Growing Pains
Brain Power
…from the previous chapter…
"Thank you for watching Sakura for me," he sighed quietly, with a tired smile. "I hope she wasn't a bother."
"No, she was no bother," Kasumi offered a warm smile. "So did you get any of the advice you were seeking?"
Ranma sighed, and shook his head. "Maybe I should be asking you for advice," he said at length. "Maybe when you have a few minutes?"
"Alright," Kasumi replied. "I'll be with you shortly."
Ranma was left reeling by the time he was through speaking with Kasumi that afternoon, his thoughts bombarded from ideals and concepts and facts that he hadn't known, or was suddenly aware he needed more information on. Kasumi had really woken him up to the fact of just how ill-prepared he was for being a father, and yet, he was now more determined than ever to do what he could, to become the best father he could possibly be.
It had started out innocently enough; once Kasumi had finished with her tasks in the kitchen, she'd come into the main living area and sat down near him, as he was beginning to change Sakura's diaper. He had made what seemed to be a mistake, by asking Kasumi a question about what he'd seen between the little girl's legs.
That had begun a lesson in anatomy, and when he couldn't answer the question that she asked afterwards:
"You do know where babies come from and how they're made, do you not?"
Kasumi had given him a most thorough talk about the anatomy and physiology of the 'birds and the bees'.
That bit of talk had segued into a brief discussion and exchange on how the female body differed from the male body—and not just by the presence or lack of certain body parts—but then on how such could be applied to the body. That had given him the revelation of just how Doctor Tofu had used pressure point medicine to help heal patients, and how he himself could affect the body, having learned a few pressure points and techniques from the doctor. That had led into martial arts, and when Kasumi had begun mentioning how mathematics and history and business and philosophy had components into the Art, he'd had to finally call it a day, at least for that moment, and he'd walked to the guest room, Sakura in her baby carrier at his side, his thoughts awhirl.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew some of these things, but hearing that even Kasumi had a broader knowledge of the Art than he, even if she didn't practice, and that she could apply other subjects, subjects he'd thought had little to no bearing on his life, subjects that his father had relentlessly pounded into his head that he needed not to concern himself about, into the Art and make it richer than he'd ever imagined, had made him decide that he needed to apply himself, that growing up, especially for Sakura's sake, meant that he would have to take his education a lot more seriously than before.
He'd spent the next few hours reading—something that many in Nerima would have thought to be like kryptonite to him. His incredible learning curve when it came to martial arts, he discovered, was almost as impressive with school learning, when he put his mind to it, and while he couldn't make up for years of mis-education in one afternoon, he had managed to learn the basics in mathematics, anatomy and science that had just eluded him before. Every piece of information he learned and retained, simply made him want to learn more, now that he knew that he could find ways to apply it to martial arts.
And, when he thought about it some more, for Sakura.
He knew he wasn't the smartest person in the world. While he was the best at martial arts, he could easily count the number of other folks who were smarter than he was; Akane might not be the best fighter, but she didn't have much in the way of trouble in class; Nabiki was almost scary-smart, compared to him and even her sister, and even if she couldn't fight at all, she knew how to defend herself. And Kasumi, while not exactly of the same kind of smarts as Nabiki, was definitely more than a little ahead of him. Ukyou; Mu Tzu; Kuh Lon—all were smarter than he in many areas, and as he thought about it, he realized that being a father wasn't something he could do all by himself, at least not now. He would need someone he could rely on to help him, really help him—and Sakura—and not only look out for their own best interests. There was only one person who currently fit into that category, though even then, he would still need more help.
That person wouldn't be Akane, he knew, as the melodious sounds of her righteous anger floated through the walls like nails on a chalk board, and a few short moments after that, he could hear footsteps lightly but rapidly striding towards him. He didn't need to reach out with his ki sense to know that his father and Tendo-san were both headed in his direction; those same senses did dell him though, that Akane wasn't very far behind the two men.
When the door to the guest room slid open with a muted thud, Ranma was ready.
Genma Saotome wasn't the most observant person in the world; not that he was prone to being caught flat-footed, but if it wasn't an immediate threat to his life, liberty and pursuit of happiness—especially his own—he was sometimes likely to suffer that debilitating foot-in-mouth disease that often struck the males of the Saotome clan, and say or do something incredibly stupid.
Soun Tendo was the more observant of the two, between he and his friend Genma, but his Will was the weaker by far, and so whenever his good friend came up with an idea, despite his own judgment on the matter he often found himself agreeing with it, and going right along with it.
The combination of the two males- one headstrong and somewhat selfish and self-serving, and one weaker of will and willing to be led into the heart of trouble, had been the major cause of the problems between their offspring, though if asked, Genma would vehemently deny such a commentary before Soun could offer any potential agreement and his own view on the matter.
On this particular day, however, Soun had asserted his weaker will to successful effect, remarking that since it was his home that was being 'invaded'- so to speak- that he should have the point position when he and Genma confronted the boy, and so he was the first to push open the door and take note of said boy standing in front of him.
The fact that Ranma was glowing—lightly, but in the visible spectrum—gave him immediate pause, and Genma nearly bowled him over as he just about ran into him from behind.
"If you wake her," Ranma growled in a tight, low voice, "whatever Happosai ever did to you will be a picnic compared to what I'll do."
It was a pity that only Soun heard him, and understood the true menace in his tone of voice and the tension of his body.
"Boy!" Genma veritably yelled at Ranma from behind Soun—and even as he was speaking, he was gently shoving his friend out of the way—"put aside this foolishness! Get rid of that…that… baby, and go apologize to your fiancé!"
"I gave my word, Pops, on my honor, that I would take care of Sakura and raise her as my daughter," he tried, but Genma was determined to try and steamroll over him.
"Boy, just drop it off at the local shrine! Someone will take care of it, and then you can make nice with Akane! Go do your duty to our family!" he shouted.
Ranma gave him an incredulous look.
"So are you telling me," Ranma looked at him, a wild angry expression to his features, "that I should just abandon this child, my child, my own honor, for family honor? to please Akane?"
"Er…yes?" Genma blurted, and then drove right through the moment of hesitation his brain was suggesting, "Yes, yes boy! That's it! Family obligations come before any thing else!"
Ranma gave the pair of males, one with his head swinging between himself and his best friend, watching the escalation of trouble with a growing look of horror, and the other seemingly proud in his own sense of self-aggrandizement, and his expression shifted from the wildly angered look, to a measured frown.
"Tell me," he said evenly, though with a hard edge to his words and tone, "that you are joking."
"Boy, get rid of that baby!" Genma growled.
Sakura startled, and then began to cry.
Ranma's eyes began to glow as he pulled his ki-aura back into himself. Slowly, he raised his arms, bringing his hands together, and lacing his fingers, cracked his knuckles. Those knuckles, then curled into fists. "You woke the baby. Now you will feel pain."
Fortunately, while Akane wasn't exactly thrilled for the presence of a baby in the house, she didn't leave the baby alone in the room as he pounced on his father and then tossed him out of the opened window, quickly following after him. He took his time—all of five minutes (which when in the midst of a very intense fight, can seem like an hour)—to almost clinically dissect his father's defense and render him painfully immobile, before leaving the older man sprawled out on the ground, as he leapt back up into the window of the room.
He was greeted by the presence of not only Akane, but of Kasumi now was well, the former looking with a thoughtful frown across her face, the latter smiling gently at Sakura.
The moment Akane realized that he had returned, she stood up with an angry hmph and a snarl, and stalked out of the room. He called out a hasty thank you to her retreating back, earning him a dismissive and almost rude gesture. He sighed, as he turned to regard the room's other adult occupant.
"Kasumi, I dunno if I can do this," he sighed quietly, a faint whine slipping into his voice; he squelched that bit of weakness, and continued, "I dunno if I can be a father with stuff like this going on around me." He strode over towards Kasumi and Sakura, his eyes only on the little baby girl, who looked up at him and cooed softly. Gently, almost reverently, he picked her up, looking her in the eyes, feeling a part of him that he'd only become aware of the previous day, settling quietly within him as he held her.
"What do you mean?" he heard, and looked up to see Kasumi looking back at him, a curious mixture of confusion and…expectation? in her expression.
He thought for a moment, until the answer solidified itself for him.
"I think I'm gonna have to find a place for me and Sakura; I think we'll have to move out."
Author's Notes: We're nearing the halfway point of the story- I did say that it was short, and I've written past the halfway point as of this posting.
DiMeraslover- Ryoga will get his, worry not- but this is about Ranma, so bear with me.
Phoenixir- This is a Ranma 1/2 story- what do you think will happen? *grin*
Hero In A Cup- I thought that this was the best way for Ranma to grow up, and yet remain 'organic', or 'in-character'.
For those who've been asking about when Ryoga will get his just desserts- worry not; he will. No one who knows that he was present for 'events' has forgotten about his involvement. I'll remind you all, though, that this is about Ranma and how he deals with what's been given unto him. Ryoga- as well as the other Nerimans- will only be spotlighted when their involvement is a part of, and filtered through, Ranma's new perspective.
And finally, if I haven't said it before, then I'll say it now: thank you all, those of you who read this story; it is a writer's paycheck, the praise and acknowledgement you give by reading.