“Nodoka! What a coincidence—I was just about to call you!” Well, he was going to wait until after the game of shogi was done, but there was no way Genma could get out of the mess he’d let Soun put him in now, so it couldn’t have taken long.
Genma stared at his best friend as if he’d just grown horns (no, not devil’s horns—French horns). “You… were going to call Nodoka?”
“Of course—why wouldn’t I? I should think you’d be glad to see your wife after so long.”
“Oh yeah… I’m happy as a clam—there’s absolutely no reason why I’d want to avoid my precious Nodoka! Thank you for being so considerate! You are a very good friend! Yessirree Bob! And there’s absolutely no reason for all of you to be doing that half-lidded staring thing, so if you would kindly stop…”
The others present reluctantly did so, but only because there were more pressing matters at hand. Soun turned to his newest guest. “Would you like to come in, Nodoka?”
“Thank you, Soun,” she replied, not taking her eyes off of her husband, whose reactions seemed to be inexplicably paranoid. She followed her host inside.
“Would you like something to drink?” Genma wasn’t sure who said it, because he was too focused on the word drink. His thought process went through its expected machinations: Drink ⇒ Liquid ⇒ Spill ⇒ Curse ⇒ Contract ⇒ Dead. Clearly, he needed to take action.
“That’s a wonderful idea why don’t you sit down dear and I’ll get something for you oops sorry Kasumi.” The portly martial artist nearly bowled over his son’s bride as he scrambled to the kitchen. “What would you like? We’ve got hot tea, hot coffee, hot cocoa, and warm sake.” Genma was sorely tempted to down the last item on his list himself.
“Oh, don’t trouble yourself too much—a glass of ice water will be fine.”
“Hot ice water?”
“Ranma, did your father sustain some sort of head injury recently?”
The pigtailed martial artist sighed. “No, but I gotta pretty good idea why he’s actin’ so strange—ya know how I said there was somethin’ ya needed ta know?”
“No there isn’t!”
Nodoka ignored her hysterical husband. “Yes… did something happen to him?”
“Well, yeah, but he’s more worried ’bout how you’ll react ta what happened ta me.”
“What are you talking about, boy! Nothing happened to you, except that you’ve become a man among men just like Nodoka said—and you’re all witnesses!”
Another glance towards Genma. “Dear, weren’t you getting me some ice water?”
“Um… are you sure you don’t want something less… cold? I mean, you have sensitive teeth, right?” Please let me be right.
“No.”
Dammit! “Oh, my mistake. Uh, then, I guess I’ll be getting that cold, cold water for you, then.” Genma slumped his defeat as he moved towards the sink.
Nodoka turned her attention back to Ranma. “Now then—what was it you wanted to tell me that has your father acting like a Frenchman staring at an entire Panzer division?”
Ranma didn’t get the World War II reference, but he still figured out the gist of his mother’s meaning. “Um, well… first off, I think he’s overreactin’… look, just promise me you’ll hear me out before ya make a judgment ’bout this, okay? I think Dad’s nerves are frazzled ’cause he thinks you’ll make yer decision as fast as he would, ya know?”
Nodoka frowned slightly, but Ranma’s analysis of his father certainly had merit. She nodded her head. “Alright.”
Her son smiled in response as his bride hugged him supportively. “I think it’ll be better if we wait for Dad. Not only should he be here for this, but when he gets yer water I’ll be able ta show ya what happened instead of just tellin’ ya—besides, I ain’t sure ya’d believe me if ya didn’t see it for yerself.”
Nodoka was still a bit confused, but she agreed. “That seems reasonable… though I wonder what’s taking your father so long?”
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(Posted Wed, 04 Jan 2006 06:08)
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