alhuang@hcs.harvard.edu http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~alhuang/ February 10, 1997 This is my first fanfic, although somewhat edited by now (and not the first to be posted). Finally, it's ready.... Hey, I might as well put that expository writing class to use. Anyways, the characters (except for Nakamura Takeshi) are the property of Takahashi Rumiko-san, and the whole Ranma 1/2 idea is hers as well. Some thanks: Thank you to all the Ranma fanfic writers out there for inspiration (of whatever sort), the FFML for giving me some C&C, and also to Taleswapper and his little essay on Annoying New Characters (ANCs), plus his pre-reading of this first chapter. Takeshi is not superpowerful, not going to be going after Nabiki, he has a somewhat good reason to be around...and I'm going to be using him to explore the world of Ranma a little more deeply. In fact, this story doesn't have too much of a plot following the new character; rather, I'm using him as a sounding board for the Nerima regulars, to do some character development. I'm going to skip a lot of the introductions normally found in a "new-character fic" since it's been done already, and done a lot. It's going to be somewhat of a one-on-one thing, with Takeshi interacting with individual characters. I may change that in the later chapters, but I'm not sure yet. And yes, I must admit, Takeshi is me, in a way. He represents many of my ideas and such about relationships, as well as other things. But, like I said, this isn't the normal kind of otakufic. He has no conflict with anyone in here (at least, not intentionally--you'll see when you get there), not even Kunou. Now, Oddzilla Productions presents.... "Visiting Nerima" by Andrew Huang <...>: thoughts *...*: sound effects Prologue --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tendo Soun stood by his gate, tears streaming down his cheeks. Not a new sight. But which type, the reader asks, are these tears? Well, if studied carefully, they looked like the same ones as when, some time ago, he had received a certain postcard with a panda on it from China....with slightly less intensity, perhaps. Right now, he was looking at a letter, addressed to him from California, USA. "Oh, Takeshi! It has been a long while! You were but a child when I saw you last! It will be good to see you again!" Soun sniffed, and wiped his face with his sleeve. Clearing his throat, he called out, "Kasumi! Nabiki! Akane!" He paused, and added, "Ranma!" There were steps from all around, as the teens came out from the house. "Hai, Otousan?" came Kasumi's voice. Soun smiled as they gathered around. "I have news. The son of an old friend is coming to visit. He has been living in the United States for five years now, but I haven't seen him since...oh, how long has it been? He will be staying for two months here, to visit Japan. His name is Takeshi...Nakamura Takeshi." He turned to look at his daughters and Ranma. They were eyeing him uncomfortably. "Hm? What is wrong" Nabiki spoke up. "Anou...the, ah, son of an old friend, you say?" She glanced over at Ranma. "You didn't, you know, make some sort of...er, arrangement a long time ago that we don't know about, did you?" Her gaze shifted then over to Akane. Soun, confused for a moment, suddenly understood. "Ah, ha ha ha! No, no, of course not! Wait, unless...." Soun's voice trailed off as he went deep into thought. "Otoooousaaaan...." growled Nabiki. "No. I had considered it, but no, I didn't." Nabiki sighed in relief. "Well, then. Yes, Takeshi will be coming in two weeks. He'll be in time for the last week of school. He'll be going along with you," he nodded towards Akane, Ranma, and Nabiki, "to observe. His mother here says that he needs an infusion of Japanese culture, having been out of his homeland for such a long time." Everyone nodded. "Well, then! We should start to prepare for this young man's visit!" Kasumi said brightly. Nabiki was not so enthusiastic...at least, not visibly. "Another guest...hmm. I wonder how profitable this situation might be...." "So, Akane, as long as you don't cook, I think he'll like it here, ne?" *WHACK* *SPLASH* "BAKA!!!" ------------------------------------------------ Two weeks later. Some street in the Nerima district. Late afternoon. Nakamura Takeshi was lugging his suitcases along, thinking. He closed his eyes, smiling at the mental image of his girlfriend. He probably shouldn't have closed his eyes, though; otherwise, he would have seen a pig-tailed youth come running around the corner up ahead, chased by a mallet-wielding, short-haired girl who glowed slightly blue. The youth barely managed to dodge around Takeshi, just as the girl took a swing. The rush of air from the boy running past snapped Takeshi back to reality. He opened his eyes, to see-- *WHACK* --to see, well, the insides of his eyelids again. He passed out. And so began Takeshi's visit. --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay, guess what? That's all the introduction you're getting. Hopefully, if I can write this well, you'll be able to understand how Takeshi stands with everyone after meeting them (the stuff that I'm omitting). There will be references to the first meetings to clarify, but unless those meetings themselves are extremely important, they won't be gone into in detail. Anyways, here we go.... Chapter 1: Lost in Many Ways --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- "I still have trouble believing that you were the one wandering outside of my house all those months ago.... But it had to have been you. Wait, not that way, not if you want to get to Ucchan's." The educated Ranma fan should know who Takeshi was speaking to. "Heh...I really don't remember crossing any body of water, let alone something as big as the Pacific. I seem to do that too often. *sigh* Thanks for helping me out here. I haven't eaten since...." "Since last Friday. I know. Getting stuck inside that closet as a pig...." The two had met--for the second time--in the middle of Takeshi's first week in Nerima. Ryouga had, as usual, shown up by throwing his umbrella at Ranma (narrowly missing Takeshi) and had started to launch into his time-honored tirade/challenge when Takeshi recognized the bandanna-clad figure. The duel was interrupted before it began by Takeshi. The two had talked a lot that afternoon--a relatively peaceful one, for which Ranma had been very grateful. "You know, why don't you just tell Akane how you feel? It was easy enough for you to tell me about it." Takeshi shook his head. Ryouga's face darkened. "It's all _his_ fault. He always shows up and ruins the moment!" "I don't think it's Ranma's fault." Ryouga opened his mouth angrily, but then stopped. The two paused, and Ryouga looked down at his feet. "My...my heart of glass would break if she rejected me. I...don't know what I would do if that happened." Takeshi shook his head. "I understand, but it's--" "How could _you_ understand? You've got someone...Jen, that's her name, right? I've never had any girl who liked me...except Akane. Sort of. That's hard enough to deal with, knowing that she only likes me as her little P-chan...." Takeshi discovered Ryouga's secret the morning after they had met, when he had gotten up off the floor after another attack by Akane on Ranma. He had looked up to see Akane holding a bokken in one hand and clasping a kawaii black piglet tightly to her chest with her other arm while profusely apologizing to Takeshi for the large, side-of-a-wooden- sword-blade-shaped bruise forming on his cheek. Takeshi noticed the bandanna around "P-chan's" neck and had put two and two together very, very quickly. Hey, Takeshi has above normal intelligence, and he knew about Jusenkyou by then.... Okay, so maybe not that quickly, but he had become rather suspicious. He had, of course, been sworn to secrecy by Ranma--fortunately, Takeshi had been so stunned by Akane's blow at first that he missed the opportunity to ask Akane about all of this, and had to turn to Ranma to fill him in. "That's a hole you dug yourself into. And how do you know that I don't understand? Jen is the first girlfriend I've ever had. Plus, I never knew of any girls who liked me before her. Believe me, I've had my share of rejection." "Really?" Takeshi nodded. "There have been other girls that I've liked...enough that it messed with my head a little bit. That is, I liked them enough that I spent a lot of time thinking about them seriously. Eventually, I told them." "That's...commendable." "And you know what? They didn't like me. Obviously. It hurt a lot, I'll grant you that. But at least I knew!" There was a pause. "Here you are, moping around about a girl who you've liked for a long time now. Doesn't it just tear at your heart that you don't even know how she feels?" That stopped Ryouga short. Was that true? Was part of the reason he was so miserable about this because he just didn't know? The two started walking again, Ryouga so lost in thought that he didn't make any wrong turns. Suddenly, the two stopped. They were in front of Ucchan's, and at the door stood Akane, looking off into the distance at a human-shaped object hurtling away. She looked angry... which was nothing new at all. The mallet in her fist confirmed Takeshi's suspicions. "Hey. It looks like she just knocked Ranma far, far away. He won't interfere. And if she's angry at Ranma, she would probably be more receptive. Go and tell her!" Ryouga stared at Akane. She still hadn't seen them. "RANMA NO BAKA!!!" She suddenly relaxed, looking a little tired. Shaking her head, she turned and walked into the restaurant. "Well? What are you waiting for!?" Ryouga opened his mouth, then closed it. He started to move towards Ucchan's but suddenly stopped. He whirled to face Takeshi. "Anou, I, uh, I'm not in the mood for okonomiyaki all of a sudden...uh, let's go to the Nekohanten! Yeah...." He turned in a random direction and started walking. Takeshi sighed. "Not that way. You're a lost cause." Takeshi wanted so much to tell Ryouga that, but he had learned never to insult a martial artist's courage. He caught Ryouga's arm and pulled him in the right direction. "I don't get it. I've seen you fight Ranma a few times already. That takes guts--he's really good. You've faced numerous monstrosities, according to your stories. And yet...." He trailed off. To continue would be dangerously close to breaking his self-imposed rule. "And yet, I'm a coward when it comes to girls," Ryouga finished. That caught Takeshi a little off guard. He continued. " I can't even stay conscious when I see too much of a girl's body.... Yeah, I guess this all doesn't make that much sense. But you gotta understand that Akane's the first girl I've really ever liked." "Really? Wow! You're kind of a late starter, I gotta say." "Hai. For the most part the past few years, I've been too busy trying to find my way somewhere to get emotionally involved. This is so...new to me." "You? Afraid of the unknown? Heh." Takeshi's brow furrowed. "What's with not going to Ucchan's, anyway, really? I mean, if you weren't ready to tell her yet, you didn't have to. I know you're able to behave semi- normally when you're with her...." He rubbed his still slightly sore neck at the thought of _that_ incident. "Why couldn't you even face her this time?" Ryouga shrugged. "I dunno. I guess...I guess I was worried that because we'd been talking about this, I'd blurt out something stupid." "Well, at least you didn't try to pin this one on Ranma, like you always do." Ryouga glared at Takeshi, then he suddenly stopped. "Why am I even telling you all of this? I barely know you." Takeshi smiled. "I make fast friends...plus, I guess I'm easy to talk to. I've always been like that." "Wow. Is it the same with girls?" "Yeah, actually, they talk with me a lot, too." Takeshi's face turned a little dark. "It's not as great as it seems, though. You can't imagine what it's like when the girl you like is asking you about how to get the attention of another guy...one that she likes." "Ooh. That's gotta hurt." "You got it. Hey, you know, it's not like you're all that hard to talk to, either. So far, you're the only one I've mentioned Jen to around here." "Really?" "Hai. You've already met her, for one thing, when you were Stateside-- that is, in the US. You're a nice guy, for the most part, I can tell. And, I guess.... Like I said, I do understand you, what it's like to be so lonely." "The world is a cold and lonely place. You can't imagine--oops. Sorry." "Right. Really, really depressing. Last year, I might have even been depressed enough to use your shishi houkoudan, if I knew how to throw ki.... It took me weeks to fully understand that that Jen actually likes me, and that we're dating. Ah! Here we are, the Nekohanten." ------------------------------------------------ As they ate (well, it was more like Ryouga doing an impression of Ranma--or Picolette Chardin, for that matter--by swallowing entire bowls of ramen as Shampoo watched in amazement), Ryouga suddenly stopped in the middle of his fifth bowl. "Don't...don't you think Ranma is at least _somehow_ responsible for all of this? At least some?" Takeshi shrugged. "He did accidentally knock you into the spring. I'll give you that. But I really think this has very little to do with him." "But--" Takeshi continued, not noticing the interruption. "Well, except for those times he tricked you into thinking he...she was your fiancee. There's another problem--you're easily distracted. I mean, sure, some bakatare stunt like that might throw you off, but you should have still been able to brush him...her off and keep talking to Akane and just say that you like her." Ryouga thought for a long moment, and then, more to himself, perhaps, said, "Maybe it's time I started making some changes...." Takeshi nodded. He shook his head. They continued eating. ------------------------------------------------ That night, at the Tendou-ke.... "Ite." Takeshi rubbed his head, wincing. Again, Akane had been trying to hurt Ranma. Again, Takeshi got hurt in the process. It was amazing that he didn't get hurt earlier that day outside of Ucchan's; he was certainly thankful for that. She had yelled something...about him picking on P-chan. He stopped in the hallway, seeing a black piglet nosing open Akane's bedroom door, who also stopped when he noticed Takeshi. Takeshi glared at him. P-chan gave Takeshi the piglet equivalent of a sheepish look, and then dashed inside. He shook his head in disgust. Ryouga was a good man overall, very honorable, but this.... Takeshi shuddered. His literature class apparently wasn't letting him go, even though it was weeks after school had let out. He was about to walk off to bed, when he saw P-chan come back out. He shot a baleful look at Takeshi, then ran off, away from Akane's bedroom...right into the same closet that he had been shut in for the past weekend. With a small smile, he picked up P-chan out of the closet and, watching carefully for Akane, walked him to the bathroom. With a snort of thanks, the piglet ran inside. Takeshi walked back toward the bedrooms. "Maybe there _is_ hope for him, after all." He stopped to see Akane bounding up the stairs. "Goodnight, Takeshi. Oh...gomen, I don't know how my aim was that off. I was sure that pot was going to hit Ranma, not you...." "It's all right. Goodnight, Akane." She walked into her room, and Takeshi continued off to the guest room, flopping down on the bedroll. "Hey! Where's P-chan? RANMA!!!!!" *STOMP STOMP STOMP....* Takeshi smiled. Softly, he said, "Believe me, Akane, it's better this way. Sorry, Ranma, I hate to get you into trouble like this." Suddenly, he started. She was going to go after Ranma again! He relaxed. He knew it was possible for her to get mad at Ranma without getting himself hurt--the incident earlier today was proof of that. There was indeed shouting outside. The only thing he did manage to hear clearly, though, was-- "BAKA!!!!!" followed by a solid mallet strike. *CRASH* "Urkgl...." Ranma had flown through the window and landed right on top of Takeshi. He dizzily rolled off the hapless bystander, muttering, "Kawaiikune tomboy...gomen...gomen..." before collapsing on the floor, unconscious. Takeshi was now assuming the fetal position on his bedroll. *gasp* ------------------------------------------------ Ryouga, back to human form now, thought over the day's conversations with Takeshi and the night's events as he walked to the Tendou's front door. "Yeah, I guess he's right. But...it's so hard!!! Argh! And I guess I can't blame Ranma for this. At least, not all of it." He suddenly raised his head high and his fist upward, shouting, "I swear, I will tell Akane of my love for her! Someday!!" He instantly clamped his mouth shut, horrified. He stopped, looking around. There was a moment of silence. "WHERE ON EARTH AM I NOW!??!?!?" --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, that's chapter one. Perhaps a little less funny that I would have liked, but...oh well. It's supposed to be more serious, I guess (although some still tell me it's pretty funny). Yes, Takeshi is effecting some changes in the cast, true, but it's going to be relatively minor. He's just getting to ball rolling. C&C is welcome. Flames, however, will be tossed out without any hesitation. What's next? Hmm. Something about Nabiki...if I can get it right.