He hadn’t perfectly remembered the route to his old friend’s home, but as it happened that was all to the good; by the excruciating expedient of running straight on when he collided with the partially-stocked fish vendor’s stall in the market he hadn’t intended passing through, he had gained a small lead on the petite redhead pursuing him. Unfortunately, the scent in his nose informed him that she had gained a large fish, which didn’t strike him as a fair trade at all.
“Fiancé?”
“Yes, the son of a great old friend of mine,” affirmed the tall man. His daughters regarded him steadily. “His name is Saotome Ranma. If one of you were to marry him and carry on the dojo, the Tendo family legacy would be assured.”
“Wait a minute!” exclaimed the youngest. “Don’t we get any say in who we marry?”
“Akane’s right, Daddy,” remarked the middle girl. “We’ve never even…”
BaBOOM
“Hu? What was…”
BaBOOMCRASH
“If that’s some pervert thinking he can get me before…” started Akane, getting up and stomping towards the door. Her father, distressed at hearing damage to his home, followed closely in her wake.
Thus, they were the first in the family to face the marauding monster that had caused great panic in the district that morning.
Akane’s first response on seeing the beast was shock, followed rapidly by understandable fear – after all, fully-grown tigers are quite substantial predators. This one looked even more fearsome than the ones on television nature programs. The vibrant coat with dark stripes, the long claws, bared teeth; oh, those were all present. One ear was shredded, while the other stuck out horizontally. Minor gashes decorated both flanks and all four legs, and the creature sported a grand total of three whiskers, one of them no more than a centimetre long, all of them on the left side of its face; the right having been shaved bald, as had its tail.
Seeing the pair, the creature sprang forward with a fearsome growl. “GreRo!”
Akane froze momentarily, before her ingrained responses took over. The charging of bodies substantially larger than her own (if not quite this much so) was something she dealt with every morning, and as the animal spread it’s forepaws to shred her and her father she stepped into the attack with a forceful ‘kiai’ and a two-handed uppercut.
The ceiling made expensive noises as the big cat ploughed into it.
Her father made distressed noises as he witnessed this, followed by distinctly different distressed noises as the big cat fell on top of him.
“Groo?”
“You’re not hurting my Daddy! HyaA!”
“OWWWrrrr!”
With a clatter, a smaller figure bounded over the wreckage of the front door. Kasumi, peering around the corner into the hallway with Nabiki, cried out a warning. “Behind you!”
“Huh?” uttered Akane, turning sharply in a defensive stance. She got a brief impression of a red form on four legs before it dropped something and sprang towards her prone father. She lashed out, only to have her blow evaded nonchalantly as the figure bore down…
…and savaged the tiger.
“Gwawarrr!”
“Merewww!”
Akane blinked, and decided that even she would accept unasked-for assistance dealing with loose tigers attacking her family. Unlike certain other people she knew, she wasn’t completely convinced of her invincibility. She brought her fists down in the middle of the animal’s back as the newcomer – a redheaded girl in a red shirt – used unorthodox strikes around its head and shoulders. Liking the results of this, she went on to try an axe kick, two variations on the karate chop, and a sweep kick.
After a few moments of this treatment, the tiger managed to writhe free and dash for the living room, scattering her sisters. She and the redhead went in pursuit.
“Oohw…” remarked Soun, from the small depression in the floor where the tiger had been.
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(Posted Fri, 26 Jan 2007 23:44)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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