“Hold on a moment,” Nabiki said. “Ranma, can you float under your own power for a moment? Let me check out the weather.” The naked redhead floated up and out of the way, and Nabiki walked over and sat in front of her personal desktop computer, booting it up and quickly searching the internet weather sites for radar views over China, Kasumi walking over to look over her shoulder. “Ranma, do you know where in China you fell asleep?”
Ranma shook her head as she floated over and joined Kasumi looking curiously at the monitor screen. “No, I don’t. Pop an’ me spent months gettin’ to Jusenkyo, but we wandered all over lookin’ for dojos and monasteries that ain’t there anymore.”
“Hmm,” Nabiki frowned. “What’s the ground like where this Jusenkyo is located, plains, mountains, forests?”
“Up in the mountains somewhere, with forests. We ain’t there now, anyway. For a couple of weeks we’ve been headed for the coast — movin’ pretty quick, too, Pop must have done somethin’ really bad to get those women at the village we visited right after the cursed springs mad, big surprise,” Ranma said, rolling her eyes.
Nabiki chuckled, then sat and thought for a moment. “Where are you headed, and in which direction?”
“Back to Japan, an’ we’ve been movin’ east.”
“All right, so you’re a few weeks’ fast travel by foot east of a mountain range and west of Japan.” Nabiki shifted to the appropriate maps and frowned. “Ranma, looking as the weather patterns, there’s no point in sending you back to China right now, you’ll probably be right back here again before morning. And if you’re asleep and I don’t wake up you could sink right through the bed, floor, the floor below and into the ground, there’s nothing living below to stop you. I’d say you’re stuck here tonight. In fact, it would probably be a good idea for you to spend all your nights here until the summoning’s time limit wears off, or at least come here to have me check the weather every evening.”
Kasumi nodded, “Good thinking, little sis. I’ll just make up a futon in the guest room —”
Nabiki smirked slightly. “Weren’t listening too closely, were you, big sis? We can’t use the futons, Ranma’d just sink through them. We’d need a bed covering that’s alive.”
“Hmm,” Kasumi tapped her lip uncertainly. “I ... I suppose she could sleep on the grass in the yard ...”
Nabiki’s smirk grew. “Now Kasumi, is that any way to treat a guest? She’ll sleep here with me.”
“What?!” Ranma and Kasumi chorused loudly.
“Sure, any night Ranma bounces here she’ll end up in my bed anyway, might as well start the night that way.”
Ranma was blushing yet again while Kasumi frowned. “Nabiki, that isn’t exactly proper.”
Nabiki’s smirk turned into an outright laugh. “Come on, Kasumi, since when have I been all that concerned with ‘proper’? And is having a guest sleeping on the lawn more ‘proper’? Besides —” with a huge yawn “— even if I was inclined to try anything, which I’m not, I’m too tired, and who’s going to see anything?”
Now Ranma’s blush was replaced by confusion, but Kasumi reluctantly giggled, then just as reluctantly nodded. “Very well.” She turned toward the door, and flipped the light off on her way out. “A good night to you both.”
Nabiki got back onto her bed and motioned to the now barely visible figure of her new friend. “Come on, Ranma, let’s get to sleep.”
Even seen only as a dark shape, Ranma’s hesitation was obvious. “Are ... are ya sure ‘bout this, Nabiki? I could make do with the lawn, really....”
Nabiki shook her head. “No, Ranma, it’s not like we haven’t been cuddling already a good part of the night, better to stay here. Besides, I think I’d like to spend the night with a ... a friend.”
“A-Alright, Nabiki.” Ranma floated over and turned onto her side and settled down onto Nabiki’s outstretched right arm lying on the bed. Nabiki pulled the blanket over the two of them (which promptly sank through Ranma, of course), and yawned yet again. “Good night, Ranma.”
“Good night, Nabiki,” came back the soft, uncertain reply.
*KNOCK KNOCK*
Nabiki sleepily opened her eyes, and looked around her room. She definitely wasn’t in Mad King Ludwig’s bedroom. She smiled down at the cute naked redhead sleeping curled up in her arms even as she blushed beet-red. And this definitely isn’t a muscular, black-haired guy—not exactly experienced, but definitely a fast learner with endurance to spare. Wow, what a dream! She took a sniff of the air. I’m definitely going to need to thoroughly clean up before school today.
*KNOCK KNOCK*
Nabiki slid her left hand up Ranma’s arm and gently shook her shoulder. As Ranma came awake and sat up (and immediately started to sink into the bed before she caught herself) Nabiki frowned thoughtfully, so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice Ranma’s blush on seeing her. That dream was rather odd, though. I mean, sure, Ludwig’s bedroom was romantic enough, a great place for a tryst, but why would I dream of a prince that’s younger than I am and dressed in a worn gi?
“Nabiki, are you awake?” came Kasumi’s voice through the door. “You’re late for breakfast, and you’ll be late for school if you don’t hurry.”
What!? Even as Ranma floated up from the bed, Nabiki was out of bed and diving for her toiletries. “I’ll be right down, Kasumi, thanks!” she shouted towards the door as she glanced at the clock. I slept right through the alarm! I haven’t even slept till the alarm went off in years! Still, I do feel great, I’m going to have to sleep with cute redheads, or at least a cute redhead, more often, Nabiki thought with a grin.
“Uh, Nabiki?” Ranma said nervously, rubbing the back of her head, “I’d better get back to China. Pop is gonna be wonderin’ what I’m up to by now, an’ as fun as it is to make him squirm sometimes I don’t want him to get to askin’ too many questions ...”
Nabiki nodded distractedly. “You’re right, you need to get back. Come on, there’s hot water in the furo.”
Nabiki quickly dashed down to the furo, with Ranma flying after her. Even as Nabiki started to lather up, Ranma flushed and looked away and floated over to the furo. “Bye, Nabiki, see ya later,” she said as she sank into the hot water and disappeared.
Gernma stalked down the trail in his panda form carrying both packs, and fuming. Sure, the rain last night had done its usual job of turning him into a panda and his son invisible and insubstantial, but Ranma had then wandered off who knows where! Genma wasn’t about to admit it, even to himself, but he was getting worried — not that Ranma wouldn’t be able to find him again, he seemed to be able to do that easily now, but that he was getting completely out of control. Sure, before Jusenkyo Ranma had been verbally disrespectful, but that was just a sign of spirit and he’d still done whatever Genma had demanded. Now, though … refusing to tell his father how he was changing back to his normal form was bad enough, but purposefully turning himself invisible and insubstantial and wandering off whenever he felt like it was worse. Genma didn’t think that Ranma was going to take the news of the Tendo engagement well, and he couldn’t think of a single way to make the boy stay if he chose to leave — that ungrateful brat was going to throw away Genma’s retirement, er, his future running a dojo! Now Genma was beginning to regret mailing that postcard —
With a puff of displaced air, Genma’s naked son popped into existence next to the panda, startling him into a growling fighting stance. “Hey, Pop, if ya keep growlin’ like that they’re gonna think yer dangerous and stick ya in a zoo somewhere! Gimme my pack.” The panda growled again but relaxed and passed Ranma’s pack to him, then moved off the path and started gathering wood as best he could while his son pulled his clothes out of the pack and got dressed. Both ignored the bird calls coming from farther up the trail.
*
Shampoo sighed softly to herself as she watched the panda stalking down the path towards the ambush carrying two backpacks. The hunt had taken longer than expected. Shampoo frowned, thinking of the pursuit of the last few weeks even as she glanced to the side, making sure the members of her hunting party on her side of the trail were under cover. It had proven harder to track her fugitive — shudder — husband than she’d expected. It hadn’t helped that they could never be sure whether they were trying to find a man or a panda at any particular moment. And then there was the boy that witnesses sometimes reported traveling with the man/panda, where had he come from, and why wasn’t he around all the time? Shampoo shrugged slightly even as a panda strode into view, and her magic ring verified the approach of a Jusenkyo-cursed human — now that they’d finally managed to get ahead and set up an ambush they’d have their answers soon enough. Shampoo tensed, getting ready to give the signal and charge.
Suddenly, a boy somewhere around her age popped into view out of thin air, and her necklace, one of the tribe’s magical treasures, a detector of magic in operation, briefly but strongly flared on her chest even as her ring’s detection of Jusenkyo curses doubled. So the boy had a curse as well, but where had he come from? He couldn’t have just been invisible, that wouldn’t have stopped the ring from picking him up. And what had the necklace detected at the instance of the boy’s appearance, some form of teleportation, perhaps? Shampoo frowned in hopeful thought — while the older man was a powerful and skilled martial artist, he wasn’t exactly what she had been looking for in a husband. If this boy was the son he had spoken of back at the village, and if the boy was some sort of mage powerful enough to instantaneously jump across miles, perhaps the exception to the Kiss of Marriage made for powerful mages and their relatives would apply. Even as the panda and the boy moved off the trail, she gave the bird call signaling to the rest of the hunting party to fall back from the ambush and regroup.
Several hours later the Amazons had regathered back at their last camp site, the older women listening as Shampoo explained why she’d called off the ambush. Klensur, Shampoo’s second in command (and minder), nodded thoughtfully but gave her decades-younger leader a suspicious glance. “What you’ve said makes sense, but you’re still only guessing. How do you think we should verify this?”
Shampoo, having spent the last few hours considering just that question, already had her plans made. “Klensur, you will take all of the hunting party except me and Harbrus back to the village and let great-grandmother and the other Elders know what we’ve learned. They will know better how to determine if the boy is truly a mage, or if there are any Jusenkyo curses that could give him the power he used.” Shampoo reached into her belt pouch and pulled out two polished pebbles, one of which she gave to Klensur. “Here’s a tracking stone, I’ll keep the other with me so you can find me later with whatever the Elders say.” She turned to a slight but sleekly muscled girl only a few years older than her. Harbrus, since you’re the best stalker and tracker here, you’re with me. Tonight you are going to sneak into the panda’s camp and plant another tracking stone in his backpack, so the two of us can follow him wherever he goes while we wait for the Elders’ response.” Then Shampoo cocked an eyebrow at Klensur with a knowing smile.
Klensur chuckled at her young leader’s unspoken acknowledgement of her status as Shampoo’s minder, then nodded. “Good thinking, let’s move.” The hunting party quickly broke down their camp and separated, Shampoo and Harbrus setting off after the two males and the rest heading west toward their village.
*
Ranma was really taking a bruising. Usually, he had no problem fending off his father’s attempts to surprise him as they hiked, but today he kept getting distracted thinking about the dream he’d had the previous night. Where had he seen anything remotely as luxurious as that bedroom he’d dreamed of him and Nabiki meeting in? He must have seen something like it somewhere, but he couldn’t think of where. And I can’t have forgotten anything like that, if only 'case of the shouting when Pop tried to steal everything in sight. And after all this time seeing Nabiki nude with only the faintest of distortion from her see-through clothing, actually seeing her covered, if not much, had seemed strange. Not that she’d stayed dressed very long.... Ranma blushed yet again and Genma, currently human and long since recognizing the signal of certain distraction, promptly bounced Ranma off the nearest tree then frowned at his son as Ranma got back to his feet. “Boy, I know you can’t match me on your best day, but this is pitiful. What is your problem!?”
Ranma rubbed his shoulder and glared and his father. “Just tryin’ to figure out how to tell people about this bust of a trip when we get back to Japan. Wait, I know, I’ll just tell ‘em how my idiot of a father used a guide book over a century old, that’ll explain everything!” Then Ranma gave a cocky grin as Genma charged with a growl almost as good as he could give as a panda and flipped his father into the stream running beside their path. As Genma crawled out of the stream, Ranma glanced at the setting sun and shrugged off his backpack and quickly undressed, and with an “I’m tired of your whining, Pop, see ya whenever,” stepped into the stream and vanished from his frustrated father’s sight.
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(Posted Tue, 17 Mar 2009 05:09)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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