Splash.
Ranma winced, sitting up and looking around at everyone.
"You know, you coulda changed our clothes first?"
The three Tendoo sisters all shifted their gazes slightly, then each blushed so much they practically glowed. As one, they turned to face the other way, still blushing.
Ranma sighed. What a way to start his turn for the day.
**************************************************************************** ************* Passenger Chapter 28: What's the Hardest Part of Learning to Skate?
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by Selene Starblade Dedicated to the endless number of combat techniques invented by video game designers, and the immense fun you can have using them.
Disclaimer: Two of these so far, I own. The rest are Takahashi-sama's. Honestly, just don't bother suing me. You won't even be able to pay the lawer afterwards.
Key: The Metal Idol. Quotes: The language Japanese. Square Brackets: the sides of the signs used by nonspeaking Jusenkyoo cursed. Arrow Brackets: Indicate English, I hope. Otherwise something funny's going on. Funky curved brackets that look like... aw, hell These { } indicate Chinese. * * means that either Ranma or Kodora is mentally communicating the contained words to the other one. **************************************************************************** *************
Genma-panda, serving as a changing screen for Ranma as he was the only (relatively) mobile object present that was large enough, was trying to think again.
Kodora had won the match.
Kodora had won the match with martial arts, apparently coming up with yet another technique, this time on the fly.
That hadn't been Ranma out there. Ranma had had almost no effect on the person who had fought out there.
How did he know?
Genma had trained Ranma in the martial arts. This was one of the rare things he could do and still know exactly what he was doing, really. Genma had trained Ranma in the Anything-Goes style. Not just the Anything-Goes style, but the Saotome school. That was an important distinction.
The idea behind the Anything-Goes style was this: always have something else up your sleeve. Happo- the evil master- had tought Genma and Souun to do this two different ways based in the same idea.
This idea was that if you learned every style you ran into, your repertoire could only increase, and you would then have every technique and style at your fingertips. This was a fine idea, although changing styles so quickly wasn't as simple as it sounded. Often, to accomplish that, one would have to change one's entire physical stance to something totally new. Anyone can tell you that suddenly stopping for a moment to change what general area your center of balance is in, is a bad idea in a fast-paced fight.
So, two ways. The Saotome school was based around aerial combat. Genma was sure Ranma hadn't really ever thought about why- Genma himself only remembered because the Master had beaten it into him.
If you're in midair, you're in freefall, and it's easy to shift the manner in which you're moving without taking too much time. All the better to catch someone by surprise. Plus, if you use aerial attacks, you can restrict your opponent's motions, shift stances several times in one movement, attack from odd angles, get a breather by jumping REALLY high... any of a number of things.
The Tendoo school was based around ground combat. Again, Genma was pretty sure only he, Tendoo, and the Master knew this. The Tendoo school was distinctly different- rather than shifting styles entirely, one tried to confuse one's opponent by being in more than one stance at a time, in parts. With practice, multiple styles could be blended slightly, such as using a Crane upper body stance with the Crab leg stance, or using the Ja Jinku no Apache in coordination with the Atlas Stance to weave out of an opponent's attack while maintaining a firm position. Plus, by staying on the ground, one remained largely stable, and could more easily defend oneself.
If Tendoo had been training Kodora, she should have been using bits and pieces of other martial arts to fight.
She wasn't.
If Ranma had been training Kodora, she should have been bouncing around like a mosquito on a caffeine high, constantly shifting from one style to another.
She wasn't.
Kodora, as near as Genma could tell, had been using no martial arts styles at all.
True, he would have to concede that the girl (demon, he reminded himself) had been using Rhythmic Gymnastics Martial Arts, so to speak, since she'd been restricting herself to that attack style. But she had used not even one basic stance, and that Midnight Chrysanthemum or whoever had used plenty of them.
Kodora was fast, Genma could see that. She had good basic strength, particularly in the legs. That was apparent. But her movement- there was no discipline at all.
And somehow that had worked.
Genma's underused brain finally gave out, and a tiny, unnoticeable trickle of smoke departed the panda's ear for a moment.
Then the panda looked around, and realized he was alone in the room. Taped to his nose was a piece of paper.
Genma removed the note, and read it.
******
As the panda walked by, rumbling to itself, Miyagi couldn't help but wonder why she had the urge to tell it to watch it's language.
******
Ranma continued on the way to the Tendoo Dojo, thoughtful, and walking in the lead.
*gnnh.... anyone get the number of that delivery truck??*
Ranma blinked.
*Delivery truck?*
*Yeah.... feels like one ran me over...*
*Heh. Nothing like that, Imooto- but you did win the match.*
*I know, I remember.*
Ranma almost stumbled, but kept walking.
*I thought you couldn't really remember your berserker rages?*
*Ranma, if I'd gone into rage, I would have forfeited by forgetting the rules. No contact, remember? Yeah, I got real mad, but hey- pain like that would do that to anyone.*
*I know..* Ranma winced in memory of how that last strike had felt. *We GOTTA find a way to make your tail hurt less when it gets hit.*
Kodora shrugged mentally. *I really can't think of anything right now- I can't even increase the chi flow there.. Speaking of which, you know, you haven't really gotten to train much for a while.*
*'Sokay, Imootochan. After all, what happens to you happens to me.*
*Yeah, but I've gotten a lot less exercise than you would have anyways. I hope your body hasn't gotten any weaker...*
*Don't worry about it, I-*
THUD
Ranma shook his head, wondering when brick walls had started to get up and go stand in the middle of sidewalks.
Ranma got up. "Oy! Watch where you're goin'.... Ryoga?"
Ryoga turned to look at Ranma, with an almost disturbingly hopeful expression on his face, moving a little slowly from his almost-healed wounds.
"Ranma? Is that you? I-"
SPLASH
Kodora, the remains of a water balloon still on her shoulder, looked down at the large, green rabbit.
Usagi-Ryoga, now sitting in front of the large backpack, mostly swamped by the now far-outsized clothing, looked up at her.
Souun Tendoo nearly facefaulted, while Akane and Nabiki were wearing somewhat disturbed expressions.
Kasumi blinked, and almost- not quite, but almost- frowned for a moment, before her face settled on a neutral expression.
Oooh, crap. Ryoga thought. Now she knows, and she's already pissed at me, and I can't even explain...
The kids playing on the streed decided to vamoose, the adults here seemed to be busy. Really, it wasn't the way that one girl had a tail and fangs and was glowing red. Really it wasn't.
Genma-panda came to a screeching halt behind the others, and held up a sign. [Did I miss something?]
Usagi-Ryoga closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable, as Kodora stood there, trembling, glowing brilliant crimson.
*Uh, Imooto-chan, I don't think-*
*Shut up, Ranma. This... this... this IDIOT is going to PAY for...*
Kodora looked at the shuddering rabbit huddled there in the wet clothing.
*for...*
It was about this point that her conscience and reasonability came up behind her anger, tapped it on the shoulder, and simultaneously roundhoused it in the face.
The Tendoos and the elder Saotome watched as Kodora's aura seemed to invert, from the center to the edges, shifting to a soothing green color, then faded out. The small girl stepped forward and fell to her knees, scooping up the rabbit from the clothes, and moving it aside. She took the clothing and jammed it into Ryoga's large pack, seemingly ignoring the green rabbit that was watching her. To the amazement of the Tendoos, she then slid her arms behidn the straps of the pack. She held her arms out to the rabbit, looking it in the eyes.
*Uh... Kodora-chan?*
"Yoojo?"
Ignoring the two trying to get her attention, the small martial artist beckoned to the rabbit, making a soft sound with the tip of her tongue on the roof of her mouth.
"Tchk tchk tchk... Here, Ryoga..."
Usagi-Ryoga looked at Kodora warily at first, then glanced to the other Tendoos. Akane was alternating between giving him the Gaze of Sooner-Than- Instant-Death and looking puzzledly at Kodora. Nabiki had regained her mask, and was watching dispassionately, while the Tendoo patriarch and the panda were giving the whole scene frankly disbelieving looks. Kasumi was looking pleasently puzzled, an expression more or less unique to her. Deciding that he'd rather not risk displeasing the person currently most likely to want him greivously injured (at best), he carefully hopped towards Kodora.
Leaning over slightly, but not tilting Ryoga's pack, Kodora scooped up the large rabbit, holding him with at least one arm while using first one hand, then the other, to tighten the backpack straps until her shoulders were forced against it. Then, with a slight exhalation from effort, she surprised her whole family again by standing up, the pack rising with her.
*Imooto-chan.... you're not using your chi...*
*And... regretting it... Ranma.....rrgh...*
Kodora wobbled slightly. Genma-Panda stepped up to help her, but she waved him off, and focused, pouring chi into her legs and back. Immediately, she managed to straighten up again.
Without another word, she continued, heading for the Tendoo-ke, still carrying the puzzled green rabbit. It took the others a moment to follow her.
******
Xian Pu, Ko Lon, and Sin Ku all stood at the edge of a town.
"So..." Began the truly diminutive Matriarch, "The demon has been here for the past while, has it?"
Sin Ku nodded, then spoke up in a voice like chocolate mousse, deep, smooth, and soft. "Yes, Matriarch. It seems reluctant to move now. And before you ask, no I still cannot determine its power, which still disturbs me."
Ko Lon cackled. "Actually, I was going to ask you if you could look for a good place to put a... specialized... bookstore around here."
Xian Pu looked confused. "Hibachan- why you want to have bookstore?"
Sin Ku echoed the question silently, shooting the Matriarch a quizzical glance.
"Because," replied the Matriarch, turning on her staff to regard the other two, "It will be much easier to wait for the demon to show up near us, than to go in search of it, especially with only three of us. Besides- then I can catch up on my reading!"
Xian Pu huffed. "Is too, too good, but Xian Pu still want to know- Why we must speak Japanese with each other?"
Sin Ku smiled. "Practice, Xian Pu. Practice."
******
Ryoga, newly human and steaming, scrambled for his clothes, while Kodora set down the teakettle, with a neutral expression. She registered her own and Ranma's mild amusement and astonishment at seeing someone dress so quickly while blushing so red, but ignored them for the moment.
Ryoga was definitely flustered- he'd expected the small girl to turn her head when she poured the hot water. However, as he saw it, it was, in a way, her right, all things considered. He turned, now fully dressed, and kneeled before her, preparing to bow down to the ground and ask forgiveness.
Kodora beat him to it, her nose touching the floor of the dojo as she kept her hands in proper bowing position, palm-down on her lap as she kneeled.
"Doomo sumimasen (I am very sorry for what I have done), Ryoga-san. Please find it within yourself to forgive me."
Ryoga erked, reaching over to lift the much smaller martial artist to a normal kneeling position.
"No, Kodora-kun, no- You have nothing to ask forgiveness for! I need to ask you to forgive me! I acted without honor!"
Kodora shook her head sadly. "No, Ryoga-san. I had no right to take out my feelings on you." She continued to look down at the floor. "I likely injured you very badly- I could have killed you. That was not within my rights to do. I was far in the wrong, and I hope you can forgive me."
Ryoga considered this a moment. "I see your point, but I don't think it's like that. I took advantage of you- of your kindness, to get close so I could make sure of Ranma's abilities- so I could try to fight with him. I had... no honorable reason for seeking out the duel, and I went about it all wrong. I had blinded myself. It is I who should be asking your forgiveness."
Kodora looked up at Ryoga, and smiled slightly, chuckling softly. "Kind of silly, isn't it? Each of us thinks we owe the other...." She paused, sighing. "You know, with everything that's happened since Juusenkyo, it's still kind of hard to believe this is all real...."
"Huh?" Replied Ryoga, currently lost in the conversational sense.
"Oh, that's right... you don't know. I'm not Ranma, and he isn't me. I'm from... somewhere else. I got stuck in here with Ranma when he fell in at Juusenkyo..."
Ryoga glanced at where Kodora's tail was lying, the very tip twitching occasionally. "Spring of drowned otherworldly demon?"
The petite demon-girl shook her head again, her strange quills rattling softly, creating a sound much like ocean waves.
"No, spring of drowned girl."
Ryoga looked nonplussed. "What?"
"Long story. Look... I'll admit what you did was wrong, Ryoga, and you shouldn't have done it... But that doesn't mean that I had the right to hurt you like that."
Kodora waited for his answer, mildly amused by the sounds she kept hearing outside the dojo.
******
"Ow! Mr. Saotome, that's my foot!"
[Sorry, Akane.] Genma-panda moved his own hindpaw, then pressed his furry ear against the wall again.
"Father! Akane! Nabiki! I'm ashamed of you!"
Everyone at the dojo wall next to the door turned to behold Kasumi, not- smiling, shaking a finger at them.
"You three have better judgement than to listen in on something private!"
Genma-panda blinked. [What about me?]
The three Tendoos at the dojo looked contrite and headed for the house. Souun stopped to look over at Kasumi.
"But, Kasumi-chan, what if he tries something with Kodora-chan? I couldn't..."
Kasumi sighed. "Otoosan, are you forgetting that in the last fight involving those two, it was Ryoga-san who wound up badly beaten? Imootochan can take care of herself."
Souun blinked, thinking about that for a moment. "You're right, Kasumi- chan. I should have more faith in my little girl."
"Really, though, Otoosan, I shouldn't have to tell you this- you know better."
The remaining two Tendoos went inside the house.
Genma-panda sat outside the dojo with a strange expression. [But what about me? Shouldn't I get scolded too?]
******
Ryoga nodded. "I see. I would still like to have a good match with Ranma again, though."
Kodora quirked up an eyebrow. "Oh?"
The Lost Boy nodded again. "Hai. He's the only guy I can ever find who's in anything resembling my league- I'm still not sure if I can beat him.... Besides, he went missing from our last fight! Say, you wouldn't happen to know why that was, would you?"
Kodora grimaced. "Actually, yes... See, Ranma waited for you a full three days..."
"But, I got there on the fourth day!"
"No, you don't understand. He waited a full three days. Awake."
"...awake?"
"Yes. When he finally fell asleep from exhaustion, he woke up somewhere else entirely. Panda-baka had dragged him off."
"..panda?"
Kodora nodded. "Ranma's oyaji got cursed to turn into a panda, just like Ranma and me, or you and a rabbit."
Ryoga piku-pikued. "You mean, this whole thing is that panda's fault?"
******
Ranma looked into the yard from the dinner table. "Yo, Ryoga! Yer grub's gettin' cold!"
"Be right there in a minute! GENMA SAOTOME, PREPARE TO DIE!!!"
Akane cheered, ignoring the small signs that occasionally landed next to the table, each reading [help] or some similar sentiment.
Souun, done with his food and watching the chase, got a feeling that he would be seeing a lot of this sometime soon. Shaking off the odd shiver in his spine, he turned to Akane. "So, you're planning on going ice skating tomorrow afternoon?"
"Hai, Otoosan. It should be a lot of fun!" Akane smiled.
Souun nodded. "It's good to hear they finally repaired the old ice rink."
"Ice skating, huh? C'n I come along?"
Souun looked over at Ranma. "Beg pardon?"
Ranma shrugged. "Well, Kodora says ice skating is pretty fun, an' I never got to do any of it before, so..."
Akane gave Ranma a look. "As long as you promise not to try anything perverted, it's fine with me. I have to go finish my homework.
Ranma and Souun looked at each other, and shrugged.
"Wierd girl."
**************************************************************************** *************
Woo-hoo! Fun! Finally back on track (lousy FF.net failures. I really hope we're through with those...) and headed for standard Furinkan zaniness!
WATCH! As Ranma learns to ice skate!
SEE! Ryoga try to beat up Sanzenin!
ENJOY! Kodora trying to beat up Sanzenin!
HEAR! Akane promise to beat up Sanzenin!
FEEL! Kuno's battle aura as he promises to beat up Sanzenin! (Anytime you sense a theme here, feel free to stop me.)
Also-
Soon, Interlude 4!
Maybe the Amazons will finally meet this 'demon' they've been following!
What will happen when Ranma tries to Ice Skate?
How on earth will I bring Mikado and Azusa into this without P- chan/Charlotte?
Will Noriko ever show her face in this fic again?
And what about Kasumi!
All this and more, soon in...
Passenger: Along for the Ride!
Note: the Ja Jinku no Apache belongs to whoever it was that wrote 'A Different Approach', in which Ranma is not engaged to ANY of the Tendoo sisters to his knowledge, and becomes Nabiki's boyfriend and Akane's trainer. Sorry, author, I forgot your name. I'm really, REALLY bad with names. Sorry, sorry, sorry....
AAANywho....
"I'll rip your HEAD OFF!" "Oh, thank you, thank you!" -Ryoga (line one) and Ranma (line two), page 192, Ranma 1/2 volume 3.
S: "Akane! Isn't it lovely!" A: "Yee! Kill it!" -Souun and Akane, page 194, Ranma 1/2 volume 3.
Ranma winced, sitting up and looking around at everyone.
"You know, you coulda changed our clothes first?"
The three Tendoo sisters all shifted their gazes slightly, then each blushed so much they practically glowed. As one, they turned to face the other way, still blushing.
Ranma sighed. What a way to start his turn for the day.
**************************************************************************** ************* Passenger Chapter 28: What's the Hardest Part of Learning to Skate?
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by Selene Starblade Dedicated to the endless number of combat techniques invented by video game designers, and the immense fun you can have using them.
Disclaimer: Two of these so far, I own. The rest are Takahashi-sama's. Honestly, just don't bother suing me. You won't even be able to pay the lawer afterwards.
Key: The Metal Idol. Quotes: The language Japanese. Square Brackets: the sides of the signs used by nonspeaking Jusenkyoo cursed. Arrow Brackets: Indicate English, I hope. Otherwise something funny's going on. Funky curved brackets that look like... aw, hell These { } indicate Chinese. * * means that either Ranma or Kodora is mentally communicating the contained words to the other one. **************************************************************************** *************
Genma-panda, serving as a changing screen for Ranma as he was the only (relatively) mobile object present that was large enough, was trying to think again.
Kodora had won the match.
Kodora had won the match with martial arts, apparently coming up with yet another technique, this time on the fly.
That hadn't been Ranma out there. Ranma had had almost no effect on the person who had fought out there.
How did he know?
Genma had trained Ranma in the martial arts. This was one of the rare things he could do and still know exactly what he was doing, really. Genma had trained Ranma in the Anything-Goes style. Not just the Anything-Goes style, but the Saotome school. That was an important distinction.
The idea behind the Anything-Goes style was this: always have something else up your sleeve. Happo- the evil master- had tought Genma and Souun to do this two different ways based in the same idea.
This idea was that if you learned every style you ran into, your repertoire could only increase, and you would then have every technique and style at your fingertips. This was a fine idea, although changing styles so quickly wasn't as simple as it sounded. Often, to accomplish that, one would have to change one's entire physical stance to something totally new. Anyone can tell you that suddenly stopping for a moment to change what general area your center of balance is in, is a bad idea in a fast-paced fight.
So, two ways. The Saotome school was based around aerial combat. Genma was sure Ranma hadn't really ever thought about why- Genma himself only remembered because the Master had beaten it into him.
If you're in midair, you're in freefall, and it's easy to shift the manner in which you're moving without taking too much time. All the better to catch someone by surprise. Plus, if you use aerial attacks, you can restrict your opponent's motions, shift stances several times in one movement, attack from odd angles, get a breather by jumping REALLY high... any of a number of things.
The Tendoo school was based around ground combat. Again, Genma was pretty sure only he, Tendoo, and the Master knew this. The Tendoo school was distinctly different- rather than shifting styles entirely, one tried to confuse one's opponent by being in more than one stance at a time, in parts. With practice, multiple styles could be blended slightly, such as using a Crane upper body stance with the Crab leg stance, or using the Ja Jinku no Apache in coordination with the Atlas Stance to weave out of an opponent's attack while maintaining a firm position. Plus, by staying on the ground, one remained largely stable, and could more easily defend oneself.
If Tendoo had been training Kodora, she should have been using bits and pieces of other martial arts to fight.
She wasn't.
If Ranma had been training Kodora, she should have been bouncing around like a mosquito on a caffeine high, constantly shifting from one style to another.
She wasn't.
Kodora, as near as Genma could tell, had been using no martial arts styles at all.
True, he would have to concede that the girl (demon, he reminded himself) had been using Rhythmic Gymnastics Martial Arts, so to speak, since she'd been restricting herself to that attack style. But she had used not even one basic stance, and that Midnight Chrysanthemum or whoever had used plenty of them.
Kodora was fast, Genma could see that. She had good basic strength, particularly in the legs. That was apparent. But her movement- there was no discipline at all.
And somehow that had worked.
Genma's underused brain finally gave out, and a tiny, unnoticeable trickle of smoke departed the panda's ear for a moment.
Then the panda looked around, and realized he was alone in the room. Taped to his nose was a piece of paper.
Genma removed the note, and read it.
******
As the panda walked by, rumbling to itself, Miyagi couldn't help but wonder why she had the urge to tell it to watch it's language.
******
Ranma continued on the way to the Tendoo Dojo, thoughtful, and walking in the lead.
*gnnh.... anyone get the number of that delivery truck??*
Ranma blinked.
*Delivery truck?*
*Yeah.... feels like one ran me over...*
*Heh. Nothing like that, Imooto- but you did win the match.*
*I know, I remember.*
Ranma almost stumbled, but kept walking.
*I thought you couldn't really remember your berserker rages?*
*Ranma, if I'd gone into rage, I would have forfeited by forgetting the rules. No contact, remember? Yeah, I got real mad, but hey- pain like that would do that to anyone.*
*I know..* Ranma winced in memory of how that last strike had felt. *We GOTTA find a way to make your tail hurt less when it gets hit.*
Kodora shrugged mentally. *I really can't think of anything right now- I can't even increase the chi flow there.. Speaking of which, you know, you haven't really gotten to train much for a while.*
*'Sokay, Imootochan. After all, what happens to you happens to me.*
*Yeah, but I've gotten a lot less exercise than you would have anyways. I hope your body hasn't gotten any weaker...*
*Don't worry about it, I-*
THUD
Ranma shook his head, wondering when brick walls had started to get up and go stand in the middle of sidewalks.
Ranma got up. "Oy! Watch where you're goin'.... Ryoga?"
Ryoga turned to look at Ranma, with an almost disturbingly hopeful expression on his face, moving a little slowly from his almost-healed wounds.
"Ranma? Is that you? I-"
SPLASH
Kodora, the remains of a water balloon still on her shoulder, looked down at the large, green rabbit.
Usagi-Ryoga, now sitting in front of the large backpack, mostly swamped by the now far-outsized clothing, looked up at her.
Souun Tendoo nearly facefaulted, while Akane and Nabiki were wearing somewhat disturbed expressions.
Kasumi blinked, and almost- not quite, but almost- frowned for a moment, before her face settled on a neutral expression.
Oooh, crap. Ryoga thought. Now she knows, and she's already pissed at me, and I can't even explain...
The kids playing on the streed decided to vamoose, the adults here seemed to be busy. Really, it wasn't the way that one girl had a tail and fangs and was glowing red. Really it wasn't.
Genma-panda came to a screeching halt behind the others, and held up a sign. [Did I miss something?]
Usagi-Ryoga closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable, as Kodora stood there, trembling, glowing brilliant crimson.
*Uh, Imooto-chan, I don't think-*
*Shut up, Ranma. This... this... this IDIOT is going to PAY for...*
Kodora looked at the shuddering rabbit huddled there in the wet clothing.
*for...*
It was about this point that her conscience and reasonability came up behind her anger, tapped it on the shoulder, and simultaneously roundhoused it in the face.
The Tendoos and the elder Saotome watched as Kodora's aura seemed to invert, from the center to the edges, shifting to a soothing green color, then faded out. The small girl stepped forward and fell to her knees, scooping up the rabbit from the clothes, and moving it aside. She took the clothing and jammed it into Ryoga's large pack, seemingly ignoring the green rabbit that was watching her. To the amazement of the Tendoos, she then slid her arms behidn the straps of the pack. She held her arms out to the rabbit, looking it in the eyes.
*Uh... Kodora-chan?*
"Yoojo?"
Ignoring the two trying to get her attention, the small martial artist beckoned to the rabbit, making a soft sound with the tip of her tongue on the roof of her mouth.
"Tchk tchk tchk... Here, Ryoga..."
Usagi-Ryoga looked at Kodora warily at first, then glanced to the other Tendoos. Akane was alternating between giving him the Gaze of Sooner-Than- Instant-Death and looking puzzledly at Kodora. Nabiki had regained her mask, and was watching dispassionately, while the Tendoo patriarch and the panda were giving the whole scene frankly disbelieving looks. Kasumi was looking pleasently puzzled, an expression more or less unique to her. Deciding that he'd rather not risk displeasing the person currently most likely to want him greivously injured (at best), he carefully hopped towards Kodora.
Leaning over slightly, but not tilting Ryoga's pack, Kodora scooped up the large rabbit, holding him with at least one arm while using first one hand, then the other, to tighten the backpack straps until her shoulders were forced against it. Then, with a slight exhalation from effort, she surprised her whole family again by standing up, the pack rising with her.
*Imooto-chan.... you're not using your chi...*
*And... regretting it... Ranma.....rrgh...*
Kodora wobbled slightly. Genma-Panda stepped up to help her, but she waved him off, and focused, pouring chi into her legs and back. Immediately, she managed to straighten up again.
Without another word, she continued, heading for the Tendoo-ke, still carrying the puzzled green rabbit. It took the others a moment to follow her.
******
Xian Pu, Ko Lon, and Sin Ku all stood at the edge of a town.
"So..." Began the truly diminutive Matriarch, "The demon has been here for the past while, has it?"
Sin Ku nodded, then spoke up in a voice like chocolate mousse, deep, smooth, and soft. "Yes, Matriarch. It seems reluctant to move now. And before you ask, no I still cannot determine its power, which still disturbs me."
Ko Lon cackled. "Actually, I was going to ask you if you could look for a good place to put a... specialized... bookstore around here."
Xian Pu looked confused. "Hibachan- why you want to have bookstore?"
Sin Ku echoed the question silently, shooting the Matriarch a quizzical glance.
"Because," replied the Matriarch, turning on her staff to regard the other two, "It will be much easier to wait for the demon to show up near us, than to go in search of it, especially with only three of us. Besides- then I can catch up on my reading!"
Xian Pu huffed. "Is too, too good, but Xian Pu still want to know- Why we must speak Japanese with each other?"
Sin Ku smiled. "Practice, Xian Pu. Practice."
******
Ryoga, newly human and steaming, scrambled for his clothes, while Kodora set down the teakettle, with a neutral expression. She registered her own and Ranma's mild amusement and astonishment at seeing someone dress so quickly while blushing so red, but ignored them for the moment.
Ryoga was definitely flustered- he'd expected the small girl to turn her head when she poured the hot water. However, as he saw it, it was, in a way, her right, all things considered. He turned, now fully dressed, and kneeled before her, preparing to bow down to the ground and ask forgiveness.
Kodora beat him to it, her nose touching the floor of the dojo as she kept her hands in proper bowing position, palm-down on her lap as she kneeled.
"Doomo sumimasen (I am very sorry for what I have done), Ryoga-san. Please find it within yourself to forgive me."
Ryoga erked, reaching over to lift the much smaller martial artist to a normal kneeling position.
"No, Kodora-kun, no- You have nothing to ask forgiveness for! I need to ask you to forgive me! I acted without honor!"
Kodora shook her head sadly. "No, Ryoga-san. I had no right to take out my feelings on you." She continued to look down at the floor. "I likely injured you very badly- I could have killed you. That was not within my rights to do. I was far in the wrong, and I hope you can forgive me."
Ryoga considered this a moment. "I see your point, but I don't think it's like that. I took advantage of you- of your kindness, to get close so I could make sure of Ranma's abilities- so I could try to fight with him. I had... no honorable reason for seeking out the duel, and I went about it all wrong. I had blinded myself. It is I who should be asking your forgiveness."
Kodora looked up at Ryoga, and smiled slightly, chuckling softly. "Kind of silly, isn't it? Each of us thinks we owe the other...." She paused, sighing. "You know, with everything that's happened since Juusenkyo, it's still kind of hard to believe this is all real...."
"Huh?" Replied Ryoga, currently lost in the conversational sense.
"Oh, that's right... you don't know. I'm not Ranma, and he isn't me. I'm from... somewhere else. I got stuck in here with Ranma when he fell in at Juusenkyo..."
Ryoga glanced at where Kodora's tail was lying, the very tip twitching occasionally. "Spring of drowned otherworldly demon?"
The petite demon-girl shook her head again, her strange quills rattling softly, creating a sound much like ocean waves.
"No, spring of drowned girl."
Ryoga looked nonplussed. "What?"
"Long story. Look... I'll admit what you did was wrong, Ryoga, and you shouldn't have done it... But that doesn't mean that I had the right to hurt you like that."
Kodora waited for his answer, mildly amused by the sounds she kept hearing outside the dojo.
******
"Ow! Mr. Saotome, that's my foot!"
[Sorry, Akane.] Genma-panda moved his own hindpaw, then pressed his furry ear against the wall again.
"Father! Akane! Nabiki! I'm ashamed of you!"
Everyone at the dojo wall next to the door turned to behold Kasumi, not- smiling, shaking a finger at them.
"You three have better judgement than to listen in on something private!"
Genma-panda blinked. [What about me?]
The three Tendoos at the dojo looked contrite and headed for the house. Souun stopped to look over at Kasumi.
"But, Kasumi-chan, what if he tries something with Kodora-chan? I couldn't..."
Kasumi sighed. "Otoosan, are you forgetting that in the last fight involving those two, it was Ryoga-san who wound up badly beaten? Imootochan can take care of herself."
Souun blinked, thinking about that for a moment. "You're right, Kasumi- chan. I should have more faith in my little girl."
"Really, though, Otoosan, I shouldn't have to tell you this- you know better."
The remaining two Tendoos went inside the house.
Genma-panda sat outside the dojo with a strange expression. [But what about me? Shouldn't I get scolded too?]
******
Ryoga nodded. "I see. I would still like to have a good match with Ranma again, though."
Kodora quirked up an eyebrow. "Oh?"
The Lost Boy nodded again. "Hai. He's the only guy I can ever find who's in anything resembling my league- I'm still not sure if I can beat him.... Besides, he went missing from our last fight! Say, you wouldn't happen to know why that was, would you?"
Kodora grimaced. "Actually, yes... See, Ranma waited for you a full three days..."
"But, I got there on the fourth day!"
"No, you don't understand. He waited a full three days. Awake."
"...awake?"
"Yes. When he finally fell asleep from exhaustion, he woke up somewhere else entirely. Panda-baka had dragged him off."
"..panda?"
Kodora nodded. "Ranma's oyaji got cursed to turn into a panda, just like Ranma and me, or you and a rabbit."
Ryoga piku-pikued. "You mean, this whole thing is that panda's fault?"
******
Ranma looked into the yard from the dinner table. "Yo, Ryoga! Yer grub's gettin' cold!"
"Be right there in a minute! GENMA SAOTOME, PREPARE TO DIE!!!"
Akane cheered, ignoring the small signs that occasionally landed next to the table, each reading [help] or some similar sentiment.
Souun, done with his food and watching the chase, got a feeling that he would be seeing a lot of this sometime soon. Shaking off the odd shiver in his spine, he turned to Akane. "So, you're planning on going ice skating tomorrow afternoon?"
"Hai, Otoosan. It should be a lot of fun!" Akane smiled.
Souun nodded. "It's good to hear they finally repaired the old ice rink."
"Ice skating, huh? C'n I come along?"
Souun looked over at Ranma. "Beg pardon?"
Ranma shrugged. "Well, Kodora says ice skating is pretty fun, an' I never got to do any of it before, so..."
Akane gave Ranma a look. "As long as you promise not to try anything perverted, it's fine with me. I have to go finish my homework.
Ranma and Souun looked at each other, and shrugged.
"Wierd girl."
**************************************************************************** *************
Woo-hoo! Fun! Finally back on track (lousy FF.net failures. I really hope we're through with those...) and headed for standard Furinkan zaniness!
WATCH! As Ranma learns to ice skate!
SEE! Ryoga try to beat up Sanzenin!
ENJOY! Kodora trying to beat up Sanzenin!
HEAR! Akane promise to beat up Sanzenin!
FEEL! Kuno's battle aura as he promises to beat up Sanzenin! (Anytime you sense a theme here, feel free to stop me.)
Also-
Soon, Interlude 4!
Maybe the Amazons will finally meet this 'demon' they've been following!
What will happen when Ranma tries to Ice Skate?
How on earth will I bring Mikado and Azusa into this without P- chan/Charlotte?
Will Noriko ever show her face in this fic again?
And what about Kasumi!
All this and more, soon in...
Passenger: Along for the Ride!
Note: the Ja Jinku no Apache belongs to whoever it was that wrote 'A Different Approach', in which Ranma is not engaged to ANY of the Tendoo sisters to his knowledge, and becomes Nabiki's boyfriend and Akane's trainer. Sorry, author, I forgot your name. I'm really, REALLY bad with names. Sorry, sorry, sorry....
AAANywho....
"I'll rip your HEAD OFF!" "Oh, thank you, thank you!" -Ryoga (line one) and Ranma (line two), page 192, Ranma 1/2 volume 3.
S: "Akane! Isn't it lovely!" A: "Yee! Kill it!" -Souun and Akane, page 194, Ranma 1/2 volume 3.