Some time after breakfast on Wednesday, there was a quiet rattle at the front door. Kasumi having left shortly after the younger girls for some emergency kitchen supplies, The post sat on the floor for twenty minutes before Soun, passing by, noticed and picked them up. He took them into the kitchen, but a call from his old friend distracted him and he merely placed them on the counter near the letter rack, expecting his oldest daughter would sort it to the correct recipients when she returned.
Kasumi was delayed, meeting an older friend of hers in the market and falling to gossip and cooing over the other woman’s three-year-old daughter, and Genma became hungry. He also lost two games of shogi in a row, which he ascribed to his hunger, and took a break between games to collect some snacks. As he rummaged in the cupboards, he saw the small pile of paper, and automatically thumbed through it, a lifetime of petty theft having taught him to keep an eye open for opportunity; the thought that this was the mail of his greatest friend didn’t enter his head.
The third letter was thin, and hand-addressed. He thought he recognised the handwriting; more importantly, he definitely recognised the addressee. Frowning, he secreted the letter in his gi.
Later, after devouring lunch with his hosts, he found a free moment to ‘freshen up’ in the guest room. He sat on the futon and opened the letter.
617 Iseki-Michi
Sumida
Tokyo
Dear Ranma-chan,
I was delighted to receive your latest letter – not just because I always look forward to hearing about your adventures (disastrous though many of them are), but because you are finally close enough that I can visit. I do worry about you, and the letters have been a great comfort to me over the years, but I really want to see my little girl again.
I will come to Nerima on Saturday, and meet you at the dojo after lunch. Please don’t ask Kasumi to prepare anything for me; I want to take you out for dinner, just the two of us, so we can get properly acquainted again. There is so much I have to tell you. I will reserve a small hotel room in the ward so we can spend all of Sunday together as well.
I will have words with your father as well, but unless he says anything too stupid I don’t expect that to take very long.
Until I see you,
All my love
Your mother
Genma sweated. Nodoka! His wife! Knew where the boy was, and was going to visit! His No-chan! Coming here! On Saturday! And the boy didn’t even know about the promise!
Uncharacteristically, he slipped into Deep Thought, a regime unused to any Saotome. As he did on the (very) few occasions when he had previously done this (twice – and one of those had been when he was deciding whether to propose to Nodoka, or run for the hills – possibly the hills of Colorado), he began to pace.
Ranma leant back, setting the depleted bento down at her side. Her three friends all protected their lunches, and smiles flickered across all four faces. Ranma stealing parts of their midday meal had become an in-joke between them, one she indulged in just enough to keep it ‘real’.
“How many springs are there at this place?” asked Yuka, bringing her back to her recounting of her adventures on the road – drafted with her father as the hapless comic relief, for the most part.
“‘There over one hundred springs here, all with own tragic legend’,” she replied with a very fake Chinese accent. “I’d believe him, too – there’s a lot of little pools and puddles in the valley. Not all of them very big, though. Nyannichuan is one of the bigger ones, actually, and it’s not much over three metres across. Huniichuan is about half that.”
“So that panda at the gate yesterday really was your father?” asked Sayuri.
“Uh-huh.” Akane nodded as well.
“That’s weird,” said Sayuri. “Where did he get those signs from?”
“Dunno. He just started pulling them out of nowhere a couple weeks ago, when we were half-way back from China.” Ranma shrugged. “He could be pulling them out of his butt for all I know. An’ he never seems to run out, either.”
“If you fell in one of those pools, how come you don’t turn into a wild animal too?” asked Yuka
Ranma shifted uncomfortably. “I ain’t really sure,” she said. “Cologne-sensei and Lotion-sensei, I met them at this little village near there, they said some people weren’t affected by Jusenkyo, or couldn’t be affected permanently like Pops is. I did turn into this fox-girl when I fell in Huniichuan, but it didn’t stick.”
“Oo, a fox-girl,” squealed Sayuri. “Like Yoko in ‘Tactics’? That would be so cool.”
Ranma gave her a sidelong, measuring look. “Uh-huh. Everyone staring at you. People avoiding you because you look strange. Miko and shrine masters trying to slap you with wards. Scientists wanting to drag you away and experiment on you.” She shuddered theatrically. “No thanks. I like being human.”
Sayuri paused. “I hadn’t thought of it like that,” she admitted. “I still think it would be cool, though.”
Ranma sighed. “I hope you never have to find out for yourself,” she said as the bell rang.
Soun regarded his old friend with some concern. Genma was still cheating as hard as ever, but his last six illegal moves had all assisted Soun. For that matter, he had lost seven of their games that morning, and the last time Soun had a winning streak like that against his friend Genma had been recovering from a serious concussion and was unable to put the tiles down straight.
Kasumi had also noticed the change in their guest’s demeanour. The levels in the sake bottles to either side of the game board were almost even, indicating that her father was matching Genma drink for drink, and the bowl of snacks had depleted only once since she returned from the market.
Nabiki had stopped them at the gate to tell them she would be late home, and Sayuri and Yuka had walked a short way with them as they chatted, but after the other two had turned away to complete a homework assignment together, a companionable silence had fallen.
As the dojo came into view, Akane spoke up. “You know, it is odd about you not getting cursed.”
“Huh? Where’d that come from?”
“Oh, just what Yuka said at lunch. You remember, about you not turning into a wild animal. I mean, I can see why the Nyanniichuan had no effect, but why don’t you turn into a fox, or at least a fox-girl, when you get wet?”
Ranma glanced at her. She had been thinking lately, and she had always been fairly quick to make friends – it was one of two possible adaptations to constantly moving around, and shying away from everyone simply wasn’t in her nature. She had learned to judge people quickly and accurately as well, and she was only helped along by the doctor’s comment that Monday.
Akane was a trustworthy person. The only way to tell for sure whether she would keep a friend’s secrets, though, was to give her a secret to keep.
“Well,” she said slowly, “Cologne-sensei an’ Lotion-sensei said it was because of my ancestry…”
“You said that when you arrived,” agreed Akane. “But it’s not much of an explanation. Perhaps you could ask your mother in your next letter?”
“Well… maybe…”
They pushed through the front gate and went into the house. “We’re home!” called Akane.
“Um, I’m already feelin’ sorta closed in,” admitted Ranma abruptly, having thought of a good way to try Akane and putting the plan into action immediately. “Wouldya like ta take a training trip this weekend? I know a couple places we ought ta be able ta get to and back without missing any school.”
“Uhm…”
“Excellent idea, boy!” boomed down the hallway. Ranma twitched.
“Are you sure of that, Saotome?” followed a much less certain voice.
“Of course, Tendo! There is no better way to help them become acquainted!”
“Ah, well…”
The muffled sound of urgent muttering passed to the two girls. Akane turned to Ranma with a raised eyebrow.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” she asked softly.
“I did right up until Pops agreed with me,” replied Ranma, equally quietly.
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(Posted Sat, 14 Jul 2007 22:52)
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