Ranma and Nodoka stood outside the gates of an extremely nice traditional Japanese home. It wasn't quite as large as the Tendo home but the grounds were far larger. The wooded property was positively decadent for someplace found inside the Tokyo city limits.
Things between his parents had not gone well. Nodoka had been resentful of Genma trying to keep Ranma from her and Genma had been resentful of Nodoka not having told him about her family's Fate before they had been married. Add to that, Nodoka's outrage at Genma having taken Ranma to Jusenkyo and things had exploded into a terrible shouting match that had done terminal damage to an already foundering marriage.
"This house belongs to my brother," Nodoka explained. "Although until a short time ago, only his son Kokin lived here. My brother decided that he wanted to live out in the country and take up farming, so he passed the house to his son and left. Recently your Aunt Goei and her daughter Hakufu moved in with Kokin so she could attend Nanyo Academy with Kokin."
Ranma sighed. They had had a discussion about school on the trip here. Nodoka had been very persuasive and Ranma had been forced to concede that his attitude toward school was ill conceived. The elder Saotome had extracted a solemn vow that he would take school more seriously.
"Come, Dear, let's go meet your aunt and your cousins," Nodoka urged Ranma through the gate.
"Do they practice the art?" Ranma asked.
"Of course, Dear," Nodoka smiled. "Your cousins have both trained nearly as long as you have."
"Cool," Ranma smiled. He hoped his cousins were decent. It'd be nice to have someone to spar with that wouldn't try to turn it into a death match.
Ranma had been disturbed by what his mother had explained to him about the magatama hanging from his ear—that it contained the soul of a warrior from the Three Kingdoms Era of China. Specifically, it contained the soul of a powerful general named Lu Xun. He began to understand why his father had reacted the way he had when Nodoka explained to Ranma about The Fate of the Sacred Bead. However, given the magatama had been stolen from the Saotome home and happened to be lost by the thief only to be found by Ranma seemed to indicate there was no avoiding his destiny.
Ranma and his mother entered the gate and approached the door. Just as they arrived the door was slid open to reveal a beautiful older woman with glasses and hair an even darker shade of red than his mother's. She was also dressed as traditionally as his mother and she took them in with a bright smile on her face.
"No-chan!" the woman squealed happily.
"Go-chan!" his mother squealed back and the two glomped each other.
"It's been so long, Sister, welcome to our home," the woman said before looking at Ranma, sizing him up like a side of beef. "Oh my! And who is this deliciously handsome boyfriend you have with you?"
"Oh, stop, Go-chan, you know this is my son, Ranma," Nodoka giggled.
Ranma's pigtail stood straight out when his aunt glomped him, cooing about how handsome he was. She did not just grope his butt, nope, there was no way Ranma was going to acknowledge that.
"Well, hello, Nephew," his aunt giggled. "My, I think you're even more adorable than Kokin. There's just something about a man in silk. Please come in and meet your cousins."
Ranma laughed nervously and scratched the base of his pigtail as his Aunt Goei led them out onto the engawa. Ranma could hear a high pitched female voice screaming "basics!" repeatedly as they approached.
"Hakufu, Kokin, come meet your Aunt Nodoka and your Cousin Ranma," Goei called out to the boy and the girl practicing out in the yard.
Ranma blinked as the pair approached. The girl had strawberry blonde hair and a bigger bust than his girl-form. She appeared rather...unrestrained as well. The boy was about Ranma's height but appeared to be much skinnier, lacking Ranma's hard-won musculature. In fact, although Ranma was a year younger, he appeared the more physically mature of the two.
"Hakufu, you remember your Aunt Nodoka, right?" Goei asked.
"Of course," Hafuku chirped. "Hi Auntie!"
"My but you've certainly grown since I last saw you, Fu-chan," Nodoka smiled. "You've become such a lovely young woman."
"Thank you, Auntie," Hakufu chirped.
"And Kin-chan! Why I haven't seen you since you were in diapers," Nodoka gushed, hugging the boy. "You've grown up so handsome! I bet you have all sorts of girlfriends you've been manly with."
Kokin blushed darkly while laughing nervously.
"Um...It's good to see you too, Aunt Nodoka," Kokin said
Then everyone turned their attention to the pigtailed boy in the silk Chinese tang and black kung fu pants.
"Hakufu, Kokin, this is your cousin, Ranma, my son," Nodoka introduced proudly. "Ranma is one of the top martial artists in the country."
"Pleased to meetcha," Ranma said giving a small bow to the other two teens.
"Wow, you're a martial artist?" Hakufu asked. "Are you strong and skilled?"
"I'm the best," Ranma said proudly.
"Great! Let's fight!" Hakufu chirped happily. "I love fighting better and stronger opponents! It gets me so excited!"
Ranma sweat-dropped as he watched his...um...unrestrained cousin bounce and wobble in her excitement.
"Now, Hakufu, you can spar with Ranma-kun later," Aunt Goei admonished. "Kokin why don't you help Ranma-kun bring their things in from the van and moved into their rooms."
"And after that we need to tell them about your curse, Dear," Nodoka added to Ranma.
"Aw, man, do we have to?" Ranma asked.
"Son, you know you won't be able to hide it for long," Nodoka chided. "It's best to just get it out of the way so they aren't surprised at a more inconvenient time."
"I guess you're right," Ranma admitted grudgingly. "Come on, Cousin, let’s get this over with."
The two boys headed out to the van to unload the luggage and other things that Nodoka had brought with her.
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(Posted Thu, 03 Jul 2008 03:24)
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