Ranma 1/2

Disclaimer: I don’t own Ranma, Rumiko Takahashi does. I just borrowed some of the characters. Rated: NC-17

Shades of Home

Chapter 18

From now on I'm going to have some of the conversations in English and some in Japanese. If they are swearing in English, the conversation is in Japanese; if they're swearing in Japanese, it's in English. I know you are all intelligent enough to keep up.

"Let me see those." Ranma was in a bad mood. He didn't want to do this but he had no choice.

The cuffs were machined out of two blocks of steel. The halves were three quarters of an inch thick; curved then flattened on one end, the other dovetail hinged. They were pined together with a large steel pin; the flattened ends fit together and instead of having holes for locks or locks built in, they screwed together with heavy bolts. The chains that led from them were the kind that Joe had shown Ranma the day before. Each chain was about ten feet long which meant that each one weighed 26lb. Between the chains, the handcuffs and the shackles, Ranma was going to be wearing a hundred pounds of metal.

"Ok, I guess they'll do." {I hope they will}

Ranma examined the anchor point next. Each chain was fastened to a ring set in the concrete wall with a three-inch pin shackle. He just hoped they would hold when he got hysterical. Yes, he wasn't going to fool himself or anyone else. When he saw a cat he got hysterical with fear and, since it was irrational, there were only a few things to do about it. Live with it, not an option. Cure it with years of therapy; don't have the time, or go with desensitization therapy.

This would work but most therapists didn't recommend it. It had a low but unavoidable failure rate. This failure rate had divided results; nothing happened or it made it worse. Ranma ground his teeth till they squeaked; if this failed, he was in real trouble. He couldn't go into combat! What if the daemons looked like cats! {Shit! I'm so fucked if this doesn't work!}

"Ryouga, damnit. I hope you know what you're doing. If this doesn't work, I'm fucked."

"Ranma, it's considered cruel in most circles. Standard therapies take months or even years, but they're very successful. This is usually successful but the stress is incredible. It's an unorthodox therapy because the practitioners who can use it are few and I'm not one of them. I've only heard about this; I read up on it last night again. I wish you'd reconsider. We can figure out something else."

Ryouga was as ruthless as he had to be but he wasn't doing this without giving Ranma one last chance. The thought of the struggle ahead made him faintly sick, but he knew Ranma. They really should have called him the Stubborn Fool of Nerima; of course Wild Horse did fit, when he got the bit between his teeth he was unstoppable.

"No. Let's get on with this." Ranma bulled up, pouting sullenly; his face set, mouth pulled down.

Ryouga just turned his back. He wasn't going to watch any more than he had to.

"Chain him!"

Two men came forward with socket wrenches. "Ok, Mr. Ranma; let's get this over with. Give us your hands " The men used the wrenches to tighten nuts onto the bolts in the cuffs. One of them muttered, "I think they're all nuts. This is cruel! What did this kid ever do to anyone? I'm seriously quitting."

"I didn't do anything to anyone, but I could. Make sure that's tight!" Ranma tested the chains; pulling on them until they hummed with tension.

Both men looked at Ranma out of the corners of their eyes. {‘Jew see that?}

After putting the shackles on they retreated to the side of the room; staying only because they would be needed to take the chains off.

When Ranma saw the first cat, he didn't even try to fight the coming fear; he gave in to it and tried to let it flow through him like Ryouga had said he should. But it didn't work; all he could do was shiver and scream. He couldn't run, so he backed into the wall behind him and slid down it into a huddled crouch.

Ryouga watched with his stomach in knots; if this didn't work Ranma was in real trouble, the stubborn idiot was going to have a heart attack or something. But Ranma suddenly went Neko.

Steven described it later, "You ever try to walk a cat on a leash? One that doesn't want to walk? Well, it was just like that, except the cat was a hundred and fifty-pound boy."

Ranma hissed and spat. He hit the ends of the chains like a cannon ball. He curled into a rolling ball of claws and fangs. This went on for over three hours. Then he fainted; falling flat on his face in a sweating heap.

"We've gotta stop. He's gonna die." Steven looked at Ryouga; if Ryouga said it was over it was over. He was in charge of the therapy as the only one who knew anything about it.

Ryouga shuttered his eyes so Steven wouldn't see the worry. "No. Wake him up and start again. He won't like it if we stop now and I don't intend to go through this again. My heart won't take it."

So they woke him up.

"No! It didn't work. All I did was pass out. Ryouga, I thought you said it would work. Son-of-a-bitch! We'll try again."

They tried again, with the same results; only it took more time for Ranma to freak out and less for him to faint. They woke him up, only to be told to try again. That happened twice.

The last time they shoved Kat into Ranma's face, Ranma didn't freak or faint. Instead he just reached out and stroked the cat tentatively. Kat, who was by this time thoroughly disgusted with the whole process, rolled over demanding a belly rub, which Ranma gave him. Then Ranma collapsed.

"Get him out of these chains right now."

Steven sat down on the floor and pulled Ranma into his lap. Ryouga burst into tears of relief and exhaustion. Ranma hadn't allowed any other of his friends to be there; he didn't want them to see him.

"Shit! Look here; the links are stretched."

"Here let me get the wrench on that nut; quit yapping."

Ranma woke back up with Steven cradling him in his arms, patting his cheek and groaning, "Come on Ran-chan open your eyes. If you die on me, you little punk, I'll drag your ass out of hell so I can beat it for disobeying me."

"Now that's just stupid. You never told me I couldn't die." Ranma felt like he'd been dragged through a wall head first. "Damnit, I hurt all over and my wrists hurt even more." Ranma sat up with a gasp. "Did I hurt anyone? Is everyone all right?"

"Everyone's fine. Unless you count the strain of watching you." Steven helped Ranma to his feet. " No you didn't, but not for lack of trying. You were right; if we hadn't chained you up you would have clawed someone to pieces. Here's Ryouga. I've got a few things to say to you later. Let Sunny in."

Sunny descended on Ranma like an avenging angel. "Damn you, Ranma," Ranma flinched. "If you ever worry me like this again l'll . . . Oh, my God. Look at your poor wrists! They look like hamburger . . . and your ankles aren't any better. Just exactly what did you think you were doing?"

"Protecting everyone from a Neko gone wrong, but everything's fine now, I've got it. I can do it anytime I want I . . . " Ranma staggered. "Maybe I could sit down again?" Ranma almost made it to the floor. Ryouga and Steven both caught him; Steven held him up until Ryouga got a wheelchair under him.

"Hey, I don't need a wheelchair. I'm not that bad off." Ranma looked both indignant and exhausted at the same time.

"You are all fools! Get out of my way!" Sunny pushed everyone out of her way. Touching Ranma's face gently she called her chi and healed him, erasing the raw patches where the metal cuffs had worn the skin away. She couldn't do anything about his exhaustion, but she did make him sleep "He's asleep and will stay that way at least over night, he should wake up rested. If I ever find out that you idiots are pulling some risky stunt like this with Ranma or any of the others without including me. You won't like what happens. You won't like it if I'm angry. Ryouga, I thought you, especially, would have better sense. You know Ranma better than any of us. Why would you let him do something like this?" Motioning to the hovering attendants, she told them to take him to his room.

Ryouga hung his head. He hated it when any of the girls were angry with him.

"Because it was in his best interests, and ours. He can't go through life avoiding cats. I've seen how destructive the Neko-kun can be. Having the only way to use it be sticking a cat in his face? Well, it's just unacceptable. Berserkers of any kind are dangerous, believe me, I know." Ryouga bit his lip.

"Oh! Well. I don't have to like it. You're all too reckless with yourselves. I've got my eye on all of you. Steven I mean for you to understand, as the healer of this strike team, I won't have you endangering my people without letting me in on it. I don't care what Ranma says. I'll deal with him later. Just remember, if you mess with my team . . . well, you won't like what happens!" Sunny stomped off in a fit of pique.

"What did she mean by ‘you won't like what happens.' I thought she was a healer! Does she have an attack we don't know about?" Ryouga eyed Sunny's retreating back with some trepidation.

"No. Not unless you call being nibbled to death by ducks an attack." Steven rubbed the back of his neck and at Ryougas blank stare he finished, "She'll nag you to death about it for days. Every time you think she's given up, she'll be right back again. Until every time she opens her mouth, you flinch. She can get really shrill when she wants."

Ryouga let his shoulders slump "Oh. Shimatta! I better go find her. I'll just grovel for mercy now and get it over with. Then I'm going to bed too. I don't care if it is only . . . Holy . . . it's almost 7pm! No wonder I'm tired. If Ranma wakes up at noon tomorrow, I'll be surprised. I'm sleeping until I wake up naturally and I'll hurt anyone who tries."

Steven tried valiantly to unravel this convoluted sentence and then gave up. "I'm tired too. I have no idea what you just said. We'll talk tomorrow or next day. Go to bed. Like me."

The group began to break up; medics taking Ranma to his room, where Sunny waited to make sure he was tucked in properly. The other teens waited, gathered around Ranma's door.

"He's ok. Just very tired. The treatment worked. For which you better thank your lucky stars Hibiki, If anything had happened to Ranma . . . you just better get used to being scolded because I'm not going to forget any time soon Ryouga are you listening to me because if you aren't I'm going to make sure you do." Sunny reached out and poked Ryouga in the chest with her index finger. "Pay attention to me I don't want to talk to the top of your head I want to see your eyes I want to be sure that you understand me. No more experiments with anyone unless I'm there to monitor the whole thing I don't trust any of the med tech with any of you . . . You understand me . . . Do you . . . Hey!"

Ryouga had finally drooped to his knees. "I understand! I won't do it again! I let Ranma talk me into it. He didn't want you to see him so crazy. He was afraid you would be afraid of him. I couldn't let him worry about that along with everything else. I'm sorry Sunny. I won't do it again, please don't be mad at me." Ryouga buried his hands in his hair and began to pull it.

Sunny grabbed his hands. "No, don't hurt yourself. I didn't know Ranma made you promise. I forgive you; but only if you promise not to let anyone get away with something like this again. Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise. I'm so tired. I think I need to . . . " Ryouga fell asleep on the floor in front of his room.

"Kuno, will you put him to bed? I'm tired to. I think all of us are tired. Everyone go to bed. That's an order from your Healer. Scat!"

Sunny might be a complete feather head in many ways, but when she was in healer mode, no one doubted her competence.

Kuno dumped Ryouga on his bed and headed for his room. Everyone else was also exhausted by the whole process; especially since they had been kept in suspense; as unusual as it seemed, the whole Brat Pack was in bed by 8pm.

.

The next afternoon Ranma woke up stiff. He decided to skip hard training and do some yoga instead. Of course his routine included some of the most extreme asasnas in existence; he included Kapotasana; placing his head on the soles of his feet (by bending over backwards) as well as Rising Scorpion pose using the power of his back muscles to raise his feet nearly perpendicular to the ground, resting his weight on his forearms and chest. He spent over an hour slowly working on his asanas; he held some of his asanas for over ten minutes.

Then he tested the Neko-Ken. Moving gracefully, he practiced the cat moves. The chi claw attack came to him so easily, and he felt the increase in strength and speed. He relaxed as he pulled it back, keeping it perfectly under control.

He also discovered that the Aka Tora Tsuba was connected directly to the Neko-ken. He worked on it for a while but realized that the rage he needed to use it was deep and calling it only upset him, so he spent a few minutes meditating to calm himself.

"Well, that felt good. I'd really like a bath. There shouldn't be too many people in the bath house just now." Ranma gathered his stuff and went to the bath house.

Ranma walked up to the desk in the lobby and rang the bell. The bath house was nice, a clean quiet place like most you would find anywhere in Japan. Little cubbies lined the back of the room with wire baskets in them. The attendant who answered the bell gave him a sharp look but started his routine.

"Name? Saotome Ranma? Sorry, kid, not on the list. Why don't you get your Dad to give me a call? That'll get you in."

"What the hell ya mean I'm not on some fuckin' list. Shit!"

Ranma was getting tired of all the problems he and his crew had with the military bureaucracy every time they left the small Quadrangle of the School. The rest of the Compound was run by military and if he had to deal with much more military red tape he was getting out his knife. {That reminds me I gotta talk t' Steven about gettin' my knife back.}

"Look kid; just tell me your Daddy's name and I'll clear it. You can't just wander in here. We're not even supposed to have dependents on base."

Ranma grabbed the rapidly disappearing rags of his temper.

"I'm hot and sweaty. I had a real bitch of a day yesterday and all I want is a good soak. Can you check again?... Please?"

"OK, OK! What did you say your name is again. Ranma Saotome? Look Saotome. Its not here. Call your Daddy and have him talk to me. We'll deal with it that way."

"Look, Mister; I'm not trying to be a punk or nothin' but if you want to talk to my Daddy you'll have to find him first. I have no idea where he is and don't care.

"Now, I'm gettin' kinda mad. I got clearance and stuff. You're just not looking right. Try again. If you guys would only do your jobs, shit like this wouldn't happen."

Ranma was getting smart and hostile. He was going to get his bath if it took down right rudeness to get it.

"Don't get pissy with me, kid. I got rules to follow and frankly, getting rude with me isn't helping you a bit. Who do you think you are anyway?" The man, who was a Staff Sergeant and just filling in while the regular desk man was on break; was getting frustrated. Who did this little punk kid think he was?

Just then Lieutenant Jacobs, the commander of the Grunts, walked in. "Hey Ranma-sama, what's up? Taking a bath? I got a private tub reserved but the guys can't make it. You wanna join me? I could use some company."

"Yeah; Sure. This asshole just keeps giving me the run around; he says I can't be here because I'm a dependent. I don't depend on no one but myself . What's he talkin' about?" Ranma was now at his most sullen.

The desk man came back just then. "What's going on? Can't a man take a break without the whole place falling apart? HI! Saotome Ranma? I'll get you an authorization in a second."

The Attendant looked at the screen and said "Who the hell typed this in backwards? I got it! You're authorized to use anything you want. Damn, I wondered when you Georges were going to start coming in. Welcome. I'll get you a locker key...there ya go. Enjoy."

The Staff Sergeant just stared; this little boy was a George? He couldn't believe it.

.

Ranma had striped out of his clothes and stuffed them into the locker that matched his key number. He wrapped a towel around his waist and sat down on a stool to scrub before getting into the tub.

"Ch'! Ch'! Shimatta! Baka! I'm so sick of this kuso! All I want is a proper bath and I get kuso, I mean shit..... Nani yo?"

Lieutenant Jacobs had dumped a bucket of cool water over his own head and splashed Ranma.

"Hey! Sorry Ranma-sama. But you need to calm some; you'll bust a gut. Don't pay any mind to guys like that; they're all anal as hell because they aren't combat material. I don't know if this is right; so, if I'm outta line tell me. You guys all are martial artists and stuff. So were are your parents? How can they let you stay here? I'm walking all over myself here so if I piss ya off just tell me t' stick a sock in it. Ok?"

Jacobs had grabbed his courage with both hands and choked it hard. He had every guy in his unit asking questions and he had no answers to give them. If they were going to be working with a bunch of kids they needed to know more about them. Even if they were outrageously good and strong as ten men; it took more than that to be trustworthy in combat.

Ranma dumped a bucket of water over his own head and soaped up while he thought about how to answer Jacobs questions. He had a sneaking suspicion of the reasons behind the questions and, if they were going to be an effective team, he was going to have to cut these men a lot of slack and coddle them some. After dumping another bucket of warm water over his head Ranma glanced at the Lieutenant; he was just going about his business patiently waiting for Ranma to take the initiative.

When they finally settled into the tub Ranma began to unbraid his hair. He ran his fingers through it and then realized he was just putting things off.

"Ok, you ask; I'll answer or tell you it's none of your business. How's that?"

"Deal. Parents first please."

"Leela and Danny are orphans; Shuba doesn't talk about his, so I have no idea; Kuno's Mom is dead and his Dad's a psycho; Sunny's Mom is Maa Yao; actually it should be Yao Maa but she likes American way better. My Daddy's a prick. What next?"

"Well, where's your sister? We saw her around a few times but not recently. She go home?" The lieutenant got an uncomfortable feeling that he'd just stepped on toes.

Ranma could feel himself flushing, he wondered briefly what the man would say; then decided he might as well get it out of the way now and be done with it. This man wouldn't give up until he had answers and Ranma didn't blame him

"Ok, but this is B.B.R.; so it doesn't leave this room. I'm Ranko. That is Ranko is me Aw! Shimatta!" Ranma changed for the man. He stood up in the tub with the water around his waist and changed. "Yamero! Baka yamero yo! Un! Stop that!" The lieutenant had reached out and poked Ranko in the breast.

"Sorry! Really... I'm an idiot! How the hell did you do that? Magic, curse, what the hell?" Jacobs felt like a real fool. If anyone had done what he did to Ranko to his sister he'd be breaking fingers off; but Ranma just changed back and sat down.

"Yeah, I get a lot a' that kind a' thing. You get one screw up; next time I'll smack your face into next week and don't let any of the other Georges find out you did that or they'll rearrange your face. It's a curse. What else do ya wanna know?"

Jacobs shook his head. "Can't think of much else. A lot of questions can't be answered just by asking."

"We need to get together and train you in some insertion techniques; and other stuff and the brass aren't cooperating and I'd like to know why. They say you are too busy and we have to leave it till later. But later may be to late, there have been several incursions already. There are only two full teams left in this area and they're stretched thin. They're older and can't heal up as fast."

"There's only one healer and her daughter but the...Hey, she's your healer. Shit, I can see why she has been saving herself; you guys are really rough on yourselves. I heard one of you was doing some kind of new attack and spent twelve hours working on it. Wow! I'd like to meet anyone dedicated enough to have himself chained up so he could work on a ......Damnit, that was you!"

Ranma blushed and stammered, wondering just what he should tell the man. If he told him the truth, he'd think they were all a bunch of psycho's and that wouldn't help anything. He lucked out, the shoji rattled and Steven called out, asking if it was all right for him to join them.

At their ok, he slid into the tub and sighed. "Daijoubu desu ka, Ran-chan?"

"Daijoubu, Steven-san. I'm good." Ranma sighed with relief. With this interruption, he didn't have to decided how much to tell the man.

"We need t' get together with Lieutenant Jacobs and do some plannin'. After we get trained with all the equipment we need to learn insertion somethin'.."

"We can't keep this up. The Grunts and Georges have t' work together and we aren't doing it. They have no idea a' what we do and we don't have a clue about them either. Like, what was all the yellin' about all last week. Why were all those guys stayin' up all night an' stuff. Spill."

Lieutenant Jacobs groaned and let his head drop back on the edge of the tub. "Ugh! Hell Week! I hate it. All the hard work just doesn't pay off with some people and I have to let them go. I hate that. They work so hard and then wash out."

Jacobs proceeded to explain Hell Week to Ranma who stared for a minute and then nodded. It made sense now, why most of the young men didn't like them much. The older men had seen enough of life to let brass take care of the big stuff while they just did their jobs and collected their pay. But the young ones were still trying to bang out a rep and didn't take lightly to what they saw as slackers who hadn't gone through what they did. That was why it had been so important to let them see how the Brat Pack trained.

"I need to get out of the tub. I'm gettin' pruny. Steven, see what you can work out. As soon as we test out of administrative hell, maybe we can get something started with the back up crews, ‘k?" Ranma got out of the tub completely unaware that the whip scars that covered his back and shoulders had turned bright red.

"Son-of a bitch! MMMMMMMMMMM!" Steven put his hand over Jacobs mouth firmly.

"Not a word! You'll just embarrass him. He doesn't know they show and we aren't telling him. Got it?" At Jacobs nod Steven let loose. "Sorry, I'm going to tell you a bunch of things brass didn't want out. But you guys need to know." Steven started talking.
.

After leaving the bath house, Ranma took his things back to his room and went in search of companionship. He finally found Ryouga and Kuno talking swords in the small court yard beside the dorm.

"Hey, were are the girls. I looked all over and can't find them. You're all hiding from me."

Ranma plopped down on the grass stretching and combing his hand through his loose hair. "I better get this braided. I hate braidin' it wet, it takes so long t' dry, but if I wait too long, it's hell t' braid. I thought I'd get Sunny t' do it for me. Maybe she won't be so mad at me. She likes doing stuff like that. I can't imagine why. I'm gonna try t' find her again. Ryu come with?"

Ryouga just got up and followed Ranma. He was toying with the vision of Sunny braiding Ranmas hair and found it to be interesting.

Ranma started around the corner of the dorm, heading toward the back door. He grabbed Ryouga suddenly and jerked him back. He stuck his head around the corner and watched for a little while. Then he leaned against the building shaking. He pressed both hands against his mouth; his eyes wide.

Ryouga's heart fell; a cat? He mouthed ‘Cat?' at Ranma; but Ranma shook his head and took one shaking hand away from his mouth to point around the corner. Waving his hand, he indicated that Ryouga should look for himself. Ryouga crouched down to make a lower profile. Ranma slid down the wall into a crouch, leaning against the support of the building.

Ryouga stuck his head around the corner and nearly fell. There sitting on the steps of the small landing leading to the back door were Sunny and Leela. They were eating Push Pop suckers. They were alternately sucking on the candy and laughing and talking. One would lick and suck her sucker while the other either giggled or talked.

Ryouga joined Ranma against the side of the building.

"Oh, Damn!"

"Oh, Yeah. Cold shower."

"Real cold shower."

Both boys took off at a dead run.

.

(If you think I'm going to describe Hell Week forget it. Look it up on the Net. I'll just say that it is the best and worst week of military training and either builds a team or ruins it.)

Japanese words I used. If I have any of these wrong would someone please correct me. Thank you.

Baka - Idiot

Baka yamero yo - Don't be an idiot

Nani Yo? - What the hell?

Daijoubu desu ka? - Are you ok?

Daijoubu - I'm (implied) ok.

Ch' - Fuck

Kuso - Shit

Shimatta - Damn