Red Eyes Fury
A Ranma ½ half fanfic by Animeprime.
Disclaimer. I don't own Ranma ½ and probably never will. The characters belong to
their respective owners. This takes place a month or two after the battle with Herb. "Words"
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Kasumi set down her market basket as she searched for the key to Ranma's apartment. Opening the door she quickly scanned the small room and determined that it was empty. Very empty. The main room had a sofa, TV and table off to one side. A small kitchen connected to living room and a bathroom next to it. Taking a quick peek into the bed room she saw a futon, dresser, and bookshelf. Except for a calendar from Fujimoto Insurance and a clock the walls were completely barren of decoration or personality. Giving a sad sigh she automatically started to clean up the kitchen as it was the only area that was really dirty.
"How can you mess up a place if you don't want to own anything?" she ruefully said as she threw away several takeout boxes.
After polishing off the kitchen she moved into the bedroom. As she straitened the covers of the futon she bumped into the book shelf and a magazine fell out. Kasumi blushed as she saw some of the lewd pictures inside, and whispered. "Oh My" But then grinned. "Auntie would be jumping with joy if she knew about this."
She put it back in the shelf and hurried back to the kitchen. If she wanted to be done and gone before he came back she would need to be quick. Pulling out several vegetables she quickly started cooking up a storm. Twenty minuets later she laid the food on the small table and pulled a sturdy cardboard box out of her bag. She opened it up to reveal a cake. After putting it on a plate she took out a card and laid it next to the food where it couldn't be missed. She quickly gathered her things and left, locking the door behind her. As she returned the key to the landlord she remembered the events that led to Ranma's new lifestyle.
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Flashback
"BAKA! Get back here and finish eating!" Said baka was busy rushing to the restroom as the contents of his stomach tried to regain their freedom. As he ran by P-chan squealed with anger.
"BWEE, BKEE, BWEE!" (Ranma! How dare you mistreat Akane like this!) He immediately ran off to get some hot water but got lost inside the house. Akane stormed after Ranma and met him at the top of the stairs. It might have been the effect the food had had on his body or the fact that he severely weakened from throwing it up, but instead of his usual sarcastic remarks Ranma was civil.
"Akane, I know you worked hard, but that food you made isn't fit to eat anymore." A normal person would have taken this as constructive criticism and maybe even apologized. Of course Akane is similar to Kuno as they both didn't have the strongest grasps on reality. Glowing with a red battle aura she snarled.
"You won't eat my cooking because you think your better then me! If you don't eat it our engagement is off!" Soun and Genma perked up at this and immediately jumped up from their eternal game of shogi (Pausing only to move each others pieces) and immediately appeared behind ranma.
"Stupid boy! If you weren't such a weak girl you would be able to eat her cooking and fulfill honor!"
"Son! After you eat Akane's cooking you will have proven your devotion to her and you will have my blessings to get married. They both strike a pose
"It's Soun's"
"And Genma's" "Operation feed em and hitch em!" Ranma was finally getting the dry heaves under control when Ryoga burst out of the bathroom after transforming and charged up the stairs.
"Ranma! How dare you mistreat Akane like this! Prepare to DIE!" Ranma still hadn't fully recovered from Akane's toxic food yet and was hit hard in the stomach as he went flying down the hall Akane summoned her mallet and smashed Ranma like a baseball. He went flying out of the living room and broke through the wall surrounding the Tendo estate.
Kasumi winched as she saw some ruble bang Ranma on the head and sighed. She knew how hard it was on Ranma's psyche to be bullied so much and to be treated as an inferior being. She went to get the first aid kit and attend to Ranma's wounds.
Ranma had never felt such pain before. His head had often been the victim of a maleting and beating before. But it had always been a throbbing pain that faded away, never this solid raging fire that grew with more intensity. Ranma was just barely getting it under control when he heard a bicycle bell.
"Airen!" Ranma felt Shampoo glomp onto his battered form and start snuggling. "Hey you hussy let go of MY Ranchan."
"Ranma you pervert!" SMASH! Akane made her mallet disappear and smirked.
"That should teach you." Suddenly the sound of insane laughter was heard on the wall.
"Ranma Sama, never fear! I shall rescue you from these harridans!
"Pigtailed girl! I have come to free you of the foul sorcerer Soatome's curse!
"How dare you molest my beautiful Shampoo!
Time seemed to suddenly stop as he realized what he had just thought. as soon as he thought this he realized why.
Ranma started shaking as he realized how he had been controlled. As he thought this his aura started to shift and change colors.
Battle auras and chi are said to be a picture of that person's soul. Ranma's normal blue aura was typical of his confidence. But now his aura was an entirely different color. It turned red. Redder then Red. Blood Red. I Suddenly it stopped growing and collapsed back on itself, disappearing into his eyes. Time resumed to normal as the males charged forward onto Ranma's crouched form. Ranma suddenly shot his arms out from his sides and his new red aura blasted out in a red sphere of power. It hit the charging attackers like a bullet train and smashed them back. Mouse had been in mid leap when he was hit and got blasted off even higher.
"I won't forget this Soatome!" he said before he disappeared into the sky making a star shape appear and a pinging noise. Kuno was slammed through the wall and several buildings on the other side and didn't appear to be moving. Ryoga was knocked straight towards the Koi pond. He hit a rock and bounced in and out of the water like a little black skipping stone. Akane stared. "Ryoga is P-chan?" She quickly rushed over to check on him.
The other girls didn't know what Ranma had just done but this seemed like a good opportunity to stake their claims and rushed up to glomp/congradulate him.
"Airen!" SMASH! Shampoo felt her nose break as Ranma smashed it with his fist.
"You just have to always try to touch me don't you, you little Amazon slut."
"Ranchan!" THUMF! Ukyou felt her breath leave her body as the front of her stomach was introduced to her backbone.
"You always thought of me as a possession and not as friend didn't you Ukyou."
"Ranma Sama!" CRACK! Kodachi felt her arm fracture as Ranma grasped it in a gripp of steel.
"You are insane Kodachi!" Ranma then open his eyes and everyone saw that the whites had turned blood red and in the center were two solid circles darker then onyx.
"RANMA! How dare you not tell me about Ryoga's curse!" Akane tried to smash Ranma with her mallet but was too late. SMACK! She grabbed her cheek and stared as Ranma lowered his open palm. She never knew that one could feel such pain.
"How.could you?" Ranma's jaw didn't move. He hadn't hit her to cause pain, but more to embarrass her. The two fathers had finally gotten their wits about them and charged at ranma. Soun launched his demon head attack.
"HOW DARE YOU HIT MY LITLE GIRL!!!" Ranma didn't phase one bit as it charged down on him.
"Honor less boy, how could you do that to your fiancé!?!" Ranma closed his eyes and leaped towards the two men. Five seconds later Ranma opened his eyes. The two piles on the ground could hardly be recognized as human. They would live, but not after a long stay at the hospital. There was a whimper from the porch and Ranma saw Kasumi crouched down in fear. His rage started to cool down but his anger stayed strong. As he surveyed the damage he had caused he started to feel sick. Shampoo had disappeared but the blood on the ground was proof that she had been hurt. Ukyou had finally passed out from the pain in her stomach. And Kodachi could do nothing but stare at her misshapen arm. The fathers were so beat up that they barely resembled humans, and Akane just stood there feeling her face. Kasumi saw that Ranma had gained control and slowly approached him.
"Ranma, are you going to be alright?" Ranma's voice was emotionless.
"Yes. Now that this is over with I'll finally be alright." With this said he jumped over the wall and disappeared from the Tendo Dojo for good.
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End flashback.
Ranma walked up the hall of his apartment complex, exhausted from his job. He smirked his now trademark smirk. He may be tired but it was a good tired one got after completing a worthwhile task, something that he was sure his father had never felt. His smirk faded away. Even though he had been disowned by the Soatome clan he still sometimes slipped into thinking that he still was one. As he picked up his mail one of the old ladies that lived in Ranma's building came up.
"Hello officer Kurichi, how are you this fine evening?" The new Ranma had learned that respecting his elders cost him nothing and answered politely.
"Very good actually, we wrapped up that big case of the drug smuggling ring today. Guess who got to play infiltrater." He said as smirked. The old lady smiled.
"Don't push yourself to hard now trying to protect us civilians. The Japanese Ministry of Investigations is definitely lucky to have you." Ranma grew serious.
"I'm just trying to live an honorable life."
Ranma opened the door of his apartment and noticed something was different. His danger sense hadn't gone off so he knew that he was safe but what ever it was it seemed familiar. He cautiously walked in and noticed that everything had been cleaned. His nose picked up the smell of his favorite foods coming from the table and walked over to investigate. He could immediately tell that it had been Kasumi who had done this and smiled.
Flashback
After leaving the dojo, things had been hard. The amazons had packed up and left back for China. Cologne had been watching the fight and decided that Ranma was too dangerous to have in the tribe.
Ukyou had had to go to the hospital and couldn't eat solid foods for a while. But what had been hurt worse was her soul. She realized how possessive she had become over Ranma and decided that she probably deserved what she had gotten. The Uchan closed overnight and Ukyou had gone back home to Kyoto.
Kodachi's arm had been broken in five different places and it took a year in a cast for it to finally heal and another year of therapy to regain its strength. The one good point of this ordeal was that Kodachi seemed to become more sane as she realized what it felt like to receive pain on a daily basses.
Unfortunately Kuno had somehow survived his thrashing with hardly a scratch, thanks to all of the times he had been beaten by Ranma, and now did nothing but prattle on and on about how the foul sorcerer Soatome had fled in fear from his glorified presence. And Ryoga had tried to find Akane and apologize but some how got lost and ended up in England of all places.
Ranma didn't learn about any of this until much later as he had his own problems to worry about. After leaving the Tendo's Ranma had been free for the first time in his life. He left on a training journey, but mostly focused on what the definition of honor was. He had visited the various temples and shrines in Japan and even gone to farther places like China and Tibet, learning at the feet of the great philosophers and martial artists. He had finally decided that honor depended on the person using it. Now, four years later, he was back in Japan and the anger he had felt had left, but his red eyes had barely faded. It wasn't noticeable unless you looked him right in the eye, but the angrier he got the darker and more noticeable it became. A monk in northern Japan had told him that he would not be free of the Red Eyes Madness as he called it until he was forgiven for the acts he had done and could put to rest that which had been troubling him.
He walked down the streets of the Shinjuku district where he now lived. As he walked towards his new apartment he heard a muffled scream from an ally. He quickly reversed course and ran in but what he saw made him stop in shock. Kasumi was struggling in the arms of some man who was covering her mouth while the other tried to hold a cloth soaked in chloroform over her face. Ranma's eyes turned blood red as he charged at the two criminals.
"Black Dragon WAVE!" ebony energy began to collect around a dragon tattoo on Ranma's arm, and suddenly shot out in the form of a black dragon. It plowed into the first man holding the rag and smashed him against the far wall, giving him several third degree burns. The second man dropped Kasumi and tried to run away but failed.
"Red eyes FURY!" scarlet energy particles began collecting around his eyes and shot out as a flat beam of light. The man was hit in the back and screamed as he felt searing heat burn his skin. Confident that his opponents were safely dispatched he turned to check on Kasumi. She had breathed in a little of the gas and appeared to be very rattled.
"Are you okay Kasumi?" Kasumi stared at this man and finally made the connection. "Ranma?" She said before slipping into unconsciousness.
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Kasumi woke up in her bed. She felt a cool cloth on her forehead and looked over to see a very nervous Ranma sitting next to her.
"Are you okay Kasumi? You had me worried." Kasumi sat up quickly and immediately regretted it.
"Whoa slow down there. You've been through a lot today." He helped her lay back down and the questions began.
"Ranma, where have you been all this time? Why did you go?" Ranma grinned wolfishly.
"This may take some time. How about I get us some tea."
"And that's how I saved Saffron, the king of Phoenix Mountain. Of course then the Amazons heard I was nearby and came after me but that's another story for another time." Kasumi shook her head. So many places and adventures. She lay back on her pillow and smiled at Ranma.
"I've really missed you Ranma. Why did you go away?" Ranma's eyes got redder as old memories flooded back.
"After what I did I needed some time to think and be alone. Besides, it's not like you guys would have let me stay." Kasumi nodded sadly.
"I would have let you stay but your right, the others wouldn't have." Ranma grinned and his red eyes faded.
"It doesn't really matter if I live here. As long as I still have you as a friend then I'm happy." Kasumi smiled and sat up slowly.
"I'll try to make sure you're happy. I'm sure we can try to fix every thing that's happened."
Their tender moment was suddenly interrupted. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Ranma. I really didn't appreciate what you did to my sister ya know. She almost killed herself after being so betrayed. Her therapy cost quite a bit. Do you know how much money I lost because you left with out my permission?" Ranma felt his eyes grow red again and could tell that Nabiki was shaken at the sight. Before anything could happen Kasumi intervened.
"Nabiki, Ranma is our guest, please treat him with respect." Ranma thought that Nabiki would immediately obey her older sister like she had in the past but instead Nabiki snorted.
"The fact that he hangs out with a person like you shows what kind of guest he is." Ranma almost fell over at this blatant display of rudeness but when he looked over at Kasumi he saw her hanging her head in shame.
"I've told you how sorry I am about that. Can't you just forgive me?"
"You can't just forgive someone unconditionally. This isn't some fantasy story or comic book." With that said she whirled around and left. Ranma looked over at Kasumi and saw a tear drip off of her almost hidden face. He moved over until he was by her side and put and arm around her shoulder.
"Are you okay? What was that all about?" another tear dripped off of Kasumi's face and made a small spot on her dress.
"After you left I realized how much my situation was like yours. Every one controlled me and I couldn't think for myself. They all expected me to just stay in the background and only come out when needed. Like some kind of servant. I tried to change that and that's when the trouble started. I started to scold Akane more for her wrong actions but she started to treat me like she treated you. She never actually hit me but her words hurt just as much. I tried to convince father to kick Genma out. He was a drain on the family resources and since you were gone he had no need to stay here. He looked at me like I was crazy to suggest such a thing and shushed me up. I kept trying and eventually I yelled at Genma and father threw me out of the house until I apologized to him. I finally did since I had no where else to go and they thought that the matter was closed. But all of the humiliation I had had to endure was just too much for me. Then one day I was cooking dinner when Ryoga came in. Akane still furious at him until a year ago when she patched things up. They were dating and even beginning to talk about marriage. He stayed for supper and while every one sat down to wait for the food they started to talk about you. Ryoga kept calling you an honor less bastard and I lost it." She shuddered. "I had a hot frying pan in my hand and I smashed him on the head. Since you weren't there to fight his skills had degraded and some of the breaking point training had faded away. He was unconscious for the rest of the day and some of the hot oil splashed on his face and gave him a scar." She brought her knees up to her chin and sobbed.
"Father got mad since I had hurt his potential son in-law and had tried to defend you and threw me out of the house again. I had to stay with a friend from high school until he got tired of Akane's cooking and let me back in. I felt absolutely horrible for what I did and Ryoga said he forgave me but I knew he really didn't." She felt her eyes start to water up. "I feel so terrible for what I've done. I just want to be forgiven."
She felt a pair of arms wrap around her and heard him whisper in her ear. "I forgive you Kasumi. Kami Sama knows how much I want to be forgiven for what I've done." Suddenly the door of Kasumi's room smashed open.
"RANMA YOU BASTARD!!!" Akane pulled out a weapon that couldn't be classified as a mallet. The name War Hammer seemed the only thing that would fit. SMASH! Several boards in the floor cracked as Akane swung and missed Ranma's head. Ranma straightened up from the impossible looking pose he had taken to avoid the weapon and started writing something down on a piece of paper.
"Here's the address to my new apartment, we can finish our conversation later. He dodged another hammer blow and flipped behind Akane.
"Thanks for the tea, see ya later." Ranma jumped down the stairs and out the door before roof hopping away out of sight. _____________________________
End flashback.
Looking down at the food he saw that it was cooling quickly. In his mind letting good food go to waste was just as bad as losing control of his anger so he sat down and began to chow down. Since he didn't have to fight his father for food anymore he had learned to take his time and enjoy meals. Thirty minuets later he had finished the food and picked up the card to open.
"Dear ranma, I forgive you. Happy birthday, Kasumi"
Smiling at the letters hidden meaning he reached over to pick up the cake as his eyes turned white. _____________________________
Authors notes. This is the first fanfic I have ever published so please don't be too hard on me. I realize many people will think that I was too harsh on the fiancé brigade but I think they had that coming for a while now. For those who don't get the whole red eyes thing I'll explain. The eyes are said to be the window to the soul and I've noticed in various animes that when a person gets really angry or is possessed by evil their eyes turn red. Ranma has somehow made his eyes a reflection of his strongest inner emotions which in this case is conflict and anger, and the only way for them to return to normal white is for his anger to be stopped. In this case it was being forgiven by someone. As for Kasumi being thrown out of the house, I'm not sure but I think that's what I've heard used to happen in Japan if a teenager was disrespectful to their parents or a guest but don't go by me. Send any C&C to [email protected] if you feel like it.
A Ranma ½ half fanfic by Animeprime.
Disclaimer. I don't own Ranma ½ and probably never will. The characters belong to
their respective owners. This takes place a month or two after the battle with Herb. "Words"
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Kasumi set down her market basket as she searched for the key to Ranma's apartment. Opening the door she quickly scanned the small room and determined that it was empty. Very empty. The main room had a sofa, TV and table off to one side. A small kitchen connected to living room and a bathroom next to it. Taking a quick peek into the bed room she saw a futon, dresser, and bookshelf. Except for a calendar from Fujimoto Insurance and a clock the walls were completely barren of decoration or personality. Giving a sad sigh she automatically started to clean up the kitchen as it was the only area that was really dirty.
"How can you mess up a place if you don't want to own anything?" she ruefully said as she threw away several takeout boxes.
After polishing off the kitchen she moved into the bedroom. As she straitened the covers of the futon she bumped into the book shelf and a magazine fell out. Kasumi blushed as she saw some of the lewd pictures inside, and whispered. "Oh My" But then grinned. "Auntie would be jumping with joy if she knew about this."
She put it back in the shelf and hurried back to the kitchen. If she wanted to be done and gone before he came back she would need to be quick. Pulling out several vegetables she quickly started cooking up a storm. Twenty minuets later she laid the food on the small table and pulled a sturdy cardboard box out of her bag. She opened it up to reveal a cake. After putting it on a plate she took out a card and laid it next to the food where it couldn't be missed. She quickly gathered her things and left, locking the door behind her. As she returned the key to the landlord she remembered the events that led to Ranma's new lifestyle.
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Flashback
"BAKA! Get back here and finish eating!" Said baka was busy rushing to the restroom as the contents of his stomach tried to regain their freedom. As he ran by P-chan squealed with anger.
"BWEE, BKEE, BWEE!" (Ranma! How dare you mistreat Akane like this!) He immediately ran off to get some hot water but got lost inside the house. Akane stormed after Ranma and met him at the top of the stairs. It might have been the effect the food had had on his body or the fact that he severely weakened from throwing it up, but instead of his usual sarcastic remarks Ranma was civil.
"Akane, I know you worked hard, but that food you made isn't fit to eat anymore." A normal person would have taken this as constructive criticism and maybe even apologized. Of course Akane is similar to Kuno as they both didn't have the strongest grasps on reality. Glowing with a red battle aura she snarled.
"You won't eat my cooking because you think your better then me! If you don't eat it our engagement is off!" Soun and Genma perked up at this and immediately jumped up from their eternal game of shogi (Pausing only to move each others pieces) and immediately appeared behind ranma.
"Stupid boy! If you weren't such a weak girl you would be able to eat her cooking and fulfill honor!"
"Son! After you eat Akane's cooking you will have proven your devotion to her and you will have my blessings to get married. They both strike a pose
"It's Soun's"
"And Genma's" "Operation feed em and hitch em!" Ranma was finally getting the dry heaves under control when Ryoga burst out of the bathroom after transforming and charged up the stairs.
"Ranma! How dare you mistreat Akane like this! Prepare to DIE!" Ranma still hadn't fully recovered from Akane's toxic food yet and was hit hard in the stomach as he went flying down the hall Akane summoned her mallet and smashed Ranma like a baseball. He went flying out of the living room and broke through the wall surrounding the Tendo estate.
Kasumi winched as she saw some ruble bang Ranma on the head and sighed. She knew how hard it was on Ranma's psyche to be bullied so much and to be treated as an inferior being. She went to get the first aid kit and attend to Ranma's wounds.
Ranma had never felt such pain before. His head had often been the victim of a maleting and beating before. But it had always been a throbbing pain that faded away, never this solid raging fire that grew with more intensity. Ranma was just barely getting it under control when he heard a bicycle bell.
"Airen!" Ranma felt Shampoo glomp onto his battered form and start snuggling. "Hey you hussy let go of MY Ranchan."
"Ranma you pervert!" SMASH! Akane made her mallet disappear and smirked.
"That should teach you." Suddenly the sound of insane laughter was heard on the wall.
"Ranma Sama, never fear! I shall rescue you from these harridans!
"Pigtailed girl! I have come to free you of the foul sorcerer Soatome's curse!
"How dare you molest my beautiful Shampoo!
Time seemed to suddenly stop as he realized what he had just thought. as soon as he thought this he realized why.
Ranma started shaking as he realized how he had been controlled. As he thought this his aura started to shift and change colors.
Battle auras and chi are said to be a picture of that person's soul. Ranma's normal blue aura was typical of his confidence. But now his aura was an entirely different color. It turned red. Redder then Red. Blood Red. I Suddenly it stopped growing and collapsed back on itself, disappearing into his eyes. Time resumed to normal as the males charged forward onto Ranma's crouched form. Ranma suddenly shot his arms out from his sides and his new red aura blasted out in a red sphere of power. It hit the charging attackers like a bullet train and smashed them back. Mouse had been in mid leap when he was hit and got blasted off even higher.
"I won't forget this Soatome!" he said before he disappeared into the sky making a star shape appear and a pinging noise. Kuno was slammed through the wall and several buildings on the other side and didn't appear to be moving. Ryoga was knocked straight towards the Koi pond. He hit a rock and bounced in and out of the water like a little black skipping stone. Akane stared. "Ryoga is P-chan?" She quickly rushed over to check on him.
The other girls didn't know what Ranma had just done but this seemed like a good opportunity to stake their claims and rushed up to glomp/congradulate him.
"Airen!" SMASH! Shampoo felt her nose break as Ranma smashed it with his fist.
"You just have to always try to touch me don't you, you little Amazon slut."
"Ranchan!" THUMF! Ukyou felt her breath leave her body as the front of her stomach was introduced to her backbone.
"You always thought of me as a possession and not as friend didn't you Ukyou."
"Ranma Sama!" CRACK! Kodachi felt her arm fracture as Ranma grasped it in a gripp of steel.
"You are insane Kodachi!" Ranma then open his eyes and everyone saw that the whites had turned blood red and in the center were two solid circles darker then onyx.
"RANMA! How dare you not tell me about Ryoga's curse!" Akane tried to smash Ranma with her mallet but was too late. SMACK! She grabbed her cheek and stared as Ranma lowered his open palm. She never knew that one could feel such pain.
"How.could you?" Ranma's jaw didn't move. He hadn't hit her to cause pain, but more to embarrass her. The two fathers had finally gotten their wits about them and charged at ranma. Soun launched his demon head attack.
"HOW DARE YOU HIT MY LITLE GIRL!!!" Ranma didn't phase one bit as it charged down on him.
"Honor less boy, how could you do that to your fiancé!?!" Ranma closed his eyes and leaped towards the two men. Five seconds later Ranma opened his eyes. The two piles on the ground could hardly be recognized as human. They would live, but not after a long stay at the hospital. There was a whimper from the porch and Ranma saw Kasumi crouched down in fear. His rage started to cool down but his anger stayed strong. As he surveyed the damage he had caused he started to feel sick. Shampoo had disappeared but the blood on the ground was proof that she had been hurt. Ukyou had finally passed out from the pain in her stomach. And Kodachi could do nothing but stare at her misshapen arm. The fathers were so beat up that they barely resembled humans, and Akane just stood there feeling her face. Kasumi saw that Ranma had gained control and slowly approached him.
"Ranma, are you going to be alright?" Ranma's voice was emotionless.
"Yes. Now that this is over with I'll finally be alright." With this said he jumped over the wall and disappeared from the Tendo Dojo for good.
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End flashback.
Ranma walked up the hall of his apartment complex, exhausted from his job. He smirked his now trademark smirk. He may be tired but it was a good tired one got after completing a worthwhile task, something that he was sure his father had never felt. His smirk faded away. Even though he had been disowned by the Soatome clan he still sometimes slipped into thinking that he still was one. As he picked up his mail one of the old ladies that lived in Ranma's building came up.
"Hello officer Kurichi, how are you this fine evening?" The new Ranma had learned that respecting his elders cost him nothing and answered politely.
"Very good actually, we wrapped up that big case of the drug smuggling ring today. Guess who got to play infiltrater." He said as smirked. The old lady smiled.
"Don't push yourself to hard now trying to protect us civilians. The Japanese Ministry of Investigations is definitely lucky to have you." Ranma grew serious.
"I'm just trying to live an honorable life."
Ranma opened the door of his apartment and noticed something was different. His danger sense hadn't gone off so he knew that he was safe but what ever it was it seemed familiar. He cautiously walked in and noticed that everything had been cleaned. His nose picked up the smell of his favorite foods coming from the table and walked over to investigate. He could immediately tell that it had been Kasumi who had done this and smiled.
Flashback
After leaving the dojo, things had been hard. The amazons had packed up and left back for China. Cologne had been watching the fight and decided that Ranma was too dangerous to have in the tribe.
Ukyou had had to go to the hospital and couldn't eat solid foods for a while. But what had been hurt worse was her soul. She realized how possessive she had become over Ranma and decided that she probably deserved what she had gotten. The Uchan closed overnight and Ukyou had gone back home to Kyoto.
Kodachi's arm had been broken in five different places and it took a year in a cast for it to finally heal and another year of therapy to regain its strength. The one good point of this ordeal was that Kodachi seemed to become more sane as she realized what it felt like to receive pain on a daily basses.
Unfortunately Kuno had somehow survived his thrashing with hardly a scratch, thanks to all of the times he had been beaten by Ranma, and now did nothing but prattle on and on about how the foul sorcerer Soatome had fled in fear from his glorified presence. And Ryoga had tried to find Akane and apologize but some how got lost and ended up in England of all places.
Ranma didn't learn about any of this until much later as he had his own problems to worry about. After leaving the Tendo's Ranma had been free for the first time in his life. He left on a training journey, but mostly focused on what the definition of honor was. He had visited the various temples and shrines in Japan and even gone to farther places like China and Tibet, learning at the feet of the great philosophers and martial artists. He had finally decided that honor depended on the person using it. Now, four years later, he was back in Japan and the anger he had felt had left, but his red eyes had barely faded. It wasn't noticeable unless you looked him right in the eye, but the angrier he got the darker and more noticeable it became. A monk in northern Japan had told him that he would not be free of the Red Eyes Madness as he called it until he was forgiven for the acts he had done and could put to rest that which had been troubling him.
He walked down the streets of the Shinjuku district where he now lived. As he walked towards his new apartment he heard a muffled scream from an ally. He quickly reversed course and ran in but what he saw made him stop in shock. Kasumi was struggling in the arms of some man who was covering her mouth while the other tried to hold a cloth soaked in chloroform over her face. Ranma's eyes turned blood red as he charged at the two criminals.
"Black Dragon WAVE!" ebony energy began to collect around a dragon tattoo on Ranma's arm, and suddenly shot out in the form of a black dragon. It plowed into the first man holding the rag and smashed him against the far wall, giving him several third degree burns. The second man dropped Kasumi and tried to run away but failed.
"Red eyes FURY!" scarlet energy particles began collecting around his eyes and shot out as a flat beam of light. The man was hit in the back and screamed as he felt searing heat burn his skin. Confident that his opponents were safely dispatched he turned to check on Kasumi. She had breathed in a little of the gas and appeared to be very rattled.
"Are you okay Kasumi?" Kasumi stared at this man and finally made the connection. "Ranma?" She said before slipping into unconsciousness.
_____________________
Kasumi woke up in her bed. She felt a cool cloth on her forehead and looked over to see a very nervous Ranma sitting next to her.
"Are you okay Kasumi? You had me worried." Kasumi sat up quickly and immediately regretted it.
"Whoa slow down there. You've been through a lot today." He helped her lay back down and the questions began.
"Ranma, where have you been all this time? Why did you go?" Ranma grinned wolfishly.
"This may take some time. How about I get us some tea."
"And that's how I saved Saffron, the king of Phoenix Mountain. Of course then the Amazons heard I was nearby and came after me but that's another story for another time." Kasumi shook her head. So many places and adventures. She lay back on her pillow and smiled at Ranma.
"I've really missed you Ranma. Why did you go away?" Ranma's eyes got redder as old memories flooded back.
"After what I did I needed some time to think and be alone. Besides, it's not like you guys would have let me stay." Kasumi nodded sadly.
"I would have let you stay but your right, the others wouldn't have." Ranma grinned and his red eyes faded.
"It doesn't really matter if I live here. As long as I still have you as a friend then I'm happy." Kasumi smiled and sat up slowly.
"I'll try to make sure you're happy. I'm sure we can try to fix every thing that's happened."
Their tender moment was suddenly interrupted. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Ranma. I really didn't appreciate what you did to my sister ya know. She almost killed herself after being so betrayed. Her therapy cost quite a bit. Do you know how much money I lost because you left with out my permission?" Ranma felt his eyes grow red again and could tell that Nabiki was shaken at the sight. Before anything could happen Kasumi intervened.
"Nabiki, Ranma is our guest, please treat him with respect." Ranma thought that Nabiki would immediately obey her older sister like she had in the past but instead Nabiki snorted.
"The fact that he hangs out with a person like you shows what kind of guest he is." Ranma almost fell over at this blatant display of rudeness but when he looked over at Kasumi he saw her hanging her head in shame.
"I've told you how sorry I am about that. Can't you just forgive me?"
"You can't just forgive someone unconditionally. This isn't some fantasy story or comic book." With that said she whirled around and left. Ranma looked over at Kasumi and saw a tear drip off of her almost hidden face. He moved over until he was by her side and put and arm around her shoulder.
"Are you okay? What was that all about?" another tear dripped off of Kasumi's face and made a small spot on her dress.
"After you left I realized how much my situation was like yours. Every one controlled me and I couldn't think for myself. They all expected me to just stay in the background and only come out when needed. Like some kind of servant. I tried to change that and that's when the trouble started. I started to scold Akane more for her wrong actions but she started to treat me like she treated you. She never actually hit me but her words hurt just as much. I tried to convince father to kick Genma out. He was a drain on the family resources and since you were gone he had no need to stay here. He looked at me like I was crazy to suggest such a thing and shushed me up. I kept trying and eventually I yelled at Genma and father threw me out of the house until I apologized to him. I finally did since I had no where else to go and they thought that the matter was closed. But all of the humiliation I had had to endure was just too much for me. Then one day I was cooking dinner when Ryoga came in. Akane still furious at him until a year ago when she patched things up. They were dating and even beginning to talk about marriage. He stayed for supper and while every one sat down to wait for the food they started to talk about you. Ryoga kept calling you an honor less bastard and I lost it." She shuddered. "I had a hot frying pan in my hand and I smashed him on the head. Since you weren't there to fight his skills had degraded and some of the breaking point training had faded away. He was unconscious for the rest of the day and some of the hot oil splashed on his face and gave him a scar." She brought her knees up to her chin and sobbed.
"Father got mad since I had hurt his potential son in-law and had tried to defend you and threw me out of the house again. I had to stay with a friend from high school until he got tired of Akane's cooking and let me back in. I felt absolutely horrible for what I did and Ryoga said he forgave me but I knew he really didn't." She felt her eyes start to water up. "I feel so terrible for what I've done. I just want to be forgiven."
She felt a pair of arms wrap around her and heard him whisper in her ear. "I forgive you Kasumi. Kami Sama knows how much I want to be forgiven for what I've done." Suddenly the door of Kasumi's room smashed open.
"RANMA YOU BASTARD!!!" Akane pulled out a weapon that couldn't be classified as a mallet. The name War Hammer seemed the only thing that would fit. SMASH! Several boards in the floor cracked as Akane swung and missed Ranma's head. Ranma straightened up from the impossible looking pose he had taken to avoid the weapon and started writing something down on a piece of paper.
"Here's the address to my new apartment, we can finish our conversation later. He dodged another hammer blow and flipped behind Akane.
"Thanks for the tea, see ya later." Ranma jumped down the stairs and out the door before roof hopping away out of sight. _____________________________
End flashback.
Looking down at the food he saw that it was cooling quickly. In his mind letting good food go to waste was just as bad as losing control of his anger so he sat down and began to chow down. Since he didn't have to fight his father for food anymore he had learned to take his time and enjoy meals. Thirty minuets later he had finished the food and picked up the card to open.
"Dear ranma, I forgive you. Happy birthday, Kasumi"
Smiling at the letters hidden meaning he reached over to pick up the cake as his eyes turned white. _____________________________
Authors notes. This is the first fanfic I have ever published so please don't be too hard on me. I realize many people will think that I was too harsh on the fiancé brigade but I think they had that coming for a while now. For those who don't get the whole red eyes thing I'll explain. The eyes are said to be the window to the soul and I've noticed in various animes that when a person gets really angry or is possessed by evil their eyes turn red. Ranma has somehow made his eyes a reflection of his strongest inner emotions which in this case is conflict and anger, and the only way for them to return to normal white is for his anger to be stopped. In this case it was being forgiven by someone. As for Kasumi being thrown out of the house, I'm not sure but I think that's what I've heard used to happen in Japan if a teenager was disrespectful to their parents or a guest but don't go by me. Send any C&C to [email protected] if you feel like it.