Later that evening, as she and Akane helped Ranma put the Saotomes’ things into the guest room, Nabiki asked, “If you fell in one of those pools, why didn’t you change shape when you fell in the pond?”
Ranma stilled momentarily. “Uh, well, I don’t really know,” she said, fiddling with the ties on the pack she had just set down. “We went to Joketsuzoku, this place just near Jusenkyo, an’ Cologne-sensei said it was something ta do with my ancestry makin’ me resistant ta shapechangin’ magic. Pops said it was a load of rubbish, because the magic worked just fine on him, but he was goin’ on about how his ‘son’ had been turned inta a ‘weak little girl’ so…” She shrugged.
“Hmm,” mused Nabiki softly. “Something on your mother’s side, then?”
“I guess so,” replied Ranma.
“I could track her family down, if you like,” offered Nabiki. “Perhaps we could figure out where that bit of ancestry came from?”
“Nabiki!” protested Akane. “Ranma doesn’t have money to waste on your scams!”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” said Ranma, grinning over her shoulder. “I took Mum’s address from one of Pop’s journals ages ago.” Her expression turned thoughtful. “She lives in Tokyo – would your father mind if I invited her over?”
“Of course not!” exclaimed Akane. “But won’t your father call her anyway?”
“And why did you come here instead of going home?” asked Nabiki.
Ranma shrugged eloquently. “Pops decided,” she said, as though that explained it. “An’ he never puts a return address on his letters ta’ Mum. I din’t know ya was supposed ta ‘till a couple years back an’ we’ve been moving around all over China ever since.”
The morning had seen a distinct disruption to the normal routine of the Tendo household. Kasumi had risen first, going downstairs to begin preparations for the morning as normal. She had been followed by Akane, who set off for her morning run just as the sun began peeping over the horizon as normal. Shortly after she closed the gate and jogged out of sight, a petite redheaded form emerged from an upstairs window, descending in a lazy arc to the pond to the accompaniment of an admonition from her parental unit about the virtues of wakening early. This began a vigorous battle which lasted until Akane had returned and her eldest sister announced the beginning of breakfast.
As Kasumi carried away the dishes after the meal, Genma dropped another morning surprise attack on his child.
“School? What’s wrong with the correspondence school?”
“You need to spend more time with children your own age, Boy!” asserted Genma.
“Girl!” reminded Ranma.
Genma snorted. “Anyway, those clothes aren’t suitable. Here’s a uniform – go get dressed. I haven’t got a gym uniform for you yet – you’ll have to miss that class, do some kata instead.”
Ranma shook out the bundle of cloth her father threw at her. Her eye twitched. “Pops, if this is another boy’s school you and me are gonna have words.”
“Don’t worry, Ranma, you’re going to the same school as us.”
The gimlet gaze was redirected from Genma to Nabiki. “So shouldn’t you be wearing your uniform?” asked Ranma in tones that suggested she knew exactly what the answer was going to be.
“I am,” replied Nabiki, in matching tones. “That’s a boy’s uniform.”
“I – See.” The gaze swivelled back to her father, and remained there for several moments. Then, with a grumble that was almost certainly uncomplimentary, if not profane, she roughly bundled up the clothes and retreated to the guest room.
Ranma casually paced Akane as they made their way to school. Partway there, Akane looked up and asked, “Is there a reason you’re walking on the fence??”
“Not particularly,” came the reply. Ranma jumped down beside her. “I just like the longer view I get when I’m up high.” She shrugged. “Comes from being short, I guess.”
Akane blinked. “I was expecting some spiel about continuous martial arts practice or something.”
“Oh, that’s why Pops thinks I do it,” said Ranma with a shrug. “It’s a long time since I did things because he thought it was a good idea.”
“Uh-huh.” A companionable silence fell.
A couple of streets later, Ranma asked, “Ya said ya hated boys, when we was sparring. Why?”
“Boys,” growled Akane. “They’re all perverts, that’s why!”
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Thu, 14 Jun 2007 20:28)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.