At an apartment complex in Nakano, a boy finished unlocking his door and picked his backpack back up off the ground.
A tall line of scorch marks stained the door in front of him, each mark slightly different from the last. To the boy's eyes, it practically belonged there, so he wouldn't clean it.
Finally opening the door, he stepped into his small home. He was welcomed by a room tightly packed with thin air and one small note.
He pinched the note.
"You work at my shop now; I'm moving back to China. P.S. Be mad at your parents."
He crumpled the note in his hand as the shadows gave way to a bright orange light.
-Nerima-
It was a snowy day for the Nerima district. In late January it was one of the coldest days. Many people in Nerima were dressed for the cold, and many snowmen were made throughout town.
But then a sudden heat wave struck the town.
People scrambled back home, shedding their boiling coats and every other warm layer off clothing. The snowmen stood no chance. But the Furinkan swimming club were more than happy to use the larger outdoor swimming pool.
"Man! Where'd the cold day go!?" Ranma complained. Suddenly he slipped off the partially frozen fence. He flipped over the puddle beneath him, toward another fence but was caught off guard when the thin layer of snow crumbled beneath his foot. His foot dropped, and the rest of him followed.
Straight to the ground.
Akane stopped walking and stood over him, fist on her hips, but the small grin told a different story. "Alright, get up Ranma."
Ranma scoffed. "Jeez, Akane, I'm hurt, ya' know. From falling!"
She rolled her eyes and pulled Ranma to his feet. "You've been hit harder. Now come on! it's hot out here and we aren't dressed for it."
"Just asking for a little concern, not the moon."
"Ranma..."
"Alright, alright..."
Within the Tendo dojo, the weather didn't go unnoticed. It was impossible to ignore. The live weather report could be heard from the fairly busy kitchen
"Temperatures in Nerima have risen into the eighties following an extreme thermal anomaly traveling through this district. A small area of intense heat has been detected at the center of this event, with temperatures exceeding high nineties. we advise you to stay indoors and cool down as much as possible as this phenomenon travels through your area..."
The news anchor continued reporting as the front door opened.
"We're home!" Ranma and Akane called.
Nabiki offered a weak wave before she continued browsing through a fashion magazine.
"Welcome back!" Kasumi greeted warmly. "Unfortunately, you'll have to wait a little while longer. I'm make something colder."
Akane waved her hand. "That's fine, I'm going to grab some fresh clothes and wash off."
Ranma trudged into the living room, tossed his coat to the side, and slumped at the table. "Did winter give up today?"
"Maybe Ryoga is working on a brand-new technique." Nabiki joked, since it was strange for a heat wave to move in so suddenly.
Ranma raised an eyebrow, then dropped his head onto the table. "What kinda technique changes the weather?"
Nabiki's smirk broadened as she placed a hand on her chin. "The real question is, what dress are you going to wear to find out?"
The heat had already gotten to Ranma. And getting angry meant getting heated, which sounded worse. So, he rolled his eyes and focused on the news report on T.V.
"In other news, there has been a sudden spike in break-ins-"
"That must be Happosai. I gotta admit the old perv has a... drive to do things"
"Actually, he left for somewhere warmer because it was too cold for skirts." Nabiki corrected. "Makes you wonder."
Ranma glared at Nabiki, letting out a slight grumble before looking at the two patriarchs sweating buckets over the edge of the engawa. "Shouldn't you two be happy? Happosai is gone again."
Soun and Genma looked back with blinks so slow, the effort itself looked difficult. " We are... But it's just so hot!" Soun continued to try cooling himself off with a folding fan while Genma balanced a full plate of ice on his head.
Nabiki flaunted an amused smirk. "Giving me the cold shoulder in the middle of winter? How cruel."
"You should be thanking me..." Ranma grumbled, crossing his arms.
Genma crawled up to his son, grabbing his shoulder. "What about us, boy? We're burning up."
Ranma slapped his father's hand off. "What am I supposed to do about that?"
"Try being colder, boy! Use that soul of ice technique."
Soun sunk further as his fanning slowed down. "It's... It's getting hotter, in here..."
The heat was getting to Ranma too. "Why don't you two try closing your mouths!"
The humidity continued to trickle away, letting the intense, dry heat fill the household. Soon after, frightened screams rang out from outside.
"IT'S A BIRD!"
"IT'S ON FIRE!"
"it's too hot to yell..."
*crash*
Akane stopped at the top of the stairs, a light pair of clothes in her hand. "What's going on—"
"IT STOLE MY DRINK!"
Ranma tried to ignore the shouts. "Doesn't sound too serious," he mumbled.
"If only a very capable young martial artist, possibly next door, were here to protect us in our time of need...!"
He really tried.
*zip*
"AAAAAAAHH!"
"Aw hell."
Having almost no choice Ranma and Akane ran out to check out the chaos.
It was darting from person to person, rummaging through their bags as it searched for whatever a phoenix would look for.
"I just got done with the last bird problem, now this?" Ranma complained. He and Akane watched as the blazing bird moved wildly, unsure what to do next.
Suddenly the living myth dashed past the two, sending a wave of intense heat rushing past Ranma and Akane. Ranma did his best to shield Akane, but the sheer heat made Ranma's knees weak. He nearly dropped, but Akane supported his shoulder.
"Ranma! are you okay?"
"Yeah... What was that-" By the time he snapped out of the daze, Ranma realized where the bird was headed far too late.
"Crap! Let's go!" he sprinted into the Tendo household, dashing through slightly singed halls before stopping at the kitchen.
"Get away from her, you... weird bird?"
There it was: a mythical phoenix, eating from a plate with an elegance no bird should have. Kasumi was on the opposite end of the kitchen with a startled look to her face.
"Hey, no rabid animals in the kitchen!" The bird glared right at him. He could swear he heard a snap before a wave of heat burst through the kitchen.
Ranma shielded his eyes from the heat, grinning to himself like a mad scientist. "With all of that hot energy the Hiryū Shōten Ha should be extra powerful against it!"
He quickly focused back on the situation at hand, but the bird didn't bother to attack, it was busy attempting to drink from a cup. Though, trying to sip like a normal person would, was beyond its abilities.
Ranma balked at the awkward attempt. "You really are a stupid bird, huh?"
*snap*
The bird snapped around and clacked is beak furiously, but stopped almost immediately, narrowing its eyes. It looked over to the profusely sweating Kasumi in the corner. It clacked it beak two more times, even forcing out a low hiss, but eventually gave up.
It bowed and walked out of the house.
Akane stormed in with a table held high over her head. "Kasumi, are you okay?"
"Oh my..."
"What the-" Ranma followed the bird outside. After all he couldn't just leave such a dangerous creature roaming outside unchecked.
"Hey!" The bird stopped walking and glared back at Ranma.
The weather was weird enough, and Ranma thought he would be done fighting birds for a while, but here he was, standing off against another phoenix... with more patience than Ryoga, surprisingly.
"You should've flown the coop while you could, hollow skull, but you stole my lunch." Ranma dropped into his stance. "So, I think it's about time I extinguish you."
The bird tilted its head, as Ranma waited eagerly. It let out a brief hiss and started walking away.
Ranma blinked. "Okay... less of a violent maniac than everyone else."
"What's wrong, feeling chicken?"
The phoenix gave Ranma a long, hard stare before weakly hissing again. It turned around completely and took a stance, raising one leg along with both of its wings.
...
They both paused waiting for the other to strike first
"Well? what are you waiting for Idiot!"
Zip!
Ranma was ready for the thoughtless charge of a wild stork. But mere moments later, he was ducking under a sharp beak aimed right at his forehead.
Before the stork could strike again, Ranma swatted its head aside and started the spiral motion. But at every turn, the stork cut straight through the spiral, charging at Ranma.
"This stupid..." Ranma lashed out with a spinning kick, forcing the bird back. "Walk in a circle, idiot!"
Out of pettiness, the bird started pecking at Ranma from afar without moving an inch.
Ranma leapt back from another peck, "Coward!"
He circled outside of the pecking range, and the phoenix just stood there, half as hot as before. "Heh, I've got it!"
He started to close in, slowly turning the circle into a spiral. "I'll just bring the spiral around you."
The bird lashed out with a swift peck when ranma stepped in range. But Ranma leaned past the attack, the beak grazing his ponytail.
"Is that all you've got?" Ranma mocked, sticking his tongue out.
The phoenix flared. It struck again, but Ranma ducked under it. "Ive seen blind ducks with better aim."
Ranma continued to sway around each peck, slipping in a small tease each time.
He hopped over another strike. "Come on that's way too slow. Why don't I get closer, so you actually have a chance at hitting me."
Ranma slipped under another peck, stepping in with a punch wound up. "Heh, you really are stupid."
Snap!
"NOW!" he launched an uppercut, and the bird curved its neck out of the way. But contact wasn't needed to generate the Hiryū Shōten Ha.
The tornado caught the phoenix by surprise, inhaling it completely. Ranma quickly stepped away from the funnel, to avoid joining the bird.
"You didn't have to use that, did you?" Akane questioned from afar, cautiously watching the tornado. He didn't, but before that could ever be admitted, the tornado that formed started to grow larger.
The phoenix wasn't launched out of the tornado, and its hot energy was plentiful. Soon, like a chemical reaction, it grew out of control.
"Everyone! Run!" Ranma shouted.
The roof of the house started to tear, as both families ran out of the yard and down the block.
Genma punched the top of Ranma's head. "Now why'd you go and use that technique on a bird!"
"It was a phoenix-"
fshh
Akane punched the back of his head, while her father shook him. "You didn't even have to hit the thing!"
"I did!"
wooosh
Kasumi struck Ranma... with a disappointed stare. "It looked like Mr. Phoenix was leaving."
wooooshhh
"Mr-"
"While I know we all have our complaints... the tornado is coming this way!" Nabiki exclaimed, immediately running away.
"Around that corner!" Soun shouted.
The family ran around the corner, expecting the tornado to pass. The tornado tore through the street before stopping at the corner.
It turned.
Akane jabbed Ranma on the shoulder "What the hell Ranma!"
"I didn't think punching a hot bird would do this!!"
"What do we do?!" Akane shouted
"I don't know, keep running!?" Ranma turned around the corner and down the street, hardly slowing down.
He looked over his shoulder to see if the tornado was still behind him, only to see everyone else running the opposite direction.
Genma flashed Ranma a quick thumbs up, and a shameless grin. "Good luck boy!"
Ranma flipped the bird. "Curse you!"
The tornado flew around the corner and barreled toward Ranma.
"Craaap!!" Ranma pushed his legs even harder, taking three right turns just to be sure the tornado was holding a grudge.
He hopped up the side of a building and to the roof, taking a few steps back. The funnel of wind stopped in front of the first building, swirling in place.
Ranma watched for a few cautious seconds before chuckling. "Ha! Tough luck, tornadoes can't jump!"
For a while it sat there, getting hotter. But slowly... it rose up.
Ranma was stunned, baffled, awe stricken... and running again. He sped past mousse and shampoo, over Ryoga, and knocked Kuno aside. The semi samurai was tossed by the wind.
The Chaos was even worse than usual, a sentient tornado vs the guy who made it. He could still feel the intense heat emanating from it.
"I'm sick of all of this running!" Ranma shouted, sliding to a stop. "They always say fight fire with fire..."
So, he decided to use a tornado to beat the first one. It chased blindly, so getting it to follow the spiral was easy, but the issue was unleashing the attack without getting sucked up.
He didn't have the time to think it through. Ranma guided the tornado into a spiral spinning the opposite direction of the vortex. With each lap, the gap between him and the wind closed.
He felt the wind already pulling at him, and the tornado was still closing in. "No time to panic..." he dropped into his soul of ice, just as the tornado consumed him.
A moment of silence passed, until a sudden and intense gust of wind shot into the sky.
The opposing forces of the two vortexes collided and canceled each other out. The energy hurled the phoenix into the sky. Its limp form crashed back down in the distance.
Ranma pumped his fist and let out a sigh of relief. He stumbled on his feet, letting out a deep yawn.
The chilly winter air finally returned to Nerima, snow falling shortly after. Now Ranma was tired, and cold, he wasn't prepared for today, but he certainly was ready to take a nice, long nap.
The next day has arrived and problems from yesterday are still lingered. Like the half-destroyed dojo, the charred kitchen floor, and the ice on the street. Ranma walked to the family room after his bath to eat some breakfast. Soun was watching the news while Genma kept nagging Ranma about training.
"Come on boy! It's now or never!"
"How about never! I'm still tired after yesterday old man!"
"There is no, 'too Early' for Anything Goes Martial Arts! Now come boy!" Genma seemed fired up for some reason.
As Genma shadow boxed while waiting, Ranma had found his own reason to be fired up. He grinned to himself, "There isn't a 'too early for revenge either."
He quickly finished his bowl of rice and started cracking his knuckles shooting a fiery glare Genma's way. "N-now b-boy go easy on your pops..."
"Don't worry father... it's just a light early morning spar. 'You asked for it'"
"W-what was that last part?"
"Nooothing, don't worry..."
The spar began on edges of the pond and swiftly ended when Ranma gut punched his father and kicked him in the water. An irritated panda burst out of the pond growling intensely.
"What was that for boy!!" he signed
"For leaving me with the tornado!" Genma was about to sign more but Ranma interrupted him. "Save it, I'm gonna be late for school if I keep arguing with you."
It was cold and snowing again. Akane waited outside, very frustrated with Ranma for taking so long. "I should have left without you." she huffed, turning her head.
She was hoping for a rare apology but, it was Ranma...
"Then why didn't you, macho chick. Do you need me to hold your hand?" He had his smug grin even if he nervously stretched his fingers.
But it was Akane.
She slugged him in the face and stormed off. "Idiot!"
"So not cute." he assured himself. After a soft sigh he caught back up just to give her the silent treatment face to face.
But there was an eye catcher on the streets today. A giant box could be seen flying down the street. Then a blur ran under the box to catch it and toss the box again.
"What a strange way to play catch." Ranma remarked, still looking at the box hopping down the street before swerving away from a crowd of students.
"Ranma? what was that?"
"No idea..."
A boy was in his shop sorting out his strange arrangements of "legal self-defense tools" the exploding objects were all placed in the same closet, weapons in the other.
He struggled with a red umbrella for a bit before placing it on a shelf and collapsing the shelf.
His feather nested in between his black hair which seemed to be well washed, he was moderately tall, and he wore strange, traditional clothing: a blue Kimono too large for him, a Hakama with white swirls at the waist and grey the rest of the way.
"I need a quick nap..."
Ranma and Akane got through school and surprisingly, without a fight. The two were on their way home after trying Ukyo's new sauce when they notice a new shop in town.
The sign, a log, just had "store" and "age" intentionally split apart.
"What kind of name is that?"
Ranma gave the new, old looking shop a once-over.
The faint energy inside interested him, even more so when Ranma and Akane heard the sound of something falling inside.
Stepping through the curtain doors, they walked in on an odd sight. The Phoenix, slightly drenched, and cleaning a puddle off of the floor.
"It's that Bird again?" Akane exclaimed surprised it survived the tornado it was caught in.
"So you can rise again." Ranma was ready to send the bird packing, but Akane stopped him. The bird slowly walked toward them, tilting its head out in response to the mean glare Ranma gave.
Without the flames its feathers white, mostly, with black tips on its feathers, and a fully black beak that reached for the kettle behind it.
It handed it to Ranma and gestured with its beak to pour the water on it. Steam filled the room when Ranma poured the boiling water on the bird as its shadow seemed to grow taller stopping just short of Ranma's height.
"Welcome to my shop!" A male voice spoke through the cloud of steam. "What may I do for you?"
He quickly moved through the cloud and went behind the counter to put on the pair of clothes he dropped.
When the steam dispersed Akane and Ranma were faced with a boy with a yellow feather nested in his hair and two thick chin length side tufts wrapped in golden rings. He looked to be the same age as them.
"Hey, how did you get that curse?" he shouted with curiosity and jealousy.
"I was looking for bones," he said matter-of-factly.
"How did you end up falling in the pond of the phoenix?" Ranma added, not caring about the prior statement.
Ringo paused for a moment tilting his head again and raising an eyebrow "Phoenix?"
Ranma nodded, "Yes. Phoenix!"
"What Phoenix?"
"Arizona."
"Really?"
"No-you! You idiot I'm talking about You!"
"I'm not Arizonian."
"No! You turn into a phoenix!"
"Don't joke, there is no such thing as a phoenix." Ringo patted the furious Ranma's shoulders.
Before Ranma could lash out, Akane palmed his face and shushed him. "There was one actually."
"Hmm- Makes sense."
"So you understand that you're one of them!" Ranma Blustered.
"I'm not a phoenix person, those aren't real~"
"I'm not saying that! ugh—"
Ranma took deep breath before coming back to the conversation with as clear of mind as he could manage. "Okay, so you fell into a pond..."
Ringo nodded. "Yes."
"That pond transforms you..."
Again, he nodded. "Yea."
"And you turn into a bird with feathers that can light on fire..."
This time he snapped a thumbs up. "Yep"
"So you're able to turn into a Phoenix."
.
..
…
"No."
Ranma paused and let the word resonate in his ear. He started to growl, but closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Every word still held a growl as he held back more than a tight tone. "Then... what...are... you...?"
"I am a bird." Ringo said, smiling smugly.
"Which... one?"
"Stork."
"So that's it? no pond of the phoenix or... something actually interesting?"
"Nope just a stork!" he claimed proudly, head raised high
"You are so... dense- who even are you?"
"Ringo Konotori, just moved in." he began moving about the shop, cleaning weapons familiar to Ranma and Akane.
Akane began looking around "What do you even do here?" she glanced the flame-throwing staff and a giant bell tied up in the corner.
"I keep Antiques."
"Then what are these?" Ranma asked, holding a chain claw and a sword.
"I also run a storage unit." he was jostling a box of poison, before tossing it through the air. Ranma and Akane scrambled to catch it, but it landed perfectly on a shelf above them.
"Are you sure someone as clumsy as you should run a joint like this"
"Ranma!"
"What? He's tossing poison around."
"I think I'll be fine. I'm not crazy enough to summon a tornado in my backyard after all."
Ringo continued wandering around the shop with a bored expression. He moved to the small hallway in the back of the shop, which stretched left. Three sliding doors lined the wall, each opening to small rooms.
On his right was a western door with a sign that read, "No customers."
He walked past the bathroom in the entryway and the TV in the center of the room, stopping at the bed next to the far wall, beneath a small window. "So, this is where I'll be sleeping."
"And I eat there." He looked toward the kitchen on the right side of the room. There was a small round table and a large L shaped counter with stoves and a sink. "The fridge is pretty large..."
"Looks cozy." Ranma commented, walking straight to the TV.
Ringo jumped a little before glancing back at Ranma. "I hope the sign wasn't too unwelcoming."
Akane guiltily trailed behind, looking around the small, lonely home and back at Ringo. "Where are your parents?"
Ringo was about to sigh in regret for thinking of his parents, as if the thought had conjured the question. But it went up in a puff of flames. "They moved to Alaska after trading me to this shop. But they probably thought about it and only agreed as a last resort."
-two weeks ago-
"So, my child, and her husband... You want to run away from your responsibility!?"
Olive clasped his hands together. "Yes, Mother Tonic. Please, understand how important these vacations are!"
"Mother..." Tonic winced. "I understand the importance of vacations! I've been working for months to retire."
She pulled a half-signed document out of a drawer. "But if you give up your son and let him run the shop then I will let you two go wherever you want."
Putao took her mother's hand, shaking it vigorously. "Deal!! Where do I sign his name?"
"On the dotted line. Oh, and I'll need you to sign this application for him too."
"Done!"
-Now-
"Now if that is all-"
Ranma points at Ringo's feather "Why do you have that?"
"Some lady thought I was too rowdy as a kid and stuck it in my head."
"Is that what lights you on fire?"
"Yes. Whenever my emotions get too strong or when I'm trying to hide them. This feather will light on fire. She did say it would have more effects if I kept it too long, but I moved away before I could get it removed."
Akane was about to ask another question, but the bell in the shop rang. "A customer!"
He quickly walked, nearly dashing to the counter. "Welco-" *pow*
Ranma and Akane rush out of the room to find Ringo flattened against a wall, completely unconscious.
"What happened?" Akane asked.
"Dunno," Ranma crouched down in front of Ringo's limp body. "Hey, there's a piece of paper on his face."
"Is it a note?"
Ranma pinched it off. The word "greetings" was printed on Ringo's face. Ranma opened the note and skimmed through it. "No... It's a challenge letter!"