"SWEETO!"
It was the most dread sound natives of Fuurinkan -- especially if you were young and female -- wanted to hear.
"Ranma, my boy! You're so KIND to your suffering master!"
A tiny yet unstoppable bolt of energy whipped through an open window to latch itself into Kanami's chest.
"Making a Ranma-chan all for ME?!"
Once contact was made with Kanami's breasts, Happoosai instantly moved to draw in the female-specific ki he needed to stay alive and healthy despite his advanced years. Once those gateways were opened . . .
" . . . eh?"
Everyone stared at the sight of Happoosai remaining rock still, his fingers gently pressing into the soft flesh of Kanami's breasts. Kanami herself remained still as she looked on the grandmaster of Musabetsu Kakutou-ryuu, a bored expression on her face. Ranma continued to eat his bentou, not the least bit disturbed by the fact that his sister was being molested by the old letch.
On Yiziba, it is often said: Never interfere in another's fight scene.
As for Kanami . . .
"Missing something?"
Happoosai jolted, and then he scrambled back a bit from Kanami, the stunned look on his face quite apparent to all of the on-lookers. "Wh-what . . .?" he sputtered as he shakily pointed a finger at her. "Wh-what are y-you . . .?"
Kanami blinked, and then she smirked. No, there was no need to tell the old fool the whole story. "Hayashi Kanami," she introduced herself, and then she decided to slip the knife in deep. "As to why you can't seem to absorb my ki, most likely it's because my ki right now is so different from what you're used to, you simply can't absorb it." She then smirked as she gazed fondly on her brother. "Isn't that just too bad, eh?"
"Yeah, too bad," Ranma said after finishing his last seaweed-lined rice ball. Standing up, he moved to dispose of his garbage. "Maybe we should find a way of passing it on to all the ladies of Nerima. Would make their lives a lot more enjoyable now that they don't have to fork over funds for new foundation garments every time our so-called 'master' goes on one of his raids."
"Good idea, Onii-chan," Kanami noted.
"SAY WHAT?!"
They gazed on Happoosai, whose shocked look had turned briefly into fear before melting into ki-burning anger. "RANMA!" he shrieked out as he pointed threateningly at his chosen heir. "HOW DARE YOU DISRESPECT YOUR MASTER LIKE THAT?! YOU WILL NEVER TEACH ANYTHING SO HEINOUS TO THE PRETTY LADIES HERE! NOT AS LONG AS I LIVE! DO YOU HEAR ME?!"
Ranma blinked, clearly not impressed by the older warrior's bluster, and then he sighed as he stared at Kanami. "By the appearances of it, sister, it seems as if our so-called 'master' wishes to treat all the innocent women of Nerima as his own personal possessions!" He said that last word loud enough to make everyone else in the cafeteria standing and watching this jolt. "Does that strike you as a bit unfair?" he then asked.
"It certainly does," Kanami agreed.
Happoosai shuddered. "BOY, IF YOU DO THAT, I'LL SEE TO IT YOU'LL NEVER HAVE A HOME IN NERIMA AGAIN! YOU HEAR ME?! NEVER!"
"Oh, shit . . .!" Nabiki hissed. "What is that idiot doing?!"
"He's doing what he normally does with that old freak!" Akane asserted. "Piss him off enough to make him sloppy, then beat him!"
Nabiki gazed on her sister, and then she shook her head.
Ranma blinked as he seemed to take time to consider that, and then he sighed. "Too bad, 'Master.'" You could coat the floor space of all of Fuurinkan High School with the scorn he laced his voice with on saying that word. "Much that I've now come to realise that most of the people in Nerima can be worse than sheep when it comes to following the rumours and innuendo that get spread around because of me, my own conscience won't allow me to permit the infamous 'Panty Thief,' sheltered by his own student at his own doojou, to have his way when he has long demonstrated he doesn't deserve that."
"What did you say . . .?!" Happoosai snarled.
Hearing Ranma's statement, Nabiki balked as her mind quickly began to churn through his words. And those words hinted at something that could badly reflect on many people if certain facts became general public knowledge.
One: Ranma had just publicly called Happoosai the "Panty Thief."
Much that it sometimes surprised her, the fact that the grandmaster of Musabetsu Kakutou-ryuu and the little thief who was the bane of all the women of Nerima were one and the same person wasn't that well-known. Nabiki hadn't done anything to further confirm those rumours. Doing anything to "ruin an old man's pleasures" (to use Happoosai's own statement about his raids) could potentially result in a lot of unpleasantness at the Tendou doojou.
She didn't need to deal with hassles like that.
Unfortunately . . .
Two: Ranma had just connected the Panty Thief to the Tendou doojou.
Tendou Souun, as a member of the Nerima ward council, had been placed in charge of catching the Panty Thief as soon as Happoosai came to the doojou. To keep his reputation intact, Souun had to play a huge game of disinformation when it came to Happoosai. Forced by fear (gained by lots of experience) to bow to the perverted old man's desires . . . while at the same time covering his actions to his peers in council with promises of dealing with the Thief.
Ranma had just called it publicly into question.
And now, the worst part of all . . .
Three: Ranma had just called everyone in Nerima "sheep" because they believed all the rumours and innuendo circulating around him.
No one liked to be called something like that in public.
And by saying that, Ranma -- Or the being possessing him now? Nabiki then wondered, remembering what she herself had concluded not too long ago after hearing how much he had changed this very morning -- had, in all effect, just announced that he didn't care anymore about whatever they thought about him. Their opinions would no longer move him.
Realising that, it wouldn't take long for many to conclude this:
Ranma would no longer care if anything happened to them.
That's scary! Nabiki mused as she started to shudder.
For the middle Tendou daughter understood this point: Despite all the things people said about Ranma, many in Nerima knew they could trust him where it really counted the most. He was always there whenever something insane happened. Always willing to help protect others whenever they were threatened, regardless of cost to himself. Always willing to do as he had loudly preached at every opportunity: Defend the weak whenever they were threatened.
If people came to realise that was no longer so . . .!
"You heard me," Ranma calmly stated as he crossed his arms. "You've hidden yourself behind a cloak of respectability -- pardon me, you've hidden yourself behind Tendou Souun's cloak of respectability -- ever since you came here. Disguising yourself as the Panty Thief when you went on your 'rounds,' bullying my father and Akane-san's father into playing along with it, not to mention taking advantage of my naïveté by making it seem as if I was actually helping you. If you're going to be a disgusting heel, Happoosai, at least have the courtesy of behaving like one in the open!"
Happoosai began to quake. "You . . .!"
"This is bad . . .!" Nabiki hissed.
Akane stared curiously at her sister.
"I can guess what you're planning right now," Ranma then added, his lips turning up slightly in a knowing smirk. "You're going to run back to the doojou, browbeat your students to the point where they'll be more than happy to force me out of the doojou to punish me to appease your selfish nature. And then, just to make sure you'll get your way in the future, you'll no doubt try to make them force me further to find some way to either go back on my promise or render Kanami vulnerable to your touch." The smile disappeared as he evenly stated, "Which will not happen."
By now, Happoosai's shaking had become so bad, it looked like he was about to die from an apoplectic fit. The people around them were silent, spellbound by this awesome battle of wills being played out in front of them. While very few were deeply knowledgeable when it came to martial arts, many of them had heard of how the great masters, all the way from Sūn Zĭ, had often insisted that the psychological factors in combat mattered just as much -- if not more so! -- than the mere physical or logistical factors.
They were seeing it played out right in front of them right now.
"Kanami?" Ranma then asked.
"Hai?"
He switched to Yizibajohei. "<<Ask our friend to remove my belongings from the doojou and place them somewhere safe,>>" he said.
"<<Certainly,>>" she replied before drawing out what looked like a cell phone, pressing a transmit key to open a link to Infinity.
Happoosai then blinked, confusion flashing across his face. "What?! Hey, wait! What did you two just say . . .?!" he sputtered out after his mind failed to interpret whatever language his rebellious students had just used.
Ranma's smile returned. "That, Master, is a secret."
Happoosai face-faulted! "<<Hey, Infinity! It's Wildflower!>>" Kanami called into her communications device. "<<Do it!>>"
"No problem, 'Flower," Moroboshi Tariko said as she snapped her fingers.
In one of the guest rooms of the Tendou doojou, all of Ranma's personal belongings vanished in a flash of bright light. That event caused both Kasumi and Nodoka, who had been in the room cleaning it up, to scream out in shock.
Once the light faded, both women stared at the empty space where Ranma's belongings had been, and then they exchanged shocked looks.
"It's done," Tariko called back over the communications device.
"<<Thanks, Infinity. Talk to you later!>>" Kanami called back in Yizibajohei before she closed the link, and then she nodded at Ranma.
"Oh, dear, isn't that just too bad," Ranma then lamented.
Hearing that, Happoosai jolted. "Wh-what?!" he sputtered before anger flashed in his eyes. "What are you talking about, boy?! What have you done?!"
Ranma's grin then turned utterly evil. "That is for me to know and you to find out, Master," he replied before making a dismissive wave with his hand. "So go on. Run back to the doojou and do what you want to do. Let's see if Otou-san and Akane-san's fathers have developed spines after all. Because if they give into you, I'll see to it their dreams -- not to mention Okaa-san's -- will never come true." Another wave of his hand. "Go on!"
Happoosai started on hearing that curt dismissal from Ranma, and then he howled as his battle aura clicked in. "YOU WILL GIVE ME RESPECT!""
As he moved to attack, Kanami's hand shot up, middle finger curled against her thumb. With a simple flick of the finger, she got Happoosai on the chin . . .
Which sent him flying out an open window and into the noonday sky!
Everyone's heads snapped around and up as they watched the grandmaster of Musabetsu Kakutou-ryuu vanish with a fading scream, and then they turned slowly as one to gaze back on Hayashi Kanami. "Ooops!" she then said as she covered her mouth with her other hand. "My bad!" She then gazed apologetically at Ranma. "Sorry about that, Onii-chan. Didn't mean to steal your fight scene."
"It's no problem," Ranma affirmed with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"Oh, crap . . .!"
Akane turned to gaze on Nabiki. "What is it, Onee-chan?!"
The middle Tendou daughter turned to walk away from the cafeteria, heading for the nearest stairwell so she could get to her classroom and her cell phone. "We have to warn Kasumi-oneechan about this," she stated. "Ranma-kun just promised that if Ojii-chan succeeds in forcing him out of the doojou, he'll leave for good. And this time, Daddy, Uncle and even Auntie won't be able to bring him back there! We'll loose him for good if we don't finally do something about Ojii-chan once and for all!"
Akane jolted. "WHAT?! What do you mean Ranma's going to leave?!"
"It's what I just vowed will happen, Akane-san."
Both screamed out in shock as they spun around to see Ranma standing right behind them, a calm look on his face. Akane instantly whipped out her mallet to smash him over the head with it. "BAKA! DON'T SCARE US . . .!"
CRACK!
Again, mallet became instant shards of pulverized wood.
" . . . l-l-like th-that . . .?" she finished with a stunned squeak as she watched her favourite pervert-basher vanish without having affected Ranma at all, just like what had happened earlier in the day.
Ranma didn't blink as he stared at Nabiki. "Tendou-sempai, when you do speak to your sister, please make sure she makes it very clear to your father and my parents . . . "
Nabiki nearly fell over in shock. 'Tendou-SEMPAI?!'
" . . . I will NO LONGER tolerate their constant scraping in front of Happoosai just to keep themselves safe," Ranma carried on. "If they decide appeasing him is the more important thing, their agreement to unite the schools, as far as I'm concerned, is dead. And Okaa-san will never see a single grandchild as long as she lives." He turned to head back to his classroom. "Good day."
He walked away from them. Nabiki blinked as her mind nearly overloaded from the information dump she had just received over the last hour. Before he could get out of speaking range, she gasped, "Why did you call me THAT, Ranma?!"
He stopped, and then he calmly gazed over his shoulder. "That is what I should address you as, isn't it?" he wondered before turning away and walking off. "Since you are not my friend or part of my family, addressing you as anything else would be quite improper." He then stopped as he looked over his shoulder. "Better make your call, Sempai. Or you'll be the one who has to make that explanation to your father and my parents tonight at supper."
With that, he headed off. Nabiki watched him go, and then she balked on sensing Kanami walk out of the cafeteria, moving to head for the nearest exit. Seeing her, the middle Tendou daughter bolted to her feet and ran over to stop her. "Ranko, STOP!" she shrieked out. "Tell us . . .!"
Kanami stopped as she spun on Nabiki, her eyes smouldering with anger.
Seconds later, a geyser of water exploded from the school's swimming pool. That made everyone look outside to see Tendou Nabiki of all people -- still dressed in her school uniform of all things! -- eventually burst out of the water. "THAT'S COLD!" she screamed out.
Kunou Tatewaki walked up, having just spent time in the school's doojou practicing with his bokken. Stopping on seeing the quite unusual sight of Nabiki having been dunked into the swimming pool, he then blinked. "Tendou Nabiki, why are you taking a swim in your school uniform?"
Hearing that, Nabiki jolted, and then she howled in anger . . .
Having seen her do that from her position near the entrance of the cafeteria, Akane could only blink in shock. Things like that NEVER happened to Nabiki before, especially if they were caused by Ranma . . .
Ranma?
Spinning around, she tried to track down a familiar head of crimson hair in a braided pigtail. Seeing nothing, she ran outside to look around. Still no sign of Kanami anywhere. While she knew Ranma had actually been much faster in his girl body, to see Kanami disappear like that . . .!
Dropping to her knees, she found herself staring nowhere in particular. "Ranma . . . what's happened to you . . .?" she whispered.
"Stupid pimp's got to get her hearing checked!" Kanami -- now in the uniform of Wildflower -- hissed to herself as she flew back towards Tomobiki. "I thought she was the smart one of all the idiots we had to deal with!"
As she goes back to rejoin her fellow Yizibajohei, we . . .
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(Posted Mon, 22 Oct 2007 17:40)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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