"«Welcome to the automated reception system for Her Majesty's Canadian Ship Star, the Naval Reserve Division for Hamilton, Halton, Wellington, Kitchener-Waterloo, Brant, Haldimand-Norfolk and Niagara,»" a polite female voice then declared in English before repeating the greeting in French. "«Please choose one of the following options to indicate which language you wish to communicate with.»"
Ranma — once more a man — pressed the code for Japanese. The voice then changed to clear Japanese: "Where do you wish your call to be forwarded to?"
"Unit Six-Seven-Zero, Miyake Shinobu-shōsa," he responded.
"One moment, please. Sending a message now to the duty officer of H.M.C.S. Fort Erie. Please stand-by."
A moment later, the other end answered: "Fort Erie wardroom, Fujinami here."
"Hey, Ryū-chan! It's me!"
Silence.
"WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN, SAOTOME?!" Fujinami Ryūnosuke then bellowed, nearly knocking Ranma over thanks to the sonic boom echoing through the speaker of his house phone. "YOU SHOULD'VE BEEN HERE FIVE DAYS AGO! YOU PROMISED SHINOBU YOU'D SEE HER BEFORE WE WENT OFF ON EXERCISE! DO YOU KNOW HOW SOON WE HAVE TO DEPLOY?!"
"Forty-eight hours. Kanami told me."
"What the hell happened?!" Fort Erie's chief engineer demanded.
Ranma sighed as he explained what the last three months had been like. At the end of his words, a tired sigh responded from orbit over south-central Ontario. "Just like MY friggin' old man!" Ryūnosuke muttered under her breath. "Look, can you catch a flight from Narita to Pearson? We can get someone to pick you up from York and beam you into orbit to get aboard Fort Erie for a quick visit before we head out!"
A sigh. "I dunno, Ryū-chan. Before Oyaji and I left, Ofukuro told me that she wanted me to stay at the house for a couple of days after we got back before coming to Canada."
Silence from the other end of the line. Realising that Ryūnosuke was probably thinking about a potential response to this situation, Ranma could only thank his lucky stars that his wife had such a close friend in the "son" of a poor seashore café owner from Chiba. While Shinobu and Ryūnosuke hadn't fallen to the urge of the "time of the month" — the overwhelming drive Avalonians often experienced when they encountered someone they considered emotionally and mentally compatible as a "bond-mate" — with each other, they were as close as sisters…Or 'brother' and sister if you listen to Ryū-chan's whacked-out old man, Ranma mentally added with a grin.
A strange noise then echoed over the speaker, which made Ranma blink. A second later, a very polite voice then called over the line, "Ohayō, Ranma-san. It's Tomomi!"
He grinned. "Hey, Tomomi-chan!" Yoshino Tomomi was a member of 119 Squadron. A captain in the Canadian Air Force, she currently served as air maintenance officer for the CSV-194 Star Flare assigned to Fort Erie; she would be detachment second-in-command after Moroboshi Tariko. No doubt, as she was responsible for ensuring all equipment and spare parts had to be aboard the corvette before she deployed, she had remained on Fort Erie while her co-workers were with their squadron-mates either aboard Spacedock #112 or planetside at H.M.C.S. Star. "How are things with you?"
"Pretty good," the adopted Hokkaidō native responded. "Listen, I couldn't help but overhear what Ryū-san was complaining about. Tariko-san and Narumi-chan have to do a check-flight on our Star Flare before we head out, so they could fly over to Japan to pick you up, then bring you over within an hour so you can see Shinobu-san."
Ranma blinked, and then he exchanged a shocked look with Kanami before he turned back to the phone. "Is that allowed?"
A titter. "Of course it's allowed, silly! We have to make sure everything works right on our planes before we use them or we can't deploy!" Tomomi then giggled. "Including the on-board cloaking device and the on-board materialiser system."
Kanami broke out in laughter on hearing that. "You're my kind of evil, Tomomi-chan," Ranma said, a grin splitting his face. "Look, Tariko's got my number, so have her call me when it's time to be picked up, okay?"
"Of course."
An hour later…
"New flight plan."
Moroboshi Tariko blinked on hearing that warning from her co-pilot, and then she took up the PADD from Sasamoto Narumi's hand to gaze on the screen there. "Cloak check…" the captain began before blinking. "Flying all the way to Tōkyō?!"
"To pick up Ranma-san," Narumi whispered.
The captain froze, and then she turned to glare at her co-pilot. "What?"
The tanned tomboy with the pale blue eyes and the shaggy rusty-red hair looked down. "Ranma-san's old man pulled a fast one on him. He was trying to get Ranma-san engaged to one of those girls the Skipper met when she was in Yokosuka. He just got back from his training trip earlier today; they swam from China to Japan instead of flying back over." A shrug. "And given that we're heading out in two days…"
Tariko blinked, and then she sighed. "Figures…" she breathed out as she rubbed her forehead. "I never met the asshole myself, but from what Shinobu-chan and Ryū-chan told me about him, he could've been Baka Kā-chan's own twin brother!" A nod. "Okay, let's get suited up and get the others down to our 'Flare. We got work to do."
Narumi smirked as she gave her detachment commander a jaunty salute. "Yes, ma'am!"
Back in Nerima…
"Tadaima!"
"Okaeri nasai, Okā-san!"
Nodoka smiled as she walked into her home, and then she stopped, her jaw dropping in shocked surprise on seeing who currently awaited her there. "Ranma?!"
Ranma was now female and dressed like her sister was now in a sleeveless turtleneck sweater, form-fitting "battle slacks" that could stretch very well when she was doing high-kicks, and slippers over her feet. "Sorry about this, Ofukuro," she said as her cheeks reddened before she looked down…and then she gasped on feeling her mother embrace her. "Ofukuro!" she gasped before shuddering as Nodoka kissed her forehead.
"Never you mind, my child," Nodoka stated. "I got the explanation from your father just before I came back here."
"Speaking of which, where is the dolt, anyway?" Kanami asked.
Nodoka glared at her. "Young lady, that is not the tone you should use when speaking of your father!" she stated before smirking. "Even if he deserves it." She waved everyone over to the coffee table so they could relax and enjoy some tea Kanami had made. "He's banished to the Tendō home for the time being. I made it very clear to both him and Sōun that there will be no marriage between you and any of Sōun's daughters. I didn't identify your wife by name, but he now knows you're married."
"How did he react?" Kanami asked.
"Oh, his usual reaction. I had to cut it short."
Both of Nodoka's children laughed when they heard her say that; they could easily imagine what "cutting it short" would have meant to Genma. "I got a chance to call Ryū-chan," Ranma then said. "Told her what happened. Yoshino Tomomi got on the line and said she'll get Tariko-chan to do a check flight on their Star Flare over here to pick me up and take me over so I can be with Shinobu before they head out."
Nodoka looked confused. "Tomomi…? Oh, yes! One of those very beautiful Air Force officers that came to the wedding! Which one was she?!"
"Purple eyes, long brown hair she normally wears in a high ponytail, speaks with an Hokkaidō accent," Kanami supplied. "She was from Phentax Five before she joined the Air Force. She's detachment air maintenance officer for Fort Erie."
Nodoka winced on hearing that. "Those poor women…" She then sobered up before smiling. "Well, at least it'll be nice to meet Negako-sama's sister finally. A pity that Ataru-kun elected to live full-time on Okusei; he's done so much for Earth…"
"He's not the type to care for people giving him awards and all that," Ranma noted. "'Sides, he's still pissed at his parents because they wouldn't accept Tariko."
A chuckle. "Well, too bad for Kinshō-san and her husband," Nodoka noted as she tried not to make a face on remembering her past encounters with Tariko's genetic mother, especially in the wake of Ataru's permanently leaving the Moroboshi home in Tomobiki to discover what his life could become in the wake of his meeting a Noukiite free warrior and having the Promise of Bunka Go-nen finally fulfilled. "So you'll at least…"
Ranma's cell phone then rang a specific type of beep. "Moshi-moshi, Saotome," she said as she picked it up and held it to her ear.
"Ranma?!" a familiar voice called back.
"Hey, Akane!" Ranma called back as she laughed. "Sorry about this! I…"
"Visited a certain valley in China with cursed pools! I know; we saw what happened to your father!" Tendō Akane responded. "Did you get a chance to talk to Shinobu-san?"
"Called the Erie and talked to Ryū-chan. Tariko's coming over to give me a ride."
A gasp. "Sugoi! Lucky you! Is that alright?!"
Ranma laughed. "Akane, they have to do a check-flight on those Star Flares before they head out into space; it's the same as what the surface destroyers do with their on-board helicopters when they head out of port. If they got a broke machine…"
"No sense bringing it along," Akane noted with a touch of envy in her voice. "Well, listen. Tō-chan and Ji-chan are getting themselves drunk, so we'll come over right away to see you before Tariko-san comes to pick you up, okay?"
A nod. "Sure thing," Ranma affirmed as we…
(Posted Wed, 12 Jan 2011 03:54)
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