[Episode 117660] [Episode 117660]Hotaru stared in awe at the tiny creature. It could be called a dragon - especially by those accustomed to the eastern kind, more snake-like than their western counterparts - but only in the same way that a tiger cub could be called a fearsome, feline predator. At the moment, it was barely half a meter long, with smooth, cream-coloured skin and tiny feet which clenched in an obscenely cute way around the blanket in which it lay curled up, it's kitten-like face half-buried in its arms.
The hatchling and the blanket were lying in a small basket, which lay on Ranma's desk in his lab, surrounded by sensors, weird doohickeys, and several papers and notebooks full of half-intelligible scribbles. Ranma was sitting next to his desk in his wheelchair, with Hotaru standing right beside him, peering down at the newborn monster.
"It's so cute!" Hotaru gushed, reaching down to pet it only to stop herself. Looking up to meet Ranma's eye, she saw his scarred face twitch in a smile as he nodded. Smiling back at her sempai, she carefully reached down with a finger, softly tracing down the hatchling's spine. Shuddering under the gentle touch, the hatchling twisted, exposing it's stomach to the young girl's caress.
"If you're gentle, you can feed it as well." Ranma added, somewhat distracted by his sensor systems. The tiny sparkling motes of light, the pinkish-purple aura, and the way Hotaru somehow became chibi-fied in a way that defied explanation... None of it was registering on any of his sensors, not even the meta-phasic kinetograph or the trans-planar bolometer! Scowling at his equipment, he glanced back at Hotaru who was now literally beaming. With a mental shrug Ranma dismissed the whole thing and went back to watching the cute girl pet the newborn Jyûmon.
"Really? Can I?" Hotaru was exstatic. For a long time, she had wanted a pet of her own, but for some reason most animals didn't like her (she thought it was because of the whole "Senshi of Death and Destruction" thing, but didn't like dwelling on it). Here though, was something small and cute and it seemed to like her, and now her sempai was going to let her feed it?
In a temple, currently inhabited by a mechanically inclined student and three goddesses, the Norn of the Present looked up at the brightly shining sun and smiled as a wave of pure joy washed over her.
"Sure," Ranma replied, "and while you're at it, you might try to think of a name for it as well." Ranma had each egg numbered, and was adding the scientific names (a pseudo-latin hodgepodge, there's tradition to adhere to after all...) in his journal entries, but he would need a name for that particular specimen as well - he couldn't go around calling it "pseudo-daemonic specimen 1" all the time, could he?
"N-name it?" Hotaru stuttered, a blush rising on her pale cheeks. "S-senpai, are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure, Hotaru-chan. I can't just call it 'Number One'. Besides, it's good practice for when your own Jyûmon hatches-" Ranma was interrupted by a high-pitched squeal of joy.
"My own?!"
"Sure." Ranma calmly replied, smiling at his only friend. "Number One here was merely a prototype test, to ensure that the process worked as intended. The whole project was intended for the purpose of providing you with an animal companion, after all." An animal companion capable of following you and keeping you safe, no matter where you go or what you do, were the unspoken thoughts of the teen genius.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou-" Hotaru chanted as she threw herself bodily at her sempai, hugging him tightly. Somewhat awkwardly, Ranma hugged her back with his good arm.
"You're welcome..." he mumbled softly.
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(Posted Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:05)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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