----- Original Message -----
From: <JLee100441@aol.com>
To: <ffml@anifics.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 31, 2004 12:48 AM
Subject: [FFML] [R1/2][GD] Neko Can't part 9

    Well heres part nine of Neko Can't. Hope you enjoy. Please send C&C to
JLee100441@aol.com.

Story status:
The next story I'll have out will probably be Red String of Fate part 3.

From

there? Who knows.

Privous parts of this story can be found at my website at
http://jlee.anifics.com/index.htm

Thanks
James


"It takes an idiot to do cool things. That's why it's cool!"-Haruhara

Haruko

_______________

Neko Can't

By: James Lee

Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me. Ranma 1/2 belongs to

Rumiko

Takahashi. Gold Digger belongs to Fred Perry. Suing me would be pretty
useless.

Part 9

    "I can't believe father engaged us to some boy," bitched Akane as she

and

Nabiki
walked to school.
    "I figured dad would try something like this eventually," said Nabiki
thinking
about the events of the previous night.

*****

    "This is my good friend Genma Saotome." Said Soun introducing the

large

man
sitting at the table. The man was wearing a white gi and a handkerchief on
his head. "He
has just returned from China with very important business."
    "Important business?" asked Nabiki.
    "Yes, in a few days he and I will be leaving for the United States."
    "Oh my!" said Kasumi. Akane was a little more vocal.
    "You're going where?"
    "And just how do you plan to get to America?" asked Nabiki calmly. "It
isn't like
we have money for plane tickets."
    "That's where you girls come in."
    "What do you mean?" asked Akane.
    "We can use a little money from your college fund."
    "No."
    "We.what?" said the Elder Tendo turning to Nabiki.
    "That money is to pay for our education."
    "This is much more important than that," said Soun.
    Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"
    "It's a matter of family honor," said Genma.
    "And what is this family honor matter that is more important than our
future?"
    "Well umm." Nabiki could tell her father was stalling. This was not

good.

Usually when he stalled like this it involved some get rich quick scam.

"Out

with it
Daddy."
    "Your fianc�?se is in America."
    "Our fianc�?se!" yelled Akane.
    "Ah yes, Genma and I promised our children would marry, before you

were

born.
If one of you were to marry Genma's son, then the future of this dojo

would

be secure."
    "Oh my."
    "We don't get a say in who we're going to marry?"
    "So why is his son in America and not here?" asked Nabiki.
    "Oh the tragedy," sobbed Genma. "My son was kidnapped by gajin who

know

nothing of the ways of martial arts. Ten long years I've searched for him;
dreaming of the
day when we would joyously be reunited."
    "Genma has just found the exact location of his son in the US. We must
move
quickly if we are to rescue him," continued Soun.
    "What is your son's name Mr. Saotome," asked Kasumi.
    "Ranma, his name is Ranma," Nabiki raised an eyebrow at that. Soun

also

looked
thoughtful for a moment, but quickly dismissed it. There was no way he

could

be the
same boy.
    "Oh my isn't that." Kasumi stopped and looked at Nabiki who had poked

her

in
the side. Nabiki shook her head.  This wasn't lost on Akane. Nabiki then
looked back at
her father.
    "I have to think about it."
    "Nabiki!" cried Soun. He then turned to Akane. "Akane."
    "No, no way! I'm not getting married to any boy!"
    Soun then turned to the eldest of his daughters. He could always count

on

Kasumi. "Kasumi please, it's a matter of family honor."
    "Well ah."
    "Forget it, you already spent hers remember," hissed Nabiki. Last year
her father
had asked for Kasumi to let him us her college fund to help repair the

dojo.

Instead Soun
had lost most of it in a TV scam and had spent the rest on sake and
cigarettes. Nabiki had
not yet forgiven him for that. Kasumi did still have a college fund, as
Nabiki had taken
half of her own college fund and deposited it in a secret account. She

would

give it to her
sister when she finally decided to find a life for herself.
    "B-But." Nabiki ignored her father as she headed up to bed.

Actually, it does make sense that Nabiki is 'officially' in charge
of the Tendo Family finances, fanfic convention aside, Soun is
too easily cuaght up is other people's scams even in cannon.
Kasumi, in this story, had her future derailed, which may have
been a result of her being unwilling to dissapoint her father, but
after that she'd bow to Nabiki (who had probably been 'in charge'
of the Tendo finances even then, but who was unable to stop her
older sister from throwing away her money). This Nabiki probably
doesn't particularly like some of what she has to do to keep her family
solvant as shown by her tendancy to keep her opperations 'clean'
in previous chapters. Further, she is a quick thinker who is able to
remain calm, cool, and collected under most cercumstances.

Ranma Diggers, at this point, represents Nabiki's first legitimate
business contact powerful enough to actually aid her in getting her
family back on track without her having to resort to questionable
practices. By cultivating a friendship with him and his girlfriend,
as opposed to resorting to the scams she pulls off on Kuno, she is
making a long term investment that will pay off in the future, when
her family needs it.

Not that Nabiki is that cold about it, as friendship goes both ways.
It's not just a monetary investment, but an emotional one as well,
which means, by including Ranma in her potential circle of friends,
Nabiki is willing to look out for him, perhaps as much as she'd look
out for her own family (or more so, considering the foolishness of a
certain father of hers).

*****

Back in the present.
    "So why didn't you tell them about Ranma Diggers?" asked Akane.
    "You in that much of a hurry to get married?" asked Nabiki.
    "What, to that freak? No way!"
    "Relax, I'm joking," said Nabiki. "The truth is I don't want to give
Daddy the
wrong idea. Diggers may not be Mr. Saotome's son. Even if he is, I don't

buy

that
bullshit sob story Mr. Saotome gave us last night. If Ranma is his son, I
want to hear his
side of things."
    "Who cares what his story is? That reminds me, I have to challenge him

to

a real
fight," said Akane squeezing her fist.

Akane is most likely more annoyed about being defeated by a boy
in her own Dojo than she is about Ranma's curse at this point. Still,
even admitting that much would meen admitting to herself that she is
being petty, something her pride won't easily permit. Typical
transferal, really. Not irraversable by this point though, and she may
eventually put it asside and begin to feel some sympathy for Ranma
later on. Especially if she doesn't have to marry him.

    {Ah yes. Why embarrass yourself in the privacy of your own home when

you

can
do so in front of everyone?} thought Nabiki. Both she and her sister then
stopped as they
reached school grounds. "What the."
    All around them were the knocked out bodies of boys, many of them in
Kendo
gear. Nabiki immediately recognized several as die hard Akane fan boys.

She

didn't even
have to guess what had happen.
    No doubt several of the boys were too stupid to take Ranma's warning

and

the
results of his fight with Kuno seriously. The kendo team probably wasn't

too

happy to
have their captain utterly defeated either. They no doubt attacked Monique
and Ranma
defended her.
    "Hey, this was my fight!" yelled Akane. How dare he interfere in her
morning
fights? Sure she didn't like them, but this was her fight.
    "I don't think it was today, Sis," said Nabiki. Seeing her sister only
getting
angrier, the middle Tendo just shook her head.

Akane apparently forgot all about Kuno's threat to Monique...

*****

    At lunch time Nabiki started to look for Ranma. Seeing him sitting

under

a tree
next to Monique, she walked up to them. "Hey Ranma, Monique."
    Ranma looked up from his lunch. "Nabiki? Is this about Akane?"
    Nabiki shook her head. Just as she said, Akane challenged Ranma to
another fight
just moments ago. Ranma had once again dodged everything she threw at him
then
gracefully put Akane into the school swimming pool. Fortunately her

friends

fished her
out before she drowned. Normally she would be upset at such a thing, but

one:

her sister
had asked for it and two: how was Ranma supposed to know she couldn't

swim.

Remarkable insight, and typical Nabiki - especially since Akane wasn't
really
hurt in this case. Nabiki has already admitted to herself that Akane needs
to
be taken down a peg or two before her attitude gets her into real trouble,
and
Ranma has already shown that he can do so without causing anymore injury
than
absolutely nessessary. The pool is no different, as Ranma didn't know
certain
facts. It just means that Nabiki should tell him that her sister swims like
a rock.

Not right now though, as she probably has a higher priority subject on her
mind...

"No
Ranma, I need to ask you about something."
    "Oh, what?'
    Nabiki looked around to make sure no one overheard them. It wouldn't

do

for
people to find out about the engagement just yet. "Does the name Genma
Saotome mean
anything to you?"
    Ranma frowned at the mentioning of his father. "What about him?"
    "He showed up at our door last night. Both he and daddy now want money

to

go
to the US to find his son."
    "If you know what's good for your family, you'll get rid of him."
    "Is that a threat?"

Legitimate question. It should probably be accompanied by Nabiki
leveling her gaze, or lowering her voice, or some other effect.

    "No, I'm just warning you. The man is nothing but trouble. He'll

probably

eat you
out of house and home if you're not careful."
    Nabiki nodded. From what she had seen at breakfast, she could tell

Ranma

was
telling the truth. "So I take it you're his son then."
    "I haven't been his son in over ten years," said the boy, with no

small

amount of
venom in his voice.
    "Can you tell me what happen?" asked the girl. "We heard Genma's story
last
night. He said you were kidnapped by foreigners."
    "I don't think the police count as foreigners."
    "The police?" asked Nabiki although she wasn't really surprised that

the

story that
the story Genma gave was a lie. She was however, concerned about the

police

being
involved. If that were the case, it could lead to trouble for her family.

Well, Police that removed Ranma from an abusive father are not likely
to look kindly on a man who's depending on his underaged daughters for
financial stability, especially if they look deeper and see just what Nabiki
has had to do to maintain that stability. Nabiki would do well to ask Ranma
for help in finding something legitimate to do to keep her family solvant.
This would show the authorities that, given the opportunity, she'd rather be
legitimate than not, especially if she turns her meager organization
entirely
towards these new activities.

Not that Nabiki is likely to face too much time in Juvinile Court. In this
case it would be more along the lines of keeping her family from being
broken up by social workers due to the Father's apparent inability to
maintain enough financial responcibility to take care of his children.

Or, depending on the Court, not doing much of anything other than
keeping an eye on Nabiki, thus preventing her from using her current
practices to support her family.

This though, assumes that Nabiki is either the sole souce of the Tendo
Family income, or a key factor in controlling the household finances.
The first is unlikely, considering that she's scamming high school
students who have limmited funds (other than Kuno, and Nabiki usually
only scams him for the equivilent to $5.00 to $20.00 American, which
may be impressive for a high school student, but is hardly the tip of what
Kuno can actually throw away on a whim). Thus she is more likely
worried about controlling the damage cause by her Father's gullibility.
Nabiki isn't a shark for the sake of being a shark, but rather, she is a
shark for the sake of recognizing  and scaring off other predators.

    "Of course he wouldn't have mentioned that," Ranma continued. "Let me
tell you
about the Nekoken."
    Nabiki listen to Ranma as he told her about Nekoken training, being
rescue by the
Kyoto police, and his adoption by the Diggers family. Ranma also told her

of

the various
families that he had been sold to. Nabiki now understood completely why

the

boy wanted
nothing to do with Genma. Now she just needed to figure out what to do

next.

"Ranma,
as soon as Genma hears about you, both he and Daddy are going to come

looking

you."
    Ranma sighed, "I guess I better go and see him then."
    "Ranma?" asked Monique, who had been quietly listening to the
conversation.
She knew that he didn't care for his real father all that much, but this

had

been the first
time she had heard the whole story. She couldn't understand why he would

want

someone like that back in his life.
    "Don't get me wrong, if I never saw the bastard again, I'd be too

happy.

But I
can't hide from him and hope he never finds me. Besides there's a few

things

I like to
talk with him about." Ranma then turned to Nabiki. "Meet me at the gate

after

school."
    Nabiki nodded, while hoping her family home didn't get wreaked

tonight.

*****

    Later that afternoon found Nabiki standing with Akane next to the

school

gates.
    "How much longer are we going to have to wait," said Akane. It was bad
enough
that she had lost again, this time in front of the whole school, but now
Ranma really was
the boy one of them was supposed to marry. {He better not chose me.} The

very

idea of
being married to the sex changing pervert made her sick to her stomach.
    "You could go on home, you know," said Nabiki.
    "What? I'm not leaving you alone with that pervert."
    Nabiki was just about to respond to her sister's remarks, when Ranma
finally
arrived.
    "Sorry I took so long. I had to make a phone call."
    "Whatever, let's go!" growled Akane. Ranma had not rode his bike this
morning,
so he followed the girls as they walked to their home. As they walked

Ranma

prepared
himself for meeting his long lost father. There was no doubt that there

was

going to be an
argument. In fact it was probably guaranteed that the night would end in
violence. Then
there were the Tendos; just what type of deal had his father come up with
this time?
    "Hey, you shouldn't just ignore us you know." Akane yelled.
    "Excuse me?" asked Ranma.
    "Nabiki's been trying to talk to you," growled the short-tempered

girl.

    "Sorry, I've just have a lot on my mind right now."
    "It's alright," answered Nabiki. She couldn't imagine what it was like
for Ranma.
    "Just so you know, I'm not going to marry you," said Akane. Nabiki

closed

her
eyes and shook her head.
    "Don't worry, I don't plan to," said Ranma frowning. It was just as he
thought;
Genma had set up another marriage scam. Now all he had to do was figure

out

if this was
real or not. The fact that Genma came back to the Tendos seemed to show

that

he was
taking this one seriously. {Then again, he may just be using the

engagement

to get money
out the Tendos for his trip to the US.} All too soon for Ranma, they

arrived

at the Tendo
Dojo.
    Entering the Tendo compound the first person they ran into was Kasumi.
    "Hello Nabiki. Why is Mr. Diggers back?"
    "Simple Kasumi he's Genma's son."
    "Oh my. Father isn't going to be very happy about that."
    {I got the feeling that he's going to be less happy by the end of the
night} thought
Nabiki as they entered the house.
    Stepping into the living room, Ranma quickly noticed the two men

huddled

over a
shogi board. Ranma narrowed his eyes as he easily recognized Genma.

Although

it had
been ten years, the fat martial artist had not changed a bit.
    When Soun noticed Ranma, he bolted up, startling Genma. He then

stormed

up to
the boy. "What are you doing here!? I told you never to return."
    "I didn't mean to return so soon," said Ranma, still glaring at Genma.
"However I
have some things I need to discuss with my 'father'."
    Soun was taken back by this. However, as he thought about it, certain
things
started making sense. He had the same first name and he did come from
America. Still he
had to reprimand the upstart for the treatment of his fianc�?se, not to

mention

his cheating
with that gajin floozy.

Why is Soun assuming that Akane would be Ranma's fiancee? In cannon, Soun
first offered Ranma the choise of which daughter to be engaged to, and only
railroaded Akane into it after Kasumi and Nabiki had already railroaded
Akane
into it. In this case, the sister most likely to be railroaded into it by
the other two
is Nabiki, as both Kasumi and Akane already know that Nabiki and Ranma are
friends. This, by the way, would blindside Nabiki, as she has no way of
expecting
it. Not that she'd agree to it any more than Akane did in cannon.

Fortunately, Nabiki would be trying to keep out of the engagement while
retaining
Ranma as a friend. If Ranma and Monique decide to break up, she might
consider
dating Ranma, but she's not likely to be too willing to actually break them
up and
potentially ruin either of their friendships with her.

    Fortunately, before Soun could open his mouth and earn himself a good
beating,
Genma suddenly jumped up. "Ranma you're here! Now you can fulfill you're
family
obligation."
    "Oh, and which obligation is that?" asked Ranma in a cold voice.
    Genma blinked as if truly surprised. "Why you're engagement to on the
Tendo
girls and the union of the schools."
    "Really? And what about the Daijkoku clan?"
    "How'd you kn.I mean what are you talking about?"

"How'd you kn... I mean, what are you talking about?"

One of my very rare corrections!   ^-^

    "You know the guy you sold me to for a fish. How about the Shintoro

and

Shiga
families."
    "That's not important; this is a matter of family honor."
    Ranma turned to Soun. "Bull! The only time he does anything like this

is

when
there's something in it for him. So what he trade me for this time?"
    "I-I don't know what you mean," answered Soun.
    "Was it some fish? A few bags of rice? An all you can eat buffet?"
    "No, that's not it at all, this is to unite the schools so that the
future of this dojo is
assured."
    "Oh, so it's real estate he's after now. At least he's setting his

sights

higher,"
Ranma finished sarcastically.
    "Oh my son, how could you think so little of me?"
    "I think it was the third family that showed up at our door. Although,
the Nekoken
might have had something to do with it."
    "I just wanted to make you the best, Boy."
    "By trying to make me lose my sanity? Great teaching technique old

man."

    "That isn't important right now," said Soun. "This engagement was made
before
you were born, it has precedence over any others."

Yep! Typical Soun! In the face of all reality, support his friend and hope
that
it'll all work out in the end! Really, I think Soun has a bad case of victim
sysndome from the time he and Genma trained under Happosai and had
to stich together to survive. Deep down, Soun sees Genma as security,
regardless of what the actual case is currently.

    Ranma glanced back at Soun. "You so sure? I think some of the other
families
might have something to say about that. At any rate there is someone else

who

has a say
in all this and I'd rather not talk anymore until she arrives."
    At the word 'she' Genma concluded that Ranma had a girlfriend and that
she was
on her way here. After all, who else would have an interest in who his son
married? He
was only partially right. However, that didn't stop him from yelling.
"Foolish boy! That
filthy whore has no say in this what so ever!"

Oh, this cannot possibly be good for Genma...   O.O

    "I think this filthy whore has every say in this." Genma's jaw dropped

as

he felt a
blade rest on his shoulder. This made it slightly difficult to turn his

head

to look behind
him.
    "N-N-No-chan," Genma couldn't believe Ranma was stupid enough to visit
his
mother.

Visit nothing! Just wait until he finds out that Ranma is living with her!
^-^

In fact, wait until he finds out about the curse, and that Ranma is living
with
living with her. I just hope that it doesn't cause too much problems between
Ranma and Nodoka when the contract is brought up...   <.<;;

    "Don't you No-chan me!" growled Nodoka as she slapped him with the

flat

of her
blade. Genma recoiled as if hit with the blade itself. "To think I trusted
you with Ranma's
welfare!"
    "But Nodoka, I'm only securing the boy's future."
    "By using him to pay for your expenses!"
    "Surely you don't believe those stories about the other families?"

asked

Genma in
a serious tone. "How can you not have faith in your honorable husband? It
isn't proper of
a noble samurai wife. Oh the shame."
    Genma knew how traditional his wife was and he was trying to exploit

that

fact.
Nodoka however, was having none of it.

YAY, No-chan!    ^o^

    "Oh, I had trouble believing it for a while. That was until this came

in

the mail,"
said Nodoka as she slammed a set of papers onto the dining room table.
    "Ah, what is that?" asked Genma sweating.
    "This is the combined bill from the merchants of the Abenobashi

shopping

arcade
for skipped restaurant bills, stolen food, and property damage."
    "Surely, you don't believe."

"Surely, you don't believe...."

Look! Another one!    ^-^

    "I've all ready checked it out Genma, as well as the other claims,"
Nodoka yelled.
    "Okay, so I accidentally broke that dragon statue while I was esca.er
shopping,"

esca... er, shopping

said Genma. It wasn't like anything bad would happen because he broke a
statue.
    "Listen old man, I only came here to tell you that I'm no longer your
son. Any
messes you make are your own to clean up."
    "Stop talking foolishness, Boy!"
    "I said what I've come here to say. I'll be leaving now," said Ranma

as

he started
heading towards the door.
    "No! I won't allow this!" yelled Genma as he suddenly charged the boy.
Just
before he reached him however, Ranma turned, grabbed the fat martial

artist,

and threw
him out into the Tendo yard.
    "I was kind of hoping you do that," said Ranma with an evil grin.
    "Boy it's time I thought you a.BLARGH!" Genma's tirade was cut off by
Ranma's foot going into his fat stomach.

"Boy it's time I thought you a-BLARGH!"

Although I'm not sure if this is correct either...   <.<

    "Shut up and fight!" Yelled the boy as he started beating the shit out

of

Genma.
    "Wait a.ow.sto.OUF.How'd you get so strong.OW.No not the.AHHH!"

Realizing

that close combat wasn't working, Genma jumped back. "Now I'll show you

real

martial arts mastery!" Genma yelled as he threw a ki fireball at his one

time

son.

Look, just extend the interuptions into elipses (three periods for an
interuption that
continues and four for one that doesn't)

Oh yeah, and where did Genma learn to throw a Ki attack? He didn't know
one at this point in cannon. Obviously, he must have managed to learn
something
during his search for Ranma. No need to correct it now, jusr remember to
explain
it later.

    Akane gasped at the sight of a ki blast. She had heard of such things,
but had
never seen one before. Looking at the target, the youngest Tendo guessed

that

Ranma had
never seen one before either, as he just seemed to stand there. Didn't he
know that thing
would hurt?
    "OOOhhh a ki blast. I'm impressed, NOT!" Genma jaw dropped, as Ranma
simply backhanded the fireball, sending it careening off harmlessly into

the

air. He then
placed his hands in front of him. "Here, try one of mine!"

Ranma had to have learned this from a different Master than his adoptive
mother,
considering that Julia considers Ki mastery to be magic, despite her
husband's
opinion on the matter. Not that she would have objected to Ranma learning
such techniques. By the way, Ranma doesn't really do what Ryan does, even if
he did train up to the point where he thinks he has photograghic reflexes.
Ranma
instead ramped up his learing curve in one area. If anything, this is more
akin to
Gina's ability with languages and translation - a key area where innate
genius
not only shines, but glows.

    Genma tried to dodge, but wasn't fast enough as a pure white ki ball
slammed into
him with a furious explosion. When the smoke cleared, Genma lay at the

bottom

of a
large crater.
    Seeing that Genma wasn't getting up anytime soon Ranma turned and

bowed

to
the Tendo family. He then left the Tendo home. Nodoka started to leave as
well, when
    Soun suddenly spook up.
    "Nodoka, if Ranma is no longer Genma's son. Then he won't want him

Nodoka, if Ranma is no longer Genma's son, then he won't want him

staying at
his house."

Feh, if Ranma is no longer Genma's son, then none of the engagements
are valid, and the burdan of the loss of honor is on Genma rather than
anyone else. Granted, Soun might not see it that way, and I really doubt
that
any of the other families that traded food for Ranma peceive honor much
differently than Soun. A lack of common sense seems to be a key factor
among Genma's victims in this regard.

    "It is not his house to kick my son out of. It is my house; the deed

is

still in my
family's name. I've already talked to them, and they have agreed to take

me

back. When
he wakes up, tell Genma that I am filing for a divorce." That said, Nodoka
turned and left
the stunned Tendo Patriarch.


To be continued

Next time on Neko Can't:
WHERE ON EARTH AM I NOOOOOWWWW!

Heh... If I remember right, this Ryoga won't have any grudge against Ranma
at all, but would instead see him as a potential ally against Pee Wee...
^-^

Tangent



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