I wrote this way back when I was still Catbert25. It's been a while
since I've even read it and I haven't updated it. If I get enough
responce on it I may finish it up. It's somewhat serious, but still
somewhat of a comedy as well. Anyway here it is, with original notes
intact at the bottom.
Ranma 1/2: Sibling Rivalry
An Alterniverse story...
[Note: This story takes place after The Ryuu/Ranma's mother story arc.]
Ryoga Hibiki stood in front of his home and sighed as he opened the
front gate. "I wonder how long it'll take me to find the front door this
time?" he wondered as he staggered into his yard weakly.
A familiar barking came from the home and Ryoga smiled as his dog ran
out to greet him followed by several other pups almost as large as she
was. "Hello Checkers. Your puppies have really grown." he said cheerfully
as she ran excitedly around his legs with the puppies jumping and barking
around him. He allowed the dogs to lead him into the home.
Once inside he wandered around a bit and entered the kitchen after a
half hour of searching or so. He wasn't expecting to see what he saw.
"Mom! Dad!" he cried as his parents looked up from the table in shock.
He rushed to them excitedly, "When did you get here? It's been so long!"
he said with tears of joy running down his face as he embraced the pair.
"Ryoga? You've grown so much!" cried the pretty woman in her late
thirties. Ryoga's father was a broad shouldered man of about forty, he
had on a business suit and a large traveling pack sat at his side. In his
hand was a news paper from Kyushu. Ryoga grabbed him in a rough hug and
the man gasped in shock.
"Boy, you've grown strong!" he said with an approving smile. He pat his
son on the back as hard as he could and Ryoga simply smiled dumbly.
"Stronger than I? At only seventeen years?" thought the man to himself in
wonder with a little jealousy as he realized the boy hadn't even noticed
his playful jesture.
"Really Ryoga dear, your a little old to be calling me 'Mother'." said
the woman with a small blush.
Ryoga froze and looked at her. "What?" he said with the smile still on
his face.
"You should call me Auntie Korochi now, your not six anymore." said the
woman as she showed off a golden band on her finger.
"Why Kimiko, congratulations sister!" said his father.
Ryoga stood in silent shock. His mind raced as fast as it could to
search for an explanation. "She's never worn a ring before now?" Ryoga's
face twisted into a mask of confused anger.
"You mean, your not my mother?" he said as calmly as he could. His fist
shook at his side and he stared at the two people as hard as he could.
"N-no, Ryoga dear. You thought I was...?" stammered the woman in shock
as she exchanged confused glances with the elder Hibiki.
"No-one-ever-told-me." said Ryoga as the anger threatened to block out
his senses. He spoke in very controlled and deliberate words.
A horrible dawning came over Mr.Hibiki, "How could he have known?" he
gasped in a sort realization.
The last time they were all together was more than five years ago, and
even that time was very brief. He was very reluctant to discuss the boy's
mother with anyone.
Ryoga was developing a strange glow and he was growling between his
teeth. His world had just come crashing down around him. The woman shrank
back in terror and watched him with wide eyed fear.
"My god! What are you?!" she stammered as she backed into the kitchen
counter as she groped behind her searching for an escape, unable to pull
her eyes away from the enraged boy and the burning blue flame that formed
around him.
Mr. Hibiki stood staring at his son and the power that surrounded him in
shocked awe. He realized that he was much stronger than he had thought
possible. He also saw that he was very angry and all of the anger was
focused on his sister. He tensed himself and stepped forward.
"Ryoga stop." he said quietly.
"My life, my family, it was all a lie." said Ryoga as he held his hands
towards the sky. A growing sphere of energy began to form in his hands,
it was about the size of a baseball and was growing very rapidly. The
elder Hibiki realized that what ever it was it would not be good for him
and his sister to find out about it right now. It was about the size of a
soccer ball by this point.
"Ryoga, stop this. It wasn't her fault, if you must kill for this kill
me." said the man in a gruff voice as he stood bravely between Ryoga and
his sister.
The words managed to reach the boy and his eyes cleared up a bit.
"Kill?" he said in a daze. "No I can't!" he screamed as he realized what
he was doing. He shifted his hands and the ki he had formed downward and
turned away from his family towards the wall. He felt the sheer force of
moving all of the pent up ki tear at his body mercilessly. He screamed as
the blast finally erupted from his hands and disintegrated the kitchen
wall. "Shi shi houkou dan!" he screamed reflexively as he felt his body
completely drain in seconds. He looked around and saw that he had just
destroyed half of his yard and a good portion of the neighbors, a large
smoking crater was all that remained where the grass and fence had once
been. He fell to the ground in exhaustion.
He woke several minutes later still in the same position with his family
looking at him in horror. They had not tried to move him or help him up.
"Wh-what are you?" said the woman with tears in her eyes as she gazed on
him in complete terror. Ryoga only looked at her.
"Son, what was that?" said the man finally.
"My depression." answered the boy.
Ryoga stood next to his father on a hill several hours later overlooking
the ocean. "My son, I am sorry that I never told you about your mother. I
thought you knew." said the man after a few moments of silence.
"How could I have known?!" said Ryoga bitterly as he glared at the man.
"The family curse of course. Only those born of Hibiki blood have it.
You have it, I have it, my sister has it, your grandparents had it, all
of our family for generations." said the man with a sad smile. "Your
mother was not born a Hibiki and therefore, did not have our curse."
Ryoga's face softened a little. "I'm sorry I blew up our house." he
stammered looking ashamed.
"Don't worry about that son. We didn't use it that much anyway. I'm more
worried about your aunt, she's likely to run away screaming the next time
she sees you. Besides it is only natural for people like us to take up
the art." said the man with a small laugh.
"You mean you?" said Ryoga looking interested.
"Yes, I also have trained in some forms of martial arts." said Mr.
Hibiki with a smile.
"Do you think...you could teach me a little?" asked Ryoga timidly.
"I'm afraid, my boy, that -you- could teach -me- a great deal more than
I could teach you." said the man simply.
"Oh, I see." said Ryoga looking slightly disappointed, but not too much.
He felt secretly proud that he had surpassed his father already, but it
wouldn't be polite to say that now.
"Could, you tell her I'm sorry? I realize that it wasn't her fault I
didn't know." stammered Ryoga looking embarrassed.
"Of course I will. She will forgive you, I'm sure of it." said the man
as he stood looking out over the water. There was another long and
comfortable silence as they both watched the sun edge towards the
horizon. "Ryoga, sometimes I wonder what lies beyond the ocean. What
lies on the great continent beyond us? Do you ever wonder things like
that?" the man's face had taken a contemplative look as he gazed over the
horizon.
"It's nothing special, just a lot of trees and people who can't
understand us." said Ryoga with a slightly sour look on his face.
"You speak as if you've seen it for yourself." laughed the elder Hibiki
as he continued to watch the sunset. "Our curse keeps us confined to this
Island. To wander beyond it would mean we would be forever lost. Many
Hibiki's have vanished off to the world beyond Japan...none have ever
returned." said his father calmly. "That is why I never told you about
your mother, I was afraid she might have moved to some foreign land and
you would search for her abroad never to return to us. I was cowardly and
foolish. My selfishness has cost me my home, and the trust of my son."
Ryoga stood silently and said nothing.
"I met your mother in my travels many years ago, when I was just a boy
of about your age. We became friends and I visited her home often.
Eventually she became married to a man who traveled constantly. She was
terribly lonely and we spent a lot of time together, but we were only
friends. He was a martial artist and was always away on a training voyage
or something. I was a lonely wanderer happy with any companionship or a
familiar face I could tell my travels too. It was a wonderful
relationship.
Once when he was away, we became drunk and one thing led to
another...Our honor was lost that night. I suppose the loneliness was
finally too much for her. I still regret that moment more than any other
in my life. We separated after that and decided that we should never meet
again." said the man as his face became hard and he gazed into the now
vanishing sun over the ocean.
Ryoga just looked at his father in complete shock. "I'm a bastard son?
An illegitimate child?!" he gasped. He did not know whether to be angry
or sad at that moment.
"Nine months later she appeared at my door with a bundle in her arms.
You had been born and her husband had not known about her pregnancy. She
wanted me to take you in, and possibly save her marriage and her husbands
honor. I agreed."
Ryoga's mind spun as he tried to find some form of understanding in all
of this. He could not bring himself to be angry at his father, but he had
to do something, anything.
"Who was she?" asked Ryoga after a long silence between the pair.
Ryoga's father pulled out his wallet and handed a small and tattered
photo to the boy. "This is her. She was beautiful wasn't she? Her name
was Nodoka, Saotome Nodoka. Your real name is Saotome Ryoga. Even though
you are my son, I never adopted you into my family legally because we
were afraid the legal work would be discovered by her husband. It was
just too risky."
Ryoga looked into the face upon the photo in shock. He knew the face
staring at him all too well. "Saotome." he said in a daze.
The woman in the photo looked exactly like Ranma's cursed form. "No." he
said quietly. "No, it can't be!" he cried with his voice growing louder.
"NOOOOO! DAMN YOU RANMA!!!" he cried as he ran away from his father who
looked at him in confusion.
"Ranma?" said Mr.Hibiki to himself only half realizing that his son had
ran off.
In a small well kept home in a suburb of Tokyo, Nodoka Saotome sat
flipping through a large photo album with a sad smile on her face. She
stopped on a photo of her holding a newborn baby and a tear rolled down
her cheek.
Her husband had always thought that it was a photo of his son. The pair
were born so near after each other that it wasn't difficult to convince
him that it was. Secretly she knew. It was her first born son, she had
never even named him as she spent only a precious few hours with the
child. Her friend, Hana Tendo, had helped her keep the child secret from
him and had taken the photo of them together. She often wondered if it
would have been better to keep him. She had delighted in her second son
and saw it as a way to make up for her lost child. She could raise him
and experience motherhood the way she should have, but her husband had
other plans. Kami had been cruel indeed, she was punished for escaping
with her honor by losing her second son as well.
She felt the tears flowing down her face as she sobbed uncontrollably
over the photo's of her children. She tried to compose herself and
succeeded a little. Her face grew cold and she looked over at the family
katana on the wall, she had given up so much to keep her honor. Now she
would make sure that her husband would not lose it with his foolish
promise. She could not sacrifice her son a third time. But if he was not
manly as she expected, her husband would retain his, and the families,
honor. Then she would begin a new life with her daughter, Saotome Ranko,
by her side. She understood why they were hiding like that, and she would
give the boy a fair chance to prove he was manly. Still, she had to find
a way to shed their seemingly magical disguises first.
"Perhaps if I hit her with the tea kettle? That seems to be how they do
it." she wondered.
Ryoga Hibiki sat at a dying fire in a small thatch of woods somewhere in
Japan. He did not care where he was, even if it was Nerima he would not
even try to find the Tendo dojo this trip. He had too much thinking to
do. He gazed at the stars in contemplation.
"Damn you Ranma, you've taken every thing from me! My life, my dignity,
my honor, my humanity, my love, and now even my mother." he thought as an
angry scowl formed on his face. It softened and he smiled slightly, "I
wonder what she's like? I hope she isn't much like him." He stood and put
out the remains of the fire, went into his tent. "Does she even want to
meet me? Should I look for her? Why can't this be simple?" he thought as
he lay down to sleep. "As much as I hate to say it, I need to talk with
Ranma...but what do I tell him?" he asked himself as he finally dozed
off.
Sibling Rivalry part 2: Family reunion.
Ryoga Hibiki walked onward towards an unknown destination. He didn't
really care about where he was at the moment. He wanted to find Ranma,
but for the first time, the pig tailed martial artist defeat was the
farthest thing from his mind.
"How do I approach him about this? I can't just run up and start asking
him questions can I?" he wondered as he walked. "At least I probably have
a few days to think it over..."
Then as if on cue, Akane Tendo's voice rang out over the street. "Ranma
you jerk!" The very person Ryoga had spent the past week searching for
sailed over his head.
Ryoga instantly forgot why he had come. "Ranma! How dare you treat Akane
like that?!" he cried as he chased after the boy and intercepted him as
he landed in a nearby trash can.
"Oh, great P-chan too." muttered Ranma as he brushed himself off. It was
obvious that this was going to be one of -those- days.
"Who are you callin P-chan?!" cried Ryoga as he punched at Ranma.
Late that night Ranma sat on top of the roof and sulked as he tried to
think of what he had said to Akane this time. "That uncute tomboy, It's
not my fault that the dress made her look big." he muttered to himself.
The next thing he knew an empty tea kettle hit him up side his head.
"You know Ranma, It really does upset me that she still gets jealous of
you this way." said Ryoga from his perch on the roof a little higher than
Ranma was.
"So it was Shampoo and Ukyo that got her that way, I might have known.
It's not my fault that they won't leave me alone." said Ranma as a look
of comprehension crossed his face. He rubbed his head and glared at Ryoga
angrily for the sore spot.
Ryoga just looked at Ranma silently in disgust. "Of course it is. You
could stop them." he said quietly. He did not move to attack, he just
stared at his half brother in the moonlight.
Ranma looked at him for a moment and frowned. "What are you staring at?"
he said to Ryoga.
"Nothing." was the reply. "I'm just tired of fighting today."
"All right Ryoga, are you gonna tell me what's up or do I have to beat
it out of you?" said Ranma as he stood and walked up next to the boy.
"Ranma, what's your mother like?" said Ryoga finally as Ranma sat down a
comfortable distance away, but still next to him.
"Huh? I dono, I don't really see her that much. She's real nice when I
do see her." said Ranma with a slightly amused look. He had not been
expecting this from Ryoga. "Why?"
"It, it's nothing, I just don't know much about my mother, that's all."
said Ryoga as he gazed out over Nerima without paying much attention to
Ranma. "In fact, we've never met."
"I thought you lived with both your parents." said Ranma looking
surprised again.
"I live with my father and an aunt." replied Ryoga as he turned to study
Ranma's face. He wanted to find some resemblance in him. It just wouldn't
come, he could not see it. In the back of his mind he wondered why he
wanted to see it in the person he hated most in the world. Perhaps it was
just so he could finally know. So he could finally be sure that he knew
who he was, but it just wasn't there. He turned away from a concerned
looking Ranma's face and sighed.
"Hey, you all right man?" asked Ranma as he edged closer to Ryoga. "I'm
going to bed, I have a trip ahead of me tomorrow." said Ryoga as he stood
and turned away.
"Hey, where do you think your gonna sleep?" asked Ranma angrily as Ryoga
turned towards Akane's room. His cries of protest stopped, however, when
Ryoga walked by her room and off the roof into the yard. He continued to
walk after picking up his pack from beside the dojo and jumped over the
wall into the streets. "Hey, Ryoga..." cried Ranma in confusion as he
watched. He didn't know what to do at the moment and after a long time he
just decided to go to bed as well.
Two weeks later...
Ryoga stood at yet another doorway nervously, he glanced at a tattered
page from some phone book he'd found weeks ago. He glanced at the address
that was circled on the page and then at the home one last time before he
made his way into the yard and up to the door. He raised his hand in a
tentative knock and held his breath. He must have done this a hundred
times over the past few days, but it was still no easier. He gulped as he
heard a noise from within the home and the latches began to draw back.
Nodoka sat and poured herself a cup of tea as she relaxed in her living
room alone. She smiled to herself as she surveyed the cleaning job she
had done that day. It was immaculate, not so much as a speck of dust
could be found in the home. She turned on a small radio in the corner and
sat back in a comfortable western style lounge chair she had bought
recently for the home. She was a little startled as a knock came from the
door.
"I wonder who would be here this late?" she said to herself as she stood
and walked up to the door. She peered through the peep hole and saw a
young boy standing at the doorway wearing a traveling pack. He looked
haggard and tired, but he also looked nervous. "Who?" she wondered out
loud as she unlatched the door.
"Yes, how may I help you?" said a pleasant sounding feminine voice from
behind the door as it opened a little. Ryoga saw a tall attractive
looking woman in her late thirties standing behind it.
"A-are you Mrs. Saotome Nodoka?" said Ryoga harshly, his throat had gone
completely dry and it was difficult for him to even think the way he was
feeling right now.
"Yes, what can I do for you?" said the woman in a now wary tone.
Ryoga froze and looked at her face through the door. He made a small
whimpering sound as he tried to speak and found himself unable. "I.." he
managed after a few moments of floundering. "My n-name is Ryoga,
Hibiki-no...S-Saotome Ryoga." he stammered as he looked at her in
disbelief.
Nodoka felt her heart stop cold. She just looked at him and said
nothing. "My son?" she gasped through the door. She felt lightheaded and
found herself leaning against the doorway for support.
Ryoga nodded and said nothing as a similar reaction was overwhelming him
as well. Nodoka closed the door and Ryoga just looked at it in almost
crushed disappointment. "I should have expected this." he told himself.
He was about to turn away when the door opened.
"Please, come in." said Nodoka formally as she stood next to the door
giving him an unreadable gaze.
Ryoga stepped in and looked around nervously. It was a very well kept
home. "I-I'm sorry to intrude like this but..."
Nodoka smiled slightly. "It is good to see you've grown up well." she
said to him in a very formal tone.
"Thank you." was all Ryoga could think to say.
"Tell me, why have you come here?" said Nodoka as she offered him a
seat.
"I'm...not sure. I guess I just wanted to, meet you. To know who you
were and what you were like." said Ryoga as he relaxed a little.
Nodoka smiled again. "I understand. You have questions?"
Ryoga just looked at her. He hadn't even thought about it. "I guess not,
I thought I did, but, I understand why you did what you did." he said
after a moment of thought.
"Ryoga, is it?" she asked.
He nodded and looked at her quietly.
"I am glad for that, you must understand that honor is very important in
my family." she said with a sigh as she looked at him guiltily. "Losing
you is one of the decisions I regret most in my life, but I have
sacrificed much to keep my honor."
"I understand, I just wanted to meet you once, so I could know." said
Ryoga as he stood and turned for a rather dramatic exit, straight into
the kitchen.
Nodoka smiled at old memories and stood to lead him towards the door. "I
am glad to meet you, I have often wondered." she said to him with a smile
as he walked outside.
"Just one thing, I have to know. I need to hear it from you." said Ryoga
as he faced away from her towards the street.
Nodoka stopped and her smile disappeared. "What is it my son?" she
asked. She had said the words reflexively without thinking about them.
"Is Ranma my brother?" he said quietly.
Nodoka froze, "You've met?" she gasped.
"I've known him for years, I didn't discover this until a few weeks
ago." said Ryoga. "Is it true?"
"Yes, he is your brother." said the woman as she turned away shamefully.
A single tear fell down her face.
Ryoga turned to face her. "He doesn't know." he said and walked away
without another word.
Nodoka stared at him as he vanished over the horizon. She did not know
what to do, her mind told her to follow and beg him to keep her secret,
but something inside her would not let her. If it was her pride,
conscience or her heart she would never be able to figure out. Some how
she knew he would do the honorable thing, what ever that was. How could
she know when she was so shamed? She turned and walked back into her home
and fell to her knees as the door closed. She sat there and wept.
Ryoga simply walked, he did not know where he was going and didn't care.
This sort of thing happened to him a lot as of late. He just walked.
"I had hoped this would help somewhat, but I'm just as confused as
before. Why can't this be simple?" he thought as he trekked onwards
relentlessly.
"Damn you Ranma!!" he cried as he broke into a run as his emotions
finally overwhelmed him.
What's Ryoga gonna do? Hell, not even I know that right now. I'm open to
suggestions. [This is not a vote by the way. I'm looking for Ideas and
Opinions here.] I'll figure something interesting out for some in between
stuff, I have an ending somewhat planed. Nodoka is not out of the picture
by the way, she'll be around still. Genma and Ranma are still as
oblivious as ever, and Akane is still mad. So this really hasn't effected
anyone but Ryoga and Nodoka yet. Even I'm wondering what Ranma's reaction
will be, or even how he'll find out.
This is my answer to all the so and so is related to so and so fics out
there. It seems to me that people seem to think that just because two
people find out they are related that they will both instantly bond and
forget anything that happened between them. This is a common idea among
fics with Ukyo being the number one choice for relation to Ranma, Akane
coming second, and Ryoga being a distant third. Every time they instantly
get along and cheerfully solve all the problems of the Ranmaverse.
It sickens me.
I don't want to give too much away at this point but Ranma and Ryoga's
relationship will not change that much. I haven't even decided what Ranma
will think of all this when he finds out about it. I'm not even sure HOW
he finds out about it yet. Ryoga isn't the type to just run up to Ranma
with a hug and scream that he's his brother. Ryoga is shamed because he
is a bastard and only Ranma's half brother. He is also likely to realize
that this -may- help his chances with Akane. If he marries her then the
contract is still technically valid, He was never adopted by the Hibiki's
so legally he's still a Saotome.
It could destroy his chances as well, and he knows it.
He could also come to disagree with Ranma even more because of this.
[After the Herb story Ryoga tends to treat Ranma more like a friend he
doesn't want anyone to know he likes. He likes to think he wants to kill
him, and they still fight but he wouldn't really hurt him.] Nodoka's
presence may make him a bit more tolerant of Ranma's unthinking attitude,
but his treatment of her will probably start more than a few fights.
[Read: 'Ranko'] It is also another common ground for them to argue more
comfortably and actually gives them a reason to talk. Not that they'll do
much of that anyway.
The Ranma Ryoga relationship really changes a lot after the Shi Shi
Houkodan story anyway. They act more like friends than enemies.
It seems like a lot of explanation I know but I'll need it for what I'm
trying to write here. I hope to do a few things you don't expect, but try
to keep the underlying spirit of things still in Ranma. [This isn't a
WAFFy fic, but it shouldn't be too dark either.]
Ja