“That’s… rather difficult to believe,” said Akane. “I mean, werewolves are…”
“Myths?”
“I was thinking something off American TV.”
Ranma snorted softly. “I prefer ‘myth’,” she said wryly. She shrugged. “I dunno what I am,” she admitted. “The Elders at Joketsuzoku said I was some sort of werecreature, from my aura, but all the ones they ever had in the village were different sorts of cat, an’ I’m a dog.”
“A werewolf, perhaps?” suggested Akane sceptically.
The redhead shook her head. “Never heard of a wolf with red fur.”
“Werefox?”
“I’m way too big to be a fox. They’re about the size of a cat – I’m about this tall,” she said, gesturing about mid-thigh. “’An when I mentioned foxes, Elder Lotion looked at me really funny and changed what we were talkin’ about.”
Akane didn’t have an answer to that, and an uncomfortable silence fell. The two girls looked at each other, Akane uncertain of the story she had been told and Ranma uncertain of its reception.
Finally, Akane said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t believe that without some sort of proof.”
Ranma nodded, and reached for the fastenings of the simple blouse and trousers she had changed into on the train. As soon as she realised what the smaller girl was doing, Akane protested, “What are you doing?”
Ranma paused, one arm half out of her sleeve. “Getting undressed. I can’t change in them,” she said reasonably. After a moment, she resumed pulling off the blouse and turned her back. “I got another problem, too, which is kinda why I’m showing you over a weekend. I got three forms, but I can only shift once a day.” The blouse was swiftly bundled into the top of her pack, followed by her bra. Her boots were carefully tied to the lid by the laces. “So I’m gonna spend ‘til this time tomorrow as a dog.”
“But – but – What am I going to do?” asked Akane. “How will I even find the camp site?”
“Oh, I only change shape – I’ll lead you there,” assured Ranma as she rolled up her trousers. “And you know how to pitch a tent and cook, don’t you?”
“Well…ye-es…”
“There you are, then. And as for me…” She grinned over her shoulder. “…I’ve got a collar and lead.”
Akane goggled at her.
A second later, she goggled more as her hair shortened and spread down her spine to her tail as her ribs narrowed and deepened and her ears shifted up her head into pricked triangles. Before Akane could comprehend the process, Ranma landed on all fours, galloping a few paces across the small gap in the trees.
She paused, turning back to the stunned Nerima native, and shook vigorously. “Rrr. Furr all musssed.”
“R-Ranma?”
“Rrr. ’Sme.”
Akane did not faint.
She did not black out.
She did, however, reach out and brace herself against the fallen tree.
After a few seconds staring silently at the large, rufus-furred canine standing by her friend’s pack, she pushed herself upright, drew her hand back, and slammed her fist into the horizontal trunk.
“Aihh!” She cradled the injured hand as the fallen forest giant slowly stopped vibrating. “Owww…”
“Rrrrw? Ry dyoo do zat?”
“Oww… Not dreaming…” muttered Akane in absent reply. She hissed as she straightened the fingers of her abused hand.
“Rrrra.” Ranma shook her head in a very un-dog-like gesture. After a moment, she nosed into her pack and rummaged around, withdrawing a small, battered cardboard package she dropped at Akane’s feet.
Akane had watched her – apprehensive, though she dared not admit it, about this strange creature who had taken the place of her new friend – and recognised the box. “Sticking plasters? I don’t… Well, maybe I should put some on.” She scooped up the box and walked carefully around Ranma to the lower end of the fallen tree to sit down while she patched up the scrapes on her hand. The young shapeshifter lay down, ears pricked, watching her in a manner disconcertingly akin to a loyal hound regarding its master.
Wrapping her knuckles served to calm the girl, and as she closed the box of plasters, she remarked, “Well, this wasn’t what I was expecting for a training trip.”
Ranma managed to look sheepish and apologetic.
Akane stuffed the box back in Ranma’s pack. Feeling a length of leather, she rummaged a bit and pulled out a simple dog lead, followed by a broad loop of leather with a neat metal disk hanging next to the buckle. “‘My name is Ranma’,” she read, flipping the disk over, “‘Please call…’ Hey, that’s our phone number!”
“Ur-urr.”
“Have you told anyone else? Kasumi?”
Ranma shook her head.
“You could get in real trouble if someone did call, you know.” Akane looked down at the pack at her feet. “And we could get into more trouble leaving this here.”
“Vit yrr pck in minne,” growled Ranma. “Ssmalll nough.”
The bus stopped with a faint squeal of brakes, and the doors opened with a loud hiss. The young woman Akane had spoken to for the few minutes they had waited pushed at the one that didn’t open fully, calling, “Got in late this morning, Jiro?” to the driver.
He laughed as three of his passengers got off. “No, I was early for once! But they gave me this one anyway. Young Dai was on the carpet though, over putting the good bus in a ditch yesterday lunchtime.”
“He didn’t!” gasped the young woman, gently trying to pry her son’s hands out of Ranma’s neck fur.
“He did,” affirmed the driver. “From what I heard, it wasn’t his fault, but we had to call in a spare bus from up north.”
Ranma rumbled impatiently, and solved the young mother’s problem by climbing on the bus, toddler and all.
“Oh, dear…” She turned to Akane. “Could you…”
“We’re getting on here anyway,” said Akane, grinning, and hoisting up the woman’s shopping bag. “Let’s all get on so we don’t hold up the bus any more than we have to. We’ll have a few minutes to separate Ranma and Koji.”
The driver laughed again. “Well, you’ll have half an hour, before we get to Koji’s stop – where are you headed for, miss?”
“Um – ‘Tera to Taki’ stop. Ran- um, I’m told it’s a bit isolated.”
“‘A bit isolated’, she says! I like that,” returned the driver with another laugh. “I’ll call you when we get there, miss – you take the seat right behind me, look, so I don’t have to shout.”
Akane stepped in, carefully swinging her stuffed pack into the luggage rack. “Thank you.”
“No problem.” The doors hissed shut, and the bus jerked into motion, throwing little Koji against Ranma and causing Akane to stumble. Ranma dodged her without removing the toddler’s support.
“If you laugh…” she said, half-threateningly. Ranma stuck her tongue out and panted insouciantly.
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Fri, 27 Jul 2007 20:11)
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.