"Why, we're waiting for Nabiki... Father." Kasumi said that last part in a strained voice. She was reaching her limit with the man. "After all, Nabiki deserves a chance to talk to you as well." Kasumi answered, somehow actually looking like she was angry, with her eyebrows narrowed into a rather cure 'v' on her brow.
Finally, after a few minutes, Nabiki entered the kitchen. "About time," Akane commented.
Nabiki sighed. "Sorry... I had to deal with," Nabiki narrowed her eyes, "our 'dear uncle' Saotome first..." Then staring at her father, Nabiki added, "And trust me, when I say that the old panda has been playing us all for fools... Especially you, 'father'."
Kasumi and Akane nodded their heads in understanding and also trying to get Nabiki to continue. They wanted to hear what their sister had to tell them.
Soun raised an eyebrow in curiosity. He still felt a chill go up his spine as he was afraid of what Nabiki had found out. "What do you mean, Nabiki?"
Staring her father down, Nabiki said, "Father, I will admit that I do not know if you had prior knowledge of what Genma was planning, but I do know this. The only reason Genma wanted this whole engagement to uphold was because he didn't give two shits about the school. The bastard just wanted an early retirement so he could leech off of Ranma's hard work when he was forced to take over the Dojo. That way you and Genma would live peacefully without having to lift a finger to do a lick of work..."
Soun shook his head, almost in denial. "What Genma wanted to do doesn't matter. One of you has the obligation to fulfill the agreement. One of you are to marry to unite the schools of Anything Goes."
Nabiki snorted in disgust. "To take over the schools, you mean. As far as I know there's not a suitable heir for the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts."
"WHAT?" Soun shouted
"HEY!" Akane protested. "I can too fight!"
Nabiki ignored Akane's comment, she wasn't done with her father yet. Leaning forward so that Nabiki almost had her nose to her father's she said, "It's too convenient, don't you think, 'father'? When mother died, you didn't give a shit about any of us. Your CHILDREN were forced to grow up and take over the duties. Kasumi had become the veritable mother figure, doing everything for cooking and cleaning for us. I became the one to handle the finances, because you couldn't bring yourself to do a lick of work anymore. And don't give me that bull-shit that you were emotionally unstable, I remember how you used to train me and other students before mom died of cancer."
Soun's left eyebrow twitched and he felt his lip curl into a sneer. "NOW SEE HERE, NABIKI! I AM YOUR FATHER, AND I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING! And further-more-"
"NO!" Nabiki interrupted her father with a shout. "YOU SEE HERE! Even as you didn't want to maintain the dojo, you still wanted Akane to be the one to take it over. However, the shool lacks the proper heir, which is entirely your fault for not training Akane at all! You didn't even teach her in the basics of the Anything Goes." Narrowing her eyes and releasing a feline hiss, Nabiki continued. "But when Akane married Ranma, you would force him to take over an already dead school, in a dojo used only by a single person." Looking over to Akane, she then added "And not even seriously, either..."
Akane narrowed her eyebrows. She would have spoken out against her sister putting down her skill as a martial artist, but two things were nagging her in the back of her mind. First, her normally beaten down and chained 'common sense' was telling Akane there was a ring of truth to that. Second, was her recently acquired wererat instincts that told her to put at least 20 miles of distance between her and any werecat, including her sister.
Kasumi shook her head sadly. Once she had been with Tirga, it was as if an old part of her long-thought dead had been released. She felt like a young woman again. Like a teenager ready to go to her prom. She had finally taken off her 'rose-colored glasses', and was reconsidering all that had gone on in her life. She knew she was a veritable slave, and what Nabiki was proposing was their father's intentions from the beginning wasn't all that unbelievable.
Soun looked between his three daughters. Very Akane-like anger was starting to come to the forefront. "HOW DARE YOU ALL SPEAK TO ME THIS WAY!? I AM YOUR FATHER! I AM PATRIARCH OF THE TENDO CLAN! AND WHAT I SAY GOES, AND YOU THREE SHALL FOLLOW MY WISHES! IT IS FAMILY HONOR THAT YOU DO AS I SAY!"
Nabiki didn't back down either. Unsheathing her claws and literally sticking then right against her father's throat, the middle Tendo sister said, Tell me one reason why I should respect you, the cowardly shadow of a man that abandons his family to fend for themselves when they need him the most!?"
Soun's eyes widened in fear and anger. He wanted to strike out at his daughter, but she had the advantage, with those claws to his throat. "You... You honorless..."
"STUFF IT!" Nabiki roared. "Honor? HONOR!? YOU DARE SPEAK OF HONOR!? Even after you all but ignored all those other engagements that fat bastard panda Genma made, which stained not only the Saotome clan's honor, but also the our clan's honor, and not to mention your own arrangement, engaging one of us to the Chardin clan so you could eat an expensive French meal, you DARE speak of honor!?" Pressing her claws against Soun's throat, she screamed, "YOU SIR, ARE THE MOST WORTHLESS AND HONORLESS MAN IN THE WORLD! YOU'RE JUST AS BAD AS THAT BASTARD, GENMA!"
Having his daughter throw the truth in his face threw Soun over teh edge. "YOU ROTTEN WHORE! GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, NOW! YOU ARE NO LONGER WELCOME HERE, NABIKI! DO YOU HERE ME? I CAST YOU FROM THE TENDO CLAN! YOU ARE NO LONGER MY DAUGHTER!!!"
Soun was then surprised as Nabiki switched to her human form, grabbed his throat, and slammed him down on the kitchen counter as hard as she could, breaking the counter and quite a few bones in Tendo Patriarch's body.
Nabiki smiled. "Cast me aside, eh? After all I did to keep this Dojo afloat? Sacrificing my innocence, my reputation, so that you could live fat and peacefully while I brought home the bacon? FINE! THEN THIS DOJO CAN ROT FOR ALL I CARE!" And she stormed out of the kitchen.
Though he was in pain, Soun groaned in triumph. "Ha! I showed-"
*KER-SMACK*! *CRACK*!
Soun howled in pain as Akane kicked him in the mouth, breaking more than a few teeth along with his jaw. Smiling triumphantly, Akane said, "HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO MY SISTER!? FINE, IF THAT'S HOW IT IS, THEN I AM NO LONGER PART OF THE TENDO CLAN EITHER! I'LL MARRY THAT WERERAT AND TAKE THE NAME ELLIS! FOR ALL I CARE, HE'S A MUCH BETTER PERSON THAN YOU'LL EVER BE!"
Soun's eyes widened in fear. Akane was the closest thing he had to an heir. He looked towards Kasumi for help. However, his eldest daughter, his first-born child just shook her hed sadly. "I am sorry my sisters and I darkened your door-step. Good-bye... Tendo-san..."
And with that, Kasumi turned and left the kitchen as well, leaving Soun alone. More alone than he'd ever been in his entire life, as with one fell-swoop, he just destroyed his family with his useless, misbegotten pride...
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Red Priest of the 17th Order
(Posted Wed, 26 Mar 2003 02:25)
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.