Corrected and expanded. This is probably not the finished version, but I've
exhausted my ideas. Right now, that is, not permanently, but I've tried to
change the writing in the early bits and I wonder if it's really an
improvement, and also I would like some opinions on the new stuff. Am I
going in a totally wrong direction? Are my personal opinions on the
characters showing too much? Please let me know.

                         ------------------
                        | A TRAIL OF BLOOD |
                         ------------------

                                 ***

  As Genma ran wildly, his eyes trembled with fear. Though his glance
darted quickly around him, he did not register the houses that he
passed, one after another, just kept looking for that one thing.

  He spoke quickly, almost incoherently, to himself.

  "She's coming!"

                                 ***

  That morning, he and his son had their usual training session, and
as always, they both ended up in the pond. Ranma ran off to school,
but Genma stayed outside for a while, and when he finally trudged
inside to get some hot water, the mail-man had already been there.

                                 ***

  He shuddered at the memory. "She's coming."

                                 ***

  As Soun held up the postcard, a few drops of sweat ran down his
brow, and his hands trembled slightly. He read aloud in an unsteady
voice.

  "I'm coming for a visit next tuesday. I'll be arriving around
9'o'clock. Love, Nodoka."

  "Today's tuesday," Genma said, smiling confidently. "It's a full
week until she comes. Why are you worrying."

  Soun nodded, his worry slowly going away. He threw the postcard
away, as if to show that he couldn't care less, but his hands still
shook, and he missed the bin.

  After a short flight, the card landed on the floor, where Kasumi
bent down and picked it up. She was about to discard it, when she
noticed something.

  "Oh my!" she exclaimed.

                                 ***

  "She's coming!" Genma ran faster.

                                 ***

  "Look!" she said, pointing to the date mark. "Last week!" She shook
her head disapprovingly. "The postal company has been really slow."

                                 ***

  "Aaaah!"

  Genma cried out, his voice betraying the deep fear he felt.

  "She's coming. She's coming. She's coming. She's coming." As he
crossed the street hastily, looking but not really thinking about what
he saw, he repeated the three words like a mantra.

                                 ***

  The truckdriver whistled along to the happy tune on the radio. The
day was hot, and his attention was only half-fixed on the road in
front of him. When he noticed the middle-aged man crossing, it was
already too late.

                                 ***

  The brakes screamed in vain as the front of the truck hit Genma
with a thud. All around, people turned to stare. It was as if the
world had temporarily stopped. The driver watched, paralyzed, as a
few drops of blood flew soundlessly from the now badly deformed
body.

  The effect was broken when it hit the ground a couple of yards
away, jerking a few times and then collapsing. A final thought passed
through Genma's head, and then he was enveloped by unconsciousness.

  "Why didn't I just change?"

  Less than a second had passed, but the driver could have sworn it
took him a full minute to realise what had happened.

  When he finally came to his senses, he removed his foot from the
pedal, rushing up from his seat. A voice cried out, "Somebody call
119!"

                                 ***

  When the ambulance arrived, it was already too late. No doctor in
the world could restore the bloody lump of meat to life again.

                                 ***

  Nodoka held the katana high into the air, her blood on the verge of
boiling.

  "Where is my husband?" she asked, her voice dripping with acid.

  "Er..." Soun sweated, but finally managed to bring himself to his
senses. "He's on a training trip." He smiled apologetically, inwardly
congratulating himself for the clever excuse.

  "But I sent a card over a week ago!"

  "Yes, er, but, you see, it was late. In fact, it just arrived!" He
kept smiling blissfully - that wasn't even a lie!

  "Hmph." Nodoka lowered the katana, a dissappointed look now on her
face. "I suppose my son is with him?"

  Soun nodded frenetically and smiled for all he was worth.

  "Well, I'll wait here for a while. At least I'll get a chance to
see his fiancee."

  For a brief moment, the smile dissappeared, and the Tendo father
stared at her in shock. Ar first he looked like he was about to
protest, but he decided against it, and kept nodding. "Yes, that's
fine." By now, he was sweating heavily. "Kasumi, can you bring our
guest some tea?"

  "Yes, father."

                                 ***

  "What? ... Yes, he lives here ... Hai." Kasumi turned around,
smiling as always. "Father, it's for you."

  Taking the phone from his eldest daughter, Soun sighed tiredly,
wondering what his friend had done now.

  "Yes ... yes ... I see." Tears started welling up in his eyes.
"Yes, I'll come right away. Bye."

  When he had hung up, he could no longer control himself. Streams of
water, seemingly endless, flooded down his cheeks. "My old friend..."

  Nodoka, of course, was immediately concerned. "Mr. Tendo? What is
it?"

  Kasumi just looked worriedly at her father.

  Finally, they managed to calm him down enough to get a few coherent
words out of him. "The police ... must go to ... the station ... you
should come, too."

                                 ***

  As they reached the scene of the accident, the street was already
more or less clear of people. In the center of a pool of blood, a
stained blanket covered something roughly human-sized.

  A uniformed policeman motioned for them to come forward.

  "I'm sorry about this. The body is badly scarred, so we need your
help to identify it. Not a pretty sight, I'm afraid. Are you ready?"
Soun nodded, and the man removed the blanket.

  The river of tears that once again starting flowing was all the
answer he needed.

  Nodoka was fighting back tears, too. She hadn't seen her husband in
ten years. Now she never would.

                                 ***

  "Tomboy!"

  As always, they had been fighting on their way back from school,
and just as they entered the dojo, Akane gave Ranma a blow with the
ever-present mallet.

  It took him a moment to recover. The next shock was of a less
physical nature.

  "M... mo... mother..." Ranma stammered. Then, he saw the sad look
in her eyes, and noticed the absence of a certain person. Anger
started rising from within. "What's pop done NOW?"

  A few seconds of stillness passed before she could bring herself to
speak. "Oh, Ranma ... I'm so glad to see you ... I only wish it could
have been under happier circumstances." She sobbed silently.

  "Ranma," Soun said to the boy, "Genma ... your father ... he's
dead." Had he not already emptied himself of tears, he would have
cried again.

  Nodoka finally let her tears out, leaning on her sons shoulder.
"He was run over by a truck ... earlier this morning."

  Ranma held his mother, trying to comfort her. He would have cried,
too, but he could not allow himself to do that. Not in front of his
mother. Even if his father had not been the best of persons, he could
not dishonor his memory by making his mother think he had not been
raised to be a true man.

  It was not easy, though.

                                 ***

  Ranma lay on his futon, arms fold behind his neck. It was dark
outside, but he could not sleep, just stare into the ceiling,
thinking about what had happened.

  If he'd been asked a few days ago how he would've reacted if he
found out his pop was dead, he would probably have said that he
couldn't care less.

  He now realized that such wasn't the case. True, Genma had done
some pretty nasty things - but he wasn't really a bad man. When he
threw his son into the cat nest all those years ago, it was with the
hope that Ranma would learn a devastating new technique. At Jusenkyo,
all he had planned was some balance training.

  No, he wasn't evil - just stupid. Stupidity was not something you
deserved to die for.

  The door slowly creaked open, and a face peeked in. Akane. Seeing
that he was awake, she proceeded in.

  "Ranma," she whispered, "I'm so sorry..."

  "Hmph." He merely snorted. "Easy for you to say. You don't know
what it's like to suddenly lose one of your parents..." He suddenly
noticed that her face was assuming a red color, and realised what he
had just said.

  "I'm..." His voice trembled. "I'm sorry. You do." Now that his
mother wasn't there, his eyes watered slightly.

  Akane sat on the edge of the bed, looking at him. She said nothing,
but the look in her eyes were enough to show her sympathy.

  "Mother ... How can I tell her now? Father's death is hard enough
on her. If she knew ... no." He shook his head sadly. "No."

                                 ***

  Akane looked at her fiance's sleeping body, a bucket ready in her
hands. "It's good he finally managed to fall asleep," she thought,
"but..."

  "OW!" Ranma screamed as he was drenched in cold water, instantly
coming wide awake. "Why'd you do that? Stupid tomboy..."

  "Hmph." Akane snorted, turned around and walked out of the room,
muttering to herself. "If you wanna be late to school, fine by me.
Not like I care or anything."

  "But father always wakes me up early to..." He realised what he was
saying before he completed the sentence. "Father always..."

  Rushing out of his room and jumping down the stairs in a single
impressive leap, he soon caught up with her, a slightly apologetical
look on his face.

                                 ***

  Ranma walked atop the fence, though slightly less care-free than
usual, and Akane followed below. Halfway to school, they saw Shampoo
biking frantically towards them.

  Some things never change - or do they?

  The chinese girl always seemed happy when she saw her darling, but
this time, she was bursting with joy. Her eyes almost visibly formed
two big hearts.

  Ranma cursed inaudibly as she neared them, and his fiancee glowed
irritatedly at the blue-haired girl. Didn't she even have the decency
not to glomp on Ranma while he was still mourning his father?

  Obviously she didn't, as she exploded, "Ranma! You must be so
happy!"

  This took the pair back slightly, and when he'd regained his
senses, Ranma managed to say in a confused tone, "What?"

  "Stupid old man dead! Now he not in the way, trying to make Ranma
marry dumb violent girl." She stuck out her tongue at the one
mentioned. "Ranma and Shampoo can finally get married!" She threw
herself at him, hugging tight.

  "Go away, Shampoo." Ranma's voice was cold as ice. "Go away." He
broke free of her embrace effortlessly.

  The girls both stared at him in shock. Even if she wasn't about to
admit it anytime soon, Akane knew he didn't really like it when that
chinese bimbo tried to catch him, but he'd never been able to get
free that easy before - and Shampoo had been fiercer than usual!

  Even if though subconciously, she probably realised her darling
didn't care for her at all, the amazon never allowed that thought
to reach out of the deeply hidden part of her mind where it
originated, instead making excuses to herself. "See you later!" She
bounced away, keeping up the mask of happiness.

                                 ***

  Happosai sighed.

  The old man with the enormous white beard, wearing a hawaii-shirt,
managed to give him a curious look despite the dark sun-glasses.
"What's up, buddy?"

  "You remember my best student?"

  "Yeah, sure do!" The other laughed. "You told me he turns into a
panda! Ha!"

  "He's dead." Happosai sighed again.

  His old friend looked worriedly at him. It wasn't like Happo to
care about anything. "Too bad."

  "Yeah." The old lecher had a very depressed expression on his face.
"Bastard didn't even have the decency to leave any daughters for his
master to comfort!"

  He immediately lost his serious expression.

  "So," Happosai said when they'd stopped laughing, "how's things
with your student?"

  "Bah. Hopeless. He can hardly distinguish a girl from a boy."
Kamesennin sighed tiredly.

                                 ***

  Ukyo's face lit up immediately when she saw Ranma enter. It lost
some of it's brightness when Akane followed close behind, but still,
she was glad he'd decided to drop by.

  They sat down at a table, Ranma sinking heavily into his chair.
Noting this, Ukyo approached, looking worriedly at his tired face and
bloodshot eyes.

  "What's the matter, Ranchan?" She smiled, trying to cheer him up.
"Your pop died or something?" Inwardly, she sighed. That was too much
to ask for.

  "Yeah." Ranma simply nodded.

  Ukyo's heart stopped for a moment. The bastard was gone. Dead.
She had to restrain herself from shouting out her joy. Ranma's
current state was proof enough he wouldn't like that.

  "How sad," she said, trying to sound sincere.

                                 ***

AUTHOR'S NOTES!
---------------
All C&C deeply appreciated, no matter how unimportant it may seem!
Email me (tharkon@fan.net) or use ICQ (UIN 181261). For other stuff,
check out "http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-10956/creative/fanfic/".

I find it kinda scary that after writing this fic, where he actually
*dies*, I'm a Genma fanclub president compared to some people out there. ^^

Sorry 'bout the Kamesennin bit, but I just couldn't resist that. ^^

---
[Tharkon^SMC] [Ronny Hedin] [2:200/505.8@fido] [tharkon@fan.net]
              [http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-10956/]