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calic0catWell, it's August and I *did* say I'd post one or two parts per month of this thing, so I'm going to go ahead and post the second part of this, in which the crossover is revealed. Once again, no archiving yet, please. This *is* a WIP, after all...
GW Crossover WIP Chapter 1
*****************************
Story title and notes at the bottom of the post.
Chapter 2
'Thinking'
"Speaking"
*** Time passing or scene change
#################################################
"Okay, Nabiki, we're all here. Now, what's so important that you and bokken-boy here made a special trip home from university in the middle of the week just to discuss it?" Ranma demanded.
Looking around at the group of martial artists gathered in the spacious Kuno living room, Nabiki said flatly, "Trouble with a capital T.
"Most of you know that insurance rates in Nerima have been climbing in leaps and bounds over the couple of years, and I'm sure that I *don't* have to explain *why*, do I?" She raised her eyebrows and gave the worst offenders a pointed glare. Ryoga dropped his gaze to the floor and scuffed his feet, while Ranma rubbed the back of his head and chuckled nervously. Nabiki sighed and shook her head in resignation. "Look, I know that ever since the wedding fiasco, you've all been trying to keep the damages down. Unfortunately, trouble just seems to find a certain pig-tailed individual, and the outside forces that the trouble includes aren't nearly as considerate.
"The unusual local insurance rates combined with the Nerima region's tendency to resemble a war-zone have unfortunately attracted outside attention. It is highly unlikely that the outside attention in question will be willing to go along with the type of unofficial, strictly-off-the-record, mutually-beneficial agreement that we currently have in place with local law enforcement."
"So, what exactly are you gettin' at, sugar?" Ukyo asked.
"Not like we can ask trouble to stay away from Nerima," the young Chinese Amazon observed. "Maybe Great-grandmother will have idea when she gets back, but she at village for while yet."
"Shampoo is correct," Mousse said, pushing his glasses back up with one finger.
Ryoga stirred and straightened from his position leaning against the wall, "Fights amongst ourselves are nothing more than sparring matches anymore; any damages are confined to our own properties, and we fix them ourselves without insurance companies getting involved. What else can we do?"
"The high school's still takin' a lot of damage," Ranma admitted somewhat reluctantly. "Between the daily struggles with Principal Kuno over haircuts - which have gotten worse since Cologne insisted on Shampoo and Mousse starting classes, since there's now two more long-haired people for him to go after - and Happosai's occasional forays into the girls' locker room, at least one fairly major repair is needed almost every week."
"It was hoped that my transfer to Furinkan would help," Kodachi said, "but once on school grounds, I am apparently simply another student with no exceptional influence over the principal."
"Well, at least since the four of us girls started training together, the boys have left me alone, which means one less daily mess," Akane added, shrugging.
"What exactly do you wish us to do, Nabiki?" Mousse inquired. "I do not believe that Principal Kuno and Happosai will behave any differently simply due to a request."
Nabiki gave a huff of reluctant amusement. "True. Not much you can do, frankly, except *try* to keep a low profile, outside forces permitting." Spreading her hands, she shrugged in helpless resignation. "Not that it will change anything at this point; the investigators will be arriving in Nerima by the end of the week. You'll all just have to be extra careful - try to keep the Jusenkyo stuff out of sight, no ki-blasts around strangers, keep the roof-hopping to a minimum, things like that. I don't think *any* of you want to end up as a science experiment in some lab."
Tatewaki stirred for the first time during the discussion, looking around the gathering of former rivals, now friends. The months both immediately prior to and following the failed Saotome-Tendo wedding had brought a great many changes for the group known locally as the Nerima Wrecking Crew. They had all matured beyond their years in many ways. Long-time rivalries had been settled and compromises reached amongst the youthful martial artists, though few outside of the group were aware of that fact. For the time being, preserving the apparent status quo was simpler and safer than revealing the true state of affairs. So, to the outside world, life in Nerima continued to follow the same routine of "Die, Saotome", "Nihao, airen", "Uncute tomboy", and so on.
"The investigators that have been assigned are teenagers as well. They will be attending Furinkan with you beginning on Monday, which will make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to hide the typical Nerima insanity from them." Grimly, Tatewaki warned the group, "Do not underestimate them; they will not be easily deceived. Individually, each is highly skilled. As a team, they are formidable.
"However, the situation is not without its advantages," he continued. "The group has its own set of problems to deal with. The cover story for their presence in Nerima is closer to truth than is comfortable for them. They cannot afford to attract excessive attention to themselves either. And, based on our investigations, they have the potential to be either loyal friends and staunch allies, or determined foes, depending on the situation. My personal recommendation would be to cultivate their friendship, as they would make formidable allies. However, it will be up to each of you to make your own determination and act accordingly."
Nabiki motioned Satsuke and Konatsu forward, the tiny ninja and the kunoichi each almost completely hidden by the stack of files he carried.
"Here's everything I was able to obtain on both the organization and the individuals," she said, passing folders out in a business-like manner. "None of the print-outs marked 'Confidential' can leave this room - they have to be destroyed. The other stuff, including the photos, is general knowledge, readily available through any public data terminal; take it with you if you want, but be sure you have a reason to have it ready in case someone sees it and becomes suspicious.
"Any questions?"
"Just one," Ranma quipped, reluctantly eyeing his thick stack of papers, "anybody else wanna do homework instead?"
***
Two muscular forms sprawled comfortably on the roof of the Tendo house, looking over the wall into the neighbouring yard.
"Damn, his hair's even longer than Mousse's," Ryoga commented softly, watching the last teenager to arrive enter the house next door.
"No way will Principal Kuno let that go without a fuss, no matter *who* the guy is," Ranma observed. "Guess you and I better handle old pineapple-head tomorrow; keep him occupied while the others explain and get the new guys into the school."
"Sure," Ryoga responded, stealing a sidelong look at his rival and best friend. God, Ranma was gorgeous. His pigtail now reached halfway to his waist. Slender yet muscular, Ranma's lithe, agile form was breathtaking to watch sparring or performing katas. 'The number one unfortunate side-effect of falling in love with your rival - dropping your guard because you're too busy enjoying the view,' Ryoga thought wryly.
"I'm not sure whether these guys living next door should be considered good, because it's convenient for keeping an eye on them, or bad, because it's gonna be tough to hide things from them. At least Mom, Pops, and Soun are away for the next few weeks - dawn sparring matches with a panda would be a little hard to explain away." Catching Ryoga staring rather blankly in his general direction, Ranma smacked the side of his head and demanded with a certain amount of exasperation, "Ryoga, have you heard a word I've said, or are you busy dreamin' about Akane again?"
"Raannmmaaa..." Ryoga warned irritably, retaliating with a half-hearted punch to Ranma's shoulder. Inwardly, he flinched at Ranma's mention of Akane. Like the rest of the Nerima Wrecking Crew, he knew that Ranma and Akane were actually good friends, more like brother and sister than anything else but, unless they could come up with an alternative solution, family pressure would probably end up forcing the marriage. What Ranma hadn't realized, fortunately, was that he certainly wasn't mooning over *Akane* anymore. After having finally - somehow - miraculously worked things out with all of his "fiancees", successfully converting them into genuine *friends*, the last thing Ranma needed was to find out that another of his friends - a *male* friend - was in love with him.
"Mom's started talking wedding again," Ranma said abruptly. "I dunno what we're gonna do. Neither 'Kane nor I want the marriage, but we can't keep puttin' the parents off forever. We *can* get along now, so it probably wouldn't be too awful, but..." He sighed heavily. "Seems like there should be more behind marriage than just 'it probably won't be too awful'. If either of us had someone else, I'd have no problem breaking the engagement, even if they disowned me for it. Without something to stand up for, though... I just don't know."
Startled by the revelation, Ryoga sat up. "I thought Kasumi got them to agree to put it off till after university graduation."
"She did, but that was just Soun and Pops. Mom wasn't here for the discussion and didn't actually agree to it." After a quick habitual check for eavesdroppers, Ranma continued in an explosive but low-pitched burst, "She doesn't want to wait that long for grandkids. Hah! Not gonna be gettin' 'em anyway, least not that way..." He hesitated a second, then, in a rush as if afraid of losing his nerve, admitted, "I can't handle more than a friendly kiss. 'Kane and I tried, right after Saffron. I knew I cared about her, thought maybe it was more 'n' I just didn't know how to recognize it. I mean, it's not like I've had a lotta examples to learn from, right? Just look at my folks!" He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right, great role models. So, anyway, 'Kane and I tried. I just - couldn't. So we talked about it, 'n' after a lot of arguing, she agreed I needed to find out if it was just her.
"It wasn't. We went together to each of the others, and explained what was goin' on. Thought I'd die of embarrassment, but it was too important to not know for sure, right?"
Stunned, Ryoga nodded in response to the obvious prompt.
"Right. Well, I threw up when Ucchan tried a French kiss - ugh! - which pretty much killed any romantic ideas she had left. Why anyone would like having somebody's tongue stuck halfway down their throat..." Ranma shuddered and shook his head before continuing, "A single kiss on the lips confirmed it wasn't any different with 'Dachi; I just - wasn't *interested*. Cologne had me try drinkin' something to 'lower my inhibitions', but it didn't help any with Shampoo. Cologne wasn't really surprised. Said she'd been wonderin' for a while. All those beautiful girls chasin' me, 'n' me never so much as stealin' a kiss or a deliberate grope. That's when she started workin' on alternative solutions to the Amazon law - fillin' the requirements of the spirit of the law rather than the letter.
"Kasumi knows, so does 'Biki. That's why the wedding disaster happened, Nabiki arranged it to buy us time to decide what to do. Then Kasumi hoped that if she could get them to delay the wedding till after university, one or both of us would find someone we were willing to stand up to our parents for, plus we'd be able to get jobs to support ourselves if they disowned us.
"Wasn't even sure I could get up the nerve to tell *you*, but all the secrecy's gettin' to me. I really need somebody else to talk to about this, Ryoga. I'm gay, and I need to know whether you can still be my friend knowing that."
Ryoga gaped in shock, simply sitting and staring at the other martial artist in disbelief. 'Ranma's gay?! I have a chance?! Oh man, his parents are going to flip! His mom just might decide to try and enforce that "Man amongst men" nonsense...' His mind leapt from one thought to another, till he noticed that Ranma's body had started to quiver with tension. 'Oh shit, he thinks I'm rejecting him!' he realized, just in time to reach out and catch Ranma's arm as he prepared to leap down from the roof. With one tug, Ryoga pulled him into a quick, reassuring half-hug. "Sorry Ranma, you just kind of surprised me. It's okay, really!" He hesitated, then admitted, "I'm not exactly straight myself - more like bi."
"What?! You're just trying to make me feel better, aren't you?" Ranma demanded suspiciously, pulling away from Ryoga.
"No, I'm serious," Ryoga insisted.
Unconvinced and feeling a bit betrayed that Ryoga would belittle his painfully honest confession like this, Ranma warned sharply, "Ryoga..."
'Maybe this is a mistake, but it should convince him that I'm not just humouring him or kidding around...' Ryoga stammered only slightly as he spoke. "Akane is c-cute, but y-you're d-damn s-s-sexy in *both* forms." Flushing with embarrassment, he nevertheless managed to slide an openly appreciative gaze over the muscular form next to him.
Startled by the heat in his friend's brown eyes, Ranma blushed. 'He really did mean it!' "But - I thought you still had a thing for Akane! You're always dropping by the dojo..."
"And who exactly do I spend all my time with whenever I'm around?" Ryoga inquired, bringing his eyes back up to meet Ranma's blue ones.
"Ak..." he started to answer, only to realize that was wrong. It might have been the case originally, but it hadn't been for quite some time. "Err, me?" he offered sheepishly.
"Yes, you, idiot."
"Uh, I'm gonna have to think about this," Ranma said, a dazed look on his face. "Bein' friends again 'stead of just rivals was such a welcome change that I never... Uh..." Floundering for a response, he thought with a measure of relief, 'At least I don't have to worry about Ryoga runnin' around glompin' me or makin' flowery speeches. Not his style at all...'
"Ranma, relax. Take all the time you need to think about it," Ryoga hastily assured him. "Just remember that I'm, uh, interested. If and when you decide you are too, let me know. I'll be waiting. Till then - friends." He held out his hand, and Ranma clasped it in a firm handshake.
"Friends," Ranma agreed solemnly, relieved that the conversation had gone so smoothly.
"Now, how about you walking me home?" Ryoga suggested as he released Ranma's hand. "We can get in a little sparring practice at my place, where we won't have to worry about the neighbours noticing anything odd."
"Sure." In his usual quicksilver fashion, Ranma shifted from serious to mischievous. Flashing a cocky grin, he said, "C'mon, P-chan, time's a-wastin'! Why walk when we can run - betcha can't catch me!!" He ruffled Ryoga's hair teasingly, pulled his bandanna down over his eyes, and darted off across the roof. In an instant, he bounded down to the top of the yard wall, and thence to the sidewalk below.
Shoving his bandanna back up where it belonged and scrambling belatedly to his feet, Ryoga dashed after him. "Raannmmaaa! You jerk!"
No matter how much life in Nerima might change, some things always stayed the same.
#################################################
Title: Mission: Nerima
Author: Calic0cat <calic0cat@fastmail.fm>
Genre: Crossover
Pairings: Eventual 1x2, 3x4, Ranma x Ryoga
Disclaimer: Ranma and Ryoga and the rest of the Nerima gang aren't mine. This story is. Nuff said.
Notes: Post series/manga, but everything is set in a different time period. I mainly stick to the TV series and OAVs but some manga-specific characters/events may appear. Also, the events started when everyone was a year younger, which means that Ranma and Akane are now 17. Unless otherwise noted, all dialogue is in Japanese - so if there's Japanese words sprinkled within dialogue, it's because the language being spoken at that moment is something else. (Exception: attack names. Those will be in Japanese because "Roaring Lion Bullets" or whatever the case may be just sounds really - lame.)
Sorry there weren't any G-boys in this chapter, but don't worry - they'll be back in the next one!
GW Crossover WIP Chapter 1
*****************************
Story title and notes at the bottom of the post.
Chapter 2
'Thinking'
"Speaking"
*** Time passing or scene change
#################################################
"Okay, Nabiki, we're all here. Now, what's so important that you and bokken-boy here made a special trip home from university in the middle of the week just to discuss it?" Ranma demanded.
Looking around at the group of martial artists gathered in the spacious Kuno living room, Nabiki said flatly, "Trouble with a capital T.
"Most of you know that insurance rates in Nerima have been climbing in leaps and bounds over the couple of years, and I'm sure that I *don't* have to explain *why*, do I?" She raised her eyebrows and gave the worst offenders a pointed glare. Ryoga dropped his gaze to the floor and scuffed his feet, while Ranma rubbed the back of his head and chuckled nervously. Nabiki sighed and shook her head in resignation. "Look, I know that ever since the wedding fiasco, you've all been trying to keep the damages down. Unfortunately, trouble just seems to find a certain pig-tailed individual, and the outside forces that the trouble includes aren't nearly as considerate.
"The unusual local insurance rates combined with the Nerima region's tendency to resemble a war-zone have unfortunately attracted outside attention. It is highly unlikely that the outside attention in question will be willing to go along with the type of unofficial, strictly-off-the-record, mutually-beneficial agreement that we currently have in place with local law enforcement."
"So, what exactly are you gettin' at, sugar?" Ukyo asked.
"Not like we can ask trouble to stay away from Nerima," the young Chinese Amazon observed. "Maybe Great-grandmother will have idea when she gets back, but she at village for while yet."
"Shampoo is correct," Mousse said, pushing his glasses back up with one finger.
Ryoga stirred and straightened from his position leaning against the wall, "Fights amongst ourselves are nothing more than sparring matches anymore; any damages are confined to our own properties, and we fix them ourselves without insurance companies getting involved. What else can we do?"
"The high school's still takin' a lot of damage," Ranma admitted somewhat reluctantly. "Between the daily struggles with Principal Kuno over haircuts - which have gotten worse since Cologne insisted on Shampoo and Mousse starting classes, since there's now two more long-haired people for him to go after - and Happosai's occasional forays into the girls' locker room, at least one fairly major repair is needed almost every week."
"It was hoped that my transfer to Furinkan would help," Kodachi said, "but once on school grounds, I am apparently simply another student with no exceptional influence over the principal."
"Well, at least since the four of us girls started training together, the boys have left me alone, which means one less daily mess," Akane added, shrugging.
"What exactly do you wish us to do, Nabiki?" Mousse inquired. "I do not believe that Principal Kuno and Happosai will behave any differently simply due to a request."
Nabiki gave a huff of reluctant amusement. "True. Not much you can do, frankly, except *try* to keep a low profile, outside forces permitting." Spreading her hands, she shrugged in helpless resignation. "Not that it will change anything at this point; the investigators will be arriving in Nerima by the end of the week. You'll all just have to be extra careful - try to keep the Jusenkyo stuff out of sight, no ki-blasts around strangers, keep the roof-hopping to a minimum, things like that. I don't think *any* of you want to end up as a science experiment in some lab."
Tatewaki stirred for the first time during the discussion, looking around the gathering of former rivals, now friends. The months both immediately prior to and following the failed Saotome-Tendo wedding had brought a great many changes for the group known locally as the Nerima Wrecking Crew. They had all matured beyond their years in many ways. Long-time rivalries had been settled and compromises reached amongst the youthful martial artists, though few outside of the group were aware of that fact. For the time being, preserving the apparent status quo was simpler and safer than revealing the true state of affairs. So, to the outside world, life in Nerima continued to follow the same routine of "Die, Saotome", "Nihao, airen", "Uncute tomboy", and so on.
"The investigators that have been assigned are teenagers as well. They will be attending Furinkan with you beginning on Monday, which will make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to hide the typical Nerima insanity from them." Grimly, Tatewaki warned the group, "Do not underestimate them; they will not be easily deceived. Individually, each is highly skilled. As a team, they are formidable.
"However, the situation is not without its advantages," he continued. "The group has its own set of problems to deal with. The cover story for their presence in Nerima is closer to truth than is comfortable for them. They cannot afford to attract excessive attention to themselves either. And, based on our investigations, they have the potential to be either loyal friends and staunch allies, or determined foes, depending on the situation. My personal recommendation would be to cultivate their friendship, as they would make formidable allies. However, it will be up to each of you to make your own determination and act accordingly."
Nabiki motioned Satsuke and Konatsu forward, the tiny ninja and the kunoichi each almost completely hidden by the stack of files he carried.
"Here's everything I was able to obtain on both the organization and the individuals," she said, passing folders out in a business-like manner. "None of the print-outs marked 'Confidential' can leave this room - they have to be destroyed. The other stuff, including the photos, is general knowledge, readily available through any public data terminal; take it with you if you want, but be sure you have a reason to have it ready in case someone sees it and becomes suspicious.
"Any questions?"
"Just one," Ranma quipped, reluctantly eyeing his thick stack of papers, "anybody else wanna do homework instead?"
***
Two muscular forms sprawled comfortably on the roof of the Tendo house, looking over the wall into the neighbouring yard.
"Damn, his hair's even longer than Mousse's," Ryoga commented softly, watching the last teenager to arrive enter the house next door.
"No way will Principal Kuno let that go without a fuss, no matter *who* the guy is," Ranma observed. "Guess you and I better handle old pineapple-head tomorrow; keep him occupied while the others explain and get the new guys into the school."
"Sure," Ryoga responded, stealing a sidelong look at his rival and best friend. God, Ranma was gorgeous. His pigtail now reached halfway to his waist. Slender yet muscular, Ranma's lithe, agile form was breathtaking to watch sparring or performing katas. 'The number one unfortunate side-effect of falling in love with your rival - dropping your guard because you're too busy enjoying the view,' Ryoga thought wryly.
"I'm not sure whether these guys living next door should be considered good, because it's convenient for keeping an eye on them, or bad, because it's gonna be tough to hide things from them. At least Mom, Pops, and Soun are away for the next few weeks - dawn sparring matches with a panda would be a little hard to explain away." Catching Ryoga staring rather blankly in his general direction, Ranma smacked the side of his head and demanded with a certain amount of exasperation, "Ryoga, have you heard a word I've said, or are you busy dreamin' about Akane again?"
"Raannmmaaa..." Ryoga warned irritably, retaliating with a half-hearted punch to Ranma's shoulder. Inwardly, he flinched at Ranma's mention of Akane. Like the rest of the Nerima Wrecking Crew, he knew that Ranma and Akane were actually good friends, more like brother and sister than anything else but, unless they could come up with an alternative solution, family pressure would probably end up forcing the marriage. What Ranma hadn't realized, fortunately, was that he certainly wasn't mooning over *Akane* anymore. After having finally - somehow - miraculously worked things out with all of his "fiancees", successfully converting them into genuine *friends*, the last thing Ranma needed was to find out that another of his friends - a *male* friend - was in love with him.
"Mom's started talking wedding again," Ranma said abruptly. "I dunno what we're gonna do. Neither 'Kane nor I want the marriage, but we can't keep puttin' the parents off forever. We *can* get along now, so it probably wouldn't be too awful, but..." He sighed heavily. "Seems like there should be more behind marriage than just 'it probably won't be too awful'. If either of us had someone else, I'd have no problem breaking the engagement, even if they disowned me for it. Without something to stand up for, though... I just don't know."
Startled by the revelation, Ryoga sat up. "I thought Kasumi got them to agree to put it off till after university graduation."
"She did, but that was just Soun and Pops. Mom wasn't here for the discussion and didn't actually agree to it." After a quick habitual check for eavesdroppers, Ranma continued in an explosive but low-pitched burst, "She doesn't want to wait that long for grandkids. Hah! Not gonna be gettin' 'em anyway, least not that way..." He hesitated a second, then, in a rush as if afraid of losing his nerve, admitted, "I can't handle more than a friendly kiss. 'Kane and I tried, right after Saffron. I knew I cared about her, thought maybe it was more 'n' I just didn't know how to recognize it. I mean, it's not like I've had a lotta examples to learn from, right? Just look at my folks!" He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right, great role models. So, anyway, 'Kane and I tried. I just - couldn't. So we talked about it, 'n' after a lot of arguing, she agreed I needed to find out if it was just her.
"It wasn't. We went together to each of the others, and explained what was goin' on. Thought I'd die of embarrassment, but it was too important to not know for sure, right?"
Stunned, Ryoga nodded in response to the obvious prompt.
"Right. Well, I threw up when Ucchan tried a French kiss - ugh! - which pretty much killed any romantic ideas she had left. Why anyone would like having somebody's tongue stuck halfway down their throat..." Ranma shuddered and shook his head before continuing, "A single kiss on the lips confirmed it wasn't any different with 'Dachi; I just - wasn't *interested*. Cologne had me try drinkin' something to 'lower my inhibitions', but it didn't help any with Shampoo. Cologne wasn't really surprised. Said she'd been wonderin' for a while. All those beautiful girls chasin' me, 'n' me never so much as stealin' a kiss or a deliberate grope. That's when she started workin' on alternative solutions to the Amazon law - fillin' the requirements of the spirit of the law rather than the letter.
"Kasumi knows, so does 'Biki. That's why the wedding disaster happened, Nabiki arranged it to buy us time to decide what to do. Then Kasumi hoped that if she could get them to delay the wedding till after university, one or both of us would find someone we were willing to stand up to our parents for, plus we'd be able to get jobs to support ourselves if they disowned us.
"Wasn't even sure I could get up the nerve to tell *you*, but all the secrecy's gettin' to me. I really need somebody else to talk to about this, Ryoga. I'm gay, and I need to know whether you can still be my friend knowing that."
Ryoga gaped in shock, simply sitting and staring at the other martial artist in disbelief. 'Ranma's gay?! I have a chance?! Oh man, his parents are going to flip! His mom just might decide to try and enforce that "Man amongst men" nonsense...' His mind leapt from one thought to another, till he noticed that Ranma's body had started to quiver with tension. 'Oh shit, he thinks I'm rejecting him!' he realized, just in time to reach out and catch Ranma's arm as he prepared to leap down from the roof. With one tug, Ryoga pulled him into a quick, reassuring half-hug. "Sorry Ranma, you just kind of surprised me. It's okay, really!" He hesitated, then admitted, "I'm not exactly straight myself - more like bi."
"What?! You're just trying to make me feel better, aren't you?" Ranma demanded suspiciously, pulling away from Ryoga.
"No, I'm serious," Ryoga insisted.
Unconvinced and feeling a bit betrayed that Ryoga would belittle his painfully honest confession like this, Ranma warned sharply, "Ryoga..."
'Maybe this is a mistake, but it should convince him that I'm not just humouring him or kidding around...' Ryoga stammered only slightly as he spoke. "Akane is c-cute, but y-you're d-damn s-s-sexy in *both* forms." Flushing with embarrassment, he nevertheless managed to slide an openly appreciative gaze over the muscular form next to him.
Startled by the heat in his friend's brown eyes, Ranma blushed. 'He really did mean it!' "But - I thought you still had a thing for Akane! You're always dropping by the dojo..."
"And who exactly do I spend all my time with whenever I'm around?" Ryoga inquired, bringing his eyes back up to meet Ranma's blue ones.
"Ak..." he started to answer, only to realize that was wrong. It might have been the case originally, but it hadn't been for quite some time. "Err, me?" he offered sheepishly.
"Yes, you, idiot."
"Uh, I'm gonna have to think about this," Ranma said, a dazed look on his face. "Bein' friends again 'stead of just rivals was such a welcome change that I never... Uh..." Floundering for a response, he thought with a measure of relief, 'At least I don't have to worry about Ryoga runnin' around glompin' me or makin' flowery speeches. Not his style at all...'
"Ranma, relax. Take all the time you need to think about it," Ryoga hastily assured him. "Just remember that I'm, uh, interested. If and when you decide you are too, let me know. I'll be waiting. Till then - friends." He held out his hand, and Ranma clasped it in a firm handshake.
"Friends," Ranma agreed solemnly, relieved that the conversation had gone so smoothly.
"Now, how about you walking me home?" Ryoga suggested as he released Ranma's hand. "We can get in a little sparring practice at my place, where we won't have to worry about the neighbours noticing anything odd."
"Sure." In his usual quicksilver fashion, Ranma shifted from serious to mischievous. Flashing a cocky grin, he said, "C'mon, P-chan, time's a-wastin'! Why walk when we can run - betcha can't catch me!!" He ruffled Ryoga's hair teasingly, pulled his bandanna down over his eyes, and darted off across the roof. In an instant, he bounded down to the top of the yard wall, and thence to the sidewalk below.
Shoving his bandanna back up where it belonged and scrambling belatedly to his feet, Ryoga dashed after him. "Raannmmaaa! You jerk!"
No matter how much life in Nerima might change, some things always stayed the same.
#################################################
Title: Mission: Nerima
Author: Calic0cat <calic0cat@fastmail.fm>
Genre: Crossover
Pairings: Eventual 1x2, 3x4, Ranma x Ryoga
Disclaimer: Ranma and Ryoga and the rest of the Nerima gang aren't mine. This story is. Nuff said.
Notes: Post series/manga, but everything is set in a different time period. I mainly stick to the TV series and OAVs but some manga-specific characters/events may appear. Also, the events started when everyone was a year younger, which means that Ranma and Akane are now 17. Unless otherwise noted, all dialogue is in Japanese - so if there's Japanese words sprinkled within dialogue, it's because the language being spoken at that moment is something else. (Exception: attack names. Those will be in Japanese because "Roaring Lion Bullets" or whatever the case may be just sounds really - lame.)
Sorry there weren't any G-boys in this chapter, but don't worry - they'll be back in the next one!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-08-02 02:17 pm (UTC)i am now awaiting impatiently for more...
no subject
Date: 2005-08-03 09:59 am (UTC)As for more - I think there will be another chapter out later this month. I'm trying not to post them too quickly, since I don't want to use up all of the completed ones too quickly and then end up with nothing new left to post for a long time.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-02 02:30 pm (UTC)I liked the way you portrayed the 'Nerima Wrecking Crew'... and I have a feeling the addition of the Gboys is going to just add to the chaos... *grin* Thanks for sharing!! Great job like always!
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Date: 2005-08-03 07:07 pm (UTC)I liked the way you portrayed the 'Nerima Wrecking Crew'...
I've read a few Ranma fics that had the whole bunch end up as friends (and actually be willing to admit that's what they were), and had them make productive use of their rather unique abilities. It's an interesting concept, and one that I think actually works pretty well with canon, considering that they do all tend to pull together when things get really tough. As for the Gboys adding to the chaos - well, it *is* Nerima after all! *grins*
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Date: 2005-08-02 04:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-03 07:12 pm (UTC)Good. I'm hoping that I can work in enough detail about the Ranma characters (backstory and universe in general) along the way in order to keep readers from getting totally lost without having to resort to an info-dump. Considering just how many primary and major secondary characters are in Ranma - and how many of those I'm planning to actually use in the story - resorting to info-dumps would be a Very Bad Thing.
It's a post-series crossover rather than a fusion, but it's still a very major undertaking. ;P Hopefully a fun one, so I don't get bogged down, but definitely a major undertaking.
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Date: 2005-08-02 05:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-03 07:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-02 06:39 pm (UTC)<333 Arabiana
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Date: 2005-08-03 07:17 pm (UTC)Good! If you *do* get lost enough to be ready to give up, let me know, please! I want to be sure that I put in sufficient details to keep those who aren't familiar with Ranma from giving up in despair, but I'm also hoping to just work those details in along the way rather than resorting to putting together a set of character/universe profiles or something similar. I'm counting on those new to the series to let me know when I need to back up and explain things more clearly.
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Date: 2005-08-02 06:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-03 07:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-02 07:09 pm (UTC)...
Just twice a month? ;_;
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Date: 2005-08-03 07:27 pm (UTC)Thanks! I know there were a few Ranma guesses, but I'm not surprised that it didn't occur to other people as a possibility, since it and GW are so very different. As for the pilots' reactions to Nerima's occupants... well, you'll start to see a few hints of those in the next chapter. The Nerima bunch will be trying to keep some of their - odder - behaviour under wraps, but with the G-boys added to their own tendency to attract chaos, that's probably not going to be too easy. *grin*
Lots more Heero/Duo angst to come, and the Ranma/Ryoga situation will be simmering away too...
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Date: 2005-08-02 07:26 pm (UTC)And I do apologize for not FBing chapter 1, I thought that Une's idea of hiding in plain site in Nerima,(LOLOLOL) was great. Expect she really doesn't understand the area. Snicker.
Glad to see more.
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Date: 2005-08-03 07:33 pm (UTC)Ranma wasn't quite my first anime, and it definitely wasn't my first fandom, but it did actually predate my discovery of GW. It's probably also the one that I'm the most pairing-tolerant towards, at least as far as fic-reading goes.
Can't wait for the shit to hit the fan cause I just know something is gonna give.
*looks innocent* You mean you don't think that the Nerima crew can just keep all the typical Nerima weirdness out of sight, and that the G-boys won't manage to keep a nice, quiet low profile for the duration of their assignment?
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Date: 2005-08-02 10:36 pm (UTC)which is why I usually die laughing at some point during the Korean subtitle of Inuyasha, where everything is translated literally -- including his name >_<;;;
mmm, this is shaping up nicely, and I'm looking forward to it since I haven't read or seen any really interesting Ranma 1/2 in awhile ^_^
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Date: 2005-08-03 07:37 pm (UTC)*snickers* Uh, yeah, I can see why that could be a bit - entertaining... I know that the translated attack names sound incredibly silly, so that's why I'll be sticking to the Japanese names for them. "Shi shi hokodan" and "moko takabisha" sound so much more impressive...
Glad you're enjoying the story so far!
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Date: 2005-08-03 08:31 pm (UTC)ya crossover!
Date: 2005-08-03 03:26 am (UTC)I used to read Ranma crossovers off the 'net just so I could get a taste of the "other" anime and see if it was worth my time to watch/read the crossed series... And the boys from GW have always been a fav of mine!
Thanks for sharing a great story with me/us...
Re: ya crossover!
Date: 2005-08-03 07:43 pm (UTC)I used to read Ranma crossovers off the 'net just so I could get a taste of the "other" anime and see if it was worth my time to watch/read the crossed series...
This is actually how I stumbled across GW originally - through a GW-crossover on the RRyaoi archive that tweaked my interest. Ironically, I no longer enjoy most of the GW/Ranma crossovers I've read since, once I got hooked on GW, I also became a 1x2 fan, and most of the existing crossovers aren't 1x2.
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Date: 2005-08-04 04:59 am (UTC)Love both teams so I dunno who to cheer for!
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Date: 2005-08-04 07:56 am (UTC)Nerima's pretty much accustomed to chaos, but a double dose of it could make life a little more - interesting - than usual!
Love both teams so I dunno who to cheer for!
*grins* So don't choose - cheer for them both!