"Stupid Pops..." a certain, pig-tailed boy muttered as he walked alongside a bulky, bald man. "What's the big idea, to bring me to a fiancee I've never heard of before?"
"Soun is an old friend of mine," Genma explained. It will be for the honor of our families, and the two schools will be united. Besides, you haven't even met them. What if one of the girls is actually to your liking?"
"I know nothing about them," Ranma protested. "How am I supposed to know?"
"Well, is has been a long time since I saw Soun... His three daughters must have grown into beauties by now. And his wife, Kimiko, has always been the perfect mother and housewife..."
"Just like Mom?" Ranma muttered.
His father nodded. "Kimiko and Nodoka have been close friends since childhood. From what Soun wrote me, she is now the deputy headmistress of a local school... maybe even the school you will attend."
"School?" Ranma sputtered. "You never told me I was going to school."
"My boy, you want to spend as much time with your new fiancee as possible, right? So that would include going to school with her."
"I don't believe this..." Ranma huffed. "I mean, what are they gonna say when they learn about our curses? Think a girl would want a fiance that's part girl himself?"
"Come now, boy! I'm sure they have seen weirder things in life..."
"I seriously doubt that," Ranma grumbled. "Is this it?"
They were standing in front of a nice-looking house. In front of it, a sign was standing that read:
'Tendo Duel Hall'
'Duel Hall?' Ranma wondered. 'Why not call it a dojo?'
He shrugged and went to the front door, where he knocked.
A short time later, the door opened. A nice-looking girl with an apron opened. She looked to be slightly older than Ranma himself.
"Yes?"
Ranma couldn't avert his eyes from the sponge and brush that were floating behind the girl.
Genma didn't seem to notice the floating items at first, as he stepped forward with a smile. "Hello, I am Genma Saotome and this is my son Ranma. I take it my old friend Soun is already waiting for us?"
"Ah, Mr. Saotome! Why, yes, we have been waiting for you. Please, come in!"
Ranma pointed at the brush and sponge and mumbled: "Um, about those..."
"Oh my, sorry about that! I was just cleaning the dishes and they tend to follow me around the house until I'm finished. I hope you don't mind."
Ranma blinked as he and his father followed her inside. What kind of strange household contained floating cleaning tools?
It was getting even stranger when they entered the living room. On the wall, an old-looking clock was hanging, but instead of one hour hand and one minute hand, it had a total of five hands that had names written on them. Four of them were pointing at 'Home', while the last one was pointing at 'Work'.
Perched upon a wooden pole was a surprisingly small owl that had what looked like a yellow bandana around its neck, with black spots. Ranma wondered why they would keep a bird like that in their house, why it would wear a bandana, and why that bandana looked so familiar...
A middle-aged man with a mustache and long-black hair had been sitting at some game that looked like shogi. Strangely enough, he seemed to be able to play it by himself. And even stranger was the fact that the pieces seemed to move by themselves.
Genma grinned as he stepped towards the man. "Tendo! Good to see you again, old friend!"
Soun looked up from his game. "Saotome! You are looking good, if I may say so. Good to see you again after all those years."
"Same here, same here!" Genma laughed. He gestured towards his son. "This is my son, Ranma!"
Soun smiled. "Nice to meet you, boy! You must be quite edgy, I suppose?"
"Um... kinda..." Ranma muttered. He was more confused about the strange house than about the idea of a fiancee by now.
"Kimiko is still at work, she will come home in a few minutes, I suppose. You already met my eldest daughter, Kasumi, right?"
He smiled. "Doesn't she look just like her mother when she was young?"
"Indeed, she will make a fine housewife one day," Genma nodded. "And where are the other two ladies?"
"Oh, Akane and Nabiki are in the Duel Hall, they will be here shortly... but please, where are my manners? Have a seat!"
Genma looked around the room as he and Ranma were sitting down. "Soun, I must say, I have seen a few... unusual things since we entered. That Shogi board, for instance... is it one of those modern, electric ones? And is there a reason why you called the dojo a 'Duel Hall'?"
Soun looked at his friend in surprise, then he smiled. "I guess it must all look quite strange for you two, right? I suppose I'll have to explain a thing or two to you guys... but let's wait until Akane and Nabiki are here, so they can meet Ranma."
Suddenly, loud shouts were heard that were coming from the 'Duel Hall', accompanied by loud crashes.
"EXPELLIARMUS!"
"HAH! Missed me, sis! IMPEDIMENTA!"
"Hey! No fair!"
"All's fair in love and war, sis... Do you surrender?"
"No way!"
"All right, if you insist... Incarcerous!"
A dull thud could be heard.
"All right, you win... this time!"
Shortly afterwards, the two girls entered the living room, a bit sweaty. Akane was still pulling the ropes of her body Nabiki had bound her with during their magical duel.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Nabiki smirked. "But Akane was just too stubborn to yield."
"I would have won if you didn't use that one spell..."
"Yeah, right..."
Genma stared at the clothes the two girls were wearing. Those weren't normal battle gis...
"Are they wearing... robes?"
Nabiki shrugged. "Hey, I have to wear them in the Duel Club at school, so I figured, it would be best to wear them at home as well."
"But those aren't gis. Tendo! What about our traditional Martial Arts training we learned from Master Happosai?"
Soun shuffled around uncomfortably. "Well, Saotome, it's like this... we never really owned a dojo."
"Come again?"
"It's true," Soun sighed. "We just told you I was still teaching the arts as a... cover. You know, neither of my three girls is really a martial artist student... Kimiko insisted that they had to make use of their potential, so she made sure they would all visit the same school... the Furinkan School of Wizardry and Witchcraft!"
Silence.
"Soun... old buddy... would you please tell me you are just joking?"
"I'm sorry for having kept it a secret from you, Genma," Soun apologized. "You see... Kimiko isn't just any normal housewife."
"I know, she is the deputy headmistress of that school..."
"Yes, but what I mean is: She is a witch!"
Genma blinked. "Tendo, you shouldn't speak of your wife like this."
"It is true, Saotome, I swear! She has been attending Furinkan when we were younger, and never told me about it before we married. Now she insists that Akane, Nabiki and Kasumi will become as good witches as their mother."
"But... but what about the schools..."
"Ranma will have to be the sole heir to the schools, I'm afraid," Soun sighed. "Their magical studies doesn't allow my girls to follow anything else, it would just be too time-consuming. And besides, I don't really think they are very interested at all."
"You can say that again..." Nabiki muttered.
"Only Akane has learned the basics, and still she prefers to use her wand."
Ranma looked at the youngest Tendo daughter curiously. "A wand, huh? So, you really can do magic?"
"I sure can," Akane said proudly. "Mom said I'm especially skilled when it comes to dueling."
"You still aren't as good as I am," Nabiki intervened.
"And what about, um... breaking curses? Can you do that as well?"
Akane blinked in confusion. That Saotome boy was accepting the fact that they could do magic quite easily. "Um, I'm still just a student... I suppose Mom could do it, but you would have to ask her yourself..."
"Ah, there she comes now," Kasumi smiled as she took a good look at the clock, where the hand that had written 'Kimiko' on it was no longer pointing at 'Work' but instead at 'Home'.
A few seconds later, a sudden plume of green fire came shooting out of the chimney... an unusual addition for a typical Japanese house, by the way.
Ranma jerked back in surprise, but was even more stunned when a beautiful woman in a kimono came walking out of the fire, completely unharmed. When she stood in front of them, the flames went out again.
She smiled at her guests. "Genma, nice to see you again!" She came closer. "And this dashing young man must be Ranma, I'm sure!"
"Hello, Kimiko..." Genma mumbled, looking past her at the chimney.
Soun smiled. "Welcome home, honey! I just told Ranma and Genma about our... little secret."
"Ah yes, I suppose it must be quite the surprise for you, right? I guess I will have to explain a bit myself... oh, but am I thirsty. Kasumi, would you be a dear and get me a glass of water?"
"Coming, Mother!" Kasumi smiled and went into the kitchen. Shortly after, she returned with the water.
"Here you are, Mother... Ooops! Oh my, I am so sorry about that, Ranma!"
While she was heading for her mother, Kasumi had stumbled over the carpet, and the water was sent flying.
It hit Ranma right in the face.
Kasumi blinked. "Oh my, I didn't know our water had magical properties, Mother..."
"It hasn't, dear..." Kimiko sighed. "I'm afraid I recognize that magical texture... Jusenkyo curse, right?"
Genma nodded, while Akane looked at the red-haired girl sitting in front of her in astonishment. "You mean to tell us that this is..."
The girl wrung out her pigtail. "Yeah, I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry about that!"
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(Posted Thu, 19 Apr 2007 10:19)
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