Shampoo let out a heavy sigh as she retrieved a bowl of ramen. She knew it was a futile task, but the instructions from the Orb's spirit had been very strange, for her... And given the legends surrounding the Orb, and the strange and myriad ways its advice wound up achieving the desired results, it had almost certainly elected to speak her native language specifically because nobody else at the table would understand it.
But then, trying to figure out the whys of the advice was always a futile effort. Something covered by many of those same legends. Why didn't matter. All that did was that her airen was kept safe from a stupid, stupid promise he probably didn't even know anything about.
Just then, the bell above the door rang. In that moment, Shampoo forgot all about her concerns as their target entered the building. In one fluid moment, she slid the bowl she'd been carrying onto the table in front of her before leaping to land in a picture perfect glomp. A few of the customers even held up scorecards.
"Shampoo so happy! Airen come see Shampoo!"
She loved it when he let her hug him. It typically didn't last all that long, due to interference from various sources or Ranma needing to take care of something "more important at the moment". She'd learned long since to appreciate the moments for as long as they lasted.
This time was different somehow. He was... tense? Nervous about something? He'd made no move to push her away, so that was a good sign... but neither had he attempted to draw her closer. She looked up at his face. "Airen feel okay? Twitch pretty bad..."
Was he ill? He'd never reacted like this before. "Great grandmother?" She called out. "Mousse! Where great grandmother?"
Popping his head out of the kitchen, Mousse replied "She's in the storage closet, getting some - uh, Shampoo? Why are you shaking so violently?"
Before Shampoo could berate Mousse for his eyesight and stupidity for confusing her and her airen like that, Ranma retched a few times and pushed Shampoo away. "Ugh! N-never mind, Shampoo. I-I'm not h-hungry anymore. S-see you later."
Before she could stop him, he'd ran out of the door. Peeking outside and realising she'd never catch up with him, Shampoo turned on her heels, calmed herself down, and then marched into the kitchen.
Shortly thereafter, Cologne left the storage closet chuckling. "I knew it was in there! With this, we can have quite the special for tomorrow and-" She stopped to stare for a moment in disbelief. "Great granddaughter?"
"Yes, great grandmother?"
"Why is Mousse tied into a bow?"
"He not bendy enough to manage granny knot."
"Alright, let's try it this way," said an exasperated Kasumi. "You get beef from cows. You also get steak from cows. Right?"
"That's right!" Akari nodded.
"So why can't you get pork, bacon and ham from a pig?"
"Because cows are ugly, dumb and lazy while pigs are cute, smart and strong."
Both Kasumi and Nodoka sighed at this, as the door opened. "Hey, sis! What's keeping you so long? It might be nice to have a little something to eat, you know."
"Oh, I'm sorry Nabiki. I'd lost track of time."
"That's just like you pig haters. No sense of time..." Akari grumbled. Both Kasumi and Nodoka made a concentrated effort to ignore that comment. "Oh gosh! Is that the time? I have to get back home! Grandfather has been so unwell lately, I'm worried he'll take a funny turn..." The girl then strode out the door and whistled, prompting the near instant appearance of a colossal pig which left everybody inside the butcher's shop wondering just why they hadn't seen it before now. Akari effortlessly climbed on top of it, and the pig strode off down the street.
"A most unusual girl," Nodoka muttered. "I'm sorry to get you caught up in this, my dear. I am Nodoka Saotome. It's a pleasure to meet you, and- Is something the matter?"
"I-I'm sorry. It's just that we have a Saotome staying with us just now, and-"
"Staying with you? That wouldn't be Genma Saotome, would it?"
"T-that's right. Ah! But he and his son are off on a training journey right now, isn't that right Nabiki?"
Nabiki glowered at her. She obviously didn't think that much of lying here, in this place and this time. Neither did Kasumi, but it didn't matter how they felt. The others couldn't have possibly had the time they needed yet, to do what they'd been told to. In other words, Ranma wasn't ready to meet his mother yet.
"That's right," Nabiki replied. "He and his father are on a training journey. But I'm sure they'll be back soon."
"Oh dear, that's most unfortunate," Nodoka sighed, "But I'd still like to meet the people he's been staying with. Would that be alright?"
"That shouldn't be a problem... Nabiki, there are a few other things I'm wanting to pick up before we head off home. Could you go home and tell the others to expect Mrs Saotome? I'd like to talk to her a little about her son..."
"What do you mean she's coming here?!" Akane shouted, ten minutes later in the Tendo kitchen.
"I mean, little sister, that Kasumi ran into Ranma's mother at the market. Right now, she's stalling her by telling stories about Ranma, but... Where is the idiot, anyway?"
"He ran off when I said I'd make dinner."
Seeing an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, Nabiki said "You had better go and find him then! If he comes back here, especially while male... That could cause all sorts of trouble!"
Akane panicked and ran out of the house, while Nabiki casually wandered over to the phone. "Hey, Ukyo. Is Ranma there? We have a situation..."
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(Posted Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:57)
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