Chapter 10 Two Gentlemen of Nerima
The day after the wedding, Nodoka answered the door of her house. There standing at the door was Shampoo, looking happier than Nodoka had ever seen her. "Nodoka, can we talk?" she asked.
"Certainly, child. Come on in. I've just made some tea, and was about to sit down and have a cup," Nodoka replied. She led Shampoo to the kitchen, where she poured a second cup of tea and handed it to Shampoo. The two of them sat down at the kitchen table and savored their tea, Nodoka content to wait for Shampoo to start the conversation.
Finally, after finishing her tea, Shampoo said, "I saw Elder Cologne the other day. She has released me from my Kiss of Marriage to your husband. She said I could tell ya and Ranma about that. I decided that I should wait until after the wedding, though, before I came ta see ya. I knew that ya were pretty busy with all of the arrangements for that."
"That was thoughtful of you, dear," Nodoka replied, "You're right, I was entirely too busy with the wedding to sit down with you and discuss this properly. It was your wish to have the engagement with Genma dissolved, wasn't it?"
Shampoo shuddered and replied, "Yes, Elder Nodoka. If my customs hadn't of forced me ta come, I wouldn't have. Don't take this wrong, as I mean no insult, but your husband turns my stomach. I am a daughter of Amazon warriors, a proud woman in my own right, and his opinions on the proper place of a woman would get him killed in my village."
"Pity that he's not there now," Nodoka mused. Shampoo shot her a sharp look, as Nodoka continued, "Shampoo, now that you are free of him, I can finish what I have started. Over the last several days, I have begun the steps of severing all of my ties with Genma. A few days ago, Ranma and I were removed from the Saotome clan roll, and added back to my family roster. I have also started the divorce process so that I will no longer be wed to that man as well. I have waited until you were ready before I told my soon-to-be former husband any of this."
"Then we should do that soon," Shampoo replied, "I'm an Amazon warrior, we definitely believe in kicking an enemy when she's down. Your son has removed his school, and his pride in martial arts, ya will remove his family and wife, and I will remove a potential mate. There's little left for ya ta take away."
"I can visit him today in the hospital. I know that you have been visiting him, as a good wife should, as have I. It's time for that charade to end," Nodoka replied. Then curious, she asked, "What are your plans, Shampoo? Now that you are free of Genma, do you intend to go home to China?"
Shampoo stared into space for a moment and then replied, "Elder, my tribe has many strong traditions, all of which define who we are as a people. However, my time here has taught me that we don't know everything. I intend ta remain here and finish high school. If I can, I also want ta attend college, though I'm not quite sure what I want ta major in yet. We Amazons do need to have a modern education, after all. ELder Cologne said that so long as I eventually return, when I return is up to me. She has groomed me for many years ta take her place as Matriarch of our people. But I'm not sure that a warrior is the right person for that."
"Why are you calling me Elder, Shampoo?" Nodoka asked quietly.
"Elder Cologne said that I was ta treat ya as an elder, that ya had much ta teach me as well," Shampoo replied, "I'm not sure what she meant by that."
Nodoka smiled, and replied, "I'm not sure what she meant either. Shampoo, Ranma, Akane and Nabiki will soon be moving back to the Tendo home. I'd like you to move in here with me, and we can learn that together. If you would allow me the honor, I would like to act as your mother while you remain here. I have come to think of you as my daughter."
"Nothing would please me more than ta call you Mom. I missed having one while I was growing up, and I have indeed come ta think of you as my mother," Shampoo responded. She ran over and glomped Nodoka.
"I'd like that as well, daughter. However," Nodoka said with a smile, "I can tell that my son taught you Japanese."
Shampoo looked puzzled and said, "What do ya mean by that?"
Nodoka sighed and said, "I love my son deeply, Shampoo, but his grammar is not always the best. His speech tends to be a bit sloppy. I'm afraid he didn't have any choice in the matter, though, since Genma is the one who taught him. I suspect Akane will change that in him, so I guess I need to give you the same instruction. You'll fit in a little better in school as well, though you'll always stand out as attractive and colorful as you are."
----------------------
That afternoon, Genma looked up to see his old friend and training partner, Soun, standing in the doorway to his hospital room. Genma scribbled a note that read, "It's good to see you, Tendo. I've missed our games of shogi." 'Not to mention your sake,' Genma thought.
Tendo grimaced to see the damage that Ranma had inflicted on his old friend. 'What you're about to do isn't much better, is it, Tendo?' he thought to himself. "Saotome, old friend, I have the proverbial good news and bad news to tell you," Tendo said, "Which would you like to hear first?"
Genma grunted and scribbled some more on his pad, "What's the bad news?"
Soun rubbed his eyes wearily and replied, "I've had a long talk with all of my daughters. They are all in agreement on this matter. For the sake of reuniting my divided family, I am forced to ask you to leave our home. Our friendship is important to me, but my daughters are the world to me, and I need them back."
Saotome replied via his pad, "I understand, Tendo. You need to do what you need to do. Don't worry about me; I can take care of myself. I'll just move in with Nodoka, after all. What's the good news?"
"Ranma and Akane were wed yesterday, joining our two schools," Soun said simply, "They were tired of waiting, I guess. The ceremony went off reasonably well, except for Kodachi Kuno crashing the wedding and trying to interrupt it. They'll be by I'm sure to talk to you once they get back in town. They took a short trip but they'll be back for school tomorrow, they said."
Genma wrote on his pad, "That's good news, all right. In spite of everything, I do wish the best for my son."
"As do I with my daughters," Soun replied. He pulled a portable game board from the bag he was carrying and began to arrange the shogi pieces on the board. "Now, shall we play a few games?" he asked.
----------------------
Nodoka and Shampoo met Soun at the hospital. Soun was just stepping out of the elevator as they were about to board. "Hello, Soun. Did you just come back from visiting Genma?" Nodoka asked.
"Hello, Nodoka. Yes, I spent the afternoon playing shogi and talking to him. I told him about Ranma and Akane getting married as well as the girls' demand that he leave my house. He took it reasonably well," Soun replied.
Nodoka grimaced, and replied, "Soun, I know his friendship means a great deal to you, in spite of everything that he has done. But I don't understand why."
"You wouldn't understand unless you'd gone through the things we did training under our Master. That forged a bond that will be hard to break. I'm not happy with how he's turned out; he's not the man I trained with. He obviously took on many of the Master's traits. I'm afraid he lost sight of who he was and instead focused only on his goal of training his son to be the best martial artist," Soun replied. The elevator returned to the ground floor and Nodoka and Shampoo got on it. "Good evening, you two," Soun said, as the doors closed, carrying the two women upstairs to his injured friend, hoping that they wouldn't hurt Genma even more.
Nodoka and Shampoo entered Genma's room, surprising the patient lying on the bed. His face lit up, what they could see of it, as he saw his wife. Nodoka frowned at him, and said, "Genma, we need to talk. I have come to a decision! I've had a long time to think about everything you've done and to put it politely, I'm not happy with you. After weighing everything that you've done, I have decided that you have failed in your pledge to teach my son to be a man among men. A man so lost to honor as yourself could never have taught anything about how to be manly."
Genma began to cringe. He wrote quickly on his pad, "Please don't make me commit seppuku, I don't wanna die!"
"You miserable worm! You disgust me," she said icily, "No husband, we will merely end this farce of a marriage. It is your choice however; it can end with divorce or your death. I have no intention of allowing you to do something so honorable as seppuku, though."
He began scribbling frantically, "Divorce, divorce, divorce."
Nodoka eyed him coldly and replied, "Excellent choice. I have started the paperwork already. We can end this farce of a marriage as soon as it is ready. I have already removed Ranma and myself from the Saotome clan roll and placed back on the Himura clan roll. Your turn, daughter."
Shampoo smiled evilly as she saw the cringing Saotome. "Old man, I had a talk with my clan Elder. Due ta your lack of honor, she dissolved the Kiss of Marriage I gave ya. You are not worthy to be my Airen!" she said. She walked over and kissed him on the right cheek. "Thus the Kiss of Marriage is annulled," she said, "I'm so glad that's over with. The mere thought of being your wife was enough ta make me ill. Ya can't imagine how relieved I was when great grandmother said she never had any intention of me marrying ya."
Genma wrote on the pad, "So what am I supposed to do once I get out of the hospital? Where am I supposed to go? Soun has already told me that I am no longer welcome at his house, and obviously, you won't allow me in yours. I am a penniless man, without a yen to his name. Can't you have some pity on me?"
"I am not totally without pity, Genma. We will give you enough money to get out of town, and find a job. Once that's gone, you'd better be employed, so don't spend it all drinking your sorrows away," Nodoka replied, "But don't try my patience anymore. What you have done to my son, to the Tendo family, and to this poor girl, is inexcusable. You're lucky I don't feel completely blameless in this mess, or you wouldn't be getting this much. I allowed you to take Ranma away, and then I supported you and Nabiki in that fiasco at the Tendo home. Fortunately for me, Ranma and Akane loved each other enough to defy us and leave. Even more fortunately, Akane talked Ranma into forgiving me."
"Ranma is a good man, Saotome, maybe too good," Shampoo said, "I would have killed ya instead of letting ya live. If we were back in China, you'd have been made an object lesson on how not ta raise children or treat women. Of course, the object lesson would have been long and drawn out, and, oh by the way, very painful." Shampoo glared at the groveling man, and then stalked out of the room.
Nodoka stared at the wreck of the man she had once loved, and sighed. She said, "How did it come to this, Genma? Was your rash pride in wanting to have Ranma be the best martial artist worth what it has cost you? Why did you change into the abuser you became?"
Genma stared stonily into space and then wrote, "Even after you and I wed, I never thought I was really worthy of you. You were so beautiful, talented and smart. I knew your parents, especially your father, weren't happy with me. If it hadn't been for my father forcing your father into honoring the pledge that he had made, your father wouldn't have consented. I know they went to their graves believing that you had married beneath yourself. I hoped that by raising Ranma as the greatest martial artist that ever was would show them that I was indeed man enough for their little girl. Was it worth it? No, it has cost me everything that I love. My son detests me, and my wife despises me. The only thing that I have accomplished is blowing away like dust in the wind. As to why I did what I did, I honestly thought I was training Ranma in the best manner possible. After all, it was the way I was taught as a child. Do I have regrets? Yes, I regret more than you can know going to Jusenkyo. I regret not reading that manual more fully about the neko-ken. Do I regret that Ranma is indeed the martial artist that I dreamed he would be? Not in the slightest."
"I see," Nodoka said coldly, "Even now, at the end, you still misunderstand. It hurt Ranma more than you could possibly know to have to fight you the other day. At one time he looked up to you, but you betrayed him on so many levels, he didn't even recognize all of them. And then, to try to take him away from the woman he had come to love, that loved him in spite of all of his flaws, and then to drive another girl that he cared deeply for to the brink of suicide. That almost brought him to the point of killing his own father. If he hadn't stopped short, he would no longer be a martial artist. He would have been a killer, and I don't think he would have wanted to live like that. If he had killed you, I know that he would have given up on martial arts. What he did to you, sickened him, and he's having a hard time forgiving himself for that. At a time when he should be enjoying his new bride, he still has to look himself in the mirror and see haunted eyes looking back at him. I hope you feel real proud of yourself."
Genma wrote, "Only the hottest fires can forge the strongest steel. Leave me to my shame in peace."
"You're a fool, Genma Saotome," Nodoka replied. She then spun on her heel, and left, no longer caring what happened to the man she once cared for so deeply.