Ranma wasn't about to let it go though, as he wanted to deal with this example of his father's stupidity now, before anything else happened. "Yeah?"
"Before you and your father left on that training journey, he and I had a... disagreement as to whether it would be a good idea for him to do take you away."
"You didn't want it, but he did it anyway."
"Yes.... How did you know?"
"Experience."
"Ah, okay," his mother murmured uncertainly. "The thing is that he made up a contract for me to have that put a promise down in writing that would make him have to raise you well. Even signed it, and had you put your handprint on the paper."
"He promised that? In words that couldn't be changed or taken different?"
"Not so much. Actually, it was a promise of an end result. Sort of a guarantee that you would be the manly man that I'd always wanted you to be."
Something about that set off Nabiki's sense of impending doom, or at least that of coming stupidity. "And what would that 'promise' be for?"
"Why, that the two of them would commit seppuku if he didn't raise Ranma to be a 'man among men'."
"EH?!" went the teenagers as one.
Ranko pressed the fingers of one hand to her temple. "Why can't my parents ever do things simply...."
"You don't mean...." the pigtailed boy started, and swallowed hard. "Ya weren't gonna have me... kill myself...."
"Unfortunately... yes. You and your father would have had to do it, and I would have had to make certain that the deed was done," his mother admitted in a sad little voice, slipping out a handkerchief and dabbing at the corner of her eyes.
"Bu... bu... but...."
"Yes?"
"You can't seriously mean that you were going to actually stand by and let that happen," Akane blurted, looking worriedly at the woman she'd always considered to be a dignified lady.
"Oh, of course I wouldn't."
"I thought so...."
"I would have to be their 'second', and help them on to the next life."
Right then, the youngest of the Tendo sisters couldn't blame her step-uncle for weakly rubbing at his throat. "Then... you came here to make sure the deed was done?"
"No, no.... To tell the truth, what I've already heard from my dear daughter was enough to make me see that I had nothing to worry about in Ranma's case."
"Really?" Genma commented, perking up from where he'd been sneaking off. "Well, certainly that would be the case. I mean, I did raise the boy, after all...."
"I said that my son has done well with what he's had to work with. As for you, husband, we have much to discuss."
"Oh no...."
"Isn't this wonderful," Kasumi murmured, smiling brightly as she pressed her palms together.
Nabiki shook her head in disbelief and gave a small chuckle. "Only if you like twisted things. Still, it's good to see that our buddy 'Don Juan' here is going to keep his head on his neck now."
"I kinda like that myself," put in the boy in question.
"At least, all's well that ends well," declared the Saotome patriarch, as he leaned over as if to guide his wife away from the group. "Then why don't we have you rest...."
That brought a confused look to his old friend's face, and Soun didn't feel a need to keep from expressing it. "But she just got here."
"Still... I.... We don't want her overtired. I mean, the boy and I have training trips to do...."
"Since when?" asked said 'boy'.
"Since... Well.... We just have to make the best of the little time that we have.... Actually, I don't want to cause any trouble...."
"There isn't any problem," Nodoka stated firmly. "As it is, this is the perfect time for my son and I to be reacquainted."
"I just don't want you to be disappointed by how little time you might have, what with the schedules...."
"There is nothing more important for me to do than this. I want to know everything that has happened, and what his life is like now, including this 'curse' of his."
"You know about that?" Genma dully asked, bearing the expression that only one who has seen only death open to them would have.
"Of course I do. Surely it's not something that a mother wants to have happen to her child, but I'm sure that I can handle having my son turn into a 'daughter' from time to time. Just so long as he is not about to truly go and try to do the things that a girl would do."
Images of himself in girl form wearing a dress and acting like a bimbo passed through Ranma's mind, and his face twisted into an expression of disgust. "Trust me. That ain't about to happen."
"I'm happy to hear that. But, given what Ranko told me, I have no need to be worried. According to her, you act just as masculine as a girl as you do when you are male."
"Thanks, I.... HEY! Ya told her?!"
"Did you think that I wouldn't? She needed to know, and you were always more 'manly' than you needed to be safe...."
"But still...."
"Don't worry. I made it plain to Mom that you were just as you should be. Except for the whole 'turn into a younger version of me' part. Which might be fixed someday."
"Oh."
"Still, we have plenty of time for this all, now that we're back together again."
"You are right, my dear daughter. And we can discuss any problems once we get back home," Nodoka softly said.
"'Home'?"
"Yes. Obviously, your brother and father would have to return with me to our family home."
This time, Genma joined in on the younger generation's outburst. "WHAT?!"
"I don't see the difficulty here. I mean, it would be terribly inappropriate for my son and husband to live on the charity of my daughter and her family when we have a home that is perfectly suitable for us to live together in."
"No, no, no!" her husband blurted, waving his hands in denial. "We can't do that!"
"We can't?"
"Absolutely. There is so much that has to be done here. I mean, we haven't even scratched the surface of having the schools back together again...."
"Which had already happened through our daughter."
"Ah.... Then it wouldn't be right for us to take our son out of his school when he'd just started...."
"I suppose so. But we can always see about ways that he can still attend classes as he has been."
This was not going as the elder Saotome had planned, and, in a moment of panic, he pulled out a bucket, filled it with water from the koi pond, and dumped it onto his son. "There is this!"
"WHY DID YA DO THAT FOR?!" bellowed the now redheaded younger Saotome sibling.
"See? That hasn't been fixed...."
"Other than this confirming what Ranko told me, and showing that they truly do look alike, I do not see anything that can't be dealt with as well at home as would be done here. My son is still holding himself in a manly way, and is still my child," the elder Saotome woman commented, though she did stare a bit at her son's cursed form.
"Eh? Well.... Uh... We can't go! I... I... I have a meeting...."
"You do? Why not just have it at our home?"
"Because I already sent out a call for the person to come here."
"Then can't you send them another message for them to go to a different place."
"Not really," Genma allowed. "It wasn't like it'd be easy the first time around."
"And who is this person who is so important that you have to meet them in this fashion."
"Just someone that we met on the road...."
"How important could someone that you simply 'met' be? Is it that serious?"
"It's a matter of family honor."
This time, Genma got to see his wife and children with matching flat stares on their faces as they spoke as one. "Do tell."
It was enough of a reason for the Saotome Patriarch to start sweating once again, but he wanted to keep the truth a secret for the time being. Word that the person in question was Ranma's betrothed wasn't something that he wanted getting around, especially when he hadn't prepared things for the 'reunion'. So, he merely smiled nervously, and hoped for the best, while:
(Posted Mon, 19 Feb 2007 05:34)
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