As Akane was being talked to by Kasumi and Cologne about ‘the proper way to deal with young girls’, Ranma sat in the dining area with the tray of snacks Kasumi had made for the girls.
Said girls were now sitting in front of the television, watching a show geared towards their new ages.
Which was when Nabiki entered in, Hotaru in tow, smiling that she had gone potty without doing so in her pants. “You’re going to have to start doing this too, Saotome. Ten girls, odds are you won’t always have a female near to take them to the bathroom.”
“I know,” he said, taking a cookie the blond named Usagi offered to him, as she sat on his lap, watching TV with him.
“Do you at least know their names?” she asked, sitting down, as Hotaru grabbed two cookies for them.
He nodded, pointing to each girl in turn. “Ami, Minako, Usagi, Rei, Makoto, Hotaru, Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna. And of course, who could forget little Shampoo.”
“Can we watch this, Daddy?” asked Haruka, as Makoto held up a DVD case that had an image of him on it, seemingly suspended in midair, performing a high flip kick.
“What in the world?” he wondered, holding it up.
“Something I made a few months ago to try and drum up business for the Dojo,” commented Nabiki.
He shrugged, as he lifted Usagi up and sat her down next to Nabiki, as he went to put it in.
The girls were at first upset to lose the chance to see if Ash would save the pokémon once more, but quieted down after Ranma asked them to.
With that, he returned to his seat, remote in hand, and after Usagi took her cushy seat with her Daddy again, he started it.
“Really, Akane,” admonished Kasumi, “you should know better than to yell at such young little girls.”
“I’m sorry,” she lamely answered, trying to avoid further conversation on the matter.
WHAP!
“Such a difficult girl,” muttered Cologne, setting her staff back down on the floor as she assisted Kasumi in making a meal. A good meal would probably do wonders for her tired body. “You yelled at them and called them little monsters.”
“I didn’t mean too, they just weren’t listening to me.”
“You can’t treat girls like that the same as you would an adult, Akane,” continued Kasumi. “Children need a gentle hand, and these girls, including Shampoo, have mentally decided that Ranma is their father figure. They’ve also decided you are a potential mother figure. But if you continue to treat them like you have, you will alienate them, and Ranma-kun and you won’t be able to stay together.”
“W-w-what?’ gasped Akane.
“Very true,” said Cologne. “No matter how unprepared he is, Ranma will do what is best for the girls. If you prove yourself a danger to them, he may go elsewhere.”
“But he has to marry me...I mean, he has to marry a Tendo,” said Akane fearfully, afraid she might lose Ranma, but still both in denial of admitting said feelings either to herself or others.
“A few seem to have taken a liking to Nabiki,” said Kasumi.
“Hotaru and Michiru,” said Cologne.
“And whatever progress you may have made when Usagi-chan befriended you, was most likely lost when you yelled at them, including Shampoo. They seem to have adopted her as one of them.”
Cologne nodded. “Indeed they have. The bonds they formed fighting that evil have become a bond of sisters when they became younger.”
Kasumi nodded. “So if Akane isn’t careful, she’ll alienate them further and thus lose Ranma-kun.”
“But surely they can’t think Nabiki is a better mom than me?” gasped Akane, still not believing that this was all happening.
“Nabiki didn’t call them ‘little monsters’, nor did she yell at them,” said Cologne, as Kasumi took over finishing the meal preparations. “They have only seen a positive side of her, and they have seen mostly the negative side of you. You still see Shampoo as being in competition for Ranma. And you are partially right. A daughter will always compete for the love of a father. You assume she is competing for his love as a wife, as you are assuming the other girls will. Your assumptions will hurt your chances more than anything else. And do remember that you have two sisters whom the girls have a better relationship with at the moment, and your agreement is for one of you to marry him, not you in particular. Even Ms. Kuonji has such an agreement.”
“If you don’t want to lose Ranma-kun,” said Kasumi, as she shut the oven door, “then you had better change quickly, little sister.” It hurt Kasumi to say such, but she knew her little sister did love Ranma.
But a father would always choose his children over his own needs, including those of the heart, assuming no other circumstances. If she didn’t change, he would have to break it off for their sakes.
And that ... would hurt Akane even more.
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(Posted Wed, 27 Dec 2006 20:34)
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