Not quite standard disclaimer: The only thing that belongs
to me in this page is Feather and the story line! The rest
is the product of the creative genius Rumiko Takahashi!
Purely non-profit fiction aimed towards entertaining others
via the Internet.
A Feather in the Wind
Chapter 5
Happy sounds filled the night air around the
Tendo Dojo. Weary but exultant warriors had burst
upon the dojo, startling Kasumi. Akane rushed
forward to hug her eldest sister.
"Kasumi! I'm so glad to see you again!" Akane
practically cried into her sister's shoulder.
Kasumi gently returned the hug.
"I'm glad to see you home and safe Akane."
Kasumi spoke softly. Mr. Tendo had heard Akane's
shout and rushed into the room.
"My little girl! You're home safe and sound!
Come here and give daddy a hug!" Mr. Tendo
nearly drowned Akane with his tears.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Nabiki said
as she walked into the room. Everyone looked at
her blankly. "Tell us what happened! I want to know
all the details." Nabiki sat at the table and
folded her hands under her chin.
Everyone started talking at once it seemed,
and Nabiki couldn't make sense of their excited
babbling
"Please people! One at a time!" Nabiki shouted
over the noise, bringing a temporary silence.
"That's better. Akane, why don't you start off."
Nabiki leaned back to listen. Before Akane could
speak, the door slid open, revealing a heavily
bandaged Mousse that was leaning on Shampoo for
support. Mousse's face was pale and drawn, but he
continued on despite his pain, and Shampoo's
objections.
"Mousse! I thought we had left you in the
hospital!" Ranma exclaimed.
"You had, but I checked myself out after they
stitched the wounds. I refuse to be locked in
there any longer than necessary." Mousse spoke in
obvious pain. To his credit, he was doing his
best not to lean heavily on Shampoo. Shampoo leveled
a glare at Mousse.
"Stupid duck boy! Should go back to hospital
and rest. Be very bad if change...." Shampoo
let her words trail off in an attempt to chastise
Mousse into returning. He shook his head.
"I will heal faster if I am always in your
radiant presence. I would shrivel in that hospital,
locked away from your beauty." Mousse spoke calmly.
Shampoo continued to glare at him for a second
before she hesitantly hugged him around his neck.
"Shampoo no want to see you become cripple. No
push self, is ok?" Mousse would have assaulted
the very gates of Hell if Shampoo had asked him to at
that point. Ryouga walked up to them and
patted them both on the back.
"Well then, now that that is settled, why don't
you two come in and celebrate!" Ryouga flashed
his teeth with a grin. "It ain't often we all get
together to celebrate rather than fight!"
"I have some cookies I baked for everyone!"
Kasumi said as she glided into the room carrying
a tray laden with cookies.
Everyone sat about the room and good natured
bragging and banter was the order of the evening.
After everyone had told their personal tale, Kuno
stood in the center of the room and rapped his
sheathed sword on the floor for attention.
"My comrades, it is well that we enjoy this
most glorious victory. The god of victory has
smiled upon us, and yet, we have cause for remorse.
Lest we be ungrateful to he who fell protecting
the lovely Akane Tendo, let us observe a moment of
silence for a man of honor amongst brigands. Our
deepest respect for the man who only wanted to see
his daughter again, and died protecting her right
to choose the path of life on which she shall travel.
Let us honor Ryuutsu Maruyama with a moment of
silence, and may his soul travel gently to the next
plane." Kuno bowed his head, and all in the room
did the same. Feather started to cry softly, her
sobs piercing the silence. After a minute had
passed, Kuno returned to where he was seated.
"It is well to grieve the passing of an
honorable man. Let us look upon his sacrifice as an
example, and take pride in knowing that thanks to
him, we are all sitting here tonight." Kuno said
softly, and then he sat.
In an attempt to lighten the mood, Akane got
sodas for everyone.
"A toast to Mousse!" All eyes turned to Akane,
who was holding an open bottle of coke. "He
defeated something truly evil, and probably saved all
of our lives, and nearly lost his own in doing
so!" All present raised their cokes towards Mousse,
even Shampoo reluctantly raised her bottle for a
quick tap with Mousse's. Tears flowed freely from
Mousse as he spoke.
"I don't deserve this friends." He said
quietly. "I just didn't want that thing to hurt
Shampoo."
"Nonsense Mousse!" Ryouga said. "You know you
deserve it, that thing must've mangled fifty or
more of those guys, and you downed it with one blow!"
He raised his bottle high. "This Coke's for
you!" Everyone laughed. Mr. Tendo and Genma raised
beer steins towards Mousse and then drained them
in one gulp. Kasumi refilled them quickly, and moved
through the room serving everyone else with
soda or tea.
Slowly, the party wound down. Mr. Tendo and
Genma were almost comatose from all the drinking,
and Feather had long since fallen asleep in Ryouga's
lap. Mousse seemed to be half dead as well,
Shampoo was struggling to keep him upright.
"Mousse! No lean that way! Maybe Mousse want
go back to hospital and get strapped to bed?"
Shampoo snapped, and Mousse sat bolt upright.
Shampoo stood. "Come Mousse, we go now. Shampoo see
Ranma tomorrow yes?" Mousse stood with much help
from Shampoo. Shampoo gently worked her way under
one of Mousse's arms, and lent support.
"Shampoo, I.." Mousse was interrupted by one
of Shampoo's fingers on his lips.
"Hush Mousse, no spoil evening now." Shampoo
led an overjoyed Mousse out into the night.
Ranma and Ryouga traded glances and a wink.
Kuno stood and looked about.
"As much as I enjoy the company of the fair
Akane Tendo, I should depart for mine own
domicile." Kuno bowed towards Mr. Tendo. "I thank
you sir for extending your hospitality till this
late hour." Kuno then strode out the door and into
the night. Ukyou was the next to rise.
"It is getting late. I'll see you later
Ranchan!" Ukyou waved cheerfully as she took her
leave. Kasumi saw the chef out the door, and then
turned on her sisters.
"Akane, Nabiki, I want you two to go get
yourselves cleaned up." When they started to protest
Kasumi held up one hand. " I know you want to stay
up all night, but there is school tomorrow, and I
want you to be able to study hard." Kasumi smiled at
them. "I'll be sending the boys to the bath
after you get out, so don't feel like they are being
treated special." Kasumi shooed her sisters out
of the room, and then herded the fathers away as
well. The room was empty, save for Ranma and
Ryouga, who still had a sleeping Feather in his lap.
They spoke quietly about the events that had
recently transpired.
"After that, I don't think we'll be seeing much
of those guys again," Ranma spoke with
confidence, "After all, we trashed them pretty
badly."
"Yeah, but remember we only trashed one of
their compounds, they may have several others, and
might want revenge..." Ryouga muttered darkly,
involuntarily clenching his fist at the thought.
"Let them try," Ranma said as he looked out
towards the pond. A single Koi leapt from the
pond, its scales glittered in the moonlight.
At the devastated compound of the Viper clan,
an old man in a wheel chair surveyed the damage.
The recovering survivors of the assault wearily went
about burying those that were mauled to death by
the creature, and tended to the most serious
injuries. Several teams of medics were kept on
constant
rotation, treating the men mostly for broken limbs
and nasty bruises.
The old man sighed. With a weak gesture, he
summoned one of the bloodied survivors to him.
"What happened here?" He wheezed. The
battered man spoke slowly, as if he had trouble
breathing. The man had a patch over one eye, and his
cheekbones were prominent. His black hair was
matted by blood and mud, and it was apparent that he
was still bleeding from several small cuts. He
told the old man all about the assault at night, Lt.
Yama's betrayal of Ryuutsu, and the terror that
was unleashed. The old man nodded, then spoke again.
"Have the wills of the deceased been found
yet?" The survivor nodded. "Bring them to me so
that I may insure that they are carried out to the
best of our abilities." As the bloodied man
turned to leave, the old man grabbed his arm. "Bring
me Ryuutsu's first. He was an old friend of
mine, and I would see him resting peacefully by
carrying out his final wishes." The bloodied man
left, and one of the old man's personal guards
approached.
"Sir, we found what appeared to be a funeral
pyre in the woods. In it we discovered what
appeared to be the bones of the creature that
escaped." The old man nodded, waiting for more
information. The guard swallowed hard. "We also
recently gained entry into the basement level. The
carnage was.... Awful. I have organized a funeral
detail to see that the remains are properly
buried. Among the dead, we have been able to
identify very few of them." The old man raised a
bushy
eyebrow.
"Most were mauled badly, and the corpses seem
to be suffering from some sort of fast rot." The
guard handed a short list to the old man. "That is
the list of those we have positively identified,
in order of rank." The guard turned on his heel and
left. The old man looked at the list, and right
at the top of the list was Ryuutsu's name. The man
with the eye-patch that he had sent to fetch the
wills of the known dead returned. After handing the
old man a folder, he handed him a neatly folded
piece of paper.
"These are all the wills that could be found
sir, Ryuutsu's will is the separate one." After
the man had left, the aged man carefully opened
Ryuutsu's will.
Early the next morning, all present at the
compound gathered to hear the old man speak to them.
"I have reached a decision. All of you will be
transferred to the compound of your choice, as
this one is badly compromised and must be abandoned.
Any of you who wish to leave the clan are
advised that all memory of the clan shall be erased,
and you will be set up with a new identity, and
a new life. Remember, we care for our own, and that
includes those that were stolen from us. Death
wandered freely here, and we shall pay tribute to
those that fell, and curse the name of the one that
brought down wrath upon us. By his treachery, Yama
caused many to die, and his name shall forever be
struck from the annals of our history. " The old man
paused for a second to let his words sink in.
"The old ways of kidnapping our recruits
shall never be revived. The devastation here shows
what happens when we are not cautious in these times.
There are those among us who longed for the
old days. They now remember what happened many years
ago when we raided an amazon village in China
for a recruit or two. That time as well a whole
compound was destroyed. We must not let history
repeat itself again, learn from this experience, and
guard against it ever happening again." The
assembled members of the clan all seemed to start
talking at once, some shouting questions, others
just talking to each other. The old man waited for
them to calm down before he spoke again.
"I have a special mission for a single
volunteer. No danger should be involved, but a
journey
must be made to deliver a package. Ryuutsu left in
his will instructions that a package is to be
delivered upon his demise. It is our duty to honor
his wishes." The old man eyeballed the crowd.
"I want someone fit to travel to see me before
nightfall. One final note, this site shall be
destroyed utterly, and a shrine shall be built here,
to honor those that fell here. All graves shall
be properly marked, and we shall find some worthy
monks to inhabit the shrine. As it is said, it
shall be done." The old man turned from the crowd
and rolled into his pavilion to await his
messenger. Shortly, the man with the eye-patch
entered the pavilion.
"Sir?" He spoke hesitantly.
"Yes, you may speak."
"I volunteer for the journey, sir. I discussed
it with my comrades, and they felt that they
were needed here. Also, I am the most fit to travel,
despite my injuries." The old man looked at
him again.
"What is your name young man?"
"Ryuunosuke Maruyama, sir."
Ranma woke with stiff muscles the next morning.
Yawning hugely, he kicked at Ryouga who was
snoring nearby.
"Wake up pig-boy!" Ranma said as he started
getting ready for school. Ryouga woke and growled
at Ranma. Ranma grinned at his surly friend.
"Man, you have one ugly mug to wake up to you
know." Ranma joked as Ryouga growled again while
he dug a fresh set of clothes out of his pack.
"You aren't much better Ranma." Ryouga
grumbled, "But I'm sure a splash of cold water will
fix
that problem." Ranma flinched involuntarily, then
turned on Ryouga.
"Don't even joke about that man!" Ryouga
laughed as a flustered Ranma finished getting
changed. "Hey Ryouga, you gonna head back to your
place or what?" Ranma asked suddenly.
"Dunno. I was thinking about it, but Feather
still needs a lot of training, and she looks to
me like a sensei. I guess I could set up camp in the
vacant lot..." Ranma snorted.
"Better get Feather to get you in the morning,
or it'll take you a week to find the dojo again.
Either that or camp in the yard. I don't think Mr.
Tendo would be too pleased to have you moving in,
heck I'm feeling a tad uncomfortable about living
here." Ranma looked out the window. "I feel bad
about mooching off the Tendo's, but somehow I think
they want me to stay, even Akane." Ryouga put
his hand on his friends shoulder.
"I'm behind you one hundred percent now Ranma,
as long as you plan on making Akane happy."
Ryouga tightened his grip. "You will make her happy
won't you?" Ryouga growled at Ranma, who
slipped out of the iron grip.
"What about what I want?" Ranma asked, a touch
angry. "Why should I marry that uncute,
sexless tomboy?" Ryouga steamed at Ranma's words,
but he leaned on the wall and grinned.
"Are you sure you want to say that Ranma?"
Ranma drew a blank until Ryouga pointed behind him.
Ranma turned with a feeling of certain doom, and saw
Akane behind him, mallet in hand, ready to
pound.
"Good point!" Ranma said as he dodged Akane
and ran for the breakfast table. Akane flung her
mallet after Ranma, and grinned with satisfaction
when she saw the mallet imbed itself into Ranma's
skull.
"Serves him right." Akane muttered, then she
turned to Ryouga and smiled, "Good morning
Ryouga, did you sleep well?"
"Good morning Akane, yeah I slept pretty well I
think, yeah I did didn't I?" Ryouga rubbed the
back of his head and laughed nervously. Akane smiled
at him again, and then left for the breakfast
table. Ryouga sighed. ::Maybe I'm not completely
over her....:: He thought as he followed Akane to
the table. Ranma and Genma were already wolfing down
the food, and Mr. Tendo was reading the morning
paper. Nabiki was calmly eating next to Kasumi, but
Feather was nowhere to be seen.
"Is Feather awake yet?" Ryouga asked as he
took his seat, nodding thanks to Kasumi when she
passed him a bowl.
"No, the poor girl was so exhausted after last
night that I told her to sleep herself out this
morning." Kasumi said. Ryouga nodded and proceeded
to eat his breakfast.
Immediately after breakfast, Akane and Ranma
dashed for school while Nabiki left in a more
leisurely fashion. Ryouga didn't move from his place
at the table, not knowing what to do. Mr.
Tendo lowered his paper.
"Ryouga, I've noticed that you've become much
calmer recently. Have you and Ranma finally
settled that grudge?" Ryouga flinched at Mr. Tendo's
wording.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that. We did
kinda come to an agreement I think." Mr. Tendo
nodded.
"Good, you have no idea how expensive your
fights had become. The damage you two can cause
during a fight is considerable." Ryouga squirmed a
bit. "But now that you two are friends, we can
all breathe a little easier."
"Were we really that bad?" Ryouga asked in a
small voice.
"Uh huh. At one point we had to depend on
Kodachi's infatuation with Ranma to keep us fed."
Ryouga shrank further into himself and started to
shake a little. Ryouga slowly stood.
"Mr. Tendo, could I use your phone? I need to
call home." Mr. Tendo nodded and pointed
towards the phone.
"Be my guest." Ryouga walked stiffly over to
the phone and dialed. Ryouga tapped his foot
while he waited for the answering machine to pick up.
>Hello?< Ryouga's feet slipped out from
under him when he heard his father's voice over the
phone.
>Dad? Boy I'm glad I caught you at home!<
>Ryouga my boy! How have you been? You eating
right?< Ryouga laughed as the usual flood of
questions washed over him. Ryouga spent the next few
minutes catching up on the news with his
father.
>Umm, Dad? I got a favor to ask you.< Ryouga
asked tenatively
>Go ahead son, you know I'd do everything I
can to help.<
>Well, you see, I'm kinda staying with the
Tendo's right now, and I was wondering if you could
send me some money to help with the food and all?
It'll really help out here.< Ryouga pleaded with
his father. He tensed when he didn't hear anything
on the other end of the line for a minute before
his father responded.
>Son, I got a better idea. Give me the address
for the dojo, and I will send you a checkbook.
I'm going to set you up with a checking account, and
give you basically an allowance. Should've done
this with you long ago, but the need hadn't arisen.<
He chuckled for a minute.
>Uh, sure Dad, no problem.< Ryouga could
barely contain himself. He told his father the
address for the dojo, and said goodbye. He looked
back over at Mr. Tendo.
"Hey Mr. Tendo. My Dad said he's going to hook
me up with some money, so I'll be helping pay
for the food, and maybe help pay for some of the old
damages." Mr. Tendo dropped his newspaper and
dashed over to Ryouga. Mr. Tendo grasped Ryouga's
shoulders firmly.
"You'd do that?" Mr. Tendo asked in a hopeful
voice. When Ryouga nodded hesitantly, Mr. Tendo
started to wail. "Such an honorable gesture!
Ryouga, you are always welcome at our table!" Ryouga
tried to pull away.
"Um, thanks Mr. Tendo, could you let go now?"
Ryouga looked at the fountains coming out of Mr.
Tendo's eyes with apprehension. Mr. Tendo continued
to wail, and Ryouga used his considerable
strength to pull away. Ryouga decided it was high
time he went through his morning kata, and stepped
out into the yard. Ryouga let his mind clear as he
flowed through the motions, letting the dance-
like exercise take over.
Feather woke slowly as a warm beam of
sunshine embraced her face. She sat up in the futon
and stretched, working some kinks out of her muscles.
She stood and walked over to the window.
Gazing out into the yard, she saw Ryouga flowing
through his kata. Feather marveled at how fluid his
motions seemed, not at all what people expect if they
knew Ryouga a bit better. The oft times angry
and depressed young man struck people as a person
with no grace. Feather quickly dressed in a gi she
had borrowed from Akane and rushed downstairs to join
Ryouga in his morning exercise.
When she got outside she attempted to mimic his
motions, but she failed miserably as he started
moving through more complex combinations. Feather
sighed and proceeded to do the basic kata she knew
well. Her long, red hair swirled like liquid fire
around her as she concentrated on the kata.
Ryouga noticed Feather going through the
kata, and stopped doing his own to call out spot
corrections in her form.
"Don't overextend like that, it could cause
you to lose your balance." Feather didn't
respond, but went through the kick again. "Good.
Try to relax, and let the motions flow by
themselves." Ryouga watched her with a critical eye
for a few minutes before he spoke again.
"Finish your kata and we'll work a bit more
on your kicks."
Once they were inside the dojo, Ryouga
thoroughly went through all the different kicks in
great detail, demonstrating each one several times
before coaching her. By the time Ranma and Akane
had made it home from school, Feather was exhausted.
Akane peeked into the dojo to see how she was
doing.
"Hi Feather! How was your training today?"
Akane asked when Feather walked over to her and
slumped to the floor.
"Hard. I don't know how he does it. He must
be doing each exercise or attack three or four
times more than I am, and he barely broke a sweat!
Here I am, totally exhausted, and the rock over
there is sparring with Ranma like we didn't do
anything all day!" Feather pouted. Akane concealed
a
smile behind her hand.
"He has been training for a long time Feather,
and he almost constantly travels, so he's got
more stamina than most people." Feather snorted.
"More stamina than an ox you mean. Oh well, I
guess I'm just mad at myself for not being able
to keep up." Akane giggled.
"You get used to it. I've had a hard time
dealing with the fact that Ranma is so much better
than I am. It just ticks me off when he forgets that
I'm skilled as well." Akane patted Feather on
the shoulder before heading inside to do her
homework.
That evening, while the while they were eating
dinner, someone knocked at the door. Kasumi
stood quickly.
"We have visitors, I'll go see who it is." She
walked towards the door. She opened it and
smiled at the man standing there, despite his
bedraggled appearance and the eye-patch. He was
carrying a fairly large case, and appeared to be
around twenty five or so.
"Why hello there, what can I do for you?"
"I'm sorry for bothering you so late miss,
but does Feather live here?" The man spoke
softly, and sounded very tired.
"Yes, she does live here, why don't you come
inside and I'll get you some tea." Kasumi opened
the door wider to let the man inside. She led the
man to the main room, where the others where still
eating. Before anyone could react, the man bowed to
them.
"Good evening, my name is Ryuunosuke, and I am
an emissary from the Viper clan." Everyone at
the table started, and Ranma and Ryouga jumped to
their feet. Feather was too stunned to even move.
"I have been sent to carry out the will of one of our
elders that died in the most unfortunate
incident that occurred several days ago." After
these words, Ryouga tensed even further.
"And just what was his will?" Ryouga asked
suspiciously. Ryuunosuke gestured towards the case
he was carrying.
"To deliver this to Feather, and to tell you
all that if you ever need the clans help, the
means to contact us are in the case. You are
honorary members by decree of the ancient elder, and
are to be treated with respect by the entire clan."
Ryuunosuke set the case down, and popped the
latches. He then stepped away from the case, and
looked at Feather. Feather swallowed hard, and
moved towards the case. She gasped when she opened
it. Inside the case there was a photo album, a
leather bound book, what looked like a small jewelry
chest, and money, lots of it. She looked at
Ryuunosuke with her surprise evident on her face.
"This is.. unbelievable..." Feather stammered
as she opened the jewelry case. Inside, there
were several expensive looking rings, a necklace or
two, a pair of jewel encrusted bracers, and a
full neck choker that had a very large emerald set
into the clasp. "I, I don't know what to say..."
Feather trailed off, and looked up at the smiling
Ryuunosuke.
"It was my father's wish that you get mother's
jewelry, as well as that photo album. The
money was my idea, and the book describes how we may
be contacted. I'm sorry I wasn't able to grow
up with you as your brother." Feather gaped at him,
while Nabiki came to a conclusion.
"Your Ryuutsu Maruyama's son aren't you?"
Nabiki stated more than asked. He nodded.
"I didn't know what kind of esteem you held my
father in, so I kept silent about that. I would
have understood if you had attacked when I first said
that I was part of the clan." He grinned at
Ranma. "It wouldn't have been the fist time I was
beaten into the ground by you." Ranma rubbed the
back of his head sheepishly.
"Um.. sorry about that, I was a bit mad at the
time." Ranma laughed a bit about that, and
Ryuunosuke joined him.
"I was just trying to protect my wife, she's
pregnant with our first child, and I didn't want
her getting hurt." Ryuunosuke admitted.
"Fortunately, she wasn't hurt, and she's due soon, so
I
must take my leave of you and hurry to our new home."
Ryuunosuke bowed again, and turned to leave.
"Wait!" Feather cried out as she hurriedly
stood. Ryuunosuke turned back towards her.
Feather bowed to him.
"Thank you for bringing this, and I hope to see
you again soon." Ryuunosuke smiled at her
words.
"I'll be sure to visit sometime with my wife
and child. See you later my friends." Ryuunosuke
left the dojo, a huge smile on his face. Inside,
Feather was gaping at the money in the case.
Ryouga sat down next to Feather. Feather looked up
and gazed over at Mr. Tendo.
"I think I could afford to get my own place
with this," Feather spoke quietly.
"Your more than welcome to stay with us" Mr.
Tendo said, "But if you feel you need your own
place, we'll do everything we can to help you get
started." Feather gave the startled Mr. Tendo a
hug.
"Thanks for everything Mr. Tendo......"
Feather was at a loss for words, her emotions choking
her. Nabiki, eyeballing the money, cleared her
throat.
"That may be a lot of money, but ongoing
expenses will eat it up fairly quickly. Unless you
get a steady source of income, it will break you to
move out." Feather looked abashed, and Ryouga
spoke.
"My father was supposed to start up a checking
account for me, and he told me that if I needed
more to leave a message on his machine." Nabiki
raised an eyebrow at him.
"Oh? And just how much is he giving you?"
When Ryouga told her, Nabiki's eyes widened. "He
can afford to give you THAT much every month?"
Nabiki started to calculate in her head what kind of
place he could afford, based on the figure that
Ryouga's father was giving him each month. Ryouga
blushed a little.
"I kinda asked him for some money to give Mr.
Tendo in return for his hospitality." Nabiki
nodded, then she grinned.
"For a small fee, I can tell you how you can
get your own place, and have plenty leftover to
handle any and all of the bills that may come up."
"What kind of fee?" Ryouga asked
"Oh, I'd say a 20,000 yen fee should just about
cover it...." Nabiki grinned evilly, that is
until she found herself being menaced by Ryouga.
Nabiki suddenly realized that she didn't have
anything on Ryouga that would cause him to back off..
"Did I say 20,000? I meant 2,000 yen."
Nabiki laughed nervously. Ryouga settled down and
dug 2,000 yen out of his pocket. "Thanks for the
business. Your solution is simple. Become
roommates." The chaos that resulted in the room
rivaled
a riot.
After everyone had calmed down (slightly)
Nabiki continued her explanation.
"I merely meant that if you two shared an
apartment, you would be able to afford it without
working for about three or four years without any
outside income. You needn't sleep in the same
room, but it is the most economical option for you."
Nabiki said trying to further calm down the
tempest before her.
Feather looked around desperately. She didn't
object to staying near Ryouga, but she had
absolutely no idea about what to do about getting an
apartment. She was just starting to get used to
living free again, and the thought of moving out was
overwhelming. Ryouga had passed out, an over
active imagination coupled with his shyness had
overloaded him. Ranma and Akane seemed to be
slightly furious at the attempted matchmaking. Mr.
Tendo looked thoughtful though, Genma did as
well. Everyone looked as though they were going to
speak again when Feather spoke up herself.
"Well, I'm going to bed, we can talk about this
in the morning!" She struggled for a second
with Ryouga's unconscious form, and then carried him
upstairs. She dropped him off in Ranma's room,
and she went over to Akane's room and promptly went
to sleep. Downstairs, Mr. Tendo closed up the
case, and took it with him to hide in his underwear
drawer. ::If there's one place on earth the
master wouldn't look for something, it's in a man's
underwear drawer!:: He grinned to himself as he
settled in for the night. Genma was thinking
furiously about possibilities.
::Feather's an orphan, so she needs someone
to care for her, she wants to learn martial arts,
and she has money! Maybe I should adopt her into the
family and train her as well. Ryouga's not
bad, but the Anything Goes school could always use
more dedicated students....:: Grinning at these
thoughts, he quietly retired. Ranma and Akane
angrily confronted Nabiki.
"Are you trying to pair those two up?" Akane
asked her sister.
"Yeah no kidding," Ranma said, "They're doing
just fine without you butting in." Nabiki was
nonplussed by their accusations.
"Did it ever occur to you two that when I told
them that rooming together was their only
chance, was a ploy to get her to stay here?" Ranma
and Akane drew a blank look, "Feather needs a
family right now, and being in an apartment by
herself would devastate her." Comprehension came
slowly to Akane, however Ranma remained clueless.
"I see, so Feather stays here, and she starts
making a normal life for herself. Then, whenever
she runs into something she doesn't know how to deal
with, we step in like her family would, and help
her out... Nabiki you're a genius!" Akane reasoned,
a smile growing on her face. Ranma finally
understood.
"I get it, but what would your dad say Nabiki?
He's already raised three girls, do you think
he'll want to take responsibility for another one?"
"Already taken into account, my soon to be
brother in law. You see, it appears that your
father is starting to get ideas about adopting
Feather into your family. He was unusually quiet
this
evening, and that means he's up to something. If he
does actually do that, she will literally have
her family, ready made with brother, sister, and the
family pet." Nabiki smirked at the expression
on Ranma's face. Akane looked thoughtful for a
second and then asked her own question.
"What about Ryouga? She's become so attached
to him, that if he wanted to move into an
apartment, she would go with him." Nabiki smiled
greatly.
"If she stays, she'll want her own room right?"
The others nodded, "They have more than enough
to have two or three rooms added and still have
plenty left-over. With the money Ryouga's father is
giving him, he would be able to afford to pay rent,
and that will help keep food in the pantry."
Nabiki grinned evilly, "I know just the contractor to
call in to add the rooms. He would have them
in, and seeming like they've always been there in
less than a week."
"Nabiki, you've thought of everything!" Akane
said as she hugged her sister.
"I know, someone here has to." Nabiki said.
The next morning, Ryouga woke slowly. He was
thoroughly enjoying the sensation of waking up in
a warm futon, a slight autumn chill in the air around
him, and delicious scents teasing at his nose.
He thought back to the few times his whole family had
been in his house at the same time. Smiling,
he closed his eyes again, and drifted back through
his memories... Only to be jolted wide awake by
the sounds of a furious battle going on outside.
"What on earth?" He yelled as he quickly
jumped out of the futon to see what was going on. He
rushed down the stairs and looked out in the garden.
There he saw the Saotomes going through their
usual morning practice. Suddenly he remembered where
he was, and why he had passed out the night
before. He blushed slightly as he cast his gaze over
towards the gate, and saw Feather and Akane
were returning from a jog. Ryouga relaxed and walked
into the kitchen. Kasumi was there, working
busily on breakfast. She noticed his entry, and
smiled at him.
"Good morning Ryouga, sleep well last night?"
"Yeah, best sleep I've had in ages." Ryouga's
stomach growled. Kasumi giggled at the suddenly
blushing martial artist.
"Breakfast will be on in a minute or two
Ryouga, why don't you sit down at the table." Ryouga
nodded, and turned to leave. A Large drop of sweat
suddenly formed on Kasumi's face. "Um, Ryouga?"
She said, "The table is over there."
"Oh, thanks Kasumi."
Out in the yard, Ranma was attacking Genma with
a fierce series of kicks. Genma had deftly
blocked them, and stepped forward to take advantage
of an apparent opening. Ranma surprised him when
he rolled between Genma's legs, grabbing them in
passing, and dropped his father on his face.
"What's the matter old man? You shoulda seen
that one a mile away." Ranma gloated over his
fallen father, not noticing a hand snaking towards
his leg. Genma quickly grabbed Ranma's ankle, and
forcefully pulled him off balance. While Ranma was
off balance, Genma sprung to his feet and kicked
Ranma solidly in the ribs. Ranma flew backwards and
landed in the pond. There was a resounding
crack when his head hit one of the rocks.
"That's what you get for not paying attention
boy!" It was Genma's turn to gloat. He turned
pale when he saw Ranma-chan float back to the
surface, face down in the water. Akane rushed into
the
pond, screaming Ranma's name.
"NO! Not again!" Akane wailed as she pulled
Ranma's limp form out of the pond. Ryouga walked
over to see if his friend needed any help.
"What do you mean, 'not again'?" Ryouga asked.
Akane quickly explained about Ranma's previous
personality switch. Ryouga stared at her for a
second, then burst out laughing. Akane's anger
started to boil, as she glared at Ryouga.
"And just what are you laughing at?" She
growled. Ryouga stifled another laugh.
"I, heh heh heh, could imagine Ranma running
around a shopping mall with you..." Ryouga broke
into helpless laughter again. Feather pulled him
away before Akane could throw him into the pond.
Some time later, Ranma-chan slowly woke up.
Her head was still throbbing, and she groaned as
she sat up.
"Are you awake Ranko?" Kasumi asked quietly.
Ranma-chan looked at her suddenly.
"Kasumi?" Ranma-chan asked in an unusually
sweet voice. Kasumi nodded, and then proceeded to
gently clean the back of Ranma-chan's head. Ranma-
chan hissed as the alcohol soaked cloth touched
the raw skin.
"I'm sorry, did that sting?" Kasumi tried to
be even gentler, but she didn't pause from her
task. "Auntie Saotome showed up while you were still
knocked out. Mr. Panda barely jumped into the
pond before she saw him. Kuno is here as well, he
wanted to talk to Akane." Ranma looked at Kasumi
confused.
"Why would Mr. Panda be afraid of Auntie
Saotome?" She asked, Kasumi stopped cleaning the
wound, and looked Ranma-chan in the eye.
"Tell me, what is the last thing you remember?"
Kasumi asked, a slight bit of urgency in her
usually calm voice. Ranma-chan looked puzzled for a
second, then she grabbed the back of her head
again and groaned. When she looked up, her
expression was clear.
"Are you ok Ranko?" Kasumi asked. She looked
visibly relieved when she saw a normal grin show
up on Ranma-chan's face.
"Yeah, the back of my head hurts, but I
remember who I am." Kasumi smiled again, and
gracefully stood.
"I should be getting started on lunch now, you
should rest for a couple of minutes before you
come down." Kasumi silently closed the door behind
her. Ranma-chan lay back down on the futon with
a sigh. She was grateful for the gentle help from
the eldest of the Tendo girls, and she would do
serious bodily harm to anyone who dared to hurt
Kasumi.
::Waitaminute!:: Ranma-chan thought as she sat
bolt upright, ::Mom's here, I may not be able to
see her as her son, but I'll be damned if I'm not
going to spend time with her.:: Ranma-chan hurried
out of the room, and started to walk down the stairs.
She had taken maybe two steps down when a wave
of dizziness hit. She grabbed desperately for the
stair rail, but missed it. As she started to
fall, she idly wondered how much it was going to
hurt.
"Whoa there," Ryouga had come out of one of
the rooms just in time to see Ranma start to fall.
He hurried towards the top of the stairs and quickly
grabbed Ranma-chan and pulled her back to the
top of the steps. Normally, this would not have been
a problem. In fact, it should have been a good
thing, but several coincidences played together to
turn the worst light on things. One of Ryouga's
hands happened to have landed, in an unfortunate
area, and Kuno had witnessed this, and jumped to
conclusions.
"Ryouga you fiend! How dare you take advantage
of the pigtailed one so, I shall smite thee!"
Kuno yelled as he charged. Ryouga for his part, had
finally realized where his hand had ended up,
and was paralyzed, blood streaming from his nose.
Ranma-chan was too dizzy to even realize what was
happening, and was basically limp in Ryouga's arms.
Luckily, Ryouga's survival instinct kicked in
just in time for him to dodge a slash from Kuno. Not
wanting to leave a weakened Ranma with Kuno, he
shifted his grip slightly and raced down the stairs
and outside.
"Coward! Stand your ground and fight me!"
Kuno roared as he gave chase. Feather had heard
the commotion, and ran to see what was going on.
Akane was too busy in the kitchen with Nodoka to
even bother with what was going on. All Feather saw
was Ryouga, blood all over his face and shirt
and carrying an unconscious Ranma-chan, being chased
by an angry Kuno waving his bokken in the air.
Feather snapped her wings out, tearing the back of
the T-shirt she was wearing to shreds, and flew to
help Ryouga. She flew over Kuno, and landed in front
of him and assumed a ready stance while she
dismissed her wings.
"Kuno, I challenge you!" She yelled, hoping
she would be able do delay Kuno just long enough
for Ryouga to get away. Kuno came to a stop in front
of her.
"A challenge? Very well, I shall face thee,
and should you win, I shall allow you to date with
me!" He raised his bokken in a salute to her. "And
should I win, I shall date with thee!" He
yelled as he slashed quickly. Feather jumped up and
forward, landing on Kuno's shoulders. She
reached for his head to do a neck throw, but Kuno
ducked his shoulders, and took a quick step
forward. Feather tumbled to the ground, shaken.
Kuno turned around and started to slash at her
prone form.
"Surrender, lest I harm thy beautiful skin in
my eagerness for victory!" Kuno pressed his
advantage, but Feather rolled backwards and flipped
away. She landed and faced off against Kuno
again. After a few tense moments, she raced towards
Kuno, and landed several punches on his face,
and a kick in his gut. Kuno bent forward from the
kick, but he slapped his bokken across the back of
Feather's knee. Feather buckled, and Kuno was about
claim victory when, instead of falling, she bent
over backwards, performed a handstand and twisted,
her legs spread. Both of her feet hit Kuno in the
chin before she was forced to roll away again. When
she stood , she saw that he was stunned by the
blows. She ran towards him and landed a fierce
roundhouse on the side of his head. Kuno flew
sideways into a tree and lay still. Feather put her
hands on her knees and panted. She wasn't
expecting to win, but fortune had smiled on her.
Exhausted, she sat down, not noticing that Kuno was
starting to rise again.
When Ryouga noticed that Kuno wasn't chasing
him anymore, he slowed to a stop and put a
struggling Ranma-chan down.
"What do you think you're doing idiot?" Ranma-
chan yelled at Ryouga. Ryouga looked at her and
grinned.
"Would you rather have Kuno hugging you to
death when you're too weak to stop him?" Ryouga
asked. Ranma-chan immediately calmed down, then
noticed something.
"Hey Ryouga, what's with all the blood?"
Ryouga blushed fiercely and turned away. He mumbled
something incoherent. Ranma-chan walked next to him.
"What? I didn't hear you there man. Speak
up." Ryouga turned his head away and spoke again.
"I uh, you know, kinda grabbed uh your chest
when you started to fall." Ryouga couldn't look
at Ranma, he was too embarrassed. Ranma-chan started
to laugh at Ryouga.
"Don't worry about it man, you were just trying
to help right? Just don't make a habit of
it..." Ranma-chan trailed off menacingly, then
laughed at Ryouga's expression. Ryouga joined in a
few seconds later. Then Ryouga looked around
confused.
"Ummm, Ranma?"
"Yeah?"
"Where are we?" Ryouga continued looking
around, a lost expression covered his face. Ranma-
chan sighed as she covered her face with her hand.
"We're maybe a block from the dojo, come on."
Ranma-chan said as she grabbed Ryouga roughly by
the arm and dragged him in the right direction.
After walking for a minute, they saw Feather
fighting off Kuno as he ran after her with a bouquet
of roses. After being kicked away by Feather,
Kuno noticed Ranma-chan.
"Oh my pigtailed goddess! How my heart hast
longed for thee!" Kuno declared as he ran swiftly
towards his 'love'. Ranma-chan started backing away,
knowing that she was in no shape to try and
fight Kuno off. Ryouga interfered with Kuno's
advance with a solidly swung umbrella strike, sending
Kuno towards the horizon.
"Jerk" Ryouga muttered as he walked towards
Feather. "Hey, you ok Feather?" She didn't
respond, and was breathing heavily. Ryouga noticed
the tears on the back of Feather's T-shirt, not
to mention her smooth skin underneath. He managed to
contain his nosebleed and turned away. Ranma-
chan walked up and knelt next to Feather.
"Heh, welcome to the club Feather." Feather
looked at her quizzically.
"What club?" She asked.
"Why the G.C.B.K. of course." Ranma-chan
started to snicker a bit. Feather looked confused,
so Ranma-chan continued. "The girls chased by Kuno
club. You will be our newest inductee. Whether
or not you'll be a permanent member is yet to be
seen." Feather giggled at Ranma-chan for a while,
and was still giggling once they returned to the
dojo. Akane and Nodoka were coming out of the
kitchen when they showed up. Ranma-chan winced a
little as she realized what was going on.
"Akane, did you cook dinner tonight?" Ranma-
chan's voice trembled in apprehension. Akane
glared at Ranma-chan.
"Right! And I made plenty for everybody, so be
sure to eat up!" Ryouga started to look
slightly panicked, while Feather looked around her in
confusion.
"What's the big deal? I'm sure Akane cooked us
something nice, so let's go eat." Feather said
cheerfully as she walked to Akane's room to get a new
shirt. Ranma-chan walked up to Nodoka.
"Auntie Saotome? Is, is it safe?" Ranma-chan
asked, a worried tone in her voice.
"Now Ranko, I'm not going to spoil dinner for
you by telling you what it tastes like. Now be a
good girl and help Akane and I set the table ok?"
Nodoka moved back into the kitchen, a worried
Ranma-chan behind her.
Once every body was around the table, Akane
and Nodoka brought out the.... food. Everyone at
the table, save Kasumi and Feather, shivered at the
sight. The dish appeared to be a lumpy mass of
ingredients, what appeared to be some kind of
vegetable stuck out at odd angles. Despite its
appearance, Nodoka didn't hesitate in putting it onto
the table.
"Akane worked very hard on tonight's dinner.
She was a great help in the kitchen, and I must
say she has gotten a lot better." Nodoka said as she
sat down. Akane served the food, and sat back
to see the reactions. Nodoka confidently took the
first bite, and showed no adverse reaction.
Encouraged by this, Ryouga grabbed his chopsticks and
took some of the unidentifiable dish. He
carefully ate some, and his eyes went wide. He was
frozen in shock, as Ranma-chan was looking with a
little trepidation at her plate. Nodoka discreetly
elbowed Ranma-chan, and she took a bite and
started to chew. She looked thoughtful as she chewed
slowly. Feather didn't know what the big deal
was, so she just ate it without any hesitation. ::A
little bland, but it's alright I guess:: She
thought as she ate. Ranma-chan finished her first
bite and smiled.
"Way to go Akane! This is actually edible,
maybe even a little tasty." Ranma-chan finished
off her plate and held it out for seconds. Akane
blushed as she filled up Ranma-chan's plate again.
"That's very nice of you to say that Ranko,
Akane poured her heart into making this. It's too
bad Ranma wasn't here to taste this meal. Next time,
we'll work more on appearance Akane." Nodoka
said, a slightly wistful smile on her face. She
opened her mouth to say something else, but was
interrupted by Mr. Tendo crying wildly.
"My little girl is cured! She can cook at
last!" Mr. Tendo wailed, his tears spraying
everywhere.
"Daddy please! I'm glad you liked it and all,
but you're overreacting!" Akane tried in vain
to get her father to stop crying. Ryouga was still
in a state of shock, unmoved and still holding
his chopsticks in his mouth. Soon, there wasn't any
food left on the table, and Akane and Feather
started to clean up the table, insisting that Kasumi
take the night off. Nodoka had gone into a
different room to talk with Mr. Tendo, and Ryouga was
wandering the house. Ranma-chan leaned back
and was picking at her teeth with a toothpick.
"Ranko? Do you mind helping Akane out with
the dishes? I want to talk with Feather for a
minute." Nodoka said as she walked back into the
room, holding a piece of paper tightly. Ranma-chan
nodded and took the dishes out of a startled
Feather's hands.
"You wash, I'll rinse ok?" Ranma-chan was
heard to be saying as they vanished into the
kitchen. Nodoka and Feather sat down at the edge of
the porch, staring out at the pond.
"Feather, I found a letter from my husband this
morning. He explained to me that you are an
orphan, and how he would like you to become the
daughter we never had." Nodoka smiled gently at
Feather, "I've spoken with Mr. Tendo, and he feels
that it's a great idea, and doesn't mind if you
stay here. What I want to know is what you want to
do. If you don't want to be part of our family,
I'll understand. If you do, you have the choice of
staying here, or coming home with me." Feather
looked at Nodoka, tears starting to form in her eyes.
Feather tried to talk, but no words could make
it past the tightness in her throat. Feather hugged
Nodoka and cried into her shoulder. Nodoka
gently hugged Feather back and looked up at the
starry sky.
"It's ok Feather, I understand." She
whispered.
"It's not that," Feather said in between sobs,
"It's just, this will be the first family I can
remember being in!"
Quite a while later, Feather made her way
towards the bath. she was reeling a little from how
much had happened. After Feather had stopped crying,
Nodoka had told her that she would be starting
school the next day. When Ryouga found out, he
declared that he would go as well. Akane and her
sisters had raided their closets, looking for an old
or shrunken uniform for Feather to wear. Kasumi
had found a sailor suit style uniform in the back of
her closet. When Feather tried it on, the hem
of the skirt was on the floor, while the blouse
itself was fairly tight. Kasumi and Feather giggled
about it while they made the necessary alterations.
::It's amazing how quickly Kasumi altered that
uniform. I didn't think it would be ready until
morning:: Feather shut the door and shrugged out of
her clothes. She hummed a little tune to herself as
she cleaned herself, and then set about the task
of cleaning her hair. A dark blur by the window
caught her attention for a second, but when she
didn't see anything else, she shrugged and started to
rinse off.
Feather gratefully sank into the hot bath,
gritting her teeth slightly as the water lapped
over the small scrapes and bruises on her arms. She
leaned back and closed her eyes, her red hair
floating around her like a scarlet aura. She didn't
notice two beady eyes open up in a darker corner
of the bathroom, and she definitely didn't hear it's
silent footsteps. It crept slowly but surely
towards the unsuspecting girl, and rubbed its tiny
hands together in anticipation. Suddenly it leapt
for it's goal, and Feather opened her eyes to see a
shriveled old man in a ninja outfit in mid-leap
headed straight for her. She screamed as the world's
most feared pervert latched onto her.
"Hiya sweetie! Haven't seen you around here
before, so I decided to say hi." Happosai
chuckled as Feather tried in vain to dislodge him.
"Get offa me you pervert!" She screamed as she
tried using a brush handle like a crowbar.
Happosai didn't loosen his grip at all.
"Now why should I do that? I'm perfectly
comfortable where I am! Ahh, how sweet!" Happosai
buried his face into her chest, totally ignoring her
efforts to dislodge him.
Ranma-chan and Akane burst into the bathroom,
and immediately tried to pull Happosai off.
"Leggo ya old freak!" Ranma-chan growled as
she pulled. With an evil grin, Ranma-chan grabbed
the old man's ear and started to twist. Happosai
went from chuckling to screaming in pain in an
instant, and turned to fight with Ranma-chan. As he
let go, Feather jumped back, and Akane swung her
hammer of doom. Happosai nimbly dodged to one side
and stood with his back to the door.
"Ranma! You should treat your master with more
respect than that! I will punish you!"
"When did you become my master, freak?" Ranma-
chan taunted. Happosai's battle aura flared,
causing Ranma-chan and the others to back up a step.
Ranma-chan got ready to attack, then relaxed.
"What's the matter Ranma? Giving up?"
Happosai asked, and then was infuriated when Ranma-
chan
didn't answer, in fact she seemed to be ignoring him
completely. "I will make you pay for stealing
an old man's happiness!" Happosai ranted as he
summoned his aura to leap into battle..... and was
stopped short by a crushing grip.
"And just what do you think your doing?"
Ryouga growled, his face a mask of absolute rage.
Happosai writhed in the vise like grip.
"Insolent boy! I will not forgive this
outrage!" Happosai shouted. Ryouga ignored his
struggles, and slammed the lech into the floor face
first, destroying the tile.
"Ditto, freak." Ryouga snarled as he threw the
withered old man out of the window. When he
turned to see if Feather was all right, he made an
inarticulate noise and his nose bled as he saw
that Feather was naked. He quickly turned away and
started to stammer apologies. Feather grabbed a
towel and wrapped it around herself.
"It's ok Ryouga. Who was that old freak?"
Feather asked, still looking angry. Akane started
to explain to Feather about Happosai while Ryouga and
Ranma-chan discreetly left the bathroom.
Ranma-chan was shaking her head.
"Oh man, why did that freak have to show up
again?" Ranma-chan muttered. Ryouga growled deep
in his throat. Ranma-chan glanced at Ryouga, and saw
that his aura was flaring. "Calm down man!
The freak's gone for now, so save your strength for
the next time." Ryouga stopped glowing, and
looked down at Ranma-chan.
"You seem awfully calm about this." Ryouga
said. Ranma-chan shrugged.
"Been dealing with the freak longer. Kinda
gotten used to fighting with him. Also, you're
around, and that makes it a lot easier to beat him
up." Ryouga shrugged, and walked away from his
friend to set up his tent in the yard. He wouldn't
survive the blood loss if he tried to stay in
Ranma's room that night, as Nodoka was staying in the
guest room.
Early the next morning, Ranma-chan crept into
the yard to awaken Ryouga.
"Hey, stupid! Wake up, we gotta get ready for
school." Ranma-chan shook Ryouga forcefully.
Ryouga stirred, then sat up. He mumbled something
and laid back down. Frustrated, Ranma-chan
punched Ryouga in the gut. Ryouga woke instantly and
grabbed Ranma-chan's throat.
"What was that for?" Ryouga said loudly.
Ranma-chan struggled against the chokehold for a
second, then Ryouga loosened his grip.
"Come on, we have to get ready for school. We
need to get you and Feather registered, and I
need to get some hot water on the way there." Ranma-
chan choked for a minute after Ryouga let go.
Ranma-chan hurried out of the tent while Ryouga got
into a clean set of clothes. Once he was
dressed, Ryouga broke down his tent and packed his
backpack with practiced ease. Kasumi appeared on
the porch.
"Breakfast is ready Ryouga, hurry or you'll be
late!" She called out to him. Ryouga
shouldered his pack and walked into the house.
Everyone else was already eating, so he joined them
and ate quickly. He glanced at Feather, and decided
she looked good in the school uniform. She had
her hair in a ponytail, tied with the bandanna he had
given her shortly after they met, and she was
also wearing the choker with the emerald on it.
Ryouga blushed when he realized that he was staring,
and went back to stuffing himself. As they were
leaving, Nodoka, Kasumi and Mr. Tendo wished Feather
luck on her first day, and saw them out to the gate.
After a quick stop at Dr. Tofu's for some hot
water, they made their way towards Furinkan High
School. Upon entering the gates, Feather could swear
that everyone was staring at her. She looked
around the schoolyard, and saw that many of the boys
were leering at her, and more than a few of the
girls were sighing after Ryouga. Suddenly nervous,
she grabbed Ryouga's arm, looking for support.
Ryouga had noticed the stares, but had gone into a
state of bliss when Feather grabbed his arm, so he
missed the hateful stares that many of the male
students were sending his way. Feather saw the
envious looks that the girls were sending her way, so
she tightened her grip.
"Hey Ranma!" Hiroshi and Daisuke sauntered up
to him. "Who's the new girl, and why is she
hanging all over Ryouga like that?" Hiroshi asked.
"Man is she hot!" Daisuke was practically
drooling. Ranma frowned at his friends.
"Her name is Feather, and she's my sister, so
be nice to her." Hiroshi and Daisuke gaped at
him for a minute. Daisuke's jaw worked uselessly,
while Hiroshi grabbed Ranma's shoulders.
"Wait just a second! You told us earlier that
you were an only child, and now you have a
sister? What's going on Ranma?" Ranma grinned at
their shocked expressions.
"Well, Feather's an orphan, and my folks
decided to adopt her. She's been through a lot, and
I
recommend, for your health, that you be, polite,
around her." Ranma cracked his knuckles. Hiroshi
paled a bit at the veiled threat, then he grinned.
"I gotcha, we'll be perfect gentlemen. I'll
just have to be suave and sophisticated....." His
voice trailed off as he and Daisuke walked off.
Akane glared at Ranma.
"Why did you threaten them Ranma? Those two
are harmless." She asked, with a slight edge to
her tone. Ranma laughed.
"It was for their own good. Ryouga would beat
them into a pulp without a second thought if he
believed they were bugging Feather at all. At least
now they have a chance to avoid a bad beating."
Ranma grinned maliciously, "Besides, I always wanted
to do the 'over-protective big brother'
routine. It's kinda fun." Akane giggled for a
second at that and Ranma shrugged. "Also, Feather
seems to be more shy than Ryouga. Think about it,
new girl, unattached as far as anybody can see,
the guys are gonna go nuts when they see her." Akane
nodded, remembering fighting off hordes every
morning.
"Ok, you've got a point Ranma." Akane caught a
glimpse of Ukyou, and waved. "Hey Ukyou! Over
here!" Akane waved vigorously. Ukyou spotted
Akane, and made her way over to them.
"Morning Ran-chan, Akane! I thought I saw
Feather and Ryouga in the yard a minute ago, are
they going to school now?" Ukyou said as she started
walking next to Ranma. Ranma nodded.
"Yeah, they're going to be in our class too.
Mom and Mr. Tendo pulled some strings and old
favors to get them into our class. Mom also decided
to adopt Feather into the family, so she's my
sister now." Ukyou smiled.
"That's great Ran-chan! Maybe you all would
like to come by the restaurant after school to
celebrate."
"We'll see what happens, ok Ucchan?" Ranma
said, hoping to avoid sounding too enthusiastic
about it. He glanced at Akane out of the corner of
his eye, hoping that she would remain calm.
Akane was smiling, and proceeded to talk with Ukyou
about little things. Ranma heaved a silent sigh
of relief. ::Heh, looks like Ukyou and Akane are
getting to be good friends. That'll make my life
easier.:: Ranma thought as he walked behind the two
girls. They arrived in class at that point and
sat at their desks. Miss Hinako practically skipped
to the front of the classroom when the bell rang.
"Good morning all you good boys and girls!
Today we have two new students, so everybody be
really nice to them ok?" She giggled as she waved
for the new students to come in. "This is Ryouga
Hibiki and Feather Saotome!" The entire class
started whispering. Miss Hinako gave the class a
stern glance, and it was quiet again. Ryouga was
uncomfortably rubbing the back of his head, and
Feather was plain overwhelmed. "Mr. Hibiki has been
travelling for sooo long now, so everyone be
really nice to him ok?" She giggled and then frowned
at Feather. "Miss Saotome! Why don't you have
the right uniform on?" Feather sweated for a minute,
and then she spoke.
"Um, this is my uniform from my old school. I
haven't had a chance to get a new one yet, since
I found out I was going to be transferring here last
night." Feather wasn't exactly lying, just
leaving out a ton of details. Miss Hinako considered
this for a minute, then smiled.
"Ok! Just as long as you have the right
uniform by next week young lady. Now, let's see
where
you're going to sit." Miss Hinako made quite a show
of looking for seats. "I know! Miss Saotome,
why don't you sit next to your brother, and Mister
Hibiki, you sit over there in the back. I know
you two will be good students, won't you!" Ryouga
nodded vigorously as he took his seat, while
Feather just sat with an amused expression on her
face.
During the first break, a crowd of boys
formed around Feather's desk. Startled, she looked
at the boys in confusion.
"So, are you really Ranma's sister?" One of
the boys asked her. When she nodded, another one
spoke up.
"You into martial arts too?"
"A little" Feather was starting to feel
trapped, as the boys pressed in closer. Only Hiroshi
and Daisuke stood back a little, remembering what
Ranma had told them earlier.
"You wanna go out for tea sometime?" A
different boy asked, and was immediately pounded into
the ground by the other boys. Then they all started
asking questions at once, and Feather started to
shrink into her seat.
"Hey! Back off ya jerks! You're scaring her!"
Ranma yelled as he started to toss them away
rather forcefully. Ryouga had started to get out of
his seat to help, then sat back and grinned.
After the first two had been thrown, the rest backed
off quickly. Feather looked at Ranma with a
great amount of relief. "A little curiosity is fine,
but you're pushing it. I expect all of you to
behave around my sister, got it?" Ranma growled.
The boys nodded a hasty affirmative, then promptly
started arguing about who would get to talk to her
first. While the rest of the boys were arguing,
Hiroshi made his move.
"Hi there, my name's Hiroshi. If you need
anything, and I do mean anything, you just let me
know ok?" He smiled his best smile, and winked.
Feather smiled at him a bit timidly. The bell rang
again, and Hiroshi looked at the clock in disgust.
"Darn... Hey I'll talk to you later ok?" He
said as he quickly returned to his desk. Class
seemed to fly by for Feather as she tried to soak up
all the knowledge she could.
When lunch time came around, Feather snagged
Ryouga before he could wander off, and they went
outside with their lunches. Once outside Feather was
besieged again by many of the boys from her
class. Ryouga tried glaring at them to scare them
off, but the boys were ignoring him. The boys
pressed in tighter and managed to separate Feather
from Ryouga. Ryouga looked around, desperately
trying to spot Feather in the crowd. When he
couldn't see her, he started pushing his way through
the crowd. He tossed the boys around like rag dolls
as he steadily advanced, his anger clearly
showing on his face. He burst out of the crowd and
found himself at the wood line. He looked all
around, but he couldn't see the school anywhere.
Ryouga yelled his frustration into the sky and
started to wreck havoc on the crowd of boys again.
Unfortunately, he was being led away by the boys
he was attacking. After a minute or two the boys
scattered, leaving Ryouga alone in the woods.
Ryouga growled and started running, hopefully towards
the school.
Feather was beginning to panic. The boys were
pressing in on her, and all of them were talking
at once, asking questions on one sort or another.
She couldn't see Ryouga anymore, and the boys had
totally surrounded her.
"GO AWAY!! LEAVE ME ALONE!!" Feather
yelled, and tried to push her way through the crowd.
Some of the boys made room for her, but more often
than not, they tried to press in. Scared out of
her wits, Feather sat in place and started to hug her
knees. Silently, she started to cry.
"Oh man, you guys made her cry!" One of the
boys said. Another one turned on him.
"What do you mean 'you guys'? You're here with
us ain't ya?"
"Boy is she cute when she's crying."
"Hey! Let me through! I gotta comfort her..."
"Yeah right, like I'll let you through to her!"
The crowd of boys continued to argue, not a
single one of them noticed Hiroshi and Daisuke slip
away from the crowd. What they did notice was a most
noble figure that addressed them.
"What is the meaning of this rabble? Tell me
lest you feel the wrath of Blue Thunder of
Furinkan High!" Well, at least _he_ thought he was a
most noble figure. Many of the boys fled from
Kuno, still fearing the senior. Kuno frowned, and
brought one of the fleeing boys up short.
"Tell me cur, what is the meaning of this?"
Kuno asked in a low, menacing voice. The boy
swallowed hard, and glanced back towards the crowd.
"Ah, upperclassman Kuno... Uh well you see...."
he stammered.
"Out with it fool! What is going on here?"
"Um, you see, there's this new girl in class,
and we wanted to know a bit more about her, so we
are asking her a few questions." Kuno raised an
eyebrow.
"You call this," He gestured towards the crowd
with his bokken, "Asking her a few questions?
Doubtless you're curiosity is steeped in base lusts,
and you and your despicable friends have her
cornered. Ah the tragedy! Fair maiden! I, Tatewaki
Kuno, shall defend your honor from these
miscreants!" Kuno yelled as he charged into the
crowd, swinging his bokken swiftly. It was over in
a moment, and Kuno stood alone. The rest of the
young men had either scattered, or been roughly
flung away by the force of Kuno's blows. Kuno
regarded the fallen boys with a contemptuous glare.
Then his gaze fell upon Feather, still hugging her
knees. Kuno rushed towards her.
"Ah! If I had but known that thy presence
would grace these hallowed halls of learning, I
wound have sought thee out earlier." Feather didn't
respond to his presence. Slightly disgruntled
by the lack of reaction, Kuno moved closer. "Do not
fear any longer, for I have scattered these curs
to the winds. Mayhap you would be able to find
comfort in mine embrace! Come! Leap into my arms,
and let us be off!" Kuno spread his arms wide,
hoping for some sort of reaction. Feather still
didn't move. Kuno was getting worried, as lunch was
almost over. He finished closing the distance
between him and Feather, and stabbed his bokken into
the ground.
"Come, fair Feather. It is nearly time for us
to return into these hallowed halls of learning.
Allow me to lend mine incredible strength to you, and
assist you to thy class. Tell me, which class
is yours?" Feather made several inarticulate noises,
but made no effort to stand. Kuno made a
decision and pulled his bokken out of the ground and
stuck it into his belt. He then gathered
Feather into his arms, and made his way into the
nurse's office.
Back in Ranma and Akane's class, there was a
small-scale riot going on. Ranma had most of the
boys in the class cowering in a corner.
"What did you say you guys did?" Ranma
growled. He was flanked by Akane and Ukyou, both of
them glaring at the cowering boys, while Hiroshi and
Daisuke stood a bit behind him with smug looks
on their faces. One of the young men swallowed hard.
"We... We tried to ask Feather a few
questions." Ranma glared at him. Ranma would have
pursued the matter further, but Miss Hinako came back
into the classroom.
"Hi everyone! Did you have a good lunch? I
know I did!" She enthused. The students rushed
back to their seats. Miss Hinako looked the class
over, and frowned. "What happened to Miss Saotome
and Mr. Hibiki?" Ranma stood at his desk.
"Miss Hinako, I gotta go find them! Let me go
look for them!" Miss Hinako considered this for
a minute, then nodded.
"Hurry and come back Mr. Saotome, or I'll count
you as cutting class!" Ranma rushed out of the
room. Akane and Ukyou exchanged worried glances
before facing front.
Ranma raced down the hallway, hoping that
Feather and Ryouga had gotten lost on their way to
class. As he ran by the nurse's office, he skidded
to a stop and peeked in. In one of the beds was
Feather, and Kuno was sitting next to the bed. Ranma
ran into the nurses office. Kuno stood
quickly, and readied his bokken.
"Hold Saotome! I will not allow you to
practice your foul sorceries upon this fair maiden!"
Kuno snarled at his sworn foe. Ranma glared at him.
"Give it a rest Kuno. Miss Hinako sent me
looking for her. She's late for class." Kuno
didn't budge.
"You will address me as upperclassman. As you
can see, she is in no condition to return to her
class. She was weeping in the yard when I found her.
She is so frail, like her namesake, and yet,
she has a strength that makes my heart soar upon the
skies, carefree in the wind when I am but near
her. I.." Kuno broke off when he saw Ranma shaking
in rage, his aura flaring abruptly.
"When I find the bastard that made her cry, I'm
going make him regret it." Ranma ground out
from between clenched teeth. Kuno regarded Ranma
warily, half expecting him to lash out.
"Saotome, state your intentions towards
Feather, as I would not see her in thrall to your
evil
ways." Ranma's aura suddenly stopped flaring, and he
started laughing at Kuno. "I fail to see the
humor in my question Saotome. Explain yourself and
your relationship with her!"
"Kuno you moron, Feather's my sister!" Ranma
laughed even harder when Kuno's jaw dropped.
Kuno recovered quickly.
"I see, although I do find it unusual that an
honorless cur like you would defend your sister.
Very well Saotome, I will allow you to awaken her for
her classes." Kuno lowered his bokken and
stepped aside. Ranma walked up to the bed and gently
shook Feather's shoulder.
"Hey, wake up. It's time for class." Ranma
said quietly. Feather stirred and looked up at
Ranma with teary eyes. She started crying again, and
Ranma hugged her awkwardly.
"Ranma! I was scared! They had surrounded me,
and led Ryouga off somewhere. Then they kept
pressing in tighter and tighter. I felt like I
couldn't breathe, and there was no room..." Feather
sobbed into Ranma's shoulder and hugged him tightly.
Kuno stood silent for a change, and felt a
longing in his heart.
::I would be the one she opens her heart
to...:: Kuno thought as he watched Ranma try to
comfort her. ::It's seems I must now seek the
approval of her brother to date with her, and yet I
must defeat him to free Akane Tendo and the pigtailed
girl from his lecherous ways. Ah, the course
of true love is never easy. I must contemplate how I
must proceed.:: Lost in thought, Kuno was
unawares of Ranma leading a sniffling Feather from
the infirmary.
When Ranma returned to class with the teary
eyed Feather, Miss Hinako stopped her class and
glared at Feather.
"And just why are you so late you naughty girl?
Happo five yen..." She never finished, as
Ranma became a blur of motion and snatched the coin
away from her.
"Hold on teach! She got scared from being in a
new school, and was in the nurses office."
Ranma returned the five yen piece to Miss Hinako.
"It ain't her fault fer being late, so don't go
and drain her ok?" Ranma left a startled Miss Hinako
and took Feather to her seat. Miss Hinako
stared at them, and then she frowned.
"Where is Mr. Hibiki?" Ranma shrugged.
"I couldn't find him, he probably got lost."
Somewhere near the coast, Ryouga wandered into
what he thought was a restaurant. He stopped
just inside the doors when he noticed that the room
was full of sailors just sitting down for lunch.
"Excuse me, but which way is it to Tokyo?"
Ryouga managed to ask before the sailors tackled
him. A while later, Ryouga found himself painting
the side of the cabin. ::Great, I'm stuck on this
boat going who knows where, all because they think I
stowed away on purpose. At least they don't
have me painting the side of the boat...:: Ryouga
continued to paint, wallowing in his misery as the
ship continued on its course away from Japan.
After school let out, Feather went in search of
Ryouga. Ranma was getting worried, hoping
that Feather wouldn't get lost looking for Ryouga.
Akane noticed the look on his face.
"What's wrong Ranma?" She asked.
"I'm just worried about Feather. She's out
looking for Ryouga right now, but he could be just
about anywhere. I'm hoping she doesn't get herself
lost looking for that idiot."
"Don't worry so much Ranma. After all, doesn't
Ryouga always find his way back to the dojo
eventually? All we have to do is convince Feather to
wait here for him. I'll cook dinner tonight to
help her stop worrying." Akane scowled as Ranma
flinched. "Now what Ranma?"
"Not much, I just hope it's like what you
cooked last night rather than that toxic sludge you
usually come up with." Akane seethed at the remark.
"You had better at least try it! Besides, I
can cook now, remember?"
"Yeah yeah, I'm hoping that it wasn't a fluke.
Come to think of it, didn't Mom keep you in
line the whole time?" Ranma was oblivious to the
rising battle aura coming from Akane.
"Ranma! You will eat tonight's dinner and like
it!" Akane had grabbed her hammer from mallet
space and pounded Ranma with it for a while. After
she had pulverized Ranma, Akane stalked towards
the dojo. Ranma was twitching a little, and he was
groaning.
"Stupid tomboy." He muttered. Akane turned
around and stuck her tongue out at him.
"I heard that pervert!" Akane made another
face at Ranma before running into the dojo.
Ranma painfully stood, and walked into the
dojo, muttering to himself. Just as he stepped
through the door, Happosai confronted him. Ranma
grunted at the old man, and tried to go around him.
Happosai moved in front of him.
"Not so fast my boy, I have some questions for
you." Ranma glared at the old pervert.
"What do ya want freak?" Ranma kept his guard
up.
"That girl who was here last night. Who was
she? Is she going to be here much more? She's
just my type you know, long hair, big eyes...."
Happi jumped up and grabbed the front of Ranma's
shirt. "You gotta tell me! You gotta!" Happosai
pulled on Ranma's shirt while he got big puppy dog
eyes.
"Geez lighten up freak! Her name's Feather.
You better leave her alone if you know what's
good for you." Ranma grabbed Happi by his collar and
held him eye to eye. Happosai chuckled in
anticipation. "I said you'll leave her alone freak!"
Ranma yelled as he threw Happosai into a wall.
Unhurt, Happosai bounced to his feet. Ranma tried to
kick him, but Happi just bounced away, laughing
his head off. Ranma kicked his shoes off just as the
door open again. A downcast Feather trudged
in. Ranma got a worried look on his face.
"Hey Feather, any sign of Ryouga?" Feather
merely shook her head as she took off her shoes.
"He'll show up sooner or later, so don't look so down
'k?" Feather looked up and gave a weak smile
before heading into the house. Ranma shrugged his
shoulders and followed her into living room. Mr.
Tendo and Genma were playing shoji in one corner,
while Nabiki was going through some stock reports.
Akane was sitting at the table fuming a little.
"Kasumi wouldn't let you in the kitchen huh?"
Ranma smirked. Akane glared at him.
"If you must know, yes. She said she had been
working on a special dinner to celebrate
Feather's first day at school." Ranma sat down next
to her.
"That's too bad. I was kinda looking forward
to eating some edible food that you cooked. It's
a nice change." Akane blushed fiercely at his words,
and a tenative smile grew on her face.
"You, you mean it Ranma?" Akane barely
whispered.
"Sure I do Akane. Now I don't have to worry
about fighting your cooking off." Ranma grinned,
but Akane started to lose her temper again. Before
she could launch Ranma into orbit, Feather sat
next to her and leaned on her shoulder.
"I don't know what to do Akane, Ryouga's been
missing since lunch and I'm getting worried."
Akane looked startled for a second, and then smiled
at her friend.
"Don't worry Feather. He's been travelling on
his own for years and he gets where he's
going.... eventually. He'll be back by next week."
Kasumi stuck her head out of the kitchen.
"I'm sorry everyone, but it looks like dinner
won't be ready for a couple of hours. Akane, why
don't you take Feather out shopping for a while, it
might cheer her up a bit." Akane nodded. As the
girls got ready to leave, Ranma started to tag along,
but Kasumi snagged him by the collar.
"I could use some help in the kitchen Ranma, I
have a lot of vegetables that need to be
sliced." Kasumi smiled and led Ranma in to the
kitchen, not giving him a chance to object. "Oh yes,
would you keep Happosai out of the kitchen as well?
He keeps trying to snitch some of the meat while
it's cooking." Ranma grinned and cracked his
knuckles.
"Sure thing Kasumi. I'll keep the freak out of
your way."
At the local mall, Feather was going from store
to store with a gleeful expression on her face.
Akane smiled as her friend became more and more
excited. Feather tried on dress after dress, but she
couldn't find one she liked. She stepped out of the
dressing room wearing a black evening dress that
was low cut and backless.
"What do you think Akane? Is it me or what?"
Feather giggled as she posed in front of the
mirror. The saleswoman smiled.
"That looks very elegant on you."
"I don't know Feather. Isn't that kind of
dress the type you wear to those really snobbish
parties?" Akane snickered while Feather frowned a
bit, and ducked back into the dressing room. A
couple of minutes later she came out again in a pale
blue sun dress, and the blouse was once again
backless.
"How about this one Akane? Isn't it just the
cutest thing?" Akane smiled
"I like that one Feather, why don't you get
it." Feather ducked back into the dressing room
again. When she came back out, she had many dresses
draped over one arm, and only a few on the
other. She held the smaller amount out to the
saleswoman.
"I'll take these."
"Here, why don't you give me the ones you
didn't want. I'll put them back on the racks for
you." Feather paid for the dresses, and the
saleswoman carefully hung the selected dresses on a
hanger and wrapped them in paper. She deftly tied a
knot at the bottom of the bag, then handed
Feather her purchases.
"Thank you for shopping, and we hope to see you
again soon!" The saleswoman gave a slight bow
as Feather and Akane left the store giggling. As
they started walking home, Feather gazed at the
darkening sky.
"Maybe the world is not such a dark and lonely
place" She whispered to herself. Akane and
Feather walked giggling and talking into the evening.
End Chapter 5
Sorry it took so long to finish this chapter, but my folks
moved into a new house, and I ended up fixing up the place.
Many thanks to my pre-readers and my loyal fans for putting
up with me! Comment and criticism is always welcome, and
even flames are tolerated. Not that I've gotten any yet. 8D
Until the next time, fare thee well.
ryouga1100@hotmail.com
