The next morning began as a typical day. Ranma and Genma are practicing above the carp pool, Akane returns from her morning jog, Soun reads the paper, and Kasumi announces breakfast is ready. Ranma, recovered from yesterday's battle launches his last attack of the morning at Genma. But instead of letting the two of them fly apart, Ranma cancels Genma's momentum with his own, and they both fall into the pond. Genma, as panda, stands up in the pool, while the male Ranma leaps out shouting "It's great to be a guy!"
Akane seems a bit subdued during breakfast, but Ranma is eating like there's no tomorrow, consuming as much of his father's food as he can.
On the way to school, Ranma doesn't seem content with running on the fence, but does some flying kicks, leaps, and flips while running along the top of the fence. Akane asks "What's come over you, all of a sudden?" "I dunno. I feel so optimistic today. I'll get this coin removed before it kills me, and now I don't change into a girl. Also I feel great, all my pains from yesterday are gone. I feel as light as a feather. Yesterday we won against a major threat. Happosai hasn't shown up for a while. And I haven't had to fight with anyone besides my dad. We've already passed the point Shampoo usually lands on me, so this morning the only one left is Kuno. Today I could take him blindfolded."
"Remember to be careful today, your strength may be more than you expect." Akane added.
"I thought about that, but everything seemed normal when I fought my dad this morning."
Luckily for Tatewaki, his sprained ankle delayed his arrival at school until shortly after Ranma and Akane's arrival. Ranma and Akane actually arrived early to class. This, combined with Akane's abnormal mood (i.e. she wasn't furious with Ranma this morning) started the entire class gossiping. The combined opinion of the class being that this must either be the calm before the storm, or the calm after the storm, and hopefully yesterdays ruckus qualified, so that maybe they were safe for a while.
Classes went reasonably normally that day, except that Shampoo didn't show up for lunch, so no lunchtime battle ensued, and Ranma didn't fall asleep during any of his classes. That isn't to say he paid attention, mind you, that would have been a major change in the status quo.
* * *
After the last class Ranma asked Akane "I'm going over to the Nekohanten to see Cologne, would you rather get into a fight with Shampoo, or mad at me for entering the cat's den alone?" "Ranma no BAKA", but before Akane can injure Ranma, Ukyou interrupts with "I think it would be better to hear from Cologne what she knows about the coin, and whether it can be removed in time." This reminder of Ranma's mortality quiets Akane, and the three leave for the Nekohanten."
Ranma's mood however doesn't seem to be diminished. During school he had been hit twice with cold water, and remained male. His happy mood was infectious, and by the time they reached the Nekohanten Ukyou and Akane were openly smiling.
Shampoo, however, looked grim. She had spent most of her time that day helping her grandmother research the `dying man coin', and couldn't find any mention of someone not dying after they used the coin. Cologne proceeded to check Ranma's reflexes through a bit of sparring, and through an exercise best described as pattycake, but played while using the tenshin amaguriken. Through it all, Ranma continued to smile. "I've never gone that fast before, even as a girl!"
"That is why the coin is such a fiercesome weapon, Son-in-law. If it weren't for the inevitable consequences, everyone would want to wear it. How do you feel?" "Like I'm ready to take on Happosai, or swim to china again, but just for fun! The world is a bright and friendly place."
"Son-in-law, you are suffering the effects of the coin. Well, suffering might be the wrong word here. But it seems to be affecting you just as strongly as if you were a normal female. At this point I don't know of any way to remove it, and if we don't remove it, you will die. You have great energy, and speed, but your body wasn't designed to take the strain on it that you now can. You're burning your candle way too brightly, and without care you'll die in a glorious burst. You can probably do nearly anything now, but you'd be pushing yourself to death. I need time to find a method of removing the coin. You have to decide now if you plan to use the coin to fight your strongest foes, and die in a fast fire consuming your life, or limit yourself to your normal levels, and extend the time I can find a cure."
"Ranchan, please don't use this, If you live a normal lifetime, you can keep improving. I don't want to lose you just for glory." "Ukyou's right, Ranma" Akane added "If you use your new strength this way, you've doomed yourself."
"OK, what should I do to extend my life?"
"Good choice son-in-law. This may sound trite, but eat plenty of food, and get good nights sleep. All you need to do is avoid putting extra strain on your system. Don't push yourself as hard as you can, because the coin will allow you to push yourself as hard as you want until you die. Don't try to prove you're better than Happosai, and don't swim to China. You can beat up your father, or Ryouga, or Mousse as much as you'd like. Visiting Dr. Tofu regularly is a very good idea, even if you are feeling healthy. He can warn you better than your body will if you are pushing yourself. I'd visit him after any major fights as well, and before them if you get enough warning."
"Oh man, this is going to be a pain." Ranma complained, "But at least I'll stay male, and feel great during the interim."
"One more thing, son-in-law, your judgment of your exertions is likely to be flawed. Between your body telling you you are fine, and your euphoria, you are likely to go farther than you should. If you can, you should take other people's advice when you are using your own strength, and when you are pushing yourself. You girls are probably the best choices to watch him. You're around him constantly, and are well aware of his limits. This won't be a problem right away, but it will gradually become necessary, so watch out for it. Son-in-law, hopefully we'll cure you of this, but if we don't then you've about a year to live. Life gains preciousness because it is fleeting. For you it flows more swiftly still. You must find value in life to match its flow. Come Shampoo, I've another set of scrolls that you should read that might help."
The remaining trio proceed to Dr. Tofu's clinic, each trying to think how they'd live their life if they only had a year left. They relay all of Cologne's information to the doctor, all of which he agrees with. He adds "With preventive care along the way, and medical treatments toward the limits of this problem, we should be able to extend your life, but without a cure, you may be in the unfortunate position of knowing your death is inevitable. Most teenagers feel in the back of their mind that death is a long way off, or only happens to other people. You've faced death before, but it was something that you could fight your way out of. When this starts to bother you, please bring it up so we can talk about it. I've spent time with others who expected death, so I can hopefully help. And, of course, Cologne may find a cure in time."
As the trio left the clinic on that glum note, Ranma surprised his fiancees by saying "Lets do something!" Akane asks "What, Ranma?"
"I don't care. The last things I want to do right now are tomorrow's homework, or stew over what might happen in a year from now. Besides, I'm so full of energy, I feel I'm about to burst. Also I can't remember another 24 hours when I've spent so much time with both of you that someone didn't get angry. I couldn't stand sitting in a movie theater. Is there a fair nearby? How about an amusement park?"
"Ranchan, it's a Wednesday night. I can't think of anything like that open tonight." "Damn, I don't suppose either of you knows how a guy could dance with two ladies without upsetting one of them, besides I don't really know how to dance. Maybe the three of us could go on a training trip together soon. No, The parents would throw a fit, any females left out would try to join, and all of the males would pursue to kill me for being an enemy of womankind. Am I talking faster than normal?"
"Yes you are, Ranma." Akane replied, "I was considering tying a string to your ankle to keep you from floating off. I've never seen you so energetic."
"Aww, Cologne's sure to find a cure. She's great at these magic items stuff, and she's the most devious and persistent person around. Remember how she got me to waitress for her? And now she's working to find my cure. I've got a year, she's bound to succeed. Meanwhile, I'm free of my curse, and I feel great. I've got doctor's orders to get more food and sleep, and I haven't been pummeled all day. The one thing Cologne said that got me to thinking was that I should make the most out of the time I have without overexerting myself. So I'm looking for something fun to do besides beating Kuno up. Anyway that only takes seconds to do. Do you think I could learn to dance? Where *IS* the nearest amusement park? Do you think we could go this weekend? We'd have to keep it a bit quiet, or it'll turn into a brawl. We could go, have fun, *THEN* announce it, then fight everyone! Lets keep this idea quiet. Maybe we could go after school on Saturday, or maybe Sunday. If we each left separately, and met at the gate we might be able to do it without being followed! Come on, lets try it!"
"O-OK, Ranchan. I'll find a park, and give you two the address in school tomorrow. I've got to go feed the evening crowd, and do my schoolwork for tomorrow. See ya."
They said their goodbyes, and Ukyou left for home. Akane and Ranma proceeded to their home. Akane was a bit overwhelmed by Ranma's tendency to talk a mile a minute. She felt conversationally off balance. She was still trying to understand that Ranma might die soon, and here he was acting more cheerful than she had ever seen him. Ranma seemed oblivious to her mood, as usual, but this didn't infuriate her yet, because SHE was still unsure of her mood. She was also having trouble keeping up with all of the ideas he was suggesting. She just realized she had passively agreed to going to an amusement park with Ranma and Ukyou that weekend when Ranma interrupted her train of thought with
"Say, Akane, do you think it'd be safe for me to see my mother now? Dad's still a panda, but she never made him promise not to become an endangered animal. As long as I've got this coin I'm gonna remain a guy. I'd really like to see her as myself, not as Ranko. Should we explain Ranko to her? If I'm cured she'd forgive the deception. But the cure won't last if I want to live. How do you think she'll take my imminent death? If I get this coin removed, do you think she'd want me to commit seppuku? I can tell her about the curse later. If I need to, we can take another training trip after removing the coin. At least I'll be able to see my mother for the next year. I think if Cologne found the cure tomorrow I'd wait a few months before taking it."
At this point Ranma became quiet again, continuing his thoughts in his head, not realizing the confused state he was leaving Akane in.
As they were reaching the Tendo home, Akane finally had almost worked out two coherent thoughts `I don't like being confused' and `It is Ranma's fault I'm confused.' But before Akane could compete this syllogism and deliver the long overdue malletting, Ranma again stirred up Akane's brain
"Glad we're home, dinner sure smells good. Can't wait. Remember the amusement park is a secret. I was going to come up with an excuse for pop, but I'll just say nothing and leave when no one's looking. After we're back they can ask as many questions as they like. It'll be best to explain what the doctor said to them all over dinner otherwise someone's going to hear half of it. Happosai will be in for a shock. I won't try to out-fight him, but I doubt he can glomp onto me now. Dad was sore this morning. fighting over the pool was his idea. I guess he prefers it when we both change. I wonder how mom'll take being married to a panda. P-chan's by the pool, I'm going to get my homework out of the way so I can watch the sunset tonight."
And with that, he ducked into the house, and went to his room.
* * *
Over dinner, Ranma and Akane proceed to tell everyone what Cologne and Tofu told them. Ranma did come up with one idea that was a stroke of brilliance "I know one way I could eat more here without raising the food budget." "How?" "Sit me apart from dad. He'd never steal your food. Akane, can we switch seats?"
After dinner, Ranma leaves to view the sunset. And without him as a catalyst, the evening passes quietly until one hour later.
* * *
Akane heads for her evening bath. Inside the changing room she notices Ranma's clothes "Ranma, how long are you going to be in there?" She doesn't get an answer. Slightly worried and with her feelings confused through the jumble of events that day she cautiously peeks into the bathroom, and sees Ranma sitting comfortably in the tub snoring slightly. She wants to pound him, but she isn't going to enter the bathing room while he's male, and she is worried about him, and he is acting weird,and ...
She goes to get their fathers to wake Ranma, and put him to bed.
* * *
Akane seems a bit subdued during breakfast, but Ranma is eating like there's no tomorrow, consuming as much of his father's food as he can.
On the way to school, Ranma doesn't seem content with running on the fence, but does some flying kicks, leaps, and flips while running along the top of the fence. Akane asks "What's come over you, all of a sudden?" "I dunno. I feel so optimistic today. I'll get this coin removed before it kills me, and now I don't change into a girl. Also I feel great, all my pains from yesterday are gone. I feel as light as a feather. Yesterday we won against a major threat. Happosai hasn't shown up for a while. And I haven't had to fight with anyone besides my dad. We've already passed the point Shampoo usually lands on me, so this morning the only one left is Kuno. Today I could take him blindfolded."
"Remember to be careful today, your strength may be more than you expect." Akane added.
"I thought about that, but everything seemed normal when I fought my dad this morning."
Luckily for Tatewaki, his sprained ankle delayed his arrival at school until shortly after Ranma and Akane's arrival. Ranma and Akane actually arrived early to class. This, combined with Akane's abnormal mood (i.e. she wasn't furious with Ranma this morning) started the entire class gossiping. The combined opinion of the class being that this must either be the calm before the storm, or the calm after the storm, and hopefully yesterdays ruckus qualified, so that maybe they were safe for a while.
Classes went reasonably normally that day, except that Shampoo didn't show up for lunch, so no lunchtime battle ensued, and Ranma didn't fall asleep during any of his classes. That isn't to say he paid attention, mind you, that would have been a major change in the status quo.
* * *
After the last class Ranma asked Akane "I'm going over to the Nekohanten to see Cologne, would you rather get into a fight with Shampoo, or mad at me for entering the cat's den alone?" "Ranma no BAKA", but before Akane can injure Ranma, Ukyou interrupts with "I think it would be better to hear from Cologne what she knows about the coin, and whether it can be removed in time." This reminder of Ranma's mortality quiets Akane, and the three leave for the Nekohanten."
Ranma's mood however doesn't seem to be diminished. During school he had been hit twice with cold water, and remained male. His happy mood was infectious, and by the time they reached the Nekohanten Ukyou and Akane were openly smiling.
Shampoo, however, looked grim. She had spent most of her time that day helping her grandmother research the `dying man coin', and couldn't find any mention of someone not dying after they used the coin. Cologne proceeded to check Ranma's reflexes through a bit of sparring, and through an exercise best described as pattycake, but played while using the tenshin amaguriken. Through it all, Ranma continued to smile. "I've never gone that fast before, even as a girl!"
"That is why the coin is such a fiercesome weapon, Son-in-law. If it weren't for the inevitable consequences, everyone would want to wear it. How do you feel?" "Like I'm ready to take on Happosai, or swim to china again, but just for fun! The world is a bright and friendly place."
"Son-in-law, you are suffering the effects of the coin. Well, suffering might be the wrong word here. But it seems to be affecting you just as strongly as if you were a normal female. At this point I don't know of any way to remove it, and if we don't remove it, you will die. You have great energy, and speed, but your body wasn't designed to take the strain on it that you now can. You're burning your candle way too brightly, and without care you'll die in a glorious burst. You can probably do nearly anything now, but you'd be pushing yourself to death. I need time to find a method of removing the coin. You have to decide now if you plan to use the coin to fight your strongest foes, and die in a fast fire consuming your life, or limit yourself to your normal levels, and extend the time I can find a cure."
"Ranchan, please don't use this, If you live a normal lifetime, you can keep improving. I don't want to lose you just for glory." "Ukyou's right, Ranma" Akane added "If you use your new strength this way, you've doomed yourself."
"OK, what should I do to extend my life?"
"Good choice son-in-law. This may sound trite, but eat plenty of food, and get good nights sleep. All you need to do is avoid putting extra strain on your system. Don't push yourself as hard as you can, because the coin will allow you to push yourself as hard as you want until you die. Don't try to prove you're better than Happosai, and don't swim to China. You can beat up your father, or Ryouga, or Mousse as much as you'd like. Visiting Dr. Tofu regularly is a very good idea, even if you are feeling healthy. He can warn you better than your body will if you are pushing yourself. I'd visit him after any major fights as well, and before them if you get enough warning."
"Oh man, this is going to be a pain." Ranma complained, "But at least I'll stay male, and feel great during the interim."
"One more thing, son-in-law, your judgment of your exertions is likely to be flawed. Between your body telling you you are fine, and your euphoria, you are likely to go farther than you should. If you can, you should take other people's advice when you are using your own strength, and when you are pushing yourself. You girls are probably the best choices to watch him. You're around him constantly, and are well aware of his limits. This won't be a problem right away, but it will gradually become necessary, so watch out for it. Son-in-law, hopefully we'll cure you of this, but if we don't then you've about a year to live. Life gains preciousness because it is fleeting. For you it flows more swiftly still. You must find value in life to match its flow. Come Shampoo, I've another set of scrolls that you should read that might help."
The remaining trio proceed to Dr. Tofu's clinic, each trying to think how they'd live their life if they only had a year left. They relay all of Cologne's information to the doctor, all of which he agrees with. He adds "With preventive care along the way, and medical treatments toward the limits of this problem, we should be able to extend your life, but without a cure, you may be in the unfortunate position of knowing your death is inevitable. Most teenagers feel in the back of their mind that death is a long way off, or only happens to other people. You've faced death before, but it was something that you could fight your way out of. When this starts to bother you, please bring it up so we can talk about it. I've spent time with others who expected death, so I can hopefully help. And, of course, Cologne may find a cure in time."
As the trio left the clinic on that glum note, Ranma surprised his fiancees by saying "Lets do something!" Akane asks "What, Ranma?"
"I don't care. The last things I want to do right now are tomorrow's homework, or stew over what might happen in a year from now. Besides, I'm so full of energy, I feel I'm about to burst. Also I can't remember another 24 hours when I've spent so much time with both of you that someone didn't get angry. I couldn't stand sitting in a movie theater. Is there a fair nearby? How about an amusement park?"
"Ranchan, it's a Wednesday night. I can't think of anything like that open tonight." "Damn, I don't suppose either of you knows how a guy could dance with two ladies without upsetting one of them, besides I don't really know how to dance. Maybe the three of us could go on a training trip together soon. No, The parents would throw a fit, any females left out would try to join, and all of the males would pursue to kill me for being an enemy of womankind. Am I talking faster than normal?"
"Yes you are, Ranma." Akane replied, "I was considering tying a string to your ankle to keep you from floating off. I've never seen you so energetic."
"Aww, Cologne's sure to find a cure. She's great at these magic items stuff, and she's the most devious and persistent person around. Remember how she got me to waitress for her? And now she's working to find my cure. I've got a year, she's bound to succeed. Meanwhile, I'm free of my curse, and I feel great. I've got doctor's orders to get more food and sleep, and I haven't been pummeled all day. The one thing Cologne said that got me to thinking was that I should make the most out of the time I have without overexerting myself. So I'm looking for something fun to do besides beating Kuno up. Anyway that only takes seconds to do. Do you think I could learn to dance? Where *IS* the nearest amusement park? Do you think we could go this weekend? We'd have to keep it a bit quiet, or it'll turn into a brawl. We could go, have fun, *THEN* announce it, then fight everyone! Lets keep this idea quiet. Maybe we could go after school on Saturday, or maybe Sunday. If we each left separately, and met at the gate we might be able to do it without being followed! Come on, lets try it!"
"O-OK, Ranchan. I'll find a park, and give you two the address in school tomorrow. I've got to go feed the evening crowd, and do my schoolwork for tomorrow. See ya."
They said their goodbyes, and Ukyou left for home. Akane and Ranma proceeded to their home. Akane was a bit overwhelmed by Ranma's tendency to talk a mile a minute. She felt conversationally off balance. She was still trying to understand that Ranma might die soon, and here he was acting more cheerful than she had ever seen him. Ranma seemed oblivious to her mood, as usual, but this didn't infuriate her yet, because SHE was still unsure of her mood. She was also having trouble keeping up with all of the ideas he was suggesting. She just realized she had passively agreed to going to an amusement park with Ranma and Ukyou that weekend when Ranma interrupted her train of thought with
"Say, Akane, do you think it'd be safe for me to see my mother now? Dad's still a panda, but she never made him promise not to become an endangered animal. As long as I've got this coin I'm gonna remain a guy. I'd really like to see her as myself, not as Ranko. Should we explain Ranko to her? If I'm cured she'd forgive the deception. But the cure won't last if I want to live. How do you think she'll take my imminent death? If I get this coin removed, do you think she'd want me to commit seppuku? I can tell her about the curse later. If I need to, we can take another training trip after removing the coin. At least I'll be able to see my mother for the next year. I think if Cologne found the cure tomorrow I'd wait a few months before taking it."
At this point Ranma became quiet again, continuing his thoughts in his head, not realizing the confused state he was leaving Akane in.
As they were reaching the Tendo home, Akane finally had almost worked out two coherent thoughts `I don't like being confused' and `It is Ranma's fault I'm confused.' But before Akane could compete this syllogism and deliver the long overdue malletting, Ranma again stirred up Akane's brain
"Glad we're home, dinner sure smells good. Can't wait. Remember the amusement park is a secret. I was going to come up with an excuse for pop, but I'll just say nothing and leave when no one's looking. After we're back they can ask as many questions as they like. It'll be best to explain what the doctor said to them all over dinner otherwise someone's going to hear half of it. Happosai will be in for a shock. I won't try to out-fight him, but I doubt he can glomp onto me now. Dad was sore this morning. fighting over the pool was his idea. I guess he prefers it when we both change. I wonder how mom'll take being married to a panda. P-chan's by the pool, I'm going to get my homework out of the way so I can watch the sunset tonight."
And with that, he ducked into the house, and went to his room.
* * *
Over dinner, Ranma and Akane proceed to tell everyone what Cologne and Tofu told them. Ranma did come up with one idea that was a stroke of brilliance "I know one way I could eat more here without raising the food budget." "How?" "Sit me apart from dad. He'd never steal your food. Akane, can we switch seats?"
After dinner, Ranma leaves to view the sunset. And without him as a catalyst, the evening passes quietly until one hour later.
* * *
Akane heads for her evening bath. Inside the changing room she notices Ranma's clothes "Ranma, how long are you going to be in there?" She doesn't get an answer. Slightly worried and with her feelings confused through the jumble of events that day she cautiously peeks into the bathroom, and sees Ranma sitting comfortably in the tub snoring slightly. She wants to pound him, but she isn't going to enter the bathing room while he's male, and she is worried about him, and he is acting weird,and ...
She goes to get their fathers to wake Ranma, and put him to bed.
* * *