[Episode 191010] [Episode 191010]Ranma Kusanagi sat in a chair beside the pool. His gaze drifted over to his mother as he contemplated his life and who he was. Yesterday was his sixteenth birthday and much to his initial alarm, memories of his past life had returned to him fully. He was seeing that life through much different eyes now and it boggled his mind how he could have ever been such an idiot.
"Mom?" he spoke softly.
"Yes, Sweetie?" Motoko replied, looking up from her book.
"Mom, I just want to thank you. You know...for being a good mother and being there for me," Ranma said. "I love you, Mom."
Motoko met his gaze with soft eyes and smiled.
"I love you to, Sweetie," she replied. "What brought this on?"
"You don't regret having me?" Ranma asked. The question had bothered him since his memories had returned; especially since he knew that his mom hadn't planned on being pregnant.
"Of course not," Motoko said, giving him an inquisitive look. "Why would you think that?"
In fact, having Ranma had been more wonderful than she could have imagined. Being his mother had changed her. Whenever she felt like questioning her existence, or doubted her humanity, she had only to look at her son and those questions and doubts vanished.
"I dunno," Ranma shrugged. "I guess because I know I wasn't exactly planned."
"Sweetie, I wouldn't trade a single minute with you for anything," Motoko assured her son. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me. Never forget that. If I had known what a joy being a mother could be, I would have had you sooner."
Ranma chuckled at this. His mother didn't look any older than twenty-five or so. Hearing her say she should have had him sooner made him picture a pregnant eight year-old. Of course he knew that was because her prosthetic body didn't age but it still made for some odd imagery.
"Aren't you supposed to meet Uncle Batou so you guys can beat the crap out of each other?" Motoko asked.
"Yup," Ranma smirked. "Don't worry, Mom. I'll try not to beat on him too badly so he doesn't end up useless at work."
Motoko snickered. It had been quite a shock to everyone last year when they realized that Ranma could go toe-to-toe with Batou and have a reasonable chance of coming out on top. He had finally become fast enough that Batou found it difficult to tag the boy. At the same time, while Ranma could land an attack almost at will, Batou's prosthetics allowed him to soak up more damage than Ranma could inflict. That was slowly changing though. Ranma was already ridiculously strong and impossibly fast for a full human and he was getting more so every day.
Add to this, he was also Motoko Kusanagi's son and as such he was an expert hacker almost as good as Motoko herself. He liked to jokingly refer to his skills as the Kusanagi School of Martial Arts Hacking. Shortly after receiving his sub-brain implant, he proved he could hack Batou's cyber-brain causing the older man to lock up during their sparring match. Motoko was inordinately proud of him for that even though she had to tear a strip off him for doing it.
Ranma smiled and stood up, giving his mom a kiss on the forehead.
"Well, gotta go. Love you, Mom," the teen said.
"Have a good time with your male-bonding thing, Sweetie," Motoko replied jokingly.
"Hey kid," the white-haired man greeted as Ranma entered the gym. "When are you gonna get rid of that girly little pigtail?"
"Probably when you get rid of that sissy ponytail, old man," Ranma smirked.
"Like that'll ever happen," Batou snorted.
"I'm sure your boyfriends like having something to hold onto when you're takin' it from behind," Ranma taunted.
"Are you trying to get killed, kid?" Batou growled.
"Just makin' sure you're in the proper frame of mind so I won't be completely bored when I beat you down," Ranma smirked.
"Big talk for such a little guy," Batou remarked. "Let's see if you can back it up."
"Game on, old man," Ranma said, dropping into a stance.
Batou grinned ferally and charged, leading with a powerful right hook. Ranma dropped under the punch and spun around into a Capoeira-style foot sweep. Batou jumped over the sweep and Ranma twirled away to give himself some distance. He had learned that grappling with Batou was a quick way to lose; he simply didn't have the body mass to challenge the older man on those terms. Strength was meaningless if you don't have the leverage to apply it.
Batou hit the ground from his jump and immediately charged Ranma again, attempting a thrust kick. This time Ranma jumped up into a flip, grabbing Batou by his collar as he passed over the larger fighter. He came down and attempted to throw Batou but the older man lowered his center of gravity. Ranma failed to move him off balance and was unable to complete the move. Instead, Batou reached up and grabbed the boy's arms and Ranma was the one sent flying.
Ranma used his mid-air skills to hit the wall feet-first and spring off at an angle that would put him back out toward the center of the mat. Batou moved to intercept him but got a foot in the face and ended up flat on his back for his troubles. The older man had to flip over into a backwards summersault to avoid the foot stomp that Ranma sent toward his gut. The miss cracked the concrete below the mats; however, before the older man could set himself, Ranma followed Batou's flip and unleashed an Amaguriken followed by a powerful front kick.
Batou flew several meters before landing in a skid on his back again. Without pausing the cybernetically augmented man did a quick kip-up to regain his feet and braced for the next attack. It wasn't necessary though, as Ranma was still standing where he had landed the kick, grinning like an idiot.
Seeing that Ranma wasn't attacking, Batou became aware of the pain the attack had caused him and he hunched over, arms wrapping around his torso protectively.
"Good one, kid," Batou grated out
"Guess I won that exchange, huh, old man," Ranma smirked.
"Don't get cocky, kid," Batou advised. "I ain't done yet."
An hour later, a battered Ranma and a not-so-obviously battered Batou sat leaning up against the wall of the gym as they took a break from the sparring.
"You about ready for phase two, kid?" Batou smirked.
"What have you got planned today, Uncle Batou," Ranma grinned.
While the casual listener would have thought Ranma didn't respect the older man very much due to his taunts during their sparring sessions, they would have been mistaken. The truth was that Batou was like a father to him. While he wouldn't come out and say it, Ranma cared for the white-haired man almost as much as he did for his mother.
Likewise, Batou also thought of Ranma as his son. The Major had encouraged Batou to fill that role early on, recognizing that Ranma would need a male role model in his life. The two had taken to each other like a duck to water. Batou might have been gruff in manner and a stern teacher, but it was clear that he cared for Ranma. He was always there for Ranma to help with problems a teenage boy just doesn't take to his mother.
"Just a little jaunt on the confidence course," Batou answered with an evil grin.
"And I thought you might have come up with something challenging," Ranma said, rolling his eyes.
"Oh I think it'll be more challenging than you think," Batou drawled. "Besides, you need to work on your marksmanship. Go on and get changed into you're BDU's and we'll head over there now."
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(Posted Mon, 02 Jul 2007 16:11)
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