Thus, it was the morning breakfast crowd that informed Ukyo of what had happened. Exchanging a worried glance at her waitress/ninja servant, the young woman was unsure of what to think. Hearing about the banishment of Tatewaki and the appearance of Kimi (who, incidentally, also happened to be a LOT better than her irritating brother), and the royal decree issued by the new female Kuno almost blew her mind. Hearing that her beloved Ranchan had vanished along with Kasumi and Nabiki just after the ‘big announcement’ also sent her pulse racing. Then she heard about the hunt… and didn’t know what to think. The theories and testimonies of those people who lived in buildings sufficiently tall enough to have seen into Furinkan high (and were also awake at the time) only spurred more rumors on. No one knew of the possible damage to society or the impending property damage to come when the males decided to finally fight back. Shaking her head, Ukyo continued to make money running her business, making a mental note to try and find her beloved Ranchan at the earliest opportunity.
Shampoo, on the other hand, was taking everything in stride. Rushing about preparing a meeting between her grandmother and the new Council of Nerima was a time consuming task. The Council wasn’t gathered as a group at a spur of the moment, and she had to track each and every single one down and try to set up a convenient time for the meeting. Needless to say, dealing with a bunch of women made sense to her. It wasn’t as confusing for the young woman because it was what she was used to. Women were born to rule in her opinion, and men were born to serve. She wasn’t confused at all about the new changes… she approved them with all her being. In fact, she was positive that with the Council’s help, she could be on her way to China with her ‘Airen’ within days once they finally met. Life was definitely looking good for the girl as she turned off the road and approached the Kuno mansion.
Kuno Kodachi and Kimi, however, were still on the prowl for their ‘one true love’. It didn’t matter to them that the past between them and Saotome Ranma was probably one of the worst ones in comparison. After all, Kodachi had tried many times to drug the boy, scare off competition, or simply overwhelm his kind heart with other underhanded tricks. Kimi had once been Tatewaki, until an encounter with Ranma resulted in the arrogant Kendoist splashing himself with ‘girl water’. One application later, and Kimi was born out of the deranged ravings of a lunatic. Now, with two insane Kuno children on the hunt, Ranma was sure to be theirs!
Akane had been woken up early by her friends. Her shock at finding Yuka and Sayuri with new boyfriends was nothing in comparison to how they had received them. That they were her pervert fiancé’s friends, Hiroshi and Daisuke, was just something else to blow her mind. To see her friends, girls that had been on her ‘all boys are perverts’ bandwagon for so long, actually sitting on the laps of boys while openly ordering them around was… mind boggling. Her mind simply couldn’t grasp it right away. All she could do was stare and stammer, even when her friends pointed out that all they were doing was what she herself had introduced as proper behavior by beating Ranma senseless on a constant basis. No, she was sure that this was all wrong and perverted. Unfortunately, she couldn’t blame this mess on Ranma without sounding incredibly stupid. She needed someone to blame… and quickly.
Mouse was walking with his new girlfriend in the park. To the others, this would have seemed strange, but Mouse had been suspecting something like this would happen eventually. Sure, he wanted to belong to Shampoo. He wanted it with all his heart and soul. But, with all his fights with that Saotome bastard, he knew that his fighting skill had increased to dangerous levels. Not dangerous as in drawing blood, but dangerous to other Amazon women. Strong fighters were to be bred into the tribe at all costs, love and other matters of the heart had no bearing on the matter. With a sigh, he pulled the girl closer to his body as she continued to prattle on about her plans for the weekend.
A certain lost boy, however, had managed to escape the carnage of the early morning. He was camped out in the park, and had all intentions of making his way to the Tendo dojo at first opportunity. But, he had been awakened by the ‘Hunt’ and had withdrawn into the shelter. In wide-eyed fear, he had watched the women slip past in the early morning mists and return with tied and bound men. He had clasped his umbrella in a shaking hand and prayed to every Kami that he could think of to escape the carnage. His only problem was that he thought he was next to a certain Amazon village in China, not in a ‘civilized’ ward like Nerima. Imagine his surprise when he finds out the truth.
The new Saotome women were holding their conversation at the breakfast table, the matriarch watching in pride as her son handled the girls with a deftness that he had never previously displayed. It took all her willpower not to jump up, whip out her victory fans, and start screaming to Heavens about how manly her son was. Unnoticed by the young people, she gently dabbed tears of happiness from her eyes. With two women being added to the family registry under her sons name, she could only imagine how many grand babies were in her future. ‘Maybe,’ she thought to herself, ‘I shouldn’t have cackled evilly.’ as the three young people stared at her suspiciously.
Genma and Soun, professional fools for the most part, were still within their saki induced slumber. As soon as they woke up and looked around, they would most likely curse and swear off strong drink for the rest of their lives… not that they would mean it, of course… but the thought was there. No, they were going to be in for a world of anguish when they woke up and studied the signed and notarized papers that were clenched within tight fists. When they discovered the yen in their pockets, their fate would be sealed.
Life, either normal or not, was continuing within the tiny ward of Nerima. Neighbor met neighbor while customer met store keeper. It was life… dynamic, static, exciting, boring, monotonous, tenacious. Life kept going, no matter what weirdness it brought to the citizens of Nerima. They kept going, paying enough attention to avoid getting trounced while attending their own needs. They simply lived.
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(Posted Wed, 18 Aug 2004 16:50)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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