[Episode 92460] [Episode 92460]The sound of collapsing wall broke the contemplative silence. "I KILL!" Soun looked up to see which wall would need to be repaired. Genma quickly turned the board around. Not that it did anything in Go, but at least gave the appearance of cheating. A bit of cleverness when one had the advantage was essential in Anything Goes.
Not that he'd actually cheat his long time friend, but one did have to keep up appearances. His ears perked a little as he studied the board. Seems that Ranma had annoyed his fiancees again, somehow. It did keep the boy in practice at least. Still, such things rarely happened with just one showing up...
A bang of the front gates confirmed his theory. "I'm going to kill that idiot!" Ah. Ukyou was here too. Good. Ranma would have some challenge at least. Still, something of a slow day, wasn't it? He placed a stone to help him get out of his corner a little, crossing his arms over his furry chest. Soun turned back to the board, and grinned a little as he noted the reversed position. Still his advantage, though.
"OH-HO-HO-HO-HO! I'll save you, my Ranma-sama!" Ah, that would be Kodachi at the far wall. Good, his boy would have a decent session today. At this point, Akane would certainly end up involved as well. Though Kodachi's laugh was a bit more focused today. He wondered idly if she had found a useful drug for a change?
Soun played for the ko, unsurprisingly. He couldn't reply directly of course, but getting himself out of the corner was more important. Kasumi had met the threesome in the hall, apparently. "Oh, yes, he's home. He's out back." Genma grinned, playing his stone. That should secure his escape.
Nabiki's voice floated in the air. "Save a bit for me, would you? I owe that bastard a kick or two." Huh. That was unusual. Nabiki usually relied on extortion for revenge. Physical violence must mean that Ranma had done something really stupid. He shuffled forward a bit, making sure he was to the side of the doorway and the surely shortly coming stampede of fiancees.
Akane's voice finally joined the mix. "ARRRGH! I'm going to KILL him!" The full compliment today. Ah, good. Soun placed his stone, and suddenly he was cornered again. Ack. He had missed...
Then, he heard something that made him forget the board. "Kill who, Akane?" asked Ranma from the stairs. Wait. Ranma wasn't the tar-
His thoughts were interrupted as he took a bonbori hard to the back of his furry head.
Go pieces covered the porch as the panda sprawled forward onto the Go table, rolling over on top of it and bringing his arms up to defend, pulling his wooden sign out from under the table to block Shampoo's follow-up strike. [What the?!] was hastily scrawled on it as he tried to recover his defense. His head hurt considerably, making him a little dizzy.
Soun was doubled over, out of breath, he noted. His weight had pushed the Go table forward slamming Soun into the wall, and knocking the wind out of him with the table right to his sternum. No help there. Ukyou came in from the left, slicing in with her spatula, but he rolled to the side, out into the open lawn, feeling the dizziness return as he spun. Right. No quick turns for a bit until his head settled. Not that he needed to advertise the fact.
The ribbon snuck in for a shot at binding his legs, and he jumped back out of the way, getting his back to the side of the building. Ukyou and Shampoo both ran in on him, shoulder jostling. Right. There was the Anything to go to. He moved laterally. The two bumped against each other like a pair of wind chimes, leaving them half-pinned, though they both attempted to attack.
Genma easily parried the weapons as he tried to figure out what he'd done wrong. It had been a quiet week...it must be all the master's fault. Or Ranma's. What had he done? Kodachi fired a volley of balls at him, and he jinked a little, not to dodge, but to...
Perfect. The ball bounced of the back of Shampoo's head, the riccoheted into Ukyou's. They half turned, and Genma smiled. They'd turn on each other now, and...
He didn't even see Akane's mallet until it was almost too late. He dodged, taking the impact in the shoulder and spinning with it...no real damage, but the quick spin...
He fell to one knee, with the four furious fiancees descending on him. Perhaps if he jumped straight up...urrgh, his head.
"STOP!" came the pained cry, causing every to pause and look at the source of the sound...
Ranma flipped over the girls, landing lightly on his feet in front of the staggered panda, arms out wide. "What the hell ya do that for?" he asked, confused.
All the girls stared at him. "But-" "He-" "Ranma-sam-"
"The reason..." It was Nabiki who stood up on the porch and cut through the voices with an answer. "..they're attacking Genma, is because he's abused you, neglected you, thrown you into a pit of cats to be nearly killed, and basically turned you into someone that take years of work before you have any idea how to react to anyone who shows even the slightest bit of affection for you. All six of us, I suspect, understand what he did to you, and remember it. And for those actions, he deserves to be skinned and used as a rug so that we can beat him regularly after he's dead."
Nabiki's words were like blocks of ice battering him. Genma rose, looking for the way out...but he was fairly surrounded, the four fiancees each having one side of him. He could jump out, though, and run with the boy... He could see Soun coughing, Kasumi as his side, tending him.
Ranma's face went from shock, to comprehension. And then...anger. Genma could feel the emotion radiating from the boy, and for the first time since the Shampoo sucker-punched him, got worried. The girls he could deal with. Ranma...
His son lashed out, catching everyone by surprise. Mostly because he didn't use his martial arts, and his target was...Nabiki.
"Who died and made you so high and mighty, huh?" Nabiki blanched, taking half a step back in spite of herself. "All of you, the same way? And ya think I'm stupid." He spat on the ground as weapons were slowly lowered, a look of shame coming across the girls faces, without really knowing what they had done wrong, and Genma in complete confusion.
"Jeez. You're s'pposed ta understand me. He's my pa, dammit! He tried his best to make me someone my ma would be proud of, a strong man and the best martial artist ever, an honor to our school, and ya want to kill him for it?"
Akane blinked. "But-"
Ranma whirled on her. "But what?!" Akane cowered back. Ranma's arm was raised, and he looked ready to hit her, something he'd never done, despite all the time she had hit him. Genma was beginning to feel absolutely good about himself, though he worried about Ranma, moving to hold him back...
He didn't have to. "He did the best he could," Ranma continued, his voice cold and hard. "He was stupid, he lied, he cheated, he stole, he got me into more engagements than the whole damn neighbourhood put together, he knocked me into a pond in China and gave me this fucking curse, he threw me into a pit of hungry cats covered in fish paste, but dammit!" Ranma paused, glaring at Genma now, who cowered. "He always thought he was doin' the right thing for me," he said softly, the anger ebbing out of him a little.
"If you can't see that," Ranma finished, giving each of the participants their own hard look, "you don't understand anythin' at all."
The silence in the Tendo's backyard was complete as Ranma's words sunk in, and each of the girls looked down, studying the grass, their shoes, anything so they didn't have to meet his eyes. Or Genma's. Or each other's.
"I'm goin' for a walk." Ranma finally said, jumping easily to the back wall of the dojo, and dissapearing into the suddenly cold evening.
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(Posted Sat, 14 Feb 2004 08:46)
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