(Writer's Note: This episode, time-wise, takes place right after Episode #33304, Can Ataru Help Ranma?! G.)
"Hello?" the apartment door opens, revealling Shinobu clad in a housecoat that covered her only to mid-thigh. "Ara!! Sakura-sensei, Cherry..." her voice suddenly is cut off as her eyes focus on the third person with the miko and the monk. "Who...?" her cheeks flame.
"Sorry to bother you, Shinobu, but is Ataru in?" Sakura chuckles, seeing the younger woman's reaction to Ranma.
Well, the lad was quite handsome -- and very beautiful as a girl -- so even if things between Shinobu and Ataru were improving by leaps and bounds, she would still be charmed by another man's good looks. Even better, Ataru wouldn't mind it so much since he had made it quite clear over the last month that while many things about him had changed, one thing remained the same: he wasn't ready to become a father, at least not for the next several years. No doubt, that stemmed from the fact that Ataru's parents had just graduated from high school when he was born -- and no doubt, that heavily contributed to the eventual break between Ataru and Lum.
"Ah, h-hai! He's...!" Shinobu jolts as the door opens all the way, revealling Ataru, also in a housecoat.
"Ah, Venerable, Sensei, I've see you've already scouted out our town's newest visitor," a bemused smile crosses his face as a hand gently squeezes Shinobu's shoulder. "No doubt, his problems require something of a unique solution. Won't you come in?"
The visitors nod...
After explanations are made...
"That's awful, Ranma-san!"
"Yeah," Ranma bows his eyes. "Like I said, I ain't got anything against people like that. If that's the way they were born and all, there's nothing you can really do, you know. But..." his hands clench into fists. "Damn it, I'm a MAN! I was born a man, I was raised a man! Yeah, I'm nowhere near perfect since all Oyaji ever cared to teach me was martial arts, but still..."
"You're too hard on yourself, Ranma-san!" Shinobu protests.
"Shinobu, let him talk, please," Ataru gently cuts in.
She jolts, then gazes at him. He gives her a knowing look. Sensing what he was concerned about, she slowly nods. Watching this wordless exchange, Ranma is surprised at the level of rapport that exists between these two, something that never had developed between himself and Akane. And now, never would. "Thanks," Ranma takes a deep breath, then stares at Ataru. "Sakura-sensei told me you -- or your people -- could help me get rid of this curse I've got, Moroboshi-san. Please, if you can help, I'd be very grateful."
Ataru holds up a hand. "Saotome-san, I am in great sympathy towards your plight, but there's something you have to understand if you want me to help you overcome this." A pause, then he holds up a finger. "What you view of as a 'curse' doesn't fit the definition of the word as I would see it," he points to himself. "As a Nendo-kata, I am born of the Mother Ocean. EVERYTHING that is water or comes directly from the water is sacred, is literally divine, to someone like myself. The way I see it, this 'curse' is in fact a TEST being forced on you by the Mother or Her Equivalent here on Earth. And given how you were raised, I can understand the purpose of that test: to show you that the worldview forced on your by your father over the years of your training trip was fundamentally wrong."
Ranma's gaze turns inward for a moment. "Oyaji always said women are weaker than men."
"Are they?"
"Oh, hell, no! Shampoo, U-ch-..." he stutters, then sighs. "Ukyou and Akane, even Kodachi, Nabiki and Kasumi, prove that."
"Alright, then," Ataru slowly nods. "So why is it that you're not willing to bend for any of them? Even if your body changes -- and the changes your body undergoes when you switch from a man to a woman COULD affect you. There's NO denying that -- what you are deep inside your soul -- your values, your beliefs, your honour, your sense of what's right and wrong -- that doesn't change at all."
"I can't bend for them," Ranma shakes his head.
"Why not?"
"Well..." Ranma flusters, then takes a deep breath before he senses a wave of -- well, calm -- wash over him from Ataru. Gazing quizzically at his host, the martial artist blinks several times, then sensing that Ataru only wants to help him feel more comfortable talking about this, he relaxes. "First of all, even if the differences between guys and girls does affect me a bit when I change, it's NOT WHAT I AM! Yeah, maybe I got this curse to show me that what Oyaji taught me was wrong, but it's still not ME!! And..." a grimace crosses his lips. "Atop that, it's the way all the girls back in Nerima, especially my 'fiancees,' treated me! I wasn't a person to any of them. I was a prize, something they wanted to have for themselves no matter what, regardless of how I felt about it. I..." he looks down. "I felt so trapped at times. I couldn't see myself walking away from any of this. If I did, I believed that I'd end up wrecking their honour. In Shampoo's case, that could've cost her her life. In Ukyou's case, she would've been thrown out of her family because of it or else she would've been made to live the rest of her life as a boy. In Akane's case..." his voice trails off, then he shrugs. "Well, it wouldn't've been so bad, unless her old man tried to make her marry that idiot Kunou just to keep his damned dojo afloat."
"So when you learned of Akane's and Shampoo's relationship, you realized that because they had lied to you about something so fundamental as starting a family -- not to mention their threatening to transform you against your will into something you clearly do not want to be -- you decided that the chance had come to break everything off. And thus, you came here to Tomobiki," Ataru concludes.
"Yeah, that's about right."
Silence falls as Ataru considers what has just been said, then he rises, heading to the window to gaze at the surrounding townscape. The others remain silent as the Nendo-kata-turned-Terran contemplates what can be done, then they tense as another deep breath escapes him. "I wish my powers could stretch all the way to Nerima so I could probe those people you know to see how they think about you. But sadly, they can't. And unfortunately, I'm just too well known with many people to be able to sneak closer to Nerima to scout things out."
"We could ask Mendou-san for his help," Shinobu offers.
Ataru smirks. "Shinobu, Mendou's people act like devil-sharks with diarrhea when they operate HERE in Tomobiki. Do you honestly think they'd be of any real use to us operating in Nerima, even IF Mendou would agree to help us in this case?"
"True," Shinobu reluctantly nods.
"Perhaps I can be of some asssitance, then."
"Uncle?" Sakura gazes on Cherry.
The aged monk smiles. "I just happen to know a couple people in Nerima who'd be able to give me more detailed information concerning all those interested in young Ranma here," he nods to the martial artist in question. "They're in fact two people Ranma himself knows."
Ranma blinks, then his eyes widen. "Jijii and the old ghoul?!"
A disapproving frown turns Cherry's lips. "Show some respect for your elders, son! Even if Happousai has strayed quite far from the straight-and-narrow and Cologne is bound by her tribal laws, neither of them are truly bad. They might surprise you." He then points to the martial artist. "And don't forget, son. You DID kill Saffron to save not just Akane's life, but Cologne's whole village. Something tells me that inspite of what your 'fiancees' did at the attempted wedding between yourself and Akane, things might've changed considerably."
"How soon can you come back with the information, Venerable?" Ataru wonders.
Cherry gazes at their host, then sighs. Even now, he was still getting used to the idea of hearing Ataru address him so formally, not to mention the lad treating him with respect. "Perhaps by tonight, certainly by tomorrow."
He nods. "Alright, then. We've got a day before we have to make some hard choices, then."
Now what?
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(Posted Thu, 13 Mar 2003 06:41)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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