“Um, excuse me?” The six persons in the room turned to see a short, bespectacled, nervous-looking man in a three-piece suit clutching a briefcase. “I– I’m sorry to intrude, but your door was unlocked. I hope I’m not interrupting anything, but is this the Nekohanten Restaurant?”
Cologne hopped down from her place on the table and walked over to greet the man. “Indeed it is,” she said with a respectful bow. “I am Ku Lon, Matriarch of the Amazons at Joketsuzoku and proprietor of this establishment. Am I correct in assuming that you are here to help us deal with our predicament?”
The man’s timid demeanor did not seem to decrease in any noticeable way. “P-Predicament? Ah, yes. Yes, I am. My name is Hideki Fushida, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I understand that several of our citizens have encountered some problems with your tribes matrimonial traditions.”
“Yes, that is the case. You see, due to circumstances beyond our control, these five young people, one of whom is my great-granddaughter, are in a position where, according to our tribe’s traditions, they must either enter into a polygamous union, or—”
“Ah, there’s no need to go into that,” the government worker said with a nervous chuckle. “I heard enough about the alternative from my superiors. I assure that our government is more than willing to let the current loopholes in our law stand, though we do sincerely hope that these five are mature enough to understand the consequences of allowing their arrangement to become widely known.”
“That won’t be a problem, I assure you,” Cologne replied. “However, I believe that several of them will have questions about their legal status.”
“O– Of course. Ah, why don’t we all have a seat, and I’ll discuss their status.”
Mr. Fushida seemed to grow much more at ease as he began to explain the situation to the five teenagers; perhaps it was his familiarity with the jargon of international law, or perhaps it was because four of the five teenagers were actually Japanese, which presumably meant that he could relate better to them. The conversation, if you could call it that, was rather one-sided, as the clerk detailed every imaginable aspect of the arrangement.
“…so essentially, our government will recognize that a sort of dual-citizenship applies for the five of you, which will allow you four ladies to be exempt from our standard marriage customs and each take Mr. Saotome as a husband of sorts,” he finished explaining. “Any children which result will be considered legitimate for all legal purposes, and you should all be entitled to most spousal benefits as well.”
“I see,” Kodachi replied. “And what of our relationship to each other?”
“What do you mean by that?”
Ranma did not like the way this conversation was heading. Kodachi…
In a minute, darling, the gymnast responded before speaking again: “I mean that I’d like to know how I would be viewed in relation to these other women as well as Ranma.”
“I don’t understand,” Mr. Fushida replied. “Why would you need to know something like that?”
Kodachi, what the heck are you doin’?
I only want to make sure that my marriages to Akane, Ukyo, and Shampoo will be recognized by the government, Ranma-sama. Surely you see the importance of this. “Well, the five of us are in a situation where each of us is married to the same man.”
Are you outta yer mind?! Ya can’t ask him somethin’ like that!
Why not?
’Cuz he might decide ta call the whole thing off, that’s why! I mean, come on, even I can tell this is a bad idea.
Why would he do something like that?
Mr. Fushida scratched his head for a while before finally appearing to understand what the gymnast was asking. “Oh, I see. You don’t need to worry, Ms. Kuno. Nobody’s going to think that you’re actually married to any of these other girls. That would be a disgusting perversion of nature, after all. No one in the government would even think of subjecting our citizens such a dishonor.”
That’s why.
Well, then, I’ll just explain—
Kodachi, you don’t understand. Ya might say that perversion don’t really exist, but nobody’s gonna believe it. Besides, why risk what we already got goin’? I mean, we all know that yer married ta all of us. What does it matter if yer only legally married ta me?
But…
Kodachi, if we can’t do this, we’re pretty much outta solutions. I mean, come on. Akane’s willin’ ta accept this, an’ ya know how conservative she is. Ain’t that enough?
I… I suppose you’re right, Ranma-sama. Society has yet to progress to the point where we will be fully accepted. “Ah, I see. Thank you very much, Fushida-san.” As Kodachi said this, a wave of relief swept over Ranma, as well as the other three telepaths, who’d been eavesdropping on the conversation with increasing nervousness.
“Well, I’m glad I could help,” the government worker replied with a smile. “Are there any other questions?”
Shampoo raised her hand. “Yes. Shampoo want know why need to be Japanese. Amazons no have problem with Amazon marriage.”
“It’s mostly to make sure that you all have the same legal status. I assure you, it’s necessary to make sure you receive equal treatment.”
Shampoo glanced over at her great-grandmother, who nodded to let her know that she approved of the setup. “Okay,” Shampoo said. “That fine.”
“Excellent… then, all that remains is for you to sign these forms.” Mr. Fushida opened his briefcase and pulled out a stack of papers approximately five centimeters thick. “Let’s begin, shall we?”
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(Posted Sun, 29 Jul 2007 01:47)
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