Chapter Text
The home was a mess, to say the least. With the eating habits Genma had tried to keep hidden for their earlier years together, long before marriage, Nodoka found herself trying to find more and more inexpensive meals for a larger and larger audience, despite the only new mouth to feed being, by all accounts, not a very big or picky eater. Her son, Ranma, was a very messy child - leaving toys scattered about wherever he could manage to crawl with them, usually somewhere towards her. He seemingly had his father’s own wanderlust, moving about the house as much as possible as soon as he could get there on his own. All the same, he only ever seemed to want to be around his mama, evident by how many of his things were left dotted around the kitchen.
“Genma, no! Don’t take Ranma away!”
“LET ME GO, WOMAN!”
This was the third time this week Genma had tried to abscond the home after a meal, with their son sobbing in his arms. The third time she’d caught the man dragging a large travelling pack halfway through the door, only to stop at the last moment to try and shush their child into silence. The third time she’d hit him over the head with whatever was lying around the doorway he chose to escape through. He chose the front door this time, close to the dining room; so, today, he gets the table.
With Genma groaning on the floor, cradling his head, Nodoka moved in closer to sweep little Ranma into her arms. Where in the past days he’d still be crying his little eyes out, at this point, he was giggling and reaching his hands out towards his mother - thinking this was all some kind of game his parents were playing. Relieved that their son was at least unharmed, she moved back to the main room, away from her husband, to dote on her child without interruption by her husband. Cleaning the sink after the last meal or putting away Ranma’s toys could wait, as long as she could just hold her little boy for one moment longer.
Eventually, Genma came hobbling into the room himself, looking far more worse for wear than she had left him. His face was bruised, bloody, and battered, glasses dangling off the side of his head, barely resting on a crooked nose. His trademark, ever-present scowl was much more of a pained grimace, if anything. His breath huffed and wheezed with each step he took, before kneeling before her and their son. He looked, in that moment, more pathetic than she had ever seen him.
“Listen, Nodoka. One day, Ranma must take over the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts.”
“I understand that.” Nodoka replied, thinking back to the conversations the two had before trying for a child. ‘It seemed like the only reason he was interested in having a son in the first place…’
“If he is to be the man he must be…” Genma spoke in a raised, courageous voice, raising a fist defiantly, “… he must not be softened by a mother’s love! If you want what’s best for Ranma, you must be patient!”
Physically recoiling from the accusation, Nodoka muttered under her breath, “What’s best for Ranma…” Yes, their home was older, worn down - cracks in the walls, dusty windows. Yes, they were quickly running out of money, with Nodoka staying home to take care of the family, and Genma rarely keeping any job he could find for longer than a few months. Truth be told, Nodoka wasn’t particularly interested in Ranma being manly, like her husband was. Ranma was happy here, in their crumbling home, and that’s what mattered most to her.
Nodoka was from a well-off martial arts family - her father comes from a long line of samurai, and she was always taken aback by stories he’d tell of how he met her mother. Stories of magical artifacts, adventures, danger, and sacred, unbreakable vows of eternal love. Which was why she was left nearly swooning when her husband next spoke, worries about her son’s happiness almost forgotten in his wake.
“Nodoka, in order to train Ranma properly to become a true man-amongst-men, someone worthy of my name and school, I must take him on a journey to hone his martial arts abilities!” Grabbing their son and raising him up, he next spoke in a booming, powerful tone, directed more towards their child than her, “This is my vow! I shall raise Ranma to be a true Man-Among-Men! And should I fail in that task…” Her husband turned towards her, tears in his eyes and holding his breath in a moment of anticipation, the air around them itself stilling for his proclamation, “…Father and son will commit ritual seppuku… and take our own lives!”
“What courage! What manliness!” Nodoka was crying too, at this rate, completely taken with her husband’s bravado. He reached into his large travelling pack, and pulled out a scroll and a brush, writing his name onto an… already prepared document, and a nearly bare one at that.
“I now commit our vow to a scroll.” Her husband muttered, before reaching over for Ranma’s hand, painting his whole palm with ink. “Here, Ranma you make a vow to mommy too.”
Ranma, however, seemingly wasn’t interested in the paper her hus-Genma has been writing on moments before. He stared at his little painted hand for a moment, before turning back to his mother, still in Genma’s arms, and gave her a wave with a great big smile and a small giggle at his father’s antics. Maybe if he had done something else, maybe if the child had turned to slap Genma, or the paper, or the floor, or even himself, Nodoka might not have given Genma’s proposition another thought. Maybe she would have been swept away into the fantasy he offered - manliness, a training journey, stories and adventures and magic and always coming out the other side stronger, better. Maybe she would’ve thought Ranma would take in her own father’s footsteps. But in that moment, looking at her child, she only had one thought on her mind - one answer to give the man in front of her.
“I refuse.”
Genma was, seemingly, expecting this outcome, which was very likely, given this was the third time he’d tried to whisk Ranma away, and the first he’d actually explained why. “I understand that you may have some fears about the journey, but I promise you, Ranma will be better off under my guidance as his master-”
“And what about as his father?” Nodoka coldly interrupted. Genma was, still, not surprised by her steely demeanor, and continued, “Of course, I will raise Ranma in every sense of the word that I can- as his father, his teacher, his sensei. Ranma will be the strongest, manliest man I can shape him into-”
“He’s our son, Genma, not clay.” Nodoka interrupted again, steelier and sharper than even she expected, closely reaching out to grab Ranma from Genma’s arms. She looked down at the child, one only just old enough to walk and starting to talk on his own - giving his mother as big a hug he could manage with his tiny arms. Nodoka was silently glad she was still wearing her apron from cooking and cleaning earlier. “It’s our duty to ensure he is raised to be strong, yes, but it’s important that he should be himself. He’s not ours to mold, not completely - he’s ours to protect, to ensure he’s as happy and healthy as can be, until he can protect himself, or even us.”
At this, her husband had finally been taken aback, hands raised in a gesture as surprised as him. “Now, Nodoka, I understand your feelings on the matter are coming from a place of love, but Ranma must be trained as early as possible-”
“Then train him here. Don’t take him away and promise both of your own deaths for the sake of training he may not even want.”
“- if he is to be a true Man-Among-Men, then he must be kept away from the overpowering, corrupting, unmanly force of a mother’s love for as long as possible.” Genma’s face returned to one sharpened, wise, manly - Nodoka could almost see her husband in his eyes.
“I refuse to allow you to take Ranma on this journey, away from me, until he is old enough to consent to it himself.” With that, Nodoka raised herself up, her baby boy in her arms, and began to walk out the door. “That is the end of this discussion, Genma.” She finished, spitting the man’s name like venom.
Genma silently sat in the empty room, planning his next approach to convince his wife on what he knows is right for their child. He left the seppuku pledge on the floor where he’d left it, entirely forgotten in the moment.
It wasn’t until far later in the evening, maybe close to midnight, that Nodoka fully contemplated her own thoughts and feelings. She felt like she almost lost herself for a moment- so swept up in her husband’s bravado about manliness, so enraptured by the image she had of him, that she nearly ignored what the past handful of years looked like, what the reality appeared more and more to be. Genma coming home, torn up and ranting about his job in one way or another at best, or at worse, admitting he quit the day before out of sheer frustration, boredom, and a lack of challenge. Her having to do the cooking, cleaning, every kind of housekeeping imaginable taking care of the man she loved - barely a thanks or hint of appreciation for her in return, like he would’ve in the days they were merely dating. Sure, his scowl was ever-present, but his eyes changed, his face was different. It wasn’t like he was changing into someone unrecognizable, but it was more like -
She heard a sudden sob being choked out from across the small house the three of them shared. Ranma’s room.
Ranma’s crying.
She rushed to the room the two had recently allocated just for him. She’d hoped it’d just be him waking from a nightmare, maybe about the events earlier in the day. She hoped she’d be able to rock and cuddle him to sleep, rest easy one more night knowing he was safe in her arms before her husband tried to take him away again. She hoped it wasn’t some kind of burglar, thief, or worse. She’s from a martial artist family, yes - but she was more out of practice than she’d care to admit, spending most of her time caring for her husband and son. If anyone could protect their child from some real monster, it’d be him.
And upon entering her sons bedroom, still somewhat barren from how recently it’d been set up, was Genma. Large travelling pack on his back, bandannas covering his head and mouth. Their son crying his eyes out again, in his arms, so rudely awoken.
Their discussion earlier was a formality. She could no longer see her husband in the ire-filled glare in Genma’s eyes.
“N-nodoka! I was just getting back from work, you see! The other guard had his schedule shifted, I actually didn’t work tonigh-”
She walked up to him slowly, watching as the man sputtered out excuse after excuse. He didn’t back away, only digging his heels in more and more, standing as strong as he could before the insurmountable threat coming from the woman blocking his exit.
As much of a misogynist he was, as horrible of a partner as he was once they finally tied the knot, Nodoka knew Genma would never attack her. Even with all his secret techniques and stealth strategies, Genma would never use them on her. She used this to her advantage.
Catching him in the middle of blabbing, something about “finding work” and “martial arts money-making”, she slapped him with an open palm across the face, stunning him completely. She grabbed the still-crying Ranma from his arms, before turning around and walking out the room.
Nodoka hadn’t seen her father in years, not since she announced to him that Genma had proposed to marry her. She assumed this was as good a time as any to introduce him to his grandson. She packed quickly, quietly, grabbing whatever she could think to carry of her and her sons belongings outside of his room as Ranma slowly quieted in her arms. Finally, she collected the forgotten seppuku pledge to prove to her father how much of a fool she’d been. Not that she’d need evidence, but it would be welcomed all the same.
And so, Nodoka left the Saotome home, leaving Genma grasping at straws in the empty baby’s room. No crying could be heard.
In all her years exploring the different areas her family would move to, Tokyo felt like a gift that kept giving. Sure, she’d lived in other major cities, all across the country, but nothing ever really felt as cozy, as fun, as unique as Tokyo. Even Kyoto was more of a home-away-from-home for her at this point. You couldn’t get the weirdness of some of the stuff in Tokyo anywhere else she’d been.
Case and point: Her, her mother, and her grandfather were walking to check out a restaurant in the neighborhood they’d just moved to as a celebration for her mother landing a new job, and as a way to get a better feel for the people who lived here. When suddenly, on the other side of the walkway, a boy was walking on a chain-link fence with incredible martial skill- maybe enough to match Ryu back in Kyoto. At least that’s what she thought before the fence fell apart under his feet, and he jumped out of the way. Onto another part of the fence. That then fell directly into the river between them.
“Oh my!” Her mother gasped, rushing over to the other side of the fence. She and her grandfather followed her over, checking to see if the boy was okay. But instead of the boy, there was… a girl in the river? Same outfit, hairstyle, hair color, but just… a girl, and not a boy. Huh.
“Here, grab this, I’ll help lift you out.” Her mother grabbed her shinai, and held it out for the strange person, now drenched in the river. The mystery figure grabbed onto the shinai as her mother tried to lift her up.
“Oh shit, wait, you’re gonna-!” The person shouted as her mother started to fall into the river as well, before she and her grandfather both rushed to help stabilize her and help pull the person out.
As she got a better and better look at the person, she noticed a startling number of similarities - they both had the same messy and wavy black hair, same bright blue eyes, different heights, but vaguely close, with the mystery person standing a bit shorter than her. They certainly looked taller from a distance, but it’s probably nothing.
Eventually, the mystery martial artist tumbled onto the sidewalk where the fence used to be, and the family of three fell to the ground with them, trying to catch their breaths. Her mother, though, soon fell into hysterics, laughing freely about the situation. “That was quite a scare, dear. Please be a bit more careful in the future with your training, yes?”
“Uhhhhhh… Sure, miss. Sorry fer almost gettin’ ya wet yerself.” The person replied, stunned. “What’re ya doin with a shinai out here anyways, miss?”
“Oh, I just finished a job interview to teach Kendo at a local high school near here. I’ll be teaching soon - my family and I were just out to get dinner at an Okonomiyaki restaurant in the area to celebrate.”
At the mention of the restaurant, the stranger seemed to light up, jumping up to her feet excitedly. “Oh, ya mean Ucchan’s? I’m friends with the owner, it’s a great place, you’ll love her cooking! It’s the best in Furinkan!”
Her grandfather chuckled at the person’s excitement, standing up himself, before stretching out a hand. “Thanks for the glowing review, lass. Name’s Shimizu Katsuhiro, maybe we’ll see you around the neighborhood sometime?”
“Ah, yes, of course, where are our manners? I’m Shimizu Nodoka, and this,” Her mother said, standing up herself and putting a hand on her shoulder, “is my daughter.”
“Shimizu Ranma.” She finished, standing up and giving the stranger a polite bow.
“Oh, yer name’s Ranma too? Weird coincidence.” The person, Ranma said, laughing to themself a bit. “I’m Saotome Ranma, sorry about-”
“Saotome!?!?” Her mother and grandfather shouted in unison, taking the other Ranma back by surprise. For her part, Ranma’s jaw dropped, and fell directly into the river.
“Did… did you say Saotome Ranma?” Her mother shakily asked again, for confirmation.
“Uhhhh… yeah, I’m Saotome Ranma. What, did my pops promise ta marry me off to yer daughter or somethin’? Sorry, but-”
“What, no! Is. Ugh. Well…” Katsuhiro angrily shouted, cutting off that insane train of thought before anyone else could get a word out.
Nodoka put a hand on his shoulder, then, before asking another question. “Your father… he wouldn’t happen to be Saotome Genma, would he?”
The other Ranma sighed, seemingly resigned to this whole situation??? “Yeah, that’s him. Sorry about anything he might’a done to either a ya, but if there’s anythin-”
And at that, Nodoka fainted, collapsing into the arms of her father.
“Ah, shit, well…” Katsuhiro grumbled, still stumbling to make heads or tails of this situation.
“So uh… Ranma?” She asked, turning back to the stranger in front of her who shared her name. “Could we get somewhere my Mother can rest for a bit?”
“Oh, uh, yeah! The local doctor’s is just around the next corner, can’t miss it. I’ll just go make sure my Pops don’t run off so you all can-”
“No, no kiddo,” Katsuhiro interrupted, taking a tone she’d only ever heard him use with the most frustrating customers of his, “can ya stay with us until No-chan wakes up, at least? I think she’s gonna wanna hear, well. Everything you gotta say. As long as it wouldn’t be too much trouble, of course.”
Ranma wasn’t exactly surprised by this, but was still a bit unsure about the situation. “Well, sure, no problem, don’t live too far anyhow. But, what specifically would y’all wanna talk about, if my pops didn’t do some-”
“That man,” Katsuhiro spat out, “definitely did do something, if you’re stuck around him.”
Ranma didn’t have a response for him, just continuing to stare in his general direction while her grandfather got to carrying Nodoka.
“Well, you see…” she started, still not knowing exactly how to insert herself into this conversation that is invariably about her, in a way, “... Saotome Genma is my father, and mother’s ex-husband. By birth, I was Saotome Ranma.”
At that, the other Ranma’s eyes widened in shock and raised their hands in a strange gesture, before they crumpled to the ground, passing out as well.
Sighing, Katsuhiro turned to face her, “Ran, could you handle carrying yer doppleganger to this doctor’s place?”
Nodding, with nothing else to add, Ranma quickly picked up the other Ranma and kept walking down the block, until reaching a… chiropractor’s clinic. With a panda. A Panda that is sweeping. Outside the clinic. The panda was sweeping the outside of the clinic.
‘Yep. Can't get this weirdness anywhere else.’ Ranma thought with a smile, before moving to head inside the clinic, following the panda that darted inside as well.