OK, OK, if he was going to take Misato-san's pet warm water Penguin for a walk, he really did have to put a leash on the warking thing.
Or maybe Pen-Pen should be called a hot water penguin, it seemed like playing in the bath often enough - and not when the water was all cold, either. A luke warm water penguin? Heh.
The harness was easy enough to find, as it was hanging from a peg right next to the door, but figuring out how to get it on Pen-Pen properly was a pain.
Wark wark wark *wark* wark...
Yes, yes, he was a stupid human, he got it, he got it... And it wasn't like he was getting Pen-Pen all tangled up in the harness on purpose, really.
OK, so this went here, and that went there...
Wark wark wark! Warrrkk...
Ranma blinked, as Pen-Pen's complaining warks changed tone somewhat, and the penguin began to struggle to get to the door. Oh?
Ahh. There was a somewhat familiar presence, coming closer to the door...
"Ikari-kun, Pen-Pen, I'm hooomeee..."
Katsuragi Misato seemed in a rather good mood this morning, Ranma decided. Even with all the baggage she was lugging around and all.
"Good morning Ikari-kun, here's the cello, and here're your study-books and clothes and stuff - I hope I didn't miss anything? Your Aunt and Uncle send their regards, and they said they're going to keep your old room just the way it is for the time being, so you don't have to worry about your stuff getting lost or anything like that. Or in case, you know, things just don't work out with your father and stuff."
Ranma stared. What?
"Oh, and they want you to tell them in advance if either you or your father is coming over for the holidays or O-bon or New Year or something, they said...Hey Ikari-kun? It's about that cute little fish pendent you gave me yesterday..."
Ranma kept on staring. Fish pendant?
Misato had patted a happily warking Pen-Pen on the head, and was now looking through some kind of small bag she apparently kept around her neck with a string or something.
"I woke up this morning at your Aunt and Uncle's place, and the chain was gone and it was lying by my pillow just like this - see? And when I looked at it, I couldn't even figure out just how the chain was connected to it, it doesn't have a hole and there doesn't seem to be anyplace it used to be welded to, either - weird, eh?"
Ranma stared again at the little thing lying on the palm of her hand. It did look like a small yellow fish pendent, he did have to admit.
Except that it felt, well, sort of, alive. And it was like he could almost hear a small buzzy snore emitting from the little thing...
Ranma turned away, trying to martial his thoughts. That was the Babel Fish?
And...and...
Just what the hell was going on here?
And that was when he remembered that piece of paper that Nabiki had pressed into his hand in the dreamscape. He'd been trying to read it in a hurry when Pen-Pen had woken him up, that much he did remember, but...
...that means that nobody should remember you doing anything that the 'Ikari Ranma' that everybody remembers being in that world wouldn't have been able to do, from the time you got there to the time this Wish was granted, and all the records should have been adjusted too. However, I'm not too sure how well that'll work with the Angels and such themselves, so...
...Oh. So...
...Well, he wasn't quite sure just why Misato-san had run off in such a hurry when he'd been trying to explain things to her yesterday, anyway, but..."
"Hey, Misato-san? Um, thanks for bringing me my stuff..."
That ought to be safe enough to say, right?
"You're welcome. Hey, it's all the Commander's fault anyway, for not explaining properly that he actually wanted you to live here from now on..."
Misato grinned at him, putting the little - fish-thing - back into her little bag, and began unbuckling and unwrapping Pen-Pen. He hadn't managed to figure out how to put the leash on properly, obviously...
Ranma decided to take a chance and try to get some more info.
"Well, he probably would have sent me back pronto, if, you know..."
Misato looked at him, a bit sadly.
"If you hadn't been able to pilot the Eva? - Well, maybe, but - it's not like I can read his mind, you know, and neither can you, I don't think. And I mean - if you couldn't..."
Yeah, yeah, right. If Commander Ikari's son wasn't able to pilot an Evangelion, why keep him in Tokyo-3, anyway? He would be safer and happier back with his Aunt and Uncle.
Or so Captain Katsuragi Misato, head of operations at NERV, would think.
Ahh, well. Ranma sighed - there were lots of things he had to think about, now...
"Hey, Misato-san? About that fishy-thing - I think it used to be connected to the chain by some kind of thin metal web or something..."
He didn't want to think of her trying to drill a hole in it or something, after all... Especially when it still seemed to be alive. Sort of.
"Hmm, maybe. I'll just have to keep it like this for the time being...unless you want it back, Ikari-kun?"
"Eh?" Ranma blinked. It seemed pretty clear that she really did like the little thing...
"Um, uh, no, you keep it, it's a present after all. I, um, might want to borrow it sometimes, though - it's supposed to bring good luck with some stuff."
"What, like with exams?" Misato quipped. "OK, then. And speaking of things that are supposed to make one feel better, if not precisely bring good luck as far as I know..."
Misato-san was grinning like a wicked, wicked thing, holding out a box. Ranma smiled uneasily, sweatdropping. What now?
"Taadaa! I brought you your collection, Ikari-kun -"
Ranma stared. And stared. And kept on staring.
In the box were...figurines. Obviously anime and game character based figurines.
Lots of them.
"There're all very nice, and I was sure you'd like them at hand, even if you didn't ask for them this time - "
Including one that looked exactly like the 'anime version' of one Tendo Akane.
Somewhere, a penguin was warking.
Ranma kept on staring.
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(Posted Sat, 23 Dec 2006 12:30)
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