Chapter Two

When Ryouga wakes up for his sixth birthday he something clicks on his head, the final piece of the puzzle finally fitting in. He had several strange dreams about a man he never saw before yet knew intimately well, and on this day he understands that those dreams weren't mere dreams, but instead they were memories of his past life.

It all made sense, after all with the aid of those dreams Ryouga developed faster than children of his age and being a precocious child. Thanks to this new insight he now had a better perspective to his family eccentric behavior, and the various ropes and handlebars attached to the house he once thought were due to overprotective parents, or the fact that sometimes his father or mother would leave for weeks at a time without giving any reason yet when they came back none of his parents made an issue about it.

Right now his family consists of himself, his father Hibiki Raiga and his mother Hibiki Raikou.

Raiga has a thin frame and wore a pair of square black glasses, giving him the perfect look of a 'Salaryman' that posses an ordinary aura. He always carries with himself a duffel bag full of knick-knacks, among them a professional photo camera.

His mother Raikou, on the other hand, is always the center of attention due to her appearance. Very tall for a Japanese woman, she has a perfect hourglass figure that fits with her bountiful breasts and childbearing hips, though those eye-catching sexy traits are mostly hidden behind her favorite apron. While Raiga has an ordinary aura, Raikou gave an aristocratic impression, an innate sense of superiority and nobility that was comparable with a princess, queen, and oddly enough a fierce warlord.

'There's no way my dad is an average person,' Ryouga thinks to himself while preparing himself for the day in his room, 'a normal businessman wouldn't be able to live the chaotic life he lives, besides there's also Mom.'

His thoughts turn to his mother and he's both relieved and disappointed he only feels parental love towards her despite the older woman incredible beauty, 'mom's ojou-sama aura is way too strong for her current lifestyle, and it probably took a lot of guts for dad to approach her,' not that Ryouga considers his mother difficult to approach, but that's perhaps his privilege as her child.

With his past life insight his interest in his current family increased after a brief re-evaluation, 'I wasn't very close to my previous family, but this time I plan to change that.'

Nodding to himself, Ryouga grabs the wall rope into the dining room, ready to start his day.

...

The family had a small celebration with a feast expertly cooked and a large chocolate cake for them to enjoy, and after everyone had rested Raiga brought a bag with him.

"Ryouga my son, it's time for you to learn about the secrets of our family," Ryouga's father explains as he takes out several tools and objects from the bag, "we are cursed with an awful sense of direction and unfortunately we can't find the right path towards our destination unless it's completely by accident."

"Does anyone know were our curse originated from, dad?" Ryouga asks, curious to figure out if his parents were aware of their condition origins.

Raiga exhales a frustrated sigh before continuing, "your grandparents would tell you this is some kind of ancient blessing, but I think they are just lying to themselves. Still, according to the family legend, one of our ancestors found himself in a gathering of gods in ancient China and after entertaining them with his stories of the world he was gifted with great fortune tied to his insatiable wanderlust, which he passed down to his descendants."

He shakes his head for a moment to disperse old memories before showing his son how to properly pack clothes for travel and continuing with his lecture, "of course there are ways to bypass this curse, the most reliable method is by learning how to follow tracks, and our family produced some of the best trackers in the world, or so the story goes. Either way, it's a good skill to learn, and I'm going to teach you everything I know."

Ryouga nods and does his best to try and learn from his father, but eventually, his curiosity gets the best of him and he asks the question that was bugging him: "did you or anyone else in the family ever found themselves in weird and interesting places before?"

Raiga's eyes become haunted, as if ghosts of the past appeared in front of him once more, "oh yes, I got myself in all kinds of weird and interesting places alright."

Ryouga grimaces, not wanting to stir bad memories on his father, "do we even get any advantages from our curse?"

Despite knowing the origins of his family condition, it would be useless if he can't properly use his ability and getting help from his family would make things much easier.

He pauses to think for a moment before a goofy grin worming its way on his face, "I meet with your mother, at the very least the curse gave me that."

That perks up Ryouga's interest and he's quick to ask questions: "dad, how did you and mom meet?"

Raiga eyes now gain a nostalgic glint to it as he remembers his past, "I was walking towards my cram school to study for college when a stray dog chased after me," explains with a chuckle, "when I managed to escape I was already hopelessly lost so I started walking on a random direction in order to find civilization and hopefully return to Tokyo. Eventually, I reached a castle where your mother lived..."

He blushes at the memory before vigorously shaking his head.

"And I will tell you the rest of the story once you're older."

The small boy blinks, 'a castle? So mom really is a princess then...'

When the first lesson ends Ryouga remembers something he was interested in the past for a long time already.

"Dad," his father looked down, "can you also teach me martial arts?"

"Martial arts?" Raiga pauses for a moment to think it over, "I know just enough to defend myself, but if you want to get serious about it you can ask your mother," the older man sighs once more due to nostalgia, "I must be getting old to be so sentimental today, it really feels like forever since then..."

Eventually, he turned to his son, "I think I still have a few manuals with me, but it's best to ask your mother."

"Where is she then?"

"Probably still in Japan."

"Eh?"

Ryouga turned around and only now noticed that somehow the father and son pair had traveled to an entirely different city, and by the language, they were speaking and the climate it appeared to be Portugal.

"How did we get here?"

"You will get used to it son," Raiga pats his son's shoulder before leading him to a local bakery, "here, I will buy you a Belem's Cake, you will love it."

While the boy was enjoying his pastry he decided to ask his final question of the day before Fate decides to throw them to the moon or someplace more exotic, like Australia.

"Did you have any rivals while growing up?"

"No," he shakes his head, "I didn't have anything like that, I often disappeared for weeks at a time so most of my acquaintances forgot about me."

"Oh," for a moment the small boy wonders if that wasn't the reason why the fictional Ryouga clung so fiercely both to Akane and Ranma for better or worse.

...

"Of course I can teach you martial arts dear," Hibiki Raikou answers her son question with joy, "your father gave you his old manuals?" When Ryouga nodded affirmatively she continued, "good, but they are a bit too complicated."

Both mother and son pair sat down on the ground, crossing their legs to make themselves more comfortable in the meadow.

From a distance, they could hear a herd of Zebras traveling alongside several other animals.

"Now dear, do you want to start training right away or do you want to hear about the history of martial arts and how it exists in the modern world?"

"I want to hear the story mom!" Ryouga asks with great anticipation, welcoming any explanation to make the world they lived in makes sense.

With a satisfied smile, she starts her lecture.

"Martial Arts as we practice today have its roots in China from over four thousand years ago, even before then the reign of the Yellow Emperor. It was an era where gods walked among men, some of them bestowing the gift of knowledge to a path of immortality to humanity and eventually, some mortals ascended into the heavens themselves. They taught the secrets of combat and warfare to triumph against their enemies, and they revealed the secrets of magic and alchemy allowing humans to breathe the energy of the world to refine their bodies, mind, and spirit to become a perfect being."

"When the cycle of magic rises and falls over the ages the overall power of martial arts changes accordingly. With lower energy ascension becomes harder, while greater energy makes advancement much easier."

"In theory, we should be experiencing the decline of magic in the world right about now, but for some unexplained reason the levels of magic in the world spiked to an absurd degree and it is now incredibly easy to learn how to absorb energy."

Perhaps for the first time, she frowns, somehow giving her delicate features a ferocity her son did not expect. "In this day and age any idiot can take this energy and become superhuman overnight, and the abundance of energy makes it so that magical artifacts are easier to create, to the point where it became a type of super science."

"The governments of the world know they can't hide this phenomenon from the population, but the masses themselves remain willfully ignorant of this, quickly 'forgetting' about any confrontation with the supernatural and deluding themselves otherwise."

Ryouga nods at the explanation in understanding, 'that sounds like cultivation, interesting.'

"Have you been reading manga, dear?" For a brief moment the young boy panics, certain that his mother learned how to actually read minds, and the older woman gives him a teasing smile before continuing, "it doesn't matter if it is a mage calling it Od or a martial artist using the name Qi, the energy they use is the same with the only difference being in how they shape this energy according to their tradition. Martial artists take the Spiritual Energy from the air, or Mana as the western mages call it, and through a series of breathing techniques turns it into energy they can use and store inside their bodies."

'It's really like cultivation from Chinese novels,' Ryouga silently remarks as excitement builds in his chest, 'at least I'm learning it from someone who's not a psychopath.'

...

Time passed and Ryouga education and training went smoothly.

His father taught him how to find and follow tracks, and how to integrate all five senses to perform this task in any kind of environment. Thanks to Ryouga's natural talent by the time he finally enrolled in Elementary School he could travel alone from his house to the school grounds, and properly navigate the school building. He started to get strange looks from people since due to his inexperience he appears to twitch and fidgets all the time when not sitting down, but his father reassured him that this is perfectly normal.

There were occasional missteps from time to time, like the first time he ended up in the countryside of an entirely different city without noticing, but thanks to his training he quickly developed certain essential skills for someone of his age.

He also got a few souvenirs here and there, like his ornate gold lighter or the swiss army knife with actual sharp blades on it.

[Traits Learned From Father]

Survival, 1st degree: You are proficient at survival, being able to survive for a week in an unknown, not immediately hostile environment with the proper equipment at hand. Specialties: Urban/Rural.

Tracking, 1st degree: You are proficient at tracking and can follow obvious tracks and reach clear landmarks. Specialties: Urban/Rural.

His mother was extremely demanding and completely merciless in her training, forcing him to push his body to its limits in a way that would hurt any normal adult, let alone a small child, yet thanks to his magical martial arts training the 'training from hell' gave him solid improvements instead of crippling him for life.

Though most people would be appalled at the combat philosophy of his mother: crush his enemies completely, leaving them as useless and broken husks, or simply killing them in a quick, efficient manner.

"If you do not like violence learn to solve your issues peacefully, but if you are ever forced to draw your sword, fight to win, for defeat is death." Those are the words of his mother and the style which she practice.

"A noble warrior has other abilities and pursuits outside the battlefield, or else they are no more than attack dogs used by someone else or mad dogs that need to be put down. Don't worry son," Raikou said in a reassuring tone to his child, "I will make sure your training will be through, my beloved deserves nothing less."

[Traits Learned From Mother]

Martial Arts, 1st degree: You are proficient in martial arts, and can defend yourself against untrained opponents.

Raikou Style Martial Cultivation, 1st degree: The supernatural martial arts passed down from Hibiki Raikou, an expert in all manners of combat, from unarmed fights, swordsmanship, archery, spear, staff, and many other weapons. It's a style that can be used both on the chaos of the battlefield and in duels against a single, powerful opponent. At this level, you're considered a 'Conscript' and is five times more dangerous than your size and age would indicate.

Epic Stamina, 1st Degree: Your stamina is much greater than your age, build and training would indicate.

...

Eventually, the fateful day for Ryouga to enter a school came. While his parents didn't enroll him in preschool for obvious reasons they decided it was safe enough to send him to school already.

"Now son, make sure to listen to your teacher, alright?" Hibiki Raikou said to her son with a beaming smile.

"Remember to stick together with the other children or else you will get lost," Hibiki Raiga reminded his son, "if you do get lost make sure to remember my teachings."

"Dear..." Raikou warned her husband, though she knew where he was coming from.

"Sorry, sorry," Raiga scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "enjoy yourself in your new school son and try to make many friends. Childhood friends have the potential to last forever if you treat them right."

"I will dad, thank you, mom, love you too!" With the last hug, he left his house, eager to find his school.

He paused for a moment and saw his father Raiga carrying his backpack and turning to an unknown direction, while his mother simply disappeared to who knew where.

Ryouga still couldn't find the time to ask his mother where she disappears, since the Blessing was passed down by his father Raiga and by all rights she shouldn't be getting lost like the rest of her family.

Shaking his head he started walking, and soon found a family escorting their children to school.

The boy was the same age as Ryouga, with short brown hair and a bandage on his left cheek, while the younger girl had long hair and looked very shy. The father was wearing a factory worker uniform, with distinct light brown hair while the mother of the family had long hair like the daughter but with a darker shade of brown.

Soon everyone reaches the new elementary school, with the smaller girl leaving with their parents towards the preschool.

Even with a casual glance, Ryouga noticed the neighborhood had changed from what Ryouga was expecting, with the other kids having slightly different uniforms than him.

It didn't take long before a teacher came to greet him. "Hey kid, are you from this school? Are you lost?"

"Here," Ryouga said while giving the teacher a letter, "my parents told me to give it to any teacher I meet."

The teacher raises an eyebrow before reading the letter, then he let out a long-suffering sigh.

"You're the child of those two," he pinched the bridge of his nose before turning back to Ryouga, "right, we already have something set up. Come on boy, you don't want to get late."

He escorts you through the school, pointing out all the details of rooms and corridors and any potential landmarks. "Remember these halls well, most schools look the same on the inside so make sure to remember the details right."

He pointed towards the door, "and this is the class you will be studying, please take care."

Stepping inside Ryouga saw the other students, none of them being very interesting except a pair of boys on the back.

"Man, your hair is so cool!"

"I know right! Uh, who are you again?"

"Name's Katsuya, pleased to meet you!"

Katsuya was the boy Ryouga followed while the other boy was very distinctive. His shirt had several pins, the most distinctive of the two being a heart-shaped pin and a hippie sign. The most unique aspect of this boy, however, was his sharp pompadour that could put Elvis to shame.

"Settle down everyone," said the teacher, a man in his thirties that already had a balding hair, "find your seats first and then we will introduce ourselves."

The children follow the map draw on the blackboard with their names and seat arrangements.

"Now, let's introduce ourselves to each other. Here, let me got first to set the example: my name is Yoshimura Akira, and I will be your teacher for the year, please let's all work hard to make this year as enjoyable as possible for everyone."

There were several common names, such as Ito, Suzuki, Takahashi, Yoshida, Saito and so on, until two particular names picked Ryouga's interest.

"Hello, my name is Jonouchi Katsuya. I'm seven years old and have a five-year-old little sister named Jonouchi Shizuka. I like to eat curry rice and play outside with my friends."

Next came the boy with the unique pompadour.

"Hello, my name is Higashigata Josuke, I'm seven years old and will live here in Tokyo, Domino city for a year or so before moving back to Morioh city, but please let's all be friends!" He gave his introduction by posing with his right hand on his cheek while his left was bending his waist in nearly unnatural ways. "You are free to take photographs of my glorious hair anytime you wish, don't be shy!"

"..." was the reaction of everyone else in the class.

"... well, thank you for your introduction Josuke-kun, now is there anyone else?" The teacher looked back at the board before checking his own papers, "I guess there is one more. Please, step forward."

Finally, Ryouga stood up to introduce himself.

"Hello, my name is Hibiki Ryouga," the young boy introduces himself with a smile, "I'm seven years old and currently stay with my parents randomly in different places. We have a disposition for traveling a lot, so I have a passion for seeing and meeting new people. Besides that my dream in life is to become a world top martial artist," some of the boys looked at Ryouga with admiration while others had a challenging look on them, "I hope to make many friends when we stay here over the next few years!"

...

"Hey you, Ryouga isn't it?" Josuke said, "you said you travel a lot? Have you ever gone to America before?"

As a matter of fact, Ryouga did go to most countries in the American continent, though his stays were quick and when he was younger so this life memories of the country had faded away by now.

"Yeah I've been a few times, but the only trips I really remember were the ones to New York. My dad goes there occasionally on business and I accompanied him a few times."

"Have you ever heard of someone named Solomon Mutou? He's a super famous gambler, said to have taught the pro poker player Daniel J'Darby himself!"

"Yes," Ryouga nods, "Solomon was a very successful gambler in the past that dabbled in everything, even gained the title of 'King of Games' since he was basically invincible back in the day. As for Daniel J'Darby, he was also a very famous gambler that specialized in poker games. I also heard that both men were rumored to gamble in the underworld circuit, the difference between them was that Solomon managed to walk away from that life with enough cash to comfortably retire, while I believe Darby had some kind of mental breakdown? I doubt he's in any position to play today."

Josuke nodded, "yeah, that's about right. You sure do know a lot Ryouga!"

"Heh, I just pay attention to rumors, that's all."

Josuke chuckled, making a very wide grin. "I feel like we're going to be the BEST of friends! Now, where else can we find another potential sucker, I mean, player for us to have some fun?"

With those words Ryouga remembers that Josuke was also infamous for his gambling addiction, going as far as setting fire on Kishibe Rohan's house in his desperate attempt to swindle several hundreds of thousands of yen in cash from the older man.

Objectively speaking that's not a good habit to form, especially since those who are addicted to the gambling atmosphere rarely if ever have the necessary tactics, management skills and sheer luck to succeed. Thankfully there is one way to both put Josuke down a leg and meet with another person of interest that Ryouga quickly grasps.

"How about we call him?" Ryouga pointed out to Jonouchi, "he might also like to play."

"Sure!" Josuke replied with a smile, "the more the merrier! Anyway, do you know how to play poker?"

...

Despite initial misgivings, Jonouchi was more than happy to be included in the gaming circle, quickly learning the basic rules of poker that Josuke explained.

"Right, I match your two days of milk from lunch and raise the Saturday desert on top of that!"

Josuke threw the cut pieces of paper that represented the chips, staring intently at Jonouchi.

"I fold," Ryouga said while bowing out, already losing tomorrow's milk to the pot, "I don't really have anything."

"Alright, show me what you got!" Jonouchi replied with confidence.

"Full house!" Josuke showed his pair of queens and three of jacks, "try to beat that!"

"Aw, I only have two pairs," he slumps down making Josuke reach for the improvised chips, "just a pair of aces and another pair of aces."

Josuke freezes, looking up at Jonouchi with an expression of horror, confirming that yes, he had lost the match.

"Uh, well, in this case, it's a draw."

"It's not," Ryouga interjected earning a betrayed look from Josuke, "sorry, but if you're playing with actual stakes then you can't really bow out of paying it. You win you get the prize, you lose you pay the price."

"Yeah, torpedo hair-"

Ryouga's attention snapped as he registered what Jonouchi just said.

"- if you want to take away my stuff then it's only fair I take yours if you lose!"

Josuke remained silent for a moment before his hair spike upwards as if there was a strong gust of wind blowing on his face.

"Sorry," another student called before closing the window and Josuke hair went down.

"What did you just say about my hair?" In an instant, Josuke grabbed Jonouchi from the collar of his shirt, but the other boy was quick on the uptake and slapped away the hand of a berserking Josuke and pushed him back.

Or at least tried if Josuke didn't try to headbutt the other boy, the two of them crashing in the middle and hurting themselves more than each other.

The two of them were ready to exchange fists when Ryouga interrupted both of them by catching their arms, his martial arts training coming through in this kind of situation.

"If you want to beat each other then do it outside," Ryouga called out the two children, "and don't get me involved."

Unfortunately, he was sucker-punched by something hard-hitting his cheek from the other direction, the first being much stronger than what he would expect from Jonouchi, and as he went flying down some desks he saw a very faint outline of something returning to Josuke's body.

"That's IT!" Ryouga yelled after breaking his fall, "you want to fight then we're going to fight!"

...

"We're sorry."

The three boys were sitting in seiza on the ground while their parents were talking with the teachers. In an incredible cosmic confluence, even Ryouga's parents managed to reach the school on time for the meeting.

"Honestly, what were you three thinking?" The teacher yelled to the three boys, "now apologize to your parents for causing this much trouble!"

"Sorry," the three voices echoed out before all three families went their separate ways.

"What happened exactly? How did things take that turn?" Ryouga's mother asks, concerned at the altercation but sending a hint of anger and disappointment in her voice. Ryouga has no doubt that should his answer doesn't satisfy his mother he will be in a world of hurt, but on the other hand, if his answer is too harsh he shudders to think what would happen to Jonouchi and Josuke later.

"We were playing poker," his mother frowned, "and when Josuke refused to pay the chips Jonouchi made fun of Josuke's hair when they were ready to fight I tried to separate them but I ended up joining the fight instead."

"Was it worth it son?" his mother asks him, "brawling with him in the middle of the class after indulging in underage gambling?"

He couldn't quite meet his mother's eyes, but still, he replied as best as he could. "I wasn't going to just let things go like that, not when I'm being attacked over something so stupid."

Ryouga mothers stare at her son for a while before nods, "I suppose I can work my own magic, but since this whole thing started with you boys trying to gamble like adults then you're going to pay for the penalty: no sweets for a month, and don't bother trying to hide it by brushing your teeth before we find you, trust me I will know if you try to weasel out of your punishment."

"Yes mom," Ryouga was already familiar with his mother near prescient ability to read him, after all. Trying to stop her from doing those things is an exercise in futility.

...

The next day the three boys meet again once more, a slightly awkward atmosphere settling over them.

"I'm sorry about snapping to you guys about my hair," Josuke eventually say, "but my hair is really important to me, please don't make fun of it."

Ryouga and Jonouchi nodded. "I shouldn't have insulted you for no reason, sorry."

The other two boys turned to Ryouga. "What? I tried to break you two apart before things got worse if anything I'm a victim here."

For their part, they looked appropriately embarrassed over the whole thing.

"Still I shouldn't have snapped at you guys, I should have at least called an adult instead of joining the brawl." Admittedly, Ryouga has no idea what a normal adult could have done against a budding Stand user.

"Right," Josuke said, "my grandfather always said that if you do something wrong you need to figure out what you learned from it."

"Don't be a sore loser?"

"Don't be a greedy bastard?"

"Don't gamble?"

The two other boys turned to Ryouga as if he had suddenly grown a second head, to which the wild boy shrugged. "It could happen."