OMIAI
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Jan Story
Standard disclaimer: all characters � Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, etc.
The outer fence and gate were draped with bands of black and white cloth.
A narrow corridor of white led up the front walk, through the entrance
passage, into the living room. Nabiki sat motionless at the table by the
front door, rigid and formal, bowing to each guest, murmuring a polite
phrase. One by one neighbors, acquaintances, students and their families,
their teachers and classmates, came up the walk, signed the condolence book,
and passed on into the living room where the shrine had been set up. The
heavy, sick-sweet smell of incense hung in the air, like the sound of the
priest�s droning prayers. Kasumi greeted each visitor with sweet,
mechanical propriety. This ought to be Otousan�s place, but... it was
almost as if he�d died too. He hadn�t spoken, hadn�t eaten, slept or bathed
since Okaasan�s death. It had taken the combined efforts of the three of
them to get him into his formal robes this morning. Kasumi�s persuasion
hadn�t worked, and it had been Akane, flying into one of her rages, who had
penetrated his depression just enough that he cooperated, just enough that
they didn�t have to dress him like a doll. After that, though, he had spent
the day staring at nothing, tears running down his face, scarcely moving.
Akane sat very close to him, an angry and determined expression on her small
face, glaring at all the visitors. As each visitor left, Kasumi guided them
out through another white-draped corridor, murmuring formal phrases and
handing out the mourning gifts from the steadily-dwindling pile. The ritual
helped keep her from thinking about the terrible burdens she now faced.
Keeping the house running. Looking after Nabiki and Akane. And Otousan.
Dear kami, she didn�t know what to do about Otousan.
/*Help me, Okaasan,*/ she prayed silently. /*I can�t let Nabiki and Akane
see how scared I am.*/
The shadows were lengthening and there hadn�t been any visitors in a while.
The undertaker�s men were stripping away the hangings and dismantling the
temporary shrine. Nabiki came in with the condolence book and the bundle of
incense-money envelopes. She set them on the table, went to her room for a
notebook and pencil and her abacus, and began counting the incense money.
�Gomen kudasai,� came a woman�s voice from the doorway.
Kasumi looked up. Three strangers had come in: a pretty, motherly-looking
woman, a stout bald man with glasses, and a little boy about Akane�s age.
She didn�t know any of them, but the man looked vaguely familiar. �You must
be Kasumi-chan,� he rumbled.
�Hai,� she began uncertainly.
He smiled. �My name is Genma Saotome. I used to train with your father.�
Of course, that was why he looked familiar! Otousan�s old photographs!
This was Saotome-san, his best friend! �Please come this way, Saotome-san,�
she said to the man and led him over to where Otousan was still staring
vacantly in the general direction of the shrine. /*Kami, Okaasan, please
let this help.*/
The big man laid his hand on Otousan�s shoulder, ignoring Akane�s protective
glare. �Tendou-kun, I am so sorry. If there is anything at all I can
do...�
To Kasumi�s amazement, Otousan turned toward the newcomer. �Saotome-kun!�
�Otousan!� the little girl exploded.
Otousan smile, actually smiled, at Akane. �It�s all right, Akane-chan. Why
don�t you take Saotome-san�s little boy out into the garden?�
The little boy stepped behind his mother. She pushed him gently out of her
shelter. �Don�t be so shy, Ranma-chan, it�s not manly. Kasumi-chan, is
there anything I can do to help?�
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The two children sat on the edge of the deck, fidgeting in their good
clothes, staring straight ahead. �It�s too bad �bout your mom,� Ranma said.
�You can borrow mine if you want.�
�Baka! How can you loan somebody your *mother*?�
He tugged on his ponytail. �Touchan�s gonna take me on a trainin� trip, an�
Kaachan�ll prob�ly miss me. Women are like that. So if you borrow her she
won�t miss me so much.�
�A training trip?�
�Yup. Touchan�s gonna train me to be the best martial artist in the whole
world! He promised Kaachan.�
�I�m a martial artist.�
�You? Go on! You�re a girl!�
�So? I�m still a martial artist. Otousan teaches me.�
�Teaches you?�
�Mm-hmm. We have a dojo. Want to see?�
�Okay.�
Akane led the way across the garden to the dojo entrance, but the door was
locked, a strip of paper with writing on it pasted across the door. Ranma
looked disappointed.
�It�s going to be mine when I grow up,� Akane told him.
�No way! Girls can�t be martial artists! At least they can�t be any good
at it.�
�I can do anything a boy can do!� she told him, and drew back her fist.
�Die, baka!� Before the little boy could react, she landed a
perfectly-executed punch that sent him sailing through the garden, to land
with a splash in the exact middle of the koi pond.
�Hey, whadya do that for?!� demanded the little boy, but the girl was
already marching through the house, nose in the air. Through the open shoji
he saw her stomp up the stairs, and then heard a door slam.
�Oneechan,� Nabiki called from the kitchen door. �Akane hit that little boy
and knocked him into the pond.�
Nodoka and Kasumi came running out. �Obasama, I am so sorry for my little
sister�s rudeness,� Kasumi apologized. �She�s really a very sweet girl, but
she�s also a headstrong, violent tomboy, and she has such a terrible need to
prove she�s as good as a boy.�
�That�s all right, Kasumi-chan,� Nodoka soothed as she helped her son out of
the pond. �I�m sure she�ll calm down as she grows older and realizes that
boys prefer girls who are more... ladylike.�
At that point, the two fathers emerged, arms around each other�s shoulders,
crying. They had obviously been drinking, but Soun Tendou was showing more
life than Kasumi had seen in three days. �Everything will be all right,
Tendou-kun,� Genma Saotome was saying. �You�ll see. I�ll bring Ranma to
you when he is grown, a man among men, and our schools will be united.�
�But Saotome-kun, which of my daughters...?�
Genma waved his arm expansively. �They�re all lovely girls. Let�s give the
lad some choice, na?�
Just then they saw Kasumi and Nodoka tending to Ranma, who was dripping wet
and had a swelling bruise on his chin. �Ranma, what happened to you?� his
father demanded.
�Dumb girl knocked me in the pond,� the little boy muttered.
�And why was that, son?� his mother asked.
�I dunno. Stupid violent tomboy.� He scowled in the direction of the
stairs. �Boy, is she ever uncute!�
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NOTES, EXPLANATIONS ETC.
I was watching one of the OAVs, I forget which one, back when I was first
getting into Ranma a couple of years ago, and came up with this little
alterniverse. An omiai (literally, honorable see-meet) is part of the
arranged-marriage process, the first meeting between potential spouses.
That's not what this is, of course, but it is their first meeting and I
liked it as a title.
I stole most of the funeral setting from a novel called The Chrysanthemum
Chain by James Melville. He is (or was, I�m not sure if he�s still alive)
an Englishman who wrote police-procedural mysteries set in Kobe. I think
his books are out of print now, but if you can track them down they�re
definitely worth it.
I know that the older Ranma usually calls his mother Ofukuro (=�honorable
bag� � this is very rude). I don�t think he would have been that flippant
at six. Remember, this is before everything happened � before the promise,
before the Nekoken, before multiple fiancees and Jusenkyou, and I think he
was probably a very sweet little boy, probably always more casual in his
speech than a strict purist would like to see from a young child, but not as
deliberately rude as he bacame later, especially to his father.
Otousan, Touchan = father
Okaasan, Kaachan = mother
Obasama = aunt
Na = sentence-ending particle, something like �huh?� Equivalent to ne, but
used by men.
Gomen kudasai = excuse me. Used when entering someone�s home, particularly
if they haven�t answered the door.
Strip of paper pasted across the dojo door � my understanding is that death
is ritually unclean in Shinto, and in houses where there is a death the
kamidana, or Shinto altar, should be �sealed.� I took the liberty of
extending that to the dojo as a whole, since it is a kind of �sacred
space� � and mostly I didn�t want the kids being able to get into it because
I didn�t want to write a sparring match.