For the rest of the day, Nabiki was busy running through school, talking to her underlings and, together with their help, putting placards at the school's billboard and giving out notes that inform the students of Furinkan high about the correct time and the new place of the tournament.
Nabiki decided that their dojo was way to small for such many spectators, even if the backyard was included. Also, she was worried about potential damages that could occur to the dojo and the house itself.
So she decided to move the tournament to the school's sports field, where many of Ranma's earlier fights had been taken place.
Of course, Ukyo was intent on finding out just whose idea this whole tournament was, but she couldn't get a straight answer from both Ranma and Akane.
Ranma was half expecting that Shampoo would show up on his way home, as she would likely be one of those persons who got an invitation too. But no such thing happened, and Ranma was glad.
Akane, on the other hand, was suspicious. "This Kodachi..." she murmured while they were walking back home from school. "Maybe she has something to do with all of this. Or is it a plot made up by Cologne?"
"I dunno..." Ranma shrugged. "But I don't think it's the same person that has cleared out your family's account."
"Huh? Why not?" Akane asked.
"Well, this tournament actually is a good chance to make some money, right? And I guess whoever snatched all of the money from the account wouldn't want that."
Akane shrugged. "Perhaps he made it so we would have more money he could 'snatch' for himself..."
They reached the Tendo home and came back in. "We're back!"
"Well, whatever..." Ranma smirked. "This tournament will be a great chance for me to get back into shape. There hasn't be an exciting fight in months. I'm really curious who else is gonna fight."
"You're gonna enter the contest as well?" his mother asked in bewilderment.
"Why not?" Ranma smirked. "After all, the spectators won't really care who wins, right? They only want a good show. And if this is for the title of the 'strongest fighter of the neighborhood', them I'm gonna enter... and I'm gonna win! Cause..." He grinned. "Ranma Saotome doesn't lose!"
----
Snooze Puk was watching the Tendos and Saotomes from atop the television set. He had to admit, he liked the spirit of that young man. And he also was impressed how quickly Nabiki turned this situation into something profitable for the whole family.
That part of the Wool Puk's plan did work, at least. Now the only thing that was missing were enough spectators, so the income would cover the loss from their account. So, even if Ranma would lose, this whole affair would definitely turn out to be positive for the Tendo and Saotome families.
Now the only thing he had to do was to inform the other Puks about the outcome of their little plan. It was the middle of the day, and they would most likely all be asleep. But Nabiki had scheduled the first rounds of the tournament to begin on Saturday, at noontime. And that was tomorrow.
And Snooze Puk had promised to inform the Chief Puk and the others before the tournament was starting, so he had to go.
As Akane was still downstairs in the living room, he decided to once again take the shortcut through her room. The door was closed, but that was no problem: Snooze Puk simply bowed and grabbed his pigtail.
"Big house, small house, tiny house
Go in, go out, Puk and mouse
Without a handle, knob or nub
Puk Puk Puk! Now open up!"
And the door to Akane's room opened.
Snooze Puk half expected to meet P-chan in her room, but the little piglet was nowhere to see.
'Strange,'" Snooze Puk thought. 'I haven't seen him anywhere around the house today... where might he be?'
He decided not to worry for now, climbed on top of the roof and did something that Puks didn't do very often: He called for his pigeon in the middle of the day.
First, he visited the Chief Puk and woke him up. The Chief Puk was still a little bit drowsy, but perked up after he heard the good news.
"So that means Nabiki has taken care of all the preparations?"
"That she did," Snooze Puk nodded, proud of 'his' human. "I don't think we have to worry much about the outcome of the tournament... from what I heard from Ranma and Akane, most of their school mates will come."
"Excellent!" the Chief Puk said contently. "Then go and inform the others. And we'd like to know about the results of the tournament as well, so I'm afraid you'll have to sacrifice your sleep for tomorrow..."
"No problem!" Snooze Puk said. He wanted to watch the tournament anyway. He would be very tired in the evening, but that was worth it, in his opinion.
Afterwards, he visited all of the other Puks to inform them about when the big event would begin. Some of them also decided to sacrifice their sleep so they could watch it. Snooze Puk wasn't surprised that both Naggy Puk and Sweetie Puk weren't among those who did.
The Skyscraper Puk was the last one he visited.
"Say, did Ranma have a visitor today?" he asked after Snooze Puk had informed him about the contest.
Snooze Puk shook his head. "Not while I was at home... and he was at school in the morning. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, no reason," the Skyscraper Puk shrugged. "Just an idea I had..."
After that, Snooze Puk hurried back home, so he still could sleep the rest of the day. Tomorrow would be the big tournament, and he would need the sleep.
----
Back in the attic of the Kuno mansion, the Chief Puk tried getting back to sleep, but doing so turned out to be difficult. He couldn't stop but worrying about the Tendos. The Bank Puk had said that some mysterious person has withdrawn all of the Tendo's money illegally, without leaving any traces.
Somehow, the Chief had a hunch, and he wanted to look into it for a while. But this really was not the way how Puks normally acted. He would have to talk to the others, on their next meeting.
Luckily, he had just the right man for such an occasion... or rather, the right rat.
"Gan-chan!" he called out into the empty darkness of the attic.
Without a warning, a dark shape leapt out of the shadows and landed in front of him. Clad in a black suit, the only things visible from the figure were his steely eyes and the thin, ropey tail that was sneaking out of his pants.
"You called, Chief-sama?" the ninja rat spoke up.
The Chief Puk sweat-dropped (a habit he had formed since he was staying in Japan). "Gan-chan... do you always have to dress like this?"
"A true ninja is nothing without his proper garments," the rat said, falling down to his knee in front of the elderly Puk. "How can this servant be of use to you?"
"Very well... I want you to keep a sharp eye on the two young siblings living in this mansion. Their... erratic behavior has worried me for some time. Now that I know that the Ranma they always talk about is the very same Ranma from Snooze Puk's new home, I have to make sure that they don't plot anything. Most importantly: Make sure that they don't interfere with the tournament in any dishonorable way!"
"Understood, master!" Gan-chan replied. "Their own ninja servant will make my mission more difficult, though..."
"Are you able to handle it?"
"Of course!" the ninja rat said and bowed his head. "Everything for Chief-sama!" He stood up. "I'll be back as soon as possible." He raised his right paw.
"Ninja vanish!" And he threw the little smoke bomb he held in his paw, and vanished in the smoke cloud.
The Chief Puk shook his head. He would never get used to the behavior of that little guy...
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(Posted Fri, 09 Feb 2007 16:00)
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