It had not taken a lot of thought to determine that Nabiki’s older sister was the best place to start. She was usually the most level headed and the chances of her getting violent were about as big as the chances of earth being swallowed up by a space eel. The fact that she was near by was also important, because Nabiki knew time was of essence.
Moments after Nabiki called her name, Kasumi was already standing in the door. “What is it little sister? Oh, hello Shinji-kun.”
Shinji, not knowing what else to do and weird out about the fact that a person he had never met before was so familiar with him, gave a bow. “Hello Tendo-san.”
Of course, Kasumi did not miss Shinji’s odd behaviour and immediately gave Nabiki a reproving look, meaning she lost her smile for a few moments. “What did you set Shinji up to this time, little sister? You shouldn’t treat guest like that.”
Nabiki flinched a little. Kasumi without a smile just wasn’t natural. ”I didn’t do anything this time!” Kasumi’s lips dipped downward slightly. “Ok, ok, I admit I was involved, but it wasn’t my fault.”
Satisfied that Nabiki was telling the truth Kasumi put on her smile again. ”I believe you little sister…but why is Shinji acting this way?”
“That’s because I have never met you before, Tendo-san.” said Shinji nervously.
“Oh my, what did you land yourself in this time around, Shinji-kun?”
“That’s just it, big sister; Shinji-kun didn’t do anything to land himself in this mess. In fact, up until one hour ago he hasn’t even lived here.” said Nabiki as a way to start her lengthy explanation, “It all started when Ranma dragged me in here to help him with the wording of a wish…”
One short explanation and a glass of cold water on Shinji later Kasumi was left stunned enough to actually lose her ever-present smile. It was not so much the occurrence itself that had her stunned, but the consequences. While Kasumi was never really bothered with all the violence she was not blind to it and realized that Shinji’s condition would seriously upset the balance in Nerima, which would cause a lot of violence if the situation was not handled correctly. “This is really quite a mess. Even after you told me all that I have a hard time believing Shinji-kun is someone else now. The others will be very unhappy about this.” There was no need to explain who the ‘others’ were.
“That’s why we need your help big sister. If someone is able to rein daddy and Mr. Saotome in when this gets out, it’s you.”
Needless to say whether Kasumi would help was not even in question, especially when she took in Shinji’s lost and frightened look. “Don’t worry Shinji-kun, “she said and laid a hand on each of his shoulders, “We will make sure you’re all right.”
As Nabiki and Kasumi walked out to confront the fathers Shinji trudged behind them. I must look really pathetic to them, the way they are ‘comforting’ me
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“Daddy, Saotome-san, can we have a word with you?”
Both men turned away from the shogi-board at the same time, neither trusting the other not the cheat. ”What do you want to talk about, Kasumi?”
“Before we talk, could you promise me to stay calm and refrain from any emotional outbursts” she said, giving Soun a hundred watt smile, before turning it onto Genma, ”or violence against any person within this room? Otherwise I may have to stop cooking dinner for the next few months.”
Standing next to Kasumi, Nabiki stared at her sister. Who knew she was that good at blackmail?
Meanwhile Genma and Soun also realized just what Kasumi was implying and found themselves nodding so fast they almost broke their necks. Neither of them was eager to give Akane the chance to cook for several months straight.
Of course, blackmail from Kasumi was not enough to stop Genma from acting like usual when he spotted Shinji almost hiding behind the two sisters. “Why are you hiding like a little girl, boy? What have you done this time?”
Not waiting for Shinji to reply Nabiki blocked him from Genma’s view. “That’s what we wanted to talk with you about, Mr. Saotome: Shinji isn’t the son you raised.” She started, resolving to keep to the basics so Genma’s peanut-sized brain could cope. “The son you raised, his name was Ranma, kind of made a wish to trade places with an anime-character, which happens to be Shinji here. The ditzy Djinn who did it also rewrote everyone’s memory like Shinji has always been here and experienced everything your original son did. Unfortunately she didn’t think of giving Shinji here the skills to go along with the transition, so we need to make sure no one attacks him out of the blue and kills him by accident.”
Needless to say, neither Genma nor Soun believed the story for a second. “What are you talking about girl? Shinji has always been my son!”
Nabiki shook her head. “He has not.” She said with conviction and poured a glass of water over Shinji’s head.
Once again soaking wet, Shinji managed to glare weakly at Nabiki’s. “Stop doing that!”
Genma, seeing that Shinji was still male lunged towards his ‘son’, only to stop cold in his track when Kasumi levelled a frown his way. ”You don’t want to eat bamboo in the zoo, do you Saotome-san?”
Not relishing the thought of being carted of for the Panda breeding program again Genma desisted, but gave ‘son’ a harsh glare. “You better tell me where you got the cure, son!”
Nabiki rolled her eyes. “You’re still not convinced, are you? Wait here for a moment.” She said and vanished up the stairs, trusting her sister to keep everything under control.
She came back down a few moments later and threw something at Shinji. “Shinji-kun, catch!”
Shinji reacted barely in time and found himself face to face with a stuffed kitten. “What does this have to do with anything?” he asked bewildered, because Nabiki had not gone into the more horrid details of Ranma’s life.
Genma on the other hand immediately realized the significance of the kitten and Shinji’s reaction to it. My son is cured of both curses! He thought almost blissfully, truly this is a sign.
Genma was not in the habit of facing his mistakes, preferring to ignore them and let his son deal with it, but the Neko-ken and Jusenkyo were the biggest mistakes he had ever made and he knew his son suffered for them. Of course, it sucked big time that all the training his son had undergone had been for naught, but Genma already resolved to train his son again, this time without the mistakes he had made.
Small parts of him complained that he shouldn’t just accept the situation and try to get his real son back, but Genma quickly stomped them flat without realizing they had ever been there. He had always been good at ignoring his consciousness, after all.
Soun on the other hand accepted the situation for what it was and immediately realized the problem. “But what about the schools?” he asked, the Niagara Falls that were about to erupt only held in check by the threat of eating Akane’s cooking for a few months. Nobody paid his outburst any mind.
After getting no other reaction from either man for several more moments Shinji finally spoke up. ”Do you believe us?”
“Of course we do. It would not be the first time my son got himself into some kind of mess.”
If possible, Kasumi’s smile got even wider. “That’s nice of you Saotome-san. That means you can go with Shinji and Nabiki while they talk with the others. I have to prepare dinner now.”
While Kasumi walked into the kitchen Genma regarded his son intently. It seemed the girls had spoken the truth because Genma could not detect any of the grace his son normally displayed.
“Now that’s settled, let’s pay a visit to Ukyo.” Said Nabiki and marched towards the door
When Shinji followed the girl without complaint Genma could not suppress the grin on his face. Shinji’s new submissive attitude would be good for training him. This time I won’t make any mistakes. He thought as he fell into step next to Shinji.
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While Soun was feeling lonely we see
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(Posted Tue, 11 Jan 2005 23:08)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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