"Huh. The more things change...." Ranma sighed, and scratched his head. "Well, a deal's a deal," he sighed. "But next time ask me before you gamble your father's time. I might be ... er ... working." He blinked at the irony; his daughter had sold him away ... it seemed almost a recurring trend from his family. Of course, he didn't think Hotaru knew what she had done, and really, an hour of his time was substantially different from being married.
Or, at least, it should be.
Nabiki emerged from the furo, as Kasumi set breakfast down at the table. "Ah," she sighed, stretching. "Today is a good day to earn an hour of your services," she remarked, grinning at Ranma.
"Oh, laugh all you want," he said absently. "You ever seen a Saotome lose a challenge?"
"She's not a Saotome," Nabiki countered, taking a plate from Kasumi, and passing another to Soun, who had cloaked himself in the protective sanctuary of his morning newspaper. Akane trundled down a moment later, peeked at everyone, and then Genma bounced down the hallway as the bathroom door shut again.
Shrugging, Genma took a spot at the table, though Kasumi's placement meant he couldn't get to Hotaru's plate.
After seeing that Hotaru was served and eating, Ranma helped himself, sending the best results from his morning sparring with his father to land on Hotaru's plate. "Well," Ranma said, over the clack of dueling chopsticks, "there, you're wrong. It's a legal adoption, and Hotaru is on the family register."
"Well, be that as it may," Nabiki murmured around a mouthful of rice, "she doesn't have any of your blood in her." She paused, and Genma froze under her sudden scrutiny. "Unless there's something you're not telling us, and Ranma's just covering for you?"
Ranma snorted when Genma's expression became confused instead of indignant. "Why would Ranma cover for me?" Genma finally asked.
His son shrugged. "You got me, Pop," he admitted. "Maybe she's thinking I hit my head."
"Mm!" Hotaru noised suddenly around a mouthful of rice. She quickly swallowed, and asked, "Papa-san, you need to show me how to write my new last name!"
"Oh, it's...." Ranma trailed off, blinking, then shrugged, and drew the kanji for 'Saotome' on his empty plate with a chopstick and some soy-sauce. "Here ya go," he said, sliding it towards her so she could read it.
"Now I know how to sign my name," she said, nodding to herself as she practiced on her own cleaned plate.
"Well, Saotome-san," Nabiki said to Ranma. "Since you seem to be so in charge, perhaps you'd like to officiate our hour of challenge?"
"Nah," Ranma said, shaking his head. If Hotaru was going to be busy, and under Kasumi's eye for an hour or two, he could run out, and gather supplies. Or scrolls from Tofu. He could do something, though he wasn't sure what, yet.
"Maybe I'll make the terms a bit more interesting," Nabiki suggested. "I'll say ... 24 hours of your service, in addition to the one from Hotaru-chan ... if I can get you interested in math."
Genma and Ranma shared a laugh, and then Ranma broke off suddenly, and glared at his father, punting him outside and through the koi pond. "Waaauuugh!" Genma managed, just before sailing over Soun's shoulder.
"Morning, Saotome-kun," the Tendo family patriarch mumbled to his friend in passing, not looking up from his paper. "Oh! A sale on dojo supplies!"
"Alright," Ranma grumbled. He had an uneasy feeling that he'd fail the challenge, and it wasn't something he liked to think of ... but if Nabiki could get him to enjoy math, then it'd be one more edge he could retain. He considered for a moment, and then decided....
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Sgt. Chibi De`Ohki
(Posted Sun, 17 Jul 2005 20:53)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.