Akane could hardly believe her ears. “Magical girl? How the heck are you qualified to be a magical girl.”
“Ask Mom,” the redhead replied derisively. “She’s the one who’s so keen on keepin’ the family business running.”
“Ranma, you are taking this way out of context,” Nodoka said in an attempt to defend herself. “You have many options in your life, and all I’m asking is that you seriously consider the option of becoming the next Taiyohime. Well, technically speaking, I suppose it’s more accurate to say that my superior wants you to consider it, but this is hardly the time to quibble over semantics.”
“Well, why can’t ya bother someone else?”
“Because traditionally, the title of Taiyohime has been kept in my family’s line—granted, a few times we’ve had to relinquish it to someone else until a suitable candidate could be found, but it’s still a point of pride.”
“Oh yeah? Well, I got pride too, an’ you can’t make me!”
Nodoka sighed; apparently, her son was so used to having inconveniences thrust upon her that she wasn’t hearing what her mother actually had to say. “Ranma, I never said that you have to do this.”
“Yeah, you did. Ya just said a minute ago it was a tradition ta keep it in the family, right?”
“True, but it’s just a tradition; there’s no reason that I can’t find someone else.”
“So why ask me in the first place?”
“Even if it is just a tradition, it is still a tradition. And, as you meet all the requirements to be the Taiyohime—well, half the time, at least—my superior firmly believes that you ought to have the first choice in the matter.”
“And this superior expects me ta make a snap decision right now?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Anyone with half a brain could tell that the only ‘snap decision’ you’re going to make is ‘no.’ In fact, she doesn’t want any answers from you for at least forty-eight hours, to make sure that you’ve actually had the opportunity to think things through.”
“Yeah, well, you can tell her that I ain’t interested.”
“Actually, she wants you to tell her personally.”
“What?!”
“Like I said, she wants to be certain that you’ve actually thought through your decision. She may be willing to depart from tradition, but not unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
“Right... and if she doesn’t think I’ve thought things through enough?”
“She won’t accept your answer and make you come back two days later to announce your decision again.”
“In other words, I’m gettin’ railroaded inta this.”
“On the contrary, she doesn’t let any candidate make the decision on the spur of the moment. She did the exact same thing to me, and I was eager to jump in from the beginning.”
“Um, excuse me?” Akane asked, jumping into the conversation. “Just who is this superior?”
“Amaterasu,” Nodoka replied matter-of-factly. “And before you ask, yes, I’m referring to that Amaterasu.”
“Really? Well, that explains the ‘Sun Princess’ thing, I guess, but why would she have her own magical girl?” Akane asked, still not entirely certain whether she even believed Ranma’s mother.
“Well, the Taiyohime wasn’t always considered a magical girl—that’s just a recently-invented term that just so happens to describe what all of the previous Taiyohime did.”
“Right… and what she did was…?”
“She fought the forces of evil, naturally.”
“Okay, and why doesn’t Amaterasu do this herself?”
“Akane, Amaterasu-san is the personification of the Sun: her schedule doesn’t exactly allow much time to fight evil nowadays.”
“So, what, I gotta make up my mind before somethin’ bad happens?”
Nodoka somehow managed to resist snapping back at her offspring in frustration. “No, Ranma. As of right now, I’m still the Taiyohime, and will be until I’ve found a replacement. Besides, the forces of evil seem to be in a regrouping stage at the moment, which means there’s no reason to rush anything.”
Not wanting listen to the further arguing of mother and son, Akane redirected her attention towards the remaining Saotome. “Did you know anything about this, Genma?”
“What kind of fool do you take me for, girl?” the patriarch asked gruffly. “Of course I knew about it. In fact, the first time we met was after she saved me from a particularly hideous-looking demon who was hell-bent on devouring my soul.”
“Only because you stole a relic from the treasure vault he was guarding,” Nodoka clarified.
The now-chastened Genma tried to regain his composure as quickly as possible. “Yes, well, in any case, I fully expected that any daughters we had would take her place. We were actually planning on having a second child, but a rather serious matter came up, and Nodoka simply couldn’t afford to be out for another nine months. And by ‘serious matter,’ I mean a new round of hellspawn that she needed to defeat.”
“When was this?” Ranma asked in obvious confusion.
“About ten years ago. In fact, this was the entire impetus for the training trip—Nodoka didn’t want you to be put into danger, and I figured that as long as we were in hiding, I might as well take advantage by giving you an edge in the Art.”
“And the reason you told him I was dead?” Nodoka asked.
“One: I never actually said that, and two: you made it sound like you really were going to get killed. I didn’t want the boy getting any ideas about trying to fight those demons on his own as revenge, so I figured it was safer to let him think something more benign happened.”
“Have I ever told ya that yer an idiot, Pops?”
“Multiple times, and usually in much more creative fashion than that weak attempt at an insult. You know damn well that that sort of thing only works when I think I’m being particularly smart.”
“Whatever; I’m outta here.” Ranma stormed off suddenly, leaving her mother somewhat stunned.
“Wait, Ranma! At least let me give you—” Slam. “—the details,” she said in a failed attempt to reason with her son. “I told Amaterasu this wouldn’t work,” she said to no one in particular.
“So, what, now do you start looking for your replacement?” Akane asked.
“Technically, I’m not supposed to start my search until Amaterasu has accepted Ranma’s refusal—she doesn’t want me to be too attached to any potential candidate in the unlikely event that Ranma accepts. Why, are you interested?”
Akane blushed slightly; when she was younger, she adored the heroes of the magical girl anime she watched after school, and like most children, had dreamed of what it would be like to actually become one. Naturally, her taste in entertainment had matured somewhat, but Nodoka’s playful query did hold it’s own tantalizing “what if” qualities. “I, uh, I don’t know how to answer that,” the teenager finally answered, “but this whole situation sounds fascinating. Uh, do you think maybe you can tell me some of those details you were mentioning?”
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(Posted Sun, 22 Feb 2009 21:52)
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