Night had fallen over the district of Nerima.
It was with his normal boundless energy that Ranma stepped into the Nekohanten-a restaurant owned by a certain trio of Chinese amazons-with a spring in his step.
Sure they could be annoying at times, but it wasn't the worst place he could have chosen to hide out. This place had good food, people who actually liked him, and only one third of the occupants wanted to kill him.
Mousse was fun to fight anyway.
Maybe the old ghoul could even teach him some new techniques when he inevitably had to fight off the incoming alien invasion. Because it was so heading in that direction, it wasn't even funny.
His presence thoroughly announced, Ranma took stock of his surroundings.
Empty. But the sign on the door indicated the restaurant was still open. Hm...
Well, there were aliens a few blocks away, even someone like the old ghoul had to be curious. Hell, if it weren't for them hanging around the Tendo Dojo, clearly waiting for him to arrive home if that crowd's reaction was any indication, he'd be just as eager to go see them.
Yeah, the old ghoul was probably out, but that didn't mean the other two were as well.
"Somethin' pops taught me." He murmured to himself, quietly moving towards an empty table near the back, so anyone passing by wouldn't just see him and blow his cover.
"Never assume a place is empty 'til ya' check every corner for yourself." As much of an idiot pops was at times, when it came to martial arts, the man knew what he was talking about.
Of course, he wasn't going to hide his presence from them. He wasn't going to hide from them, and he wasn't going to just stay there without earning his keep.
Maybe he could help out by being a waitress again? Surely the aliens would overlook Saotome Ranko in their search for Saotome Ranma.
And right on cue, he heard the sound of running water from somewhere deeper in the building. It was really faint, he probably would have missed it if it weren't for that time pops took him wolf hunting, in wolf territory. When he was nine.
After about the third time you get woken up from something trying to rip your throat out with it's teeth, you learn to listen.
He made his way back into the deeper reaches of the Nekohanten, past the restaurant portion of it entirely. He was not entering the part the trio lived in.
The sound was coming from the bathroom. And it had the distinct sound of hot water. Several possibilities instantly entered Ranma's mind. So either Mousse or Shampoo were turning themselves back into their human forms, or someone was bathing in there.
Keeping absolutely still, Ranma slowly began to turn around, intending to head back into the dining area of the Nekohanten.
If someone was bathing in there, that left only three likely possibilities.
If it were Mousse, that wouldn't be a big deal.
If it were the ghoul...just no. Blech. Don't think about it.
If it were Shampoo...
If it was Shampoo in there, him barging in could only lead to bad things. Really bad things.
And that's when he saw it.
The cat.
More specifically, the cat ornament that decorated the wall behind him, across from the Nekohanten's bathroom. It looked new.
But none of that mattered. Because it looked realistic.
Too realistic.
Again, his mind never realized this.
Because it was a cat. There was a cat right in front of him.
His limbs locked up, he couldn't run. His throat locked up, he couldn't scream. His brain locked up, he couldn't even look away.
A moment passed as Ranma stared in horrified silence at what, in the dark, looked like a genuine cat to him.
And so his instincts kicked in. Ranma immediately turned around, opened the door, and threw himself inside.
He leaned against the door, as if to keep it shut from a horrible monster about to break it down at any moment, and simply took deep breaths.
And then he realized where he was. Before he could stop himself, his eyes opened wide and he got a good look at the Nekohanten's bathroom.
And he saw...
(Posted Tue, 18 Nov 2014 05:24)
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.