Ranma sighed as he shut off the shower, feeling it okay to dispense with his usual furo routine this one time.
It was the Day. The day the Academy conducted their exams to decide who would move on to become Genin this year.
Oh, he had no doubt he would pass. He was the top of many of the classes, though he was uncertain if some favoritism could strip that from him. There had been a few teachers not exactly happy that he had used a few of them as well as the Uchiha as targets in their Taijutsu classes.
But then what? Naruto certainly wasn’t at the bottom of the class anymore, not with Ranma’s mother tutoring him—especially if what he had heard about a disturbance in the local hot spring resort about a mother-daughter pair of blonds was anything credible. Therefore, it could be some other arrangement for team assignments. He just had no clue what would come now or how Nabiki’s butterfly was going to affect such.
Yeah, like that’ll happen,, he shivered. His mother was dead-set on the idea of him being teamed with Yakumo and Nabiki. In fact, the Hokage probably supported such, especially after the incident in which he first helped the Genjutsu Prodigy.
Yep, doomed before the ink even dried on the paper… he sighed, turning off the hot water. “At least I didn’t have my … thing during the exam,” he said, shuddering as he reached for his towel.
Yep, his ‘monthly visitor’ had ended just a day ago, allowing the pigtailed aqua-transsexual to return to his birth form in time for the final exam. At least he didn’t have to worry about that.
No, he had to worry about other things.
He had a new adopted sister. They had learned that Mihoshi had made it to this world, although not in a way they would have liked.
She was being punished! More like we’re being punished, mentally complained Ranma. Mihoshi and her lawyer/friend didn’t have a clue how they were to get back. As far as they knew, their chance lay solely with Mihoshi getting off probation.
Not that they had any idea just how that would happen or when. No, there had been no clue, not even a probation officer to see how Mihoshi had been adjusting.
Nabiki had summed it up best.
“I once heard that genies were just as tricky and nasty as how Ah! My Goddess portrayed demons.
“Now, I know it. They saw her mistake and will just pretend it never happened. We’re on our own. Shit.”
Yep, that had been the final nail in the coffin. Unless the usual nutcases in Nerima came for them, they were stuck here until whenever the other genies figured Mihoshi had learned her lesson.
Moreover, judging by first impressions, that would be a long, long, long time. Mihoshi—even according to her friend/lawyer/’bestest friend in the whole wide universe’, didn’t have a clue what or even when such a punishment might end.
Part of him was upset that once again, things deciding his future had been taken out of his hands. He had a wish coming to him, after all. Yet none had approached him on it, even to correct Mihoshi’s mistake. Instead, he was being punished as much as her, forced to continue in a world not his own.
However, a larger part of him was ecstatic. Here in this world, he could learn so much more, expand his Art, yet not have to deal with fiancées and rivals. Here, he was free of any burden placed on him by one Genma Saotome.
At least, he hoped he was. Ranma learned long ago that just because the Old Man wasn’t around, didn’t mean you were free from the shit the fool had tossed in the air. For all he knew, several allied villages of the Hidden Leaf had female members of clans believing they were engaged to him. Hell, a lot of his past seemed shrouded in a deep fog whenever he tried to draw them out. There was simply no telling what his mind had been made to forget in this world.
He itched his stomach as he stepped from the shower, feeling like whatever he had forgotten was important, but knew no way to retrieve it. Guess I gotta accept it ain’t gonna be that easy.
Sighing, he reached for a towel.
That was also when the door opened revealing the nude form of the woman-turned-teen his mother had adopted.
Kiyone Makibi made her way to the bath of the Saotome household, one of them, anyway, preparing to start her first morning as a resident of Konoha.
Her night had sucked. While glad that she wasn’t going to live with Mihoshi—thankful that she was free from the tanned blond if even only for a few hours—she would have preferred to reside in the ‘normal’ of the two families. Unlike Mihoshi, she had read the files after all.
Which was probably why she should have gave a knock on the bathroom door instead of going in, as it had been Mrs. Saotome’s information that ‘it was free’.
“Oh my,” she gasped, spotting the pigtailed male in front of her, wishing she hadn’t just tossed her towel to the side when she had arrived.
Ranma’s eyes immediately darted to the ceiling, hands to cover his crotch, a small part of him filing away the information that yes, that was Kiyone’s natural hair color. “I’m gonna take a guess; Mom said the bathroom was free.”
“Uh, yeah,” blushed Kiyone, head turned to the side a few moments after he had.
“And she sent ya to this one specifically.”
“Right.”
Closing his eyes, Ranma dipped down, picking up his bathrobe and putting it on, as he made his way to the exit, being careful not to touch Kiyone in any spot that might send a ‘bash a pervert’ signal. “Okay, from now on, knocking and checking for any Genjutsu.”
“Agreed,” replied Kiyone, wondering why her mouth was suddenly very dry.
The sound of the door shutting was her only clue the pigtailed boy had left. Letting out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding, before turning towards the furo. She felt the need for a lot of cold water all of the sudden.
“TODAY IS THE DAY, KONOHA!” cried Naruto, a belly full of ramen in his gut, a smile on his face, eyes full of confidence. “TODAY IS THE DAY I PASS MY GENIN EXAM! BELIEVE IT!”
“Must you say that?” asked Ranma, paying for their meal, as they headed for the Academy.
“YES!” cried Naruto. “I can’t possibly fail! With the training Auntie gave me, I will be top Genin!”
Ranma had to snort at that. It wasn’t like he could be dead last. Even if Yakumo received a pass on it, she would still have to take the exams. Moreover, he doubted she would be able to pull them off well. “So your Bunshin no Jutsu won’t look like a victim of a hungry vampire?”
“No way!” cried Naruto. “Look! Bunshin no Jutsu!”
Poof!
Ranma blinked. To his utter surprise, his mother’s training with Naruto the past month had born a great piece of fruit. True, it wasn’t a perfect Bunshin, but at least it didn’t look like the undead anymore. It wouldn’t receive a full grade, but it would pass well enough for Naruto to still finish the exam and become a Genin. “Gotta say, you’re control’s gone way up.”
“Oh yeah!” exclaimed Naruto as Ranma dismissed the Bunshin by poking it. “I bet I’ll even toast Sasuke’s score.”
“Now don’t go insane here,” murmured Ranma. “I said it went up, not became perfect.”
“Whatever,” Naruto waved off. “The important thing is after I pass, your mom said I could come over tomorrow morning and she’d teach us some new techniques!”
“Why not tonight?” the pigtailed teen asked, already knowing the answer and wondering how bad it truly was.
“She said she had some major important thing that was clan business,” Naruto said, looking up and scratching the back of neck.
Ranma shivered. Yep, he was not heading home tonight, that was for certain. If it wasn’t for the fact he would get the memories, he would send a Kage Bunshin in his place. Sure, avoiding the issue was something his father would have done, but sometimes, delaying what would be a horrible mentally scarring incident was the best one could hope for.
“Ranma-sama!”
Wincing at the title he still associated with the Black Rose—whom he hoped to whatever beings of higher power were friendly to his cause, did not exist here—he turned, smiling, as Yakumo approached him, her Branch Family member guardian and Nabiki following close behind. “Hey, Yakumo. Ready for today?” he asked.
The pale girl nodded happily. “I got a pass from the Hokage, but I still want to take the tests to show the teachers how well I’ve progressed since you helped me.” She had barely gotten any sleep the previous night, so excited for her dream to be so close if not assured because of the Hokage’s pass, she had spent most of it practicing and refining her skill in the three basic jutsu.
“I’m sure you’ll do great!” Ranma said, not wanting her to be depressed. “And it may not be perfect, but the fact you’ve come this far is a good sign. And you’ll get your dream!”
Yakumo nodded happily, before she dropped the few books she had been carrying for weight training and wrapped the pigtailed boy in a hug.
“Thank you,” she said softly, fighting back tears. Her dreams were about to become fact, she had friends and a future that she couldn’t wait to explore.
And it was mostly due to the strange boy before her.
“Uh … you’re welcome,” said Ranma, smiling nervously. He still wasn’t used to actual fiancée-free affection, but at least he had a safe person to help him.
Hmm, are those shadows closing in on me—ACK! He slowly extracted Yakumo from the hug as the Genjutsu from her guard closed in on him. No doubt an order from her worried father. It seemed he would never escape them in this world, but could at least hope their Jounin Sensei was neither related to them, a worried father, or a fiancée-in-training.
Or at the very least, someone who could say ‘no’ to Nodoka Saotome.
“We should probably get to the Academy before they fail us for not showing up,” commented Nabiki, enjoying the nervous look on Saotome’s face.
“They can do that!?” screamed Naruto.
Nabiki nodded with a smile, as the blond took off at a frantic pace towards the Academy.
“That was mean, Nabs.”
“Don’t call me Nabs, Saotome,” she growled. “Now come on, I’d like to learn if we have a different rookie of the year now.”
“Different?” asked Yakumo, still holding onto Ranma’s right arm.
Without missing a beat, Nabiki covered her mistake. “Everyone assumed Uchiha would be it, like Neji Hyuuga had been last year. But Saotome’s proven better than him in several things. So it really is a toss-up.”
Yakumo nodded, even as Ranma bent down to pick up her books and hand them to her. She didn’t need them anymore for class, but as Ranma had stated, they were a great way to train even as she walked about. And even Ranma wasn’t certain how many more times he could use that technique to reroute her chakra before it harmed her.
Best to get stronger while she could.
“We should really hurry, Kurama-sama,” said the Branch Family member. “The class will begin in ten minutes, and even with your improved constitution, it may take us that long to arrive.”
“Really?” asked Ranma. Crap, mom’s little act with Kiyone’s thrown off my whole internal clock! Not realizing what he was doing, he picked up Yakumo bridal-style. “Come on, Nabs! We can’t be late today!” he yelled as he took off in a good run, not wanting Yakumo to be too tired to actually make her attempt at the exam.
“Damn it, Saotome!” cried Nabiki, wondering if this would end up with her being grounded again. Technically, he wasn’t kidnapping the heiress … again.
“Come back here!” cried the guardian as he took off after them. Lord Kurama would be very upset—such as killing him—if he lost sight of Yakumo for even a second. “Man, that kid runs fast!”
Mizuki huffed as Iruka slammed him once again into the wall between the teachers’ office and the classroom. “Iruka, what the hell!”
“My alcohol, Mizuki,” stated the scarred Chuunin, as he held up a clear bottle.
“The damned thing is full!”
“Full of water,” growled Iruka. “The fluid is supposed to be cloudy, Mizuki. Did you think I wouldn’t eventually notice that you were swiping my elixir?”
The white-haired Chuunin gulped. Actually, he had been hoping his layered genjutsu would have prevented that. Besides, since when did Iruka ever drink it? That was some Grade-A liquor.
“The rest of us are celebrating the fact that Saotome will graduate this time,” stated Iruka coldly. “That means no chance of anymore of Nodoka’s ‘inspired’ jutsu.”
“What about the girl she just adopted?” squeaked the man.
“She won’t be near as bad as Ranma,” growled Iruka. “She’s already got her tentacles into Naruto.
“So why is it when we plan to have a party to celebrate our freedom from that woman, do I find my private stock replaced with ordinary tap water?” growled Iruka, tightening his hold.
“Um … I’ll replace it tomorrow?” he stated. He had no plans to be here then, let Iruka worry about that ten thousand Ryō a bottle liquor then.
“You better,” growled Iruka as he released his friend. “Now then, let’s get these exams underway.”
“Right,” growled Mizuki. Just wait, Iruka; you’re time will come soon…
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by The Demented Redhead
(Posted Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:59)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.