"RANMA NO BAKA!!!" Akane yelled. The room warped and shifted back to the familiar scenery of the Tendo household. And Ranma's body rippled back to its familiar form as the door slid open with tremendous force.
Ranma pinched his eyes shut as he resigned himself to another skyway tour of Nerima via Akane Air. Beside him, he heard the woman... no, goddess... next to him frantically mutter a few words.
Her eyes having closed at the beginning of her swing, Akane sees a flash of light from behind her eyelids. Her fingers suddenly closed on air as the force of her swing sent her spinning. A couple rotations later, she hit the floor with an undignified thud.
Ranma cracked open an eye, wondering why he wasn't airborne. He turned to see Belldandy calmly smiling at him. A stray thought wonders at how similar it is to Kasumi's smile. Past Belldandy, he sees Akane on the ground looking at her palms confusedly.
Belldandy shifts around to face Akane. "I suppose you are right, but I would appreciate it if you would not strike Ranma."
Akane gave this strange new woman an incredulous look. "So, you are one of Ranma's iinazuke?"
"In a manner of speaking."
Akane glared at Ranma. "Baka! What did your father do this time?!" She demanded, her aura beginning to glow.
Ranma threw his hands up in front of him. "Hey! I didn't have nothing to do with this!"
"Please allow me to explain." Ranma looked over to Belldandy. After a moment Akane turned her glare towards the woman as well. She noticed for the first time the odd markings on her face. "It began years ago, when Ranma-san's father attempted to teach him the Neko-ken." Ranma shuddered at the memory. "I had happened to be visiting this realm and was in the area."
"What do you mean, 'visiting this realm'?" Akane interrupted.
"Oh, my... I haven't told you have I? I am Belldandy, a Goddess." She explained with a slight bow.
She's crazy... Thought Akane, forgetting the display of the supernatural that occured moments ago.
"As I was saying, the sounds of all those cats brought me to the pit where the 'training' was taking place. I hid behind a tree to keep from being seen by Ranma's father. I felt Ranma's pain and distress as he was being attacked by the cats." Ranma shuddered again, this time at the mention of cats. "I knew of the Neko-ken, and the reason it was forbidden. It was originally created to produce indestructable warriors, at the cost of the sanity of the user. One under its influence cannot be controlled and ends up taking many lives, friend or foe.
"You see, had I not been there, Ranma, his father, and a multitude of other people would not be here today."
"Whadda you mean?" Asked Ranma.
"A person under the Neko-ken usually loses all sense of self. In other words, the only thing on you mind would have been to attack. You would've ignored things such as injuries, or even food.
Akane scoffed, but didn't say anything.
"I wanted to help you, so I reached out to your mind and strengthened your will." Belldandy blushed a little and looked down at her hands in her lap. "But, while we were linked, I felt your spirit and knew you were a good person. I was young then, but I still loved the spirit I felt." Her face took on a deep shade of red. "The boy I felt it in. Young as I was, I knew that he was the kind of boy I'd marry, if I were to wed
"I couldn't protect his mind from the Neko-ken completely. Especially since I knew his father would put him through the 'training' again if he didn't see results. So, set up safeguards. You already know of these."
"The fact that a cat person could bring him out of it." Akane filled in.
"Yes."
"That doesn't explain why you're here now, though."
"Well, after that day, I went back to the Heavens to continue my Goddess training. Once I had gained the power, I would check up on Ranma once in a while.
"The most recent time I had made such an observation, I decided I wanted to help Ranma again. And, in turn, fulfill my childhood desire to marry the boy with the kind heart and selfless spirit.
"Of course, a mortal can wish to live with a Goddess through the Goddess Relief Office, but things are more complicated when a Goddess takes the initiative. A test is required."
"Like what happened before?" Asked Ranma.
Belldandy smiled. "Yes. And you passed. We are now bound by the Ultimate Force. All the things around us will work out to keep us together."
"You mean all my iinazuke problems will solved."
"Yes. Now, how shall we start?
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Sat, 10 Jul 2004 08:29)
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.