The reasons for her unhappiness were not simple, and would only be immediately apparent to an outsider.
Here, Ranma Saotome was a Sansei Operative, codename "Sleipnir" - someone who had studied under his father's tutelage and those of many operatives of Japan. He used some minor magical talents but his main skills were in the martial arts.
He'd worked with mages, martial artists, and others. Russia had their mutants and biotechnology, the USA had their Hardtech and cyborgs, and China had their own backers plus whatever they could scrounge from either of the other sides. Japan could count on their allies of the West to some extent. There were American bases like Misawa AFB after all. That it hadn't done the South Koreans any good was largely due to isolationist politics making their cyclic return in the US.
Taiwan had been conquered, so had a number of other countries and areas under the control now of one group or another.
Into this odd mix add those of several countries who knew the truth about the BioTech and HardTech and their origins - and were trying to scratch out their own survival out of the way of the big guns. There were even those of the big three who disapproved of, had suspicions about, or were outright breakaways seeking to overthrow those who had made deals.
Sleipnir, or Ranma Saotome, was a covert operator who had fought rogue cyborgs from the USA and alongside other cyborgs at other times. He'd fought against mutant soldiers and bio-tanks from Russia, and met a few "rogues" that he genuinely liked. He'd fought against psionic Chinese assassins and martial artists and bioweapons.
This was not the simple Ranma one might have expected. In many ways he'd had to grow up a long time ago.
Akane didn't know what to have expected on that rainy March day only a few months ago. There had been no warning of the announcement, and she had still felt stung that such a thing would be thrust upon the three daughters by their father with so little warning. In addition to the posturing of that buffoon at school, she could admit that she'd been a little hot under the collar before she'd even met him. Upon his appearance, she was already inclined to dislike him and find something wrong with him - and there had been quite a lot.
He was brash, arrogant even. Coming with him had been a scared looking woman whose mannerisms and soft voice were more in fitting with someone less than half her age. With her clothing, Akane had immediately thought this was all some act.
The entire afternoon had been infuriating from the moment the announcement had been made. After finding her two sisters "volunteering" her for the "honor" - she'd resented the smug boy who'd apparently dismissed her from consideration as soon as his shock had been overcome.
When the morning had come and she'd found the woman cozying up to Ranma like that, it had been the last straw. Every bit of rage and hate that she'd built up over the six months since Kuno's little announcement had come boiling out at once.
Akane had to admit, to herself at least, that she wasn't entirely sure WHAT she said. She'd struck Ranma once, reared back her hand to strike "Setsuna" and-
Again things were all blurred. Akane wasn't sure what had happened other than one of her wrists had gotten twisted up behind her.
She still wasn't sure what she'd said, but apparently she had crossed some line. The engagement was ended. Her father had been so shocked that he'd ended up going off in a daze and had been bedridden for most of the day.
Of course, then the details had slowly been coming out.
Secret agent. Okay, on one level she understood that secret agent meant secret - but somebody should have told her! Ranma was damn good at the Art, and had a few gadgets that didn't seem standard for high school Japanese boys, but he didn't have to be such a schmuck about it!
One thing after another had been revealed, and Ranma Saotome was not nearly so bad as she'd first thought. Worse, even as much as she wanted to deny the evidence, the tall woman was apparently not faking it. Her body might look nineteen, but her mind was half that. She'd nearly struck a child, which had horrified her when she'd realized that she was holding a grudge against a (body notwithstanding) eight year old girl.
At some point she'd realized that her hostility towards Ranma Saotome and his "daughter" was a reaction to something else she was feeling, something she wanted to cover. Could it be she LIKED Ranma?
Akane rubbed the bridge of her nose, feeling along the scar placed there when Tatewaki Kuno had tried to use some Chinese "secret sword technique" to defeat her. There were a lot of Chinese "secret scrolls" floating about nowadays, most of them only useful as kindling. Occasionally something more dangerous like the "blazing sword" technique would turn up, as dangerous to passerby as it was to the practitioner and victim.
She'd lost a school uniform, a good length of hair, and had gotten showered with flaming pieces of wood - including the one that left her looking like she was cosplaying Queen Esmeraldas. Okay it wasn't that bad - but it was bad enough.
When Ranma had shown up two days later, he hadn't so much as blinked at it.
Akane flicked another pebble into the night, wondering how she could take back whatever she had said, though apparently she'd sworn some pretty horrible and binding oaths when she'd finally cut loose.
With the HardTech of one side and the BioTech of another, there was an uneasy balance of power. Each was constantly looking for a means of tipping the balance in their own favor.
It was inevitable that another shift in that balance would occur, and so it did with the introduction of:
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(Posted Tue, 21 Sep 2004 10:10)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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