To ensure that the Yagyu-Shinkage School reigned supreme in the land as the Shogun's favorite school Lord Tajima Yagyu had seen to it that all of the other schools were politically eliminated one by one. His son Jubei Yagyu, however, had become a swordsman against the wishes of Lord Tajima. (Laptops should be used at a desk with proper lighting.) And so after many years Yagyu Jubei became one of the greatest swordsmen in all of Japan. But this fame brought him many challengers who wished to avenge their clans and their schools for what his father had done. One such challenger was a man by the name of Ryujoji Daigo the head of the Ryujoji School. In order to seek revenge and win back respect Ryujoji challenged the elderly Jubei to a duel, one that would be his last.
"Yagyu Jubei you will pay for what your father did to our school!" Ryujoji yelled as he held his sword out at the ready.
"Ryujoji of the Ryujoji-Shinkage." Jubei said calmly.
"That's right I am the heir to the Ryujoji-Shinkage. Now let us see which blade is better, the Yagyu blade or the Ryujoji blade." Ryujoji spat back.
"You will likely be the last person to see my sword in action." Jubei calmly stated.
With that Jubei drew his katana from its sheath and charged at Ryujoji. Through a volley of face paced blocks and parries the two men moved back and forth within the small clearing in the forest. Neither man seemed to be gaining the upper hand in their fight. Then with one well-placed downswing of his katana Jubei ended the life of Ryujoji. The swordsman then fell to the ground with a loud thud. Jubei just stood over the fallen body not moving. Off in the distance a tall lean figure ran over to the elder swordsman in concern and congratulations.
"My lord you were excellent. Your sword was unbeatable." The man said.
As he waited for some sort of orders from his lord the servant saw Jubei fall to his knees. The servant bent down to support the elder swordsman showing his concern.
"My lord?!" he said trying to see if Jubei was alright.
With that the servant brought Jubei back to his home where he stayed by his bedside.
"Koinosuke." Jubei said weakly.
"My lord?" Koinosuke, the servant, asked.
"I have protected the Yagyu sword for a long time." Jubei began.
"Yes, my lord." Koinosuke replied.
"I hate to see the sword perish when I die." He strained.
"Lord." Koinosuke said with pained concern.
The dying swordsman reached under the covers and brought a heart shaped item into view.
"Koinosuke." Jubei said.
"Yes, my lord." Koinosuke replied trying not to cry.
"The one most suited to wearing this Lovely Eye-Patch is the one who will inherit the skills of Yagyu Jubei the top swordsman in the county." He explained.
Koinosuke looked at the eye-patch with some confusion wondering how a red heart shaped piece of cloth would give the wearer the skills of his dying lord.
"Lovely Eye-Patch?" he asked voicing his confusion.
"Koinosuke I ask you to go and search for that person." Jubei told him.
"Yes my lord. I, Koinosuke Odago will not fail you. I will find this person if it means my life." Koinosuke vowed as he took the patch, "And who would I be looking for?"
With one final strained breath the dying Yagyu Jubei gave his servant the answer.
"A plump…" he began.
"Plump?" Koinosuke replied confused.
"…bouncy…" he continued.
"B-bouncy?" Koinosuke repeated.
"…bon bons…" Jubei added.
"Bon b…? What do you mean by that?" Koinosuke wanted to know.
But he never got his answer as Yagyu Jubei let the last breath of life exit his body.
"Lord? Jubei!" Koinosuke cried out.
********
Little Sister Samurai
Episode One: Settling Down: A Family Reunion
********
In the country of Japan on the island of Honshu in the northwestern section of the city of Tokyo in the Nerima ward stood the Tendo-ke and dojo home of the Tendo school of Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu better known as Anything Goes. The traditional styled Japanese home belonged to Soun Tendo and his three daughters Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane. The lives of the four Tendos had changed six months prior when Soun's best friend Genma Saotome and his son Ranma had arrived at the dojo. The pair of martial artists had been traveling for ten years and had recently returned to Tokyo. Along the way they had visited a series of cursed springs in the mountains of China where each one had received a water-based curse. Genma was cursed to turn into a panda while Ranma was cursed to turn into a slightly younger female version of himself that happened to have flaming red hair.
Twenty years prior to their arrival Genma and Soun had made a pact to join the two branches of Musabetsu Kakuto through the marriage of their children. It just so happened that Soun had three daughters and Genma's oldest was a boy. This made fulfilling the pact easier for the two men. And it was for this reason Genma had decided the pair would spend some time at the Tendo-ke. It worked perfectly into his plans of turning Ranma into the best martial artist around and hide out from his wife Nodoka. But even if he were to go back to the home he shared with her Nodoka and their second child, a girl named Jiyu, she would not be there.
Nodoka and Jiyu had spent the last five years traveling the Japanese countryside going from one shrine to another while Nodoka did research for a series of books she was writing. The shrine hopping also helped Nodoka keep up with her kendo skills and try and pass them along to Jiyu. Nodoka had always said the best research came by actually living in the places you wrote about. But after five years on the road Nodoka knew it was time to return back to the Nerima ward in Tokyo where she and Genma had started a family sixteen years prior. But with no home to return to and only the few possessions they carried with them Nodoka and Jiyu needed a place to stay until they could find a permanent residence. There was only one place Nodoka could think of where she and her fourteen year old daughter would be welcomed, the home of the Saotome family friend Soun Tendo. And Nodoka had hoped that maybe if she was lucky her husband and son would be there as well. With the decision made Nodoka knew it was time to tell Jiyu they were finally going home.
Nodoka found Jiyu outside the shrine working on a simple sword kata with her wooden bokken. The form needed a lot of work but Nodoka could tell Jiyu was showing a lot of improvement over when she had first learned the new kata. Nodoka wasn't as strict as Genma was when it came to martial arts and saw the time she and her daughter spent working with the sword as a way to learn one's heritage and form a better relationship between the two of them. Nodoka never forced Jiyu to learn her family's sword style and was willing to stop teaching if Jiyu ever lost the desire to continue learning martial arts.
"Jubei." Nodoka called out using a nickname she had given the girl.
Jiyu stopped her kata and turned to face her mother with curious eyes wondering why she needed to speak to her.
"Yes mom?" Jiyu asked Nodoka.
"We need to have a little talk Jubei." Nodoka told her as she motioned for her daughter to sit beside her on the porch.
"What about mom?" Jiyu wanted to know as she sat next to the older Saotome woman.
"Well, as you know for the past five years we've been traveling the countryside while I write my books and articles. And after five years of traveling I've decided that it's time for us to return to Tokyo." Nodoka told her.
Jiyu began wondering why her mother had wanted to go back to Tokyo. When she was just nine Nodoka announced to her daughter one night over dinner that she was quitting her position at a magazine for homemakers and taking a position with a travel magazine. Jiyu didn't think much of the change until Nodoka told her the column she would be writing for the travel magazine would allow her to do research for the real reason she quit the first magazine. Nodoka had wanted to write a book about a traveling samurai and decided to do the research by doing what she was going to write about. When Jiyu was then told that it meant they were going to sell the house and travel the countryside of Japan the nine year old was a bit confused and a bit excited. Jiyu was confused because she didn't know why her mother wanted to move away and excited because it sounded like a great adventure. And now the adventure was about to come to an end or so she thought.
"Okasan why do want to go back?" Jiyu wanted to know.
"Well, I've finally come to terms with what your father did ten years ago and I think it's time you have a normal life again. Besides the next book I'm going to write already has all the research I'll ever need. This wasn't an easy decision to make though Jubei." Nodoka explained.
"Are you going to quit writing for that travel magazine?"
"No, I'll still write for them but the articles will be different. It'll no longer be a journal of our travels. Instead they've asked me to write about travel products and services. It'll be more on the informational side than the personal side."
"So where are we going and where will we stay?"
"My best friend's husband and daughters have a place where we used to live in the Nerima ward back in Tokyo. In fact, her husband and your father are best friends as well. I have no doubt they can let us use their spare room until we find a more permanent place to live."
"Maybe we'll see dad and Ranma again too."
"I hope so Jubei, I hope so."
********
The Nerima ward was unusually quiet the day the letter arrived at the Tendo-ke. Sure there were a few arguments between the resident martial artists but with Ryouga Hibiki lost again, Tatewaki Kuno on a kendo club retreat, and the local amazons waiting for a refill on a special spice they used to get Ranma Saotome to fall for Shampoo it was too quiet for Nerima. Most of the non-martial artists in Nerima welcomed the relative peace and quiet while others nervously waited for something big to happen. But what they didn't know was that something big that was about to take place wasn't going to result in property damage and flying martial artists.
Kasumi had been the one to get the mail that day and handed the letter to her father while he played an ongoing shogi game with Genma Saotome. The simple one page note announced that Nodoka Saotome was returning to Nerima with a surprise and needed a place to stay until she found a permanent place to call home. Soun saw nothing wrong with his long departed wife's best friend staying with them. It would give the Saotomes time to get to know each other again and Kasumi just might have some help in the kitchen.
"Who's the letter from Tendo?" Genma asked as he switched pieces and made a move.
"A family friend. She's moving back to town and needs a place to stay until she has her own place again. It says in her letter she's been spending the last five years working on an article for a travel magazine while traveling the Japanese countryside. She felt it was time to settle down again." Soun explained as he mulled over his next move noticing the changed pieces.
"Are you going to move Tendo?" Genma asked a bit tired of waiting.
"Only when you stop switching pieces on me." Soun replied making things right before moving his own piece on the board.
The silence returned to the living room once more as Genma contemplated his next move and how he was going to cheat without Soun noticing. After a few minutes of staring at the board his concentration was broken when he heard a knock at the front door and Kasumi's voice coming from the entryway a few moments later.
"Yes, may I help you?" he heard Kasumi ask.
"I'm looking for Soun Tendo." The female voice replied.
"Oh father's in the living room playing Shogi with uncle Saotome." Kasumi then told her.
"I was right they are here." Genma heard the other woman say.
Genma began to wonder who the woman was and what she wanted with Soun and the other person or persons she had been hoping were at the Tendo-ke. Those questions were soon laid to rest and replaced by intense fear and dread when Kasumi entered the room followed by two female travelers one a few years younger than he was and young woman who looked to be no older than fourteen. Both had large hiking packs on their backs and carried what looked to be kendo swords with them. And while the younger of the pair only had a wooden one the older of the two had the real deal. The older one also had what appeared to be a computer case draped over her right shoulder. Looking back and forth between the two women the color in Genma's face decided to take a vacation as he wondered what they were doing there.
"Nodoka what a pleasant surprise." Genma said as his voice cracked with nervous fear.
"It's good to see you again too dearest." Nodoka replied calmly.
"You knew she was coming and didn't say anything did you Soun." Genma said staring at his best friend and training partner.
Soun knew Genma was mad when he used his first name instead of the last name they usually called one another by.
"Well, her letter arrived just before she did." Soun told Genma.
"This is just great my life is over." Genma moaned.
"Mom is he always like this?" the young woman next to Nodoka asked her.
"Yes dear he is but that's what I love about him." Nodoka told her.
Genma took a good look at his wife and daughter once more and noticed exactly how they looked. Nodoka still had her auburn colored hair styled in a low bun with the same brown eyes he always remembered. Instead of wearing the traditional blue kimono he remembered last seeing her in Nodoka was dressed in simple dark blue casual pants and a white blouse. His daughter had the same colored hair as her mother only slightly less red styled in a bob with two braided pigtails in the back and a mess of bangs framing her face and chestnut brown eyes. She was dressed a bit less conservative than Nodoka and had on a pair of tan hiking shorts, a white tank top, hiking boots, and a pink button t-shirt tied around her waist. But what Genma noticed most was that his daughter had the same ample chest Ranma did when female.
"She's certainly grown up quite a bit since I last saw you two." Genma said a bit nervously.
"Well Jiyu was only four at the time when you and Ranma left for your training trip." Nodoka replied in the same calm manner, "By the way where is my son?"
"Oh he's at school with my sisters Nabiki and Akane Saotome-san they should be home in about hour." Kasumi told her.
"Yes your arrival couldn't have been more perfectly timed. You see Ranma was asking about you the other day after we visited Kimiko's grave." Soun said.
"And why would he need to ask?" Nodoka asked Genma.
"Well we'd been on the road for so long and I didn't really have a picture of you around. And with our focus being mainly on the art I guess Ranma forgot what you were like." Genma said quietly, "I really didn't know how to explain what happened when we left to him or about you. You've seemed to change a lot since then Nodoka."
Nodoka recalled what had happened when Genma and Ranma left on their training trip ten years prior and remembered the promises and pledges Genma had made to her in order to get permission to take Ranma on the trip. It was her anger over the seppuku pledge Genma made that kept Nodoka practicing her kendo. It had taken her five years to not want to enact the pledge whenever she saw Genma again and another five before she got over the man amongst men promise that went with the seppuku pledge. Nodoka didn't even want to think about what she would be like if she didn't have Jiyu around.
"Soun would it be alright if Jiyu and I used your dojo until the children come home from school?" Nodoka asked the Tendo patriarch.
"Of course. Kasumi can show you where it is." Soun replied.
"Daughter why does you mother need the use of Tendo's dojo?" Genma wondered as Nodoka and Kasumi began to leave the room.
"Mom must be mad about something. And when she's angry she either does some sword katas or we spar until she feels better." Jiyu explained.
"Coming Jubei." Nodoka called out to her daughter.
"Coming mom." Jiyu called back as she ran to catch up leaving her pack along the way.
"Jubei?" Genma said wondering why Nodoka had called Jiyu by that name.
********
For a day to be considered quiet and uneventful in the life of Ranma Saotome certain factors needed to be removed from the picture. And it just so happened those factors were the people involved in the craziness that was Ranma's life. Whether by luck or sheer coincidence Kuno and the Furinkan kendo club were out of town on a training retreat, Ryouga had either gotten lost or was out working on his Shishi Hokodan, the Amazons had run low on love spice and were taking a break from chasing after Ranma, and Akane was still recovering from the intense day at the cemetery visiting her mother's grave. It was that visit that got Ranma thinking about his own mother. And it was the questions he had asked his father about her that had Genma trying to avoid the subject like the plague.
School had gone relatively well with Nabiki collecting on debts and selling information and pictures as usual. With no Kuno around for a few days the usual morning fight had been forgone and it seemed as though Ukyo had backed off at lunch when she saw the look on Ranma's face. The okonomiyaki chef had heard from Ranma that he had to join the Tendos on their trip to the cemetery over the weekend and figured the experience hit him pretty hard. And with Akane still thinking about her mother the youngest Tendo daughter had been quiet all day. As the trio headed home for the day the topic that had been on the minds of the younger residents of the Tendo-ke had once again dominated the conversation, their mothers.
"I just don't understand why Ouyaji won't even tell me about her. Why did he freak out when I asked to know about my mother?" Ranma wondered.
"Maybe something happened when you will little and he doesn't like talking about it." Nabiki mused trying to figure a reason why.
"Yeah well at least you guys remember what your mom used to look like. Every time I try and picture my mom I always draw a blank. I don't even know if she's still alive." Ranma said.
"How do you know that Ranma? Your dad didn't exactly come out and say she was dead. Then again he didn't exactly say much about her either way did he?" Akane added.
"You're right I have to stop jumping to conclusions like this." Ranma replied, "But I just wish I could meet her just once in my life if she's alive."
"This is hard on all of us Ranma. It's been seven years since our mom died and eight since she became unable to take care of us. That was when Kasumi had to start taking over the house. I can't imagine not having a mother for as long as you have or not even remembering her." Nabiki said, "There are times when I feel like I am forgetting who she was and how she looked but one look at her photo in the family shrine and I remember everything about her."
For the rest of the walk home the trio kept to themselves not wanting to bring up a painful subject. The Tendos had never said exactly what Kimiko Tendo had died of but from the way the girls talked Ranma figured it was some sort of illness like cancer. As Ranma and the younger Tendo sisters reached the Tendo-ke they heard the sound of wood cracking against wood coming from dojo. Entering the house Ranma and the younger Tendo sisters saw two large hiking packs dropped in the middle of the living room floor. Genma and Soun were in their usual place playing shogi but instead of the usual cheating and trickery they saw an ashen-faced Genma staring at the board.
"I'm dead I'm dead I am so dead." They could hear Genma repeat over and over.
Curious as to what was going on Ranma decided to ask his father what had him all worked up.
"What's eating you Ouyaji?" Ranma asked getting straight to the point.
"Boy don't you dare head out to that dojo. There's something worse than the master out there." Genma said the moment Ranma finished speaking.
"Alright pop who'd you steal from this time? Or is that another fiancé out there?" Ranma demanded to know.
Soun tried not to laugh when Ranma mentioned Genma stealing from someone. Thinking about what Genma did when he left with Ranma and who was out in the dojo it could almost be considered stealing. But instead of getting involved in a private family matter Soun decided to keep quiet.
"It's not like that boy but I don't want you going out there. In a few moments I'm going to go out there and deal with this by myself. That way we can both keep our heads." Genma said.
"No way pop I'm not letting you screw something up and make things worse than they already are." Ranma almost yelled.
Wondering what was going on the ever-curious Nabiki decided to ask the only seemingly sane person in the room, her father.
"Daddy do you have any idea what's going on here?" Nabiki wanted to know.
"They have a right to know Saotome. This isn't like all the others who've come to the dojo since you two came here." Soun said to his friend.
"Yeah spill it old man what are you hiding from me? Does this have anything to with my mother?" Ranma wanted to know.
"Unfortunately it does. But you don't know what she's like. She's got this blade she always has with her and she just might actually use that thing, on me." Genma replied in a panic.
"You mean that's Ranma's mother out in the dojo?" Nabiki asked the two men.
"Yes it is." Soun told his middle daughter.
With that the trio ran towards the dojo curious as to what Ranma's mother looked like. But what they didn't know was that Ranma not only had a mother but he also had a younger sister. The trio had failed to find out that one little piece of information.
"They didn't even stay long enough to find out about your daughter Saotome." Soun said as he watched the trio exit the room.
"It's the boy's funeral. I told him not to go out there." Genma replied as he returned his attention back to the shogi board.
********
The sounds coming from the dojo were more than just wood hitting wood they were also a few choice phrases about the short slightly dumpy man in the faded gi and light blue bandana inside the house. The moment Nabiki heard what was being said she could understand why Ranma's father would think his mother would want to go after him with her blade. To Nabiki Nodoka Saotome sounded like a woman scorned. Ranma on the other hand wondered just what his father had done to upset his mother so much.
"That backwards thinking chauvinistic imbecile! How could he let Ranma forget about me?" they could hear Ranma's mother yell followed by the loud whacks of a bokken.
"Mom maybe you need to take a break. You're getting too worked up over this." They then heard a younger female voice reply.
"I've spent too long separated from them and I'm not going to let your father keep me from seeing your brother." Ranma's mother said a bit calmer.
"I miss them too mom I miss them too." The younger woman added.
Ranma took in what he had heard and became even more confused. It seemed his father had not only failed to tell him about his mother until that day but he also failed to mention Ranma having any siblings of the female persuasion. Ranma then began to wonder what other sort of things his father had kept from him.
"I don't remember having a sister." Ranma said as they stopped at the door to the dojo.
There in the dojo the trio saw Kasumi watching two women as they spared with a pair of wooden bokkens on the mat in the center of the dojo. The older woman had deep auburn hair fashioned in a low bun with brown eyes. She was wearing simple loose dark blue pants and a loose white shirt. The younger of the pair had darker brown hair with auburn highlights styled in a bob with two braided pigtails in the back and a mass of bangs framing her face and chestnut brown eyes. She wore a pair of tan hiking shorts and a white tank top. The trio took one look at the younger woman and saw she was just as well endowed as Ranma was in his female form.
"Well if she is your sister then I can definitely see were your female side gets it from." Nabiki commented as she continued to watch the sparing match.
The sparing match ended a few moments later and the trio removed their shoes and entered the dojo. Kasumi heard the sounds of Ranma and her sisters in the dojo and turned around to confirm what she had heard. She then realized she had put off making dinner long enough.
"Oh my you're home already. I'd better go and get dinner ready." Kasumi said in typical Kasumi fashion before turning back to Ranma's mother.
Giving a simple bow to Nodoka and Jiyu Kasumi addressed the pair one final time.
"That was an interesting sparing match Saotome-san. It was nice meeting you and Jiyu-chan." Kasumi said before leaving the dojo, "Dinner will be ready shortly everyone."
With that Kasumi left Ranma and her sisters standing there staring at Nodoka and Jiyu trying to figure out if what they had heard was true. It was Ranma more than anyone else in the room trying hard to figure out if the woman before him was the mother he could not remember.
"Mom?" Ranma asked her wondering if she really was his mother.
"Ranma?" Nodoka replied not certain if he was her son.
For a moment the pair just stared at each other in stunned silence. It was a while before anyone said anything to break that silence.
"Well speak of the devil you were wondering about your mother Ranma." Nabiki said breaking the silence in the dojo.
"But if that's his mother then who's that?" Akane wondered indicating the girl next to Nodoka.
"Yeah mom who's that girl next to you?" Ranma asked his mother.
"That is just so like him." Nodoka complained under her breath.
Nodoka then took a moment to collect her breath and calm down a bit before returning her attention to Ranma and the younger Tendo sisters.
"Sorry about that but right now Genma Saotome is a sore subject for me." Nodoka said, "Now then I know you probably don't remember her Ranma but this is your younger sister Jiyu."
"So Jiyu you um do kendo?" Ranma asked her nervously.
"Sometimes. I do it because it's a great way to spend time with mom and it's fun. I'm not that great but I do okay." Jiyu replied with a smile.
"So Jiyu anything else we should know about you?" Akane asked.
"Well, I'm fourteen and I'll be in eight grade. Mom's got me registered at Hontsuru Jr. High. Oh and she likes to call me Jubei for some reason." Jiyu told them a bit nervous.
"Well Ranma if they're sticking around for a while looks like you're going to have your hands full keeping the guys off her." Nabiki commented with a sly smile thinking of all the photos of Jiyu she could sell to the Jr. High crowd.
Looking at her son Nodoka was both happy and worried. She was happy that she was finally reunited with her son and that he and Jiyu were getting along. But she was worried about Ranma as well because she could tell something was weighing heavily on his mind.
"So Ranma tell me what you've been doing with yourself over the past ten years." Nodoka said casually trying to get to the root of the problem.
"Well pop and I basically traveled around a lot working on the art. We'd stop here and there for a while and I did make friends a long the way but they didn't stay that way for long. Pop kind of has a way of getting under people's skin and messing up from time to time. He's not the world's greatest father but I think he did okay." Ranma replied.
"Why don't you tell us about what you and your father did on your journey." Nodoka suggested.
Ranma felt a knot form in his throat and swallowed it before continuing.
"Promise you won't do anything to me or Ouyaji when I'm finished." Ranma wanted to know.
"I can't promise you that Ranma but I will try." Nodoka replied.
"Okay here goes." Ranma began.
For the next twenty minutes Ranma retold every major highlight, leaving out the Neko-ken incident, of the ten-year training trip with Genma. He mentioned the incident with Ukyo and her father as well as the whole feud with Ryouga. When he got to the incident at Jusenkyo Ranma had to reluctantly show his mother and sister his female side. By the time he finished with their arrival at the Tendo-ke and the pact Genma and Soun made that now had him engaged to Akane Ranma could tell his mother wanted to have a serious talk with his father.
"Ranma, Jubei if you'll excuse me for a bit I need to go and have a long talk with your father." Nodoka said as she got up to leave the dojo.
"She isn't going to do anything irrational is she?" Ranma asked Jiyu.
"I hope not big brother I hope not." Jiyu replied.
********
Genma Saotome knew he was in trouble when he saw an angry Nodoka walk into the living room of the Tendo-ke, he just didn't know what kind of trouble it was. Genma had been under the impression for ten years that Nodoka would pull out her family's blade and force him to commit seppuku for the neko-ken incident. Then when Ranma acquired his curse Genma was more than certain if Nodoka saw the female version of his son and knew she was indeed Ranma his head would be rolling within minutes of the discovery. It was this fear that made Genma push the marriage agreement with Soun on his son. He knew it wasn't the smartest thing to do but the pact to join the schools and seppuku pledge overrode the desire to see his wife and daughter again. If there was one person on Earth Genma feared more than Happosai it was his wife Nodoka Saotome.
Nodoka was born into a family of kendoists. Her father ran a small shrine in the mountains near Okayama and instilled a love of ancient legends and learning the sword in both her and her little sister. By the time Genma and Soun had arrived into the picture Nodoka was in her last year of high school and in the kendo club. She even wrote about the matches they had with other schools for the school's paper. Her sister Achieka had fallen in love with a local boy who attended their school. After a few more years Nodoka, Achieka, and Nodoka's good friend Kimiko had each married. Nodoka married Genma, Achieka married the local boy Nobuyuki, and Kimiko ended up marrying Soun. In fact, it was Nodoka playing matchmaker that got Soun and Kimiko together.
Nodoka understood and lived through the loss of someone close to her three times. By the time Nodoka was thirteen her mother had passed away from a sudden illness. Then five years after her nephew Tenchi was born her sister Achieka passed away from a mysterious and unknown illness. Achieka had been a bit on the weak side since high school and the illness took advantage of that. The final time Nodoka had lost someone close to her was seven years prior when Kimiko Tendo passed away from ovarian cancer. Nodoka wasn't about to lose anyone else close to her ever again if she could do something about it.
"Dearest what's this I hear about you and Ranma falling into some cursed springs in China?" Nodoka wanted to know.
Kuso, I'm dead Genma thought as nervous beads of sweat formed on his brow.
"Who told you that?" Genma asked.
"Why Ranma did." Nodoka replied casually.
That boy is going to wish his mother had cut his head off when I get through with him, Genma thought quite angry.
"Really now." Genma commented.
"Yes and according to what he tells me you become a big fat stinky panda. Is this true Dearest?" Nodoka inquired with an emotionless face.
"Well…" Genma said trying to avoid the subject.
"I think I need a little proof Dearest." Nodoka replied as she grabbed Genma by the top of his gi.
With that Nodoka dragged Genma over to the glass shoji doors overlooking the gardens. After opening the doors she tossed Genma into the koi pond and waited for him to emerge from the water. A few moments later a big fat water logged panda climbed out of the pond, sighed, and walked over to Nodoka to receive whatever punishment she was going to dish out. From out of nowhere Genma pulled out a wooden sign he always used when he was in cursed form.
"Well get it over with" the sign said.
With that said Nodoka walked over to Genma-panda and whacked him real hard on the back of his head with the butt of her katana. Genma then fell to the ground knocked out from the blow to the head.
"Turning into a panda is punishment enough for you Genma Saotome. You don't deserve to be killed through seppuku." Nodoka told the panda.
"That's dad?" Nodoka heard behind her.
"Yeah that's Ouyaji for ya." A second female voice replied.
Turning around Nodoka saw four girls standing in the walkway between the house and the dojo. Each of them had a smile on their faces over what had happened to Genma-panda.
"Serves him right." Nabiki commented.
"I think he should be left here to miss dinner." Ranma added.
"Oh by the way mom Kasumi says she has a bath ready for us if we want. Ranma said she's going to use it and I think I'm going to also. You gave me a bit of workout there." Jiyu told her.
"I'll be there in a moment Jubei. Right now I have to ensure your baka of a father stays out in the yard until after we finish with dinner." Nodoka replied as she dragged the knocked out panda across the backyard gardens.
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Dinner in the Tendo-ke was a quiet affair for the first time since Ranma and his father had arrived. When Soun noticed that Genma was missing from the table he asked Nodoka what had happened earlier. Nodoka explained to her husband's best friend that she felt her Dearest, as she sometimes called him when she was angry, needed a time out to think out his actions as of late. Soun then simply nodded and returned to his dinner. As the dinner continued Ranma and the Tendos got to know Nodoka and Jiyu better. The mother and daughter recounted some of the events of the past five years of their lives. And as Ranma listened to his little sister talk about her likes and dislikes and the people she met in the towns they had visited a small smile appeared on his face happy to have his family whole again.
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This time I've decided to write a different type of Ranma crossover. After watching the first Jubei-chan DVD I decided to see what the series would be like if Jiyu had both of her parents in her life when she received the Lovely Eye-Patch. And I decided if she should have both parents then she should also have a brother and what better brother to give her than Ranma Saotome. Of course putting her in the Ranma world would change Jubei-chan a bit. For instance with Nodoka as the main caregiver for ten years of her life Jiyu would pick up some kendo moves. And of course with the Nerima Wrecking Crew in the picture some interesting things are bound to happen and some people are going to get jealous of what Jubei-chan can do and what she has, namely Kuno.
Okay so why did I throw in the minor Tenchi crossover you're asking. Well I've always like Ranma crossovers with Tenchi. And besides I have to explain why Nodoka is so good with the katana as she is. Plus it gives us another individual other than Koinosuke, Nodoka, Cologne, and possibly even Kuno who would know something about Yagyu Jubei. Now whether or not I'm going to have Kuno somehow related to Ryujoji I haven't decided yet. Oh yeah I bet you're wondering about the opening sequences too. I took those directly from the first episode, all except the laptop remark. The original opening Jubei-chan uses has a remark about watching TV but I thought the computer would be more appropriate.
So what's next for the Saotome siblings? It's off to school for Jiyu as she begins her first day at Hontsuru Jr. High. And using a borrowed bike Jubei meets some of the locals along the way including Tatewaki Kuno, a local trio of ruffians, and the captain of the Hontsuru kendo club. But who is the man watching from the shadows and why does he keep talking about "Plump bouncy bon bons?" Find out in Little Sister Samurai episode two: First Day of School: Jubei's Return.