Nodoka Saotome was normally a sane sensible woman.
At least by Nerima standards, anyway.
However, Nodoka also had a rather well-known problem when it came to her offspring: excessive expectations.
Whether it was signing a suppuku contract to make him a man among men or going out of her way to make sure that Ranma was sufficiently 'manly', Nodoka's sanity would invariably slip a few notches whenever the issue of her son was addressed.
Of course, it wasn't her fault. Not really.
Was it so wrong for her to want to see her son become a manly man? Was it so wrong to want to see him find a nice girl and settle down? To want him to father a few children of his own for her to hold and fuss over?
After all, thanks to her husband's machinations, she had missed out on a rather significant portion of her child's adolescence. So many missing days, memories lost forever...
Oh, how she longed to hold a child in her arms again! How she longed to feel needed!
Was a few grandchildren so very much to ask?
Of course, Nodoka was not unreasonable. Just a few grandchildren, not too many. Five or six dozen should suffice. That wasn't too much to ask, was it?
Unfortunately, she had to be realistic. Not even the most womenly of women could ever hope to bear so many offspring and come out the better. The strain would be far too great, and Nodoka had no desire to visit upon her son the same sorrow as Soun Tendo.
No, one woman could not do it alone.
Fortunately, history had decided to intervene on her behalf. It was a well known-fact that the Saotome line was descended from Samurai lineage, rich with honor and tradition.
And Nodoka was nothing if not a traditional girl.
Thus, she had asked for a solution, and the past had provided...
Which was how she now found herself looking across the table at the dumbstruck girls in front of her.
"You want us to what?!" Pirotess screeched.
"Marry my son," Nodoka answered calmly, sipping her tea.
"All three of us?" Kiyone inquired, one eyebrow arching. "Isn't that illegal?"
"Yeah!" Minako put in, "It's supposed to be the princess and her one true prince, not the princess, her one true prince, and his two other princesses!"
Nodoka arched an eyebrow at that, leveling a serious look at Minako that caused the younger girl to blush in embarassment.
"Well, it is...!" she insisted, whining plaintively.
"I'm afraid I have to agree," Kiyone interrupted, "I didn't exactly picture myself having to share my future husband."
Pirotess didn't even bother dignifying Nodoka's statement with a response. She hadn't liked this arrangement to begin with. Now she was here, taking time out of her admittedly-empty schedule to meet with her erstwhile fiancé and the creep hadn't even shown up yet. On top of that, the boy's mother now wanted to modify their original arrangement into one that was even more unacceptable than the first!
Become the joint wife of some human whelp? Hardly.
Faced with all this, Pirotess did the only thing she could. She scowled.
Nodoka nodded thoughtfully and lowered her teacup, making sure she had their full attention before she gave her reply. "You're absolutely right. It is both illegal and improper for a man of sufficient honor to take on multiple wives. Which is why two of you will become his concubines."
"WHAT?!" This time the screech was unanimous.
Nodoka decided to elaborate. "I will begin by engaging all three of you to my son. You will date him and pursue a relationship with him in a normal manner," she replied calmly, making sure to stress the last part. "After a year's time, or at such time as my son decides he is ready to marry, he will choose one of you to be his wife. The other two will remain as his concubines. As I've already told you, the house of Saotome is descended from noble lineage. As a child of proper descent, Ranma is entitled to take on concubines as is his right. Your position as concubines to a noble house would not harm the honor or yourselves or your families. Quite the opposite, in fact."
"But...but...." the girls faltered.
"As I understand it," Nodoka interjected sharply, "you all have honor claims to my son's hand thanks to my husband's foolishness. I'm offering you a way to fulfill them. There is no law about having multiple fiancees, merely multiple wives. Thus, even as concubines you'll remain as my son's fiancees and thereby honor the agreement to the letter. To accept this offer is to bring honor on your families. To discard this offer is to dishonor your own houses."
And so:
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(Posted Wed, 12 Feb 2003 09:21)
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