X X X X X X - Scene perspective shift
"speech"
'thought'
#panda sign#
(telepathy between Washu, Ryoko, Ranma, and cabbit)
In response to anonymous who said Washu didn't use an advanced enough medical lab. Well you never see her use a medical lab in the OVA but in Universe she uses a similar bed to take care of a much more injured Yosho. And just because I didn't have her use anything more advanced doesn't mean she doesn't have it. Also her restraining device for Tenchi and mind reading device used on Ryo-ohki are all rather low tech looking in the OVA.
Another chapter that went through several complete rewrites.
X X X X X X
"Ok, so, what the hell just went on outside?" Nabiki asked. Her father and Genma were currently unconscious and were restrained in balls of transparent green goo. Remarkably enough they didn't stick to anything else. Another strange thing were the two logs that flanked the pair. Not only could they talk but they could actually fly about and appear at will.
"Those two idiots just screwed up. What's there to figure out?" Ryoko actually seemed pleased about this. "It's kinda fun seeing things from this side."
"What Ryoko-san is trying to say is that Washu-sama believes that these two were the cause of Ranma-san's episode outside." Ayeka said.
"So why are you listening to some little girl anyways?" Demanded Akane.
"Washu-sama is, that is to say, she is a highly intelligent scientist. And it is not advised to cross her." An image of kappafied Ayeka suddenly appeared in Ayeka's head. The princess shivered at the memory of being small green and somewhat slimy. Such a horrible prospect for a beautiful princess such as herself.
"Yea right she's like 13, 14 at the oldest." The youngest Tendo scoffed.
"Akane-san, we all agree with Ayeka's opinion on Washu-san. She is far more than she seems." The lone male of the group Tenchi spoke up. Nabiki noted the way these people, aside from the little girl, were all nervous about Washu. And judging by the things she had done outside she would be inclined to agree.
"So what do you do for fun around here." Nabiki asked, people were more likely to give out information if they were having fun at the time. This interrogation setting obviously wasn't working.
"I'll go get the cards!" Sasami announced. (1)
X X X X X X
The next day came quickly and Nabiki hadn't been able to get any information. It was like they had taken a vow of silence on the whole matter. And seemed to expect her to go along with it. And now her and her two sisters had been ushered into a cab and sent on their merry way. The whole situation stinked. The two fathers had royally screwed up any plans she had of getting to know the owner of that space ship and had actually raised more questions than answered.
Now sitting in some dingy cab as they started the trek back to Nerima she let her foul mood permeate the car. Thoughts of how to pay back her father for screwing everything up, what home work she needed to do for the next day, and most importantly whether or not she could pursue finding out the secrets of the Masaki home. Perhaps if she lived closer there would be no question, but crossing half of Japan just to be turned away at the door was not an effective strategy. And that is what would happen after her rude slip up last night.
'At least I don't have to worry about them going anywhere. I'll just have to work on Nodoka and try to get information from her.'
Unlike her mercenary like sister, Kasumi had enjoyed herself immensely. As before when the Masaki group visited her home, she got along great with Sasami and she had found a similar soul in the girl who enjoyed providing for people as much as she did. And when she took the long trek up to the shrine she had found Katsuhito to be pleasant company. She had even gotten a new tea recipe from him that she would have to work into her usual rotation.
"Are you alright Nabiki?" Kasumi asked as they took a cab back to the train station. She was worried about her younger sister, who seemed obsessed with finding out what the residents of the Masaki home's secret was. She didn't think it proper at all with how demanding the girl had been. Especially when they had inadvertently brought such disharmony to their home.
"I'm fine."
"Well if you say so." Pursing her lips she decided not to pry. Nabiki was in one of her foul moods and unlike Akane there was little chance that she would open up and explain why. "Did you have fun Akane?"
"Me? I guess, there wasn't much to do. But it was nice to take a trip. But I wonder if Dad will be back anytime soon though."
"I hope he stays away for a couple days. I specifically told him that he couldn't come, yet he did anyways. Stupid Daddy." Nabiki huffed and crossed her arms.
"Nabiki you really shouldn't say such things." Times like these Kasumi wished she had a bit more control of her younger sibling.
"All my plans were ruined because of him and his idiot friend."
"Plans?"
"It's nothing Akane." Nabiki snapped and went back to looking outside and occasionally growling. Shaking her head Kasumi decided to follow Nabiki's lead and watch the scenery go by.
X X X X X X
Once the members of the Masaki home along with Nodoka were assured that the Tendo sisters had left, the matter on what could be done about Genma was now being discussed. Around the room Washu had replicated some clipboard like devices that had a flat display giving off a chronological list of the information Mihoshi was able to retrieve from Genma.
Nodoka placed her tablet down on the table amazed at how much Mihoshi had gotten from her husband. She had never really been able to get a straight answer from him Sighing she tried to mentally digest the information she now had. The overwhelming sadness she had was limited by the uncontrollable anger for her husband and it just left her numb all over.
Genma had promised her that he would raise Ranma to be a man amongst men. Something that was expected for any male in the Saotome clan. But this, it was sheer lunacy. From the down right dangerous training methods to actually engaging him to multiple girls. Something she actually didn't find that horrible, but it was the training that Ranma could very well have been maimed or even worse from that staggered her. One maybe two could be understandable, the life of a martial artist was perilous, but it seemed like Genma had come up with something every month.
Washu sat next to her on the couch and had long since finished reading her copy. It wasn't much of a stretch for Nodoka to believe she was trying to figure out a suitable punishment for the man. She was happy that she didn't know what horrors the self proclaimed greatest scientist in the universe could come up with.
Neither Genma or Soun were in the room with them, being relegated to the main entrance. They had been assured by Washu that the only way to free someone from the restraining gel was to be dissolved by a controller. Someone able to produce a considerable amount of energy would be able to, but it would be impossible even for a body enhanced member of the Galaxy Police to break free from. Washu had actually laughed when she had brought up the idea that Genma might be able to do so. Soun had been released since he hadn't actually done anything and seemed to be genuinely sorry about what little he had.
Washu, Ayeka, and Mihoshi sat around a table while reading the information. Not so much Mihoshi who had heard it first hand. Ryoko had been uninterested and had left along with Tenchi and Sasami. Sasami they had decided, did not need to hear or learn about some of the more insane things Genma had done. Outside, floating in the lake was the sleek navy and white form of Mihoshi's shuttle. Recently fixed and partially upgraded by Washu.
"Mihoshi-dono now that you have this information what can you do about him?" Washu started the conversation.
"Um, lemme look at the book." Mihoshi grabbed the pink cube tied to her hip and started to twist and turn pieces until a large book labeled 'GP Protocols' materialized in her lap. Flipping through the pages she stopped and sat quietly for a moment. "Actually I can't do anything. Since this is one of those developing worlds. Oops, I'm sorry."
"Mihoshi-san." Ayeka started. "I believe there is something you can do. Washu-sama is a citizen of Jurai. Does that not make Ranma-san also one? If nothing else I wish to see this man punished. Does not my station allow for something?"
"I guess so, but the book says I can't do anything. I think Earth is part of Jurai's space though so the Galaxy Police shouldn't really be here." Mihoshi answered unsure on why everyone was expecting her to do something. Genma was a bad man but the rules said she shouldn't.
"But Mihoshi-san, surely the severity and numerous crimes against a citizen of Jurai, even by someone from an unincorporated world would warrant his arrest. Even for some one without any political backing such as Washu-sama." Nodoka didn't miss the way Washu's eyes instantly darkened and glared at Ayeka. She was almost taken back by how much contempt those green eyes held.
"Let me see." Once again they had to wait for the blonde to scroll through pages. "Ah ha, it says if an accused is brought to the attention of the Galaxy Police by the combined will of a citizen of the unincorporated world, a citizen of an incorporated world, and a citizen of Jurai then the Galaxy Police can intervene."
"How convenient." Nodoka noticed that Washu's smile was a little forced as she said that. She would make sure to ask the girl about what she had noticed later.
"Right. Uh I guess now that I have the needed information I can take him in for the trial. But before I go, could I, maybe, talk to Tenchi one last time?" Mihoshi finished and played with fingers.
"Of course dear." Smiling at the blonde Nodoka stood along with her but didn't leave the room. Turning to Washu she motioned for her to follow into the kitchen.
X X X X X X
"Psst, Tendo-kun, psst."
"Saotome-kun I'm sorry but I don't know how to get you out." Genma's eyes quickly scanned around him as he tried to figure out a way to get out of this green stuff. It was like some torture the Master would come up with, it was only hard to move if he moved quickly. But if he moved slowly it stretched with him making escape impossible. If he tried to move quickly it wouldn't keep up but he could never move enough to get out.
Years honed under the dreaded Master and further years training Ranma and regularly needing to break in or out of places after making deals that he wouldn't keep. While this situation was certainly new for the martial artist, father and expert thief. He knew that this thing had to have a limit to how far it could move. Realization hit him like an angry Ranma.
Something he dreaded almost as much as the Master, almost as much as Ranma-neko. He debated a moment on which was worse. The Master would beat him till he stopped resisting, while Ranma-neko would shred him without mercy till distracted. Probably the only reason he still lived was that Ranma-neko was distracted by pretty much anything.
"Tendo-kun, could you get me some cold water?"
"I'd be happy to my old friend." Licking his lips in anticipation of getting free or at least confusing that little red head until she let him free thinking he was a panda. He didn't have to wait long for his friend to return with the water. "Oops forgot you can't use your arms."
"That's ok Tendo-kun, I want you to pour it on me."
"What why?"
"Because if I turn into a panda I might be able to get out, or that little girl with the key to this might let me out." He whispered trying not to let anyone hear his master plan in the room next door.
"You're brilliant Saotome-kun! Here." One splash later and a panda the added girth and size popped the green thing like a balloon spraying the green goo everywhere.
#I'm out of here# flip #You coming?#
"Just like the old days eh Saotome-kun?"
#Right right Tendo-kun!#
With that the pair were off running for the hills both literally and figuratively. Screw the boy, he could come back for him later, preferably when that red headed witch and his wife weren't around. He'd been doing this for years while on the road with Ranma, this wasn't any different.
X X X X X X
Tenchi would have preferred to stay in the room with everyone else and find out what Genma had done to Ranma. But as it was he was chosen to make sure Sasami stayed out of any details. The girl was after all young, at least mentally, and they had assumed Genma had done some disturbing things to his adopted son.
Unfortunately Ryoko had followed them to his room, where they were looking through an old photo album he had. Ryo-ohki was also looking on from her place in Sasami's lap as they sat on his bed and thumbed through the large book. Occasionally he had to chide Ryoko who would start digging through his things. But other than that she was behaving and occasionally took notice when Sasami said something about a picture.
A knock at the door drew him to the door. Opening it he found a nervous Mihoshi. "Hi Mihoshi, is something wrong?"
"Um Tenchi-san, I just, I wanted to thank you, for, you know, letting me stay."
"You don't have to thank me. It was nice having your here." Smiling he noticed that Mihoshi was starting to tear up. "Are you alright?"
"I guess this means...goodbye." The girl started to wail in earnest and hugged him.
"Easy, easy. You don't have to say goodbye, you can come by and stay any time you like."
Mihoshi sniffled before a smile spread across her face. "You mean it?" He nodded and was enveloped in another hug. 'Why do I get the feeling this will come back to bite me?'
X X X X X X
Patience was something Washu had learned a long, long, long, time ago. She in fact had an almost endless patience, though that had been tested by her long stay in her crystalline prison. A future discussion with Ayeka would be about getting such a prison sentence removed from use. Even for someone like her it had been near unbearable and any lesser being would have become an insane monster. At the very least a criminal should not be allowed to be awake at all during it. 'Pfeh and they said I'm a monster.'
Turning to a door sliding open she looked curiously at Mihoshi who was wringing her hands in worry. "Um, it seems the bad man escaped."
"WHAT!?" Washu yelled and quickly ran out to the main entrance.
"What the hell!? How in the world did he get out?" Washu growled and examined the remains of the restraining gel that was splattered everywhere. Nothing short of doubling a persons physical size could have allowed a person to free themselves from the commonly used restraining device. That's how it was designed, the harder one tried to get out, the harder it became. To actually cause one to explode was unheard of and any shapeshifter's ability would be neutralized meaning even Ryo-ohki could not break from it by turning into her ship form.
Her sharp green eyes looked around for anything that could clue her in to how it happened. There on the ground was a glass with a few remnants of water within it. "Nodoka-dono, does Genma have a curse?" Jusenkyo ignored the requirements for creating and destroying mass after all and was not something known by the Galaxy Police.
"Yes, he turns into a panda, why?"
"Because it looks like the panda got away." Frowning she considered getting dressed up in safari clothes and hunting the man down. No doubt he had yet to get far enough for her sensors to find them, since they would have to travel several hundred kilometers away from the home to do so. Taking into account what she knew of the man it was safe to assume that he would make another attempt to retrieve Ranma.
"Well I guess that's that."
"You don't seem that upset that my husband has gotten away." Turning to Nodoka, she smiled evilly.
"He's predictable, I'll have something waiting for him the next time he returns." Rubbing her hands together in anticipation she also wondered what kind of experiments she could conduct that wouldn't get the Galaxy Police in an uproar. Maybe some with the Jusenkyo curse that she was wary of conducting on Ranma. If Genma degraded into nothing, who would complain?
"Does this mean I don't have to leave?" Mihoshi asked.
"Well you don't have to, but I am sure you should at least report in about Ayeka-dono and Sasami-chan. You are a detective after all."
"Oh that's right, I forgot about why I was here. I was supposed to pick them up and bring them home." Sighing Washu grabbed a remote from her pocket to dissolve the gel. 'Whenever Mihoshi is involved it takes time, in this case a couple weeks.'
"I'm sorry that I can't stay around and enjoy your company Nodoka-dono but I am tremendously busy with getting my lab back up and running. So if you'll excuse me."
"Oh of course Washu-chan, I wouldn't want to get in your way."
Once safely back inside her lab, this time she had made sure it would be impossible to force open from the outside. Not that the Galaxy Police had needed to, that pathetic worm Dr. Clay had given them clearance to come and go as they pleased. That mistake she would not be repeating, other than Ryoko and Ranma no one else would have free access to her lab. Well she supposed she could throw in Sasami, and Tenchi could visit her anytime, and Nodoka was nice to talk to, and Katsuhito had something he was hiding. 'Oh hell I'll just give these people clearance and no one else.'
'Maybe now that Ranma wasn't causing distractions she could get back to work. What to do first though? Oh I know, the dimensional tuner!' Whistling happily she nearly skipped to her destination. She had begun work on the machine before starting work on the gems and hadn't finished it. Well she would have to rectify that right away.
X X X X X X
Ayeka shuffled nervously as she actually stood inside of Tenchi's room. She had never actually been inside of it before. And now here she stood alone with her nephew. The first thing she noticed was that it had a nice view overlooking the lake. With how the house was twisted the one she shared with Sasami had an obstructed view from the side of the house.
Her left eye developed a twitch as she noticed several posters on the walls depicted scantily clad women. She would have to, remove, those later. The only woman Tenchi should be looking at is her. Along one wall was Tenchi's desk, including many text books that she assumed were from his Earthly education. Next to the door was a closet and the rest of the room was mostly barren.
"Tenchi-sama, I brought you a copy of what Mihoshi-san found out from Ranma-san adopted father."
"Oh thanks Ayeka." Handing him one of the tablets she tried to make it so he would unwittingly grab her hand like in one of those manuals but he was able to take it without.
"You're welcome Tenchi-sama. Oh and I was curious, but why has your father not been home?"
"Oh right I forgot to tell everyone. He's going to stay with a friend of the family in the city so he doesn't have to commute so far to work everyday." What Tenchi left off was the man was getting out of the way so Tenchi could start having his way with the lovely young women.
"Oh dear, I hope our presence here wasn't the cause of his relocation." Raising a hand to her mouth in worry she considered the possibility. What would her Mother think if she found out how they had kicked someone so gracious from their home.
"I wouldn't worry about that. I think he and Rea-san have a thing going anyways."
"Rea-san? I don't think I have met her yet."
"I don't suppose you would have. She lives in the city, though I think she said she would stop by sometime to help with the move. Uh is there anything else you need? I got a lot of homework to do for tomorrow and I've put it off as long as I can."
"Oh of course Tenchi-sama. But if you would like some help, I was tutored by the best Jurai had to offer." This would be a great opportunity for her to spend time with Tenchi as well as to impress upon the man what Jurai had to offer. Tenchi was after all a prince.
"No that's alright, I really should do it on my own."
"Alright, but if you need any assistance please do not hesitate to ask." Bowing she left him to his work.
X X X X X X
The next day...
"Oh man, did anyone get the number of that truck?" Sitting up Ranma rubbed at his eyes. Whatever had happened left him with the vague feeling of his brain being smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped around a solid gold brick. Rin-ohki was instantly sending a few questioning sensations through their link, he even noticed that she was sending out more actual words. "I'm ok Rin, I just don't remember anything after talking with the old man."
Stretching to get the kinks out he noted that there were surprisingly few of them. Not even the usual aches and pains that he had. Dismissing it he examined the room he was now in. 'Washu's medical place? How did I get here?' Scratching Rin-ohki behind the ear, he slipped from the hospital bed that was floating in air. Just a simple white room with a window exposing the same fake view that he had seen in the room Shampoo was in.
"What the hell am I wearing?!" Patting himself he pulled and stretched the skin tight body suit he now wore. Just flat black material that covered him from the mid neck to his feet. Rubbing his fingers together he found that he could still feel normally and the suit didn't shift unless it was pulled away from the body. Grabbing the neck he tried to pull it away so he could take it off but found it didn't stretch enough. "Who put this stupid thing on me?!" Pulling harder rewarded him with no further stretch so he let the material snap back into place.
"And how's my favorite guinea pig today?" Eeping he did something unexpected from Washu's sudden entrance. That is he flew up and smacked into the ceiling before falling back to land face first on the floor. Groaning he rubbed his face and got into a kneeling position.
"Oh man I wasn't expecting to go that high."
"You may want to be careful until you have a better handle on what you can and can't do. Have a seat." Grumbling but complying he got up and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Now tell me what you remember."
"Last thing I remember was Oyaji taken me off to talk about something. Wait no then there was a cat. He put me in the neko-ken that bastard!"
"We figured as much, Mihoshi-dono questioned him yesterday."
"Yesterday?"
"You've been out for approximately 40 hours. I spent most of yesterday repairing Mihoshi-dono's shuttle and of course I fixed it. Even made a few minor improvements to it's design. Mihoshi-dono got most of your life story from him. Even some things that you didn't tell me when I asked politely." Briefly he wondered whether or not he could find his way out of the lab before Washu did something.
"You'll pay for it later." She wagged a finger at him. "Bend down." Ducking his head down he found his head grabbed by Washu who started to feel around his ears.
"Um, what are you doing?" His eyes widened when he felt an ear actually move. "What the hell is going on!?" Pulling away he brought up his hands to feel his ears. They felt far larger than they should be and were shaped funny.
"Calm down, your cat personality was just able to do some interesting things."
"I didn't hurt anybody did I?" After cats that was his greatest fear. Losing control and hurting someone. Well hurting Genma was fun and the couple times he had woken up to find Genma shredded had actually been kinda nice. In a way, therapeutic.
"Ah yes I forgot that you don't remember what you do while in that state. Shortly after you, went cat, your form reverted. Genma spilled the detail that your abilities were actually unlocked when you were like that since you were 6. And since you were so close to having it happen anyways it must have accelerated the process even further. My you're just full of surprises. If you keep this up I'll have to get you a shirt saying '#1 Guinea Pig'."
"That's great and all but, WHAT ABOUT MY EARS!?"
"There's a mirror in the bathroom." Dashing into the small room he found the mirror and quickly inspected his ears. His new large triangular cat ears.
"Ca ca ca ca cat ears?" Blinking he found that his eyes had also changed. No longer the solid blue he was used to they were now a darker shade of blue that mixed into a gold color around his pupils. And even those had changed becoming pointed at the top and bottom like a cats. (2)
Turning quickly to Washu who was observing him in the doorway. "What happened? Why am I like this?"
"Minor matter manipulation is one of your abilities. As with your body being in a state of flux at the time and your cat personality in control, I'm honestly surprised that was the extent to your physical changes. Though the tail is an interesting touch."
"What are you talking about tail?" Pausing he turned around when he noticed that he could feel something moving. What he found was that he now had a long black tail that was currently lashing back and forth angrily. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" Tugging on it as hard as he could, he twisted around several times before losing his balance and falling on his back.
"Oh calm down, it's a fake tail anyways. Ryoko uses one too." Washu was trying to reign in her giggles as Rin-ohki on the floor smiling blissfully at him.
"Stop laughing and get this stupid thing off of me!" Standing up he glared at the small girl.
"All you have to do is will the battle suit away."
"That's it?"
"That's it." Frowning he thought about getting rid of the thing. There was a slight tingling and then it was off of him. "Hey it worked!" Stopping he noticed that Washu was walking around him and making 'hmm'ing' noises. "Uh Washu?"
"Good muscle mass but not overly bulky, more for speed than power, proper muscle tone and symmetry, everything looks as it should, so you should have no problem using visual psychological warfare."
"What's visual psychological warfare?"
"Erotic warfare."
"What!?"
"And to think my important work was almost destroyed by that human. I'll definitely be testing out various techniques to remove a Jusenkyo curse on him."
"Hold it, hold it, I'm not a pervert."
"Of course, of course." Growling he turned back to stare into the mirror. It wasn't exactly a stranger that stared back but well it could have been a lot worse. At least he didn't look like Ryoko. Too bad he looked like a damn cat though.
"Why am I not freaking out?"
"Miyah!" The cabbit announced, angry over being ignored.
"Rin-ohki is probably helping calm you down."
Focusing on the link for a moment he found that it was sort of muted, like the volume had been turned down. "I can't feel her as much as I did yesterday, what happened?" That was a double edged sword, he liked the cabbit, but he had been overwhelmed with how much emotion she could send his way.
"Questions questions questions, oh my little Ranma-chan is taking after his mother."
"Yea right." He snorted.
"You need to learn to relax, you'll get gray hairs before you hit 200 at this rate. Simple answer is that your mind can handle all the information so while it seems less it is in reality a bit more." Nodding he pulled at his new hair. It was slightly more springy than before and was a dark red color, a shade or two darker than Nodoka's.
Washu's hand appeared in front of his face holding some white band. "Here put this on."
"What is it?" Taking the thing it looked like some weaved material that glinted like metal. "I don't wear jewelry."
"You tie your hair back with it, and it will help regulate how much energy you can output till you are better able to use your abilities. It should stop little accidents like you jumping into the ceiling." Looking at it doubtfully he shrugged before reaching back to tie his hair in a ponytail at the base of his skull. He needed something as it was and this would work till he could get something better.
"What happened to the string I had before?" The dragon whisker was pretty valuable, he didn't need it and selling it might get him a lot of money.
"Burned away just like everything else you were wearing. It's the reason I'm giving you something to stop that from happening. Especially if you are able to retrieve a gem from Tenchi, you could end up hurting those around you. Unlike Ryoko you haven't always been exposed to their power or even your own. I was a little afraid that you were going to burn out like a candle the other night."
"You're pullin my leg." Washu shook her head. "Oh come on I wouldn't let that happen."
"Spare me your bravado, the other day you nearly set fire to the house. Though you did destroy a large portion of grass and a lot of trees."
"I did?"
"Yup, I got to meet Katsuhito-dono and he wasn't happy about the damage." Wincing at the mention of the priest. "He said it was lucky that it should grow back. But you'll have to reside the house."
"Urk."
"He also said that with Tenchi gone back to school during the week you'll have to take on his duties as well."
"This sucks! And how is something like this going to stop that from happening again?"
"It's fine that you don't understand the mechanics, all you need to know is that it works. I mean I haven't exactly tried to explain subspace mechanics to you, yet here you are in my subspace lab."
"Can you get rid of these things?" Grabbing his ears for emphasis.
"No way those are way too cute to get rid of!" Washu's eyes sparkled as she clasped her hands under her chin. Breaking from her display she coughed into a hand. "What I meant to say was that I don't really see any need to do so. If a problem arises because of it I'll think about it but till then no deal."
"Well that's just great, I look like a freaking cat."
"Use the cold water tap, I want to see how your female form was affected."
"No way, I've spent way too much time as a girl lately. If I can I'm staying a guy."
"Fine, there are some clothes that you can put on out in the room. Although the free show would be more interesting if I wasn't your mom."
"Free show?" Looking down he found that he was actually naked. "ACK!" Desperately trying to cover himself Washu just laughed at him before leaving. Calming down from his full body blush he peeked out the doorway to find Washu gone. Turning back to Rin-ohki he found that she actually was doing a cabbit version of a smirk.
"Do I look a lot like a cat?" His response was a happy miyah and the cabbit jumping up to sit on his head. "I swear Oyaji is going to pay for this." Inspecting the new clothing he found them to be like the ones Washu wore. Only instead of shorts they had long pleated black pants. Quickly pulling on the black clothing he took a moment to stretch and test it's mobility. Finding nothing getting in the way he headed off to leave the lab.
X X X X X X
In orbit around Jupiter sat Mihoshi's red patrol ship, the Yagami, sat where Mihoshi had left it. In her shuttle Yukinojo was taking care of the piloting as the shuttle docked with the much larger vessel by landing in it's compartment mid ship. Stretching Mihoshi let off a loud yawn as Yukinojo blared an alarm to wake her up.
"Are we there already?" She whined.
"Yes Mihoshi-dono. Would you like for me to open a channel to headquarters on the super interspace hotline??"
"I guess." A large black screen was brought up in front of the robotic head of Yukinojo, an hourglass displayed in the middle had sand dripping down to the bottom as she waited.
A smile started to spread across her face. 'Tenchi said I can come back anytime I like.' Giggling she started to fantasize about him and her fighting crime on Earth. Ryoko bound and tied as they celebrated bringing in such a wanted criminal. Her face fell whens he realized that he was Jurai royalty and they would never join the GP.
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?" Wincing she looked up to see Captain Nobeyama's angry face glaring at her.
"I was on Earth with Tenchi." Angry Captain forgotten she went right back to day dreaming about Tenchi. Maybe she could include Ranma too, he was nice as well.
"Earth? Tenchi? What is Earth? Are you talking about the planet Ayeka-samas distress signal was sent out from? And who is Tenchi? Where is Ayeka-sama? Why have you not rescued the princesses!?"
"Oh they are on Earth too." Standing up from her chair she saluted. "This is First Class Detective Mihoshi hereby requested transfer to patrol this special area of the solar system."
"You, you what? But you can't! Your Grandfa, I mean the Marshall is looking forward to seeing you again! You can't just."
"I'm not a child, don't worry about my Grandfather."
Nobeyama was now wiping at his brow with a towel. "Is there any way to make you reconsider? Besides, that is Jurai's territory. We can't go their without their permission."
"Oh goodie! Cause I have permission!"
"You what?!"
Clasping her hands together at the thought of Tenchi. "He said he wanted me to come back."
"Who did?"
"Tenchi did, he said I could come back to him." Blushing furiously she shook her head. "How embarrassing! Oh Chief, don't make me say this!" Now happily bouncing around the room she was oblivious to Nobeyama's image turning to speak with Yukinojo.
"Who is Tenchi?"
"He's related to the Jurai royal family. My data on the subject is incomplete but he appears to be a descendant of crown prince Yosho."
Turning back to Mihoshi, Nobeyama started screaming to get her attention. "Mihoshi what is the meaning of this?!"
"Oh I'm sorry, my report is finished now." Saluting again."This is Detective First Class Mihoshi signing off."
"Mihoshi! Wait! Stop!" The screen blipped out.
"Let's go back to Earth Yukinojo!"
"Yes Mihoshi-dono." The kindly robot said and started the return course to Earth.
X X X X X X
Back in his office Nobeyama was still yelling at his screen for a moment longer before collapsing back into his chair. Rubbing his forehead he wondered how this could get any worse. Orders from the very top had come down recently concerning the missing members of the Masaki family. Sighing he picked up the two reports Mihoshi had sent his way. One was Mihoshi's report on how she had spent her time since the last check in. The other was labeled 'Bad Bad Panda Man' with a crude drawing of a half panda half man thing that was bound and gagged.
Picking up the formal, or as formal as Mihoshi got, report he started to read. As usual, Mihoshi wrote down way too much information and now he would be stuck in his office reading through it before he could hand a modified version to his superiors. The woes of being a double agent for Jurai Intelligence.
X X X X X X
Nodoka was out enjoying the afternoon with Sasami. Even at such a young age the girl was very mature and was perfectly at home in doing the household chores. And at the Masaki home they were actual chores. They were currently walking back from the nearby town. She winced at the memory of the poor boy Seina who's family owned the store. Such a nice boy, it was too bad he was plagued by such horrible luck. Though it did make shopping easier when the other customers had run away.
"Sasami-chan what do your parents do?" Of course she remembered that Sasami was a princess. But Ranma had been vague with his description and it couldn't hurt to ask.
"They're the rulers of Jurai. Isn't that right Ryo-chan?"
"Miyah!"
"What's Jurai like?"
"Hmm, it's a lot like Earth, but it has perfect weather all the time, and the trees are much bigger. Actually everything is made from trees and with nature."
"Do you have cities?"
"Oh yes, but on Jurai it's the capital so it's mostly kept just for the royal family. The only cities there are the ones around the space ports. A lot of other planets have big cities, even a couple that are nothing but cities."
"Your family has the entire planet for itself?"
"Not all of it, there are a lot of other nobility that live there but it's mostly for the four royal houses."
"Four?"
"Uh huh, Masaki, Tatsuki, Amaki, and Kamiki."
"Do you all have big families?"
"No, most families are small. We have really long lives so most only have a few children. Except for Grandmother Kamiki, she likes to adopt and has many children. She's also fond of throwing a small pebble into a quiet pond to watch the ripples." Sasami giggled at a private joke, but Nodoka understood the meaning.
"Oh? You're very smart to come up with a difficult analogy like that Sasami-chan." The blue haired girls smile grew even bigger.
"Excuse me! Watch out!" Turning they found Seina flying by them on his bicycle. The handlebars no longer attached. Stepping out of the way they watched him pass. "I'm really really sorry!"
"Do you think he'll be alright?" She turned to Sasami.
"I think he's used to it by now." Unfortunately the bottom of their plastic bags chose that moment to give way. (3)
X X X X X X
Stepping out of Washu's lab Ranma quickly made his way to the kitchen. He was hungry and he needed food, as in right now. Grabbing several dishes from the fridge he piled as much as he could fit on a plate and still fit inside the microwave. Remembering to put some plastic wrap over top he put it on the microwave and set it for a couple minutes. No way was he going to turn into a kitchen destroyer like Ryoko and Ayeka.
Not being the most patient person in the world he grabbed one of the cereal bars Nobuyuki loved to eat before commuting to work in the morning. Also grabbing a carrot he handed it to Rin-ohki. Each finished quickly and he ended up sitting down on the counter and drumming his fingers. The soft displacement of air marking Ryoko's entrance made him glance behind to see the girl lounging in mid air. A large smirk spread over her face as she slowly looked him up and down.
"So sleeping beauty wakes."
"Too bad all the sleep in the world won't help your old mummy wrinkles." His own mouth turned into a smirk when Ryoko's faltered for a moment. "So how do you do it? How do you fly?" He continued trying to be sly. How could someone not want the ability to fly? He had been attempting to do so for years while training but had only ever been able to jump and stretch out the time in the air.
"First you insult me, and now you want me to tell you how to do this?" The space pirate started to do lazy circles around him.
"No way! It was you who started it."
"Just this once I'll take pity on my poor little brother slash sister. It's simple, you just do it."
"What?"
"Silly little boy or girl." Ryoko tsked and wagged a finger. "I'm not going to hold your hand, if you want that, better run back to mommy!" Cackling to herself Ryoko floated away and through the wall into the living room.
"Just you wait! In a week I'll have everything figured out and I'll be the one flying circles around you!" Snorting he would have attempted to fly after her just to show he could do it, except the timer went off. "Ooh food!"
Five minutes later, Ranma had just started on his second plate. Years spent on the road had gotten him in the habit of eating food whenever it was available. With a glutton like Genma around, you never really could know when your next meal would be. Living in a secure place like Tenchi's house, where the worst he had to deal with was Ryoko taking more than her share, had allowed him to slowly, ever so slowly, get out of the habit.
He paused mid bite as he heard the outside door open and Sasami's voice call out her arrival. Sasami with Ryo-ohki riding on her head and Nodoka soon entered the kitchen carrying several plastic bags. "Ranma-niichan you're up!" The girl announced and gave him a large smile. On her head Ryo-ohki also greeted him and Rin-ohki gave her own back.
"Yea I'm up. Anything interesting happen while I was, taking a break?"
"Seina-niichan crashed his bike again."
"Who?"
"He's a nice boy who's family owns the convenience store in town Ranma." Nodoka answered and set about unpacking their bags. Which strangely enough where tied at the bottom in a knot.
"Oh, uh thanks." Looking down and shuffling his feet. 'Well this is uncomfortable, what am I supposed to call her?'
"How are you feeling Ranma?" Nodoka asked, shoving several cans into a cupboard.
"Pretty good actually, some things, not so much." He would have reached up to tug at an ear but he was making it a point to just ignore them. Momentarily he wondered how he could hide them without looking like an idiot but quickly dismissed the idea since their position dictated anything that could would be stupid looking. A hat would be too large and a bandanna would just look stupid. He didn't want to look like Ryoga, bleh. Next thing he knew he would be getting lost somewhere.
"That's good, are you hungry? Me and Sasami-chan were about to start dinner."
In response his stomach made it's presence known. "Um does that count as an answer?" Sasami giggled while Nodoka just smiled at him. Neither seemed to have noticed that he had eaten a fair portion of the leftovers in the fridge. Ryoko faded into view next to him, obviously intent on finding out what new food she could steal.
Not one to do much work in the kitchen he stepped back and let the female of the species handle putting away the food. Standing out of the way he considered the new abilities he was supposed to have. Flight was the most obvious, especially with Ryoko hovering within his field of view. The girl was sitting cross legged in mid air looking bored. But would perk up whenever he thought she saw something she liked. Which brought him back to what she had said a few minutes ago about simply making yourself fly or float.
'Just make yourself eh?' Taking a deep breath he mentally commanded himself to do just that. And he was rewarded with his feet starting to lift slowly off the ground. Smiling deliriously he lost his concentration and fell back to the ground. Trying again he brought his feet up to sit cross legged in mid air to smirk at Ryoko. 'Ha! Anything you can do, I can do better!'
Ryoko seemed to falter a bit in mid air but she recovered quickly, she then smirked and floated over to a wall before partially going through it. Never one to be outdone Ranma did likewise and went over to a different wall and tried to do the same by willing himself to go through it. And he was rewarded by sinking into the wall. Shivering a bit at the sensation of feeling something actually go through him he quickly forced himself out of it to simply hover against the wall. 'Feels like when a hand or foot goes asleep.'
With Nodoka's help Sasami quickly finished putting everything away and then helped corral Ryoko back out of the kitchen so Sasami could get started. Nodoka motioned for him to follow out towards the entryway. Obediently he did, dropping back to the floor to walk. Flight was nice but he could already feel it taxing on his stamina. He didn't have to walk far as Nodoka sat down on a step motioning for him to do the same. Sitting down on the step next to her, Rin-ohki hopped down from his shoulder to sit in his lap to take a nap. He sucked at these kinds of situations so he tried to find something interesting about the front door. Nodoka had no such aversion and smiled sadly at him before stroking the back of his head several times.
"You know that I'm not your real mother right?" He nodded. "Are you." She paused. "Are you mad at me?"
"No." He said softly and bunched up some fabric on his pants. "I am at Genma, but that's for other reasons."
"That Mihoshi girl found out a lot of things from him the other day. I don't know how she got so much out of him. I've never been able to get a straight answer from him before. Even at our wedding he was difficult." (3)
"Where is he anyways? I would like to, talk to him." A vision of a black and blue panda caused him to smile.
"He ran away shortly after Mihoshi relayed what she had found out to us. Some of the things he did to you."
"Not that I agree with everything the old panda did but he wasn't that bad. Well some of the stuff yea."
"Don't defend him Ranma."
"But mom, he never really did any of that stuff to hurt me. Ya know it was for the art and all that stuff."
"Ranma, you don't think that growing up with him that way was normal, do you?"
"I never really thought about it." Shrugging he was surprised when Nodoka's arm laid across his shoulder and she pulled him into an embrace.
"No Ranma that is not how most people are raised at all." Shrugging his shoulders at the uncomfortable closeness he tried to edge away from the woman.
"Ah come on mom it wasn't that bad. I mean, yea he's a big idiot but."
"He engaged you to multiple women." Nodoka butted in.
"What?"
"He used your name in place of his own to run out on bills."
"He what?"
"He made you go through the neko-ken so that you would forget me."
"He..did..what?"
"And he's the reason why you changed like this isn't he?" Trying not to growl, he nodded his head as Nodoka raised a hand to touch an ear. Flinching at the contact he edged away again. "I must say nothing that has changed detracts from your manly looks. You do seem a tad shorter though."
"Shorter? Oh man just what I need." Pouting he hoped that no one else would notice. He already had enough of a problem with his girl side being a midget, he didn't need to be short as a guy as well.
"I didn't say by how much, it may just be my imagination. Besides one does not need to be a giant to be manly."
"Uh mom, why are you so, ya know, all about me being manly?" Vowing to turn Genma into a pretzel, a panda rug, or even a nice fur coat the next time he saw him, his mind moved on to the large quirk that his mother had.
"Oh, has Genma never told you about the Saotome family?"
"Nah he never talked about any family, even you." Oh yes he had forgotten that he owed Genma back for that as well.
"Another thing to add to his idiocy. But, it is a tradition that goes back to the Sengoku period, about 500 years ago. Back to the founding of both his clan, mine, and a third that ended some time ago. When I was young my mother would often tell me the tale as a bed time story. As it goes there were three children born to a priestess and a great warrior. Both of the parents valued honor, strength, and self sacrifice. The priestess gave her life giving birth to the third child, their father now alone, doted over the three day and night, refusing to leave them.
"His first, taking after his father the most, was raised to be a great warrior and he would start his own family, the Saotomes."
"His middle child, being neither physically or spiritually gifted, and as is the case of many middle children, ended up becoming neither a warrior like his father or a priest like his mother. He would later found the family Tokusei."
"The youngest was gifted with great spiritual powers and grew to become a priest. And he is my ancestor, the starter of the Miyake family. All three children while having different paths grew up learning that they should hold their honor in high esteem, that they should excel in everything they did, and to put the needs of others in front of themselves."
"Um mom, I gotta ask. Why is, Genma, so." Pausing he tried to think of a good word but come up with anything. "Not like that?"
Nodoka sighed and pursed her lips. "That is a bit harder to explain, when I first met Genma he was training under his own master. Who was thankfully not a Saotome." The womans voice took on a very hard edge at that last part. "I'm not sure what drew him to me, well I shouldn't be so bold as to say, but I was quite the looker when I was younger. Washu definitely made it so you would take after whoever you bonded with. I was really surprised that first time I saw you, dressed up as you were."
"Ah heh heh, that was the old mans idea, I think he likes the idea of having my girl form around to look at." Scratching the back of his head he did mutter darkly. "Stupid old pervert."
"While I don't think it is all that proper normally, I suppose that your situation is unique compared to an average boys. So certain, concessions, can be made."
"Yea well I'd rather not have to deal with it at all."
"Would you rather be a panda?"
"Hell no!" At Nodoka's stern look he looked down at the napping Rin-ohki embarrassed. "Sorry."
"That however is something you should not be doing regardless of form. But back then Genma while training under a dreadful man began his attempts to court me. It was, laughable at first but I soon saw something in him that made me return his attention. My family was not pleased with me when I informed them that I would marry him. You see, our two families had been at odds since their founding. Nothing like a blood feud, but at the time of their founding there was a dispute and they had chosen to go their separate ways."
"It did not help matters that by being a student under that horrible man Happosai that Genma had gotten a poor reputation. So when they heard, my parents told me I wasn't welcome home so long as I had the name Saotome."
"They threw you out?"
"I make it sound worse than it is, it is more an image issue. They have no wish to be associated with Genma or his family. I don't know if I could divorce Genma, I still love him even after all he's done. But I know that if I asked they would be happy to see me again."
"Well that's good."
"Enough about family politics and ancient history, you haven't introduced me to this one yet." Nodoka's hands came over and gathered up the unresisting cabbit as she was moved to a new lap. Not that Rin-ohki cared, so long as she had someone to pet her.
"She's Rin-ohki, Ryo-ohki's sister."
"They certainly have a family resemblance don't they. At first I thought she was Ryo-ohki but she's smaller and more red."
"Washu said she's my partner. It's kinda weird, I can talk to her just by thinkin about it."
"Really? Is she saying anything now?"
"Not really, she just feels really happy that she's getting petted." He was a bit jealous, Rin-ohki only needed food and someone to hold her, and if those two conditions were met she was happy. And unlike him someone would usually provide for her while he had to go out and get what he wanted.
"Such interesting little creatures." Nodoka was happily scratching the cabbit behind her ear, causing a loud purr. He would have been running for the hills, if it didn't sound to him like she was saying. 'feeeeeeels sooooooo goooooooood.'
Just for a moment he wondered what it would feel like if someone scratched behind his ears. This thought was quickly squashed, boxed up, wrapped in ropes, wards put over top, prayers said, rituals performed, and thrown into the deepest darkest pit of his mind next to the roped off section labeled 'neko-ken.'
"Ranma, I know that you like it here, and that your real mother is here as well. But how would you like to visit my family? Even though I am still with Genma in some way, I would like to try and make amends with my parents."
"I don't know mom, I mean Washu told me that Katsuhito had a lot of work for me to do since Tenchi is going to school again."
"Oh, yes I forget." Ranma's brow furrowed a bit from Nodoka's tone. He'd heard it enough when he was expecting someone to call him a freak for his curse. It was resigned and sad, knowing that you don't quite measure up because of something beyond your control.
"I could ask I guess." He really didn't want to let Nodoka down, in some weird way she was his mom, even if not by blood. "But he's kind of a slave driver who's gonna have me working my tail off." He winced at the mention of a tail.
"That's all I could ask for. It wouldn't be like going back to Nerima, my family is around Okayama. I think they would like you, especially if they hear you've taken up the family tradition of working at shrines. But I can't accept that you aren't getting an education. I'll have to ask Washu-chan if she could setup something for you."
"School? I don't really need school, and why Washu?"
"Well I figure with all the amazing things she can do, what could an Earth school teach over her?"
Blinking he tried to find some flaw with that. Far as he knew no one on Earth could do half the things Washu had done in the short time he'd known her. "Uh yeah I guess you're right about that."
"Auntie, I'm about to start dinner!" Sasami called out standing at the kitchen door in a carrot themed apron.
"Be right there Sasami-chan." Nodoka called back and gave back Rin-ohki to him. The change in position not concerning the cabbit enough to cause her to wake. "How about you go talk with Katsuhito and find out what's expected of you now that Tenchi is gone most of the day. Dinner should be ready when you get back."
"Uh right." Nodding he stood up to go grab a jacket from his room.
X X X X X X
Busying herself with chopping vegetables Nodoka tried to keep her spirits up. Any moment with Ranma was wonderful and in a way precious to her. And by just wanting to be with him she had brought problems into his life. Ranma would get along fine if not better than if she had never come back into his life. It was her after all that had him return to Nerima to deal with a worthless engagement. It was her that allowed Genma to find out where he was once again.
Wincing as she chopped down on the last bit of carrot, the blade caught the side of her finger. Quickly moving to the sink she started to wash off the small amount of blood that was seeping out. It wasn't a deep cut but it was about two centimeters long.
"Auntie are you alright?" Sasami asked from next to the stove.
"I'm fine dear, I just cut myself a little."
"I'll go get you a band aid." The girl quickly left, pulling her hand out of the water she dried it off on a piece of paper towel before inspecting it. It had already stopped bleeding and in less than a day would be gone. Sasami returned quickly and gave her the bandage. "Here you go."
"Thank you dear."
Putting it on, she quickly went back to cutting as if nothing had happened. Even after hundreds of years, the small amount of yokai blood in her, was still potent. Causing small wounds to heal quickly and her to age slower. Genma didn't seem to know of his heritage and it also didn't seem particularly strong in him. Though that could be explained by the Saotome family being constantly involved in wars and conflicts. To keep the family strong and large enough for that lifestyle would require that they have children as early and often as possible.
Making amends with her family would be for the best. Unlike the Saotomes, they would accept Ranma. The Saotomes were incredibly xenophobic, which was saying something in Japan, demanding that family members adhere to a strict discipline. Even just the change in Ranma's appearance would end any chance for him to be part of that group. If Genma was any example, the Saotomes had spent a long time burying their heritage, possibly actively breeding it out. Sure Ranma was adopted but he still needed family.
Sighing she finished cutting and slid the pieces into a frying pan. "Auntie are you alright?" Sasami asked, looking to the girl she found both her and Ryo-ohki looking at her with big concerned eyes. 'Such a sweetheart.'
"I'm alright dear, but can I ask you something?" The little girl nodded. "You all look human, and, Ranma doesn't anymore. I was wondering if that would be a problem if he went into space? Like will he have problems because of it?"
The girl pouted for a moment and looked deep in thought. "Um, I don't think so. But maybe on some planets. You'd really have to ask Ayeka-neechan or Washu-neechan though, they'd know more about it than me."
"I see, thank you dear." Smiling she picked up the pan and moved next to Sasami at the oven. 'Maybe I'm just worrying over nothing.'
X X X X X X
Trudging up the steps, he had tried to fly all the way, but had found that not even a quarter of the way up he had to quit because he simply didn't have the energy to continue. Rubbing his arms he tried to keep himself warm, he'd never been that good in cold and now he seemed even worse. In the brown jacket Tenchi had lent him Rin-ohki peeked her head out and was watching everything curiously. Every so often something would catch her eye and he would have to explain what something was.
Reaching the top of the steps he caught a momentary glimpse of Ryoko hovering through the trees far up above the main shrine building. 'Wonder what she's doing up there.' Having no reason to really hurry and talk with the old man he headed over to start up the path. Moving through a thick bamboo field he paused at the edge. In a large clearing was a huge rock outcropping with a cave underneath an overhang. 'This must be the cave Ryoko was sealed in.'
Standing in the clearing a short distance from the mouth of the cave was Ryoko. Like him she seemed to dislike the cold as well, and was now wearing a thick green overcoat with a pink band running along the edges. An evil smile spread over his face thinking of how to get her back for all those times she had thrown him in the lake. Taking a step forward he groaned when his foot stepped on a conveniently placed twig. The noise caused Ryoko to whip around, seeing him she floated up into the air before teleporting away. 'Damnit.' Walking forward he decided to see what she was so interested in.
Tilting his head to one side and then the other he tried to figure it out while standing where Ryoko had. It just looked like a cave. Nothing really special about it. 'Ryoko must be going senile in her old age.' Shrugging he headed off to see Katsuhito. Food would be served soon and sometimes the old man took a while to deal with. At the outer edge of the bamboo forest he stopped when he started to hear something. It was faint and high pitched but he could swear he had heard it before.
Trying to find the source he looked all around him. As it got louder and louder he started to figure out the direction and looked up. High up above he caught a glimpse of a shiny object rapidly approaching before a cloud moved to block it. 'Oh crap, not Mihoshi again.'
X X X X X X
Rapidly typing away on her computer Washu found that even after 2000 years many of her live specimens had survived. While she had a backup detailing every experiment, nearly any of value had been taken by the Galaxy Police. Of course the sheer vastness of her lab had made several areas too troublesome for their investigation.
Which was good and bad, one of the areas she had found that did not get viewed was the one that Ranma and Rin-ohki had been contained in. The area was labeled control, where she had housed all the specimens that would be left as is while the mains were experimented upon. Backups at the ready really. She wasn't about to tell Ranma that though. The boy had enough troubles with his self worth being so tied to his martial arts abilities, that she couldn't hope to predict his reaction to learning that.
The notice icon, a small red crab waving a pair of fans, popped up in the corner. Activating the notice she found that Mihoshi's shuttle was returning and was currently entering the atmosphere directly above the home. Dismissing the notice she went back to cataloging data. 'It's so nice that the GP didn't feel the need to erase my database.' Quickly another notice came up indicating that the shuttle was not slowing down. Blinking she considered the possibility that Mihoshi had trusted that their was a planetary beacon. It took her all of a second to decide that it would be a safe bet to drag the others in the home into the lab until Mihoshi had crashed, oops she meant landed.
X X X X X X
Genma prided himself on many things. His manly physique, usually thought of as fat, since he was a stout fellow who wore a large baggy gi. Of course his expanding gut was pure muscle, so much so that it was expanding out just like those extremely muscled body builders. Certainly it wasn't because his food intake had tripled since getting his curse. After all he had to eat for two bodies.
His pride had taken a nose dive when that woman Mihoshi had questioned him. 'She's worse than the Master.' Shivering he tried to forget the interrogation. No he had bigger concerns, such as how he was supposed to get Ranma back under his thumb. Cats were obviously out. Ranma being able to go into the neko-ken with a single cat around hadn't happened since a year after he did the training. Which meant the boy was either learning to control it, or was becoming even more cowardly allowing his embarrassing fear of cats to get worse.
He preferred to think that it was the former but with Ranma's past track record on the matter, he couldn't help but think the latter. The boy had been such a disappointment with his fear of cats. But it was a useful disappointment and now even that was taken from him. Scratching the side of his bandanna clad head he snorted. '10 years of my life dedicated to training the boy and this is how he repays me? I should have just left him with Nodoka and tried to find a better kid to train.'
But who could have been as good as Ranma? The boy was a natural, as if he was made for combat, almost like he was a real Saotome. And for some reason Ranma took after Nodoka in looks. Not looking like him was a given, not being the father, but it was an easy jump of logic to think that Nodoka had birthed the boy before meeting him. Put him up for adoption, found a husband, went back to adopt. The perfect plan to preserve her honor no doubt.
Next time he saw his interfering wife he would making his suspicions known. The more he thought on it the more it had to be true. Ranma as a girl looked like a young Nodoka, even the off chance of him just naturally looking like her couldn't account for that. Though it was a guilty pleasure of his to get to see his wife again. Of course he would never do anything, but looking never hurt anyone, and the boy had little modesty. (5)
It was obviously too late to start over with another child. And it could never be his own. His own failings as a man made that impossible. That of course was another remnant of The Master. 'Wait a moment, the Master. Ranma's an excellent fighter but no one is a match for Him. And surely even He would see how the joining of the schools would be for the best.' Going to his family was out of the question, Ranma would be considered an abysmal failure and would be dealt with harshly.
"Saotome-kun I know that look, you're planning something aren't you?" Soun asked him as they sat on a train. Of course they had hopped aboard and not paid, what kind of sucker would pay for transportation?
"I think Tendo-kun that we may have to do something drastic."
"Like?"
"Like, You Know Who drastic."
"Saotome-kun you can't possible think to do that!" Nodding solemnly he pushed his glasses to sit higher on his nose.
"Indeed Tendo-kun, the one trump card I held over the boy, that would have gotten him to agree to upholding family honor, is worthless now."
"Yes, that neko-ken was a fearsome thing to behold. The only time I have felt such a battle aura was with Him."
"That was the first time that the boy did that weird ki thing." Genma wasn't all that sure what had happened or how Ranma had gotten free of the ropes. They had simply fell through him, such a powerful technique he had given the ungrateful boy.
"Still, to free Him? I can't agree with it."
"I suppose you're right Tendo-kun. But on the plus side he does seem to like your daughters so maybe we could send them to court him. Surely the boy can't continue to resist their charms."
"How devious Saotome-kun, and yes my daughters are all quite beautiful. Any red blooded young man would be lucky to have one of them. Surely Ranma can't resist their charms."
"I really don't know what I was thinking, to actually think to free Him."
"But a momentary weakness my friend."
X X X X X X
"So how was work dad?" Tenchi was strolling along with his father, book bag slung over one shoulder. Next to him his father had his briefcase and was trudging along diligently. He would have to remember to bring a thicker jacket tomorrow, supposedly it was going to be even colder as well as snow.
"Hard, old man Kurashima has me working on this new project. It wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't already working on the Sukayama project."
"Is that one the apartment building one?"
"Yes, and I'm nearly done thankfully. I've been working on it nonstop for two weeks now. Can we not talk about work anymore? I got a day off tomorrow and I want to relax for a while. How about we talk about your day?"
"Compared to the past few weeks? It was really boring. All my friends are going to a school close to Kurashiki. It'd be nice to be able to go to the same one, but it's too far away." (6)
"I'm sorry to hear that son, but at least you have such a festive house to return home too."
"It won't be the same without you though." Not to mention less safe for him, without the older male in the house, Ayeka and Ryoko might get a bit aggressive knowing that there were no parents around. Not that Ryoko seemed to care but Ayeka actually took stock in what his father had to say.
"I know, I don't really want to leave. But it's just too far from work."
"And you want to be near Rea-san right?" Tenchi chuckled as Nobuyuki's face flushed a bit.
"Have I really been that obvious?"
"Only a little." While he was a hopeless pervert, Tenchi really missed just being around his father, it had become impossible to spend any time with his remaining parent since the house guests moved in and taking up his duties at the shrine once more.
"So." Nobuyuki started and saddled up close. "Which of the girls are you going after?" He whispered.
"Dad!" Pushing the older man away they both started to laugh.
"Come now Tenchi, surely you think at least one of them is attractive." Rolling his eyes he just continued walking. Though he did feel his face flush thinking of Ranma-chan. "Oh so you do! Tell me which one is it? Is it the Princess? How bout the space pirate? Maybe even that blonde bombshell! Come on son you can tell me! Or is it all three? Oh a father can dream!"
"Dad!" He groaned and started to ignore him even further. Pausing at the crest of a hill that the road went over, he should have been awarded a nice view directly to the new location of his home. Instead all that was there was a pile of rubble. Squinting he tried to make out details.
"What is it Tenchi?"
"Uh, I think I may have to drop out of school."
"What, why!? It's important for you to get a good education."
"Yea but it looks like they destroyed the house while I was away."
"WHAT!?" The older man yelled and leaned over the guard rail trying to get just a little closer. "My house!" Nobuyuki cried out and fell to his knees. Somehow Tenchi knew that something like this would happen.
X X X X X X
Author Notes:
I updated my forum post about the ages of Yosho's children after finding a translation for the Tenchi Muyo novels. Though it isn't accurate per canon. Just had to change the birth order that I had written.
Yes Ranma-kun is shorter, the same height as Nodoka in fact, where before he was a couple centimeters taller. I'm still undecided on Ranma-chan. I was thinking taller because it would balance out the two forms more. Then again shorter would be in keeping that Ranma-kun got shorter. Oh well I'll decide next chapter.
Sorry I kinda made Genma into a bastard. He's not evil per say but he's an irresponsible moron. I'm sure a few people are upset that he didn't get his just deserts and get an all expense paid trip to jail. Honestly it always irks me when there is a trial scene and Genma gets some punishment. Especially when it's vigilante, of course in this case it isn't but then again I also don't believe in solving problems.
Everyone forgot about Shampoo.
(1) I don't remember seeing any kind of television until the house is rebuilt. I also doubt that they would have cable out there, which means they would have needed satellite which you don't see a dish for.
(2) If you've seen a pair of hazel eyes those are basically Ranma's now. I really wanted a duel color eye that could actually happen, aside from the shape of the pupil of course. I got the idea from my own actually.
(3) Remember Seina is a disaster to himself and others. Or should it be more appropriate to say calamity?
(4) I won't attempt to describe the horror of Genma's interrogation. But it involved a lot of screaming for mercy and would have scarred younger readers.
(5) I'm not sure why no one has mentioned my note of Genma's...perversion earlier. Which was coincidently back in chapter 5. Genma trained under Happosai, does any more need to be said? Also back in chapter 7 Nodoka believed that she could not conceive a child, this was untrue, he told Nodoka that it was her so she could take the blame for not providing a child.
(6) Kurashiki West High is the name of Tenchi's high school. I should go back and update chapter 1 but it's an unimportant detail.
Yes I just made Nodoka and Genma descendants of Kagome and Inuyasha. As with Ryoto referencing both him and Ryoko, Miyake references all three family lines since it can mean three houses, Tokusei can mean special quality. I updated my forum as well as my profile page to include a link to a Nodoka Genma family tree. Nodoka's family being peaceful has about half the generations of Genma's, so the yokai blood is far more potent in her causing her to age around 3/4ths the normal rate. Inuyasha seems to be about 1/8th (Looks about 16/17 but is really 150 years old. Well really 200 but those 50 years he was sealed to a tree without changing.
Sengoku period– Or the warring states period, I don't remember a mention of a specific date that Inuyasha occurs at.
Yes I have considered the idea of making Nodoka related to Yosho but I think that would be a bit much, so I won't. As I said before there would be parallels to the fic 'Process of Elimination'.
I'm honestly surprised at how complex this story is becoming, or at least how much I think it is. My original plan was fairly simple, stick to the Tenchi Universe timeline, mix in some OVA elements, add Ranma, blend until lumps disappear. I'm just glad I haven't come up with any obvious contradictions.
BTW the chapter title is a reference to the OVA episode where Mihoshi also destroys the home.
