PACK OF CARDS
By
Taro M.D
Chapter 10
Shuffling the Cards
(Taro) Well now it's been ages since I wrote a chapter and I belieive this been long overdue so for anyone who is still watching this and following this... I APOLOGISE PROFUSELY!
Anyway this is going to be a summary of what's going on and will be continuing in the next chapter, but I can assure you that apart from Ukyo, Shampoo and Mousse... most of the problems have been solved well apart from Happosai but that's because he's a different kind of evil but I will get to him at some point.
And now we shall catch up on what's going on!
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Recapping on what happened in the last chapter of Pack of Cards, Genma reacts with fury as Nodoka reclaimed stewardness of the Saotome Clan which then led to Ranma's Independence granting him the freedom from his father to which even he was shocked on the news.
Next call of business was Nabiki finally being exposed as the one who invited the NWC (Nerima Wrecking Crew) to the failed wedding which led to revelations that she hated that Ranma and his father were eating them out of house and home but finding out that she was jealous of how popular Akane was in school and making money off her fame was the only way to pay the bills as it were.
Finally though the main event of the evening as Genma and Soun's master plan was finally exposed which if succeeded would of allowed them to become legal guardians thus they would of run off with all the money that the two were due... which led to Akane being emotionally destroyed at the thought of being sold off by her dear father and thus being led out of the room by Ranma.
In the end Nabiki decided to move out of the house and into her friend Hiroko's place whilst a broken panda was led down the Neriman Streets by a soon to be ex Mrs Saotome as she was leading him back to her house to finalise their divorce.
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A week has passed since that night in Nerima and the town has changed in many ways although for some they still can't take in the changes... first of all the high school has now become a dull place since most of the entertainment has gone although there are now hushed rumors that Ranma and Akane were married but those rumors were silenced quickly lest Ukyo would hear then and become smooshed mancakes.
Meanwhile at the Amazon Cafe, Cologne was still waiting on the letter from the village that would signal what would she need to do to solve the Ranma problem now that she knew that the young man can literally KILL a god with his bare hands.
"This is most troubling... if Ranma can kill a god then the entire village is at risk from his wrath if Xian Pu keeps persuing him to be her husband, I may to intervene and try and negotiate her way out of this if it goes too far."
"But then again if she doesn't get Ranma as her husband then I'm afraid her place in the village may be compromised and she'll lose her honor as well... this is going to be difficult regardless but I need to sort things out before the tribe gets dragged into a blood war that will destroy us entirely!"
Cologne then went up to her chambers to reflect more on the events but before she did... Shampoo shouted loud
"GREAT GRANDMOTHER THERE IS MESSAGE FOR YOU FROM THE VILLAGE!"
Instantly she raced downstairs to take the telegram from her great grand-daughter and then opened it, realising that the council have made their decision and it was not all good news for her young charge.
"Xian Pu the council has just informed me regarding the incident at Jusendo..."
"Yes?"
"It's not good news I'm afraid..."
"No..."
"The Council has decided to scrap your Kiss of Marriage to Ranma in exchange for peace talks instigated by me... I must go see him immediately otherwise you may end up making him angry and wipe out our village!"
Nearby Mousse's expression went from non-passive to literally over-breaking with joy as he listened carefully to what may be the best decision the Village has ever made... it literally gave him a chance just as Shampoo ran upstairs with tears from her eyes as Cologne turned towards him.
"Mu Tsu I need to make a few errands and talk to the young Saotome... you better close up shop, we could all use the early night."
"I will proceed with your instructions elder..."
"Good, good make sure that you do Mu Tsu..."
Cologne then proceeded to make her way via pogo-stick as the Amazon collective was hit by a massive storm of change.
Moving onto the building known as Ucchan's... the owner Ukyo Kuonji was closing her store for the day and proceeded to head back up to the flat that she was living in upstairs... another long and boring day still plagued her mind as she hadn't seen her Ranchan in nearly a week which would of made her worried and descend towards the Tendo Dojo but there was the whole issue of the failed Wedding and how she was partly responsible for the chaos that happened... yeah right she had to stop Akane from marrying her future husband.
"I'm worried about Ranchan... I haven't heard from him in a week... I hope nothing's bad has happened to him."
She thought as she proceeded to rest down on her comfy chair which she purchased as a bonus to her hard work during a period of high interest, whenever she gets stressed then the best thing she can do... is have a sit down for a bit and relax and most of her stress seems to go away in an instant.
But she was worried about the situation with Ranma... she hadn't seen him in a week and she really felt the need to go over to the Tendo Dojo and see how he was doing... she hadn't received any news from Konatsu who was still loyal to her although she felt bad for not helping him.
"Oh well I better make a meal for myself and Konatsu... poor guy I feel sorry for him but he needs a meal too."
Ukyo said as she got up but before she took another step, the phone in her apartment began to ring and she immediately picked up the receiver.
"Moshi Moshi..."
"Ah Ukyo dear it's your Aunt here."
"Auntie Hiromi? It's been a long time since I last talked to you."
"Yes dear it took a while to locate the number for your business in Nerima but that's not why I've called just now... it's about your father."
"What about my father? Has something happened?"
"Your father has been diagnosised with cancer..."
"What...is it treatable?"
"The doctor's have told him it's terminal..."
"Why didn't the old man never tell me?!"
"Well you know how stubborn he gets when it comes to not telling anyone... he obviously didn't want to worry you with the details but that was before the news struck him, he's hoping that you would come back to the family home but considering you had that falling out..."
"Oh no..."
"I believe you might need to come home soon..."
"I'll have to make arrangements as soon as I can, I'll be on the next train to Osaka as soon as I can."
"I'll be waiting for you to arrive dear, talk to you soon!"
"Bye Auntie!"
Ukyo put the phone down and then proceeded to make the dinner... some time later after the meal was done and she and Konatsu were alone, she told the ninja what happened with the call.
"Konatsu can you close the store down for the week, my father's been diagnosed with cancer and I need to be with him so I can sort out my future."
"Ok Ukyo-sama."
"Can you spy on the Tendo Dojo for me as well?"
"Of course Ukyo-sama."
Thus the next day, Ucchan's was shut down for the rest of the week and people never knew why... until a note at the door mentioned family business and then they went back on their normal business.
Back in the Tendo resident more specifically inside the dojo itself... Ranma and Akane were preparing to train as they would usually do, more specific now that their fathers as well as Nabiki was dealt with... they can finally focus on the important matters and that was Akane helping Ranma's grade otherwise he would not be able to move onto the senior year.
Right now he wanted to get the frustration out of his system in having to deal with his father who had just recently divorced as of yesterday and he was trying to get back into the dojo because he really hadn't got a place to stay... which the pig-tailed martial artist responded by beating the shit out of him and punting him out of the district for the time being.
As for Soun Tendo though... his punishment was less severe than Genma's but he was no longer the head of the Tendo family mostly because of Akane's marriage to Ranma which the elder learnt after he given a severe lecture on how he sold out his family to a greedy freeloader of a criminal and he had to regain the respect of his daughters... Nabiki wasn't around because she moved out to her friend Hiroko's in order to move onto college and then university.
Soun did find out afterwards that Ranma and Akane did get married which made him proud knowing that the Tendo school has been saved, he would respect their decision if they decided that he would be in the way... he was more surprised that his daughters allowed him to stay in the house providing that he would give up being the head of the house minus all financial and tax related businesses.
"I really hope that baka of a father learns his lesson..."
"Dear it's been 2 days since you took over as head of the Tendo clan... I mean sure he still legally the head of the household but eventually he would of learnt the hard way."
"I still can't believe he went along so easily with your father's..."
"I believe that you are refering to my former father there dear... stupid panda..."
"I'm sorry... I'm still adjusting to you being made independent."
"I'm still getting used to being my own man dear..."
"Well you were but then we got married so technically your my man."
"Cute tomboy... real cute."
"Ranma no baka... but I love you."
"I know... I love you too Akane."
The couple briefly kissed but that was before they heard a cough as they broke apart and getting into a fighting position... but were more tense because Cologne was standing there on top of her walking cane as always.
"Ahhh sorry I had to interrupt young love there but I would like to talk to Ranma here as soon as possible..."
"Watch it old crone I am not going on a date with Shampoo not especially since she destroyed the failed wedding..."
"Times have changed my boy and whilst I regret the way my great grand-daughter acted a few weeks ago... I have come on a mission of peace acting on behalf of my tribe."
"Huh?"
"It means she doesn't want to fight you dear..."
"Oh... what do you mean mission of peace?"
"My tribe has finally learned of the incident at Jusendo and whilst I blame Mu Tsu and Xian Pu for not telling me sooner, I realise that after you killed the Phoneix God... the tribe has decided that they rather seek peaceful negotiations instead of letting Xian Pu take you as her husband..."
Akane realised what was happening and she was shocked but decided to ask anyway.
"Are you telling us that..."
"Yes Miss Tendo..."
"It's Mrs Saotome now Elder Cologne."
"Well... I knew that you two were acting for a while and whilst I am so happy to hear that you two finally have made your feelings known in spite of my great grand-daughter's interests... it allows me to say this with ease that the council back home have removed Xian Pu's Kiss of Marriage on you Ranma."
Akane looked upon Ranma and together they smiled as they embraced as they hugged for a few minutes... only to realise that there was one other Kiss still on there.
"Old ghoul I still have the Kiss of Death marked on me?"
"Not really... the Kiss of Marriage overrules the Kiss of Death and by removing the Kiss of Marriage from you, you are no longer obliged to marry Xian Pu..."
"Well that's a relief."
Ranma and Akane visually breathed a sigh of relief which slightly annoyed the elder but she remained calm and resisted the urge to smack the two young martial artists on the head with her cane
"Quite... but the more important reason I am here is because I am here on the benefit of the council back home, they see the strength and great honor that dwells within you young Saotome and we wish to be your ally in future conflicts should the need be great."
"Um... I'm not sure on how to react to all this, considering that you openly tried to kill Akane in the past and have me drugged on several occasions... I don't know Acchan what do you reckon?"
"I'm as conflicted as you are Ranchan but it's your decision to make... I'll support you in whatever decision you make."
Ranma had a good few minutes to think about whilst weighing up the pros and cons of having the Amazons as allies... but as long as they become allies then Ranma would no longer have to marry Shampoo.
"Old ghoul you can tell your council that we say yes to becoming allies."
"That is excellent news, I must go ahead and make the preperations and message the council... I will come back when the council makes an offer and before I leave... I would like to congratulate the both of you on becoming married."
"Thank you Elder Cologne."
"Yes Thank you Elder Cologne."
"My... that is very mature of you Ranma, I might get used to it."
"Don't push your luck old crone."
Seeing the Saotome confident grin on his face made Cologne smile as she shook her head in amusement before she left... which prompted Akane to elbow him in the gut.
"That's enough out of you husband..."
"Aiyah... sorry dear."
"That's ok now then I believe someone needs to have a mock exam..."
"Oh come on Kane I just came out of a really long exam..."
"Which you barely passed Ranma no baka and the deadline is in 7 days... I will work you hard in order for you to join me next year so you must be prepared at all times!"
Ranma only sigh in defeat... well marriage is a whole new life altogether with it's' own challenges altogether... but still.
"Aiyaaaaaaah..."
Poor Ranma.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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(Taro) Well it's certainly been a while since I wrote a chapter for this story... no seriously it's been a couple of years at least but slowly but surely I am back although I am not sure anyone still REMEMBERS this story... at least has changed so much for a warhorse like myself.
In order to get the creative juices back, I've been writing a Digimon story called The Crimson Digidestined which I should tell you guys to check out because in essence it's a story I've always wanted to tell with Digital Monsters but not focus on the 8 main characters from Season 1.
Will this inspire me to write another chapter? Possibly but it depends on the feedback I get from this new one... the update will be removed and be replaced with this so I look forward to what you people think of Chapter 10.
Catch you all later!