The Tendou sisters stared wide-eyed at Ranma.
"Split your female side from your male side off?" Nabiki then squeaked out.
"Exactly," Ranma replied matter-of-factly.
Looks were exchanged between them, and then Kasumi asked, "Can it be done?"
Ranma's smile grew a little wider, and then he called out, "Ayumu-chan!"
A flash of light later, Kasuga Ayumu -- she in the costume of Infinity -- appeared, her hand raised in greeting. "Hi, Ranma-kun! What's up?!"
Nabiki balked on recognizing the costume -- and then, after putting together the name her would-be brother-in-law just called Infinity by, she blanched. Oh, yes, she knew who this girl was; Azuma High School wasn't too far from Nerima and Nabiki had connections there. "Um, Ranma-kun, can I ask you something . . .?!"
"What is it, 'Biki?"
"Who was it over at Azuma High who gave the girls there their powers?"
"Oh, that was Chiyo-chan!" Ayumu answered.
Kasumi blinked, and then her jaw dropped as it hit her. "Oh, my! You mean Mihama Chiyo-chan?! The child genius of Azuma High School?! The girl said to be smarter than Mizuno Ami-chan?! Who actually was elevated right into the first year of high school when she was only ten?! That Chiyo-chan?!"
"Hai! She's actually from Yiziba," Ayumu explained. "There, she was called 'Cerebral Child.' But I really, really, really didn't like that name, so I called her 'Prodigy' instead! She likes it a lot!"
"That was nice," Kasumi commented.
"Wait a sec'," Akane then spoke up. "You're the girl they call 'Osaka,' right?!"
"Hai! Actually, Tomo-chan gave me that nickname! I always though it was pretty dumb of her," Ayumu acknowledged with a nod and a tired sigh. "Then again, she did call her dog 'Black' and her hamster 'Hammy.' I really don't think Tomo-chan has a lot of imagination. But don't tell her I said that, 'kay?!"
"Mum's the word," Ranma vowed.
Ayumu took that in, and then she then looked down to see Ryouga still passed out on the floor by the foot of Nabiki's bed. "Ah, it's the Lost Boy!" Back to Ranma. "Ranma-kun, what's he doing here, anyway?!"
"Um, excuse me, you know him?!" Akane demanded.
"Sure," Ayumu answered. "Back when I was still in Osaka, Lost Boy -- I never did get his name -- always wandered through town looking for . . . " She then paused as her memory suddenly clicked in, and then she pointed at Ranma. "Hey! He was looking for you all the time!" She breathed out in relief. "I'm glad he found you!"
"We're not," Nabiki muttered under her breath, and then she stared pleadingly at Ranma. "Ranma-kun, what on Earth was Chiyo-chan thinking of when she turned around and gave this queen of morons the power of Infinity of all people, anyway?!" she demanded as she pointed at the Bonkura in question.
"'Biki, you're lucky Ayumu-chan's such a nice girl at heart," Ranma warned. "If it had been Tomo-chan you said that to, she would'a punched you literally to the moon. And if it was Michiko-chan, she would'a shot you dead."
Nabiki jolted, her face going white. "Tomo . . .? Michiko . . .?"
"Takino Tomo, also known as Warwind," Ranma provided as a knowing grin crossed his face. While he really didn't mind Nabiki in the long term, she often needed to be taken down a peg or two just to remind her that she couldn't stay in control of everything that happened around her. "Kagura Michiko, also known as Caltrop."
Another face-fault sent Nabiki into the floor. "Gee, you really should be careful," Ayumu helpfully provided. "You could hurt yourself!"
Nabiki moaned . . .
Minutes later, Souun and Genma both jolted on feeling a huge surge of ki warp through the Tendou home. Both glanced upstairs, their eyes wide with shock, and then they exchanged looks. "What's the problem?" Nodoka then asked.
Footsteps then were heard. The adults turned as the Tendou sisters stepped downstairs to join them. While shocked looks were all over their faces, smiles seemed to twitch the corners of their lips as they moved to take their places around the table. "Has something happened, girls . . .?" Nodoka wondered.
More footsteps. Everyone turned as Ranma stepped into the living room. "Ranma!" Genma called out, and then he blinked on hearing two more people come down to join them. "Who . . .?" he demanded before his voice suddenly escaped him.
Souun and Nodoka were also slack-jawed on seeing that one of the newcomers was none other than Ranma's female self, she dressed in virtually the same manner as her male "twin." Kasuga Ayumu, once again in civilian clothes, accompanied her.
Silence then fell.
More silence.
Still more silence.
And then . . .
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I HAVE A DAUGHTER!"
WHA-BOOM!
Nodoka's head was now buried under the coffee table. "Now, Mother dear," the female Ranma then said in a voice that was as thick as molasses in faux sweetness. "We're going to have a long chat about your very abnormal definition of what might constitute a 'man above men.' And if I ever hear the name 'Ranko' escape your lips in reference to me, I will personally take that pathetic butter knife you happen to call an 'honour sword,' then slam it so far down your throat, you'll need a starship's tractor beam to haul it back out again!"
"Kanami-chan's very mad at her mom, ain't she?" Ayumu then asked Ranma.
"Yeah, she's got issues with a lot of people I've run into over the last few years," Ranma admitted, a shrug escaping him.
Only a pained moan escaped Nodoka. Souun and Genma were busy calmly sipping their tea. "Much that I love her, she rather did deserve that," the latter mused.
"Too true, old friend. Too true," the former noted.
"So it was Destructo-sensei who brought the soul-element of Ranma-kun's real mother to Earth to bond with his mind after he went through the Neko-ken training."
"Exactly," Ranma replied. The Tendou sisters, Ayumu and Ranma were standing in the kitchen enjoying some more tea. Souun and Genma were out playing a game of shoogi to relax after an admittedly long and stressful day. And Kanami had dragged Nodoka off to the doojou to give her the literal tenth degree for all the things the latter had and had not done concerning the former's past-self's son. "Death and resurrection on Yiziba run pretty much through the same type of pattern. Within the first six years of your birth, you go to the Hall of Power and face the day of your Awakening, when the Crystal of Power gives you Its gift and you're named by the Conservator."
"A baptism ceremony, in other words," Nabiki provided.
"Hai. When it comes your time to pass away, your body is then taken back to the Hall of Power so that the Crystal could take your soul back unto Itself so that it could be, in effect, recycled for the next person to get your name and powers."
"Oh!" the Tendou sisters then breathed out in understanding.
"So your death would be like when a Vulcan's katra is placed into the Hall of the Ancients at Seleya-san, mixed with something like the fal-tor-pan ritual so that the history of the person who died would never be lost," Kasumi noted.
"It actually becomes living history," Nabiki noted. "That would be interesting."
"All the knowledge and training would be passed down from one Mustang -- to use Ranma's example -- to another. It practically eliminates the whole need for things like schools," Akane added, she then breathing out as the implications of what people like Ranma lived through on Yiziba.
"Gee, Kasumi-chan, I didn't know you were such a Trekker!" Ayumu noted.
"I do like all the shows, Ayumu-chan. I always thought Roddenberry-sensei was such a visionary," Kasumi admitted.
Both girls laughed. "So what powers would Kanami-chan have now?" Nabiki then wondered. "Her old powers as Wildflower or a replication of yours?"
"Our powers really aren't that different in the baseline," Ranma admitted. "Not to mention our general approach to life: live wild and free. I'm more physical though while she can really get psychological when it comes to dealing with whoever she's facing." A smirk. "Kanami'll get a lot of practice on Mom for sure."
"Are you sure you want that to happen?" Akane asked. "Don't you love your mom, Ranma? Yeah, her whole 'man above men' idea is warped beyond belief, but . . . "
"Of course I love my mother, Akane. And I love my father, too. Just because they're nowhere near perfect doesn't mean I don't love them." Ranma then shrugged. "It's just that when it comes to Kanami, she doesn't have the firm psychological grounding I had when it came to my relationship with my parents. Genma and Nodoka raised me since I was a baby, not even a year old. Kanami's only been part of my life since the Neko-ken training. That's six years. In effect, she's even more adopted into the family than I am, seeing she's such a latecomer."
"But with the experience she had as Wildflower, she could give your subconscious mind the necessary preparation to prepare for the day you'd finally be given full control of your powers and get on with your life," Nabiki mused. "And without the emotional 'refreshing' the normal pattern of death and life takes for people on Yiziba -- as much as I think I understand it -- she'll still be pretty much the mother who sent you to Earth in the first place."
"Exactly," Ranma finished.
"No wonder she's so pissed off at Auntie, then," Akane mused.
"Is she going to be upset at Uncle, Ranma-kun?" Kasumi wondered.
"Nah," Ranma replied. "Father did exactly as my real mother wanted him to do: raise me in such a way that would (if I so chose to do so) prepare me as best as possible for a life on Yiziba. A life on the side of the faces, of course, just to give old Doctor Death a nice roundhouse kick in the jawbone!"
"A life where chaos is the rule, not the norm," Nabiki said. "Where laws, morals, traditions and all the things which glue together societies here on Earth are either feeble or just footnotes in history. Where trust can ultimately be placed in oneself, not another. Secrets are nonexistent." A shrug. "In a funny way, Ranma-kun, your being put through your training trip makes a ton of sense."
"What about Ranma-kun's other fiancées, Nabiki-chan?" Kasumi asked. "Especially Ukyou-chan. As I recall, her family yatai was stolen by Uncle . . . "
"It was returned."
Eyes locked on Ranma. "'Returned?!'" the Tendou sisters chorused.
"That's right," Ranma confirmed with a nod.
At her restaurant, Kuonji Ukyou then sneezed. "Ooh!" she gasped as she moved to wipe the shaken mucus away from her nose. "Ran-chan must be talking about me!"
"You -- must -- be -- kidding -- me!" Nabiki barked out.
"It's true," Ranma said. "Father wasn't the lying thief a lot of people might have assumed about him when it came to the training trip. While he did want to honour my real mother's wishes and raise me as close as possible to what being Yizibajohei was like, he knew that if he did as Jijii does now, he'd bring all sorts of trouble down on his head. And potentially risk someone sooner or later finding out what I really was." A pause. "So, when it came to times when he needed to get hold of things to help in my training -- martial arts scrolls and the like -- they were always returned to where they were found. If they were too fragile to be of further use, Father went out of his way to make a better replacement. Food was ultimately paid for by money left behind as soon as he could afford to do it; Father did learn his lesson with the Daitokuji family in the long term."
"And any other fiancées?" Akane asked.
"All verbal agreements," Ranma replied.
"Which could easily be dragged down into useless shouting matches of 'he said, she said,' especially if someone tried to push it," Nabiki added.
"Right."
"But then explain Ukyou-chan," Kasumi probed.
A shake of the head. "I can't. I'm not a telepath, Kasumi, so I really don't know what U-chan's thinking," Ranma admitted, a bleak look flashing through his eyes. "I can understand why Father would openly acknowledge the engagement when she showed up here in town. He expected her to be like the rest of them after Kaori-san; the whole incident forgotten. The dowry was returned. So as to why she's here . . . "
"Would your friend be willing to do a little mind-probing, Osaka?" Nabiki asked.
"I could ask her," Ayumu proposed.
"AH-CHOO!"
And now we . . .
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(Posted Sat, 30 Sep 2006 16:33)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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