Ranma put Inuma into a nest, of sorts, made from his used shirts and pants. He built the bedding right next to his futon, where his head would be, because he wanted to keep Inuma close by as he slept. At first, Ranma couldn’t get any sleep as the puppy kept trying to climb next to Ranma and lick his face each time Ranma placed it back in it’s bed. Finally, giving up, he just let the puppy run around the room. Ranma already laid a bunch of newspapers down in the corner, not realizing that a puppy needs to be trained to be housebroken.
Drifting off, finally, to sleep, Ranma yawned as he succumbed to slumber. Meanwhile, in her room, Nabiki was sleeping peacefully curled up in her bed. As each, individually, entered REM sleep, the magic of the ice cream began to work on them. By the time they would awaken in the morning, neither would remember what they dreamed of that night. Ranma began to relive his life in Nerima, but viewing the day to day activities and himself through the eyes of friends and family. Nabiki dreamed of Ranma’s training journey, but from his point of view.
Outside, a god and a goddess observed the household.
“Not the effect expected, I would think,” stated a deep voice.
The familiar goddess didn’t bother to turn to look at her companion. Instead choosing to look deeper into the dreams of residents. “I thought it might be this way. She only had a couple spoonfuls of what was intended to be shared equally among sweethearts. As such, I thought the dreams would center more on him.”
The voice just snorted. “So Nabiki dreams of his life, but instead of Ranma dreaming of her life and hardships, he dreams of himself. Except, he gains awareness at how others view him. He learns what it is like for Kasumi to run the place, the motivations of Akane, the reasonings for Nabiki’s machinations concerning him, what goes through his father’s head, and what makes Soun Tendo tick. Be interesting to see how this works out.”
“You forget how subtle this magic is. Most of the dreams, if not all, will be forgotten soon after awakening. In fact, I doubt they will be any different or have any new insights tomorrow morning.”
“Why bother, then?” The voice questioned.
“The dreams reoccur. They may never consciously notice anything, but subconsciously a new understanding will grow. Nothing major, no big changes. But, maybe, we might see a Ranma more appreciative of Kasumi’s efforts, or he might have a sudden epiphany about Ukyo’s plans for the future. Any number of small changes can occur. The fun will be trying to predict what. And Nabiki, her dreams won’t give her the cat-fist or the phobia, nor will she be able to fight like Ranma. But maybe, she might gain an insight or two into why Ranma is the way he is. Could be, after the magic wears off, they forget all the dreams and nothing changes.”
The voice hummed in thought. “The dreams reoccur? Same one every night?”
“No,” the goddess said while shaking her head. “Not the same one. Same style though. There is too much history to fit into one dream, and Ranma will have to relive each scene many times from different viewpoints depending on how many people were present. Not all of them, not every single face in a crowd, just the ones he feels close to. So, Ranma and Nabiki will progress through the years night by night, but Ranma will progress slower. It balances though, you know.”
“I know. He only dreams of the time he has been at the Tendos, which is much shorter than the time he has spent on his training journey.” They both grew quiet. After some time, the voice broke the silence, “And Toltiir doesn’t mind someone playing with his toys?”
The goddess shrugged. “You kidding? First, any one going to that ice cream parlor and ordering there would have been affected in the same way. He knows the two chose to go there and no one else is at fault. The person who sold them the treats didn’t even know who they were, being a mortal himself. Second, the effects are subtle and won’t interfere with his magic. It might even help it along. Finally, Toltiir loves a plan that goes awry, even his own. It is predictability that annoys him. Finding something that surprises him gives him joy. Why do you think he likes inviting different divinities to make small changes to something as chaotically complex as a timeline? It is because it can be hard to accurately predict the results of a small change. Many times, something unexpected results. He finds it entertaining to watch people aim for one future and get another. If I know him, hard as it is for anyone to make that claim, he is probably now having some beer with the sorceress who runs the Frozen Waist chain of stores.”
The voice made a thoughtful humming noise. “Hmm, isn’t tonight poker night?”
The goddess opened her eyes wide with a start. “Was it tonight? Damn, I missed it. Who’s in charge of refreshments tonight?”
“I think it was the goddesses of all that is good and decent,” The voice commented. He never went to any of these gatherings, yet he always seem to know about them.
The goddess raised her hand to her chin in thought. “Those are those three that run that strip club down the block from Hercules’s bar?”
“Yeah,” the voice confirmed, “across the street from Bacchus’s Brothel.”
“Shall we go see who’s still playing? I might still have time to play a hand or two before they quit.”
“Naw. I got some other places to get going to. See you again tomorrow?” The voice seemed to start to fade away.
“Yeah, meet me on top of Furinkan.” Without any further adieu, the goddess teleported out.
Ranma awoke early to the feeling of a trickle of warm water on his chest. ‘This is new for the tomboy’ Then, his nose was assaulted by the smell. Sitting up suddenly, he found Inuma peeing on his bed. “No! Bad dog, no.” Ranma said as he picked up Inuma and brought him over to the newspapers in the corner.
A light chuckle brought his attention over to the door, where Akane was standing. “Enjoying owning a dog yet? It’s not too late to return the dog, Ranma.”
Ranma scowled, but kept quiet. Turning back to his puppy, who was cringing a little, Ranma petted it gently on the head. “On the paper, see?” Ranma pointed to the paper. “Paper,” he slowly drawled out, drawing each syllable out longer then necessary. Inuma responded by giving his hand a lick. “Time for our bath.” Ranma smiled as he picked up his puppy and gathered his bathing supplies.
On the way down the hall, he ran into Kasumi. “Oh Ranma, the water heater is broken again. You can have a hot water soak after school, though, when we all can go out to the public baths.”
Ranma sighed. “Broken again? I’ll still need to wash off in cold water for school anyways. Don’t want to smell bad.”
Kasumi wrinkled her nose in disgust. Scratching Inuma under his chin, she gently scolded the puppy, “Now, now Inuma. If you are going to be making a mess, then no extra treats for you.”
Inuma yipped while trying to press his head into Kasumi’s hand.
A growl erupted, but it wasn’t from the dog. “Stop flirting with my sister and go take a bath, you pervert.”
Kasumi smiled at the puppy. “Come here boy. Let me have Inuma, Ranma. I’ll warm up some water in a kettle for his bath and so you can change back after your bath. You go take a bath and I’ll get your puppy cleaned up. He might catch a cold, being such a small, little thing, if you washed him in cold water.”
“Sure,” Ranma agreed, “thanks.” Ranma handed over Inuma, who promptly began to lick Kasumi’s face. Akane grumbled and stomped down the stairs to go break some blocks in the dojo.
Ranma sat on the stool and poured a bucket of cold water over his head. ‘At least I am up early for school without pops throwing me in the pond or Akane tossing a bucket of water on me. Pops must still be sleeping off all the sake he and Mr. Tendo drank last night. That was some party.’ Lathering up, Ranma scrubbed himself clean before rinsing off. Noticing his tattoos, he suddenly remembered that they were going to a public bath later. ‘Crap! Everyone is going to see these now. What if the bathhouse has a no tattoo rule, that’ll be embarrassing. What will I do?’ Making sure he was rinsed off well, Ranma hurried to dry off and get dressed before someone popped into his bath time.
“I don’t know why you are washing that dog for the idiot. It is not like you don’t have a lot of things to do around here. He should take care of his own things, it is his responsibility. Who’s going to cook breakfast if you are ... hey I’ll cook for you and help out since you are so busy with that mangy fleabag.” Akane was obviously disgruntled with the little dog.
Kasumi chuckled uneasily. “It’s OK Akane, I got it all set. The rice is in the cooker, everything is simmering. I got time to wash this cute little puppy-wuppy. Yes, who’s a cute little doggy-woggy? You are!” Kasumi finished scrubbing Inuma. In response, the dog barked and splashed in the water. Kasumi pulled back with a half squeal half laugh before using a glass of warm water to rinse Inuma off.
Akane just watched with hooded eyes, before snorting and quickly leaving for the dojo. “Stupid mutt,” she muttered under her breath. Kasumi didn’t even seem to notice, as she was still cooing over the new addition to the household.
Breakfast was the usual scene of contained chaos, Ranma trying to get more helpings out of Kasumi while battling his father for every morsel, Soun reading the paper in feigned obliviousness, Akane glaring at Ranma and muttering how they would be late for school, and Nabiki chatting with Kasumi about her plans for the day.
Akane was ready to go as Ranma put the last bite of breakfast into his mouth. “Come on, you lazy idiot. I don’t want you making me late for school.” With that, Akane grabbed Ranma’s braid and hauled him out of the house. A soft “uncute tomboy” filtered in from outside.
“Well,” Nabiki said as she wiped her mouth with her napkin, “I better get going too. Don’t know what all the rush is, there’s still plenty of time.”
Ranma stretched his arms out, loosening the joints in his shoulders. He had just put Kuno down for a quick dirt nap. Dusting his shirt off, he noticed Nabiki entered the school grounds and that she went to join a group of her friends. He tried waving to her, but she did not seem to notice, though Ranma did notice that she did see him and had looked away quickly. Sighing, he was quickly jerked towards the school doors by his pigtail.
“Come on, you idiot. Why must you always try to make us late for class?” Akane stomped along, dragging Ranma with her.
‘Wow, Akane is still in a mood. I wonder if it’s PMS?’
Nabiki noticed Ranma being dragged by her sister. A frown crossed her lips, but she quickly wiped it off as she gave her attention back to some girls in her class.
“Did you hear the latest gossip about your sister, Nabiki?” One of the girls, Kyoko, asked her.
Nabiki shook her head in the negative. “No, I hadn’t. Is this still the one from a few days ago about her and Ukyo making out in the locker room?”
“Nuh-huh,” another girl, Tsuya, replied. “This happened yesterday.”
“Yeah,” a third girl, Misuka, added. “I saw it myself. She was fighting with those other girls that Ranma have near the store my parents own. It’s on that road with all the nice boutiques and jewelry shops.”
Nabiki groaned and palmed her head. She could already imagine the destruction they probably caused.
“Everyone is saying how Ranma was going to propose but the girls were fighting over him.” Tsuya mentioned.
Kyoko nodded her head. “Yeah, I heard that the girls decided to make Ranma choose one of them, but they got to arguing before they could confront him.”
“Well,” Misuka added, “that Chinese girl owes my folks for a new window and a couple broken antique trunks.”
Kyoko nudged Misuka in the ribs. “We’re talking about the drama Nabiki’s little sister got into, not how badly damaged your parent’s store got.”
Misuka glared back. “It’s relevant. That Chinese girl threw Akane through the window.”
“I heard it took the JSDF to break up the fight,” Tsuya gossiped conspiratorially. “And that a dozen of them, wearing full body armor and riot gear, was sent to the hospital for injuries.”
Kyoko shook her head. “No way, I heard that they stopped when they saw a man with a similar braid to Ranma’s in the distance and ran off, forgetting about their fight.”
“Actually, they-” but Misuka was cut off by another nudge from her friends. Huffing, she changed the topic. “So, who did Ranma propose to?”
Nabiki answered as truthfully as she felt she could be without giving away that she spent the whole day with the boy in question. That fact wouldn’t go over well with some folks, invulnerable or not. “Honestly, I hadn’t seen him propose to anyone.”
“Hmm,” her classmates chorused.
“But do you know something? You’re not holding out on us, are you?” Kyoko was as excitable as ever.
Nabiki shook her head. “No, really, I don’t think he did propose, or don’t know who if he did. I can truthfully say that I hadn’t seen him propose to anyone. Why?”
Comically, Tsuya looked around to see if anyone was listening in . “We were just talking about who it might be. We thought it might have been your sister, but you would know about it if that was the case.”
Kyoko broke in. “I still say they are keeping it a secret from everyone.”
Nabiki smiled in humor. “I suppose Akane is the logical choice, but I highly doubt she or Ranma could keep something like that a secret.”
“Er...” Misuka blushed and looked to her feet in embarrassment. “We thought he’d propose to your older sister.”
“Yeah,” Tsuya interjected, “no offense, but your sister Akane treats him like crap. If she didn’t take for granted that he was her fiancé by default, maybe she could actually act like one. But Kasumi ... who wouldn’t want a girl like that. Good homemaker, good cook, submissive like a proper housewife, and she treats everyone so kindly.”
Kyoko nodded her head rapidly. “Yeah, I think they have a secret relationship and Ranma was going to propose to her or vice versa. And the girls found out about the proposal, but not the who, and jumped to conclusions and began to beat up on each other. Meanwhile, Ranma spent the day with your sister secretly and they plan to run away to elope.” Having had gotten all of that out in one breath, she stopped to breathe in deeply.
“Ranma was spotted in a park far from the dojo, doing katas, yesterday.” Misuka took up the story. “Isn’t that suspicious? Why would he be doing that unless he wanted to hide from everyone as he waited to meet someone for a secret tête-à-tête?”
Tsuya added her two cents. “I don’t buy Kyoko’s theory, but Ranma was suspiciously absent from that fight among those girls. I think he found someone else and is too much of a chicken to tell those violent hanger-ons. They’re like goldfish crap, the way those girls trail behind him. Er, no offense to your sister. I think he is secretly engaged to someone, but not any of your sisters. My money is on Mrs. Hinako. She does have that delinquent fetish.”
Nabiki was shaking in silent laughter as she heard all the stories. Her laughter finally broke free. There was nothing like a good Ranma rumor to amuse her properly. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she replied, “That is the craziest thing I ever heard. Ranma in a secret relationship with Kasumi? Trust me, that is utter nonsense.”
The girls shook their heads sadly. “We though you would say that, Nabiki,” Kyoko told her. “You are too close to it all, so you can’t see any of it. It’s no secret, Kasumi was one of the major force behind throwing Ranma a birthday party. She was the one, last week, bustling all over the stores preparing for it. She told Ranma’s mother about it, didn’t she? When was the party, anyways? Anyhow, why wouldn’t she be so interested in going through that much trouble if she didn’t have any feelings for Ranma at all?”
Nabiki just shook her head as she giggled. “Yesterday was Ranma’s party. And she only did all that because Ranma hadn’t had any birthday parties at all while he was traveling with his dad. It was like a charity case or something, for her.”
Her classmates only gave her some kind of sad, unreadable look before breaking up.
“We better go inside, the bell will ring soon.” Tsuya picked up her book-bag and left to go in.
Nabiki trailed behind the group, thinking. ‘Kasumi ... and Ranma – Naw, I doubt it. Hmm, Kasumi having feelings for Ranma? No, no, I am pretty sure she sees him like the little brother she always wanted. I remember when we were little, she kept dressing Akane up like a boy.’ Nabiki giggled to her memories of childhood.
Ranma sat down for lunch, carefully sniffing his bento to check if Kasumi had prepared it or Akane. He sat with his back to a tree, frowning in deep thought. It bothered him that Nabiki seemed to have ignored him and snubbed him that morning. He thought that after the day before, they would be closer.
‘Bah, she’s like those popular girls in those movies. Afraid to be seen with the wrong sort.’ Ranma couldn’t help but feel a little hurt that she considered him as the wrong sort.
Ranma dug into his bento with a little more harshness than the poor lunch deserved. Focused, as he was, on his lunch and hurt feelings, he didn’t notice anyone sitting next to him until he felt his shoulder get bumped.
“Ranma Saotome, undefeated conqueror of lunch bento. He hasn’t found a lunch he couldn’t devour ... well, other then my dear little sister’s.” A dry voice sounded in his ear.
Looking over, he found Nabiki smirking back at him. She was sitting with her back to the same tree as well, her lunch in her lap.
Raising an eyebrow, he couldn’t help retort with a voice laden in hurt, “Oh, now I’m good enough to talk to.”
Nabiki looked at him emotionless. “What are you talking about?”
“This morning, you barely looked at me. Not even a hello.”
Nabiki sighed. “I’m just trying to keep things looking normal. And anyways, I didn’t want to have to get too close to Kuno.” Nabiki rubbed her fingernails on her shirt before inspecting them. “If I get too close, I’m expected to drag him off to the nurse’s office. He’s like a damn octopus when he’s knocked out. His tentacles are everywhere, groping and pawing.”
Ranma felt somewhat mollified. “Sorry. I was just afraid yesterday was over like it never happened.” He looked down towards his demolished lunch in shame.
Nabiki felt sorry for Ranma. ‘Poor guy, afraid to lose a friendship. Afraid that new friends would leave him.’
“Ranma,” she voiced her suspicion, “Have you ever had any long running friendships?”
Ranma sighed. “Only now that Pops settled here in Nerima. Before, we’d have to leave anytime I finally made a new friend. If Ukyo didn’t have her vengeance quest, I doubt I’d have ever seen her again. And she was one of the ones I got to know the longest before having to move on.”
Nabiki digested that before deciding to cheer Ranma up with a topic change. “I heard there’s a rumor going around that says you’re secretly dating Kasumi.”
Ranma cracked a smile. “Really? Did you set them straight?”
“Yep, I told them that you have been secretly married to Kasumi since the first day and Akane just pretends to be your fiancée as a ruse.” Ranma could hear the humor in Nabiki’s voice and knew she wasn’t serious.
“Nabiki! How could you tell people that?” Akane suddenly yelled from where she was nearby Ranma, having overheard the last part of their conversation. “Ranma is not secretly married to Kasumi,” she said loud enough for the school to hear.
Ranma and Nabiki looked at each other in the eye, quickly, and came to the same idea.
“Gee Akane,” Ranma said in a clueless voice, “If it’s a secret, then how would ya’ know about it?”
Some of the boys in the crowd gawked and some girls tittered.
“You know, little sister, Kasumi did throw that big, elaborate party. You have to wonder. And Ranma did disappear all of yesterday. Who knows where he had been.”
“What, Nabiki! I think we would know if Kasumi was dating anyone other than Mr. Rice-cooker.”
Ranma rolled his eyes. “Don’t make fun of your sister, Akane. You can’t even grasp the simple process of add water and rice to Mr. Rice-cooker and flip the switch.”
“What did you say, you pervert? So you like Kasumi now, huh, you freak? Is that what happened to my engagement ring. You slipped it to Kasumi as you ravished her in her room, I bet. Well this engagement is over, I never wanted to be married to you anyways.”
Ranma noticed most of the guys shaking their heads in disbelief and most of the girls seemingly supporting Akane. ‘I can only imagine the picture she paints of me when she gossips to her friends.’
“Yeah, that’s it Akane. I spent all day, yesterday, with your sister and we enjoyed ourselves. Ooh, the secret is out, oh no,” Ranma said all this in sarcasm. Of course, he never mentioned which sister he truthfully spent the day with. Akane figured on the wrong one. Akane dumped her bento over Ranma’s head before kicking him over the school wall. As she stormed away, the rumor mill began to grind away as fast as ever. Nabiki wondered what would happen when Kuno learned the ‘foul sorcerer’ had ensnared another pure and tidy Tendo sister. She snickered all the way through the gate as she went to help Ranma up.
“Here,” she said as she help brush food off of Ranma.
“Thanks.” Ranma weakly smiled back. “That went well, huh?”
Nabiki smirked, “If, by ‘well’, you mean now the whole school thinks you are having a torrid love affair and probably engaged to Kasumi ... then yes, it was a smashing success.”
Ranma groaned.
“Before you return to class, give your mom a call. Might be a good time to visit her.”
“To give Akane time to cool off?” Ranma hazard a guess.
“No, actually. So you can take a proper soak in her furo. I doubt you want to try entering a bath house with those tattoos.”
Ranma hit himself on his head. “D’oh, I forgot. Thanks Nabiki, that’s a wonderful idea. But what will you do?”
Nabiki smirked, “I think I’ll be busy after school with some business.”
Ranma looked at her dumbly. “How will that help you get a bath?”
Nabiki sighed. “That’s just what I’m going to tell Akane. I’m going to get a warm shower at a love hotel.”
“Oh,” Ranma said in realization. “That makes sense. You sure you don’t wanna come to mom’s? What if someone sees you going into one of those?”
Nabiki shrugged. “My reputation is pretty poor anyways, plus it might be better to not show up with you at your moms. Who knows what kind of rumors that would spawn.” Nabiki smirked at Ranma who returned it. “Alright, come on. Off to class with you. Try not to have any more secret dates with Kasumi while in class, OK?”
Ranma chuckled. “OK, it’s a deal. I’ll start a rumor that I’m secretly dating Hiroshi and Daisuke and see what happens.”
Nabiki laughed. “I bet that makes my little sister literally flip her lid.”
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See other episodes by Errol Peregrinus
(Posted Thu, 29 May 2008 04:50)
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