A forlorn figure sat on the roof of the Tendo dojo, just like he did every night these days, looking at the tapestry of stars that decorated the night sky while trying to come up with an honourable solution to his problems that didn't involve seppuku. Anyone who was familiar with the situation the young warrior was in would have said it was a lost cause, but as the famous saying goes;
"Ranma Saotome doesn't give up"
Today had been pretty normal for his standards. Get woken up by fiancée number one with a pail of cold water (incidentally turning female, he had to wonder if Akane wasn't giving him a hint somewhere), wash up, find out he had to eat the latest in chemical warfare technology, and get mallated by Akane for the insult. He arrived at school and dealt with the Blue Blunder, slept through class, and at lunch was involved in a tug of war between fiancées two and three, with fiancée number one malleting him into the distance for being a pervert. After school was a bit quieter than usual, only having to deal with the lost boy in a fight where it was pretty obvious that Ryoga hadn't been able to keep up with Ranma's rate of improvement. While Ranma had increased his strength dramatically to that of Ryoga's, the lost boy had failed to increase his skills by anywhere near as much.
Once that was dealt with he had to deal with P-chan, who had mysteriously turned up, and was enjoying being cuddled into Akane's lap. Off course when P-chan bit him at the first opportunity it was 'obviously' Ranma's fault. Why wouldn't it be? That's how he ended up in the koi pond thanks to the tomboy. If that wasn't enough, then he had to deal with tweedledum and tweedledummer (you decide which is which) yelling about being nicer to his fiancée and the joining of the two schools.
Now he was sitting on the roof, contemplating the completely normal day he had experienced, so normal was it in fact that if he had told anyone in Nermia about it (the locals anyway) they would have just listened with a polite ear and moved on. After all, it was normal.
That was the problem.
When had this started to become routine? When had looking around every corner for someone out to get him due to his old man's mistakes, looking over his shoulder for some glomping fiancée to jump out at him due to his old man wanting a bite to eat, and looking for a substance which covers over 60 of the planet (he did pay some attention in school) to avoid changing genders due to his old man's idiocy become normal?
Gee, I wonder what the link with all my problems is.
Ranma was starting to hate his father more and more as time went on. He was constantly yapping on about respecting his elders, and a martial artist does this, and a martial artist does that, and it's not manly to do the other. What the hell did he know? From what he said a true martial artist was a pillar of the community, someone to be admired and to uphold the law and be the vision of manliness (woman couldn't be martial artists, something Ranma had learnt a long time ago was rubbish since he had met Cologne). If that was true then Genma was a first class fraud, in more sense than one.
He was just glad they didn't look the same, and he prayed daily to the kami that he would look different at his father's age. The idea of turning into a Genma look-alike was to disturbing to believe.
Because of Genma's actions he had at least three fiancées, three rivals out to kill him, and a whole host of problems caused by his perverted master Happosai. As was usual with Genma, his problems were given to his son to handle. After all, how could a few more problems hurt the boy when he had others to worry about? Because of him the problems kept coming.
Ranma sighed to himself. This sort of thinking was getting him nowhere. If he was going to think his way out of this mess he was going to have to concentrate on the problem, not the cause. While the doctor would consider curing the disease then treating the wound, Ranma didn't like the idea of killing his father just to solve his problems, no matter how therapeutically doing it may be. After all, Saffron was an exception.
So he started his daily ritual of trying to find some way to keep everyone's honour intact. His first thought was of the Amazons. His thoughts were clear about them; he simply wanted them to disappear. Shampoo may have had a body from any man's wet dream, but he didn't like what was past the admittedly attractive shell. She had no problems with killing for something as stupid as loosing a fight, was incredibly obsessive, and found substances such as drugs and potions acceptable. Anyone who considered drugged love acceptable wasn't someone he wanted to get to know, you just don't drug those that you love. The problem was that due to some stupid laws of theirs she had to either marry or kill him, and if there is one thing amazons pride themselves on it is finishing a job.
Shampoo was determined to bring him back to her village, a village he could never be happy in. Men were treated in as much distain as women were during the most sexist periods of Japan. The difference was that now woman were (theoretically anyway) equal to men, and by law had all the same chances as men. The only thing holding women back were themselves, and people like his father. He had to smile at himself there for a moment; he would have liked to hear someone calling him stupid after THAT piece of thinking.
Moose was another problem. He was as determined to get Shampoo, as Shampoo was to get Ranma. The difference was that while Shampoo used glomps, drugs and good cooking, Moose tried to impress Shampoo at the same time as removing a rival by trying to kill Ranma. While he was difficult and unpredictable to fight when they had first met, Moose hadn't changed his style or attacks enough to be much more than an annoyance to him now
The most dangerous Amazon of all was Cologne; probably one of the greatest fighters Ranma had the displeasure of meeting. While she had stopped actively helping in Shampoo's schemes to bring him to the tribe, he had no doubt that she 'accidentally' left Amazon books lying around that had recipes for certain love potions inside. She would be the hardest of the Amazons to deal with, but if he could make her declare the marriage void then his other Amazon problems would disappear.
Ukyo was a different issue altogether. Because his father had stolen her dowry and left her at the side of the road, she had a valid claim of not only marriage to him but child abandonment. Her life had been just as messed up due to Genma's actions as his had been. If he didn't marry her she was destined to live her live officially as a guy. He didn't want to hurt his oldest friend in such a way if he could help it.
The problem was he didn't love her like a husband loves a wife. She was his best friend, and even that friendship was loosing substance the longer this farce went on. She was getting more and more desperate to gain his love, and it was hurting him to see his friend ignore all the clues he gave her about his feelings for her. He just didn't want to hurt her feelings by saying he didn't love her.
Akane was another matter. Sometimes he had a really large urge to get rid of all the 'I don't hit girls' crap he had programmed into him due to his father and just smack her one. She might start treating him in some other way than as a human punching bag.
When he (she at the time) had first arrived at the dojo, she had been very lonely. A couple of weeks earlier she had received a curse that changed her gender with differing water temperatures and had a some crazy Amazon trying to kill her. She had desperately needed a friend of some sort, and Akane's offer had seemed like a godsend. Then when Akane had discovered the curse all offers of friendship were withdrawn. It hurt, and what was worse was he was told he would have to marry her, someone who showed very little compassion to him whatsoever. If she did love him then she hid it well.
It didn't help that this was the one engagement that his father actually decided was legitimate. The two fathers had decided it was going to happen, and couldn't seem to understand why their children wouldn't want to get married. So they discussed this like the mature adults they were. They moaned, cried, used demon heads, and generally acted like five year olds. The difference was that five year olds aren't the heads of the family in most cases, so they don't have the power to back up the claims.
Nope, he definitely didn't want to marry Akane. Any feelings for the youngest Tendo had left him a while ago, just after the failed wedding when she left him to repair the mess in the rain. If he did marry her then he'd probably die of food poisoning before he reached thirty. Either that, or die when he insulted said cooking by having a mallet planted into his brain. She never understood him, never gave him any chance to get his side across. He may not have been as stupid as people thought he was, but it was because of his 'foot in the mouth' problem that made people think he was an idiot. No one ever gave him a chance to explain what he meant when he said something idiotic.
Well that wasn't quite true. The eldest Tendo sister did quite a lot of listening; in fact she was probably the only person in Nerima who treated him as anything other than an object. It wasn't unusual for him to help her doing the housework when no one was around to question his manliness. During that time he had made quite a good friendship with Kasumi, and they often talked about their day or about their problems. She had a good ear to listen to his problems, and she was always patient to allow him to say what he really meant. It was also great just listening to how her day went, a day of normalcy and peace that he sometimes craved for. It was a shame his other fiancées weren't as understanding, it would make his life a lot easier. He just hoped she could sort Dr Tofu out so they could get together, if anyone deserved happiness in Nerima, considering all the sacrifices she had made for her family, it was Kasumi.
Speaking of which, that was Kasumi calling him to dinner now. With that he leapt of the roof and headed for dinner with the Tendos before his father ate his share.
A few minutes earlier.
Kasumi loved cooking for her family. It was the time of the day, when they gathered round the table were eating what she had prepared for them, that they were a proper family, just like before her mother died. It was at times like these that she felt part of something, that she wasn't a background character to some story, and that she actually mattered.
Today she was making her favourite dish, prawn tempura with udan noodles with miso soup on the side. She had made this a thousand times already, and never did she get bored with it. As she started the almost automatic process of producing fine cuisine, she thought of the reasons why she loved cooking this meal. Firstly it was the first dish her mother had taught her how to cook. Admittedly she didn't cook all of it together the first time, nor did it come out exactly as she wanted it to, but it was still her first meal, and she would always remember the look on her mother's face when she had completed it. She had felt so proud of herself; and she felt that her mother was too.
It was those feelings that she felt every time she made that dish, she felt her mother's love and respect. Recently however she had felt new feelings surface when she had made that dish. Those thoughts were confused and disorientated, and at first she wasn't quite sure what they were. She knew why she was having those feelings; she just didn't know what they were.
You see, although Ranma Saotome loved food in general, she somewhat sensed that this was his favourite dish as well.
When he had first entered their house, Kasumi was at first wary if him. She thought she had good reason to be, before he turned up she never believed in magic, not really. Magic was for other people, something that can only be experienced but not described, and even then she thought of the most magical thing in the world was creating life in a woman's womb. In retrospect it probably still was.
However, when Ranma entered her life she was introduced to another type of magic. Shape changing curses, locking ladles, winged warriors, and even time travelling devices, she had seen quite a lot of weirdness in that brief time. At first she had been quite resentful of Ranma's appearance bringing so much disharmony to the household. After a couple of months though she soon changed her mind. Now she wouldn't have it any other way.
Since her mother had died Kasumi had been forced into the role of the homemaker due to the absence of her father, something she excelled in. Sure, her father was there in body, but in spirit he suddenly disappeared. The man she loved and respected left her to fend for herself at a time when she needed him the most. She still loved him and knew that she always would, but she had lost a lot of respect for him when he withdrew into himself.
When Ranma had turned up it wasn't just his curse that made her wary of him. He had appeared to be rude, arrogant and when he ate she was reminded of a pack of wide animals feeding on a carcass before anyone else could get to it. In a way this was very accurate, especially when you consider that his father would try every method of getting food from his son. She had soon learned that it was the outer layers that she was put off by, an outer layer that was created by Genma.
There were not many people on this planet that Kasumi disliked, but Genma Saotome was at the top the list. She never showed it, but under the surface it was there. He was a thief, a coward, a liar, an idiot and in general he was as dishonourable as they came. He was as different to Ranma as chalk is to cheese, they may have similar traits on the surface, but once you study the material of each then it was obvious they weren't made of the same stuff. Ranma wasn't a thief, in any situation that didn't involve cats he was one of the bravest people around, and even when Shampoo was kidnapped by the ghost cat Ranma still faced his fears and did what he could to save her. He couldn't lie to save his life, was one of the kindest souls she knew, and despite appearances he wasn't an idiot. You just don't get passing grades after spending only three years at school (and most that time he was asleep) and be considered stupid. He was ignorant, and he had a hard time motivating himself for any academic learning, but he wasn't stupid.
She had first noticed the true Ranma a couple of months after he had first arrived. She was hanging out the washing one day when no one else was at home, when Ranma walked up and asked if he could help her out with anything. And he did, at least a couple of times a week, but always out of sight of the others, and when he was in the company of anyone else he said 'housework wasn't manly' whenever the subject ever came up. It was understandable in a way, why he always pretended he didn't help out around the house. Everyone was always pressuring him to be a 'man among men', and that can be hard to do when you are cursed to change into a girl with cold water. Any sign of 'unmanly' behaviour would result in insults to his manhood, into his very being.
It was these times together cleaning the house that Kasumi started to realise that there was far more to Ranma than what was on the surface. And as time went on the feelings she felt when she thought of him changed. She went from resenting him to cherishing his company. He always listened to how her day was, no matter how boring it must be to him, what with what his life was like. She couldn't imagine why he listened to her day when his must have been so much more exciting, but she was grateful for it. And as more time went on the feelings she felt grew stronger, until they were impossible to ignore, and just as impossible to confuse them with something else.
It was love, love felt between a woman and a man.
Unfortunately it was not to be. He had so many other women after him that it would be unfair to him to burden him with yet another problem. Apart from anything else he was her sister's fiancé, and no mater how badly she treated him, Kasumi knew Akane felt some love there for him.
So she stayed in the background and just tried to stay as his friend. It was the least she could do for him for the excitement that was in her life now, she just prayed to the kami that he could find his happiness. If any one in Nerima deserved happiness, considering all he's been through, it was Ranma.
Her attention was brought back to the meal she was preparing, and was pleasantly surprised that it was done. Deciding to give Ranma enough of a warning before his father ate it all, Kasumi stepped outside to where he always sat at night to call him for dinner.
Meanwhile
Just outside Tokyo, in a quite area of the rural countryside, stood the Maskai grounds. The house itself was a wooden structure at the edge of a large lake with two and a half or three stories, depending on how you counted it. The sense of peace that resided from the area would have affected anyone who entered the holy grounds. Well, nearly anyone...
"Let go of my Tenchi you old hag", cried an unusual woman. She was tall, well built and showed off her sensuous body in a formfitting red and black bodysuit. She had wild cyan hair that looked to be untameable, and unusual pair of yellow, cat-like eyes.
"You're Tenchi? Why would he want to be with a monster woman like you, when he could be with a refined, elegant woman like me?" sneered the second woman, if you could call it sneering. She was a sharp contrast to the other woman in many ways. While also a woman of advanced stature, she was dressed in an elegant kimono that made her look like royalty. Her long purple hair went down her back in a series of ponytails, and she exuded grace and elegance. She was currently holding onto the arm of a nervous, sweating young man with black hair tied back in a pigtail. He tried to say something, but the comment wasn't heard. Since the two women were ignoring him, the author will as well.
"Elegant? Refined? Ha, why would he want an old prune like you when he can have a beautiful, sensuous woman like me?" saying this the first woman glomped onto the young man's other arm and tried to pull him away from the other woman.
"Ryoko...Ayeka..."
The two women ignored him, starting to try and pull the object of their affection away from the enemy.
"...Girls...can't...breathe..."
The tug of war contest got more and more enthusiastic, as each woman was determined not to show any weakness.
"...help...starting to...speak...in fractured...sentences..."
Oblivious to the situation their love was in, the woman continued on, nothing was going to make them let go, because to do that was to was to allow the other woman the victory, and that couldn't happen, there was no possible situation that could force them to let go unless the harridan on their love's other arm let go first.
"Dinner's ready"
Sasami's call halted the impromptu contest in an unspoken draw; both girls (much to Tenchi's relief) relaxed their grip on Tenchi, although not letting go entirely. In the arms of the Ayeka and Ryoko he was led to the dinner table to enjoy one of Sasami's famous feasts. Tenchi was just glad she was such a good cook, it was usually enough to avoid eating Ryoko's or Ayeka's cooking. They tried hard, but Sasami was just so much better.
By the time they got to the table there was a delicious array of food that could delight any stomach, and did on a daily basis. The other residents of the house were around the table already. Katshuhito, Tenchi's grandfather, was at the head of the table. He may have looked old to many people, but behind the seemingly weak and elderly body was the strength and skill of any true warrior, and one that could beat Tenchi during sparing in his sleep.
Next to him was Nobuyuki, Tenchi's father, who was at the other side of the table. The architect was going over his plans for some new project he was working on. On his left was Sasami, the little girl who had prepared the feast. The twelve-year-old princess was dressed in similar robes to Ayeka, but had blue hair instead of purple. While many would have seen just a simple girl, those around the table knew that there was far more to Sasami than many people would ever believe. Perched on her head eating a carrot was Ryoko's spaceship, the cabbit Ryo-Ohki.
The threesome sat at the table, and the two girls finally releasing Tenchi so they could eat. As they dug into the delicious grub laid out for them not many people noticed the missing member of the household, only one person did.
"Grandpa, you don't know where Washu is do you?" asked Sasami.
"I'm afraid I don't know, I would guess in her lab doing some kind of experiment like usual. She will come out when she's hungry" said Katshuhito
"But she may not know that its time for dinner, I wouldn't want her to get hungry."
"Hmmm, it has been known to for her to run through an experiment without realising how much time went by. Ryoko, could you check on her and tell her dinners ready"
Gulp, "Why do I have to, if she doesn't want to eat then there's no point in bothering her" replied Ryoko after swallowing what she had stuffed in her mouth.
"Relax Ryoko" said Katshuhito calmly, enjoying a bit of rice, "It's just that you have your telepathic link to her, simply tell her that there is food ready up her if she wants it."
"Sorry, already tried that earlier. This is one of her 'don't bother me moods', so she's blocked me off, if you know what I mean. I wouldn't advise going down there any time soon" replied Ryoko.
"All the same, it is the right thing to do to at least mention it. Does she know that there is even any food ready?" Katshuhito asked, to which Ryoko just shock her head. "Well then, it would only be the polite thing to tell her that there is food ready right now, so may I ask that you pop down to her lab and inform her?"
"Hey why should I? I'm eating here, and besides Washu can look after herself if she needs to." Ryoko cried out.
"Oh please Ryoko; please see if she wants anything to eat. I haven't seen her all day and I'm really worried about her" said Sasami, employing the most devastating technique used by really cute, young girls. The dreaded puppy-dog-eyes.
Sigh "Ok, ok I'll tell her already. Just stop looking at me like that!" Ryoko really hated that look when it was used on her, but Sasami did have a point, Washu hadn't been seen all day. "I wouldn't worry about her not being here Sasami. Like I said earlier, she's in one of her moods today were she doesn't want anyone to talk to her. If it makes you feel better though I'll go tell her, there had just better be some food left over for me when I get back."
"Don't worry Ryoko, we'll leave you and Washu some for when you get back" said Katshuhito, watching as the ex-space pirate entered Washu's lab. He too had noticed Washu's depressed mood lately, and hoped that it wasn't too serious.
Earlier in the lab
Washu's lab was a unique place on earth. Off course, it wasn't really on earth, but in some subspace dimension. The size of this lab was many times greater than the Maskai house, but no one (except Washu) could have told you exactly how big it was.
At a desk on the far side of one of the side-labs was a young looking girl, about twelve years old. She was quite short in stature with crabby red hair that stuck up at all angles, much like her daughter's. Her emerald green eyes, which were usually filled with mirth and cunning, were instead filled with sadness and pain. It had been a long time since the event that had caused her so much pain, and she hid that pain very well during her daily life. However, there were times like today were she simply needed to be alone for a while, to collect her thoughts and gather herself together.
In her hands were a trio of red gems, one bigger than the other two. Her eyes at the moment however were focused on what was on the desk in front of her. A compartment about the size of a computer screen with a glass front, inside the compartment was a large black egg that was balanced on a small stand.
Washu had been sitting there all day, just alternating her gaze from one object to another. She was so ashamed of herself. She was the greatest scientific genius in the universe; none rivalled her knowledge or her will to gain it. Yet despite all her knowledge, it wasn't enough when that bastard Kagato turned up on her ship. Her student had trapped her in one of her own cryogenic pods before she even had a chance to defend herself, and then left her in exile in space. The feelings of shock and betrayal shock her to the core, plus the disbelief that none of her security measures had helped protect her.
It was only a huge amount of luck that had allowed the galaxy police to discover her pod and bring her back to the shrine, where she was reunited with her daughter. When she had realised that she was all right she was overjoyed. It had hurt that Ryoko had been used to do all those despicable acts when under Kagato's control. But she was alright now, that was all that matted to Washu. Well, almost all that mattered, Ryoko wasn't the only thing that she had lost due to Kagato after all.
A beep on her left told her that she had company. Putting away her mementos of the past and hiding them from prying eyes, she looked on a security camera and cursed. Ryoko of all people knew what her quiet time meant, leave her the hell alone for a day or so and everything will be ok. She was definitely going to show her a piece of her mind.
Once Ryoko had entered her mother's lab she set about looking for her. She really didn't want to be doing this; she was hungry and knew that her mother did not want to be interrupted. Sasami was worried though, so she was down here risking getting Washu upset at her and using her as some kind of lab experiment.
In the end it didn't take to long to find her, Washu entered the main lab through one of her 'suddenly appearing' doors, and as predicted she didn't look happy at having her quiet time interrupted.
"What the hell are you doing here Ryoko?"
"Sorry Washu, I didn't want to disturb you"
"Well you succeeded, you knew damn well that I wanted to be left alone today" shouted Washu. Sigh, "So why did you come down here anyway? It had better be important"
"Well not really, see the others were worried about you and Sasami said that dinner was ready. She didn't want you getting hungry so I was sent down here to collect you."
"Your right, it wasn't very important. Still, I suppose it couldn't hurt to get something to eat since I was interrupted anyway." With that said Washu walked past Ryoko and headed to the lab's exit.
"Hey Washu, are you ok?" Ryoko called out to her. She wouldn't admit it, but she was slightly worried about her mother.
Washu paused slightly before continuing on towards the main house. "I'm perfectly ok Ryoko, there's nothing to worry about." It took Ryoko about a minute after Washu had exited the lab to snap out of her worried thoughts and remember that her dinner was getting cold. She'd find out the problem eventually, so she would worry about it then.
