AN: Here's Act Two of Ranma 3A. The chapters will get more action/drama packed very soon.
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, written by Rumiko Takahashi, OR Mahou Sensei Negima, written by Ken Akamatsu.
Act Two
Ranma Saotome started the day off with a good night's rest, waking up before anyone could dump cold water on him to try to wake him up. He put on one of his few prized Chinese silk outfits. He made his way down to the dining room, and saw that Mr. Tendo was already sitting down at the dining table, sipping coffee and reading the Nerima newspaper.
The elderly Tendo looked up, and made a short wave to him. "Morning, son, you are up quite early today. Did you have a good night's rest?" The pig-tailed youth nodded, "Yeah, I actually did. Don't know why, though." The older man nodded, and Ranma was making his way to sit down. However, Kasumi came from the kitchen doorway, and, upon seeing Ranma, requested, "Oh, Ranma-kun, could you go out to the mail? I'm almost ready with breakfast, but I'd rather stay in the kitchen." The Saotome heir nodded, "Sure, I can do that, Kasumi."
"Thank you, Ranma-kun," with that statement; Kasumi went back into the kitchen to finish whatever she had decided to make for breakfast. He made his way, without rushing, past the stairs to the second story of the Tendo home, and slipped on his shoes. He quickly made his way to the Tendo mailbox, not wanting to be caught by any of his rivals or fiancées. He pulled out a number letters, magazines, and some of the manga that Nabiki loved to read.
He closed the box, but felt like he was being watched. He closed his eyes, and concentrated on the ki around him. Sensing nothing out of place, since the residents of the Tendo home had no disturbances in their ki, and there were no signature out of place, he shrugged, and made his way back into the house.
As he made his way back inside, he decided to see if he, or his idiotic father, had gotten any mail. As he sorted through the letters, some of them junk, he found a letter addressed to his father and himself, both with his mother's signature neatly written on the front. Then he found a letter with his cousin Haruna's signature written elaborately on the front, eliciting him to chuckle.
He picked out these letters, and, as he sat down once again, placed the rest of the mail on the table. He noted that Nabiki was now up, and sitting down as well. The brown-haired mercenary nodded to him in acknowledgment, and glancing at the letters which the Saotome heir held. "So, Ranma, who sent you mail?" Blue eyes turned to look at brown, "Me 'n' Pop both got a letter from Mom, and I also got one from my cousin Haruna."
Nabiki nodded, having talked to the Manga artist a few times, enjoying the conversations quite well. Ranma began to open his letter from his mother first, curious about both letters, but deciding that he should read what his mother's letter before the other. Laying his father's letter to the side, he laid his letter from Haruna on his lap, and opened his mother's letter to him. He unfolded the three neatly made folds, finding that this letter contained multiple pages.
He began reading the letter, which was written just as formally as her signature on the front was. "Dear Ranma, I hope this letter gets to you as quickly as possible, and I have prayed to Megami-sama that you are healthy and safe each day, which is one of the main reasons why I am sending you these documents. Don't let anyone know what they are; put these documents somewhere on your person where they won't be found by anyone else. Then, open Haruna-chan's letter. Love and miss you, your mother, Nodoka."
He almost did a double take from the shock of his mother's words, but decided to not allow any shock to show on his visage. He had long since revealed his curse to his mother, and she had torn the contract up and regained much of her sanity, which had been slipping for the time she wasn't able to see her son. Using speed acquired from much of his training, he, near instantly, put the other pages into the front of his silk shirt. He picked up his cousin's letter, and quickly opened it up, as well.
As had been the norm when he saw her writing, Haruna had written in extremely elaborate katakana, with little doodles and sketches on the side. After he skimmed over the letter's doodles, he decided to begin reading this letter, as well. He noticed, though, that the Tendou family, minus Akane, who wasn't awake and downstairs yet, didn't seem interested at all in what he was doing, so he felt secure in reading whatever his cousin had written that would cause his mother to be so serious.
"Hello, cousin Ranma!" Next to this, she had drawn a chibi version of herself in the motions of waving. "Well, I had talked to Auntie, and she and I decided that I could drop by today, and meet you over at your favorite ice-cream parlor!" Yet again, a sketch was drawn next to this section. This time she had drawn chibi versions of herself, his female form, and himself trying to get into a large container with a banana split inside.
He mentally laughed, and felt a blush creep into his face. "You probably want to know what really is going to happen." He blinked, and mentally nodded, "Well, it just so happens that I've had some very interesting experiences with magic, and know someone who is willing to cure your curse. And~…no, I won't tell! That would just spoil the surprise~!" Next to this, she had drawn, yet again, a chibi version of herself. This time, though, she was sticking out her tongue and with one eye winking at him, very smug with herself.
The end of the letter was quite abrupt, as simple, "See you soon. Your cousin, Haruna Saotome." The final sketch drawn was pretty much the same as the first, waving in farewell, though this time she had drawn one eye winking. He groaned, but slid the letter into his shirt, just like the one his mother had written to him. He was unsurprised that when he turned his gaze back to the table that he had both Soun and Nabiki looking at him with slightly quetioning glances, however, he just shrugged his shoulders.
"My cousin Haruna and Mom want to meet me at Nerima Ice today. Other than that, the letters didn't say much." They nodded as Kasumi walked into the room, sliding the door to the kitchen shut behind her with a tray ladden with still-steaming cups of tea. As he was about to take one of the offered cups, his father trudged into the room, nearly shoving Kasumi to the ground. Ranma glared at his father, but knew that this had become a regular occurrence for his father. He balked at still naming the panda-cursed man his "father", but pushed those emotions down, for now.
He sipped at his tea, noticing that it had some cinnamon flavor within it as he watched his father pick up the paper that Mr. Tendo had laid down upon the table when he was finished with reading the news. Ranma noted, as he slid his 'pops' the letter that his mother had sent, "Pops, Mom sent a letter to both of us, arrived in the mail this morning." His father blinked behind his glasses, and picked up the letter gruffly.
Folding the paper up and putting in under his arm, the panda-cursed man opened his own letter. After a few minutes, and the fat man turning pale, he stated, "Son, your mother is coming to visit and take you out to eat with your cousin." Ranma nodded numbly, his mind a bit dazed that his "Pops" didn't want to run away as fast as possible, but decided not to worry about it.
However, Akane had walked into the room right when the Saotome patriarch had made that statement. Quickly, she demanded, much to Ranma's near-perpetual ire, "If you're going to see Auntie, I'm going too." Ranma, taking a deep breath, entered the Soul of Ice. No one noticed this besides Nabiki and Kasumi. No one noticed a black pig with a yellow, black-spotted bandana make his way through the room as the conversation was made, and then…got lost...
Several blocks away, Nodoka, Haruna, and their assembled entourage entered Nerima Ice. Nodoka could sense Ranma's ki, noting it felt a bit colder. Chachamaru sat next to Eva, who had been released by the Headmaster, ending with him having to constantly sign the forms for her release for the next twenty-four hours. Kaede and Mana stood ready for anything, ready willing and able to dish out stunning blows to anyone.
As Haruna placed her order, she smirked, 'Time for you to have your freedom, Ranma-kun, my dear cousin.'
AN: Oh, poor Akane. She doesn't have a clue how her dear "Auntie" will react to her continued treatment of Ranma.
Next time, the Fiancé Brigade meets some of 3A's best fighters!
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