Final Duty By Kyokukou Disclaimer : I don't own the characters from Ranma 1/2 only the characters that I write myself . So please don't sue me ! But if you try to use my characters .....there will be ...unpleasant consequences if I find out . Do not repost or reprint this without my permission , however if you do ASK there is a good chance I will let you . Part 1 'Clarity' * During the formative years of the human life the brain goes through two main bursts of neurological development . The first is during infancy . The second during the teenage years is a longer , less furious burst . This is where the teen 'grows up' either gradually or 'one day'. This is followed by a period in the late teens and early twenties where the brain hardwires itself for certain tasks and functions . However being pounded in the head almost daily tends to slow down such hardwiring . But all of the connections do eventually get made . * I woke to find myself shaking my head . Normally this would be followed by looking up to see Ryouga barreling down on me screaming 'DIE RANMA' . To my pleasant surprise this wasn't the case . I was lying on my futon in my room , Pop was snoring away still , and all was well . Then I found that somehow I had turned into a girl in the interval between falling asleep and now . Nothing really serious , or even out of the ordinary , but something that I always found annoying to say the least . Still , something felt odd today . It wasn't like it was anything bad or nothing , but something wasn't quite normal . Feeling odd and befuddled I dragged myself out of bed and staggered more or less to the bathroom to void my bladder . Stupid girl form has a smaller one than my normal one . Of course I'm still trying to figure out what's different about my world today and I'm not really paying full attention . So the first thing I know is I just finished pulling up my pants when a very naked Akane walks through the door out from the bath . I'll admit I had some trouble getting my mouth to work or blinking for that matter , but she didn't even give me the chance . Just WHAM ! New Saotome Ranma shaped impression in the wall . After prying myself out I changed clothes and form before breakfast . So here I am eating my breakfast as fast as I can , which happens to be PDQ with the speed from Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken . Akane is still sitting beside me , brooding , well more like boiling if you can sense ki . I don't know why the girl insists on sitting beside me when she's mad at me . Thank the kami that today isn't a school day . Even so I finish , thank Kasumi quickly and leave my scraps to be snatched up by Pop . But before I can hustle out of the house I'm caught . Which is funny , seeing as how I wasn't sneaking out . " Where do you think you're going , baka ?" Akane growls at me . I know what look she has on her face even though I still have my back to her . There wouldn't be any point on turning around and looking would there ? But something is still different about today , that something is nagging me from the back of my mind . But , more pressing matters take the lead before some weird nag . " Out , what's it look like ?" I say noncommittally . " I hope you know that the family was going to go out to the park today ?" Her tone is as close to ice as she can make it , which turns out to be more like a avalanche rather than an iceberg . " I had this ..." Quick , must find right word . " appointment made before Ojisan decided to go to the park today , sorry ." " No you're not !" She snaps . " You insensitive jerk ! You're not sorry at all are you ?!" " YES I AM !" I shout back without turning around . " Now I gotta go or I'm gonna be late !" Before she could give me a physical retort I leap off . The morning air is cool but humid . The cool mist of the air gently moistens my face as I leap from roof to roof . I'm glad the air isn't enough to trigger my curse , finding hot water would only make me terminally late . I can't afford that . I know that I'm never going to win the big-mushy-sensitive-guy-of-the-year- award anytime this life , but I'm not the 'thing' that Akane makes me out to be . I started this job as volunteer work . They just liked me doing it so much that they started paying me to keep it up . Not that I'm gonna argue , between Pop and Nabiki I really need the money . It's not much really , I like doing it . There's no challenge to it , but just seeing the smiles on those kids faces and the applause is more than enough incentive . My stage act is simple , I just break things basically and do couple of stunts they saw in the last Jakie Chan movie . For twenty minuets I punch , kick or whatever through whatever the staff hands me . So far only that stupid three hundred pound block of dry ice was the only thing that gave me trouble . I gotta be some superman for the kids . No small feat . I can't curse , frown , or make any real social blunders around them . But being some superman to adoring kids does stroke the ego . After my stage act they turn me loose to visit the kids who can't make it to the stage . That's gotta be the hardest part of my week . To hell with Kuno , Mousse , the Freak , and alla the others . Being a superman martial artist for some terminally ill kid tears at my heart like nothing you'd believe . Then there's that smile , the clapping , that look of awed joy . My heart gets torn up and warmed at the same time . I guess it was the time I nearly started bawling after one of my eight year old regulars passed away that they started paying me to keep doing this . Everyone at Nerima's hospital knows me by name and face . A lot of it's patients do too . Today's a good one . For twenty minuets I did the stage act without a hitch . I did all of the flashy katas the loud battle cries , the high jumping acrobatics , and of course breaking things . One of the docs decided to get cute and had a tempered steel bedpan sent up . No idea how they got one tempered , but just like everything it just took one shot . But then my arm got stuck halfway through the damn thing . No biggie , the kids laughed , the docs laughed . I made a super exaggerated face and drew out tearing the bedpan in two for comic relief . Then I made my personal rounds for two hours . Kami-sama was gracious today , no names were missing on my list and no new ones were there either . The kids are great , all they want to do is have fun while they still can . I left the hospital today in high spirits . Money in my pocket and the smiles and cheers in my mind . Now I just had to find that store again . Akane has blabbed about that necklace again yesterday . Finally I could buy it for her . * * * Today had been a horrible one for her . She had a nightmare last night , then first thing in the morning Ranma had done more than try to peep in on her . He had blatantly stood there are gawked . If that wasn't enough , he had blown the whole family off to run off and do whatever useless thing he had planed . All she could think of was yelling at him when she got home . After a few Kuno related disasters at the park she needed to blow off some steam . The baka happened to be the perfect target . * * * I smiled a the small parcel in my hand . It had been costly , almost all of two months salary , but I hoped it would be worth it . With a spring in my step I walked to the Tendo Dojo . Only to be ambushed by a flurry of throwing knives . " DIE !!" Mousse screamed at me . " What'd I do now ?" I barked back at him , dodging the volley . " I saw you !" Mousse jabbed a spear at my parcel instead of the customary pointing of the finger . " You were planning on giving that to my darling Shampoo ! NEVER !" The Chinese boy hurled the spear before charging in , weapons sprouting from nowhere . " Hey you got it all wrong !" I protested , knowing that no one would listen to me , no one ever did . I dodged the first flurry of attacks , but with only one hand free , and pockets too small for the box I was in trouble . When Mousse goes nuts he really overdoes it . Even my reflexes were hard pressed to keep ahead of the practically thrashing boy . But when a naganata sliced through my red shirt and gave me a small gash along my chest I expected him to stop . Only he apparently wasn't paying enough attention to realize he had drawn first blood . Drawing my blood tends to piss me off . I threw the box high into the air and counterattacked with full force . Mousse was flat on the ground and on a day trip to la la land within a second . " Feh , listen next time ." I snarled , holding my hand out to catch the box . " Oh for meeee !?" Preceded a all too familiar cackle . Looking up I watched the box be snagged by Kodachi's ribbon . " NO !" I bellowed at her , already in motion . " Give it back !" " Oh MY !" The crazy girl had already opened it and was staring at the parcel's contents . " I'm so happy Ranma-sama !" " Give it BACK DAMNIT !" I know I'm quick to annoy and maybe anger , but it does take something as compounded as this to really enrage me . I don't hit girls , but that's not to say I can't get rough with them if I need to . Before the wacko knew what was coming she was sailing into the nearest drainage ditch . I didn't worry about her , I knew that it was still brimming from yesterday's rain . Straightening from my over the shoulder Kodachi toss I winced at the pain from my wound . Damn Mousse . Then I examined the necklace , to find that the damn Rose girl had been holding the chain when I threw her . Apparently she still held half of it , for that was all that was left of the silver chain . " The rest is fine . I can get a new chain ." I said to myself , not knowing whether to feel relief or anger . " Aww shit !" I exclaimed after noticing that my wound had bled on the box . Dried blood does not go well on a white jewelry box . Well now I knew I couldn't give it to Akane tonight , I had to get a new chain and stop off at Tofu's to get my cut patched up . Why couldn't they all just leave me alone ? I gave the twitching form of Mousse a withering stare before rushing off towards Tofu's . Maybe tomorrow Akane would be in a rare good mood to start off with . * * * " He's late ." Her younger sister growled at the door . " So ?" She asked . It was not unusual for Ranma to come in late after being gone all day . Also it was not unusual for Akane to be mad at him for this . A sad state of affairs . " He should have been home an hour ago ." Her younger sister tried snarling instead of growling . " Whatever ." She waved Akane off . What concerned her about Ranma currently was the odd fact that he was spending money like normal , but he had yet to come to her for another loan for quite a while now . It was almost as if he had a job . That I idea was laughable , Saotome Ranma holding down a job ? Actually , now that she sat down in her room and thought about it some . That was not the only concern with Ranma right now . Ranma and Akane's relationship was not normal actually . In the past few months it had been deteriorating . Akane was staying mad longer , and getting mad quicker , Ranma was getting more intense in his anger and getting more personal in his insults . If this kept up one day Akane would never get over it and Ranma might actually say he hated her . That would change things real quick . Akane had tried to break off their engagement several times so far , but Ranma never had . Up till now he had kept his insults distant and almost impersonal , never stooping to hitting Akane's ego directly . As she had done to him since day one . But that was beginning to change . Ranma and Akane's engagement breaking up . That was something very , very bad for her . Ranma was still honor bound to marry a Tendo daughter . Now theoretically he still could marry Kasumi , in fact she was sure that her older sister would agree to the switch of engagements without hesitation or protest . That was the main reason she could not allow this to happen . Kasumi had already given up so much for the family , her hopes of collage and a life outside her family , her social life , on and on . No , Kasumi had sacrificed too much already . So if it came down to it , if there was no hope of Ranma and Akane being married then she would have to throw herself on the bomb . The thought was one she never took much farther than that . For she feared where it would lead . Revulsion , and dread at spending the rest of her life with Ranma , no hope of real romance ? Or perhaps finding that it might not be so bad after all ? Ranma would be a husband she could dominate and control . Shaking her head sharply she cut that chain of thought off abruptly . " So how do I get you two together ?" She asked the picture on her desk . The one that had been taken only weeks ago , Akane and Ranma stood together . But it was painfully obvious to anyone who knew them that the happy expressions on their faces were forced . When the world seemed determined to push them together and tear them apart at once what could she do ? Any overt efforts would just be adding to the maelstrom about the pair , covert methods might not have any effect at all . " With everything and everyone tearing at you two how do you even know your own feelings ?" She asked the pair's image . Their only answer was to stare back at her with pained masks of false happiness . * * * After a nice , if a bit too exciting , day in the park with most of her family she felt good . Not that she did not feel well most of the time , but her smile tonight was more warm than placid . Akane was fuming at the door , or to me more precise at the person who wasn't coming through the door . That caused her smile to slowly die , but she made sure to replace it with her trademark serene smile before approaching Akane . " I'm sure Ranma is fine ." She started out . " I'll fix that if he is ." Her younger sister clenched her fists . " Now Akane ," She admonished . " there is no need to hit him over being home late . You do hit him all too often ." " Not often enough or nearly hard enough ." Akane didn't even look up from the door . " What did he do this time ?" She sat down beside her baby sister . " Because of him I had to beat off Kuno half a dozen times at the park . Then there were those exorcists he hired to remove the spell that he thinks Ranma put on me . Then there were the martial arts gardeners who challenged me . I barely had any time to relax !" " And this is Ranma's fault ?" She tried not to sound too skeptical . " Isn't it obvious !" Akane threw her hands up . " Ever since he got here we've been a magnet for creeps and weirdo martial artists ." " But that happened before he arrived ." She said reasonably . Akane didn't hear her . " Every month there's a new weirdo , some guy wanting to marry me , or another fiancée for Ranma ! There's no end to it !" " Akane ." She placed a hand on her baby sister's shoulder . " Huh ?" Akane looked over at her as if seeing her for the first time . " Akane ." She repeated . " It's late , why don't you go to bed ." " But-" " I'll send Ranma up to your room if he gets back before midnight ." Akane looked like she was about to protest , but a motherly look silenced her . Without further protest the youngest Tendo got up and padded out of the room . She mentally counted to forty before speaking . " You can come in now Ranma ." Without further pause Ranma quietly slid the door open and stepped inside . He , currently a she , was missing both shoes , had a bandage showing through a long tear in her silk shirt , and in addition to being moist was quite haggard . " Oh my ," Her eyes widened . Ranma all but staggered over to her before collapsing more than sitting beside her . Now getting a much closer view in the dim light Ranma looked even worse . Red was soaking through the bandage , various cuts were caked with coagulated blood , bruises all along her exposed flesh were darkening , and Ranma seemed to wince with the end of each breath . " What happened ?" She asked , too astonished to do more . " Mousse , Kodachi , Pantyhose , Tofu-sensei ," Ranma paused to draw a pained breath . " Ryouga , the old Freak , then the old Ghoul , and one of Gosunkugi's spirits ." Another pause . " In that order , and those're just the highlights ." " Can you move ?" She asked with no small concern . " I need to get you cleaned up ." " I guess so ." Ranma said even as she rolled over and got to her feet with only minimal straining and grunting . " Good , wait for me by the table , I'll get some hot water ." After helping the injured martial artist to the table she rushed off to retrieve some heated water . Returning she found Ranma laying on her back holding a small white box streaked with rust colored stains . " What's that ?" She asked after sitting down beside him with a pot of hot water in one hand and her customized first aid kit in the other . " It was ," She painfully emphasized the past tense . " A present for Akane , I'd been saving up for a long time to buy this . Now look at it ." She handed the stained box to her . The first thing she noticed was a rattle , the second was the thin slit-like hole in the top . Upon opening it she discovered why . A blade of some sort had pierced the top and wrenched the sliver of the pendant , popping the stone from it's seat . The chain was already snapped in two with both the missing stone and other length of chain nowhere to be found . " It ain't fair Kasumi ." She heard Ranma's female soprano break with emotion . " The damn thing didn't even last long enough for Akane to see it . Now it's nothin' I'm supposed to be the best marital artist of my generation and I couldn't protect a stupid little necklace ." Ranma stared at the ruined work of jewelry craft with unshed tears shimmering in her eyes . " I can't do nothin' right can I ? It's just going to get worse ain't it ?" " You can get another one Ranma ." She assured the young marital artist . " You still have that job at the hospital , neh ? I'm sure Nabiki can help too ." Up until that last sentence hope had glimmered in Ranma's eyes . Only to be replaced with a halfhearted anger . " Nabiki , I'm still paying her back ." Ranma closed her eyes wearily . " And she's still making money off me even as I pay her back ." She said nothing as she began to wipe the minor wounds clean before bandaging them up . Ranma remained silent and motionless as well . Once finished with Ranma's face she helped sit her patient up . " I need to change that ." She pointed to Ranma's bandage on her chest . Without word the marital artist slid her ruined shirt of her shoulders and let it fall to her waist . Exposing more injuries . None were cuts , but patches bigger than her fist were every shade of bruise she had ever seen , some overlapped in a way that just looked painful . Steeling herself she cut the bandage on Ranma . She had to pull it off of her , the clotting blood attempted to take some skin with it . Then she was faced with a long open gash that had apparently burst it's stitches . Most of them remained in the skin , the two ends of each broken stitch standing up like artificial hairs . " Tofu-sensei sewed be up as a guy , my breasts snapped them when I changed . " She explained needlessly . Working quietly she tied the snapped cords back together as tightly as she could . The wound was shallow and closed easily . She worked as gently as she could , but Ranma tensed just the same at the pain . Once finished there she moved on to tend to her other injuries as best she could . " There , that's all I can do ." She sighed , packing up her kit . " Sorry for the trouble ." Ranma apologized , reaching for the hot water . She stopped Ranma's hand by placing her own on top of the younger girl's . Ranma froze for second before relaxing and looking up at her with wary eyes . Such beautiful blue eyes , so earnest in every emotion . Aside from a hue shift they were the only physical feature that the curse did not alter . " Better not until the wound has had more of a chance ." She explained . " Hot water does not find you as easily as cold does ." " Oh , no problem Kasumi ." She nodded . " Oh and please stay clear of Akane until you feel better ." She added . " I'll try ." " Ranma ?" She looked down at her lap . " Hai ?" Ranma replied quietly . " Please take care of yourself ," For some reason she could not look up from her lap . " I know that both Tofu-sensei and I don't like seeing you in this kind of condition ." " The life of a true martial artist is fraught with-" " I know the words your Father drills into you ." She stopped him . " But that doesn't mean you have to get hurt ." The young marital artist failed to reply . " Goodnight Ranma ." She all but whispered , releasing Ranma's hand . For a moment she fought to push down her emotions from the surface , to keep them from reaching her face . She won shortly after the struggle began . " I know you'll feel better in the morning ." She said at normal volume , with her normal serene smile . Ranma wasn't there to hear or see either . * * * I hurt all over it seemed . From the top of my head , where I took a nice heel drop from Ryouga . Down to my toes , that had to run on concrete heated and chipped by the old freak's bombs . Some days were worse than others , and some days just sucked . But this day hit me hard . I had been planning for this day for nearly three months and saving for almost two . It had taken was just about everyone out for my head to come at me to destroy the necklace , but destroy it they had . Battered , bruised , sliced like ham , a girl , and pretty damn discouraged I took a old pillow and blanket up to the roof with me . Alone with my thoughts it became clear that the next ring , brooch , necklace , or date or whatever , would just meet the same fate . I reviewed my life at the Tendo's up to this point . Only more evidence there . Then under the chilling night wind I looked back into my past . I have always been a magnet for trouble . Now this doesn't bother me personally . It just provides and endless supply of new challenges . Things only go real bad when other people get involved . Ukyo . At six I had managed to screw up her life for the next decade just by being her fiend and having the Father I have . Even when I look back farther or to more recent times it's still all too clear to me . Ryouga . I actually stayed in one place long enough to go to a boys school for a while . Then I ended up making an enemy and giving him a horrible curse to someone already cursed to be eternally lost . It's clear to me now . I almost shake with rage at myself for not seeing it sooner . The problem is that I am a magnet for trouble . So when I stay in one place too long I start collecting trouble rather than coming across it . I was cursed long before China , just like Ryouga . We both have a curse with no outward origin . He's cursed to be eternally lost . I'm cursed to live in interesting times . The cold night air on my wounds tells me just how interesting . The slump of the formally ever serene Kasumi's shoulders tells me too . So does the screams and accusations of my fiancée , Tendo Akane . She's screamed the truth at me for so long why am I beginning to listen only now ? That question still rings in my mind as I slip off into shivering slumber . End of Part 1 'Clarity'