It didn’t take a genius to realize that an Amazonian group marriage was going to be a hard sell for most anyone, but especially two people as obstinate as Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome. Fortunately, Nabiki was a master at the art of the hard sell, and for her sister and brother-in-law (and, by extension, her sisters-in-law), she was pulling out all the stops on this one. She had even set up a small whiteboard on an easel, recording the main points of her presentation with a red dry-erase marker.
It was a pretty decent presentation, all things considered, detailing the root cause of Ranma’s difficulties with each of his suitors (now spouses, assuming that the proposed Amazon marraige had been seen through). Ukyo had been promised Ranma in marriage, Shampoo was obligated to wed him thanks to her tribe’s laws, and Akane and Ranma hadn’t done anything proactive about the others because of their somewhat strained relationship. The only part where the argument stretched was the third point about Ranma’s social skills (or rather, the complete lack thereof), which was intended to explain Kodachi’s continued presence. Obviously, one could argue that the gymnast would have pursued Ranma even if he was the most socially adept person on the planet, but Nabiki was fairly certain that some mild obfuscation on this point didn’t really hurt her overall argument. Besides, once the fathers learned about the whole telepathy business, the subject would most likely be closed.
Of course, that was assuming that the present argument would actually register with the pair of fathers. “So, to summarize, we’ve established that Ranma and Akane, while not entirely without blame in this situation, can hardly be thought of as the ‘primary offenders,’ if you will, for the reasons listed here,” the middle Tendo stated authoritatively as she gestured to the whiteboard with her pointer. “Are there any questions?”
There was a brief pause before Genma tentatively raised his hand.
“Yes?”
“Ah, yes, I think you may have made an error in judgement.”
“I see. And where, pray tell, is this error?”
“I’m… not quite certain actually, but I know they have to be there.’
“Explain.”
“Well, while your argument does appear to be sound, I know it must be flawed, because they lead to the flawed conclusion that I am somehow responsible for the general situation, a notion which is so blatantly false that it hardly bears any consideration.”
“Yet, you can’t find anything wrong with my reasoning.
“Of course I can!”
“And that is…?”
“The conclusion!”
“And what’s wrong with it?
“It’s absurd!”
“Why?”
“Because it’s not my fault!” The voices were really beginning to increase in volume now.
“Repeating something over and over isn’t going to make it true.”
“Young lady, ‘truth’ is that which corresponds to reality, and the reality of the situation is that it’s not my fault.”
“And what if you’re wrong about reality?”
“I can’t be wrong, because it’s not my fault.”
As the “discussion” between Nabiki and Genma devolved into an argument in which neither side was willing to concede anything, Soun turned to his oldest daughter in an effort to figure out what was really going on. “Kasumi, what exactly is Nabiki trying to get at?”
Kasumi thought carefully about how to respondefore giving her answer. “Well, Father, Ranma and Akane have recently taken steps to resolve many of their conflicts with others, but they’re worried that you’ll see their solution as… less than ideal.”
“Less than ideal?”
Kasumi nodded. “They’re worried that you will immediately denounce it as irresponsible before you have a chance to hear why they feel they had little choice in the matter.”
“Little choice? Kasumi, what exactly have they done?”
“It’s best that you hear it from them; they can probably explain it much more convincingly than I could.”
This left Soun rather stunned as the argument continued. “I am a responsible adult!”
“That’s right—you’re responsible for this mess.”
“No, I’m not!”
“Prove it!”
“My word is proof enough! Children are not supposed to question the wisdom of their parents.”
“Since when do you have wisdom?”
“Were you not listening? I am a parent, therefore I have wisdom.”
“So the fact that you had sex with your wife means that you’re qualified to ignore logical thought?”
“Yes!—I mean, no! You’re the one being illogical, because it’s not my fault.”
The debate was clearly at a stalemate; fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately), the argument was brought to an abrupt halt by a new voice: “What the heck are you guys yellin’ about?” Four heads turned to see a female Ranma standing in the hall, with Akane and Shampoo behind her. “An’ more importantly,” she continued, “how is it gonna make my life even more complicated than it already is?”
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(Posted Tue, 18 Mar 2008 23:12)
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