More and more and more... Geesh I used to be verbose..
Chapter 6
Nabiki slowly walked in the door. Kasumi looked up
from the table. "You're a little late." Nabiki nodded in
agreement, as she walked to the refrigerator and grabbed
some soda pop. Kasumi seemed interested as she sat down
at the kitchen table to do homework. "What happened?"
Nabiki sat down right next to her sister. "Kasumi, did
you ever meet a person that you just quite didn't know how
to trust?" Kasumi had to smile.
"A boy, I presume?" Nabiki nodded. Kasumi shrugged
her shoulders in response. "I wouldn't really know. I
guess I was lucky when I met Tofu. He's such a sweet
person." Nabiki had to nod in agreement. Yep, Tofu Ono,
smart kid with a very, very bright future.
"I don't know. This person is halfway between decent
and conniving. He actually tried to blackmail me. But in
the end he gave up, and I got a profit. Surprising thing was,
he didn't seem too angry about it." Nabiki pulled out some
money and dumped the cassette on the table.
"Maybe it's his way of getting your attention?" Kasumi
fingered the cassette for a moment, and looked at the
money. "This is a lot of money."
"That's the other thing that intrigues me. He demands
20,000 yen from me, and yet, he easily flashes around cash
as if it ready didn't matter for him." Nabiki sighed.
"Well, I wouldn't know. But this is a hefty sum of
cash." Kasumi slid the dollars back to Nabiki.
* * *
"Hey, Hiroshi." Hiroshi heard someone calling his
name, and closing his locker door, he came face to face
with Nabiki. Immediately he waited for that quiet voice to
tell him what to do, but that was the problem. The tiny
voice, also known as Ranma, was not present. He felt his
jaw locking up.
He did manage to force out a greeting. "Hi."
"I was wondering about yesterday, I mean I really
appreciated your `gift'." Hiroshi nodded vigorously.
Nabiki had to wonder, was this the same person that she
talked to yesterday. The person she had dinner with
yesterday knew how to talk. He interacted, mixed perfectly
with her, but the person here, he was a complete social
moron.
"Are you feeling ok?" Nabiki stared at Hiroshi closer,
and poor Hiroshi, without prodding from Ranma, finally
broke down. His pupils dilated, and he locked into staring
at Nabiki. Nabiki felt uncomfortable. "Whatever." She
left Hiroshi, who was still locked into staring at nothing.
Hiroshi felt someone hit him in the back of the head.
"You idiot, you basically ruined everything that I set up for
you!" Hiroshi shook his head once as he returned to
reality, and he turned to see a rather exasperated Ranma.
"I don't know. The instant I saw her." Hiroshi began.
"Your IQ drops to 4, and you begin to make vegetables
look sentient." Ranma leaned against the lockers. "If
you're going to keep ruining what I've carefully built for
you, then don't bother with my help. I have limited energy,
and I can't go around every day trying to patch up you and
your girlfriend."
Ranma left Hiroshi behind.
* * *
"Ryoga!" Ryoga Hibiki seemed to be lost, in the
schoolyard. Well, he himself wasn't lost, but he just
simply didn't know where that voice was coming from.
There was a brief rustle of leaves, and a black haired
beauty, also known as Ranko Saotome, leaped onto his
back.
She smiled. "Hi Ryoga. Yesterday was so perfect."
Ryoga laughed nervously.
"Hi Ranko, so what brings you here?" Ryoga swung
Ranko around, so she landed on her feet, in front of him.
"I don't know. I guess I just felt bored." Ranko smiled.
"You skipped class?" Ryoga looked at Ranko somewhat
seriously, and was sort of surprised when Ranko nodded.
"Doesn't your mother know? Go back to class!"
Ranko smiled. "Geesh, as if having me in class is useful.
I'm a martial artist! I don't want to be a desk jockey when
I grow up. What do you think will happen to my figure?"
Ranko indicated to herself, and in the blowing wind, her
somewhat loose clothing was quite revealing.
Ryoga was quite speechless, as the wind pressed the thin
silk against Ranko's chest, revealing the fact she didn't
have a bra on. He turned his head so he wouldn't get
distracted. "Any how, how is Ranma doing?" Ryoga
turned back to Ranko. "What happened to him, he's so
different than the Ranma I used to know."
The joy that was on Ranko's face flickered a little. "I
don't how he is doing. He never tells me or mother
anything. He just doesn't seem to be around the home a
lot."
"It's that bad?" Ryoga looked at Ranko.
Ranko nodded. "Hey, are you in some of Ranma's
classes?" Ryoga nodded. "But you have study hall now,
right?" Ryoga nodded again. He couldn't stand being
cramped up in the library during study hall, so he sneaked
outside. "Could you keep an eye on Ranma for me? Make
sure he doesn't get into trouble." Ryoga nodded again.
Ranko looked at Ryoga's watch and giggled. "I think the
teacher will begin to get suspicious when I've taken a
bathroom break longer than twenty minutes See you!"
Ranko gave Ryoga a quick peck on the cheek, and she ran
off.
* * *
Ranma sat at his usual bench, and Hiroshi was seated
next to him. "Where is Daisuke?" Ranma had to ask. He
hadn't seen Daisuke today. He wasn't in any of the classes.
Hiroshi shrugged his shoulders. "I heard that Kodachi
tied him up, and brought him over to her home for you-
know-what." Ranma grimaced slightly.
"Sometimes I feel sorry for giving him Kodachi. Could
you deliver this to Hayashi? Someone wants Hayashi to
take a fall during the next Judo club tournament." Ranma
seemed quite neutral. "Just don't let Nabiki see you give
the letter to Hayashi. I surmiss that she already paid off the
other person to take a fall, so she can win off Hayashi."
"And you don't care!" Hiroshi looked at Ranma.
"This is business. If you won't deliver the letter, I will
do it myself." Ranma sighed, as it seemed that these days,
everyone had to complain about his MO.
"I don't think I can do it." Hiroshi handed the letter
back to Ranma.
"No problem, I'll do it myself." Ranma took the
envelope, and he stood up, and walked off.
* * *
Ranma sighed, as Hayashi agreed to throw the fight. In
truth, he agreed so quickly was that the fight was really a
practice session, and didn't have any bearing on his
ranking. In addition, he did owe Ranma a big favor.
Ranma remembered that it was a big challenge to get
Hayashi together with a girl who just absolutely hated judo.
However, it was fortunate that the girl was open minded,
thanks to Ranma's meddling.
Ranma felt his wallet in his pocket, fattened with
payment from a particular classmate who wanted to get
even with Nabiki. As Ranma walked away, he began to
doubt his actions. `Is it right? I think Nabiki stands to lose
a lot.' Ranma silenced his concerns as his mother did need
the money.
`Whatever, it's just business.' Ranma thought as he left
the school yard.
* * *
Ranma pulled open the front door to his home, and
walked in. There was Soun Tendo sitting on a couch, idly
drinking a cup of tea. "What are you doing here?" Ranma
stared blankly at Soun.
Soun seemed quite uncomfortable, as there was
something unsettling in the way Ranma carried himself.
"Well, your mother was gracious enough to invite me over
for some tea."
"Is that so?" Ranma left the room without even
bothering to say goodbye or such. Soun sipped his tea.
Yes, Nodoka was quite right, Ranma wasn't going to take
the marriage easily.
As soon as Ranma got upstairs and into his room, his
telephone immediately rung. "Hello?" Ranma talked into
the headset.
"Hi, it's me, Nabiki. I just got home, and my father isn't
here." Nabiki's voice sounded quite worried.
"You need not worry. He's here, drinking tea with my
mother." Ranma sounded rather hateful of the idea.
"I was getting worried. Well you know, I've been
recently really thinking about it, but you know this
marriage might actually be a good thing. I mean my Father
usually spent a lot of time crying." Nabiki started.
Ranma's throat hardened. It seemed that everyone had
jumped to the other side, he was the only one left who
seriously opposed the wedding. The problem was that he
realized that he was powerless to do anything. His mother
had her mind set, and once she was determined to do
something, she was going to go all the way. "I wouldn't be
surprised."
Nabiki heard the droning tone, indicating that Ranma
had hung up on her. Staring at the head piece for awhile,
Nabiki turned off her phone.
Ranma stared for the phone, and he resumed his work,
when the telephone rang again some thirty minutes later.
Ranma sighed, and rolled over on the bed to pick up the
telephone. "Hello."
It was Hiroshi. "I have a problem. I tried to call Nabiki
to apologize to her, but she hung up on me, saying she had
important things to do. I need your help, please Ranma. I
don't want to lose her now." Ranma sighed as he really did
feel tired always helping Hiroshi.
"Um, ok Hiroshi. Let me see." Ranma stared at the
cracks in the ceiling. `Think, Ranma, think. A plan. A
simple plan.' Ranma began slowly. "Maybe we can
arrange a surprise visit tonight. Meet me, right after sun
down at the Tendo dojo. Got it?" Ranma had a plan in his
head that might work, that is if Nabiki hadn't completely
given up on Hiroshi.
"Um sure."
* * *
Nodoka settled down next to Soun. "So is Ranma
home?" Soun nodded, but he didn't quite seem as
enthusiastic as Nodoka.
"He just came home." Soun sipped some tea. "But he
wasn't too enchanted with my presence here. I think he
doesn't like me." Soun sighed, as he knew that having two
large families merge was bound to create a little friction.
Although, recently, he had to be happy to note that Nabiki
was getting more and more manageable, regarding the
upcoming marriage of course.
"That's too bad, maybe I need to have a serious talk with
Ranma." Nodoka seemed a little serious. Perhaps a bit too
serious.
"Oh it's nothing. You don't need to make Ranma agree.
I mean, it's natural for a boy to be attached to his father.
I'm sure that once Ranma realizes that we are serious, that
he will accept our decision."
"You seem too optimistic." Nodoka sighed. "You don't
know Ranma. Once he sets him mind to something, he will
never rest until it's done, his way. That's the one trait that
I had hoped that Ranma wouldn't inherit from his father."
Nodoka drained her tea cup quickly.
* * *
"Ok, how is this going to work?" Hiroshi leaned against
the fence with Ranma. Ranma grimaced slightly as he
fought off the droning headache that he had felt since
morning. The light rain that was drizzling down from the
sky wasn't making it any better for Ranma.
"Quite simple, you're going to go down there, and pitch
this rock at her window to get her attention. Once you have
her attention, you're going to recite after me. Got it?"
Hiroshi nodded. Ranma carefully opened the front gate to
the Tendo Dojo, and silently slipped into the yard.
Once the two friends positioned themselves outside of
Nabiki's window, Ranma handed Hiroshi a stone. Hiroshi
wound his arm back and flung it at Nabiki's window.
Hiroshi's aim was off as the rock soared above the window,
striking the roof of the house and ricocheting into the night.
"Can't you aim at all?" Ranma hissed. "Try again."
Ranma handed Hiroshi another stone. This time Hiroshi's
aim was to the side, and the stone harmlessly dented the
side of the house. Ranma growled at Hiroshi's
incompetence. "Let me do it." Ranma grabbed a rock and
tossed it at Nabiki's window. It bounced off the window,
creating enough noise to grab Nabiki's attention.
Nabiki had been studying some Calculus, when she
heard something hit her window. Grabbing her flashlight,
she peered out the window. In the light rain, she could see
Hiroshi standing outside of her window.
"Oh it's you. Bother me some other time, I'm busy."
Nabiki pulled back, and was about to close the window,
when she heard Hiroshi shout. "Please, Nabiki, stop. At
least allow me have the dignity of apologizing to you."
Hiroshi stared at Ranma, somewhat amazed that Ranma
could do a passable imitation of his voice. Ranma hissed
to Hiroshi. "Bend your head down so Nabiki can't see your
mouth." Hiroshi did as he told.
Somehow, the voice that Nabiki heard was a lot more
forceful, and she was compelled to listen. "Ok, you've got
one minute. I'm really busy."
Ranma felt himself grow cold in the rain. `Shit, I should
have brought a jacket.' Ranma stifled a cough and cleared
his throat. In his best Hiroshi voice, he continued.
"Nabiki, I am really sorry for being such an insensitive
person in school today, because I truly believe you are a
beautiful girl. I don't know but I was." Ranma couldn't
continue as he suppressed a cough. He shook violently for
a moment.
Nabiki sat there, somewhat intrigued by the fact that
Hiroshi seemed to have stop talking. She leaned out of the
window, to get a better view. She saw Hiroshi standing
outside the window, his head looked downwards, as if in
respect to her. Ranma cursed himself for being so weak,
but he decided to use the break as an advantage. ". I was
afraid, I was afraid that you wouldn't accept me."
Nabiki sat at the window, trying to digest Hiroshi's
words. What managed to intrigue her was how Hiroshi
seemed to be in phases. His personalities seemed to
oscillate between extremely friendly and extremely shy.
But then again, it did feel good to have an admirer. "And?"
Nabiki felt extremely warm to Hiroshi at this point. In fact
by now, she was pretty sure that Hiroshi was genuinely in
love with her.
And just knowing that can be a comforting thing to a
girl.
* * *
Nodoka sat with Ranko and her guest, Ryoga, at the
dinner table. Nodoka seemed quite detached from the
animated discussion that Ranko and Ryoga were having.
Ranko looked at Nodoka worried. "What's wrong,
Mother?"
"I'm wondering, where is Ranma?" Nodoka stared at
the empty place at the table. "Why isn't he home?"
Ranko seemed thoughtful for a moment. "I don't know.
But I overheard that he and Hiroshi were planning to do
something toinight. Ranma did leave in a hurry this
afternoon, and he could have left something on his desk."
Nodoka nodded, and she walked up the stairs, down the
hall, and into Ranma's room.
His room was a meticulous as ever, but there were a few
differences. Ranma in his haste seemed to have left his
keys behind. Ranko appeared in the doorway with Ryoga.
She looked at the keys. "Wow, those are Ranma's keys to
his drawer! Even he never leaves these behind." Ranko
took them, and with eager hands tried to unlock Ranma's
desk drawer.
"Ranko, what are you doing! You know it's wrong to go
through Ranma's stuff!" Nodoka searched Ranma's desk,
and she found a filling folder labeled "Hiroshi" on top. She
grabbed the folder and opened it. There were endless
photographs of Nabiki Tendo inside.
Ryoga bent forwards, and picked up a photo. "Who's
the chick?" Immediately he lost his breath as he felt
Ranko's mighty elbow crash into his gut. "Of course, she's
not as beautiful as you," gasped Ryoga.
Nodoka leafed through the photographs. Included in the
pile were several handwritten sheets. Nodoka read the
notes, and was quite surprised as they were a complete
evaluation of Nabiki Tendo. It listed her likes, her dislikes,
her passions, her turn offs, her favorite activities. Scrawled
in the margin was "See Personal File."
Nodoka turned to Ranko. "What does Ranma do in
school anyhow?" Ranko shrugged her shoulders, as she
really didn't know.
Ryoga volunteered to answer. "Mrs. Saotome, I just
came to this school, but I've heard that most guys know
that if you want to get a girlfriend, and it just seems too
difficult, Ranma could fix you up for a fee."
Nodoka looked at the detailed notes which just screamed
that Ranma did spend a lot of time. "And I was wondering
how come Ranma didn't have any free time." Nodoka took
the keys from Ranko's hands, and she opened Ranma's
drawer. Pulling it open, she found a ton of folders, labeled
with various names, presumably clients of Ranma. There
was Tatewaki, Daisuke, Hayashi, and plenty of other
names. In addition, there were quite a few files devoted to
girls. "Ok, so that would explain why Ranma doesn't sleep
a lot."
Ranko and Ryoga nodded in agreement, as essentially,
Ranma had cataloged the entire student population of
Furinken High, listed their likes and dislikes as well as
debts and other useful pieces of information.
Nodoka's eyes landed on the folder devoted to Nabiki
Tendo. Surprisingly it was slightly heavier than all of the
other folders. "Is Ranma interested in Nabiki?" Nodoka
looked at Ranko.
"I don't think so, Mother. I think Ranma and Nabiki
have sort of come head to head in the past, although Ranma
doesn't like to advertise his presence. I guess Ranma likes
to `know his enemies.'"
Chapter 7
The rain and coldness were beginning to take a toll on
Ranma. His vision slowly began to haze over, and he
couldn't think straight. He tried to continue imitating
Hiroshi. "And I think I'm in love with you." Ranma's
voice died down from there, as he grabbed his head futilely
trying to stop the migraine. With a muffled groan, Ranma
fell down into the mud as the migraine overwhelmed him.
Nabiki heard a low groan, and hearrd Hiroshi shout.
"Shit, Ranma! What's wrong!" Nabiki's heart, which had
been pumping rather hard from Hiroshi's warm speech,
suddenly stopped. `Did he say, Ranma?' Nabiki grabbed
her flashlight and raincoat, and went outside.
Sloshing around, Nabiki made her way to the patch of
ground in front of her window, and found Hiroshi trying to
wake up Ranma by tapping his cheek. Nabiki stood there.
"What is going on here?"
Hiroshi looked at Nabiki, and froze. Maybe it was time
to tell the truth. "It's a long story?" Hiroshi seemed quite
nervous as Nabiki approached. Nabiki listened carefully to
Hiroshi's voice, and yes, it was somewhat different from
the voice that she had heard in the window.
"Just get out of my yard. And take your friend with
you." Nabiki's analytical mind quickly summarized the
situation.
Kasumi was waiting by the door, when Nabiki walked in
angrily. In the entryway, Nabiki tossed off her umbrella,
muddy shoes, and raincoat. Kasumi could see a rather
angry expression on Nabiki's face. "Nabiki, what's
wrong?"
"Boys are some of the most insensitive slobs in the
whole world." Nabiki stomped up the stairs.
* * *
Ranma was taking some books out of his locker, when
he suddenly felt that someone was standing behind him.
Turning around, he was face to face with a really angry
Nabiki Tendo, who was standing there with her arms
crossed. "Why did you do it?"
Ranma opened his satchel, and placed a book in it.
"What did I do?"
"You know what I'm talking about. Could you tell me
why?" Nabiki stood there, somewhat impatient with the
extraordinary calmness that Ranma displayed.
"5000 yen." He closed his locker, and shouldered his
satchel. She could not believe her ears. He actually had
the audacity to play around with her emotions, for only
5000 yen. She grabbed Ranma, and was surprised with the
ease that she slammed him against the locker.
"You did that for money! You bastard! Do you know
how much it hurts, to have a glimmer of hope that
immediately becomes nothing." Nabiki shouted at Ranma,
loud enough that the entire hall became silent, and students
focused on the two. He stared at Nabiki, but he didn't
respond.
"You're a selfish, indulgent, piece of horse shit!" She
kneed Ranma in the groin, and to her satisfaction, he went
down.
Ranma started to laugh, but his laugh was broken by a
spasm of coughing. "And you're one of the most
hypocritical people I know. You run your own business,
and I've personally seen the damage you've done, to
students and to some of my friends. Think of the other
people you blackmail with your secrets."
Nabiki felt so angry by that point that she tried to punch
Ranma. Ranma's hand immediately intercepted her fist.
Ranma leaned forwards and whispered into her ear. "I let
you hit me the first time, because yes, I do feel guilty for
almost allowing myself to fall in love with you and playing
with your emotions like that. But do not think that you can
hit me again. If you try to cross me, I will not be
forgiving."
Ranma grabbed his satchel, and stumbled down the hall,
periodically taking rests against the wall in an attempt to
catch his breath. Nabiki whirled around, and left the hall.
* * *
Ranko landed next to Ranma as he slowly walked home.
"Ranma, will you give me a little clue what is going on? I
just heard that Nabiki tried to punch you up today!"
Ranma continued walking, as if he didn't hear his sister.
Ranko grabbed Ranma by the collar, and pushed him
against the wall. "Ranma, I've just had it with your
attitude problem. You're going to tell me what happened,
or I'm going to put you 6 feet under.
Ranma looked into his sisters eyes, and knew that she
wasn't joking that much. "Ok , I'll tell you."
Sometime later, Ranko was in her room lying on her
futon, while Ryoga was doing homework on the floor.
"Isn't that weird, Ryoga? I mean, why would Ranma go
through all of that trouble for his friend? I mean, I know
Ranma does a lot for me, but I definitely know that Ranma
would not go way out of his way to help me. You get my
drift?" Ryoga nodded his head, but for the moment, he was
paying attention to his biology text book.
"Hey, Ryoga, are you even paying attention to me?"
Ranko leaned over the side of her futon.
"Yes, that's nice Ranko." Ryoga continued studying,
knowing very well that he'd better remember the material
for next week's exam.
Ranko felt exasperated. Sure she liked her boyfriend,
but she did prefer to have him pay attention to her. "Hey,
I'm going to take off my shirt, and dance naked around
town, you want to come with me?"
"What!" Ryoga slowly looked up at Ranko, and was
relieved to see that she still had her shirt on. "I don't
know, but I was thinking about Ranma. Do you think the
reason he went through all that trouble is that he has a
crush on Nabiki?"
"What! Explain, before I think you have brain-damage."
Ranko focused on Ryoga, waiting for a grand explanation.
"Well think about it. Ranma doesn't like his body, and
he feels that he's useless. He likes Nabiki, and along
comes his friend Hiroshi who really probably has a passing
fling for Nabiki. He asks Ranma for help, and Ranma
accepts. Ranma uses Hiroshi as a shield, so he can voice
his feelings to Nabiki without letting Nabiki see him."
Ryoga turned back to his biology textbook.
Ranko laid there for a few seconds, trying to follow
Ryoga's chain of logic. "Ok, I think I can see it now. Hey,
that's pretty sick stuff. I mean Ranma gets some girl to fall
in love with someone else because he loves her? How did
you figure that out?"
Ryoga smirked. "I guess you haven't been reading our
book for literature class, `Cyrano de Bergerac'?" Ranko
seemed befuddled for a moment.
"Um, not quite. What's it about?" Ranko grabbed her
satchel and rooted through it. After some fierce searching
and trailblazing, Ranko managed to pulled out a worn, torn,
and generally, an unused copy of Cyrano de Bergerac,
translated into Japanese.
"It's basically the same thing that happened to Ranma,
Hiroshi, and Nabiki, but the character that reflects Hiroshi
dies in the end. And like Nabiki's supposed to become a
nun, and like Ranma's supposed to have a long nose."
Ranko stifled a giggle, as she tried to imagine Ranma
with a long nose. "I got to read this book." Ranko brushed
the mountains of dust off the book, and opened the cover.
* * *
Nabiki walked in the front door, and slammed it shut
behind her. Kasumi looked up from the table, and as
Nabiki stormed into the room. "Kasumi, I'd like to make a
clarification on my statement. Boy are fine. Ranma
Saotome is an asshole." Nabiki sat down next to Kasumi
and sighed.
"And why is that? You know he's going to become your
step brother in two weeks." Kasumi reminded Nabiki.
Nabiki didn't really hear Kasumi, as she seemed to be off
in her own world.
"If he tries to take advantage of me again, I'll rip off his
stinking head!" Nabiki muttered while grabbing the teapot
and pouring herself a cup.
"He tried to take advantage of you!" Kasumi looked at
Nabiki rather shocked.
Nabiki looked at Kasumi, and had to laugh. The
expression on her older sister's face was priceless. "No, I
don't mean that. I mean he played with my emotions. He
practically had me fall in love with a nobody. For a
measly, 5000 yen."
* * *
Ryoga looked at Ranko, and could practically tell
something was on her mind. "Ranko, what are you
thinking of?"
Ranko sat up on her futon. "What do you think if we
tried to get Nabiki and Ranma together? I mean, it would
do a world of good for Ranma. Looking at him everyday
like that is going to make me depressed." Ranko sighed
and settled down. "Besides, I think it was about time that
he found someone compatible with him. Nabiki's the only
girl at school, who remotely has a similar thinking
process."
"Is that so? Hey, isn't she going to be your step-sister
soon? Isn't that going to be weird?" Ryoga looked at
Ranko.
Ranko settled down next to Ryoga. "So what? At least
the two are happy, right? Please Ryoga?" Ranko gave
Ryoga the ultra-kawaii cute girl with large eyes treatment,
Ryoga sighed and nodded his head. "Thanks! Now we
have to start planning!"
Ranko tossed her unread textbooks onto the floor.
"Anything to skip homework?" Ryoga asked, and Ranko
nodded her head.
"Hey, this is going to be more interesting." Ranko
giggled as she detailed her plan to Ryoga.
* * *
The next day, Ranma opened his locker, surprised to find
a letter shoved in through the vent. Shrugging his
shoulders, he grabbed the envelope. Tearing it open, he
quickly skimmed its contents and his face visible twisted
slightly. Ranma tossed the letter back into his locker and
slammed shut the locker.
Meanwhile, Nabiki was surprised to find a letter as well
in the bottom of her locker. She neatly tore the top of the
envelope out and read the letter within. Looking around to
see if someone was laughing at her, she placed the letter
within her satchel. Without any other reaction, she walked
into her classroom. Ranko leaped up. "Yes!"
At lunch time, Ranko sat next to Ryoga. "Hey, Ryoga,
how did Ranma take the letter." Ranko giggled when
Ryoga poked her in the ribs.
"I don't really know. He crumpled the letter and tossed
it." Ryoga grabbed his lunch.
"Hmm, that means that he's probably trying to think
about it." Ranko settled down. "Damn, I hope for once, he
makes a decent decision."
* * *
After school, Ranma walked cautiously to the tree that
was designated in the letter. In his hands was the crumpled
letter, and with a final sigh, he smoothed it out, and shoved
it into his pocket. Ranma looked at the old tree, which had
managed to survive despite the ravaging by worms and
other insects.
With a sigh, Ranma leaned against the tree, and waited.
Not much later, his patience was rewarded when Nabiki
picked her way through the tall grass. She seemed surprise
to see Ranma standing there.
Ranma was first to talk. "Is this some sort of joke?"
Nabiki was second. "That's what I like to ask you.
Maybe someone else is playing a joke on us."
Ranma scanned the horizon, but in the sea of grass no
one was to be seen. "I can't tell. Well, I guess that's that.
Nice to meet you again, but I can't afford to waste time."
Ranma turned around, but as he moved, his sensitive ears
picked up a crackling noise coming from above.
Instinctively Ranma grabbed Nabiki, and pulled her.
A large limb crashed down from above. Ranma looked
up at the tree, but most of his sight was obscured by the
leaves. "I guess it isn't safe here." Nabiki however was
sort of paralyzed as the branch had passed her face by no
more than half a foot. It was a huge branch, obviously
heavy enough to crush a human. Ranma shook Nabiki as
she wasn't responding. With a sigh, Ranma heard more
cracking noises coming from the tree.
Picking up Nabiki, Ranma left the tree immediately.
In the tree, Ranko and Ryoga smiled. There plan was
proceeding quite smoothly.
Ranma ran with Nabiki slung over his back out of the
field, and back to the schoolyard. Stopping at an outdoor
waterfountain, Ranma wet his hands with the cold water
and patted her face. "Hey, wake up!" Ranma was panting
rather hard. Suddenly, Nabiki blinked her eyes, and saw
Ranma. Nabiki climbed to her feet.
"You idiot! You almost had me killed!" Nabiki looked
around want was surprised to find herself outside of school.
"What happened?" Nabiki looked at Ranma who was now
on his knees breathing heavily, and she surmised that
Ranma had carried her down the from the far field to the
school yard.
Ranma gasped between breaths, "Tell me when it's
morning," and he collapsed onto the ground, completely
exhausted.
"Hey, this isn't funny." Nabiki nudged Ranma with her
foot, but she suddenly remembered that Ranma had a very
weak constitution.
* * *
Genma finally pushed the boulder back enough that he
could get a hold of Ranma. Ranma was a complete mess.
Essentially, Ranma's back was a mess of clotted blood.
"Don't worry, boy, I'll get you out of this." Genma
carefully lifted up Ranma, but to his dismay he saw how
limp Ranma's legs were, as compared to his arms which
were tense.
"Father." The boy moaned. His eyes were somewhat
glazed over as it was evident that his body was in shock.
Genma could feel his son's body slowly cooling off. He
knew that his son needed attention quick.
Genma ran quickly towards the mouth of the cave, when
an after shock struck, and the tunnel began to collapse even
more. Genma successfully dodged various rocks, but just
before reaching the mouth, he felt a looming shape above
him. Instinctively, he threw Ranma forwards.
Ranma shouted in pain as he landed on the ground.
Behind him, was his father, caught underneath a massive
wall of rocks. Genma groaned as he tried to work his way
free, but the damage had been done. Genma clasped
Ranma's hand, and forced a smile. "Don't worry, some
people will be around soon to help us. I think I'm going to
take a nap now." Genma's voice gradually died down, and
he rested his head against dirt.
But no help came. Ranma waited there, struggling to
move. Screaming for his father, but no one came. Ranma
laid there, unable to move, unable to get help for his father.
He was helpless. And when it started to rain, Ranma was
unable to keep himself dry.
By the time people found him two days later, he was
cold, numb, sick, and barely responding.
* * *
Ranma sat up with a scream. Wiping his eyes, which
were filled with tears, Ranma hugged his legs to his chest,
a feat which was impossible for him 5 years ago. He was
in the cave. His body felt cold. He felt sick and unwilling
to move.
Nabiki was seated next to his bed. "Hey, I was sorry I
kind of snapped at you back there. I kind of realized I owe
you one." Nabiki had played the entire scene in her mind,
and using her intelligence, she had been able to piece it all
together. Apparently, Ranma had pulled her so she
wouldn't get hit. She remembered becoming paralyzed
with fear, and most likely Ranma was worried, so he
carried her to the school.
Ranma looked around, as if searching for something, and
although he didn't find what he was looking for, he looked
at Nabiki for a moment, suddenly realizing that he wasn't
in the cave.
"Are you feeling ok?" Nabiki looked at Ranma, who
seemed to be undergoing a ton of stress at that moment.
Ranma barely nodded, got out of bed, and slowly walked
out of the room. Nabiki stood up, and followed Ranma out
the door. "Hey, you hear me?" Ranma turned to Nabiki,
and he nodded.
"Then what's wrong?" Nabiki seemed perplexed about
Ranma's behavior.
Ranma sank to the ground. "I never remembered what
exactly happened to my Father, but when I was 6 years old,
he decided to take me on a five year long trip to China, for
training. But I never really remembered what happened on
the trip. It seemed that something just blocked my mind.
The only thing I could remember was getting lost in this
cave, and getting rescued by people"
"But these few days, I've been getting these dreams,
about what happened in the cave. My father died was
dying in front of me, and I couldn't do a think to help him.
I couldn't even move." Ranma kneeled there, his head
low. "I killed my father."
"But you didn't kill your father." Nabiki offered. At
least she'd think that Ranma wouldn't go as far as to go kill
a person.
"But I wandered into that cave, and my father was
worried about me, and he tried to find me." Ranma
paused. "If I never wandered into that cave, then Father
would be alive."
Monster or not, Ranma still deserved some sympathy.
Well, at least that was what Nabiki felt. "But you didn't
kill your father. Whatever happened was a complete
accident. You should at least appreciate the fact that you
are alive."
"Alive? Yes, I am alive. But do I enjoy my existence?
The sole reason I exist is to atone for what I did to my
father. I should be dead right now."
* * *
Nodoka seemed quite worried when Nabiki sat across
from her. "Ranma told you this? He was supposed to
never learn about this."
Nabiki looked at Nodoka surprised. "You knew about
this! How, why?"
"At the time, Genma, Ranma, and some friends were in
China traveling around to train and such."
"Somehow, Ranma decided to explore some caves
beneath a large volcano, and Genma, my husband, got
worried. He went to find Ranma, but Ranma was buried in
a cave in. Genma was able to rescue Ranma, but a second
cave in buried my husband. He died in front Ranma."
"For two days, Ranma was alone, soaked to the bone
because of the rain. He was barely alive when the
Amazons found him. They told me that they gave him
some weird formula of shampoo that was supposed to
make him forget details of his father's death, and that
helped to make Ranma recovery quickly. But I guess, the
Formula finally wore off."
Nodoka sipped on some tea. "Perhaps it is for the better,
as living a lie is often worse than living itself. Nabiki,
could you please do a favor for me, and keep this a secret?
The only other person who really knows about the truth is
Soun, as I have told him."
Chapter 8
There was rapid knocking on the front door. Nodoka,
who was cooking dinner, wiped her hands on her apron,
and walked over to the door. Carefully she opened the
door, and looked outside. Her melancholy face, thinking
about Ranma, immediately melted into a smile. "Father!
What are you doing here?"
The old man in the doorway replied. "Hi Nodoka! How
could I possibly stay away from my favorite daughter's
wedding." Nodoka opened the door wide, allowing her
father to come in.
Nodoka called out. "Ranma, Ranko. Grandfather
Happosai is here!"
* * *
Ranko came leaping down the stairs, and was surprised
by the old diminutive man that was standing in the entry
way with a big smile on his face. Happosai looked at
Ranko and smiled. "Ah, the granddaughter I've never
seen." Happosai turned to Nodoka. "She looks better than
you." Nodoka smiled.
Nodoka seemed worried. "Where's Ranma? He hasn't
seen grandfather for 12 years."
Happosai looked around. "Yeah, where is Ranma? I
remember him when he was only 4 years old. He could
almost knock his old grandfather down." Happosai started
to laugh. Nodoka and Ranko groaned inwardly.
There was the creak of the stairs as Ranma walked
down. Last night was not a restful night for Ranma, and it
was apparent. His hair was a mess, and he was breathing
heavily. Ranma forced a smile that looked rather fake. "Hi
Grandfather Happosai."
"Hi Ranma! It's nice to see that you've grown so tall!"
With amazing agility, Happosai leaped through the air and
landed on Ranma's shoulder. "Hmmm, my boy, you don't
look so good, what's wrong?" Happosai leaned close.
"Bad luck with the girlfriend?"
Nodoka laughed nervously as she waved her arms
around. "Now Grandfather, you don't want to overwhelm
Ranma right now." Happosai leaped off Ranma.
"Say, boy, you look down. Maybe you want old
Happosai to give you something special." Happosai locked
his hand around Ranma's wrist and dragged him to the
other room. Satisfied that he and Ranma were alone,
Happosai turned to Ranma and spoke with a hushed tone.
"Ever seen these boy? Always good for getting a quick
laugh." Happosai reached into his clothing and pulled out
a glossy magazine. On the cover were women in rather
revealing positions.
Ranma didn't seem that interested, although he did look
at the cover for a bit. "Into the porn, old man?"
"Ah, not interested. Yeah, they aren't that interesting,
just a bunch of photos." Happosai tossed the magazine
behind him. There seemed to be a gleam in his eyes as he
prepared to reveal his next trick. "How about this
Ranma?" Happosai pulled out a black lacy bra.
"I hope you didn't steal that." Ranma didn't seem
interested. Happosai seemed discouraged for a moment,
and then he decided to try the direct approach.
"Ok, Ranma, what's eating at you? Maybe I can help."
Happosai leaped up, and looked straight into Ranma's eyes,
which wasn't hard since Ranma was seated against the
wall.
"There is not a single thing that you can help." Ranma
tried to get up, but he just didn't feel that he had the energy
to do so.
* * *
Nodoka was cooking dinner, when the door behind her
opened. "Yes?" Nodoka turned around, revealing
Happosai who was reading a few scrolls and flexing his
hand in rather weird ways. "Oh Father, you don't need to
come here. Just wait out in the dining room, I should be
done in a few minutes."
"Oh it's not that, I'm just wondering about Ranma.
What's wrong with him?" Happosai noted that Nodoka
sighed rather loudly.
"I was hoping that you didn't ask." Nodoka stirred some
stuff. "Perhaps it was best you didn't know." Happosai
was interested, and he stood there silent knowing very well
his daughter would continue talking.
A little bit later, Happosai nodded knowingly. "So
Ranma is a little weak? Eh. And he feels like he's useless
and helpless. Happosai reached into his shirt and pulled
out an old tome. "Maybe there is something that I can do
after all. I was beginning to worry that he was having
troubles with women. Bah, worry not Nodoka, I'm sure I
can solve Ranma's problem."
* * *
Ranma and Ranko watched Happosai with amazement as
he downed his sixth bowl of rice without the slightest
delay. "Wow, Grandfather you sure have a big appetite."
Ranko observed. Even she had to concede defeat after 3
bowls of rice.
Ranma placed his first bowl of rice on the table. "Yeah,
I guess you take after him, Ranko." Ranko grabbed Ranma
by the collars and shook him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ranko shouted. If
there was one thing that Ranko could not stand, it was a
comment about her eating habits. As a child, she tended to
the heavy side and people were merciless when they made
jokes about her. Fortunately, with her maturation, her
metabolism burned away all of her fat, leaving a rather slim
and well-figured woman. (Notice I didn't say well
proportioned.)
"Hey, nothing, just joking." Ranma was virtually
helpless, and Ranko released his collar.
"Just checking."
"Say Ranma," Happosai eyed Ranma as he slurped soap
from his bowl. "Maybe you and I want to spar a little in
the Dojo later?" Immediately, Nodoka and Ranko gave
him a strange look.
"Father, I don't think." Nodoka began. "I mean, it
probably isn't good if."
"Nonsense! I'm sure Ranma would have no problem
disabling an old man like me." Happosai smiled like a cat
that had caught its mouse. Ranma sighed, and stood up.
As soon as Ranma entered the Dojo, Happosai shut the
door and locked it behind him. Ranma slowly walked to
the center of the room, and turned around to face Happosai.
"Ok Ranma, I want you to strike me. Don't worry, I won't
move." Happosai had a weird all-knowing smile on his
face.
"Are you sure? I don't have the strength to do..."
Ranma began, but Happosai cut him off.
"Just do it!" Immediately, his legs instinctively slipped
into a ready stance, and he charged Happosai. However,
even as he got closer, Ranma felt the strength leave his
legs, turning his muscles into jello, and fell to his knees.
Happosai nodded knowingly. His daughter hadn't been
lying when she said that Ranma was weak. Ranma
grimaced. "See, old man, I can't do it."
Happosai still had to evaluate Ranma. "Well, then, just
punch me. No need for any fancy. Walk up to me an
punch me." Ranma slowly looked down at Happosai, and
almost laughed.
"Well, what do you want me to do? Crawl to you and
then punch?" Happosai sighed, the amount of negativity
that Ranma was outputting was certainly a pain to listen to.
"Ok then, kick me like a soccer ball." Ranma shrugged
his shoulders, and taking a deep breath, he cocked his leg
back, and launched it at Happosai.
Ranma stared at his Grandfather since the old man
wasn't moving at all. As soon as Ranma's leg passed,
Happosai's hand lashed, and Ranma felt three fingers stab
into his leg. Immediately his muscles in his leg locked up,
and Ranma ended up throwing himself into the ground.
Ranma felt all of his breath leave him as he slammed
into the ground, and he felt that he saw a flash before his
eyes. Ranma laid still on the ground. Happosai leaned
over Ranma's face with a cheerful grin. "See Ranma, you
don't need brute force to be a martial artist. All you need
is the right mindset. And you my boy, don't have the right
attitude. Here, read this book, and memorize it. I'll see you
here tomorrow, same time."
Happosai dropped an ancient tome on Ranma's chest.
Ranma strained as he pulled his head up and stared at the
cover. Apparently the book was an ancient Chinese
medical text. Ranma muttered something before he
collapsed back.
Nodoka watched through the window as Happosai left
the dojo by himself. Apparently, he was cheerful about
something.
* * *
Ranma groaned as he touched his back, which was
completely tight as a result of Happosai's demonstration.
Ranma immediately climbed into bed, but for some reason
he couldn't sleep. Perhaps it was the fact that he was
thinking about how Happosai was able to disable him with
three fingers.
Ranma turned his head to his desk, on which was the
ancient tome. For a long time Ranma stared at the book,
before slowly getting out of bed and turning on his desk
lamp. The night was going to be long.
Ranma, whether it was a result of the accident, had a
rather capable mind, if he put his mind to a task, he would
never quit until he succeeded. Right now, Ranma sought to
memorize the tome. Opening the book, Ranma stared at
the faded Chinese characters. Unfortunately, it had been at
least six years since he used Chinese. Groaning in disgust,
Ranma slammed the book shut.
Ranma sat at his desk staring at the book. With a sigh,
Ranma reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a
Chinese-Japanese dictionary. "I've got all night. I guess I
can was my time." Ranma opened the book and turned the
page. He was greeted with plenty of diagrams.
Looking closely at the images, he realized that Happosai
had written the translations in the margin. Perhaps the task
wasn't so hard as it seemed.
* * *
Happosai looked at Ranma for a moment before
shouting. "Boy, when I ask you to spar with me, I do not
want to see you sleep in front of me!" Ranma offered no
response as he was snoring softly, while standing up, a feat
that no mere man could ever accomplish.
With a grumble, Happosai grabbed a pail from the corner
of the Dojo and walked outside. Moments later, Happosai
returned, and tossed the bucket at Ranma. Ranma
practically screamed as the cold water hit him. "Boy, when
the Master of the Anything Goes School talks to you, you'd
better listen."
"Yeah, whatever." Ranma said.
"That's `Yes, Master' to you! Ranma, you have the
worst attitude that I've ever seen in a student. Even your
father was better behaved."
Nodoka was surprised by the amount of shouting that
was coming from the Dojo. She turned to Ranko. "What
do you think is happening?"
Ranko shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. And I
don't care, unless it interferes with my date tonight. Sorry
Mom, I really have to go now!" Nodoka finally realized
that Ranko was wearing a nice dress, which was a bit
unusual for her daughter.
"Young lady, you'd better be back by 12!" Nodoka
called as Ranko tore out of the house.
* * *
Happosai was impressed. He had quickly drilled Ranma
over the flow of chi within the human body, and Ranma
was able to respond accurately. Not perfectly, but
accurately. `Now, that was one thing Genma could never
learn.' Happosai thought as he shouted out locations and
had Ranma point them out on a training dummy.
Happosai had to smile. "Not bad at all Ranma. Now,
let's go over it all again."
"But." Ranma seemed to be clearly exhausted. The
combination of sleep deprivation as well as constant
drilling was beginning to take a toll on Ranma.
"No buts Ranma! You have to train to the point that it
becomes instinctive!" Ranma merely groaned, but
stubborn, he stuck to the task. "Then, you can start on the
road to becoming a master of this skill."
* * *
Ryoga sighed as he walked into the park. Of course as
usual, he had to be at the designated waiting place some
twenty minutes earlier. Not a big deal, at least for Ryoga.
He had an intense patience. Besides, he felt he could wait
for eternity for Ranko.
However, he didn't have to wait too long, as within a
few minutes, Ranko broke through some bushes cursing her
dress. "Who'd ever." Ranko tugged at her skirt, since it
was caught in the bushes. "think that." Ranko brushed
some leaves that had decided to stick to her blouse.
"dresses would be such a pain in the ass!" With her final
words, Ranko finally extracted herself from the bush.
Ryoga's jaw dropped. "R-r-r-r-anko! Y-yo-you're in a
dress?"
"You like it?" Ranko twirled around, and stopped right
in front of Ryoga. Ryoga's eyes looked downwards, and.
"Yes, and if you don't mind, I think I've seen too much."
Ryoga groaned for a moment, before falling onto the
ground.
"Um Ryoga, are you alright?" Ranko knelt beside him.
* * *
For what seemed like hours, Ranma focused on the
dummy in front of him, his hands lashing out to strike
pressure points as fast as he could recall. Despite the lack
of movement, Ranma found himself settling into a pattern
which he could almost instantaneously recall the correct
location and order with which to strike the points.
Happosai was pleased with Ranma's fast learning. "Boy,
12 years ago, I knew you were talented and by golly, I
knew you could learn this!"
Ranma sat down to take a breath. Happosai continued.
"Don't worry Ranma my boy, your grandfather isn't the
Master of Anything Goes for no reason. I'll be sure to
teach you some of my other tricks. But now, I'm going to
go out for a little stroll." Happosai somehow magically
produced a large empty sack. "I'll be back!"
With infinite amount of energy, Happosai opened the
door and leaped out of the dojo.
* * *
Ranko giggled as she thought about the movie that she
had seen with Ryoga. It did seem that Ryoga had a vast
knowledge for movies. Perhaps it had to do with his
endless wandering to find Ranma. Ranko stopped, and she
grabbed Ryoga, ready to kiss him when her ears detected a
low whistling sound coming from her right.
She immediately pushed Ryoga back, and lashed out
with both hands. He had to be amazed as Ranko stopped
two throwing daggers right in front of him.
There was a clapping noise, and an old woman called
out. "Impressive, no doubt the blood of the Amazons still
run through you, unlike your father." A small withered old
woman hoped out of the bushes. "Let me introduce myself.
My name is Cologne."
Ranko muttered. "What an old witch." Cologne lashed
out with her cane, and Ranko immediately leaped
backwards. "Hey, what are you trying to do? Kill me?"
"Not bad at all. Most people wouldn't have reacted in
time." Cologne stood there, with a gleam in her eye.
"Ranko Saotome, you will feel fortunate to have met me.
We will meet again in the future." Before Ranko could
react, the old woman leaped into the shadows, leaving not a
single trace.
"Ranko, what the hell does she want with you?" Ryoga
had briefly seen what had happened, and he just felt that
the old woman was certainly a force to be reckoned with.
"I don't know. I don't even understand." Ranko stared
at the two thin sharp slivers of metal in her hand.
"Amazons?"
Chapter 9
Ryoga walked silently next to Ranko as the returned
home. "Ranko, maybe we should tell your mother what
happened. Maybe even your grandfather?"
Ranko remained silent as she continued homeward. "I
don't know. Maybe you're right. I should ask
grandfather."
With a sigh, they heard screams of anguish in the
distance. "Give back my bra you lech! Kill the pervert!
Give us back our underwear you dirty old man!" Ranko
immediately assumed battle stance, as she heard those
screams gradual get closer.
"What a haul! What a haul!" cried an old man in the
distance. Ranko seemed to recognize that voice.
"Grandfather Happosai?" Ranko leaped on top of the
fence, and squinted in the direction of the sounds. And true
to her observations, she saw her old grandfather running
full speed with a bag overflowing with women's
undergarments and a huge mob of women following him.
Ryoga looked up at Ranko. "Is it your grandfather?"
Ranko squinted harder, as she couldn't quite believe her
eyes. But there was no doubt. It truly was her grandfather.
"Yes." Ranko quickly bent down and grabbed Ryoga by
the arm. "Quick get up here! He's passing through!"
Ryoga leaped up onto the fence next to Ranko.
And not a moment too soon, since in seconds, Happosai
rushed past Ranko and Ryoga. Happosai looked up at
Ranko and waved, a pair of black, lacy, thong panties in his
hand. "Hi Ranko!"
Ranko twitched as Happosai disappeared down the
street. "Ok, I think I'm going to die from embarrassment."
* * *
"But Great-grandmother!"
"No buts, Mousse. You must marry Ranko Saotome.
She carries a very strong Amazon bloodline." Cologne
looked at her only grandchild, who was quite reluctant to
follow her plan.
"But I don't love Ranko. I've never seen her at all!"
Mousse complained. "I only love Shampoo."
"Well Mousse, who are you going to listen to? Some
half-rated Amazon or your Great-grandmother?" Cologne
stood in front of Mousse, somehow a menacing figure
despite the fact that she was way shorter and shriveled
compared to him.
"You. but." Mousse answered.
"Good, you are going to marry Ranko and that's that.
She is going to be a very good Amazon. I can see it, she
has the blood within her. It's quite strange though,
considering neither her father nor her brother ever had
demonstrated any useful traits. A shame." Cologne was
busy unpacking clothing, and hanging them in the closet.
Cologne continued talking as she worked. "Mousse, I
have worked hard for 12 years for this day, praying that
Ranko would indeed be the one, and my labor has worked
off. Within the week, you are to challenge Ranma Saotome
to a duel. And I believe you will find it easy to defeat
him." Cologne had a weird smile on her face.
"How are you so sure?" Mousse was sometimes afraid
of what his great-grandmother was willing to do to preserve
the amazons.
"I already told you before, I worked hard for 12 years."
Cologne handed Mousse some of his clothing. "I know
Ranma Saotome will be no match for you."
* * *
"Not fast enough!" Happosai barked at Ranma, who was
quickly becoming frustrated. "Ranma, I didn't bother to
teach you techniques to watch you sit there all day and
guess what to do. When I call out, I expect you to instantly
know the answer!"
Ranma grumbled. `So old man, you want to see fast?
I'll show you fast.' Ranma mentally loosened his muscles,
and prepared.
Nevertheless, Happosai was impressed with Ranma's
speed increase. "Very good Ranma. Let's proceed to the
next stage, using objects and pressure combinations. Now I
want you to watch me demonstrate the five basic
combinations on this dummy here." Ranma stared intently
at his Grandfather as he went through each specific form
briefly.
* * *
"Hey Ranma, how are you?" Hiroshi and Daisuke were
leaning against the fence. Ranma shrugged his shoulders
as he approached.
"I don't know, I sort of feel better than usual." Ranma
sighed, as he didn't like the idea of walking to school that
morning. "I just don't feel like going to school." Ranma's
voice faltered off, and he leaned against the fence.
"I know what you mean, Monday isn't exactly the best
day to have school." Ranma leaned stood up, and forced
himself to walk. Hiroshi and Daisuke both sighed, and they
followed Ranma.
Hiroshi looked at Daisuke. "Say, how was your
weekend?"
"It was marvelous. Kodachi, man, she knows how to
make me happy." Daisuke stretched his arms back and
stared at the sky as he reminisced the various things he did
with Kodachi that weekend.
"I really envy you." Hiroshi looked enviously at
Daisuke, who stuck his tongue out. Hiroshi then turned to
Ranma "Say what did you do this weekend? Was Nabiki
pissed?"
Ranma nodded. "She was royally pissed, but I think my
apology was accepted."
"You think?" Hiroshi was kind of interested in the fact
that Ranma made an apology. He usually never admitted to
making a mistake or a wrong-doing.
"Well, I was sort of unconscious before I could get her
reaction." Ranma sighed as he walked.
"Oh yeah, before I forget." Hiroshi rooted through his
pockets and brought a fist full of bills. "Here is for the
money you lent me." Ranma looked at Hiroshi for a bit,
and he shrugged his shoulders.
"Keep the money." Ranma coughed a little in the brisk
morning air. "Damn it's cold."
* * *
"Hey Ranma." Ranma was carefully putting his books
into locker.
Without even bothering to turn around, Ranma greeted
his visitor. "So what brings you to seek me? I don't do
business with you."
"This isn't about business, goddamn it." Nabiki felt
Ranma's single devotion to business was beginning to get
on her nerves. "I just wanted to talk with you privately."
Ranma looked at Hiroshi, who shrugged his shoulders.
"Very well, step into my office?" Ranma gestured to the
door.
Nabiki seemed a little put off. "That's the boys
lavatory."
Ranma snickered. "Well, I would personally prefer the
girls lav, but it seems that most girls in this school would
kill me if they found out I were in there." Ranma didn't
really know why he wanted to talk Nabiki in the boys
lavatory. Perhaps he just wanted to see how desperately
Nabiki wanted to talk to Ranma.
Nabiki hesitated for a bit.
* * *
Ryoga settled next to Ranko's desk. "Ranko, I delivered
the letter to Nabiki. She took the letter, no problem."
Ranko grinned. "Well, Ranma and Nabiki should be
making out in no time." A small smile surfaced on her
face.
Ryoga looked at Ranko. "And how do you know?"
Ranko giggled. "You didn't bother to read Ranma's
analysis of Nabiki. She really lacks a romantic interest. I
mean, most girls if they don't have boyfriends, they'll
probably go nuts over the first boy who shows interest in
them. And how better to show Ranma's interest by giving
Nabiki Ranma's portfolio on her?"
"So this is just a big gamble on your part?" Ryoga didn't
seem to understand how Ranko was so sure about Nabiki's
reaction. Ryoga remembered when he handed to envelope
to Nabiki, she wasn't to thrilled to see the contents.
* * *
Ranma saw on top of the sink as Nabiki stood still in
front of him. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"
Nabiki began to speak, when Ranma motioned her to stop.
Walking over to one of the stalls, Ranma banged on the
door. "Hey, you in there. Get out now, or I'll make sure
your girlfriend makes your life a living hell."
The stall door opened slightly, and as soon as the person
using the commode realized that it was Ranma Saotome,
there were the sounds of a person quickly pulling up his
pants and the toilet flushing. The student left the bathroom
as quickly as possible.
Ranma shrugged his shoulders. Nabiki pulled out a
manila envelope. "I just got this from your sister this
morning." She handed it to Ranma. Ranma looked at
Nabiki as he opened the envelope. There was a little letter
from Ranko as well as extra stuff.
"I read the entire letter, and the other notes inside. Did
you truly write those?" Ranma carefully unfolded a small
packet of paper within. It was a page from his file on
Nabiki.
Ranma choked up. "I didn't know that you kept such
detailed notes about me." Ranma leafed through the
folder, and everything was there: his estimates of Nabiki's
sizes, her classes, a rough approximation of her schedule,
pictures, her interests.
"Yes I did."
"Well mister." Nabiki stepped forward and jabbed
Ranma in the chest. "You'd better tell me a good reason
that you have all of this stuff on me. And you'd better tell
me how you got this information. And why."
"Collected it myself." Ranma seemed to sink down as
he didn't like to tell the truth, that he was interested in
Nabiki Tendo. "I don't know. I can't do anything else, so I
just did it to past the time."
Nabiki looked at Ranma, and everything about him
seemed to tell him that he wasn't doing a good job of lying.
He was staring at the ground. He was fiddling with his
fingers. Heck, she could tell that he had the barest tinges of
a blush.
"Is that so?" Nabiki took out a sheet of paper. "Ryoga
handed this to me personally, this is a list of arguments
claiming that you are interested in me." Ranma stared at
Nabiki.
"Damn Ranko, she's always trying to do this to me."
Ranma muttered.
"So why didn't you tell me at least to my face? Why did
you have to use Hiroshi?" Nabiki looked at Ranma, and
was surprised when his face began to harden.
"What do you think? Why would a girl like you want to
be associate with a person like me? I don't think that you'd
want to be associated with me. I guess I'd better leave
before anyone gets any ideas." Ranma walked briskly
towards the door.
"Would you please wait?" Nabiki followed Ranma.
Ranma pushed the door to the lavatory open, scaring the
hell out of Hiroshi. Nabiki was close behind. "Ranma,
please wait." Ranma didn't want to wait, he didn't want to
be anywhere near Nabiki at that moment. He started to
run.
Hiroshi looked at how fast Ranma ran off. "I didn't
know he could run that fast." Nabiki leaned against the
wall, staring at the sheet of paper in her hand. Hiroshi
suddenly swore. "Fuck, Ranma shouldn't be straining
himself like that." Hiroshi grabbed Ranma's satchel and
ran down the hall.
Nabiki looked at Hiroshi. "What do you mean?"
Hiroshi paused. "If you haven't noticed, Ranma is weak.
If he overexerts himself, he could faint and stop breathing."
Hiroshi didn't feel like divulging anymore. Nabiki decided
to follow Hiroshi.
The reached the end of the hall, and there was still no
sign of Ranma. "You go outside, I'll check the second
floor." Hiroshi made his way towards the stairs.
Nabiki jogged around the school, her eyes quickly
scanning around. She practically made her way around the
school once, when she noticed Ranma on the ground. She
ran up, and kneeled next to Ranma. Ranma seemed to be
fighting for air as he laid on the ground.
Nabiki rolled Ranma over. "You idiot. What are you
trying to do? Kill yourself?"
Ranma muttered between gasps. "Perhaps it's better that
way." Ranma closed his eyes. Nabiki seemed afraid for a
moment, and she shook Ranma a bit.
Ranma coughed, and his eyes flickered for a moment
and then locked open. "So do you admit that you're in love
with me?" Nabiki looked intently at Ranma.
"You're going to be my sister." Ranma said, as his
breathing slowly returned to normal. Ranma looked
helpless as Nabiki was holding his head.
"That doesn't answer my question." Nabiki stared at
Ranma, who immediately looked the other way.
"No. I don't." Ranma tried his best to sound sure of
himself, but he sounded like a bad tape recording.
Nabiki had to smile. "You're a bad liar, you know?"
Ranma didn't return the smile.
"I can't love you." Ranma shook off Nabiki's hands and
slowly stood up. His muscles which ached suddenly
spasmed and he fell back down. Nabiki tried to help
Ranma up, but he shook off her help. "You're going to be
my sister. It's wrong for me to love you." Ranma
grimaced slightly, and he walked away.
Ranma walked away with a heavy feeling in his heart.
For awhile, he had been truly interested in Nabiki. He had
seen her, heard about her, learned all that he could about
her. The single problem was that he knew that it was
practically impossible for a girl like Nabiki to be attracted
to him. And finally, after their parents were going to be
married, Nabiki admitted that she could love him.
* * *
Ranko watched Ranma as he walked home. Apparently,
her plans had not developed the way that she wanted them
to. "Ryoga, what did you think happened?" Both watched
Ranma walk home, a little ways ahead of them. Without
even seeing his face, they both could tell Ranma wasn't
smiling at all.
"I don't know. Maybe Ranma is scared of entering a
relationship." Ryoga offered.
"Maybe you are right. But I can't really imagine Ranma
actually afraid of something. I mean when I threaten him,
he doesn't turn and run." Ranko played with her pigtail.
"I don't mean that type of scared, Ranko." Ryoga
grabbed Ranko by the arm and tried to tickle her.
"Hey! You know that I'm ticklish! Stoppit!" Ranko
started giggling before Ryoga even touched her.
* * *
Kasumi couldn't help but notice the troubled face on
Nabiki as she walked into the Tendo home. With a worried
look, Kasumi closed her books and walked over to Nabiki.
"Nabiki what happened? Did Ranma try to take advantage
of you again?" Kasumi looked over Nabiki, and from what
Nabiki told her, she was beginning to develop a little
dislike for Ranma Saotome. In Kasumi's opinion, any man
who had to gall to play with a woman's feelings did not
have the right to experience true love.
"No. It's not that." Nabiki sighed as Kasumi took her
coat and hung it in the closet for her. "It's just that I find it
strange to even begin to understand Ranma."
A look passed Kasumi's face. "Oh, and what about this
Ranma?" Nabiki couldn't help but find an acrid tone in her
older sister's voice.
"Well, Ranko sort of gave this to me." Nabiki opened
her satchel and handed the manila envelope to Kasumi.
"She says that Ranma has a crush on me."
Kasumi took the envelope and peered inside. There
were plenty of photographs and other stuff inside. Kasumi
did have to admit, it was the work of a rather dedicated
individual. "And what does Ranma say?"
"He won't say anything. He even tried to run away from
me." Kasumi closed the envelope and handed it back to
Nabiki.
"He tried?" Kasumi was surprised with Nabiki's choice
of words.
"Well, he collapsed. All he would say was that I was
going to be his sister, and that it was wrong for him to show
any interest in me. He left right after that."
Kasumi shrugged her shoulders as she cleared away her
books in preparation for dinner. "Well, I must agree with
Ranma. It wouldn't be proper, considering he is going to
become our brother."
Chapter 10
Ranko dashed down the stairs. "Oh great! I'm going to
be late!"
Nodoka shouted. "Don't stay out too late! You still
have to do your work!" Ranko almost grimaced as soon as
Nodoka mentioned school work, and she ran out the door.
However, normally she would continue through the yard,
out the front gate, and proceed down the street, but today
was different. As Ranko passed the front door, she turned
her head in time to see Ranma staring outside as if he
didn't have a reason to go out at all. She did have to admit,
recently Ranma was more depressed than usual, and as a
caring and concerned sister, she reversed gears and entered
the house again.
"Say Ranma, do you want to come out with Ryoga and
me?" Ranko looked at her brother who stared at nothing in
particular.
"No thanks." Ranma didn't even bother to turn his head.
Ranko suddenly got one of those determined looked on
her face, and she walked up to her brother, grabbed his
arm, and yanked. "You're coming along with me now. No
reason keeping you in the house all day!"
* * *
Ranma sighed as he watched his sister kidding around
with Ryoga. There were moments in his life, he wished
that he could just redo over, and remove those mistakes.
One of those moments was six years ago, he wished that he
didn't wander into that cave. But as he thought about it,
questions entered his head. `Then, what kind of person I
would be like?'
"Hey Ranma, are you coming or what?" Ranma's head
looked up, and he realized that while thinking, he had been
standing still while Ranko covered a block with Ryoga.
Ranma mentally slapped himself, it wasn't like him not
to pay attention to what was happening. He started to walk,
but even as he began his step, he could hear something. In
a unready position, he decided perhaps it was better to
dodge backwards, and with all his energy, he fell
backwards.
It was fortunate as a spiked ball crashed into the ground,
throwing bits of cement everywhere. "Ranma Saotome, I,
Mousse, challenge you for the right to marry your sister."
Ranma barely gasped as the giant ball basically had
scared his skeleton out of him. "And who said that I have
to right to choose whom my sister marries?"
Mousse didn't answer, instead a long wicked blade slide
out of sleeves and into his hand. "Well, in that case,
prepare to die!" Ranma rolled out of the way, allowing the
blade to pass him and split the concrete beneath him.
Ranko stood shocked at a boy with long hair who had
appeared practically out of nowhere and had attacked her
brother without provocation. She clenched her fists. "You
asshole!"
Mousse turned around, and managed to finally see
Ranko for once. His great-grandmother hadn't been joking
when she said Ranko had Amazon qualities. She was slim
and beautiful, and she did seem somewhat angry at the
moment. However, it is not good to direct your attention
elsewhere in a fight, as Ranma pushed himself off the
ground towards Mousse.
Mousse heard the rush of air, but it was too late.
Whipping his head back, Mousse saw Ranma stab at his
chest with four fingers. Mousse had to snicker at the
feebleness of his attack. `What does he think he is? I
barely felt that.' Mousse tried to attack, but suddenly
realized with horror that his entire body had locked up.
Ranko charged Mousse, and she leaped up high into the
air. Ranma heard his sister jump, and realizing what she
intended to do, Ranma rolled away to the side as Ranko
landed on Mousse, driving his face into the ground.
"And nobody, nobody ever picks on my brother like that!
You hear me!" Ranko leaped off Mousse's head, and
helped pull Ranma to his feet. "Ranma, are you ok?"
Ranko seemed extremely concerned as she quickly looked
over Ranma.
Ranma did have to give the boy on the ground some
credit. "Thanks Ranko, if you weren't here, I probably
wouldn't be standing now."
Ranko nodded. "That was some cool move you did.
What happened to him? He didn't even bother to dodge
my attack!"
Ranma shrugged his shoulders. "It was something that
Grandfather had been teaching me." Ranma looked at
Mousse, who was barely moving, and then he looked at his
hands. "I'd never thought it would be so effective." For
once, he felt grateful for his Grandfather's drilling. After a
week and a half of training, Ranma was surprised when he
had almost reacted on instinct.
"Yeah, watching him try to move gives me the creeps.
Come on Ranma." Ranko grabbed Ranma, and dragged
him away.
As soon as Ranko, Ranma, and Ryoga disappeared into
the distance, and old woman landed next to Mousse.
"Mousse, you ought to be ashamed of yourself! A nearly
crippled boy bested you!" Grumbling furiously, Cologne
flipped Mousse onto his back, and poked at various points
on his body.
Mouse could finally move his body again. "Great-
grandmother, what did he do?"
Cologne seemed contemplative. "So even when he
couldn't continue to study the art, he found something else
to study. Interesting indeed. This almost changes the
picture, Mousse. Come along."
* * *
"Who is Mousse?" Ranma asked Ranko. "He seemed a
little too eager to marry you."
Ranko shrugged her shoulders. "How am I supposed to
know?" After the brief confrontation with Mousse, Ranma
and Ranko both stopped by Ryoga's home to drop him off
before continuing on to their home. Unknown to both of
then, a hooded figure was trailing them.
Ranko slammed the front door open. "Taidama!" she
shouted as she walked into the Saotome home. Ranma was
right after her, his ears still ringing because Ranko had
really shouted rather loud.
Nodoka walked out of the kitchen to welcome her
children home. "Ranko, Ranma. Did you have a nice
afternoon? Ranko, please set the dinner table. Dinner is
just about ready.
* * *
Ranma stared at the table, noticing the absence of
Grandfather Happosai. "Where is Grandfather?" Nodoka
seemed nervous for a moment.
"Well grandfather had some business to take care of, so
he won't be able to stay at our house for awhile. He'll be
staying at a local hotel." Ranma shrugged his shoulders.
Ranko muttered. "No, it just that he went into hiding
elsewhere so people won't be tearing this house down."
Ranma managed to force down a few bites, when his
stomach just couldn't take it anymore. No, it wasn't the
food, as Nodoka did know how to prepare a good dish.
Rather, Ranma wasn't feeling particularly good that day.
Perhaps it had to do with Nabiki.
"Mother, I'm full now." Ranma stood up, and opening
the back door, he went to the back porch. Back porches
tend to be funny places indeed, they offered Ranma a
source of inspiration during hard times.
Ranko sighed for a bit. Nodoka looked at Ranko.
"What is making Ranma feel so low?"
"Oh, he's having problems with a girl. He told me."
Ranko started on her second bowl of rice. "I think he can't
admit that he likes her."
Nodoka had to smile, as it seemed a positive thing for
Ranma to actually start looking at girls. But then again,
since it was making Ranma depressed, the smile quickly
wanned. "I hope Ranma learns not to take everything too
seriously."
* * *
Ranko sighed as she walked up the stairs. It seemed that
everything Ranma had to do, worried her. But somehow,
somehow she was amazed with Ranma. As she reached to
top, she thought about the days events, Ranma doing
something to Mousse, so he couldn't move, even after
getting his face shoved into the ground.
`How did Ranma ever learn to do that? He said
grandfather taught him.' Ranko sighed as she reached her
door, and carefully opened it. `I hope I could learn that. It
would be a nice trick.'
"You will die!" Ranko looked into her room, and found
a cloaked figure, carrying two bonbori, waiting to ambush
her. The unknown figure charged Ranko, and Ranko easily
ducked her attacks. `Damn she's good. I'd better do
something quickly.'
Ranko backflipped, and whipped her legs through the
air. Her assailant was forced to stop, as Ranko's feet
whizzed by the person's face by mere inches. Ranko took
advantage of the distraction, and she pounded the person
with punches, kicks, and pushed him out the window..
"Don't people have the decency to pick a fight
elsewhere?" Ranko clapped her hands clean and locked
the window.
* * *
Ranma heard a cry and a splash behind him. Sitting up,
Ranma looked at the pond in the backyard, and he could
barely make out something struggling in the pond. With a
complete disregard for the fact that it was raining, Ranma
allowed his curiosity to get the better of him, and he
walked out into the yard.
Wiping back his hair, which had drooped down to cover
his front eyes. Ranma looked in the pond, and found a
rather cute cat struggling to keep it's head above the
surface. Ranma felt sorry as he watched the cat fight a
losing battle against drowning, and out of sympathy,
Ranma grabbed the cold cat.
Immediately the cat tried to claw at him, but Ranma
didn't care, kneeling on the ground, Ranma held up the cat
and looked at it closely. "You're cute." Noticing that no
one was watching him, Ranma briefly smiled at the cat
before taking it into the house.
Fortunately no one was paying attention to Ranma.
Holding the cat tightly, partially to warm it up, partially to
hide it, and partially to keep it from clawing him, he
walked up the stairs. Reaching the second floor, Ranma
looked around and was satisfied that Ranko's bedroom
door was closed. He opened the bathroom door, and
grabbed a towel before disappearing into his room.
Once Ranma had closed and locked his door, Ranma
proceeded to dry off the cat with the towel. In the better
light, Ranma had a chance to better examine the cat.
Apparently it was a female cat with a nice flowing hair.
Two hair ornaments were in the cat's hair, and Ranma had
to smile as the they shook about, reflecting light in a
peculiar way.
Fortunately for Ranma, the cat seemed to realize that
Ranma didn't mean any harm, and she allowed him to
handle her.
The cat meowed at Ranma. Ranma looked at the cat.
"What's wrong? Are you hungry?" The cat meowed again,
somewhat more intensely. Ranma figured that the cat
meant yes. Placing the cat on his bed, Ranma walked up to
the door. "I'll be back. Stay there."
The cat watched as Ranma exited the room, and tried to
follow him out the door, but Ranma shut the door before
the cat could get out. With a desolate meow, the cat looked
all over the room. It just seemed rather spartan, nothing
much impressive. There were a ton of photographs
everywhere, but nothing much else.
Ranma carefully padded down the stairs, and walked
into the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, Ranma looked
at the rather wide selection of food. There was some left
over fish, and some other stuff that seemed rather decent.
Shrugging his shoulders, Ranma decided that it was best to
get a wide variety of stuff for his new pet.
Ranma stopped himself, as he stared out the window.
`My pet? The cat probably already has an owner. But, I
can't explain why I like it.' Ranma sighed.
The cat sighed, or meowed, desolately before settling her
head on the soft bedspread. Suddenly, the doorknob
turned, and in came Ranma. But to the cat's
disappointment, Ranma closed the door behind him. Well,
it wasn't a complete disappointment, as the cat could see
that he had brought a nice selection of food.
"Ok, Cat, I just couldn't decide what to get, but I got you
a little sampler." Ranma set a dish filled with various food
on the floor, and he set a small bowl of milk next to it. The
cat cautiously walked up to the food and sniffed it. After
the initial examination, the cat took it's first bite, and then
launched into a feeding.
Ranma smiled again, as he had to respect the cat. The
cat seemed not to have a single care in the world as it ate.
Ranma took off his outer clothes and such, and laid on bed.
He felt something soft land on his bed, and Ranma reached
down to pet the cat. "What would I give to be like you.
Without a single care in the world." Ranma looked down
at the cat, and scratched it behind the ears. "Of course, you
couldn't possible understand what I'm saying. Goodnight I
guess." Ranma reached over, and turned off his desklamp.
* * *
A little boy stared at his surroundings, absolutely
terrified. He seemed to not be in a recognizable place, all
around him were smaller huts and other nonpermanent
structures. The boy tried to move his legs, or to be more
specific, move in general, but found that he couldn't.
Immediately, panic seized him, and turning his head
around, the boy could focus on people. They all spoke in a
language he could not understand.
He felt something land on his chest, and directing his
attention upwards, he could see an old withered woman
looking down at him. She seemed to be speaking Japanese,
but given the state of shock, the boy couldn't understand at
all.
The lady grabbed him, and with he index finger and
middle finger, stabbed at some point on Ranma's chest. As
soon as she poked at those locations, Ranma felt all of his
nerves burn alive, and all of the pain that had built up in his
legs flashed through into his head. But at the same time, he
felt that he had lost something.
* * *
Ranma reached over, and slammed the alarm. It wasn't
even the next day, it was only 11 at night. With a groan, he
scratched himself, and carefully, without disturbing the cat,
he went to take a bath.
After Ranma showered his body clean and settled into
the tub, he couldn't help but think about Nabiki. `Why
can't I admit that I'm at least interested in her.' With a
sigh, he sank as deep as he could into the tub without
drowning, allowing the hot water to wash over as much of
his body as possible.
Suddenly he heard screaming. "Yah! It's a cat!" It was
Ranko. Ranma grumbled as it was apparent that Ranko
had gone to his room and disturbed the cat. Climbing out
of the tub, Ranma carefully dried himself off and dressed
up in some clothes before opening the door.
He had to laugh. Ranko was running like wild up and
down the hall with the cat chasing after her. Without
provocation, Ranko leaped into Ranma's arms, and pointed
at the cat. "Make that cat go away!!"
"Sure, Sure thing." As Ranma dropped Ranko on the
ground, he couldn't help but notice the cat baring it's teeth
at Ranko. Ranma picked up the cat, and as soon as the cat
saw Ranma, a look of reluctance passed over its face.
"Please don't pick on my sister? She doesn't like cats."
Ranma placed the cat on his shoulder, and he went into his
room.
Ranko was virtually paralyzed, as Ranma placed the cat
on his shoulder, the cat had turned its head and gave her the
most chilling stare ever. `I can't believe Ranma actually
likes that cat.'
* * *
Mousse stood across from Cologne. "But Great-
grandmother, how am I to win if Ranma can stop me just
by touching me?" Mousse had expected an easy win that
day, but after watching Ranma stop him with a total of four
fingers, Mousse was developing a healthy respect for
Ranma's capabilities.
Cologne knocked her great-grandson on the head. "You
idiot, all you need to do is find something to neutralize
Ranma's effectiveness, and I just have the perfect idea in
mind."
"How is that?" Mousse asked. Cologne sighed, silently
wondered where Mousse had inherited his lack of
intelligence from.
"All you need to do is prevent Ranma from getting close
to you, then his attacks are useless. Mousse, all you need
to do is to attack him from afar. Then your victory is
certain." A smile surfaced on Mousse's face.
"Then I win the right to be betrothed to Ranko?"
Mousse had to admit, he did like Ranko, a lot. For him, it
was the combination of a rather good figure, excellent skill
in the martial arts. "And boy, she actually looks beautiful."
Cologne had to smile, at least Ranko would be able to
take her great-grandson's mind off other less capable
Amazons.
* * *
The next day in the afternoon, Soun actually felt
something strange was happening. His home was too quiet.
Putting down his newspaper, he slowly wandered from
room to room perhaps trying to find some sign of life. He
walked to the kitchen. No one was there. He tried the
dining room. There was no indication that someone was
there recently.
Soun looked into the backyard, and there was nobody.
`Hmmm, I wonder where is everyone?' Just at that
moment, Nabiki calmly walked down the stairs. "Ah,
Nabiki, you wouldn't happen to know where Kasumi and
Akane are?"
Nabiki grimaced for a moment. "Sure thing, Kasumi's
out with Tofu, and Akane is somewhere in a fancy
restaurant with Kuno." Nabiki opened the closet, and took
out her jacket.
"And where are you going?" Soun didn't relish the idea
of fending for himself for dinner. "What am I going to do
for dinner?"
"I'm going out. Well, maybe you could go ask Mrs.
Saotome for help." Nabiki ran out the door.
Soun watched Nabiki walk out into the rain. Looking up
at the sky, Soun couldn't help but notice the rain clouds on
the horizon. He tried to tell Nabiki to bring an umbrella,
but he realized she was gone. `Well, no harm done.' He
walked into the house to use the telephone.
* * *
Ranma looked at his planner on his desk, when he
noticed that he had a monster essay to finish in three days.
`Great, I completely forgot about that.' Ranma petted the
cat, who was cleaning itself on his desk. "Well, I think a
trip to the library is about due." Ranma paused, listening to
the raindrops crash into the roof. "But, I'd wish that it
wouldn't rain."
Ranma slowly put on his jacket, and was about to leave,
when on second thought he grabbed the cat and placed it in
his jacket. "I guess it would be mean of me to keep you
cooped up in this room all day." Ranma walked
downstairs, and grabbed an umbrella from the closet. He
then made his way to the library.
The trip wasn't so bad, although Ranma had to admit, it
was a funny feeling to have a cat moving around in his
jacket. Ranma pulled down the zipper far enough so the
cat could at least get some air and look outside. Ranma
paused outside of the library to transfer his cat into his
satchel. "Sorry, but the guards here do not like cats. Try to
be quiet."
It amazed Ranma when the cat seemed to understand
him, and it remained quiet in his satchel as he calmly
walked past the guards and the librarians. As soon as
Ranma made it past the reading room into the stalls,
Ranma placed him satchel on the desk, and allowed the cat
to come out.
"I'll be right back, so don't try to get into trouble."
Ranma scratched the cat affectionately. For some reason,
Ranma found it easier to relate his emotions to the cat,
rather than other people. Ranma was quite surprised when
the cat settled down, and scarcely made a noise. Ranma
headed off to the stacks to do some research for his essay.
With a sigh, Ranma looked at the total of three books
that he had found for his subject. `Well, it isn't that bad. If
I get creative enough, I probably can b.s. the rest of the
essay.' Ranma leafed through the first book, when he
accidentally bumped into someone. His first instinct was to
protest the other person's obvious mistake.
"Hey, why don't you." He found himself looking at
Nabiki. "Oh, sorry." He finished off sheepishly. Ranma
bent down and collected his books. "I guess I should have
been more careful." Standing up, he chanced a look at
Nabiki again, realizing that she was sort of wet.
"Oh, that's no problem." Nabiki walked past Ranma.
He continued on his way. Settling down at his desk,
Ranma dropped his books on the table, and started to skim
them. However, he couldn't study at all. Sighing rather
loudly, he leaned back in his chair, and allowed his mind to
wander.
Forty minutes was more than agonizing for Ranma, and
grabbing the books, and placing the cat into his satchel,
Ranma decided it was time that he left the library. Sure the
library had been quiet, but it was quiet to the point of being
unearthly silent. With books in one hand, and satchel slung
over his shoulder, Ranma was disheartened to see that the
rain was coming down, as heavy as ever.
Ranma went outside, and right outside the door, he
quickly transferred the cat onto his shoulder and the books
into his satchel. Ranma looked took out his umbrella, and
opened it. "A cute cat, Ranma. Is it yours?" Ranma
turned around to find Nabiki standing behind him.
Nabiki was amazed to actually see Ranma smile as he
reached up to touch the cat. "Yeah, it's temporary. I
guess, that is, until my mother finds out I have a cat. I
guess she would freak out if I actually took in a stray."
"Well that's nice, I guess I'll go home." Nabiki closed
her satchel, and walked into the rain. Ranma stood there
for a moment, watching Nabiki gradually get wet. With a
grumble, Ranma raised his umbrella and followed Nabiki.
Nabiki muttered to herself. "Just great. I'm going to
look as if I went swimming. I'll probably get a cold." At
that moment, Nabiki suddenly realized that something was
on top of her. Looking to her side quickly, she noticed
Ranma standing there with an exasperated look on his face.
"I guess since your home is on the way to my home,
might as well share the umbrella with you." Nabiki gave
Ranma a shocked look, as it was quite obvious that he was
trying hard to sound grumpy.
Nabiki pointed over her shoulder. "Um Ranma, your
house is back there, down that street."
Ranma sigh. "Very well. Here." Ranma pressed the
umbrella into Nabiki's hands and walked off. "See you
tomorrow."
Nabiki watched Ranma trudge off into the rain. "Hey,
wait. I didn't mean for you to leave!"
Ranma groaned as he walked into the house. The cat
leaped off his shoulder and shook itself dry before walking
up the stairs. Ranma coughed a little. "I wish I could do
that." Ranma hanged his jacket in the closet and followed
the cat to his room. Dropping his books in the corner,
Ranma felt another spasm of coughing, as he wiped his
face dry with his sleeve.
Ranma looked at the dresser, and he began to take off his
clothes as he walked over to it, but something went wrong,
Ranma felt something seize his head, and fell onto the
ground. `Shit, it's another migraine.' Ranma thought as he
tried to get up, but he was completely disorientated. `It
must have been the rain.'
The cat seemed to know something was wrong, and it
jumped onto Ranma's chest. Taking a look at Ranma's
face, the cat noticed that the door was open, and she dashed
out of the room trying to find some help. The door to
Ranko's room was open slightly, and the cat poked its head
in. Ranko was in, fortunately, answering the telephone.
Trying to put aside it's hatred of Ranko, the cat leaped
onto the bed next to Ranko. "Meow." Ranko froze and
stopped talking, as she slowly turned her head to find
herself face to face with the cat. "Meow."
Ranko screamed. "It's a cat!! It's a cat!!" She then
leaped off the bed in an attempt to get away from the
feline.
"Meow!" Fortunately for Ranko's sake, the cat didn't
feel like attacking her and it gave Ranko a look that
conveyed the message, "Follow me or else," and it ran out
of the room. Ranko, by summoning all of her will, was
able to follow the cat into her brother's room, where she
found Ranma on the floor.
"Ranma!" Ranko kneeled next to Ranma. Ranko was
surprised to find the cat rubbing its face next to Ranma's.
"Ranma what's wrong?"
"I'm having a migraine." Ranma groaned as felt the
migraine shift gears from a low continuous pain to sharp
and random bursts.
Ranko felt Ranma's head. "Not only that, you seem to
be getting a cold. I'll go get mother."
* * *
Nodoka smiled as she looked at the cat. "What a cute
cat! And helpful too. Thank you for looking after Ranma."
Surprisingly, she had not thrown out the cat as Ranma had
feared. "Here, why don't you run along and play, and I'll
check Ranma."
The cat seemed hesitant, leaped off the bed and ran out
of the room.