Ranma ½, Fatal Fury fanfic "Wolf in Nerima" by Julian Soullard (e-mail: jnsoullard@hotmail.com) Warning: All characters from this fanfic are copyright from Rumiko Takahashi (Ranma 1/2) and Masami Obari (Fatal Fury), I never claim them to be my own personal creation, so don't sue me! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AND NOW ON WITH... Chapter 7: God, Country... and my red baseball cap! "Kuno Tatewaki." Ukyou told him. "Kuno Tatewaki," Terry began "seventeen years old, student from Furinkan high. Most marked features: He's obsessed with the way of the samurai, talks in a very formal way as a prove of that, and is completely blind about the obvious such as Ranma's curse. He's quite a moron too." "And what is his place in the Nerima love affair?" she asked him. "He's in love with Akane and the female side of Ranma. Both of them reject him, naturally." Terry continued "He tries to prove his love by beating them in combat, with no great success though." "Good." Ukyou declared "Now tell me everything you know about... Kasumi Tendou." "Kasumi Tendou," Terry started again "Nineteen years old, oldest one of the Tendou sisters. Most marked features: Excelent cook, but most of all, keeps her cool no matter what happens. The world might fall into pieces but Kasumi will always smile. She's the one who takes care of everyone and everything in the Tendou household. No fighting skills what so ever." "Love affairs?" "None so far." he continued "Although Dr. Tofu shows a lot of interest in her. Too bad he becomes a babbling idiot when he sees her, which is by the way very dangerous for all his patients. I can personally guaranty that." "Very well." Ukyou congratulated "Now let's see... Shampoo." "Member of the amazon tribe of Jusenkyou," he began "by being defeated by Ranma in his male form, she became engaged to him according to her amazon law. She also has a curse that turns her into a cat when she gets splashed with cold water. That doesn't make things easier for her to get to Ranma since he's scared of cats. Very good fighting skills too." "Aren't you forgetting something?" "Of course." he stated with a smile "Ukyou Kuonji and her hate each other's guts. Because both are engaged to Ranma." "You're still forgetting about something." "Like what?" he asked. "Like the fact that she's a SHAMELESS HUSSY WHO HAS NO RIGHT TO GO AFTER MY RANCHAN!!!!" "Hey! Take it easy!!" Terry told her "I think that's more of a personal opinion. [A very personal opinion!]" "Sorry." Ukyou said once she calmed herself "Well, let's go on... Ranma Saotome." "Aww come on!" Terry declared as he lowered his head "That's going to take forever!" "Come on, you can do it." she insisted "You can give me the short version if you want." " Okay, then." he started "Ranma Saotome: sixteen years old Martial artist who turns into a girl by Jusenkyou's curse. Fighting skills: very good. Rivals: Ryouga, Mousse and Kuno. Fiancees: Akane, Shampoo and you... so far. Phobias: cats. Most notable features: Has a big ego, and all of Nerima turns around his life." "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Ukyou told him "Looks like you know all about everyone now. Told you it wasn't going to be so difficult." "But there's still someone I'm having problems with." Terry pointed out. "Really? Who?" "Ukyou Kuonji," Terry began "age sixteen, cook and owner of Ucchan's okonomiyaki. Also engaged to Ranma due to an arrangement in her childhood. Most remarkable features: carries a huge spatula on her back and a bandolier of smaller spatulas, she also dresses up as a boy... But why?" "You know why." she stated. "Well yeah, but that was a long time ago." he said "I mean... you're okay with Ranma now, aren't you? Why keep up dressing as a boy since you've already cleared all that mess with him?" "I think you can call it force of habit." Ukyou explained "Ever since I was a kid I've been dressing up as a boy." "So you never got a little curious about wearing a dress?" "Well, I guess I'll have to use a weeding dress the day Ranchan and I get married." she declared. Terry looked at her as he also pulled a small grin after what she said. "You sure seem confident about that." he told her. "Well what?" she asked as she put her hands on her hips "Don't you think I'd be a wonderful bride?" "It's not that," Terry made clear "I was referring to the fact that you have a lot of competition as one of his fiancees." "Come on Terry, get real." Ukyou declared "I'm obviously a better cook than Akane, I don't throw myself at Ranma's arms like Shampoo always does, which proves that I have more self-respect than her, and I'm certainly more mentally balanced than Kodachi. And besides that, I'm quite sure I'm the one who knows Ranchan the most. In other words, I'd be perfect for him." "You've go a point there, Ukyou." Terry stated "I mean, the most logical thing would be that Ranma ended up with you, Shampoo with Mousse and Ryouga with Akane. But..." "But what?" "Well I don't know." he continued "You just can't say that only because things would seem better that way, that things are bound to end up like that. Like I said before, you have a lot of competition." "You're not asking me to give up on him, are you?" "Of course not." he stated "I just wouldn't like to see you hurt if Ranma ended up with someone else. I don't think it wouldn't be fair for anyone to get hurt." "That's very sweet of you, Terry." she said to him with a warm smile "But don't worry. I'm Ranma's fiancee and I'm going to make sure I turn out to be his bride as well." "But there has to be another possible candidate just in case." he joked. "Why, Terry!" Ukyou said in a fake (and cynical) surprised tone of voice, she even put her hands over her chest to emphasize that "Are you implying that there may be something between us beyond mere friendship?" Terry noticed Ukyou's cynical tone of voice along with the exaggerated *clichés signs* her movements had. He decided to play along in the gag. "Aren't I a good deal for you? You think I'm not worthy of your love?" he spoke cynically, he then put his hands over his face and began to speak while pretending to weep "It's the hair you don't like, isn't it?" "Of course that's not it. You know how I feel for you, my love." she went on as she gathered her hands and pressed them against her right cheek in another theatrical pose. She even tried to make big puppy dog eyes. "But I'm sixteen and you're twenty-seven. It'll never work! What will people say?" "I don't care about them as long as I'm with you!" Terry told her as he put his left hand over his heart and extended his other hand as if he wanted to reach for her. His right foot was on top of a chair to boost up his Romeo-like pose. He was really into it now. "We can tell everyone that you're my daughter, but they'll never know about our true love!" Ukyou bit her lower lip as she tried not to laugh, she then put her hand over her mouth as a sign of surprise and joy, she was also really into it. After that, both of them held each other's hands just like a young loving couple. "Oh, I'm so happy!" Ukyou declared "Let's get married right away!" Just after she said that, both of them couldn't hold it any longer and burst into laughter. Some of the other customers were also laughing as spectators of the show. Once both managed in controlling themselves again, the conversation went on. "How did we ended up talking about this?" Terry asked her. "I think it all started when you asked me about my wardrobe." Ukyou responded. "Right." he confirmed "So, when do I get to see you in a dress and using makeup?" "The day I see you wearing something else than that jacket, baseball cap and fighting gloves, sugar." she answered. "Is that a challenge?" he asked. "Darn right it's a challenge!" After some time, Terry finished his food and headed back to work. "Hey, Terry!" Ukyou said to him before he left. "Yeah?" "Can you give me a straight answer?" she asked. "Shoot." "Who do you think Ranma will end up with?" she went on "Have you talked to him about all of this?" "Sorry." he said "Ranma and I usually talk about martial arts. I can't give you an answer. The only thing I know for sure is that I wouldn't like to be in his shoes. But like I said before, anything could happen." "I see..." she spoke. Terry noticed her worried and unsecured expression. He decided to cheer her up. He walked up next to her and gently pressed his index finger against her forehead. "Hey! Why the long face?" he told her "You're the *cute fiancee*, remember? You're suppose to be all joyful all the time! So start smiling!" Ukyou regained her smile. Then Terry went on his way after he saw her happy again. "Don't worry, Ukyou." he declared on his way out "I'm sure things will turn out okay in the end [In spite of whom might Ranma end up with.]." It was about 5:00 PM, and Terry was fixing a wall at the Nerima municipal sport center, right where the skating rink was. According to the owner, members of a hockey team got into a fight while skating. For once, no one from the Furinkan cast did this. And unlike his previous jobs, this was only going to take a couple of hours. Right in the middle of Terry's work, the sky began to thunder and the rain began to fall. According to Murphy's laws, some innocent Jusenkyou cursed person should be out in the street turning into his or her cursed form by now. And in this case, that person was Ranma Saotome. Ranma was now at the entrance of the sport center in his female form. He decided to take shelter from the rain. Unfortunately, the transformation already occurred. Right now, Ranma began to squeeze the water off her shirt while complaining about her luck. [Stupid rain!] she thought [And on top of that, I'm in the sport center. If Mikado catches me like this, it's going to take me the entire day to get him off my back! Have to stay away from the ice rink. Hot water isn't going to help this time. With my clothes all wet I'll change right back into a girl again.] "It's you!" said a voice behind her. Ranma immediately turned around and saw Mikado Sanzenin at the entrance as he carried a pair of ice skates over his shoulder, he was also caring an umbrella. Ranma's face immediately paled. [Oh, no.] she thought. "I can't believe my luck in finding you again." he told her "After so long, we meet again. I knew you'd come looking for me." Ranma decided to save the explanation about this matter and started to run away from her molester. Mikado didn't hesitated in giving chase to her. Meanwhile, back to the rink, where Terry was taking care of his job. A certain voice was heard among the skaters. "Justine! Justine! Justine!" said the girl that went towards Terry. Terry turned around to see who was calling him Justine. He saw a girl around fourteen years old (although she looked like she had six mentally!) with long brown curly hair who was skating towards him while shouting out "Justine! Justine!". Terry, a little confused, turned around to see if the girl wasn't referring to someone else. Just as he was looking behind his shoulder, he felt how someone took his baseball cap off his head. He immediately turned around and saw the girl skating away with his favorite base ball cap at hand. "HEY!!!" he declared, he then stood up and went after the girl. As soon as Terry took the first step into the rink, he slipped and fell on his butt. Not wasting a minute, he went to look for a couple of ice skates. While Terry was busy chasing after Azusa, Mikado was doing the same with Ranma-chan. So far, they ran through almost all of the sport center. Ranma even had the courage to enter the ladies locker room to lose him. That didn't work though, Mikado followed her inside as if entering the girls locker room was something normal for him to do. [She's still such a shy girl!] Mikado tought as he kept on running. In the meantime... "GIVE ME BACK MY BASEBALL CAP!!" Terry shouted as he chased after Azusa. The little girl wasn't even paying attention to him, she was a better skater than Terry was and she didn't even had to try hard in avoiding him. "I've got you!" he stated with his arms extended once he was close enough to reach her. Azusa, not even bothering to turn around, simply ducked and slid between Terry's legs. Terry only managed in grabbing air as he closed his arms. After that, Azusa gave him a push on the butt and he went smashing against a nearby wall. [My life is turning into a real comedy show!] Terry cursed as he detached his face out of the wall. "Oh! How cuuuute!" Azusa declared once she put a pink ribbon around Terry's cap. While Azusa was too busy admiring her new acquisition, Terry took advantage of the situation and snatched the cap off her hands. He then put it on. Once he noticed that everyone was laughing at him for wearing a cap with a pink ribbon on top, he took it off and got rid of that unnecessary addition. "Let's get something straight, kido!" he began "The cap stays on my head! Get it?" Azusa looked at him with her big innocent blue eyes and then, like the little immature girl she is, she started to cry while jumping around Terry trying to get her toy back. "BWHAAAAAAAAAA!" she yelled "Give Azusa back her Justine!!!!" "Hey! Stop crying!" Terry began "If you want one so bad, you can always go and buy one with your mommy!" "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! GIMME!" she insisted as she tried to reach for the cap. "I already told you it's mine!" As they both stepped out off the rink, with Azusa still jumping around Terry, the other interesting couple that was running around the sport center finally made it to the rink and crashed against the blond gai-jin and the brunette figure skater. Once everyone gained their senses back, Mikado firmly took Ranma-chan between his arms before she could leave again. "I finally caught up with you." he said "There's no need to be so shy. You know I'll be here whenever you need me, my pig-tail princess." "[That's what I'm afraid of!] Let go of me!" she declared as she tried to pull herself out of his grip "I don't want to have anything to do with you!" "There's no need in hiding it." Mikado continued ignoring her rejection "As from today, I'm your boyfriend." "I DON'T want you as my boyfriend, you dolt!" she insisted "[Now how am I suppose to get rid of him? Wait! I know!] I... er... already have a boyfriend." "What?" Mikado asked in shock, Ranma-chan took a chance to free herself from his grasp while he was distracted "Who? Who is your boyfriend?" "Him!" Ranma-chan stated once she moved next to Terry and grabbed his arm. "Him?" Mikado confirmed while pointing at Terry. "ME???" Terry asked while pointing at himself, he then whispered to Ranma "Ranma, what's wrong with you???" "Don't get the wrong idea." she said to his ear "Just play along. I need you to get HIM off my back." "Is this true???" Mikado asked Terry as he clenched his fist. "Er... Yeah..." Terry answered. "Why?" he asked to Ranma-chan "What does he have that I don't?" "Er... he... um... er... he's better looking than you!" she responded. "WHAAAATT?????" "And that's not all." she went on "He also knows how to treat a girl, tells great jokes, knows how to cook, he's a great martial artist and a better skater than you too." Terry just sweat dropped. Mikado was looking furious. Not only did she said he was better looking than him, but a BETTER skater as well. That was impossible! Mikado not only felt confident enough to think that he was more of a ladies man, but he was also God damned sure that he was the best skater in the world. Could it be that this man was better than him. It wasn't possible. While Mikado was in the middle of a dilemma, Terry began once again to fight for the ownership of his cap against Azusa. "What's your name?" Mikado asked Terry. "Terry Bogard." "Very well." he said "Terry Bogard, I challenge you to a fight in martial arts figure-skating, two weeks from today at Kolkhoz high. We shall see who is the king in the ice rink. The one who wins will have the right to be this beautiful girl's boyfriend!" "Hun?" "We accept!" Ranma immediately claimed "But if you louse, you're staying off my back for good!" "Hey wait a minute!" Terry interrupted "I just want my baseball cap!!" "Fine." Mikado stated "If you win the match, you'll have the baseball cap *and* the girl. Until then." as he left. [This can't be happening...] Terry thought [My me???] Once Mikado and her brainless partner left, Ranma could feel a pair of hands grabbing her shoulders from behind in a not very loving way. "RRANNNNMMMMMAAAAA!!!" Terry began "What kind of mess did you put me in this time????" "Hey take it easy, Terry!" she said "How was I suppose to know he was going to challenge you? I just wanted him out of my life." "And that's why you spontaneously accepted his challenge??" he asked. "Okay, so It's a habit in me to do that, so sue me." Ranma confessed "But you always told me you were looking for strong opponents, didn't you? Well now is your chance." "Don't change the subject!" he pointed out still upset. "Okay, okay... I'm sorry! There, I said it! Happy now?" she said "You're not going to back down on me now, are you?" "No, I'm not." Terry claimed "That little brat took my baseball cap and now I have to get it back." "Okay, then!" Ranma-chan declared "We'll give them a lesson they'll never forget. By the way, do you know how to skate?" "I'll answer you that with another question." he told him "Why do you think I wasn't too happy when you accepted the challenge?" "Uh oh..." "Big Uh oh." Terry added. A couple of hours later, once the wall was fixed, Terry and Ranma (in male form) were walking down the streets of Nerima while discussing about this new problem. As you might of expected it, Terry still wasn't looking to hot about all of this. But he already learned from his previous fights in town that it wasn't really possible to solve this problem in a *civilized* way. He already knew the Nerima golden rule: If you want something fixed or done, you have to fight! "So exactly, how bad are you at skating?" Ranma asked. "Bad enough to lose against a professional figure skater." he answered "I can stand up and move easily, but I don't think I can give a decent fight to someone like Mikado in the ice." "In that case, you'll have two weeks to improve." Ranma pointed out "We can't let those two beat us." "What's the story on those two anyway?" Terry asked "Nobody told me about them." "The girl is called Azusa Shiratori," Ranma explained "she's a brainless fourteen year old who has this obsession with cute stuff. Each time she finds something cute, she names it on the spot and takes it home." "Isn't that illegal?" "That doesn't seem to bother her though." Ranma continued "You should've seen the mess she caused when she last tried to take Ryouga." "She fell in love with Ryouga?" "No, she didn't." he went on "She fell in love with P-chan. She even named him Charlotte." Terry couldn't contain his laughter after hearing that, his bad mood began to leave once he managed in controlling himself once again. "Heh, heh. Looks like I never stop from getting new surprises in Nerima." he stated "And what about that Mikado guy?" "Mikado Sanzenin," Ranma proceeded "he's an obsessed sexual neurotic who thinks he's God's gift to women. The only thing that weirdo thinks of is kissing girls. He tried to kiss Akane once." "And you were upset by that?" Terry asked, although it seemed more like a statement than a question. "Well yeah... I mean NO!" he told him "I mean... It's not like I cared for her or anything... it's just that... well... guys like that make me sick!" "Whatever you say, Ranma." Terry said with a smirk. "That jerk has to be the SICKEST guy in the whole world!" Ranma continued "Just thinking of him and what he did makes me want to puke!" "Okay, okay! I get the message already!" he interrupted "What did he ever do to you?" "Promise you won't laugh?" "Sure thing." Meanwhile, at the Tendou household, Kasumi stepped into the living room where Nabiki and Akane were. "Akane," she said "do you know where Ranma is? Dinner is almost ready." "Why should I know?" she asked. "Because he's your fiancee." Nabiki responded. "That jerk must be with Ukyou or Shampoo for all I care." she stated "Besides, it's not as if I'm his baby-sitter." Right when Kasumi was about to say something in return, a burst of laughter was heard outside the Tendou dojo which caught the three sisters' attention. Ranma's voice was heard also in the background as he asked the other person to stop. Once the door opened, everyone saw Terry almost dying of laughter as he laid his back against the door's frame. He had a hand covering his eyes and the other one over his stomach. His mouth was wide open as he let out his guffaw. "You can stop laughing now!!" Ranma said annoyed. Terry slowly began to regain composure. He then cleaned with his finger the tears that had formed in his eyes. Ranma was still looking quite upset. " Sorry about that." *** Next morning, at a nearby park, Terry and Ranma-chan are putting on one-line roller blades along with the rest of the skating gear. "You sure about this?" "Sure, I'm sure." Ranma-chan responded "This is just like ice skating. The only different thing is that neither Mikado or Azusa can't butt in. So, are you ready?" "I guess so." "Don't worry." Ranma-chan added "Believe me, it's not so hard to learn. It didn't even took me some much time before I got it right." Both of them started to skate afterwards. Ranma certainly improved a lot since the last time she used skates, after all the trouble she had to go through to learn and especially after the humiliation she suffered when Mikado took advantage of her situation, she made sure her skating skills had gotten better. Terry on the other hand wasn't such a good skater. Never before he felt the need to skate. Nerima had to be the only place on Earth where figure skating and martial arts were combined. If it wasn't by the fact that he had skated once or twice in his youth, he would be looking very stupid falling all the time. The training consisted mostly in acrobatic maneuvers and the different way in which both of them tried to combine their fighting techniques while skating. Moments later, they were both taking a break. "Tell me Ranma." Terry brought out "You've fought against the Golden Pair before, do you have any pointers to give me?" "Well let's see..." he began "Azusa is faster than Mikado. Both of them make coordinated attacks each time which means you have to keep your eyes on both of them. Neither of them use ki blast attacks, but you can't get confident. They have some serious techniques." "Such as?" "Mikado has this move called the *Dance of death* which consists in spinning around as he delivers several punches. But most of all, we'll have to look out in case they do the *Good-bye whirl*." "And what's that?" *** Days went on and the both of them kept on training with a certain progress in their skills. One day, while they were both in the middle of a practice, Akane appeared while caring a lunch box. Both Ranma-chan and Terry stopped training once they saw her. "Hi, Akane." Terry said "What brings you here?" "Hi, guys!" she beamed "I just though you might be hungry after your practice. So I brought you this." Both looked at the lunch box with a certain aversion. Terry tried to hide his horrified expression the best he could, but Ranma was already making disgusted faces which were very noticeable by Akane. "Did Mikado and Azusa hired you to kill us before the match?" Ranma-chan asked her. Ranma-chan fell on the ground once Akane slammed the lunch box against her face. Akane then turned around and left them very offended (not before telling Ranma a thing or two of course.). Ranma-chan reincorporated herself afterwards while rubbing her cheek. "Stupid tomboy." she cursed. Terry gave her a swift slap on the back of the head after that. "Ouch! Why did you do that for??" "She was only trying to be nice, you idiot." Terry told her rather upset "Why did you have to be so rude?" "Don't tell me you actually wanted to eat that slob?" she asked. "Of course not! But you could've told her that in a more gentle way!" he insisted "You've got to learn not to put your foot in your mouth, you know?" While Terry was giving Ranma a piece of his mind, Akane was heading home. Once she stepped out of the park, she saw Nabiki laying against a tree. What Akane didn't knew was that Nabiki was there from the beginning and saw the entire thing. She was actually only there to take some pictures, but she also saw the little scene her younger sister pulled out. "Was Ranma rude to you again?" she asked even though she already knew the answer. "I hope that jerk brakes a leg while training!" Akane stated "Literally speaking!" "Take it easy, Akane." she said "Don't get mad... get even." "What are you talking about?" Akane questioned a little intrigued. "Come on... let's go." Nabiki told her as she headed out of the park "I'll tell you everything on the way to school." "Why are we going there?"