A lot had happened in the past hour or so, and as Ranma left his family’s home with two of his wives, he found that needed to mentally pause to get his bearings, so to speak.
Okay, so we got Mom on board. That’s good. She’s even agreed ta stop over at the Tendo home later ta help convince our dads. That’s even better. Shampoo’s feelin’ confident, Akane’s feelin’ nervous, Ukyo’s too wrapped up in runnin’ her restaurant ta really notice that anything’s different, an’ Kodachi… is bein’ Kodachi. An’ now that I think of it, none of them are really payin’ me any attention right now. Been a while since I could say that. So I guess I’ve got some time ta myself, until one of them takes notice, anyway. So… yeah. Man, who’d’ve thought thinkin’ about whatever ya want could be so hard? I mean, I’ve mostly been concerned with them since this mess happened yesterday. But… can I really handle this? I mean, I think I like them all, sorta. Even Kodachi’s, uh, likable in her own way, once ya get ta know her. But still, this whole thing is… What the hell—?
Ranma’s train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a cascade of cold water rushing over his head and triggering his curse. As the now-girl brushed strands of wet hair away from her eyes, she saw the source of the water standing before her, empty bucket in hand. “Kuno?! What the heck did ya do that for?!”
“I’m sorry, but I had to see this ‘curse’ business for myself.”
“See it for yerself? Ya’ve seen it plenty of times before!”
“But that was before I learned of the true nature of the pigtailed girl from my sister, which I now see is quite devious. To think she would try to despoil my good name by making it appear that I preferred the company of men—and men of your stature, to boot!”
“What the hell’s that s’posed ta mean?”
Kuno cleared his throat uncomfortably before continuing: “It appears that I owe you an apology, Saotome.”
“Okay, who are ya and what have ya done with Kuno?”
“Spare me the jocularity, Saotome,” the kendoist responded with a sneer, “this is difficult enough as it is.”
Actually, Ranma had been totally sincere with her question, but she decided to take the word of the tall teenager standing before her. “Sorry. Go ahead.”
“My sister has informed me of your… situation, and while I must admit that I was initially aghast at the decidedly unorthodox solution you came up with, I must admit that when she explained your reasoning, this bizarre gaijin marriage practice truly does appear to be the most feasible solution.”
“Who you calling bizarre?” the aforementioned gaijin asked angrily. Shampoo had nearly had her own curse triggered as well, and she was already rather miffed.
Not now, Shampoo, Ranma transmitted before returning her attention to their brother-in-law. “Uh, thanks, I guess. Um, so does that mean yer gonna stop botherin’ me an’ Akane?”
“Though I do not do so eagerly, I shall. For you to be so magnanimous as to place the honor of our country so far above your own demonstrates that you had far more character that I had previously assumed, and I must therefore admit that you are indeed a worthy companion for the beauteous Akane.” Kuno then addressed the (former) love of his life. “Sadly, it appears that fate has dictated an end to our relationship, Miss Tendo—or is it Mrs. Saotome now?”
“Uh, we haven’t really figured that part out yet, Kuno-sempai,” Akane replied uncertainly.
“Ah, well, that is but a trivial matter. In the meantime, I wish you to know that the… four? no, the five of you have my continual support during this tumultuous period, and that I shall endeavor to help you through whatever means I can muster. Indeed, I want to assure you that I shall henceforth put all my efforts into seeking out the one responsible for this misdeed and rectifying the situation.”
“Uh, okay… an’ what exactly do ya mean by that?”
Kuno then made a dramatic pose (which did nothing to alleviate the sense of impending dread which was gathering over the three women in his audience) and made his bold proclamation: “I, Tatewaki Kuno, Rising Star of the High School Kendo World and Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, shall devote myself to the glorious task of discovering the whereabouts of my redheaded fallen angel, and by all the gods in the heavens, I swear that I shall reform her!”
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(Posted Tue, 25 Dec 2007 23:55)
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