"Well, at this point, we really can't do anything but hope for the best. However, I'd like to see all of you girls again next month, to see how things progress." Dr. Tofu motioned to the door. "Please ask my new assistant to give you an appointment."
The girls nodded, and together with their parents and husbands, left the room. Only Ranma was being held back by the doctor. "Just a word, Ranma."
Ranma blinked in confusion, then shrugged and said: "Okay, sure. Akane, you go ahead and make that appointment. I'll meet ya outside."
His wife nodded and followed the others.
After closing the door, Tofu leaned against his desk and crossed his arms. "Ranma... unusual things really tend to happen around you, don't they?"
"What??" If Ranma had expected anything, it wasn't this. "Are you saying it's my fault that..."
"No no, I didn't mean it like that. All I meant to say is that Nerima itself has become an attraction point for all sorts of unusual events... and usually, also trouble. What I just said is the truth: We don't know what will happen to the babies, and we can't really do anything about it. They and their mothers are healthy, so my best advice is to just support them as we would support any 'normal' pregnant women. However... there's one thing I was meaning to tell you, Ranma."
"And that is..."
Tofu sighed. "Ranma, I'm saying the truth when I'm telling you that you're the most powerful martial artist here in Nerima. Ryoga comes close, but not quite. You know... I have this feeling that the really bad things are still ahead of us. So... I want you to keep an eye on your family."
Ranma smirked. "Hey, you didn't have to ask me that. That's what I was gonna do in the first place. Don't worry, I'll take care of them. I also have an eye on the other girls, if I have to."
Tofu smiled and nodded. "That is good to hear. We are fortunate to have a brave young man like you in our neighborhood, Ranma."
Ranma just smirked. Then he got more serious. "Doc... I was meaning to ask you something, too..."
"Yes? What is it?"
Ranma fidgeted around with his hands and took a deep breath. "I dunno how to say this, but... are you sure yer all right?"
Tofu blinked, then smiled. "Why shouldn't I?"
"Well yeah, you see... we all knew that you liked Kasumi, and now that she's married... eh, please don't get this the wrong way, but... are you really fine with seeing her married to Konatsu?"
Tofu sighed. "Thanks for your concern, but I think I'll be fine. It's true, for a while I truly was smitten with the gentle Kasumi." He sighed deeply. "I know how much I acted like a fool only after hearing her name... and after I learned the thing with Konatsu, well... let's just say it wasn't pretty. But I got used to it. The most important thing is that Kasumi is happy. And if she honestly loves the boy... then who am I to keep them from each other? Also, I think after I got used to it, my... let's call it crush... on Kasumi waned. In fact, I think there's someone else who helped me overcome my depression..."
Ranma wondered whoever the good doctor could mean, but then the door opened and a beautiful, buxom woman in a white doctor's assistant outfit entered the room with a smile.
"Dr. Tofu, I gave the girls an appointment for the first week of November... and Akane is waiting for Ranma, outside."
Ranma couldn't help but notice the happy look on the doctor's face when he saw the young woman. "I see. Thank you, Hinako."
Hinako Ninomiya nodded and left them. Ranma turned to face the doctor, with wide eyes. "Miss Hinako? Miss Hinako's working for you now? I mean, I knew she gave up her teaching job, but..."
"She is a real asset for my practice, Ranma," Tofu smiled. "And she is a truly wonderful person..."
Now Ranma was sure that the doctor was over his crush. With a grin, he winked and turned around to leave. "All right, doc! See ya!"
Eight years later...
The door of the Saotome household flew open and an eight-year old boy with blue hair and a smaller version of his father's trademark Chinese vest came storming outside.
"Whoohoo!" he shouted. "I'm going to school! I'm going to school!"
"Honey, wait up."
The boy stopped and turned around to face the young woman that had stepped out of the door behind him. "Yes, Mom?"
Akane Saotome smiled as she held up a small box. "You forgot your lunch."
"Oops! Thanks, Mom!" Gratefully, the only son of the Saotome couple took the lunchbox from his mother.
"Now you better hurry," Akane said. "You don't want to be late on your first day of school."
"Aw, he's not going to be late," his father grinned as he appeared behind his wife. "He's a fast runner, that's one thing I know."
"Right, Dad" Ryu Saotome nodded. "Hey, Dad?"
"Hm, yeah?" Ranma asked.
Ryu grinned. "If I do good at school, can you teach me some of grandpa's old techniques?"
Ranma sweated. He knew that his son was still to young for the advanced fighting techniques of Anything Goes. So he did what all young fathers did when their sons asked them a difficult question.
"Uh... ask your mom."
SPLASH!
Ryu grinned as he stood next to the koi pond, the water of which he had just used to splash his father with. "Okay, Mom."
"Hey, I'm still your father, even when female," Ranma-chan grumbled while wringing out her pigtail, which had begun to grow longer over the past few years.
Akane giggled at her currently female husband's plight. "Maybe we should have had a girl, then maybe she would have shown some more respect towards her father."
Ryu grinned. In a flash, he turned into a cute, red-headed girl. "You were saying, Mom?" Ryu-chan giggled.
A frown suddenly appeared on both Akanes and Ranmas faces. "Ryu! How many times have we told you?" Akane scolded. "No transforming yourself right in the open."
Ryu sighed and turned back to his normal boy form. "Yeah, I got it... no transforming. But Dad..." he turned to his female father. "I have such a cool power. Why can't I show it off at school?"
"Ya wanna get in trouble as often as your Dad did?" Ranma frowned. He might still be a cocky and reckless fighter, but as a father, he had learned that there were times when it was better to be cautious. "You know how many people saw me as a freak when I first got to school? And I don't even want to mention your Uncle Tatewaki's silly speeches..."
"All right, I got it already," Ryu groaned. "Can I go now?"
Ranma nodded. "All right, see ya. And remember: If someone picks on you, pick right back."
Ryu grinned. "I'll keep it in mind, Dad! Bye, Mom!" And he was gone.
Ranma smiled as he looked after his boy. Then he saw the frown on his wife's face. "What? What did I do wrong?"
Akane shook her head. "Honestly, you're not exactly a role model for our child, Ranma Saotome..." She walked back inside, while Ranma still scratched his head.
On his way to school, Ryu came past the building where his aunt Kasumi and uncle Konatsu (although at times, he also called him 'Auntie Konatsu') had their apartment.
"Yo Hitomi!" he shouted upstairs. "You coming?"
He didn't have to wait long. A girl his age with brown, shoulder-long hair came down and smiled at him. "Hi, Ryu."
"Hey, cousin," he grinned. "Ready to go to school?"
She nodded. "You bet I am. Let's go!"
Together, they walked along the Nerima channel and enjoyed the fresh morning air.
"Did Auntie Kasumi give you your lunch as well?"
"Yup," Hitomi nodded and held up a small bag with her own lunchbox inside. "She cooked all of it herself."
"I envy you," Ryu groaned. "I wish I had a mother who can cook as well as Auntie... everytime my mom tries to make a meal, we have to call the fire brigade..."
Hitomi giggled. "Well, next time you can still go and eat at Ucchan's."
Ryu nodded and was about to say something else, when suddenly, a flash came bounding past them. Hitomi stared with disbelief at her suddenly empty hands. "Hey! My lunch!"
A sleek shape was crouching on a branch of a nearby tree. "Why the surprised face? Cat got your tongue?"
Ryu gritted his teeth. "This isn't funny, Xi. Give Hitomi back her lunch!"
The girl sitting amongst the leaves leaned forward, so they could see her fur-covered face, her pointy ears and her short muzzle. "Why should I?" she grinned, revealing pointy teeth. "Mom always says that if people are slower and weaker than an Amazon, they can't do anything against whatever she does."
"Yeah, but I bet your Mom was a bully, too, when she was younger," Ryu spat.
Xi hissed and bristled the fur on her tail. She showed the boy her sharp claws. "Say anything against my Mom, and I'll make you my new scratching post."
"Just try it! But first... give back Hitomi's lunch!"
Xi grinned. "Come and get it!"
Determined, the youngest Saotome ran up to the tree. Seeing that its trunk was too broad and steep to climb, he quickly transformed into a blue-furred lynx. "I'm coming, Xi," he hissed and began to climb the tree.
"Hey, no fair using powers," Xi complained.
Hitomi wasn't happy either. "Ryu, you know we can't use our powers in public. We'll be in sooo much trouble when our parents find out."
Having climbed half of the tree trunk, Ryu turned around his now feline head. "But your lunch..."
Hitomi sighed. She held out her hand and concentrated on her lunchbox. It slipped out of the tiger-girl's grasp and floated down until she had it back in her hands.
"You two aren't playing fair," Xi growled. "I'm telling Mom." And in a flash, she was gone.
Ryu dropped to the ground and transformed back to normal. "I'm so glad she's not going to our school..."
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Shritistrang
(Posted Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:31)
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.