RanGen 1/2 Part 3
By entering the waters of Nannichiwan at the same time, Ranma and Genma
have given the vengeful spirits that control the curse an opportunity
for further mischief. Now Ranma turns into Genma, and Genma into Ranma.
Also Shampoo has received a boy form, and Mousse a cat form.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
A young man was chasing an older man through the rain in the street
of Nerima district, Tokyo.
"You're unbelievable, pop!" yelled the older one. "You got me away
from one marriage just to arrange another one for me?"
"This is for the good of the Anything-Goes school of martial arts, son!"
said the younger.
They exchanged blows. A cuff from the younger landed, but the old
man absorbed it without a flinch.
"In this body I'm stronger than you. I'm going back to China. You can
stay here and pretend to be me if you want, but I'm goin' back where
they can take this old-man curse off, too!"
He shouldn't have turned his back. The young man pulled up a stop
sign with a mighty heave and pole-axed him with it.
"Look at that juvenile delinquent attacking the poor old man." murmured
the crowd.
"Mind your own business, will you?" snarled the delinquent, lifting the
heavy body unto his back (with considerable difficulty) and running off.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The Tendo family had gathered in the dining room. Mr. Soun Tendo was
just explaining to his daughters that it had been arranged for one of
them to marry a young man he had never met.
"I want to decide for myself who I'll marry!" said Akane.
"Wait and see, Akane," said Nabiki. "Maybe he'll be really cute."
"Oh, I hope he's older than me," said Kasumi, "Young men are so...
young."
Just then there was a knock at the door. A young man in a loose-fitting gi
came in, half carrying, half dragging an unconscious older man in tight-
fitting Chinese clothing.
"You must be Ranma!" said Soun, "How I've longed to meet you. But
what happened to your father?"
"My dear father was injured in a training accident along the way."
said 'Ranma.'
"Oh dear," said Kasumi, and ran for compresses. They laid 'Genma'
down on a futon.
"Ranma, these are my daughters," said Soun.
"Delighted to meet you dear young ladies." said 'Ranma.'
"My, what nice mature manners you have," said Kasumi.
"Handsome, but a bit smarmy," thought Nabiki. "Nice to meet you, too."
"Too polite. He reminds me of Kunou," thought Akane. "Hmmph!"
"Father tells me that I'm to marry one of you," said 'Ranma.'
"And you're going along with it?", snapped Akane. "No way. We don't do
things that way anymore. I don't see why one of us couldn't inherit the
dojo."
"Martial arts is a traditional discipline. A dojo headed by a woman
would be a laughingstock. You'd never get any students," said 'Ranma'.
"Like we do now? Anyway, a woman can be just as much a martial artist
as a man. Come on, fight a match with me and I'll show you."
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Akane lunged, punched and kicked. 'Ranma' dodged every blow. She
was getting angrier and angrier at the odious young man. (Can he be
reading my moves?) she thought.
"Come on, fight me!" she yelled.
"I couldn't do that. The noble martial artist does not fight women
unless necessary."
"I'll make it necessary!" said Akane, going all out. Her next punch
smashed into the wall where Ranma had been a moment before. Ranma,
leaping up to get out of the way, jumped too hard and smashed his
head through the ceiling. The fight was over.
"Ahem, sorry about that. I've, uh, lost a lot of weight recently and
misjudged my own strength," he said.
"Uh-huh, good excuse," said Akane. She smiled and thought, "He's pretty
good. But a really good martial artist would be in better touch with
his body."
--------------------------------------------------------------------
In the living room, Soun was listening to the tale of the older man.
Tears flowed from his eyes.
"So that's how it is. The path of a martial artist is fraught with
peril."
Akane passed by the living room, and saw that Genma Saotome had revived.
"Uncle Saotome is better," she called to Kasumi.
"Yes, and Ranma is taking a shower now," said Kasumi. "He got a little
hot and sweaty from your workout, not to mention the ceiling dust on
his head."
"I won't disturb him. I'll just wait for him to come out. I've thought
of a few things to tell him about what I think of him."
"That's nice," said Kasumi sweetly.
Akane waited by the door of the bathroom. But the man who came out was
not Ranma, but Genma! She dashed back down the hall and looked in the
living room. Genma was still there! The other Genma was coming down the
hall! She screamed.
"Akane, what's wrong?"
"T-there's two of him. It's a doppelganger or something! Uncle Saotome,
are you twins?"
"No," said the 'Genma' who had been talking with Soun. "That's the
real Genma Saotome. I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry about this."
--------------------------------------------------------------------
After the real Ranma had also taken a hot bath, Genma offered a
condensed account of their misfortunes. When it came to the second
curse, he said that "friendly local natives" had helped them to try to
undo the first curse, but that the cure had backfired.
"Now, when I'm drenched in cold water, I turn into Ranma. And he turns
into me. Hot water changes us back to normal."
"So, Ranma, your problem isn't that serious after all," said Soun with a
smile. "It would have been a lot worse if you had been stuck with that
girl curse. Now, pick one my daughters: Kasumi:19, Nabiki:17, Akane:16.
She'll be your fiancee."
"He wants Akane," said Kasumi.
"Kasumi, definitely" said Nabiki.
"Why me?" asked Kasumi.
"You said you wanted a older man, didn't you? Well, Ranma's half old,
so you're in luck!" said Nabiki.
"What a wonderful idea!" said Soun, "Kasumi is the perfect wife for
you, Ranma. She's so domestic, she already takes care of everything
around here. She would be just the one to help you take care of the
dojo."
"I've always tried to be a good, dutiful daughter, but..." Kasumi
trailed off.
"Then it's all settled! Ranma is engaged to Kasumi!" said Genma.
"Dad, no!", yelled Akane, "Nabiki was just joking! Say you were joking,
Nabiki! Anyone but Kasumi! Don't do this to her!"
"Are you volunteering instead?" asked Nabiki.
"I didn't say _that_! I don't see why _any_ of us have to marry that
weirdo!"
"Give me a break!" said Ranma, "I didn't ask to marry any of you either,
and I'm not gonna do it."
"He's too young... and then sometimes too old..." said Kasumi to
herself. "Does that really balance out?..."
"Besides, I like women with more spirit! She's so 'nice', she lets you
all walk all over her."
"How dare you talk about my sister that way!" said Akane,
lifting the table and clobbering Ranma over the head with it,
knocking him senseless.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Later, Akane went to Kasumi's room.
"Older sister, please fight this. Dad's wrong, just wrong. They can't
make you..."
"Akane, don't be so upset. I'm not so sure now that it's such a bad idea.
He seems a little immature..."
"A little!"
"But underneath that uncouth way of his, I know he has a good heart.
And sometimes he can be very polite."
"That was his father pretending to be him."
"Oh, yes. But father seems to really want this, and you know I promised
mother before she died that I'd always be a good daughter and put the
needs of the family first."
"B-but isn't there already someone else in love with you?"
"Don't be silly! There's no-one I'm aware of."
"That _you're_ aware of..."
"Well, it's not like I have much social life..."
"OK, you've made me say it. What about Dr. Tofu?"
"Oh, we're just friends. He's such a kidder, always doing silly things
just to make people laugh. I don't think he's serious about anything..."
"Ok, fine! Marry Ranma then!! I hope that makes you happy!" yelled
Akane, storming out of the room.
"Strange girl," mused Kasumi. "I'd almost think she was jealous..."
Akane ran into the training yard, set up a straw practice dummy and
started punching it hard. "Kasumi no baka! Dr. Tofu's crazy about you
and you don't even know it. It's going to break his heart. But maybe,
just maybe, that gives me a chance..."
---------------------------------------------------------------
Ranma and Genma were preparing to bed down for the night on futons in
the living room.
"What were you thinking, pretending to be me?" said Ranma.
"Simply getting you off to a good start with your new fiancee," Genma
said.
"By making me look like a total jerk. Pop, I tell you I don't wanna be
engaged!" yelled Ranma.
"Son, for the sake of the dojo, be a man and do your duty! How could I
have brought up such a disobedient, rebellious boy! Ranma, your father
has failed!" cried Genma.
"Sheesh Pop, I wish you still turned into a panda so I could shut you up
once in a while."
"Look on the bright side, boy. You have a cute, womanly fiancee. What
if you had been engaged to that uncute tomboy Akane instead?"
"Well, if I had to make a choice -- which I don't! Kasumi is just too
cute and too womanly for me. What a wimp! Even Shampoo had a tough
streak behind that cute face."
"Don't you mention that woman again! We're well rid of her. If you
knew how close I came..." Genma shuddered.
"Well, I did promise a month..." said Ranma.
"We've been over that. You said _if_ we were _completely_ uncursed,
and we weren't."
"But it was our fault."
"A minor quibble, my boy."
-------------
That's all for now. More parts will be forthcoming as I deal with the
usual first day at school...
By entering the waters of Nannichiwan at the same time, Ranma and Genma
have given the vengeful spirits that control the curse an opportunity
for further mischief. Now Ranma turns into Genma, and Genma into Ranma.
Also Shampoo has received a boy form, and Mousse a cat form.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
A young man was chasing an older man through the rain in the street
of Nerima district, Tokyo.
"You're unbelievable, pop!" yelled the older one. "You got me away
from one marriage just to arrange another one for me?"
"This is for the good of the Anything-Goes school of martial arts, son!"
said the younger.
They exchanged blows. A cuff from the younger landed, but the old
man absorbed it without a flinch.
"In this body I'm stronger than you. I'm going back to China. You can
stay here and pretend to be me if you want, but I'm goin' back where
they can take this old-man curse off, too!"
He shouldn't have turned his back. The young man pulled up a stop
sign with a mighty heave and pole-axed him with it.
"Look at that juvenile delinquent attacking the poor old man." murmured
the crowd.
"Mind your own business, will you?" snarled the delinquent, lifting the
heavy body unto his back (with considerable difficulty) and running off.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The Tendo family had gathered in the dining room. Mr. Soun Tendo was
just explaining to his daughters that it had been arranged for one of
them to marry a young man he had never met.
"I want to decide for myself who I'll marry!" said Akane.
"Wait and see, Akane," said Nabiki. "Maybe he'll be really cute."
"Oh, I hope he's older than me," said Kasumi, "Young men are so...
young."
Just then there was a knock at the door. A young man in a loose-fitting gi
came in, half carrying, half dragging an unconscious older man in tight-
fitting Chinese clothing.
"You must be Ranma!" said Soun, "How I've longed to meet you. But
what happened to your father?"
"My dear father was injured in a training accident along the way."
said 'Ranma.'
"Oh dear," said Kasumi, and ran for compresses. They laid 'Genma'
down on a futon.
"Ranma, these are my daughters," said Soun.
"Delighted to meet you dear young ladies." said 'Ranma.'
"My, what nice mature manners you have," said Kasumi.
"Handsome, but a bit smarmy," thought Nabiki. "Nice to meet you, too."
"Too polite. He reminds me of Kunou," thought Akane. "Hmmph!"
"Father tells me that I'm to marry one of you," said 'Ranma.'
"And you're going along with it?", snapped Akane. "No way. We don't do
things that way anymore. I don't see why one of us couldn't inherit the
dojo."
"Martial arts is a traditional discipline. A dojo headed by a woman
would be a laughingstock. You'd never get any students," said 'Ranma'.
"Like we do now? Anyway, a woman can be just as much a martial artist
as a man. Come on, fight a match with me and I'll show you."
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Akane lunged, punched and kicked. 'Ranma' dodged every blow. She
was getting angrier and angrier at the odious young man. (Can he be
reading my moves?) she thought.
"Come on, fight me!" she yelled.
"I couldn't do that. The noble martial artist does not fight women
unless necessary."
"I'll make it necessary!" said Akane, going all out. Her next punch
smashed into the wall where Ranma had been a moment before. Ranma,
leaping up to get out of the way, jumped too hard and smashed his
head through the ceiling. The fight was over.
"Ahem, sorry about that. I've, uh, lost a lot of weight recently and
misjudged my own strength," he said.
"Uh-huh, good excuse," said Akane. She smiled and thought, "He's pretty
good. But a really good martial artist would be in better touch with
his body."
--------------------------------------------------------------------
In the living room, Soun was listening to the tale of the older man.
Tears flowed from his eyes.
"So that's how it is. The path of a martial artist is fraught with
peril."
Akane passed by the living room, and saw that Genma Saotome had revived.
"Uncle Saotome is better," she called to Kasumi.
"Yes, and Ranma is taking a shower now," said Kasumi. "He got a little
hot and sweaty from your workout, not to mention the ceiling dust on
his head."
"I won't disturb him. I'll just wait for him to come out. I've thought
of a few things to tell him about what I think of him."
"That's nice," said Kasumi sweetly.
Akane waited by the door of the bathroom. But the man who came out was
not Ranma, but Genma! She dashed back down the hall and looked in the
living room. Genma was still there! The other Genma was coming down the
hall! She screamed.
"Akane, what's wrong?"
"T-there's two of him. It's a doppelganger or something! Uncle Saotome,
are you twins?"
"No," said the 'Genma' who had been talking with Soun. "That's the
real Genma Saotome. I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry about this."
--------------------------------------------------------------------
After the real Ranma had also taken a hot bath, Genma offered a
condensed account of their misfortunes. When it came to the second
curse, he said that "friendly local natives" had helped them to try to
undo the first curse, but that the cure had backfired.
"Now, when I'm drenched in cold water, I turn into Ranma. And he turns
into me. Hot water changes us back to normal."
"So, Ranma, your problem isn't that serious after all," said Soun with a
smile. "It would have been a lot worse if you had been stuck with that
girl curse. Now, pick one my daughters: Kasumi:19, Nabiki:17, Akane:16.
She'll be your fiancee."
"He wants Akane," said Kasumi.
"Kasumi, definitely" said Nabiki.
"Why me?" asked Kasumi.
"You said you wanted a older man, didn't you? Well, Ranma's half old,
so you're in luck!" said Nabiki.
"What a wonderful idea!" said Soun, "Kasumi is the perfect wife for
you, Ranma. She's so domestic, she already takes care of everything
around here. She would be just the one to help you take care of the
dojo."
"I've always tried to be a good, dutiful daughter, but..." Kasumi
trailed off.
"Then it's all settled! Ranma is engaged to Kasumi!" said Genma.
"Dad, no!", yelled Akane, "Nabiki was just joking! Say you were joking,
Nabiki! Anyone but Kasumi! Don't do this to her!"
"Are you volunteering instead?" asked Nabiki.
"I didn't say _that_! I don't see why _any_ of us have to marry that
weirdo!"
"Give me a break!" said Ranma, "I didn't ask to marry any of you either,
and I'm not gonna do it."
"He's too young... and then sometimes too old..." said Kasumi to
herself. "Does that really balance out?..."
"Besides, I like women with more spirit! She's so 'nice', she lets you
all walk all over her."
"How dare you talk about my sister that way!" said Akane,
lifting the table and clobbering Ranma over the head with it,
knocking him senseless.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Later, Akane went to Kasumi's room.
"Older sister, please fight this. Dad's wrong, just wrong. They can't
make you..."
"Akane, don't be so upset. I'm not so sure now that it's such a bad idea.
He seems a little immature..."
"A little!"
"But underneath that uncouth way of his, I know he has a good heart.
And sometimes he can be very polite."
"That was his father pretending to be him."
"Oh, yes. But father seems to really want this, and you know I promised
mother before she died that I'd always be a good daughter and put the
needs of the family first."
"B-but isn't there already someone else in love with you?"
"Don't be silly! There's no-one I'm aware of."
"That _you're_ aware of..."
"Well, it's not like I have much social life..."
"OK, you've made me say it. What about Dr. Tofu?"
"Oh, we're just friends. He's such a kidder, always doing silly things
just to make people laugh. I don't think he's serious about anything..."
"Ok, fine! Marry Ranma then!! I hope that makes you happy!" yelled
Akane, storming out of the room.
"Strange girl," mused Kasumi. "I'd almost think she was jealous..."
Akane ran into the training yard, set up a straw practice dummy and
started punching it hard. "Kasumi no baka! Dr. Tofu's crazy about you
and you don't even know it. It's going to break his heart. But maybe,
just maybe, that gives me a chance..."
---------------------------------------------------------------
Ranma and Genma were preparing to bed down for the night on futons in
the living room.
"What were you thinking, pretending to be me?" said Ranma.
"Simply getting you off to a good start with your new fiancee," Genma
said.
"By making me look like a total jerk. Pop, I tell you I don't wanna be
engaged!" yelled Ranma.
"Son, for the sake of the dojo, be a man and do your duty! How could I
have brought up such a disobedient, rebellious boy! Ranma, your father
has failed!" cried Genma.
"Sheesh Pop, I wish you still turned into a panda so I could shut you up
once in a while."
"Look on the bright side, boy. You have a cute, womanly fiancee. What
if you had been engaged to that uncute tomboy Akane instead?"
"Well, if I had to make a choice -- which I don't! Kasumi is just too
cute and too womanly for me. What a wimp! Even Shampoo had a tough
streak behind that cute face."
"Don't you mention that woman again! We're well rid of her. If you
knew how close I came..." Genma shuddered.
"Well, I did promise a month..." said Ranma.
"We've been over that. You said _if_ we were _completely_ uncursed,
and we weren't."
"But it was our fault."
"A minor quibble, my boy."
-------------
That's all for now. More parts will be forthcoming as I deal with the
usual first day at school...