A groan was emitted from the form that was Ranma on the form, only for him to stiffen (no, not like that!), and mutter, “Oh fuck!”
“Ranma! You really shouldn’t use that language!” Kasumi scolded.
Ranma didn’t answer, but he did switch to another language for his next string of curse words … which was actually quite a list.
The girls just stared at him, mostly in confusion, save in the case of Nabiki, Hikaru, and Hitomi, who stared at him in ever growing amazement.
“Whoa, Saotome! Where’d you learn that stuff from?” Nabiki finally asked.
Ranma flinched, and then looked at said girl, “Figures you’d know that…”
“Forget that!” Hitomi gasped, “Where’d you get the British Accent from?”
Ranma cringed, “Can you not spread that around? The last time I ever said anything in English, the rest of the guys started mocking me for it.”
Nabiki delicately rose an eyebrow at this, “Mock you? I’m pretty sure only idiots would do that…”
The lone boy in the group flushed, “I wasn’t always this big. I was kind of a shrimp until I was about twelve or thirteen. Didn’t start growing until I could keep Pops from eating most of my share of the food, ya know? And I couldn’t keep beating the bastards up back then; the teachers REALLY didn’t like that…”
The girls that thought they knew Ranma best shifted uncomfortably. They knew that Ranma had it tough, but they never really factored malnourishment into it.
“Anyways, Pops took me to see this old British Sergeant or something back when I was about eight or nine. Guy was pretty nice; taught me all about military procedures and how to fight dirty and how to handle guns and bombs and stuff. He insisted that I know some Queen’s English while I trained under him, and let me watch TV with him after the day was over. Pops couldn’t do nothing about it ‘cause he ended up getting arrested and held for a couple of months in the base’s jail.”
Hikaru blinked, “Wow, that sounds kind of cool; Brits have pretty good taste in TV, but it’s hard to get anything decent here in Japan.”
“Yeah, I really liked this one show, Doctor Who, I think. The guy there was really awesome, and kept reincarnating or something every couple of seasons…”
Oh, I know that show! Did you know that they’ve continued it?”
“Really? Damn, Sarge really loves that show! He must have been really excited about that. Sorry I missed it though…”
“Tell you what, when we get out of this place, I’ll let you watch the box sets I’ve got. I even have bunch from the old serials…”
“You do understand,” Nabiki drawled, “what will probably need to happen before we get out, right?”
Hikaru’s face turned pale at this, while Ranma paled, “Oh shit!”
Kasumi was still trying to wrap her mind around Ranma’s background, so she wasn’t able to comment.
“Hey, Ranchan?” Ukyo ventured. Once the pigtailed man looked in her direction, she asked, “I’ve never seen you open up like that. Are you OK?”
Ranma winced, “Blame whatever magic is in this place. Whatever keeps me from really freaking out is also making me more open, kinda. Not really comfortable with it myself.”
Akane, Ukyo, and Shampoo could only nod dumbly at this, though Nabiki couldn’t help but snort, “Like you weren’t freaking out five minutes ago?”
The girls were thus even more shocked by Ranma’s bitter laugh. “I just had sex with a girl who wasn’t formally chasing after me. I’ve pretty much put both my honor and hers into jeopardy because of it, and risked breaking the honor-bound agreements with the rest of you. If it weren’t for whatever it is that is fucking with my head, I’d be considering seppuku right about now!”
Gasps rang out around him as he continued, “Face it, Nabs! Thanks to Pops and his stupid stomach, I have… what, five honor-bound fiancés now, an Amazon Wife, and Kodachi after me. I pick one, and not only do I dishonor myself for breaking the other agreements, but they and whatever girl I chose would be dishonored as well. I was hoping to figure out some way out of this that didn’t involve killing myself, but I think this has me pretty well fucked, don’t ya think?”
The girls around him, even Akane, just stared at him, pale faced. Before, the fiancés… even Kasumi and Nabiki, had thought that all Ranma had to do was pick a girl and everything would be OK. Nobody had thought of the repercussions of such a choice would be.
It seemed that Ranma was more introspective than anyone had thought.
Nabiki’s mind raced over the facts, trying to figure out a loophole, but for Ranma, on a normal day, there wasn’t really one. The only hope he ever had was if two (three including Kodachi) of the fiancés dropped their claims on their own. But now, having two new fiancés and having had sex with one of them…
Wait a second…
“Saotome! Look around you! Do you see any way out for us? You couldn’t even break the bars here! We have no food, no clothing, and no water! How long do you think any of us can survive here?”
Ranma blinked at the girl, “Um, well…”
“Hitomi! Try your manacle! Can you get it off?”
The girl started at being addressed, but she reached down and undid her chain without effort. Nabiki then started struggling with her chain, unable to get it off.
“What Mercenary Girl doing?” Shampoo whispered, still in shock from her Airen’s earlier outburst.
“Yes, I really don’t get what you are getting at, Tendo-san,” Kodachi added, still pale from said outburst.
“The only way out of here is apparently to give in and have sex! We don’t give in, we’re as good as dead in about a week! I’m not sure about what’s outside except for the hardcore gear, but I do know our chances are better out there than in here! Don’t think of this as ruining your honor, Ranma-kun. Think of it as saving our lives!”
Ranma stared at the girl, and Nabiki suddenly felt as if she were a lifeboat, floating nearby someone who had been lost at sea. “Once we get out of here, we’ll figure out how to get out of this mess with our honors intact. I’ll even help out, free of charge! But we need to get out of here first! You with me, Ranma?”
They stared at each other for what seemed like hours. Then, a familiar spark came back into Ranma’s eyes. “Yeah, I’m with ya. Sorry ‘bout that. Not really sure what was going through my head there…”
“Not sure. Maybe whatever is affecting us is being screwed up by your curse or something. Still, the sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can get around to figuring out what’s wrong.”
Ranma snorted softly, “Nah, I think I’ll leave that to you. I’m not the smartest guy around, and I can’t read worth nothing, but…”
He suddenly realized that everyone was staring at him oddly, “What?”
“You… can’t read?” Akane asked, stunned.
“Um, it’s less that and more… well, have you ever seen that picture Pops and Tendo-san have of their old training days?”
“Oh, you mean the one Saotome-san waved around a few nights ago?” Kasumi asked, as she narrowed her eyes at the boy.
“Yeah, he wasn’t wearing glasses just for show back then, ya know?”
The group processed this, and then Kaori gasped, “Wait, you mean you can’t see?”
“I can see! It’s just, I can’t see small print, like the stuff they use in books and all. Otherwise, I can see well enough to run around, look at signs, and recognize people.” Ranma then flushed, “Even though some of the details are kinda blurry. Sarge got me a pair once, but when Pops came back for me, he snatched them off of my face, broke them, and then told me only girls and old guys wear glasses. Asked him why he wore him, and he knocked me upside the head.”
Nabiki sighed at this news, “Ranma-kun, some of the toughest guys out there on the fighting circuits wear glasses when they aren’t fighting. You do know your Pops is an idiot, right?”
“I know now; I was eight years old back then! Wasn’t smart enough to figure it out…”
“You’re not dumb, merely ignorant. Ignorance can be fixed, but you can’t fix stupid,” Hikaru told the boy, making him flush at the unusually worded praise.
“Look, once we get out of here, I’ll speak to Auntie Saotome about getting you glasses and then having a nice long talk to Panda-san about why breaking something she bought is a bad idea,” Nabiki griped, making the two strangers look at her for the odd use of a nickname, “In the meantime, I’d like to get out of here, so would you please continue?”
Ranma flushed, and then glanced at the eight chains left in front of him.
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(Posted Tue, 01 Feb 2011 01:44)
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