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Real Disclaimer: Don't own any of them, am not making money, am not stealing them cause i like Rumiko Takahashi as a writer and artist long may she pen.
Sukuu to Chie
by Prospero Hibiki
[email protected]
Chapter 1: And So Things Change
By the time the ambulance arrived it was already obvious to all involved that Saotome Genma was going to die. He had lost too much blood, but besides that the majority of his left side was too heavily damaged to repair surgically. But for the first time in his life he was being regarded with a great deal of admiration and pride, especially from his seven-year-old son. The reason for this admiration sat not one hundred feet away, a young boy of indeterminate age that he had pushed out of the way of a speeding truck. It was a strange feeling, knowing that he had done something good and decent for once in his life. It filled him with a strange sort of contentment.
Ranma looked at his father with new eyes. He remembered his father as being a harsh taskmaster who had never shown the slightest sign of compassion for him. And yet he had done something so selfless as to sacrifice himself for a complete stranger. His steps hadn't faltered in the slightest as he had shoved the child aside, and Ranma was having a hard time of combining the two images in his head. He clutched his father's hand in his own. He leaned forward when he saw that his father wanted to tell him something.
"Ranma, my boy, I want you to learn from this." Genma's voice rasped slightly, faint traces of blood appearing between his lips. "I fear that I won't survive and I must tell you something very important. The fate of the Saotome Ryu rests solely on you now, which I think is a very good thing. I have not lived a very honorable life," Genma coughed twice before continuing, "but in you I have seen the potential to move the school beyond the petty teachings of my old master. I want you to learn that no matter what happens in your life there is always a way to retain your honor if you look for it." His father smiled ruefully. "I didn't look for this one, but it found me just the same. I'm actually kind of glad it happened really. It's good to remember what it's like to do something honorable. You will be the new head of the clan and I expect you to uphold the honor of the Saotome name, as I never could. I now state that all of my promises on your behalf die with me."
Ranma could feel the tears start to form in his eyes and tried to keep them from showing without much success. "I will try to make you proud of me father."
Genma shook his head. "No, my son. I'm already proud of you. You must do what you can to live up to your own expectations. Set your personal goals high and do your best to fulfill them. If you do this then you will find that you will ask more of yourself than anyone ever will. Know, though, that if you strive to make the world around you better you will make yourself better as well. Remember…" Genma's voice faltered once again. "Remember…remember always that honor is a tool that once broken can never be replaced. Keep your honor bright, my…son." And so Saotome Genma died with his son holding his hand.
A short distance away and out of the sobbing child's earshot a police officer was talking to a nearby shop owner. "I have no idea how that man held together for as long as he did. His injuries should have killed him instantly."
The shopkeeper nodded. "I'm finding it very hard to stay angry at the man. Though he did rob my store he still saved that child's life. I shudder to think what would have happened had he not stolen my money and fled. He'd never have been here to push that child aside."
"Even a thief can do something to redeem his honor."
The owner nodded. "I'd hate to detract from what he did so it would be appreciated if you removed all mention of the theft from the official record."
The officer nodded. "As you wish. In fact I don't think anyone else needs to know at all." He looked over at the still sobbing Ranma. "Especially the man's son. His father died an honorable man. That is all that matters now."
"Still how did he survive long enough to talk to his son?"
~~~
Up in Heaven an obscure god of wisdom slumped down in exhaustion. Keeping the man alive long enough to impart the things he had learned when faced with his death had been quite trying. But it was the least he could do for the person who had even inadvertently saved his great-great grandson. The god smiled when he looked down at the brave form of Saotome Ranma. He would now be looking out for the young head of the Saotome clan. He owed that family a great debt and if there was one thing that Chie knew it was that honor debts should always be repaid.
~~~
Years passed and the young boy became a man, learning to push himself harder and faster than anyone else ever could have. He had returned to live with his mother for a while after his father's death, but soon the road had called out to Ranma. He traveled far and wide crossing the continents. Always though he kept in contact with his mother being as he was the clan head. And as he traveled he learned from anyone who would teach him. He mastered the arts of Kung Fu, Aikido, Kendo, Jujitsu, Tae Kwon Do, Tai Chi, Maui Thai, as well as deadly arts that hadn't traveled beyond the countryside that had spawned them.
It was an important time for him, one in which he grew beyond the simple martial artist his father had envisioned for him. He grew as a person in ways that Genma would have never believed possible before his death. Other cultures taught him the importance of different value systems while he learned to survive in foreign lands. He gained enemies as he went, some very powerful, but he also gained allies and friends. The trip was also an opportunity for him to try his hand at international business and he found that many of the friends he had gained were able to help him rebuild his family's fortune from almost nothing.
If he had wanted to Ranma could have retired from his life as a wandering Martial Artist and rested on his laurels for the remainder of his life, but he felt that would be betraying the final teachings of his father. So on his sixteenth birthday Saotome Ranma returned home to his mother a much better person than he had left. He was also much richer having started a company to sustain his family far into the future.
Genma Industries was his own way of honoring his father and he did quite well with it using his travels to build a client base throughout the world. It was a really ingenious concept, which he had come up with while traveling. By supplying modern computer components at low costs to the people who helped him in his travels, he gained access to larger groups of people through word of mouth. Soon many people were scrambling to gain access to modern technology though his company. Genma Industries grew from being run solely by Ranma and his mother through infrequent telephone calls, to being able to purchase an enormous office building in downtown Tokyo in only nine short years.
Saotome Nodoka wept at seeing her son for the first time in two years and hugged him fiercely. He had grown so much in his travels that every time he returned he was different. This time the differences came in the form of a long almost invisible scar that ran down the right side of his face from his forehead, over his eyelid, and down to his chin. He was also much taller and more muscular than she remembered and the combination of the two new features made him quite handsome. She didn't ask about his scar knowing that her son would tell her when the appropriate time came. Other than that he looked the same as he had when he had left. His black hair was still braided into a pigtail though it was now a little longer. He wore his usual green Chinese Shirt with rolled up sleeves and a pair of loose, black pants.
Ranma was almost as emotional as his mother, but managed to speak despite it. "Mother, I've come home."
Nodoka could only nod having heard the finality of that statement. She had no doubt that her son would go on the occasional training trip in the future and she would have been disappointed if he hadn't. But never before had he said those four words in that way. The irresistible wanderlust that had once gripped her son had turned into something different and she could see it in his eyes.
~~~
An alarm went off on Chie's desk and he looked up to realize that it was Ranma's sixteenth birthday. He had been watching out for the young man on occasion throughout the years and had liked what he had seen. He couldn't do much for him directly but he had helped where he had been able to by encouraging people to help the lad where they might have turned away indifferently. It had been nine years and his own descendant had turned out just as well because of Genma's sacrifice. Seeing that Ranma was doing well he turned back to the report he was writing for Athena, resolving to check on the lad again in a few months.
Real Disclaimer: Don't own any of them, am not making money, am not stealing them cause i like Rumiko Takahashi as a writer and artist long may she pen.
Sukuu to Chie
by Prospero Hibiki
[email protected]
Chapter 1: And So Things Change
By the time the ambulance arrived it was already obvious to all involved that Saotome Genma was going to die. He had lost too much blood, but besides that the majority of his left side was too heavily damaged to repair surgically. But for the first time in his life he was being regarded with a great deal of admiration and pride, especially from his seven-year-old son. The reason for this admiration sat not one hundred feet away, a young boy of indeterminate age that he had pushed out of the way of a speeding truck. It was a strange feeling, knowing that he had done something good and decent for once in his life. It filled him with a strange sort of contentment.
Ranma looked at his father with new eyes. He remembered his father as being a harsh taskmaster who had never shown the slightest sign of compassion for him. And yet he had done something so selfless as to sacrifice himself for a complete stranger. His steps hadn't faltered in the slightest as he had shoved the child aside, and Ranma was having a hard time of combining the two images in his head. He clutched his father's hand in his own. He leaned forward when he saw that his father wanted to tell him something.
"Ranma, my boy, I want you to learn from this." Genma's voice rasped slightly, faint traces of blood appearing between his lips. "I fear that I won't survive and I must tell you something very important. The fate of the Saotome Ryu rests solely on you now, which I think is a very good thing. I have not lived a very honorable life," Genma coughed twice before continuing, "but in you I have seen the potential to move the school beyond the petty teachings of my old master. I want you to learn that no matter what happens in your life there is always a way to retain your honor if you look for it." His father smiled ruefully. "I didn't look for this one, but it found me just the same. I'm actually kind of glad it happened really. It's good to remember what it's like to do something honorable. You will be the new head of the clan and I expect you to uphold the honor of the Saotome name, as I never could. I now state that all of my promises on your behalf die with me."
Ranma could feel the tears start to form in his eyes and tried to keep them from showing without much success. "I will try to make you proud of me father."
Genma shook his head. "No, my son. I'm already proud of you. You must do what you can to live up to your own expectations. Set your personal goals high and do your best to fulfill them. If you do this then you will find that you will ask more of yourself than anyone ever will. Know, though, that if you strive to make the world around you better you will make yourself better as well. Remember…" Genma's voice faltered once again. "Remember…remember always that honor is a tool that once broken can never be replaced. Keep your honor bright, my…son." And so Saotome Genma died with his son holding his hand.
A short distance away and out of the sobbing child's earshot a police officer was talking to a nearby shop owner. "I have no idea how that man held together for as long as he did. His injuries should have killed him instantly."
The shopkeeper nodded. "I'm finding it very hard to stay angry at the man. Though he did rob my store he still saved that child's life. I shudder to think what would have happened had he not stolen my money and fled. He'd never have been here to push that child aside."
"Even a thief can do something to redeem his honor."
The owner nodded. "I'd hate to detract from what he did so it would be appreciated if you removed all mention of the theft from the official record."
The officer nodded. "As you wish. In fact I don't think anyone else needs to know at all." He looked over at the still sobbing Ranma. "Especially the man's son. His father died an honorable man. That is all that matters now."
"Still how did he survive long enough to talk to his son?"
~~~
Up in Heaven an obscure god of wisdom slumped down in exhaustion. Keeping the man alive long enough to impart the things he had learned when faced with his death had been quite trying. But it was the least he could do for the person who had even inadvertently saved his great-great grandson. The god smiled when he looked down at the brave form of Saotome Ranma. He would now be looking out for the young head of the Saotome clan. He owed that family a great debt and if there was one thing that Chie knew it was that honor debts should always be repaid.
~~~
Years passed and the young boy became a man, learning to push himself harder and faster than anyone else ever could have. He had returned to live with his mother for a while after his father's death, but soon the road had called out to Ranma. He traveled far and wide crossing the continents. Always though he kept in contact with his mother being as he was the clan head. And as he traveled he learned from anyone who would teach him. He mastered the arts of Kung Fu, Aikido, Kendo, Jujitsu, Tae Kwon Do, Tai Chi, Maui Thai, as well as deadly arts that hadn't traveled beyond the countryside that had spawned them.
It was an important time for him, one in which he grew beyond the simple martial artist his father had envisioned for him. He grew as a person in ways that Genma would have never believed possible before his death. Other cultures taught him the importance of different value systems while he learned to survive in foreign lands. He gained enemies as he went, some very powerful, but he also gained allies and friends. The trip was also an opportunity for him to try his hand at international business and he found that many of the friends he had gained were able to help him rebuild his family's fortune from almost nothing.
If he had wanted to Ranma could have retired from his life as a wandering Martial Artist and rested on his laurels for the remainder of his life, but he felt that would be betraying the final teachings of his father. So on his sixteenth birthday Saotome Ranma returned home to his mother a much better person than he had left. He was also much richer having started a company to sustain his family far into the future.
Genma Industries was his own way of honoring his father and he did quite well with it using his travels to build a client base throughout the world. It was a really ingenious concept, which he had come up with while traveling. By supplying modern computer components at low costs to the people who helped him in his travels, he gained access to larger groups of people through word of mouth. Soon many people were scrambling to gain access to modern technology though his company. Genma Industries grew from being run solely by Ranma and his mother through infrequent telephone calls, to being able to purchase an enormous office building in downtown Tokyo in only nine short years.
Saotome Nodoka wept at seeing her son for the first time in two years and hugged him fiercely. He had grown so much in his travels that every time he returned he was different. This time the differences came in the form of a long almost invisible scar that ran down the right side of his face from his forehead, over his eyelid, and down to his chin. He was also much taller and more muscular than she remembered and the combination of the two new features made him quite handsome. She didn't ask about his scar knowing that her son would tell her when the appropriate time came. Other than that he looked the same as he had when he had left. His black hair was still braided into a pigtail though it was now a little longer. He wore his usual green Chinese Shirt with rolled up sleeves and a pair of loose, black pants.
Ranma was almost as emotional as his mother, but managed to speak despite it. "Mother, I've come home."
Nodoka could only nod having heard the finality of that statement. She had no doubt that her son would go on the occasional training trip in the future and she would have been disappointed if he hadn't. But never before had he said those four words in that way. The irresistible wanderlust that had once gripped her son had turned into something different and she could see it in his eyes.
~~~
An alarm went off on Chie's desk and he looked up to realize that it was Ranma's sixteenth birthday. He had been watching out for the young man on occasion throughout the years and had liked what he had seen. He couldn't do much for him directly but he had helped where he had been able to by encouraging people to help the lad where they might have turned away indifferently. It had been nine years and his own descendant had turned out just as well because of Genma's sacrifice. Seeing that Ranma was doing well he turned back to the report he was writing for Athena, resolving to check on the lad again in a few months.