"Aren'tcha scared?"
<<Is there a reason I should be scared, Ranma?>> the Wanderer -- she had elected to take the name "Saotome Kikuko" on completion of the Crossing Over -- tittered telepathically. It was now very early in the morning on the day after the two Nendo-kata had arrived in Tomobiki. The sun was now peeking over the eastern horizon. The Crossing Over process for Kikuko would be finished sometime before the noon hour. <<This has been done countless times since the Mother's Ultimate Gift first became known to our ancestors many thousands of years ago. There is nothing to fear in this case. To do this to aid you in gaining a better sense of knowledge and control over your place in the Cosmic Chain of Life is not just a privilege to one of us, Ranma. It is our most sacred duty.>>
Ranma took that in, then sighed. He understood what the concept of duty meant, what its demands could often inflict on a person. "Still, ta change from what you were born as ta someone like me..."
<<A Crossing Over like what I'm enduring right now is actually quite average>>, Kikuko replied. <<With what I know of the experiences the Great School has obtained over the years from interacting with other Great Schools, the vast majority of sentient species are 'air breathers' as we address them.>>
Ranma breathed out as the greater implications of what was happening begin to take prominence in his thoughts. Kikuko's legal status on Earth was easy to secure. With the right word to the right people by the Men in Black, Kikuko would become Ranma's sister in name and deed. Nothing Nodoka or Genma could say or do would change that. Even more so -- as Ataru told him earlier -- the Men in Black could easily sever all legal connections between Ranma and his parents. All the marriage agreements Genma had made on Ranma's "behalf" over the years, all the other honour debts that had been heaped on Ranma since the training trip began -- even the seppuku agreement -- would be made null-and-void in one fell swoop. And once that was done, whatever attempts his "fiancees" could make...
Oh, damn!
<<Shampoo can be dealt with as well, Ranma.>>
Ranma perked on hearing Kikuko's words in his mind, then he breathed out. "I hope so..."
Later that morning...
"Will that be all?"
"No, that's it for now, Mrs. Saotome. You may go."
Suppressing an indignant shudder at the lack of proper respect in the policeman's voice, Nodoka rose from the chair, then marched out of the Nerima police station. Her hands twitched automatically, grasping empty air where once she would have been holding the Saotome honour blade. Seeing that destroyed by the authorities had hit her like nothing else in the world, not even all the information the police had presented to her concerning Genma's many illegal acts during his training trip with Ranma...
Ranma.
Nodoka fought down the urge to cry out in frustration as the tidal wave of questions concerning her son began to flow over her. What had happened? What made him leave the Tendou home virtually without telling anyone where he was going? WHY had he left? Had something happened in the Tendou home that had forced Ranma to make such a decision? If so, what? And what would it mean for Ranma's future?
What would it mean...?
"Great-grandmother?"
"Yes, child, what is it?"
"Who was the old monk who visited last night?"
Cologne looked up from the pot of ramen she had simmering on the stove to gaze on Shampoo. "He's an old friend of mine who is now based in Tomobiki," the elder answered. "He goes by the monastic name 'Cherry' now."
Shampoo blinked. "He works in Tomobiki? With all those aliens?"
"Yes, though from what he told me last night, most of the aliens might be departing sometime soon for their homeworld."
"Why?"
"Oh, it had something to do with Moroboshi Ataru, the boy who was supposedly engaged to that alien girl Lum," Cologne replied, turning her attention back to the ramen. "Shampoo."
"Yes?"
"It is time we had a talk about your relationship with Tendou Akane and Kuonji Ukyou."
Shampoo froze in place, her eyes going wide as she stared on the Nyu-che-zuu elder...
"Kuonji-san."
"Oh, Mrs. Saotome!" Ukyou gushed as Nodoka walked up to her. Despite the friendliness in her voice, the okonomiyaki chef's eyes reflect a different set of feelings for her fiance's mother. "Good morning. What brings you around this part of the neighbourhood?"
"I was actually going to visit the Tendou home today to better ascertain what happened to my son," Nodoka announced, then took a deep breath. "I also intended to speak to you sometime today concerning what my foolish husband did to you years ago. I..." She paused, then took a deep breath. "Until yesterday, I had not been made fully aware of how much damage Genma had unleashed on your family's honour, to say anything of what that action did unto you. I would hope that we could find some way to redress this matter to everyone's satisfaction."
Ukyou gazed on the older woman, then slowly nodded. So Nodoka's spell in jail -- to say anything of the destruction of the Saotome family sword -- had done some good in the long run. Of course, it didn't go all the way towards defanging this over-honoured bitch when it came to Ranma. And if Ukyou, much less Akane and Shampoo, wanted to get anywhere with Ranma in the manner they so choose, Nodoka would have to be taken out of the picture permanently. "Well, if you feel it's necessary to talk about it now, I'll be willing to make some breakfast for you," she offered, waving Nodoka into Okonomiyaki Ucchan's. "C'mon in and I'll get some tea going."
"Thank you," Nodoka replied with a nod...
"So who was that monk that came by last night, Onee-chan?"
Kasumi looked up from her magazine as Nabiki sat down across the table from her. "A friend of Grandfather's and Elder Cologne's. His monastic name's Cherry," the former replied as the latter moved to pour herself some coffee. "He came to tell us about Ranma-kun."
The middle daughter perked on hearing the name. "Cherry?! From Tomobiki?! That Cherry?!"
"The same. And I would rather prefer that Akane-chan does not learn about that. At least not for another two days."
Nabiki's eyebrow arched. "Why two days?"
Kasumi sighed. "Nabiki-chan, you have to agree with me on this." She gazed on her sister. "What Akane-chan did to Ranma-kun was wrong. What she, not to mention Ukyou and Shampoo, planned to do was even more wrong. Can we agree on that?"
Nabiki peered at her sister for a moment, then slowly nodded. "I can agree to that very much. Knowing how insecure Ranma-kun became because of that damned curse, to have the three people he trusted the most on the planet intend to find some way to freeze him as a girl just so they could get their jollies off him..." A pause. "Well, if it happened to me, I'd be plenty pissed off, too." Another pause. "So he's in Tomobiki now, isn't he?"
"Nabiki..."
"Relax, she's still asleep," Nabiki chided as her eyes rolled towards the ceiling -- and Akane's bedroom -- then she breathed out. "Well, if Ranma-kun's hoping that the chaos in that place'll shield him from pursuit for long, he's in for a disappointment."
"Why do you say that?"
"Lum went home yesterday morning. Supposedly never to return."
Kasumi perked. "Oh, my! Did they say way?"
"No, I haven't got much in the way of details about that. What I do known is that about a month ago, while they were off on some camping trip, something really weird happened to Moroboshi Ataru. It was so weird, in fact, Lum became convinced that her 'darling' had died and was replaced by some strange alien creature that'd taken his face and body!" She laughed. "Man, that's weird, ain't it?"
"Not so weird."
"Huh?"
"That will happen to Ranma sometime in the next day or so. And when it happens, Akane-chan will be very disappointed, I believe."
Silence fell as Nabiki stared wide-eyed at her sister...
Tomobiki...
"We're here, Ataru-kun!" Marubeya Momoe called out, she carrying a small box full of clothing. "Is it time yet?!"
"Almost," Ataru replied from the kitchen as Momoe, accompanied by Gekasawa Kumiko and several other female members of Ataru's former high school class, moved to place the box on the couch. "Was there any problem getting the clothes?"
"No, not at all," Kumiko replied as Shinobu stepped into the living room to help unload the packages. "As soon as we told everyone that it was for another Nendo-kata that was Crossing Over, they were happy to contribute."
"Where's Ranma-kun, Ataru-kun?" Momoe asked.
"Right here!"
The girls blinked as a female Ranma stepped in from the recreation room, she draped in her normal tang and track pants; it was there that Kikuko and her untransformed, brain-dead brother had been shifted after their arrival. "Hey, everyone!"
Momoe breathed out. "I just can't get over how much you change when this curse of yours gets triggered, Ranma-kun," she said.
"Neither can I," Kumiko added. "Will you be rid of it once you go through this?"
"Have you decided to go through it?" Andou Rio asked.
Ranma blinked as she considered the question, then she nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready to go through it. But I want to..."
She tensed on sensing a massive surge of chi energy wash over her from the recreation room. The others watched as Ranma turned just as Ataru emerged from the kitchen, his own eyes glittering. "It's time," he announced, waving Ranma with him.
Shinobu held up a hand to prevent a stampede into the recreation room by her classmates. Everyone then tensed on hearing a muffled splashing sound, it accompanied by the painful noise of flesh being torn apart. Next came a gasp from someone possessing a voice that was like Ranma's as a girl, then muttering from Ataru as more splashes followed. And then came the sounds of feet hitting the floor.
The girls remained silent as Ranma and Ataru slowly walked a nude Kikuko into the living room. The latter was still covered with the reddish gelatenous fluid that had served as the growth medium as the Nendo-kata gestated her new body. Shinobu walked into the bathroom to retrieve some towels to help wipe Kikuko's body clean. Sensing all the people looking at her, Kikuko blinked, then tilted her head up, blue eyes that matched Ranma's in shade twinkling with friendliness. "Hello, everyone," she greeted them in a very hoarse whisper.
"Don't talk too much," Ataru urged as Shinobu laid one towel on an arm chair for Kikuko to sit on, then he guided her over to relax.
Taking the towels, Ataru and Ranma got to work cleaning her off. "She doesn't look exactly like Ranma-kun as a girl," Momoe noted.
"Yes, I know," Ataru confirmed. "It turns out that the curse was affected by the malnutrition Ranma was subjected to when he was on his training trip with his father. When Ranma himself undergoes the Crossing Over, he should come out of it a much healthier person."
"Really?!" the other girls chimed as one.
Ranma was quick to sense the increased interest in their voices, her cheeks burning as a result. She then tensed on feeling Kikuko's hand squeeze her shoulder. Looking up at her sister, Ranma saw Kikuko smile and wink at her. Relaxing, the transformed martial artist turned back to finish cleaning her sister's body off, just as...
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(Posted Thu, 19 Feb 2004 03:29)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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