"Tadaima!"
"Oh, Ranma-kun!" Kasumi called out as she walked out onto the porch, her trademark smile crossing her face. "You're back!"
Ranma paused as he glanced quickly at Yomi and Kaorin, both of whom were gazing knowingly at the elder Tendou daughter. Subtle nods twitched both girls' chins; that was the sign they had agreed on back at Chiyo's house when Ranma had told them about what he currently suspected was going on inside the Tendou home -- a suspicion which could not be really proven until Yizibajohei powers were brought in to analyse the problem.
"RANMA!"
Ranma's eyes rolled as he sensed someone storm out from beside Kasumi. "Oh, my . . . " he breathed out in disgust as he noticed Akane lunge at him, her fist soaring right for his cheek.
CRUNCH!
"ITTE!" Akane shrieked out as her fist made contact with something that seemed to have the unyielding solidness of a mountain made out of solid neutronium, the force of the impact sending such violent shockwaves through her arm and hand bones that half of them shatter, the other half cracking in dozens of places.
As the youngest Tendou daughter collapsed to the ground, she curling in on herself as the tsunami of pain from her wrecked hand overwhelmed her, Ranma then finished, "The great pretender just decided to make herself known."
Hearing his emotionally flat statement, Kasumi's smile fell from her face like an avalanche as she stared in stunned disbelief at her would-be brother-in-law. Yes, there had been many times in the past when Ranma had certainly hinted at Akane's many shortcomings. But to come out and say something horrible like that in the open -- to say anything of Ranma's sudden refusal to bend even an iota anymore when it came to dealing with her sister's temper-tantrums, which he had done many times in the past . . .!
Before she could say anything, Souun stepped out onto the porch, a welcoming smile crossing his face. "Welcome back, Ranma-san," he hailed with a polite bow. "Your mother and Elder Cologne have come to visit us today, as you've no doubt sensed."
"I did," Ranma replied with a bow of his own, equal to equal. "Forgive me for bringing such an imposition on your home and hearth, Tendou-dono, but I've asked several new friends of mine to join us today. They've just confirmed what we've feared all along. If you so desire, they can certainly be of assistance in dealing with the matter."
"They are more than welcome here," Souun declared as he gazed on the three students from Azuma High School. "Be welcome here, ladies. It's good to see that Genma's son has such wonderful new friends to call on in times of need."
"Considering he didn't have any friends before he met any of us, we're more than happy to fulfil that role, Tendou-dono," Yomi declared with a polite bow of her own, and then she glared down at the whimpering Akane.
Her eyes then narrowed as Soul Searcher's powers lashed out to slice through the youngest Tendou's mind like a knife ripping through hot butter. Akane gargled as her whole mind seemed to blank out for a moment, and then she passed out. "Oh, my!" Kasumi cried out as she watched that, and then she spun on Ranma . . .
Before a wave of empathy from Kaorin froze her in place. "Your mother must be turning over in her grave, Kasumi-san," the woman also known as Heart Player declared with a torrent of scorn as she spoke the honorific, her psionic "voice" echoing all throughout the elder Tendou daughter's mind, simply overloading all her senses. "Some proper host you turned out to be. A blind man could read your real feelings for Ranma-san as clearly as day!"
Hearing that, Kasumi moaned out as she collapsed to her knees. Ranma and Souun exchanged a knowing grim look, and then both walked inside, they followed by Yomi and Kaorin. Ayumu remained in place for a moment, and then she concentrated on Akane's shattered arm. A flash later, thanks to the power of Infinity, it was restored to normal.
"You've both very evil people," she then flatly said before she headed inside.
Neither Kasumi or Akane responded . . .
"Oh, SHIT!" Nabiki gasped in stunned shock after she had watched -- and overheard (thanks to hidden microphones located throughout the Tendou home, those she having scammed off members of the Fuurinkan High School computer sciences club to help her with her various quasi-legal dealings) -- the altercation between Akane and Ranma on the front yard. That, tacked on to what had been said afterward by Ranma and Souun, they followed by those two girls from Azuma High School -- Nabiki had connections there, so she could find out who they were soon enough -- before they all stepped into the sitting room.
Sinking into her chair beside her bedroom table, Nabiki could only just quake in stunned disbelief. This just proved it! Everything she had been lead to believe in concerning Saotome Ranma had been one giant lie after another. And it was a lie that both her father and Saotome Genma -- and most likely Saotome Nodoka -- had been in on. And they had hidden it so well that it had completely fooled her along the way.
Impossible!
It was just impossible!
What had happened over the last twenty-four hours was simply not possible!.
How could someone who had actually been born on another planet of all places have escaped detection by all the forces who had taken interest in Saotome Ranma, especially after his fateful encounter at Jusenkyou and his coming to the doojou? Even if Souun and Genma had known about the truth, why didn't Happousai sense it? Or had he? If he had, why hadn't he done something about it? Did Cologne kwow? Obviously; she had come here not so long ago to speak to Nodoka, right after the fight in Niigata had come to an end and Ranma had come back to Tokyo. Damn! Had Cologne always known? What did that mean for Shampoo, then? What of all the others of great power and skill who had fought Ranma in the past? Had they known? Herb? Kirin? Saffron . . .?
What the hell was going on here?!
"By the feeling of it all, your middle daughter's having a brain-crash right now, Tendou-san," Yomi mused as she glanced upstairs in the general direction of Nabiki's room. It was utterly impossible for her to ignore those thoughts.
"It's wounded pride, Yomi," Ranma said. "Nabiki's as much of a control freak as the Elder here, but she doesn't have even a tithe of the Elder's patience." He winked knowingly at Cologne, the latter smiling in return at him. "Something don't go her way, she freaks out, then she moves to take control back. With as much subtlely as Akane does whenever she loses control of herself, that is!" A shake of his head. "Did she honestly believe that she was able to sneak up on me to take pictures of my girl side whenever I was asleep or not looking her way? If I wanted to, I could've seen to it she never bothered me one damn bit. Then again . . . "
"Playing 'dumb' was the name of the game given the true nature of the enemy that faces us," Genma finished for his adopted child.
"Speaking of which, child, if I may ask . . .?" Cologne began.
Ranma smirked as, in response, he concentrated. A flash later, he was then a she, her clothes having instantly adjusted to fit her body's dimensions. Seeing that, the visitors from Azuma High School could only whistle in awe. "That must have took getting used to, Ranma-kun!" Kaorin noted.
"It did eventually, Kaori-chan," Ranma admitted. "Had I been in a normal frame of mind all along, I would've just chocked it up to one of those weird things that Fate throws at people just to keep them on their toes."
"My son, you are going to stay as a man now that you do have full control over your curse, won't you?" Nodoka then demanded as she marched in to join the conversation. "I didn't demand you to be a 'man above men' for no reason, you know!"
Ranma rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mother! I know! I know! You wanted me to be a manly man because most men on Yiziba are too busy beating the crap out of each other to bother with any sex with any of the girls living there! Relax, will ya?" She then winked. "After all, thanks to Jusenkyou, I'm as much a Yizibajoei woman as I am a Yizibajohei man! If anyone ends up knocking me up, they're gonna be chained to the damned house to ensure any baby I have has a father, too!"
Hearing that, the happy dance began again. "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I'M GOING TO HAVE GRANDBABIES! MY BABY'S GOING TO BE A MOTHER! I'M SO HAPPY!"
"She's gonna live on Yiziba!" Ayumu called out.
Nodoka was instantly petrified by that statement. "Osaka, you're doing that on purpose, aren't you?!" Yomi declared as she glared flatly at her classmate.
"Ask me no questions, Yomi-chan, I'll tell you no lies," Ayumu replied with a knowing wink.
Yomi leaned back, and then she sighed. "I liked you better when you were just a normal spacecase, not one with the power of Kami-sama Himself behind her."
Ayumu smirked knowing at her classmate. Kaorin shook her head. Watching this exchange, Cologne could only laugh. "Ranma, you do always seem to attract the unique ones, don't you?!" She then took a deep breath before an even stare crossed her face. "But now that you do have your knowledge and power back, plus possess the right sort of allies to assist you in this matter, it's time to face the one who we all have to deal with now if we're to protect our loved ones."
"Amen to that, Elder," Ranma said before she perked as something entered her ki-sensing range, that something making a beeline towards the Tendou doojou. "As a matter of fact, there's the monster right now . . . "
The others then tensed as they turned to await the coming of . . .
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(Posted Tue, 19 Sep 2006 15:35)
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