It was another Saturday afternoon in Nerima. It was rare when a Saturday would not introduce another person to Nerima that had no ties with at least one of Nerima's more famous (or infamous, as the case might be) inhabitants. Today was not one of those Saturdays. "Where's the Tendo Dojo?" a boy with black hair asked an innocent bystander. The man who the boy asked was well versed in the odd happenings in the area and responded, "Follow the sounds of fighting. That'll either lead you there or to someone who knows where it is... Err... Well... Except if it's a guy with a bandana. He couldn't even find a piece of hay in a haystack from what I've heard!" "Don't worry, I already know about him..." The man looked strangely at the boy but then shrugged his shoulders and went about his business as the boy walked onward. ---------- Anime Sekai Fanfics presents ---------- No day in Nerima ever ended without at least one... "Ranma no baka!" *WHAM!* I rest my case. ---------- A Pipian Production ---------- "Here it is," the boy said, having followed the man's sage advice. He walked to the door and knocked on it. ---------- The Sonata of Shadows First Movement, The Ruby of Power Part I, The Prelude ---------- Chapter 1 A Visitor Arrives Ranma's Cousin Sure Is Different from Ranma... ---------- An 18-year-old brunette answered the door. "Hello! Who might you be?" she asked. "I'm Saotome Ieshi." "I'm Tendo Kasumi. Glad to make your acquaintance. You are related to Genma and Ranma, I presume?" "Yes, Kasumi-san, Genma's my uncle. In fact, I've been looking for him and I heard he lives here. Is he here right now?" "Yes, he is. I'll take you to him." Kasumi led Ieshi into the living room where Soun and Genma were doomed to play tampered games of shogi for eternity, or at least until both, through some stroke of luck, received a conscience. Unfortunately, strokes of luck that great have not been recorded yet in the history of the universe. "Ojisan!" said Ieshi. "Who are you?" asked Genma. "I'm your nephew Ieshi!" "Ieshi? Ieshi... Ah, yes! Ieshi! I haven't seen you for a while! How are your parents?" He paused. "Deceased... I'm afraid..." "Ah, too bad... Why are you here?" "Due to the... rather untimely death of my parents, I was told to come and stay with you. It took a long time to find you, but some guy named Ryoga helped in at telling me where you were. He wasn't exactly any help in telling me where this place was though..." "Ah, well, if you're supposed to stay with us, then the others will find out about your stay sooner or later," said Soun. "It might as well be now. Kasumi! Nabiki! Akane! Ranma!" The teens all walked in after being called and sat down. Soun announced, "This is Saotome Ieshi, Ranma's cousin. You've already met Kasumi. This is..." "Nabiki." "Uh huh... And you're..." "Saotome Ranma. Nice to meet ya'" "And I'm Akane. Maybe we can be friends..." "Yeah, maybe YOU two can," said Ranma, "But let me tell you, her food sure won't be your friend." Akane's fighting aura glowed at this remark. She pulled out her hammer... "RANMA NO BAKA!" she said, whamming her hammer down... Directly into Ieshi's face. "Aaa!" Of course, Ieshi didn't know about 'Ranma's Landing Spot(tm)'... "AAAUGH! I didn't want to deal with this now..." Ieshi contorted himself in the air to try to do something and barely managed to land on a rock next to the pool. Ieshi gave a sigh of relief. "Good landing!" said Ranma. "Thanks. It's one of my specialties." "Gomen nasai! I didn't mean to hit you..." "That's OK, Akane. No hard feelings." Nabiki walked up from behind. "So another Saotome is going to impose on us?" "I will certainly NOT 'impose'! I managed to inherit my parents' fortune and stock portfolios. I should be MORE than able to pay for my own stay." Nabiki's eyes lit up at the mention of 'inherit' and 'fortune', but then she paused. "How can I be so sure you have these things?" said Nabiki, glaring at Ieshi. "Here, take a look for yourself," said Ieshi as he produced some papers from inside his shirt. Nabiki took the papers and read them. "I, Saotome Hideki... Do hereby bequeath my entire estate to one, Saotome Ieshi upon my death... The contents of the stock portfolio of Saotome Hideki... 100,000 shares in Shogakukan?! 500,000 shares in Nintendo Co., Ltd.?! 800,000 shares in Sony Co., Ltd.?! PURCHASED IN 1957!? This has got to be worth a fortune!" "I already told you..." "Will you pay for your relatives' expenses as well?" "Uh, some... I guess..." "Heh... Sucker." "Huh?" "Oh... Nothing... Do you have a credit card?" "Why?" "Then I'll just deduct from your account. No tab." "I'll think about it..." said Ieshi, already comprehending the specialty of the middle Tendo sister. "Hey Kasumi, where will Ieshi sleep?" asked Akane. "Well, the Saotomes' room is already packed... And Happosai has the other guest room... I certainly don't think that you want him sleeping with you..." "Don't worry, I'll sleep in the dojo. I've got my own inflatable bed..." said Ieshi. "No. That won't do. I don't want to be a rude host." "Nah, it's not a problem. I'll sleep in the dojo until we can get this worked out." "Well, if you insist... Oh... Almost forgot... Dinner's almost ready," said Kasumi as she rushed off to take it out of the oven before it burned. "Never mind. Hey, you know any Kempo?" asked Akane. "Yeah! You know that Akane..." "I wasn't asking you, baka... I was asking Ieshi." "Oh, me? I know some, but not enough to battle any seasoned veteran. I should be able to beat any novice though." "Oh..." "Go ahead Ieshi. One, you appear to be able jump and land quite well, and two, she's so kawaiikune that you could win easy," said Ranma. *WHAM!* "You sure know how to use that hammer though," said Ieshi. "Thanks." "Dinner's ready!" announced Kasumi from the kitchen. Everyone ran into the dining room and sat down. All of the Saotomes ate their food, as well as anyone else's in their vicinity. "Do ALL Saotomes eat like that?" asked Akane. "I can't vouch for them, but I haven't eaten for 3 days," said Ieshi. Akane pondered this for a second before giving up. It was futile to understand the motivations of a Saotome, she figured. Before long, her mind turned to other things... "Oh, that reminds me, I left something in the kitchen..." said Akane. "Let me get it..." She ran into the kitchen and came out with a black blob of... Err... Something with pale green blobs of... Err... Something else mixed in... "Tada! Brownies with nuts!" "Akane, I'm terribly sorry, but I have to clean the kitchen," said Kasumi. "I'm allergic to nuts," said Nabiki as Genma and Soun excused themselves to play Shogi. Akane walked toward Ranma. "Here Ranma..." "Don't feed me your toxic waste! I want to live to age 20!" Akane, obviously insulted, pulled out her Mallet of Doom(tm) and whacked Ranma. "Uh... I'll try it," said Ieshi, oblivious to Ranma's previous warnings. "Here." Ieshi took a globule and ate it. And barely managed to swallow it before turning green... Followed by blue, purple, plaid, and polka-dotted. After he recovered, he simply croaked, "Needs much more sugar." He walked off into the bathroom and promptly regurgitated the dish. He then put up the occupied sign, rinsed off and stepped into the furo and relaxed for a few minutes. "Akane sure is a nice girl," he suddenly said to himself. "She sure is one of the better ones I've run into... She's kinda cute too... Well, maybe her food isn't that great compared to her, but she might be one of the first real friends I've had for some time." After 30 minutes, he got out of the furo. It was then that Shampoo just happened to knock down a wall, right in front of Ieshi, who didn't quite get the towel he reached for. "Aggh! Not you again!!!" "Nihao! Shampoo looking for Airen! You not Airen. You too small." "Ha, ha... you seem to have a good sense of humor..." Ieshi remarked sarcastically. "Oh... It isn't you. Never mind." "Shampoo not Shampoo?" "You must be Shampoo then." "Uh... Maybe Shampoo come back later... You confuse Shampoo." "Uh... OK... So I did..." By this time, it was nearing 10:30 PM, so the household was beginning to crank down. Ieshi began to get ready for bed. He set out his mattress and lay down. "I wonder why Ranma and Akane are engaged? And why is that Chinese Amazon here? Is something going on here that I don't know about? Eh... I'll see what I can learn tomorrow." Ieshi, clearing his mind, soon fell to some of the best sleep he'd had for several months.