Deliverance

by Spanner

The sun was shining brightly overhead as a tall, handsome boy walked down the suburban street. Though he looked clean and well-kept, anyone who saw him would have known that he was out of place in this well-to-do neighborhood. His scale vest, his bracers, and, most of all, the lethally dangerous look in his eyes marked him as one who used his fists to make his way in the world. The razor sharp intelligence also in his eyes made it clear that this was by choice, not necessity.

If he had been asked, and had he been in the mood to answer such a stupid question, the man known as Pantyhose Tarou would have agreed that he did not belong there, but was simply passing through, on his way to other, more important places. Fortunately, no one in the area was foolish enough to bother the martial artist, many, in fact, giving him a very wide berth as they passed him by, and so his journey was quiet. Just as he liked it. Tarou was rarely in the mood for answering stupid questions.

As he passed by another elegant home, Tarou caught snatches of a heated conversation. An argument actually, apparently between a girl and an older man, probably her father. Tarou paused a moment, and chuckled darkly. It was probably some petty domestic dispute; a spoiled daughter stamping her foot at some imagined injustice her father had inflicted upon her. This whole area was teaming with weak, soft fools, whining about their petty, insignificant problems. None of them knew what it truly meant to suffer. Not like he did.

Tarou was about resume his journey, when a name flung by the daughter caught his ear. "Saotome?" Tarou repeated. His eyes narrowed, and he concentrated on trying to make out what was being discussed.

"...FAILED me, father!" the daughter was shouting. "All my life, I waited, trained, just as you asked me. I ignored all other men, just as you desired. I became the perfect bride. The focus of my whole life was to the day that I would marry the man you told me was my husband-to-be. Ranma Saotome. And now where am I? What am I supposed to do with my life?"

"You can't blame me," the older man replied, entirely too defensively. Tarou snorted in disgust at the weak will in the man's tone. "How was I to know his father had engaged him to another girl?"

Tarou leaned against the fence around the house and began idly picking dirt out of his fingernails with a short dagger. This sounded as though it was going to be good. Saotome might have been one of the most annoying bugs Tarou had ever had to squash, but his life made for a pretty good soap opera.

"The fact that he stole the boy away from you after you 'bought' him was a pretty good indication that he had no intention of going along with the engagement, don't you think?" There was a silence, and then the girl's voice continued, somewhat smugly. "Yes, I DO know what happened. You tried to hide it from me, but I finally found out. You were supposed to raise Ranma and I together. And when his father took him back, you CONTINUED to raise me as though I'd be marrying him someday. That's not likely to happen now, now is it? He's not my betrothed anymore."

"And whose doing was that, Kaori?" her father retorted sharply. "It was YOUR idea to give that Akane girl a chance to keep Ranma for herself."

The girl laughed darkly. "And what was my alternative? To share him? No, father, this isn't about the engagement, or the way that I lost it. This is about the idiot I have for a father. Well, no more! I'm through playing the dutiful daughter, and I'm through playing the dutiful wife-to-be. I'm leaving!"

"Kaori! No, you can't mean that! What would your dear departed mother say?"

There was a silent pause. Then Kaori spoke again, her voice deadly. "I think she'd ask me why I hadn't left you a long time ago. Goodbye, father. I may forgive you someday, but no time soon."

Tarou heard the front door of the house open and slam shut, and footsteps march up to the front gate a few yards away from him. The gate slammed open, and an attractive girl, perhaps slightly younger than Tarou was, stormed out. She was dressed in a blue gi, with red leggings, and had brown hair and blue-grey eyes. Tarou noted with approval the heavy, well-stocked back pack on her back. It was clear that the girl was not just running away from daddy. She was leaving home like she meant it. The fact that she clearly carried herself as a martial artist was another point in her favor.

As Kaori stalked past, clearly too preoccupied to pay the slightest attention to the man leaning against the fence of her home, Tarou spoke, "I wouldn't be so upset. It sounds to me as though you got off lucky." The girl whirled to face him, a furious expression in her eyes. Before she could retort, Tarou continued, "I wouldn't wish Saotome on any woman in the world."

Kaori's anger seemed slightly defused. "You know Ranma?"

Tarou slid his knife into his vest. "We're...acquainted," he replied. He punctuated the sentence by cracking his knuckles thoughtfully.

"So what is he to you?"

"A pest," Tarou replied darkly. "A very annoying pest. I've lost count of the times Fem-boy has spoiled an otherwise perfect day for me."

"Fem-boy?" Kaori asked curiously.

Tarou chuckled. "You don't even know that? Boy, you got off real lucky, then. Saotome turns into a girl when you get him wet. I think it suits him perfectly."

"A girl...?" Kaori repeated. Then her expression, already pretty grim, darkened further. "THAT girl. The one who interfered with the race. So, it was Ranma, all along...

Tarou really had no idea what race Kaori was talking about, and he didn't really care. It was easy enough to guess some of the details. "Now you see what I mean," Tarou said. "A pest."

Tarou watched Kaori stew for a few moments. It really was quite amusing, and a little bit comforting, to meet another person who had been screwed over by Saotome. It seemed to be Fem-boy's specialty. Finally, he asked, "So, what are you going to do now that you've dumped daddy?"

Kaori glared at him. "Not that it's any of your business, but I intend to go beat Ranma into the ground."

Tarou smiled. There were a whole lot of teeth in that smile. "On the contrary. Anything that has to do with beating the snot out of Fem-boy is my business. So, you intend to restore your family's honor?" Tarou's lip curled into a sneer on the last word, but Kaori apparently failed to notice. Rather, she seemed to think about it carefully a moment.

"Not really," she admitted. "I'm just pissed."

Tarou's eyes widened. That was beautiful. Not at all the answer he had expected. "Well said," he admitted. "Mind if I tag along? It's been too long since I've seen Fem-boy in pain. And I have business in that direction, anyway."

"Suit yourself," Kaori shrugged. "My name is Kaori Daikoku. And you?"

"Tarou," the young man replied.

"Just Tarou?"

Tarou's eyes flashed angrily for an instant. "Just Tarou."

It did not take long at all for Tarou to discover the distressing truth: Kaori was a specialist. She seemed to possess a fair amount of natural martial arts ability, but her entire life had been devoted to the Daikoku School of Martial Arts Restaurant Take-Out, a very narrow field. This meant that she was truly a force to be reckoned with, when her opponents were unskilled, or were also trained in Martial Arts Take-Out, and that she was dangerous to most other martial artists. But it also meant that she would be all but helpless against a skilled member of a school as diverse in its style as Anything Goes - and Ranma Saotome, for all his shortcomings, was no slouch.

Kaori's offense and defense left holes wide enough for Tarou to drive a truck through, and, after a few hours of sparring, he was able to convince Kaori of this without dealing her any permanent damage. Once Kaori had accepted the shortcomings of her Art, Tarou began to help her work on her defense.

Nerima was only a few days travel away, by foot, but Tarou convinced Kaori to stretch the trip out a bit. He wanted to make sure that Kaori would be able to put up a good fight, once they arrived.

When the two of them finally did reach their destination, Tarou still had his doubts that Kaori would be able to beat Ranma. But they both agreed that Kaori would now be able to hold her own - especially since Tarou knew that Ranma tended to hold back when fighting against girls. The loser.

Ranma looked where she was looking, and groaned with annoyance. Tarou was leaning against a telephone pole, smirking at them, and oozing intimidation from every pore. "Aw, what do YOU want?"

Tarou's smirk broadened. "Oh, don't mind me. I'm just here to watch."

Ranma's eyes narrowed. "Watch? Watch what? Whoa!" Ranma leapt backwards, jerking Akane along with him, just in time to avoid a pair of projectiles that whizzed through the spot where he had been standing. The projectiles in question struck the ground and embedded themselves in it, quivering. They were a pair of chopsticks.

Tarou continued. "It seems that there's a lady who'd like a few words with you..."

A flash of red and blue dropped to the ground behind the chopsticks. A hand lashed out to grab them. Now still, the red and blue object could be seen to be a girl crouched on the ground. The girl passed the chopsticks through the air, and then glanced up, gazing at Ranma, the smirk on her face not too different from Tarou's.

Akane's face twisted in anger. "You!" she hissed.

The girl chuckled darkly. "Hello, Ranma Saotome. Remember me?"

Ranma stared at the girl. He continued to stare. A breeze blew by, stirring up dust and rustling the clothes of all present. And still, Ranma stared. Kaori's carefully sculpted smirk began to twitch. Finally, Ranma spoke. "...No." A large sweatdrop grew on the back of Kaori's head.

"You idiot!" Akane shouted. "How could you forget HER?"

"She IS kinda familiar," Ranma said.

Akane looked exasperated. "She's one of the girls your dad engaged you to."

"Oh, yeah, like that narrows it down," Ranma snapped. He studied Kaori intently for a moment. Then, "I got it! Ami Fujiwara, of the Fujiwara Shool of Martial Arts Pizza Tossing, right?"

"No, Ranma," Akane sighed. "That was the fiancee that showed up after just after this one left. Try again."

Ranma's face contorted. "Um, Reiko Takai, student of Martial Arts Needlepoint?"

"No, she was the one you fought yesterday. She wouldn't be back again so soon."

"Um, Yuriko Akagi, of Martial Arts Gene Splicing?"

"No."

"Miki Kisaragi? That Martial Arts Hula Dancer?"

"Ranma! She was seventy-five years old!"

"Oh, yeah." Ranma shuddered. "Uh, Noriko Yotsura, with that Martial Arts Finger Painting?"

"No."

Ranma continued guessing for a while. After a time, a bored Tarou brought out a file and began to file his fingernails. Kaori, for her part, was frowning now, and with each incorrect guess on Ranma's part, a vein on her forehead bulged larger.

Finally, Ranma appeared to have stalled. "Ummmm..."

Kaori stood up with a scream. "It's Kaori! My name is Kaori Daikoku, of the Daikoku School of Martial Arts Restaurant Take-Out!"

Ranma stared at her blankly. "Uh, I still don't remember." Kaori's teeth began to grind together. It was not a pleasant sound.

Akane finally supplied, "Remember, Ranma? That Martial Arts Take-Out race? Where we won the year's supply of free ramen?"

Suddenly, Ranma relaxed. "Oh, yeah! THAT Kaori! Boy, that ramen was great." Ranma rubbed his stomach in wistful remembrance.

"I'm so glad to know I made such a lasting impression on you," Kaori ground out.

Ranma looked slightly apologetic. "Well, sorry about that. When you've got as many people as I do trying to kill you, or marry you, or both, they all kinda blend together after a while. Geez it's been, what, more than a year since you showed up." Ranma paused, and glanced at Akane to make sure that his guess was right. Akane nodded. "So what do you want, anyway?" Ranma asked.

"Revenge, of course," Kaori replied with a glower.

Ranma sighed. "Okay, what'll it be: Here or somewhere else? Audience, or no audience? Nabiki's got this deal where if you set things up ahead of time, she'll cut you in on a share of the ticket sales. Interested?"

"Just shut up and fight!" Kaori demanded. She lunged at Ranma, fist extended.

Ranma dodged, with almost insulting ease. "Okay, a quickie then. Here, Akane, couldja watch my bag?"

Akane sighed. "Honestly, Ranma. Is this kind of thing ever going to stop?"

"I doubt it," Ranma replied, weaving around a barrage of punches and kicks. "I don't think my old man ever paid for anything in his life."

Unnoticed by Ranma and Akane, Kaori was smiling grimly. Just as Tarou had warned her, Ranma wasn't taking her at all seriously as an opponent, and was now quite distracted. Kaori herself had been fighting in a very reduced capacity, slowing down her attacks with that very intention in mind. Now, it was time to strike. "Ramen Roundup Noodle Noose!" She cried, producing a steaming hot bowl of ramen, and lashing Ranma's arms to his sides with a lasso of constrictive ramen noodles.

"Hey!" Ranma exclaimed. He leapt back, and strained against the noodles. However, they were much stronger than they looked, and he could not snap them.

"Heh, this is too rich," chuckled Tarou. "The great Ranma Saotome: beaten into submission by a wet noodle."

"Shut up!" Ranma snarled. He didn't have a chance to speak further, however, as Kaori had now moved in. She was not pulling her punches now, and was attacking with everything she had. To her utter shock, however, Ranma was continuing to block her.

Kaori stepped back and gaped at Ranma. "How-"

"Don't let up on him!" Tarou barked. "Press him, or you'll regret it! He's blocking with his right foot!"

Kaori charged back into the fray, but inwardly, she recoiled. Ranma was blocking her with one foot? And so fast that she couldn't even see it? Was he human? Grimly, Kaori decided to put an end to this. "You owe me, Saotome," she said menacingly, trying to convince Ranma (and herself) of her confidence, "and I'm going to collect, even if I have to take it out of your hide." If Ranma was blocking with his right foot, he had to stand on his left, and that meant... Kaori launched a pair of chopsticks at Ranma's left heel, intending to strike the nerve bundle there and render his left leg numb.

It didn't quite go according to plan. Ranma jumped, leaving a shoe behind, and grabbed the flying chopsticks with his toes. Then, he transferred the chopsticks to his hands, and used them to slice through the noodles restraining his arms. He grabbed the free-falling noodles with the chopsticks, brought them to his mouth, and slurped them down. "Mmm, that's good stuff." He slipped his discarded shoe back on.

Kaori froze, dismayed. "Don't let him intimidate you," Tarou snarled. "He's not nearly as good as he'd like you to believe."

"Keep out of this, Tarou," Ranma shouted. "Why are you here, anyway? The freak's at Kamakura beach, and he's not gonna be back 'til Tuesday."

Tarou's face darkened. Happosai wasn't here. This was a wasted trip then. Maybe. But he wasn't about to let Fem-boy know that. "I told you. I'm here to watch. It's not every day that I get to see Fem-boy pasted by another woman."

Ranma became angry. "I'm a guy!" Then he calmed, and grinned, changing the subject. "No, I think you have another reason for being here. I think you've got a crush on Kaori." Kaori, who had been about to take advantage of Ranma's further distraction to make another attempt at attacking him, stopped at those words, and glanced at Tarou.

Tarou laughed. But there was just the slightest edge of hesitation in his laugh.. "You're dreaming, Fem-boy."

Ranma smirked. "No, I don't think that I am. But you know that you don't have a chance. I'll bet you haven't told her your name yet, have you? Maybe I'll save you the trouble..."

"Shut your mouth," Tarou growled, taking a threatening step forward. "Shut up right now, or I'll make you regret it."

"His name is Tarou," Kaori said abruptly, managing to kick Ranma in the stomach. Ranma rolled backwards with the blow and leapt back to his feet. The blow hadn't been totally negated, however, as was evident by the pained expression on his face.

Ranma smiled evilly. "That's not his whole name, though," he said.

Tarou looked mad. "Don't you DARE, Saotome!"

'Gotta time this just right,' Ranma thought to himself. Ranma pulled up in front of Kaori, slipped around two dozen blows in rapid succession, and then finished, "His name's PANTYHOSE Tarou!"

Ranma dashed in, sidestepping an angry blow from a furious Tarou. 'There, now while she's upset by Tarou's betrayal, or laughing at his name, I'll slip in, hit her with a couple of light blows to take her off-balance, and then knock her down and immobilize her. That'll finish - huh?'

Ranma's hands swished through empty air. Ironically off-balance, Ranma fell easy prey to a quick combination of blows that knocked the breath out of him. Ranma gasped and rolled over, just in time to see Kaori stab downwards with a chopstick in each hand. Ranma scrambled backwards, but a hair too late: One of the chopsticks found its mark in his right ankle, and the leg went numb.

Kaori dashed back to avoid a headbutt as Ranma sprung forward off of his remaining leg. The two of them stood and regarded one another, Ranma looking very alert now, and Kaori looking...disgusted. "You're not a man at all, are you?" she asked in contempt.

"Wha-?" Ranma stuttered.

"Using a man's name to win an edge in a fight. How childish. Then again, you're only a half-man, aren't you? Tarou told me as much, but I didn't really believe it until now." Tarou looked frozen to the spot where he stood. He was coming as close as Tarou ever came to gaping openly as he listened to Kaori's words. Was she really so unconcerned about his name?

"Take that back," Ranma snarled.

"You're going to have to make me," Kaori smiled savagely. "Fish Cake Blizzard!" Kaori leapt into the air, and pelted Ranma with fish cakes. Ranma was not taken off-guard, however, and his hands lashed out and caught each and every cake, popping them into his mouth with amazing speed.

Unfortunately for him, the blizzard was just a distraction. When the fish cakes were gone, Kaori was nowhere to be seen. "Where'd she go?" he asked, glancing around. Tarou's smirking face gave no clues.

Akane's, however, gave a subtle hint. "Ranma, look out!" she shouted, pointing toward the shadow of a building.

Ranma lifted his arm, just in time for a mass of noodles to wrap around his forearm. Had he been a hair slower, they would have found his neck, instead. Ranma grasped the noodles, and with an angry grunt, gave them a strong tug.

Splat. A bowl of noodles flew into his face.

"Ugh!" Ranma said in disgust. He scooped the bowl off of his face, trying to ignore the ramen broth now dripping down his shirt. He briefly twirled the noodles wrapped around his arm, stepped back as Kaori whooshed through the air in front of him in an attempted jump-kick, and lassoed her outstretched leg with the other end of the noodles. Kaori jerked to a halt in midair and dropped to the ground with a thud. Tarou winced, sympathetically.

"Aw crud," Ranma grumbled. "Now I'm a mess. Look, isn't there some other way we could settle this?"

Kaori rolled onto her back, and began tugging at the noodles ensnaring her foot. Her face darkened at Ranma's words. "Only if you're willing to own up, and pay back what you owe my family."

"Hey! There's no way I'm gonna marry you," Ranma protested. "The line for that's a mile long!"

"I'm not asking you to marry me, you half-man!" Kaori replied acidly. "I want you to return the dowry your father took from us."

Ranma stared at her. "What? But all he got was fish, rice, and a pickle! Is that what you want?"

Kaori was on her feet and in Ranma's face in an instant, seething with anger. "No, you idiot!" she snarled. Then she calmed and held up two fingers. "It was two pickles."

Tarou, Ranma, and Akane facefaulted.

"Well, okay then!" Ranma said, leaping to his feet with a happy grin. "I'll treat you to lunch! How's that sound?"

"The fish must be campfire grilled," Kaori growled.

"Sure, sure," Ranma responded, beginning to lead her away, limping slightly.

"And the pickles must be of a high quality. My father was always a connoisseur of pickles."

"Not a problem! We've got a couple barrels of the best pickles in the world. See, we got these friends in China..."

Akane and Tarou watched the two depart, looks of puzzled amazement on their faces. The two glanced at one another. Akane shrugged, and Tarou scowled at being taken off-guard so easily. Without a word, the two of them followed Ranma and Kaori.

"What don't you get?" Kaori asked, curiously.

"I thought you wanted Saotome's blood! Why'd you settle for his cooking?"

Kaori smiled slightly. "Let me ask you something, Tarou."

Tarou cocked his head, indicating for Kaori to ask away.

"Of all Ranma's opponents, how many do you know who have managed to fight Ranma to a draw?"

Tarou opened his mouth to respond, and then paused. "Not a lot," he admitted.

Triumphantly, Kaori continued, "And now, I'm one of the few. And if that's not enough, not only did I fight Ranma to a standstill, I also forced him to give into my demands, and even forced him to cook for me. How many can claim that?"

Tarou stopped dead in his tracks. He gaped at Kaori a moment, and then began to laugh. Long and loud. "Kaori," he gasped after a while, "you are one fine piece of work, you know that?" His respect for the girl had been given an enormous boost.

"Thank you," Kaori smiled demurely.

The two of them travelled on, Kaori walking with an almost palpable air of smugness, and Tarou occasionally chuckling as he mulled over Kaori's words. After a while, Kaori said, "Tarou, I couldn't have even come close to a success like this without your help. I'd like to help you out, as well."

Tarou grew serious. "I've told you about the freak. Are you really sure you want to get anywhere near him? He'd be on you like a magnet."

"Let him try," Kaori answered grimly. "Like I said, I owe you. If you don't mind my company, I'm sure I can do something to help. You mentioned that the old man has a weakness for food, didn't you? There is no ramen finer than Daikoku ramen!"

"True," Tarou answered. Then, the question that he always hated to ask. "Are you sure that my...name doesn't bother you?"

"No, it doesn't," Kaori answered, looking straight into Tarou's eyes. "But I can see why it bothers you. I will do what I can to help you set it right."

"Okay then," Tarou answered. "As long as you know what you're getting yourself into. Welcome to the team."

"You have a team?"

"I do now."

Tarou and Kaori travelled in the direction of Kamakura, Tarou occasionally sneaking peaks at his companion. While he would have scoffed at the suggestion before, having an ally on his side gave him a very warm, comfortable feeling. He had a feeling that Kaori was one of the better things that had happened to him in his life.

Happosai had better watch out.

The End

Author's Notes (General Audience): For those of you reading this story who are unfamiliar with the Children of Nerima on-line RPG, it was created as background material for a character that I will be playing in that RPG. The premise behind the RPG deals with the adventures experienced by the children born to the Ranma ½ characters, after they grow up and pair off. Each player was required to select two characters (with the stipulations that you could not choose any characters already chosen, and you could not pair off same-gender characters by using a Jusenkyo curse), and create a child of the two to play in the RPG. Each player was also required to have a story in mind as to how, exactly, those two characters happened to end up together. It was not required to write a fanfiction, but I did anyway. I'm such a show-off. ^_^;

That's my character, over there on the left. Her name is Midori Tarou, and though I haven't decided for certain yet, she will probably be an antagonist in the RPG, just like her loving parents! The picture here is drawn by Kikiku, who plays another character in the RPG. I am deliriously grateful to her for this picture (the very first time anyone's done art of one of my original characters!). She has instructed me to warn any would-be art thieves to beware Kikiku's Giant Okonomiyaki Combat Spatula of DOOM! (Or KGOCSD, for short.)

Author's Notes (Children of Nerima Crew): Pantyhose Tarou and Kaori Daikoku? Was I nuts? No, just out of characters to choose from. ^_^ If I'd gotten in on the game early enough, I probably would've chosen Nabiki and someone, but as it turned out, I ended up taking one character whom I've never seen outside of fanfiction and web shrines (Pantyhose Tarou), and another one that most Ranma fans probably barely recall, due to her very brief screen time (Kaori Daikoku - I'm probably her sole fan :P). Of course, just because her parents are obscure is not going to keep me from playing Midori, my character, to the hilt. Hopefully, you all will find her to be an... interesting addition to the cast...

Obviously, this particular story does nothing to describe Midori's character. However, I felt that it was necessary to show how this unusual pairing came to be. I hope you enjoyed it! If you want to see more of the stuff I've written, head on over to my fanfiction page. If you'd like to comment on this, or any of my other stories, feel free to send me mail.