Ranma – Child of Chaos

A Ranma ½ Fanfict by Tangent

DISCLAIMER: "Ranma ½" and all the characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty and Viz Video. This is a fan fiction produced for my own enjoyment and for passing on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, R.P.G.s, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even *GASP* American comic books!).

A WORD FROM TANGENT: Other than the fact that Ranko exists independently of Ranma in this story, it is turning out to be typically Ranmaesque so far. There’s some nudity, but nothing in the least bit lemon about the story so far. Heck, I don’t think it even counts as lime…

Anyway, you have been warned.

CHAPTER TWO: Here’s Ranko

A girl stood where the beam had passed through Ranma and hit the wall. She was identical to Ranma’s girl-type except for two things. One: she lacked his ever-present pigtail, so her red hair fell loosely about her shoulders. Two: she wasn’t wearing anything at all and just stood there completely naked before them.

"Hello, I’m Ranko Saotome," the girl said, stifling a yawn. "Sorry about this."

"SWEETO!" WHAP! BONK! "I…ite…" Everyone facefaulted, except for Ranma (who had passed out moments ago due to the pain from the wish being granted) and Happosai (who had been knocked cold just now). While some of the surprise had to do with the fact that no one knew that Happosai had been there until he leaped at Ranko, mostly it was from the sheer speed and efficiency with which she had handled the threat. The old freak had jumped towards her with every intent to grope her nude form to his heart’s content, but Ranko didn’t let anything of the sort happen. Her right arm was an invisible blur as she snatched him right out of the air and slammed him against the wall with considerable force…twice. She dropped his limp form to the floor and kicked it away from herself with a shudder.

"Eww! When did he show up?" Ranko asked in disgust. No one had an answer for that, but Ranko noticed that Nodoka was covering Genma’s eyes and everyone else was staring at her. "Oh yeah, right. Feminine modesty and all that," Ranko stifled another yawn. "I don’t suppose I could borrow a set of pajamas and a pair of panties from someone?" The silence was deafening. After a moment of no response, Ranko continued irritably. "Or would you rather I sleep in the nude?"

"I’ve got some extra pajama’s," Akane offered, earning a tired look of gratitude from Ranko.

"I think I could dig up something as well," Nabiki said dryly. She was a little put out by the suspicious look from Ranko that this comment seemed to earn her. Then she started to notice how much like Ranma the girl was. If she had his memories and mannerisms, then she had every right to be suspicious of Nabiki’s offer of clothing. To her surprise, Ranko didn’t make any immediate disparaging comment like Ranma would have.

"That ought to do it for the night then," commented Ranko through another yawn. "Kasumi?"

"Yes, Ranko-chan?" Kasumi responded, blushing. Ranko had yet to make even the smallest attempt to hide her nudity other than asking for something to wear. The girl did not seem in the least bit bothered by the looks she was getting, although Kasumi allowed that she might just be too tired to care at the moment.

"Could you come up and braid my hair while I’m trying on pajamas?" Ranko asked in tired earnest. "It just doesn’t feel right without the pigtail."

"Hai, Ranko-chan," Kasumi agreed readily, particularly happy that Ranko had started heading for the stairs as soon as she had an answer. Ranko only looked back once, directing a comment towards Ranma’s parents.

"Hey, Mom? Pop?" Ranko asked anxiously.

"Um…yes?" Nodoka responded. This ‘Ranko’, who had popped out of nowhere, had just called her ‘Mom’. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that yet. Genma didn’t say anything, wisely letting Nadoka continue covering his eyes. Not that he hadn’t seen Ranma’s girl-type nude before, but somehow he knew that it would be a bad idea to tell No-chan this. Thinking of her probable reaction caused him to squeeze his eyes shut with every intent of waiting until he was sure Ranko had left the room.

"Could you let Oneechan know that he has a sister now, after he wakes up?" requested Ranko. "If you don’t, he’ll probably freak out as soon as he sees me. I don’t think he expected to gain a sister from that wish."

"I don’t think he expected to get a wish," Nabiki commented in her usual dry manner. "Now up the stairs with you, Echi-girl, before you end up giving your ‘brother’ a peep show!"

"As if he hasn’t seen this body in the buff countless times already!" retorted Ranko. "And who are you calling ‘Echi’? I seem to remember you selling photos of Ranma-onna and your own sister to the perverts at school! Not to mention all those kinky outfits you forced my brother to wear while he was in girl-type!"

Nodoka wasn’t sure she really wanted to know what that was all about. She watched the girls go upstairs, giggling. Apparently, their argument was as much play as it was serious. With a sigh, Nodoka wondered at the fact that she had just acquired a daughter, and an overtly tomboy one at that.

Reminded about the wish granting puzzle ball, Genma made sure that Ranko had actually left, and then gathered up the pieces.

The girls had settled in Akane’s room, where Ranko had tried on a few sets of pajamas before settling on an old sea-green set of Nabiki’s (Ranko flat out refused to try on any of Nabiki’s more risqué offerings). Akane and Nabiki sat on Akane’s bed, watching Kasumi braid Ranko’s hair into the familiar pigtail. Kasumi was sitting in Akane’s chair, and Ranko sat on the floor before her.

"Are you sure you don’t want to try on a bra, Ranko?" Nabiki asked, more to get a rise out of the neo-girl than with any seriousness.

"I ain’t wearing no bra!" Ranko snapped back. "I’m not going to, I don’t need to, and yours are too small anyhow!" Nabiki facefaulted at this zinger, and Akane giggled. When Ranko winked at her, Akane actually broke out laughing.

"Very amusing indeed," commented Nabiki darkly. "Now, we need to figure out where to put you tonight. After the mirror-clone incident, I don’t think anyone is going to be happy if you sleep in the same room with the rest of your family."

"You’ve got a point there, ‘Biki," Ranko conceded. "I’m not sleeping in your room though. I have no intention of my first night being a photo op." Nabiki was only mildly disappointed at this, deciding that there would be other opportunities.

"So," Akane asked, "is Ranma cured now? Since you’re out here, I mean."

"Um…no, not really," Ranko replied. "Funny, though. Until you mentioned it, it hadn’t occurred to me that his cursed form had been used as my template. Its like I’d known it all along, but had forgotten somehow."

"Oh, so you and Ranma-chan can pretend to be twins when he’s in girl-type!" Kasumi pointed out happily. "What fun!" Ranko and Nabiki just looked at her for a moment before moving on.

"Well, I think there were some side effects to my having been crafted through his cursed form, but for the life of me, I don’t remember what they are. All I know is that I don’t change." Ranko was lost in thought for a moment. There were important things that she felt that she should remember, but she couldn’t figure out what they had been or how significant it was that she had forgotten them.

"Ah…Ranko?" Akane prompted.

"Yes?"

"You can share my Room tonight."

"Okay, I think I’d like that," Ranko stifled another yawn. "I wasn’t sure that you’d be so willing, what with the mirror-clones and the time Ranma thought he really was a girl because of that concussion."

"Well…those weren’t really his fault…or yours for that matter," Akane pointed out meekly. Ranko knew from the memories that she inherited from her brother that Akane had something important on her mind. Given that her reason for being was to help her brother with his problems, she felt no impulse to say anything stupid like he would have at this moment.

Ranma came to in the guestroom with his mother looking down at his face with a worried expression. Genma was also there, and Ranma was surprised to note that he seemed to be concerned as well. The last thing he remembered was the puzzle ball saying something about granting his wish for someone to understand him and that he couldn’t make another wish on it. Well…that and the painful beam of light that shot out from it and hit him in the chest.

"Ugh…what happened?" Ranma asked groggily. "Man, I just had the strangest dream…" Ranma stopped as his father pulled out a leather bag that appeared to be full of something – such as hard, rounded, blocky pieces.

"Did it have anything to do with this?" asked Genma, seriously.

"Um…yes," Ranma replied sheepishly. "It wasn’t a dream then, was it?"

"Well, Ranma," Nadoka replied, "I don’t think you were dreaming after you fell unconscious when the light hit you. I’m no expert on such matters, but I’m pretty sure that you weren’t, anyway."

"Is this really made of jade?" asked Genma, which earned him an elbow in the gut from his wife.

"Gee, Pop, I don’t know," Ranma retorted sarcastically. "Why don’t you try to sell it and see what the Kami who gave it to me feels about it?" Ranma found the bag being pressed into his hands by his father. Ranma looked at it for a moment before handing it back…or trying to anyway.

"The puzzle ball is yours, son! I wouldn’t dream of trying to sell it! Honest!"

"Its okay, Pop," said Ranma assuredly. "If I remember correctly, I can’t make another wish on it anyway. You may as well have it, but I don’t think it would be a good idea to sell a gift from a Kami." Genma thought about this, and for once thought back on his track record for when he had gone for his first impulse in important decisions. With a shudder, he realized that his son was probably right. He wasn’t absolutely sure, mind you, and he would most likely do something stupid later because of that uncertainty, but he conceded the point for now.

"Thank you, my son, for this wonderful gift." Little did Genma know that he had just succeeded in surprising a goddess of chaos, which is something that the goddess in question prized very highly indeed. She was still certain that Genma would end up doing something that would irritate her to the point of punishing him later, but he may just dodge that particular bullet after all. He had until he made the wish or gave the puzzle away to do so. If he didn’t end up annoying her, she would be very surprised – which was worth more to her than any amount of material wealth. She would wait…and see.

"Um…speaking of wishes, the puzzle ball said that I’d wished for someone to understand me?"

"No, Ranma," Nadoka corrected, "you wished for someone who could understand you."

"What’s the difference?" Ranma asked, confused. Nadoka twitched, beginning to grasp why her son had felt the need to make that particular wish himself.

"Well," she started, "if you had just wished for someone to understand you, presumably someone present when you made the wish would have become that person, or you would have become more articulate" Ranma wasn’t particularly assured with where the direction of this conversation was going.

"What happened?" asked Ranma with a sense of impending dread.

"Ranma, I don’t know how to break this to you, but…" Nadoka was at a momentary loss for words. She had just found out that her son’s problems had distracted him to the point that a train had nearly hit him. She didn’t want to add anymore chaos to his life. On the other hand, not telling him would only cause more problems, while letting him know might only cause short term turmoil. "Ranma, you have a sister now."

Ranma was stunned, to say the least. While his life on the road had left him a little short on information in such matters, he was pretty sure that his mother hadn’t been pregnant. He reflexively used the deductive powers that had been hammered in place by ten years of being raised by Genma.

"When did this happen? I didn’t even know you were pregnant! Or did Pop have an affair? We thought he had once, you know, but it turned out that he was just trying to sell me to a circus." Somewhere in the Megaverse, Reilynn d’Akun’Bas’Immyth, Daughter of Chaos, was laughing her ass off. Nadoka just twitched again, before continuing.

(Astute otaku will note that Ranma’s memory isn’t that good under pressure – in this case he is mixing up the misunderstanding with Ukyo’s origins with the time when everyone thought the circus lady had been his mother. Ranma, being Ranma, probably will not correct this mistake once he realizes that he made it – if he ever does realize it that is.)

"No, Ranma," Nadoka admonished. "Your sister seems to have been formed directly from your cursed form. Her name is ‘Ranko’, and she’s over in Akane’s room trying on pajamas."

"You mean sleeping," corrected Nabiki from the doorway. Akane and Kasumi were behind her, and they all came in at Nadoka’s beckoning hand. "Ranma, I think you should know that Ranko said that you weren’t cured. She thinks that there were some side effects from her having been made with your cursed form as the template, but she doesn’t remember what those might be."

"Are you feeling all right, Ranma-kun?" asked a concerned Kasumi. Akane just looked at him, thinking on what he had said earlier.

"I feel fine, Kasumi," Ranma assured her. "So…I have a sister now…"

"Yes, Ranma-kun," Kasumi confirmed happily. "She seems to be a very nice girl, if a bit of a tomboy." Everyone just looked at Kasumi again.

There seemed to be some thumping coming from down the hall, and everyone rushed to investigate.

A short while ago…

Happosai had recovered from the thumping that Ranko had given him. He figured that it was his fault, really, for having let his guard drop so much, but he still felt that the girl owed him. Everyone seemed to have left…well, except for Soun, who seemed to still be in shock. No useful information would be coming out of him anytime soon.

The Grand Master of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts stealthily searched the house for signs of this ‘Ranko’. A quick snuggle against her bosom would do wonders for his sense of forgiveness, he felt. It was the least she could do for him. And maybe after that, he could look for that wish granting puzzle ball.

"One wish per customer indeed!" Happosai muttered under his breath. "I bet I could make any number of wishes on that thing! That stipulation is just there to frighten the timid! Hello, what’s this?" He saw the Tendo sisters leaving Akane’s room and head for the guestroom. "They wouldn’t put Ranko in the same room as Ranma right away…not after everything that has happened anyway. I bet she’s in Akane’s room!" With that, he proceeded to use the lightning stealth techniques that he was so well known for.

Ranko was indeed in Akane’s room, fast asleep and blissfully ignorant of the impending danger known as Happosai. The old freak noted how peaceful she looked; tucked under her blanket on the futon that had been laid out for her. He idly wondered if they had left her naked, or if Nabiki had given her one of her more interesting negligées to wear. He supposed that he would find out soon enough.

With infinite caution, he approached the sleeping figure. He wouldn’t let his guard down this time! At least Ranko didn’t seem to thrash about in her sleep like Akane did, so he ought to be able to enjoy a quiet night of fondling. He was congratulating himself on his good fortune when Ranko’s left arm whipped out from under the blanket and snatched him from where he had been standing. He quickly found himself transferred to her right arm, which cuddled him between the futon and the pillow.

Happosai was shocked! He hadn’t let his guard down one bit, and he was positive that Ranko was still fast asleep! How had this happened? Little did he know that Ranko had merely done the same sort of thing that Ranma had done so long ago when Ryoga had lost patience with trying to wake him up and struck at the sleeping boy. Like Ranma, Ranko would never know that she could do countermoves in her sleep unless somebody told her. Unless, of course the attacks had anything to do with water.

[Well, she’s cuddling me, so that’s a start] Happosai thought. He wasn’t particularly pleased to be cuddled so far away from her lap or bosom, but he figured that he could fix that. He started to squirm out of her grip…WHAP! THUMP! "I…ite!" WHACK!

Which brings us back to…

"Well, isn’t that just the most adorable thing you ever saw?" quipped Nabiki dryly. Her sisters and the Saotomes were grouped in the door behind her. Their expressions ranged from amazement to amusement at Happosai’s plight. He was trapped between Ranko’s pillow and her futon by her right arm, and every time he tried to escape or made a sound, her left arm would whip him out and slam him against the floor until he was still again. Then he would be promptly tucked under the pillow again. It was obvious that Ranko wasn’t awake, and the whole situation was just too kawai for words.

"Nabiki, you traitor!" WHAM! "I’ll get you for this!" BANG! "I..ite!" KAPOW! "I think I’ll go nappies now…" THUNK!

"So, that’s my sister?" this was more of a statement than a question, but it came out that way. "I think I like her already."

"Um… do you think she’s safe to approach?" asked Akane, worried. "I mean, she’s right next to my bed and all…"

"Only one way to find out," Ranma said, approaching his sleeping sister. He squatted down and gently removed Happosai from her ‘tender’ care. "Seems to be safe enough, I suppose," he said. "The old freak must have set her off somehow. Not that I blame her." Ranma thought for a moment. "Hey, Pop? We still have any of those spirit wards from that time when that oni was trying to possess everyone?"

"I’ll check, Ranma. What do you have in mind?" Genma was curious. Such wards sometimes had an effect on the Master, but it was no sure thing.

"I was just thinking of what a shame it was that that shrine didn’t have a monster to guard anymore" Ranma pointed out.

"Why don’t we just take him there now?" Genma replied. "That way they can supply the box and the proper ward themselves."

"Good idea, Pop! Do you think we have time?"

"As you said before, my son, there is only one way to find out!" With that Genma and Ranma hopped out of Akane’s window and made for the temple with Happosai at all possible speed.

Later that night, everyone was quietly settled down for the night…except for Mr. Tendo, who was still in a state of shock from having seen a naked Ranko pop out from nowhere. Everyone seemed to have forgotten all about him.

In a Temple some distance away, a voice could be heard coming from a wooden box. The box had a special anti-hentai ward on it sealing the monster inside securely, but the priest was worried.

"Let me out," the muffled voice requested. "I’ll be good!" The priest didn’t believe that for a second, having met the monster in question once before. He resolved to send the box to a temple in Juban. What, with all the monsters that popped up in that district, they would surely have better experience with how to handle such things than he did. Besides, even if they didn’t, the Sailor Senshi that he heard so much about would surely destroy it…

END CHAPTER TWO

OMAKI THEATER PRESENTS: Is She Safe?

"Um... do you think she's safe to approach?" asked Akane, worried. "I mean, she's right next to my bed and all..."

"Only one way to find out," Ranma said, approaching his sleeping sister. He squatted down and gently tried to remove Happosai from her 'tender' care. Unfortunately, her left arm whipped out and wrapped around him and cuddled his head next to her bosom. "Ack!" WHAM! "Ow!" THUMP! "I...ite!" POW! "Akane!" SLAM! "Mallet!" BANG! KAPOW! "Not me!" BOOM! "Her!" WHACK!

"Um...sorry, Ranma!" Akane apologized, sheepishly holding her mallet behind her back. With Ranma in such a compromising position, she had gone for her natural target...his head.

"Come on Akane," Nabiki said, "you can sleep in my room."

END