"Public interest!" Nabiki announced from the dojo entrance. "Capitalize on this opportunity, Ranma."
"Huh?" he asked, slightly confused.
"Attack, Ranma," Akane ordered.
"Challenge accepted," Ranma declared. "Wait. What?"
Nanami watched this exchange, shaking her head as Makoto finished loading the next cassette into his camera, and oriented it at Ranma. "Okay," the reporter asked, "so, Saotome-dono, tell us a little bit about yourself."
"Ranma is a martial artist who's decided to live here in Nerima after a ten year long training trip," Akane explained.
"Then he spent a year in China," Shampoo added, winking at the camera, "learning ancient martial secrets."
"And he's always been there with a helping hand for a friend, or to protect those in need," Ukyou supplied.
"He's my papa!" Hotaru piped up happily.
"Er," Nanami managed. This tape would probably need some editing; all of her questions would need to be reshot anyway since Makoto was only operating the camera on Ranma. "Well, okay, tell us about that, then, Saotome-dono. How did you, er, come to have a daughter? Which of these young girls is the mother?"
Hah! Nanami thought, watching all three of the older girls blush, while Ranma looked mildly appalled and Hotaru merely looked confused. Ranma recovered first, and said, "I found Hotaru when she was alone, and she needed someone to look after her. Pretty much that someone was me, so, I adopted her, and am doing my best to raise her."
"Along with the help of my big sisters," Hotaru added, pointing and naming each in turn, pausing long enough for Ranma to comment on Ukyou's okonomiyaki-ya.
Nanami frowned, but was realizing that the girls working together told a better story than any of the clips they'd get from Ranma's speech. She could try throwing her power at Ranma again, which didn't seem like a good idea ... or she could consign herself to transferring to Furinkan to watch over him. Ah, she decided, watching over Ranma would be better in the long run.
"Well," Nanami said, when the girls were finally winding down, "I think that's enough for tomorrow's reel. We'll probably just use the first five minutes or so. But thank you very much -- Saotome-dono, I'd like to give you my card, in case you want to contact me again for any interviews or the like."
"I'm the agent," Nabiki said, sliding forward and intercepting the card before Nanami could step towards Ranma and offer it out. Nanami's eyes locked with Nabiki's briefly. Nanami's power didn't work on girls, or at least, she'd never tried it, and didn't plan on starting any time soon. But she still found herself intimidated by the cold mercury of the older girl's gaze.
"Okay, then, Agent-san," she allowed, surrendering the card. "Um, Saotome-dono, I'm going to be in the area ... so we may see more of each other soon." Why the hell had she said that? She could feel her cheeks warming up with a dark blush, and stared at the floor. "Ah ... thank you very much for the interview!" With that, not wanting to make a scene, she fled to the safety of Sousuke and the van.
The militant gun-nut was just finishing stowing the last of the equipment after the broadcast -- Makoto trotted around the corner a minute later. When all were in the van and Sousuke was driving it away, Makoto commented, "I guess we're going to be living here for a while to watch that Saotome. What did you think of him, Sagara-kun? You saw on the monitors, right?"
"I think he'd be a dangerous opponent," Sousuke said after a moment. "I don't know his weapons, but I know that the power behind him is more dangerous and devious than he himself."
"Those three girls, you think?" Nanami mused. "They're calling the shots?"
"They certainly seem to be," Makoto allowed. "But it could also just be that he's not very social."
"Nonsense," Sousuke scoffed. "He's at least as accomplished at human interaction as I am."
"And Nanami-chan's smitten with him, so she can't realize that he's kind of clumsy with words, and while I wouldn't say he seemed unintelligent, he certainly doesn't seem to handle people as well as ... I suppose ... monsters. This is the kind of thing that Fujisawa's going to want in his report, Nanami-chan."
"Smitten?" she whimpered, burying her blushing face in her hands. "Oh, kami, this is so embarrassing. I'm falling for my target and you can tell!"
"Mizuhara, has Jinnai-san become a liability?" Sousuke asked, one hand now sporting a handgun as he looked over his shoulder at the girl.
"No!" Makoto yelped. "She's fine! That's what we're here fo-- Eyes on the road!"
One screeching of tires and extended swerve later, they were back on the road, silent for the moment.
"I think we'll coordinate and see that Fujisawa gets a clean report," Nanami decided. "Some things he won't need to know about. Agreed?"
Makoto and Sousuke nodded together.
***
Once Nanami and Makoto fled, Ranma sighed, relaxing and allowing himself to fall back on the huge pillow. "Where the heck did you guys get this?" he asked after a moment, when Hotaru shifted about to sit further away, where she could watch him more easily.
A heartbeat later, three faces were peering down at him, all smiles and mischief. "Joketsuzoku knows where to finds specialty stores at all times," Shampoo said slyly. "Now, you have good interview, go inside, talk to mother." Shampoo looked at Ukyou and Akane, and said, "We make dinner."
"Well," Ukyou said, frowning at Akane intently. "Very carefully."
"Y...you want me to help?" Akane asked the other two anxiously.
"You're going to cook something that tastes great if it kills me," Ukyou swore. No way was she letting Ranchan end up with Akane if the Tendo girl couldn't cook fit to feed a human!
"Shampoo say same!" the young amazon proclaimed, nodding fiercely. What a perfect chance for a bonding exercise. And since Ukyou could already cook, Shampoo would only need to make sure that she kept everything Akane couldn't possibly need out of reach at all times.
"Wow," Akane breathed, awed by the compassion her two former rivals were showing her. How could she think this was a competition? Obviously they meant it if they were willing to go so far as to share their greatest edge over her in the race for Ranma with her. "You guys are the best!"
Ranma rolled to safety as Akane tackled Shampoo and Ukyou to the pile of pillows. In short order, Hotaru was swept free of the ensuing tickle and pillow fight with the edge of Ranma's cape, and then the pair snuck back into the Tendo house, ignoring the giggling and gleeful shrieks emanating from the dojo.
Genma and Soun sat at the table, going over sketches of Tokyo Tower, and what looked like martial arts diagrams trying to explain the move he'd used. Nabiki had retreated from the dojo and was now watching television, thankfully something that wasn't about Ranma for the moment. Nodoka and Kasumi sat at another side of the table, sipping tea and conversing in hushed tones about....
Ranma frowned, taking a seat next to Kasumi, Hotaru sitting in the free space to his left. "Wait, Mom, did you just say you wanted me to move out?" he asked.
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Sgt. Chibi De`Ohki
(Posted Mon, 01 Aug 2005 04:32)
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.