded,
Nabiki smiled dangerously. "Why don't you sue him
for all the money he made off of you? Ten years
worth would be a fortune, and it would get you on
your feet. I can arrange for a good, but
affordable lawyer... for a fee of course." Nabiki's
eyes changed to yen signs when she thought of
exactly how much she could make from this. Nabiki
was mildly surprised when Feather prostrated her
self before her, and spoke.
"I would appreciate it, your generosity is
overwhelming,"
"Don't mention it, we'll negotiate the
percentage later."
"Umm, shouldn't we go and see how Ranma's
doing?" Ryouga surprised everybody, including
himself, by saying. "I mean, he does need to know if
Akane made it home safe, and Kasumi's taking
good care of her.." Ryouga stopped talking,
embarrassed, and wondering why he felt the need to
visit
Ranma.
"I'll stay here to help with Akane," Nabiki
said, "After all, Kasumi can't carry Akane by
herself." The others nodded, while Mr. Tendo just
continued to wail. Genma and Ryouga ushered Mr.
Tendo out the door, while Feather followed nervously.
Nabiki looked thoughtful, ::Hmmm, looks like
things are going to get even more interesting around
here. I wonder if Feather is going to fall for
Ranma just like every other girl that comes to this
town....:: At this point, Kasumi called for
someone, breaking her chain of thought. ::Better go
see what she needs.:: Nabiki thought as she
stood up.
Somewhere on the way to the hospital, Mr. Tendo
stopped crying. When they reached the
hospital, they had to wade through a host of
reporters, all of which wanted interviews with the
family of the young man who single-handedly took down
a slaver. Ryouga tried to fend them off with a
fierce look, then he settled for just pushing them
out of the way. ::Don't these people have
anything better to do than to harass people trying to
visit someone in the hospital?:: Ryouga thought
as he pushed another photographer over. Suddenly,
most of them broke through. "Hey, where's
Feather?" Ryouga said looking around at the group.
"There she is! She's being swamped by those
reporters!" Genma said, pointing to a knot of
reporters. A red ponytail could barely be seen over
the horde. Ryouga jumped into their midst,
surprising them into backing up a step.
"Come on Feather, we're getting out of this
mess," Ryouga scooped her up in his arms and
jumped over towards the door. He set her down again,
and they proceeded to follow Genma and Mr.
Tendo into the hospital. Inside, they ran into
sporadic groups of reporters in the hallways that
slowed their progress. Eventually they reached
Ranma's room, and gratefully closed the door against
yet another group.
"Well boy, you don't look dead yet." Genma
grinned at Ranma, who was sitting up in bed.
"Yeah well, Akane's cooking is great compared
to all this." Ranma looked sourly at his father,
"Speaking of which, where is she?"
"Kasumi and Nabiki are taking care of her.
She's a bit shaken up by what happened," Mr. Tendo
was inwardly pleased that Ranma was looking for
Akane. "How are you doing son? I understand you got
shot, are you all right?"
"Yeah, the doc says that it was a really minor
wound, barely took any stitches. Lost a lot of
blood though 'cause I was running as fast as I could
carrying Akane and that winged girl.... oh hi
there," Ranma looked just a tad nervous when he
noticed Feather was in the room. "Didn't see you
there. Name's Ranma Saotome, what's yours?" ::Geez,
I hope she doesn't decide to go for me, I have
enough fiancees as is!:: he thought inwardly.
"My names Feather, and I'm terribly sorry that
you got shot trying to get me out of there...."
Ranma's curt wave cut her off.
"Don't mention it, I can't stand it when people
pick on those weaker than themselves. If he
didn't have that gun, or you and Akane weren't there,
I would have beaten that sorry fool to a pulp!"
Right after Ranma finished saying this, a
doctor entered the room. "Mr. Saotome?" He asked
Genma. When he nodded, the doctor continued, "Your
son received a minor flesh wound in his thigh.
It's not bad, and he has full use of his leg right
now. He shouldn't strain himself by running,
jumping, or fighting with anyone right now, as the
amount of blood he lost was considerable. He will
have a healthy appetite for a few days, as his body
will need more materials to produce replacement
blood. Bring him back in about two weeks to get the
stitches out, or you could take him to Dr. Tofu
to take care of that." The doctor turned some forms
towards Genma, "These are the discharge papers,
we need your signature as his legal guardian to
release him. As for the bill, the police department
decided to pay that, ostensibly as a favor to you and
the brave young man. Personally, I think they
are doing it for some good publicity." Genma signed
the papers, greatly relieved that someone else
was footing the bill for this one.
"Well Ranma, looks like your getting out of
here quickly," Ryouga said while he leaned against
a wall.
"Hey Ryouga, thanks for your help back there,"
Ranma said as he started to get out of the bed.
"I....It was nothin'... really..." Ryouga
stammered while he rubbed the back of his head self
consciously. Ranma was handed a cane by the doctor,
and instructed on how to clean the stitches
along with other advice on what he shouldn't be doing
while his leg healed. It wasn't long before
they were wading through the reporters again. This
time they pressed in so tight, Ryouga and Feather
got separated from the others.
"Get out of my way!!" Ryouga roared at them. A
few paled and backed up, but more pressed in,
all asking questions. "Let's get out of here!"
Ryouga grabbed her hand and worked his way through
the crowd. They found themselves back at the
entrance to the hospital. "How'd we get back to the
door?"
"I don't know, I was following you," Feather
said, trying to fight the weariness that was
starting to overcome her. Ryouga spotted a clear
spot in the crowd and made his way into the
streets, still holding onto Feather's hand. Once
they were away from the crowd, Ryouga proceeded to
try and find the way. Feather, on the other hand,
was slowly blacking out.
"Ryouga!" she panted as they made another turn,
"I can't keep up anymore," black spots were
swirling in front of her eyes. Blackness overcame
her suddenly, the last thing she saw was the
concerned expression on Ryouga's face.
Ryouga was silently cursing himself. He was
lost again, and now he had an unconscious girl on
his hands... one with splatters of blood all over her
dress. If he ran into any kind of authority,
they may ask awkward questions. Ryouga rummaged
around in his pack until he found his traveling
cloak. He wrapped Feather in the cloak, to keep her
warm, and to cover the blood stains on her
dress. He picked her up and carried her away into
the darkness, not realizing that he was no longer
in Tokyo...
Meanwhile at the Tendo dojo, Akane had finally
fallen into a fitful sleep. Kasumi sat by her
bedside in concern, while Nabiki had sought her own
bed some time ago. Kasumi was worried about
Akane, it just wasn't like her to get so upset
whenever Ranma got hurt. She rose silently and
headed
for the kitchen to make some tea. ::The others
should be back soon, they might want some tea when
they get back:: She tried to keep herself
uninvolved with Ranma and Akane's love life, other
than a gentle nudge now and then. But it was obvious
to her for the longest time that they loved
each other, just too stubborn to admit it to each
other. What Akane was going through just cemented
that belief into Kasumi's mind. Even so, it was
interference from others that seemed to make them
distance themselves. Each hid behind a wall of
pride, but when push came to shove, they were there
for each other.
A loud noise distracted Kasumi from her
reverie. Poking her head out of the kitchen she saw
that the others had made it back, with Ranma.
"Welcome home everybody! I'm happy to see that
your out of the hospital Ranma!" Kasumi smiled
again, then looked about, "What happened to Ryouga,
and Feather?" she asked.
Genma grunted as he sat down, "It looks like he
got lost again in that crowd of reporters,
Feather was with him last time I saw them. By the
time we got free of them, I couldn't spot either
of them anymore," Ranma winced at his fathers words,
"I hope that she can take care of herself, if
she's following Ryouga, it may be months before we
see her again."
"Oh my," was all Kasumi could come up with.
"If she's still with Ryouga, she'll be
perfectly safe," Ranma said as he started to limp
towards his room, "He may be a jerk most of the time,
but he knows what's right and wrong. He'll make
sure she's all right, even if it kills him.
Especially since he'll know that it's because of his
sense of direction that she is lost as well." Ranma
said goodnight to everyone, then made his way
towards his room. His leg was aching by the time he
finished climbing the stairs, however he was set
on not asking for help from anyone at this point.
Ranma peeked into Akane's room briefly, just to
make sure she was asleep, before he continued on to
his bed. Gratefully he collapsed on his futon,
and quickly fell asleep.
End Chapter 1
Authors Notes. Well what do you think? Yes this will be
continued as soon I get a chance. As for Feather, I
thought it would be interesting for another unusual, yet
not over-powered, character make their way into Ranma's
life.
