Tatewaki Kuno sat in his room, decidedly perplexed about his situation. Clearly, Akane Tendo and the pigtailed beauty were meant for him; how else could one explain how each perfectly complemented his magnanimous personality but that the gods had preordained them to be his companions? No, there was no question in Kuno’s mind as to where his two loves fit into his lives — at both of his sides, of course.
But there was a snag, for just as it was self-evident that the affections of both Akane and the redheaded angel could belong to none other than he, so too was it obvious that they would remain forever out of his reach if he did not gain the approval of Ranma Saotome, who was, respectively, uncle and brother to the two women whom he so desired. But sadly, Kuno was still falling far short of obtaining that approval, having been soundly defeated by Ranma in both of their confrontations, which meant that the attentions of his loves would continue to elude him for the time being. This led to his current predicament, as it now seemed unlikely that he would best Ranma any time soon, so superior was the pigtailed boy’s skill to his own. Certainly, he could (and would) train up his skills, but Ranma was obviously just as dedicated to his own Art, which meant that he would no doubt continue to improve as well. This meant that unless he stumbled across some technique or strategy that could exploit a hole in Saotome’s style (assuming, of course, that one existed), then Akane and the pigtailed girl would be forced to live out their lives without knowing his sweet caresses (or anyone’s caresses, for that matter, as there was no way anyone else could beat Ranma if he couldn’t do it). Oh, the tragedy! To be consigned to an eternity of spinsterhood for lack of an adequate suitor! If only there was another way….
Of course, Kuno could hardly fault the young man for holding high standards for those who wished to woo the women in his family: one could not simply allow such specimens of femininity to be carted off by any scalawag from the who happened to catch their attentions. Indeed, had he a sister like the redhead—
Kuno abruptly stopped his musings as inspirartion struck. He did have a sister! And if he could simply spark a relationship between his sister and Ranma, that would give him more time to spend around the pigtailed martial artist, which could give him the chance to prove his worth in ways that did not involve combat. For now that he thought of it, Ranma never specifically said that it was only through defeating him that one could earn his respect; perhaps, therefore, a more unorthodox approach would be fruitful. At the very least, this would give him the chance to observe Ranma’s rather eclectic style so he could better prepare for battle; and make no mistake, Kuno still intended to make regular attempts at besting the young Saotome in single combat, as the young man so clearly preferred. But this could provide an alternate route to his dual goals of Akane and the redheaded goddess who bore the visage of the glorious Ranko Tendo. All he had to do was set Ranma up with his sister — therein lay the most difficult part of this plan, but Tatewaki Kuno was confident that this would not pose any significant problem. Why, in the long run, this could even result in the young martial artist joining with the Kuno clan, and while Ranma was certainly a bit rough around the edges, he would doubtless make a fine addition to his family (especially if he managed to get Kodachi to act more in accordance with her station).
True, Kodachi hardly compared to the pigtailed goddess when it came to overall desirability, but then, few women (other than Akane Tendo and her mother Ranko) could. But Kodachi was still a Kuno, and that meant that she carried with her a certain degree of elegance. Granted, Tatewaki often had a difficult time seeing that elegance, but he simply assumed that this was the result of her attendance at that all-girls school — all that femininity without a significant masculine presence to balance things out couldn’t be good for the mind. And if one thing was clear about Ranma, it was that he had a significant masculine presence about him.
Of course, there was one other problem as well — quite simply, Tatewaki Kuno hadn’t the faintest idea of how to play matchmaker, as this was the first time he’d ever seriously considered the possibility. But this was but a minor concern, for such a feat should not have been a problem for someone as skilled in the fine art of love as he was. Really, all he had to do was figure out how to get started….
Ranma was positively stunned as he looked at the auburn-haired woman who, now that he thought of it, really did bear a resemblance to Ranko (and by extension, his own female form). Somehow, he just hadn’t seriously considered the possibility that reuniting with his sister would result in a similar reunion with his mother (mostly because his father had put so much effort into making sure that he didn’t think about his mother or sister at all). Thus, he had to ask a question that others might consider superfluous, if only to make sure that he had accurately assessed what was (to him) a decidedly unusual situation. “Mom? Is that really you?”
For her part, Nodoka chose to confirm this apparently superfluous question with one of her own: “Ranma?”
Neither of them said any more words, because they weren’t necessary; instead, the two of them dispensed with conversation and embraced as tightly as they could, both intensely glad to see the other after what amounted to a decade of separation. It was a wonderful, heartwarming scene — which was why Genma’s first instincts were to break it up as soon as possible.
“What are you doing, boy?!”
Ranma didn’t let go of his embrace as he looked over at his father with a confused look on his face. “Um, I’m huggin’ my mom?”
“I can see that! But why are you hugging her?”
“Um… because she’s my mom, an’ I haven’t seen her in a long time?”
“What— That’s no excuse! Haven’t you listened to anything I’ve told you about acting like a proper man?”
Nodoka was just as confused as her son. She reluctantly let go of Ranma so she could question her husband directly. “Why on earth would I consider it improper for a young man to show affection for his mother?”
Nodoka’s question stunned Genma; he didn’t really have a specific reason. He’d just assumed that that was the sort of behavior that his wife didn’t approve of. After a few seconds of this pondering, he decided to venture a guess. “Um… because it’s unmanly?”
“Unmanly?”
“Well, it is, isn’t it? Don’t want him turning into some sort of prissy momma’s boy, now do we?”
“He hasn’t seen me in ten years….”
“That’s no excuse for him to let his guard down! Really, Nodoka, I raised him better than this.”
Nodoka raised an eyebrow skeptically. “You did?”
“O-Of course I did. E-Everyone know that true men amongst men don’t let themselves be controlled by their emotions.”
Nodoka sighed… somehow, she just knew that her husband’s interpretation of the phrase “men amongst men” would be totally and utterly off base. “Husband, I believe you may have gone a bit overboard. While it’s true that a true man does not give his emotions full reign over the decisions he makes in life, that hardly means he’s never allowed to express them.”
“Oh… it doesn’t?” Genma was clearly confused — if fanatical Stoicism wasn’t a part of being a man amongst men, what was?
“No,” replied Nodoka. “But that hardly matters now; from what I’ve heard, Ranma has more than met my expectations.”
“So you agree that he’s a man amongst men and you’ll tear up that contract so it won’t matter if you change your mind?” Genma asked with a clear spark of hope in his eyes.
“Uh, I hate ta butt in,” Ranma said, “but what’s with all this ‘man amongst men’ business?”
Nodoka had a quizzical look as she answered her son: “Why, we’re talking about the contract, of course.”
“But I thought that got taken care of when Ranko married Mr. Tendo.”
“No, not that agreement, I mean the other contract he told you about.”
“Told me about what?”
“The other contract.”
“What other contract?”
“The one that’s not the marriage agreement.”
“Mom, I didn’t even know about that one until about an hour before I got here.”
“I see… so he didn’t bother telling you,” Nodoka said, giving a sidelong glare at Genma, who had apparently developed some sort of glandular problem within the timeframe of the last few minutes, as he was now sweating buckets of perspiration.
Ranma sighed. Apparently, his father had decided to wait to tell him some extremely important detail about his life until the last minute. Again. “Tell me what?”
“Well, you see, Ranma….”
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Kwakerjak
(Posted Tue, 26 Dec 2006 21:44)
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.