Rubbing the back of his head, Ranma let out a small sigh. “Guess I should head back to the Tendo’s,” he muttered lightly, “Maybe Kasumi saved some lunch…” Destination in mind, Ranma wandered out of the small park at a brisk jog.
Keeping up the good pace, Ranma made the conscious decision to make a detour from the straight route to his destination. Even though it added a few minutes to his jog, which was inconsequential really, he felt like he should avoid the two restaurants tended by his fiancées. While he really didn’t have too much of an issue with Ukyo, it was mainly just wanting to keep out of temptation range. The major reason for the detour was the Neko-hanten.
With Dumbledore’s warning fresh in his mind, Ranma wanted to avoid the Chinese fiancée and, more importantly, her great-grandmother like the plague. While he would easily stop in for some cheap food on a good day, the young Saotome still had no issues remembering the many magical and esoteric maladies they had inflicted on him in the past.
The detour taking him farther away from the Kuno residence was just a bonus, as far as Ranma was concerned.
Thankfully, it seemed that things were working in his favor for a change, as he circled around to the back side of the Tendo household. Reaching the back corner of the perimeter wall, Ranma easily vaulted over in the corner behind the dojo. Still, all the dodging out of the main routes to home had left him with an uneasy feeling.
Turning the corner of the dojo, Ranma stepped up onto the wooden walkway which connected the dojo to the house. Just as his foot touched down on the wood floor of the walkway, a splash jerked his attention to the yard. Seeing one of the koi flashing through the pond surface before slapping it with a tail, Ranma just shook his head with a sigh.
This left him wide open for the wave of water which struck him from the walkway.
“Gah,” Ranma cried out in surprise, his voice changing upward in octaves, as he became a her. Quickly wiping the water from her face, she shot a glare at glare at the offender, demanding, “What’d you do that for, Nabiki?!”
Grinning in obvious mirth at the martial artist’s current situation, Nabiki crossed her arms while still holding the offending glass. “Oh, just testing a theory…” Cocking her head slightly and adjusting her grin, she asked, “What’s wrong. You seem unhappy to see me.”
Knowing the obvious trap in front of her, Ranma just growled out as she picked at her wet silk shirt, “Just freaky ‘rain’…” Narrowing her eyes at the middle Tendo daughter, the Saotome asked, “So, this a social call or you need something?”
The grin fell from Nabiki’s mouth as she waved towards the koi pond in the yard before walking towards it. Giving a shrug, Ranma followed her the short distance before asking again, “So, what is it?”
Setting the glass down on one of the stones surrounding the pond, Nabiki turned focused eyes on the young martial artist and pointedly asked, “What did the old man do to you?”
“What old man,” Ranma asked in return.
Shooting the shorter girl a glare, Nabiki tersely responded, “Don’t play dumb, Saotome. You know I’m talking about the old man you were with at the park.”
“How’d you know about him,” Ranma demanded as he jerked back in surprise.
“I saw you there sitting in, what I assume was, a magic circle straight out of Record of Lodos War,” Nabiki evenly responded. “Now I want to know what he did to you. I can cross ‘curing your curse’ off the list but that still leaves so many other things…”
A puppy eyed Ranma, hands under chin, cutely cried, “Ah, Nabiki-nee-chan! You ‘do’ care about me!”
“Shut it, Saotome,” Nabiki shouted back in clear annoyance before quickly mastering herself, “Trouble follows you around like a dog, Saotome. I’m just trying to stay one step ahead…”
“For fun and profit,” Ranma dryly interjected, switching persona on the fly while crossing her arms below her breasts. Narrowing her eyes slightly, Ranma silently noted, ‘Dumbledore said no ‘normal’ people could see us…’
“Of course,” Nabiki smugly replied, copying the martial artist’s posture. “Now, what did that old ‘wizard’ do to you?”
Figuring it easier to just let it out, Ranma just shrugged, “He’s fixing the Neko-ken.”
(Posted Sat, 31 Dec 2011 03:04)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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