It was Saturday.
Then again, it usually was Saturday after a Friday.
Of course, in Nerima you couldn't always be too sure of that. After all, there had been that period of time when someone had decided to stick an extra day in between Wednesday and Thursday. It had been labeled "Frobsday" for whatever reason. That had been the 417-day year, which actually caught Nerima up with everyone else. Apparently, they'd had a different calendar for a while.
Which is another example of typical Neriman wierdness countering more typical Neriman wierdness.
Anyways, wierdness aside, it was Saturday.
And Kodora was unhappy.
Usually, Saturdays were great. She loved them. Whole day off, do whatever you want! What a cool idea!
But she was still in casts. She didn't need the crutch much anymore, but the casts on their own were so hampering that Saturday really wasn't much fun for the small girl.
So, tail slowly lashing, she watched Genma and Souun playing cheat-shogi, trying to figure out the rules by watching. It was one of her more... unique abilities, to learn a game by watching it played a few times. Of course, Souun and Genma played cheat-shogi, which accounted for her still not having figured it out.
This particular game, Souun was winning very well.
Which confused the hell out of Genma. Because Souun hadn't been cheating very well. He only tried every third turn. But somehow, he was winning. Genma was trying to figure it out.
It should be noted that Aspirin stock started going up right about then.
**************************************************************************** *************
Passenger
Chapter 12: Nekoken is a palindrome. Try reversing it.
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by S. Starblade
Dedicated to Bud Abbot and Lou Costello, a coupla radio greats. Just remember: Who's on first, What's on second, I Don't Know's on third, Why is the left fielder, Because is the centerfield, Tomorrow's pitching, Today's catching, and I Don't Give A Darn is shortstop.
Warning: Yeah, this again. ::looks up at Tarou, whose massive fist is poised overhead:: On second thought, I won't mention it for once.
Disclaimer: I throw the ball to Naturally, whoever it is drops the ball, and the guy runs to second. Who picks up the ball and throws to What, What throws to I Don't Know, I Don't Know throws back to Tomorrow, triple play. Another guy gets up and it's a long fly to Because. Why? I Don't Know, he's on third, and I Don't Give A Darn!
Abbot: What's that?
Costello: I said, I Don't Give A Darn!
Abbot: Oh, he's shortstop.
Key:
I'll drop this for once. You've seen it enough times. And I'd rather not experience the Touched Soul, thank-you-very-much, Genma.
**************************************************************************** *************
"Tadaima!" Came Akane's shout from the front hall as she returned from a shopping trip with Yuka and Sayuri.
"O-kaeri!" Chorused Kodora and Souun. (Genma would have also joined in, but he'd been pandafied a couple of minutes previously.)
Akane walked into the room, and saw the three sitting at the shogi board. For whatever reason (mostly Genma cheating) there were also three pawns, two Othello pieces, and a Monopoly wheelbarrow in places on the board.
Genma believed in not restricting oneself. Besides, that one time he had had to swallow two shogi pieces because he couldn't hide them fast enough.
A few minutes, and several dozen turns passed.
Finally, Kodora couldn't take it anymore, and twisted a bit to look at Akane. Why had the other girl not said anything at all? The TV wasn't on, so what was she doing?
Akane was staring at Kodora's tail, looking somewhat hypnotized. Kodora looked down at her tail to see what was so fascinating.
Let's see. Still attatched, lashing as it always did when she wasn't paying specific attention to controlling it.
Hm. Akane still staring at the tail.
*Hey, Kodora?*
*Yes, oniisan?*
*Let's test Akane's awareness, shall we?*
Akane was still staring, half-mesmerized, at Kodora's tail when it started to make sidewinder movements.
Akane's eyes followed the tip of the tail.
The tail stopped waving, and lifted up into the air, curling over to touch Kodora's right shoulder. Then it shifted its arc to touch her left shoulder. Then it disappeared.
Akane blinked. It disappeared? Where could it have gone?
Akane started looking Kodora up and down, scrutinizing the small girl to try and figure out where the tail had gotten to. Scooting forwards a bit, she looked at where the tail poked out through the pajama bottoms, to trace it.
Then she noticed Souun, Genma, and Kodora all watching her.
And realized where she was looking.
Akane blushed. "Ah, umm... I... er... "
Akane's eyes went blank a moment, then she pulled out a mallet.
"AKANE NO HENTAI!!"
WHAM
The other three all stared as Akane, mallet embedded in her head, gave a "v for victory" sign with her free hand and grinned, before her eyes crossed and she fell unconscious.
Even the panda bigsweated.
[Tendou-kun?]
"Yes, Saotome?"
[You have a really weird daughter.]
Souun wavered for a moment between stoicism and depression, before deciding 'to heck with it'.
And so began Souun Tendou Cry # 74: My Wierd Youngest Daughter Just Knocked Herself Out.
The panda, looking exasperated, absconded from the room with the shogi board. Kodora just watched and waited for Souun to stop crying, or Akane to wake up, whichever happened first.
******
A little past noon that day, Kodora, Nabiki, and Souun were sitting in the dojo. Akane was still unconscious in the family room, though they had removed the mallet from her head.
"So," Continued Nabiki. "I figured I could use the exercise, and besides, it WAS fun, I just really wanted to get working on... other things... at the time."
Her father nodded, glad that Nabiki was showing an interest in the Art again. She really did need a break from the books she'd been hitting. That, and he was still wondering how his daughter avoided getting fat when she was almost never seen without a bag of chips or something on hand.
Of course, Souun had no idea that his daughter had been blackmailing the local locos, as she had told him she was studying with friends or dealing with financial stuff anytime she had gone anywhere.
The Tendou patriarch nodded solemnly.
******
A large green rabbit wearing a yellow-and-black bandanna paused in the living room, staring at the unconscious Akane.
She started to come to.
Then Ryouga noticed the mallet in her hand, and decided to go hide.
Which probably explains why he found himself in the middle of the table.
At least Akane was facing the other way. When the cat walked into the living room, she got up and headed over to pet it instead of Ryouga, who used the opportunity to finally escape the house.
He'd been trying to leave all morning.
******
Souun and Nabiki faced off, Kodora watching and taking mental notes, while Ranma watched and noted the differences between Souun's stance, and a comparable one of Genma's.
"Alright, Nabiki-chan." Said Souun. "Come at me whenever you're ready."
Nabiki nodded, remembering that she had started with this the first time.
Charging forward, she put her full weight behind a heavy punch, and overbalanced when her father sidestepped, tapping her on the top of the wrist. The added force was just enough to overbalance her, and Nabiki fell over forward. As she fell, she twisted to land on her back, already rolling away from Souun. Souun's fist lightly struck the mat where she had been laying a moment ago.
Getting up quickly, Nabiki stood just in time to fall over again, as Souun legswept her. Landing heavily on her butt, she stood again, as fast as she could, and instinctively ducked her father's foot on it's high return arc.
As the two separated, and watched each other, Souun nodded slowly.
"Good, good. Keep moving. Don't give your opponent an easy time hitting you."
*Hey, that's not a martial arts stance!*
*Sure looks like it, Ranma.*
*Yeah, but it's not! The hands are like a Crane stance, but he's got his feet in Crab. I'm not sure he's really doing martial arts...*
Nabiki edged to the right, as did Souun, both moving in a circle.
*Look, Ranma, it works in a fight, right?*
*Well... I guess it could, but still.*
*Oh, for crying out loud. Someone had to come up with martial arts stuff in the first place, right? They were making it up as they went along. Just like it looks like Ojisan is doing.*
Nabiki was now facing Souun, who had his back to Kodora.
*I suppose...*
WHAMCRUNCH
Souun froze. When Nabiki'd charged him again, he'd used an easy throw. There should have been a sound from his daughter hitting the floor, but where had the 'crunch' come from? He turned to see Nabiki, looking a little worried, getting up off of Kodora, whom she had apparently landed on, faceup.
Both casts were shattered.
The two tremulous Tendous tensed timidly.
Kodora sat up, and smiled.
"Am alright. Is not like Nabiki is really heavy, ne? And the casts were to come off tomorrow, so..."
Souun and Nabiki relaxed, seeing Kodora pick herself up off the mat, and stretch. The small girl frowned at how much weaker her right leg had gotten, promising herself to get some good exercise once she got cleaned up...
Hold the phone.
No casts.
Everything's working.
Clean up.
*Ranma, we can take a hot bath! You can have control again for a while!*
*WHOOOOHOOOOOOO!*
Kodora winced then took a deep breath. Souun waited for her to shout about what hurt. After all, she hadn't been totally recuperated yet, right?
"KASUMI-SAN, TURN ON THE WATER HEATER!!!!! THE CASTS ARE OFF!!!"
Both Tendous were bowled over as the smallest Saotome charged out of the dojo, aiming to take a warm bath.
Souun grinned where he lay. The girl had moved so fast that, as he had no warning, Souun had been unable to get out of the way. She had potential.
******
Ryouga, human again, was wandering around somewhere in Nagasaki already, having run for a while. He was thinking deeply.
Ranma was his adversary. His greatest foe. Ranma was the guy he competed with on a regular basis, or at least used to, sometimes for no reason other than it felt right. He liked fighting with Ranma, so long as it didn't get deadly serious. Bread aside, it had actually been kinda fun. And now he'd finally found his opponent. But he'd also realised something. Sure, he knew the Ironcloth technique, and hadn't fought Ranma with it yet...
But Ranma had been training the whole time, too. He probably knew a few tricks Ryouga hadn't run into that he'd learned after the missed duel. And the Ironcloth techniques weren't totally infallible, either. Before he could challenge Ranma again, he would need something new. An edge, of some sort. Something rare and difficult to learn about, or to learn. But also something he himself could learn.
If only there was someone around who might want to teach him a technique. Ah, well. He'd have to find something before trying to return to the Tendou Dojo.
Then again, maybe he could get that girl with the hammer to teach him that trick.
On the other hand, there was a serious stylistic problem with that technique, if it was a technique.
Really, who seriously uses a wooden mallet in combat consistently? It just wouldn't work.
Then Ryouga noticed the cave. There was a sign painted on the wall.
[Pierson, Teng, and Kochiro. Martial Arts Miners. When steamshovels and pickaxes just aren't right, call PTC Mining Company. Also bodyguard services. Call 1(900)7MINING.]
The fangtoothed, bandanna-wearing wanderer shrugged. What the heck. May as well go in and see. Maybe they'd know something.
******
Relaxing in the furo, Ranma sighed.
"Ranma!" Kasumi called from the dressing room. "I've left some of your clothes on top of the washer! Be out in time for dinner!"
"Arigatou, Kasumi-san!"
*Wow. Feels great to be able to take a warm bath again, ne Ranma?*
Ranma smiled. *Sure does Kodora. Now, are you sure about this? I mean, if you want, we could try alternating days one way and the other...*
*NO, Ranma. You were stuck in the back of our head for two weeks. I owe you. If we get splashed, I agree that it's not too important to change back , but were going to try and keep you up front for a while. Besides, the other kids at school have to get used to me being around, and small doses are better at first.*
"Hmm." Ranma muttered. "I guess you're right." *But don't you go stinting yourself on time. It wasn't really that bad. Take as long in control as you like when you come up, alright?*
Kodora sighed. *Fine, fine. But I'm gonna try and keep you up front anyways.*
*Deal.*
Ranma got out of the furo, and dried off. Stepping into the room, he took up the splotchy-forest-green tang and black kung-fu pants, putting them on and carefully doing up all the buttons and ties, making sure the ties could be adjusted if neccessary. One learned to do THAT very quickly, because if you change in a bad situation, you really don't need to spend any extra time adjusting your clothing.
Which was a good thing.
******
Akane sat at the table with the cat, a fat white one, on her lap, waiting for Kasumi to have dinner ready.
Nabiki sat down, and eyed the cat, lifting one eyebrow.
"He just sort of walked in earlier, sis. Cute, isn't he? He belongs to someone on the other side of Nerima."
"Really."
Akane nodded. "His name's Toltiir."
White cat gods of mischief in several billion universes sneezed simultaneously, causing vast numbers of really strange Ranma crossovers, such as Sailor Ranma Dragoon Legend of the Final Fantasy, and other things.
"I'm going to return him tomorrow."
Nabiki nodded. "Just see that he doesn't get into the food or anything."
******
About three minutes into dinner, Ranma suddenly froze solid. Something had just crawled into his lap and it was making THAT sound.
Akane looked around for where Toltiir had gotten to, while the others wondered where the purring sound was coming from.
Ever so slowly, Ranma looked down into his lap, drawing everyone's attention mostly by not stealing their food anymore.
"Mrau." Insisted the white cat. Ranma dropped his chopsticks and bowl, and Genma realised that his gi needed washing again.
"Mau." Answered Ranma. Everyone else at the table stared blankly, while Genma went whiter than his gi. The clean part of it.
Somewhere inside Ranma's head, Kodora was struggling in the Pit.
**************************************************************************** *************
Whoa. All of a sudden, things are happening. And totally out of order, too! WAY COOL! ahem...right. Where was I? Oh, yeah. Now things are really going to get going. The Nekoken strikes next chapter, and soon Ranma returns to school! And just in time for the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics match precedings, too. Uh-oh.
And what's going to happen with Ryouga?
And who was the enemy Ranma and Kodora talked about back in Chapter One, Book One?
And what am I going to do about Kuno?
And will I ever stop asking rhetorical questions?
Stay tuned for next time, when I answer maybe one of these questions, introduce a slew more, and describe a lot more mayhem!
Oh, the joy and anticipation!
...okay, I'll shut up now.
Then again, it usually was Saturday after a Friday.
Of course, in Nerima you couldn't always be too sure of that. After all, there had been that period of time when someone had decided to stick an extra day in between Wednesday and Thursday. It had been labeled "Frobsday" for whatever reason. That had been the 417-day year, which actually caught Nerima up with everyone else. Apparently, they'd had a different calendar for a while.
Which is another example of typical Neriman wierdness countering more typical Neriman wierdness.
Anyways, wierdness aside, it was Saturday.
And Kodora was unhappy.
Usually, Saturdays were great. She loved them. Whole day off, do whatever you want! What a cool idea!
But she was still in casts. She didn't need the crutch much anymore, but the casts on their own were so hampering that Saturday really wasn't much fun for the small girl.
So, tail slowly lashing, she watched Genma and Souun playing cheat-shogi, trying to figure out the rules by watching. It was one of her more... unique abilities, to learn a game by watching it played a few times. Of course, Souun and Genma played cheat-shogi, which accounted for her still not having figured it out.
This particular game, Souun was winning very well.
Which confused the hell out of Genma. Because Souun hadn't been cheating very well. He only tried every third turn. But somehow, he was winning. Genma was trying to figure it out.
It should be noted that Aspirin stock started going up right about then.
**************************************************************************** *************
Passenger
Chapter 12: Nekoken is a palindrome. Try reversing it.
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by S. Starblade
Dedicated to Bud Abbot and Lou Costello, a coupla radio greats. Just remember: Who's on first, What's on second, I Don't Know's on third, Why is the left fielder, Because is the centerfield, Tomorrow's pitching, Today's catching, and I Don't Give A Darn is shortstop.
Warning: Yeah, this again. ::looks up at Tarou, whose massive fist is poised overhead:: On second thought, I won't mention it for once.
Disclaimer: I throw the ball to Naturally, whoever it is drops the ball, and the guy runs to second. Who picks up the ball and throws to What, What throws to I Don't Know, I Don't Know throws back to Tomorrow, triple play. Another guy gets up and it's a long fly to Because. Why? I Don't Know, he's on third, and I Don't Give A Darn!
Abbot: What's that?
Costello: I said, I Don't Give A Darn!
Abbot: Oh, he's shortstop.
Key:
I'll drop this for once. You've seen it enough times. And I'd rather not experience the Touched Soul, thank-you-very-much, Genma.
**************************************************************************** *************
"Tadaima!" Came Akane's shout from the front hall as she returned from a shopping trip with Yuka and Sayuri.
"O-kaeri!" Chorused Kodora and Souun. (Genma would have also joined in, but he'd been pandafied a couple of minutes previously.)
Akane walked into the room, and saw the three sitting at the shogi board. For whatever reason (mostly Genma cheating) there were also three pawns, two Othello pieces, and a Monopoly wheelbarrow in places on the board.
Genma believed in not restricting oneself. Besides, that one time he had had to swallow two shogi pieces because he couldn't hide them fast enough.
A few minutes, and several dozen turns passed.
Finally, Kodora couldn't take it anymore, and twisted a bit to look at Akane. Why had the other girl not said anything at all? The TV wasn't on, so what was she doing?
Akane was staring at Kodora's tail, looking somewhat hypnotized. Kodora looked down at her tail to see what was so fascinating.
Let's see. Still attatched, lashing as it always did when she wasn't paying specific attention to controlling it.
Hm. Akane still staring at the tail.
*Hey, Kodora?*
*Yes, oniisan?*
*Let's test Akane's awareness, shall we?*
Akane was still staring, half-mesmerized, at Kodora's tail when it started to make sidewinder movements.
Akane's eyes followed the tip of the tail.
The tail stopped waving, and lifted up into the air, curling over to touch Kodora's right shoulder. Then it shifted its arc to touch her left shoulder. Then it disappeared.
Akane blinked. It disappeared? Where could it have gone?
Akane started looking Kodora up and down, scrutinizing the small girl to try and figure out where the tail had gotten to. Scooting forwards a bit, she looked at where the tail poked out through the pajama bottoms, to trace it.
Then she noticed Souun, Genma, and Kodora all watching her.
And realized where she was looking.
Akane blushed. "Ah, umm... I... er... "
Akane's eyes went blank a moment, then she pulled out a mallet.
"AKANE NO HENTAI!!"
WHAM
The other three all stared as Akane, mallet embedded in her head, gave a "v for victory" sign with her free hand and grinned, before her eyes crossed and she fell unconscious.
Even the panda bigsweated.
[Tendou-kun?]
"Yes, Saotome?"
[You have a really weird daughter.]
Souun wavered for a moment between stoicism and depression, before deciding 'to heck with it'.
And so began Souun Tendou Cry # 74: My Wierd Youngest Daughter Just Knocked Herself Out.
The panda, looking exasperated, absconded from the room with the shogi board. Kodora just watched and waited for Souun to stop crying, or Akane to wake up, whichever happened first.
******
A little past noon that day, Kodora, Nabiki, and Souun were sitting in the dojo. Akane was still unconscious in the family room, though they had removed the mallet from her head.
"So," Continued Nabiki. "I figured I could use the exercise, and besides, it WAS fun, I just really wanted to get working on... other things... at the time."
Her father nodded, glad that Nabiki was showing an interest in the Art again. She really did need a break from the books she'd been hitting. That, and he was still wondering how his daughter avoided getting fat when she was almost never seen without a bag of chips or something on hand.
Of course, Souun had no idea that his daughter had been blackmailing the local locos, as she had told him she was studying with friends or dealing with financial stuff anytime she had gone anywhere.
The Tendou patriarch nodded solemnly.
******
A large green rabbit wearing a yellow-and-black bandanna paused in the living room, staring at the unconscious Akane.
She started to come to.
Then Ryouga noticed the mallet in her hand, and decided to go hide.
Which probably explains why he found himself in the middle of the table.
At least Akane was facing the other way. When the cat walked into the living room, she got up and headed over to pet it instead of Ryouga, who used the opportunity to finally escape the house.
He'd been trying to leave all morning.
******
Souun and Nabiki faced off, Kodora watching and taking mental notes, while Ranma watched and noted the differences between Souun's stance, and a comparable one of Genma's.
"Alright, Nabiki-chan." Said Souun. "Come at me whenever you're ready."
Nabiki nodded, remembering that she had started with this the first time.
Charging forward, she put her full weight behind a heavy punch, and overbalanced when her father sidestepped, tapping her on the top of the wrist. The added force was just enough to overbalance her, and Nabiki fell over forward. As she fell, she twisted to land on her back, already rolling away from Souun. Souun's fist lightly struck the mat where she had been laying a moment ago.
Getting up quickly, Nabiki stood just in time to fall over again, as Souun legswept her. Landing heavily on her butt, she stood again, as fast as she could, and instinctively ducked her father's foot on it's high return arc.
As the two separated, and watched each other, Souun nodded slowly.
"Good, good. Keep moving. Don't give your opponent an easy time hitting you."
*Hey, that's not a martial arts stance!*
*Sure looks like it, Ranma.*
*Yeah, but it's not! The hands are like a Crane stance, but he's got his feet in Crab. I'm not sure he's really doing martial arts...*
Nabiki edged to the right, as did Souun, both moving in a circle.
*Look, Ranma, it works in a fight, right?*
*Well... I guess it could, but still.*
*Oh, for crying out loud. Someone had to come up with martial arts stuff in the first place, right? They were making it up as they went along. Just like it looks like Ojisan is doing.*
Nabiki was now facing Souun, who had his back to Kodora.
*I suppose...*
WHAMCRUNCH
Souun froze. When Nabiki'd charged him again, he'd used an easy throw. There should have been a sound from his daughter hitting the floor, but where had the 'crunch' come from? He turned to see Nabiki, looking a little worried, getting up off of Kodora, whom she had apparently landed on, faceup.
Both casts were shattered.
The two tremulous Tendous tensed timidly.
Kodora sat up, and smiled.
"Am alright. Is not like Nabiki is really heavy, ne? And the casts were to come off tomorrow, so..."
Souun and Nabiki relaxed, seeing Kodora pick herself up off the mat, and stretch. The small girl frowned at how much weaker her right leg had gotten, promising herself to get some good exercise once she got cleaned up...
Hold the phone.
No casts.
Everything's working.
Clean up.
*Ranma, we can take a hot bath! You can have control again for a while!*
*WHOOOOHOOOOOOO!*
Kodora winced then took a deep breath. Souun waited for her to shout about what hurt. After all, she hadn't been totally recuperated yet, right?
"KASUMI-SAN, TURN ON THE WATER HEATER!!!!! THE CASTS ARE OFF!!!"
Both Tendous were bowled over as the smallest Saotome charged out of the dojo, aiming to take a warm bath.
Souun grinned where he lay. The girl had moved so fast that, as he had no warning, Souun had been unable to get out of the way. She had potential.
******
Ryouga, human again, was wandering around somewhere in Nagasaki already, having run for a while. He was thinking deeply.
Ranma was his adversary. His greatest foe. Ranma was the guy he competed with on a regular basis, or at least used to, sometimes for no reason other than it felt right. He liked fighting with Ranma, so long as it didn't get deadly serious. Bread aside, it had actually been kinda fun. And now he'd finally found his opponent. But he'd also realised something. Sure, he knew the Ironcloth technique, and hadn't fought Ranma with it yet...
But Ranma had been training the whole time, too. He probably knew a few tricks Ryouga hadn't run into that he'd learned after the missed duel. And the Ironcloth techniques weren't totally infallible, either. Before he could challenge Ranma again, he would need something new. An edge, of some sort. Something rare and difficult to learn about, or to learn. But also something he himself could learn.
If only there was someone around who might want to teach him a technique. Ah, well. He'd have to find something before trying to return to the Tendou Dojo.
Then again, maybe he could get that girl with the hammer to teach him that trick.
On the other hand, there was a serious stylistic problem with that technique, if it was a technique.
Really, who seriously uses a wooden mallet in combat consistently? It just wouldn't work.
Then Ryouga noticed the cave. There was a sign painted on the wall.
[Pierson, Teng, and Kochiro. Martial Arts Miners. When steamshovels and pickaxes just aren't right, call PTC Mining Company. Also bodyguard services. Call 1(900)7MINING.]
The fangtoothed, bandanna-wearing wanderer shrugged. What the heck. May as well go in and see. Maybe they'd know something.
******
Relaxing in the furo, Ranma sighed.
"Ranma!" Kasumi called from the dressing room. "I've left some of your clothes on top of the washer! Be out in time for dinner!"
"Arigatou, Kasumi-san!"
*Wow. Feels great to be able to take a warm bath again, ne Ranma?*
Ranma smiled. *Sure does Kodora. Now, are you sure about this? I mean, if you want, we could try alternating days one way and the other...*
*NO, Ranma. You were stuck in the back of our head for two weeks. I owe you. If we get splashed, I agree that it's not too important to change back , but were going to try and keep you up front for a while. Besides, the other kids at school have to get used to me being around, and small doses are better at first.*
"Hmm." Ranma muttered. "I guess you're right." *But don't you go stinting yourself on time. It wasn't really that bad. Take as long in control as you like when you come up, alright?*
Kodora sighed. *Fine, fine. But I'm gonna try and keep you up front anyways.*
*Deal.*
Ranma got out of the furo, and dried off. Stepping into the room, he took up the splotchy-forest-green tang and black kung-fu pants, putting them on and carefully doing up all the buttons and ties, making sure the ties could be adjusted if neccessary. One learned to do THAT very quickly, because if you change in a bad situation, you really don't need to spend any extra time adjusting your clothing.
Which was a good thing.
******
Akane sat at the table with the cat, a fat white one, on her lap, waiting for Kasumi to have dinner ready.
Nabiki sat down, and eyed the cat, lifting one eyebrow.
"He just sort of walked in earlier, sis. Cute, isn't he? He belongs to someone on the other side of Nerima."
"Really."
Akane nodded. "His name's Toltiir."
White cat gods of mischief in several billion universes sneezed simultaneously, causing vast numbers of really strange Ranma crossovers, such as Sailor Ranma Dragoon Legend of the Final Fantasy, and other things.
"I'm going to return him tomorrow."
Nabiki nodded. "Just see that he doesn't get into the food or anything."
******
About three minutes into dinner, Ranma suddenly froze solid. Something had just crawled into his lap and it was making THAT sound.
Akane looked around for where Toltiir had gotten to, while the others wondered where the purring sound was coming from.
Ever so slowly, Ranma looked down into his lap, drawing everyone's attention mostly by not stealing their food anymore.
"Mrau." Insisted the white cat. Ranma dropped his chopsticks and bowl, and Genma realised that his gi needed washing again.
"Mau." Answered Ranma. Everyone else at the table stared blankly, while Genma went whiter than his gi. The clean part of it.
Somewhere inside Ranma's head, Kodora was struggling in the Pit.
**************************************************************************** *************
Whoa. All of a sudden, things are happening. And totally out of order, too! WAY COOL! ahem...right. Where was I? Oh, yeah. Now things are really going to get going. The Nekoken strikes next chapter, and soon Ranma returns to school! And just in time for the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics match precedings, too. Uh-oh.
And what's going to happen with Ryouga?
And who was the enemy Ranma and Kodora talked about back in Chapter One, Book One?
And what am I going to do about Kuno?
And will I ever stop asking rhetorical questions?
Stay tuned for next time, when I answer maybe one of these questions, introduce a slew more, and describe a lot more mayhem!
Oh, the joy and anticipation!
...okay, I'll shut up now.