Choices Made, Roads Taken.
Chapter 5: The Long Goodbye, part 2
What has gone before: Jeff Anderson, the retired superhero known as Tach, has rescued Ranma from his mother and the 'man among men' seppuku pledge. Shaken by the event, Ranma decides to leave Japan with Jeff for a while to sort out his life in what he hopes will a more peaceful environment.
Most of the arrangements for departure have been made, but there a few final details to take care of.
-----
Jeff sat on the floor, his PDA hooked up to the Tendo phone line, checking his various e-mail accounts. He noticed Akane approaching, so he shut down his e-mail program and disconnected.
"Jeff, what do you think of me as a martial artist?" Akane asked.
"I'm not a martial artist. How should I know?"
"Just tell me," Akane began heatedly before calming herself. "I need an opinion from someone who'll tell the truth."
"I told you what I thought the first time we sparred. You're strong, you have good endurance and you recover well. You're also too aggressive and when you're grappled, you panic."
"Am I slow?" Akane asked, her eyes downcast.
Jeff paused before answering, "You want an honest opinion? By my standards, yes."
"Thank you," Akane muttered while turning away.
"Akane, wait," Jeff said. "You might be slow, but that doesn't mean you can't get faster. Tell me... what kind of training do you do?"
-----
Ranma leapt from rooftop to rooftop heading east. He carried a thermos of hot water, a bottle of cold water and Ryoga's pack minus the weights and the 'Umbrella of Doom'. Past Ikebukuro Station, past the expressway, finally reaching Kasuga-dori Avenue. 'All I gotta do is follow this, and I'll get ta Ueno,' Ranma told himself.
Ranma knew that when Shampoo had come to visit, Jeff had splashed her and shipped her off to the Ueno Zoo. But Ranma knew she had escaped because she'd told him so. Ryoga had got the same treatment when he showed up. Ranma hoped that Ryoga was still at the zoo. He knew that Ryoga could actually be anywhere, but Ueno was a good place to start looking.
The Ueno district is a major cultural center for Tokyo and all of Japan. There were museums that Ranma had been dragged through on school trips, several shrines and temples, as well as other landmarks like the Five Storied Pagoda. Since it was beautiful early autumn afternoon, the place was packed with families visiting the various sites. Not to mention the tent city of Toyko's homeless population.
Ranma made his way through the crowds along the west side of Shinobazu Pond. Looking around, he asked himself, "If I was a pig, where would I be?' As he made his way toward the aquarium, Ranma spotted a sign reading 'Children's Zoo'. "Yatta," he said aloud as he began following the signs.
Ranma searched through the domestic animal section of the zoo without finding a small black pig. He was just about to give up the search when he spotted a young woman feeding the animals. She wore a name tag that read 'Kimura Sueno, Veterinary Intern'. Ranma reminded himself to be polite before he started speaking.
"Excuse me miss. Has a small black pig with a yellow and black bandana come through here in the last few days?" Ranma asked.
The woman stared at Ranma through her large round glasses and answered, "Why... yes."
"He belongs to my fiancee and one of my friends 'borrowed' him for a joke."
"Anyone who steals a pet wouldn't be a friend of mine," Sueno replied sharply.
"It was all a big mistake," Ranma lied.
"Follow me, we'll see if he's still here," the woman said before leading Ranma through a gate marked 'Employees Only'.
"'Still here' meaning?"
"Well he's escaped twice. He was returned only by accident the first time. It was strange. A little girl had fallen in the pond. There must of been a hundred idiots standing there watching, but the pig dove in and pushed her to shore."
'That sounds like Ryoga,' Ranma thought. As long as Ranma was not involved, you could count on Ryoga to do the right thing. It was one of the things Ranma liked about his friend and rival. Sueno opened the door to a small building that looked a cross between a barn and a house. They continued walking down a long hallway.
"Second time wasn't quite as strange. We'd put him in a cage so he wouldn't wander off, but he managed to pop the spring latch that held the door shut. Personally, I think somebody forgot to close the cage door all the way. One of my co-workers found him in the men's locker room."
"Well, P-chan is pretty clever for a pig," Ranma said.
"P-chan?"
"That's what my fiancee calls him. I prefer 'bacon breath'."
Sueno chuckled at the joke. "He's in here," she said while inserting a key into a door marked 'Veterinary Lab'. As soon as the door was open more than a crack, a black and yellow blur leapt out the room past Sueno.
Ranma snatched the airborne projectile and was promptly bitten for his trouble. "It's him," he ground out while trying to remove P-chan's teeth from his arm.
"He's never acted like that before," the slightly shaken veterinary intern said.
"We don't really get along that well."
"He must know you if he's reacting like that. Normally, there would be a slew of paperwork to fill out about this. But since the only thing I found that says he should be here at all are a couple of e-mails, you can just take him with you."
"Thank you very much Kimura-san," Ranma said, bowing politely with P-Chan still biting his forearm.
Sueno continued offhandedly, "Kind of a shame really. Doctor Kitamura said he'd let me do the castration. I mean I've done cats and dogs several times, but I've never castrated a pig."
P-chan stopped biting Ranma and became very, very still.
"I think Akane would rather have him in one piece," Ranma said. P-chan nodded for all he was worth.
Sueno led Ranma to an employee's exit and returned to her duties. Once they were outside, Ranma held P-chan up and spoke. "I've got a thermos of hot water and your clothes. Once I find someplace private, I'll change ya back. Then we're gonna have a talk. And I mean 'talk' cause if ya even try ta throw a punch, I've got a bottle of cold water for ya too. And I'm sure Kimura-san would love ta do that operation if she gets the chance."
The whole performance looked pretty strange to the passers-by, but Ranma didn't care. Ryoga knew that Ranma had him this time and nodded in defeat.
-----
"So basically, you jog, lift weights, break concrete blocks and beat on straw dummies," Jeff said. He'd had Akane demonstrate her concrete breaking technique before having her run through a few katas against a straw dummy built around a couple of lashed together beams. The concrete was the only thing that impressed Jeff.
"It sounds bad when you say it like that," Akane replied tersely.
"Actually, the concrete thing is kind of cool. I don't think I could do anywhere near that well. But you don't get that kind of time to prep a punch in a real fight."
"So it's useless then?"
"I didn't say that. When you broke those blocks, you were focused and disciplined. Which is good because if you weren't, you'd break your hand."
"Thank you."
"But you need to realize that what's good in practice doesn't always work in real life."
"So what should I do? It's not like anyone around here will actually spar with me," Akane pointed out.
"Well first..." Jeff began before noticing Kasumi entering the yard carrying a laundry basket. "Ooh. Perfect example." Raising his voice, Jeff called across the yard, "Kasumi, could you come here for a minute please?"
"I am rather busy at the moment," Kasumi called back.
"Me and Akane will take care of that," Jeff replied.
Knowing that Jeff was as good as his word, Kasumi set down the laundry basket and walked over to the practice dummy. "What can I do for you Jeff?"
"Could you punch the dummy in the chest once please? I need to see something."
"Oh my, I haven't done any martial arts in years," Kasumi protested.
Jeff smiled and said, "Humor me."
Kasumi stepped up to the dummy, made a fist, drew it to her side palm up and threw a straight punch at the dummy, twisting her wrist on impact. It wasn't a hard punch, but it was properly done including the fact that Kasumi exhaled on the release.
"Thank you. Akane, you take care of the girly stuff, I'll do the rest," Jeff said before walking over to the clothes basket, picking up one of Ranma's shirts and clipping it to the clothesline.
"What was that about?" asked Kasumi.
"I don't know onee-chan, but I'm going to find out," Akane replied before walking over to where Jeff was hanging up one of her father's many identical brown gi tops. She fished out one of her own tops and added it to the clothesline.
Kasumi was glad that Jeff had been helping out with the housework during his stay. Keeping the fighting to a minimum also helped keep the Tendo home in good condition. But it was resulting in something that Kasumi hadn't had much of since Ranma's arrival. Spare time. She would have to figure out something to do with it.
"What _was_ that all about?" Akane asked while hanging up a pair of Nabiki's shorts.
"Two things," Jeff said. "First, anybody, even Kasumi, can hit a stationary target. You might try working with a two ended bag, it forces you to keep your guard up. And there are some agility drills I can show you too." Another shirt was clipped to the line.
"I would appreciate that, thank you." Akane added one of her own blouses to the line before suddenly asking, "What was the second thing?"
"That helping Kasumi with the laundry won't kill you."
-----
"How dare you leave Akane!" were the first words Ryoga said after returning to human form and pulling on some clothes.
Ranma held an open water bottle where Ryoga couldn't help but see it. "I had a really bad weekend last week and I decided I gotta get away for a while and make some hard choices. It's a long version of the Saotome Ultimate Technique."
"You mean running like a coward."
Ranma drew a calming breath and tried again. "Do you even know what happened? Or did ya just hear I was leavin' and decide ta pound me?"
Ryoga looked sheepish and admitted it was the second. Ranma explained the basics of what had occurred. Part of Ryoga rejoiced that Ranma had such trouble, that Ranma knew even a fraction of the hell that he'd been through. But another part thought that nobody deserved to have a promise made by someone else come that close to killing them. This left Ryoga in what many considered to be his natural state. Lost. In thought this time, but still lost.
"So while I'm gone, I want ya ta keep an eye on Akane."
"What?" Ryoga exclaimed as Ranma's request penetrated his brain and was unraveled.
Ranma repeated himself. Ryoga managed another one word response. "Me?"
Ranma detailed his last encounter with Shampoo and Cologne. "You think Akane might be in danger and you're leaving anyway? Ranma, you coward! Prepare to die!" Ryoga stood up and got ready to commit murder.
Ranma waved the open bottle of water in front of him, splashed Ryoga and ended the threat. Ranma took a firm two handed grip on P-chan's body. "Talk time's over, so listen. Akane will be fine as long as you're there ta protect her. So be there."
Ryoga thought of some of the advantages of an absent Ranma. So he shook his porcine head up and down and squealed "Bwee."
"I'm glad ya see it my way. There's just enough hot water left ta change ya back again. Which is good cause I ain't about ta carry ya ta Nerima."
Ryoga once more assumed human form and grudgingly followed Ranma. His immediate anger cooled, Ryoga asked Ranma about something that had been bothering him. "Who was that gaijin at the Tendo Dojo? He looked familiar somehow."
Ranma laughed before answering, "That's Anderson Jeff. He's pretty cool. He kicked ya once when we were fighting at Furinkan. Figured out you were P-chan after he saw me turn into a girl."
"I thought I'd seen him before. But I want to know how he splashed me. There was nobody else in the yard when I got there and before I can say a word, there's a splash and I'm a pig. I swear he never moved."
"Jeff's got a few tricks up his sleeve. And for some reason, he don't like you much."
"Explains why he said I was quote, lucky not to get an absolute ass kicking, unquote. But what'd I ever do to him?" Ryoga asked.
"I think it has sumthin' ta do with ya sleeping with my fiancee," Ranma answered coldly. Somehow he managed not to kick Ryoga into next week or at least the nearest wall.
Ryoga had the good sense to look embarrassed. "Oh. That."
-----
A few hours later, Ranma sat on the roof and looked out over the place he called home. The only home he could remember. If he chose to live with his parents, it might be the last night he ever spent here. 'Unless I marry Akane,' Ranma thought.
His preparations were complete. A single large suitcase packed with clothes and a few mementos sat in his room. The passport he'd got after Jeff's last visit lay on top of it. Ranma's birth certificate had been brought by his parents when they arrived for dinner. The student-visa had arrived by courier earlier that afternoon. 'Kuno-koucho musta been dancing for joy.'
He looked at the airline ticket in his hand. Although too dark to read, he looked at it anyway. Jeff had handed it to him just before he left for his own dinner. He'd wanted some of Ucchan's okonomiyaki before he left and didn't want to be there when Ranma's parents came to say goodbye. 'Not that I blame him.'
His own 'last meal' had been... awkward. Despite Kasumi making a delicious eel teriyaki with all his favorite trimmings, Ranma had little appetite. Seeing his mother reminded him of exactly why he was leaving in the first place. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as soon as she arrived, and the tension in his stomach refused to go away. It was a terrible thing for someone who feared no man, to have such a reaction to his own mother. 'Can I ever forgive her? Should I?'
Kasumi had wished him well. Nabiki had made cryptic comments he didn't feel like worrying about at the time. Tendo-san had wailed openly about Ranma leaving his daughter. Both Akane and Nodoka consoled Soun by revealing Ranma's promise to return. 'I wonder how long it'll be before I come back.'
His father's goodbye was gruff and he told Ranma to be sure to practice his martial arts and that he planned to test his son on his return. His mother's goodbye was meant to be reassuring, but somehow wasn't. Akane went on and on about doing the agility drills Jeff had shown her. About how she would be a better martial artist when he returned. 'Wonder what America will be like.'
Sitting on the roof, Ranma gazed at the not so far off lights of downtown Tokyo. He wondered why he hadn't thought of agility drills or something like that with Akane before. Then he remembered that Akane almost never _listened_ to him. Still, he hoped that she would do whatever it was that Jeff had shown her. If it made her happy, Ranma was all for it. 'I'm gonna miss Ak- this place.'
It was nearly midnight before Ranma saw Jeff come in through the gate. He waved, saw Jeff wave back, then made his way to bed.
-----
Jeff really didn't want to deal with Ranma's parents. He thought both of them needed to be taken out and shot. He also didn't think he could eat eel teriyaki, even if Kasumi made it. He'd grown rather fond of Kasumi's cooking over the last few days, but there were things he wasn't willing to try. Not after Friday night anyway. He also wanted to see Ukyo again before he left. Maybe find out why his okonomiyaki wasn't anywhere near as good as hers. Besides, he liked Ukyo.
The preparations he'd made for leaving Japan and taking Ranma with him were took longer than the ones he'd made to 'officially' arrive in Japan. He'd hacked his way into a travel agency and made it look like he was a passenger on a JAL flight. A little misdirection and a few TK tricks at Narita had got him line with the rest of the people wading through Customs. Carrying an overnight bag filled with clothes purchased at an all night department store, Jeff bluffed his way through Customs and Passport Control. Overall, it took less than five hours to legitimize his presence in Japan. All that had been done in the wee hours of Tuesday morning while the Tendo household slept.
There had been considerable groundwork required before departure. He'd disassembled his staff and stun stars and shipped them out of the country via air express Friday afternoon. Even if anyone examined them closely, they shouldn't arouse suspicion. Labeled as machine parts, they didn't resemble much of anything in their current state. His binoculars, first aid kit and bullet proof trench coat were sent via a different carrier. The regular shuriken he dumped down a sewer along with his smoke bombs. They were too easily replaced to worry about arousing suspicion by shipping them home. The PDA was too useful not to keep with him and wouldn't arouse suspicion anyway.
Plane tickets were paid for with a credit card account that would be used this one time, paid off with a money order and closed out. The part that had worried him, getting the student-visa, went so fast that Jeff swore somebody wanted Ranma gone and was happy at the chance. Given more time, he would have looked that particular gift horse in the mouth.
There had been other details attended to, but Jeff felt that there should be no major problems. Jeff also spent some time keeping up with a few of his normal activities. The money had to keep flowing somehow.
Eventually, Jeff made one last pass at his checklist and saw that everything was done. He felt that he had more than earned a good meal cooked by someone he thought of as a friend. Handing Ranma his ticket, Jeff left the Tendo home and made his way to Ucchan's.
Jeff was met at the door by Ukyo. "Hi Jeff. Hope you didn't want to eat, because I just turned off the grill," the attractive young woman said.
"Why?" Jeff had really been looking forward to getting once last good meal before being having to suffer through airline food.
"Cause it's been slow all day and dead this afternoon. No sense in staying open when I don't have any customers," Ukyo answered.
"Don't I count?"
Ukyo eyed Jeff critically before answering, "Nah, but I'll cook for you anyway. C'mon in."
Jeff noticed that Ukyo hung up the 'Closed' sign before she went behind the grill and fired up a small section of it. While Ukyo made Jeff a double beef okonomiyaki, Jeff helped straighten up the rest of the restaurant. It was only a few minutes before Jeff sat down to eat.
"Glad you let me in. You're saving me from a fate worse than death," Jeff said has he polished off his food.
"Oh really?" Ukyo asked curiously as she looked up from her math homework.
"Ranma's parents are coming to the Tendo's for Ranma's goodbye dinner. We're leaving in the morning."
"Why that little... He didn't invite me!" Ukyo said loudly.
"He didn't invite anybody, so relax," Jeff responded waving his hands vaguely. "I didn't want to be there, so I thought I'd come over here."
"Why not stay there?"
"One, Kasumi was making eel teriyaki."
"What's wrong with eel teriyaki?"
"After barfing up the octopus she made Friday, I didn't want to take the chance."
"What's wrong with octopus?"
Jeff shuddered visibly. "Nothing, if you're used to it. I'm not. Can you say 'violently ill'?"
Ukyo chuckled at the thought of someone having such a reaction to a food that she herself thought perfectly normal.
Jeff continued, "Two. I didn't want to see Ranma's parents again. I might have told them what I really think of them. Since Ranma's still a minor, they could kill this trip if they really wanted. Better to avoid them entirely."
Ukyo's smile left her face. She still had issues of her own with Genma. Ukyo wasn't happy with Nodoka either. Ranma had confirmed that Jeff blocked a killing stroke that night. Coming so close to losing Ranma forever still bothered Ukyo. "I see your point."
"I mean, who is the worse parent? The father who drags his kid on an endless training journey, or the mother who lets him? The father who comes up with a 'man among men' seppuku pledge or the mother that accepts it and tries to enforce it. The father wh-"
Ukyo interrupted, "You can stop now."
"Sorry." Jeff pulled his PDA from his pocket and checked the clock feature. It was too soon to return to the Tendo's. Ranma's parents would probably still be there.
"I need to kill a couple of hours. You want to catch a movie? My treat."
"You mean like a date?" Ukyo asked cautiously.
"No, like a couple friends going out to the movies. For some reason, my wife doesn't let me go on dates with other women since we got married. But I can go out with friends if I want," Jeff finished with a roguish grin.
"I didn't know you were married."
"You never asked." Jeff pulled out his wallet and fished out a few photos. "That's me and my wife Anne. That's my son Bill. That's Anne and Bill with my father-in-law Big Bill."
"Your wife is pretty."
"I think so. It's not the reason I married her though." Internally, Jeff continued, 'God only knows why she married me.'
Ukyo looked at the pictures for a while before realizing she other things she should be doing. "I'd like to, but I have two pages of math homework to finish," Ukyo said tapping the open book in front of her.
"Let me see that," Jeff said, taking both the math book and a stray sheet of paper. After a few seconds he pulled a mechanical pencil from his pocket and started scratching out answers in a precise hand. He used the math program on his PDA to do the few he couldn't solve on sight. Ukyo was too amazed at the speed in which Jeff was working to actively protest. All told, it took less than five minutes, including the problems Ukyo had already finished. Jeff handed the text back to the shocked young woman. "Done."
"I hate you," Ukyo said in mock seriousness. "It would have taken me at least an hour to finish this."
"What can I say, I like math," Jeff answered honestly.
"Fine. But if I let other people do it for me, I'll never learn it myself."
"Were you having any problems with it?"
"No. Well, I don't think so."
"Let me see your answers," Jeff requested. Ukyo handed them over and Jeff compared the two. "These are all correct. I think you understand the principles, all I did was save you a lot of grunt work."
"I doubt my sensei would agree with you."
"I won't tell if you won't. So how about that movie?
Ukyo looked at the paper that she had been putting her answers on, looked at Jeff and then looked at her math textbook. "Let me grab a jacket."
Jeff let Ukyo pick the movie, a slapstick comedy. Jeff didn't get all of the jokes, but there was enough physical schtick that he still had fun. He walked Ukyo back to her home and place of business and made his own goodbyes. When Jeff returned to the Tendo home, he spotted Ranma sitting on the roof. Ranma waved, he waved back and then went in to bed.
-----
The final goodbyes of the Tendos were nearly drowned out by the sound of falling rain. Kasumi and Akane looked as if they'd been crying. Soun wept openly. Nabiki, ever the mistress of her own emotions, reminded Ranma of the money he owed her. Jeff wrote her a check on the spot and told her to "stuff it" before grabbing his overnight bag and walking into the downpour.
"What?" Nabiki protested upon seeing the looks directed at her. She folded the check and put it her organizer to be cashed later.
Ranma just shook his head, grabbed his suitcase and walked after Jeff, his curse activating as soon as he was outside. There was no turning back now. Ranma hoped the dark, overcast, wet morning wasn't an omen of some kind.
END CHAPTER 5
-----
Chapter 5: The Long Goodbye, part 2
What has gone before: Jeff Anderson, the retired superhero known as Tach, has rescued Ranma from his mother and the 'man among men' seppuku pledge. Shaken by the event, Ranma decides to leave Japan with Jeff for a while to sort out his life in what he hopes will a more peaceful environment.
Most of the arrangements for departure have been made, but there a few final details to take care of.
-----
Jeff sat on the floor, his PDA hooked up to the Tendo phone line, checking his various e-mail accounts. He noticed Akane approaching, so he shut down his e-mail program and disconnected.
"Jeff, what do you think of me as a martial artist?" Akane asked.
"I'm not a martial artist. How should I know?"
"Just tell me," Akane began heatedly before calming herself. "I need an opinion from someone who'll tell the truth."
"I told you what I thought the first time we sparred. You're strong, you have good endurance and you recover well. You're also too aggressive and when you're grappled, you panic."
"Am I slow?" Akane asked, her eyes downcast.
Jeff paused before answering, "You want an honest opinion? By my standards, yes."
"Thank you," Akane muttered while turning away.
"Akane, wait," Jeff said. "You might be slow, but that doesn't mean you can't get faster. Tell me... what kind of training do you do?"
-----
Ranma leapt from rooftop to rooftop heading east. He carried a thermos of hot water, a bottle of cold water and Ryoga's pack minus the weights and the 'Umbrella of Doom'. Past Ikebukuro Station, past the expressway, finally reaching Kasuga-dori Avenue. 'All I gotta do is follow this, and I'll get ta Ueno,' Ranma told himself.
Ranma knew that when Shampoo had come to visit, Jeff had splashed her and shipped her off to the Ueno Zoo. But Ranma knew she had escaped because she'd told him so. Ryoga had got the same treatment when he showed up. Ranma hoped that Ryoga was still at the zoo. He knew that Ryoga could actually be anywhere, but Ueno was a good place to start looking.
The Ueno district is a major cultural center for Tokyo and all of Japan. There were museums that Ranma had been dragged through on school trips, several shrines and temples, as well as other landmarks like the Five Storied Pagoda. Since it was beautiful early autumn afternoon, the place was packed with families visiting the various sites. Not to mention the tent city of Toyko's homeless population.
Ranma made his way through the crowds along the west side of Shinobazu Pond. Looking around, he asked himself, "If I was a pig, where would I be?' As he made his way toward the aquarium, Ranma spotted a sign reading 'Children's Zoo'. "Yatta," he said aloud as he began following the signs.
Ranma searched through the domestic animal section of the zoo without finding a small black pig. He was just about to give up the search when he spotted a young woman feeding the animals. She wore a name tag that read 'Kimura Sueno, Veterinary Intern'. Ranma reminded himself to be polite before he started speaking.
"Excuse me miss. Has a small black pig with a yellow and black bandana come through here in the last few days?" Ranma asked.
The woman stared at Ranma through her large round glasses and answered, "Why... yes."
"He belongs to my fiancee and one of my friends 'borrowed' him for a joke."
"Anyone who steals a pet wouldn't be a friend of mine," Sueno replied sharply.
"It was all a big mistake," Ranma lied.
"Follow me, we'll see if he's still here," the woman said before leading Ranma through a gate marked 'Employees Only'.
"'Still here' meaning?"
"Well he's escaped twice. He was returned only by accident the first time. It was strange. A little girl had fallen in the pond. There must of been a hundred idiots standing there watching, but the pig dove in and pushed her to shore."
'That sounds like Ryoga,' Ranma thought. As long as Ranma was not involved, you could count on Ryoga to do the right thing. It was one of the things Ranma liked about his friend and rival. Sueno opened the door to a small building that looked a cross between a barn and a house. They continued walking down a long hallway.
"Second time wasn't quite as strange. We'd put him in a cage so he wouldn't wander off, but he managed to pop the spring latch that held the door shut. Personally, I think somebody forgot to close the cage door all the way. One of my co-workers found him in the men's locker room."
"Well, P-chan is pretty clever for a pig," Ranma said.
"P-chan?"
"That's what my fiancee calls him. I prefer 'bacon breath'."
Sueno chuckled at the joke. "He's in here," she said while inserting a key into a door marked 'Veterinary Lab'. As soon as the door was open more than a crack, a black and yellow blur leapt out the room past Sueno.
Ranma snatched the airborne projectile and was promptly bitten for his trouble. "It's him," he ground out while trying to remove P-chan's teeth from his arm.
"He's never acted like that before," the slightly shaken veterinary intern said.
"We don't really get along that well."
"He must know you if he's reacting like that. Normally, there would be a slew of paperwork to fill out about this. But since the only thing I found that says he should be here at all are a couple of e-mails, you can just take him with you."
"Thank you very much Kimura-san," Ranma said, bowing politely with P-Chan still biting his forearm.
Sueno continued offhandedly, "Kind of a shame really. Doctor Kitamura said he'd let me do the castration. I mean I've done cats and dogs several times, but I've never castrated a pig."
P-chan stopped biting Ranma and became very, very still.
"I think Akane would rather have him in one piece," Ranma said. P-chan nodded for all he was worth.
Sueno led Ranma to an employee's exit and returned to her duties. Once they were outside, Ranma held P-chan up and spoke. "I've got a thermos of hot water and your clothes. Once I find someplace private, I'll change ya back. Then we're gonna have a talk. And I mean 'talk' cause if ya even try ta throw a punch, I've got a bottle of cold water for ya too. And I'm sure Kimura-san would love ta do that operation if she gets the chance."
The whole performance looked pretty strange to the passers-by, but Ranma didn't care. Ryoga knew that Ranma had him this time and nodded in defeat.
-----
"So basically, you jog, lift weights, break concrete blocks and beat on straw dummies," Jeff said. He'd had Akane demonstrate her concrete breaking technique before having her run through a few katas against a straw dummy built around a couple of lashed together beams. The concrete was the only thing that impressed Jeff.
"It sounds bad when you say it like that," Akane replied tersely.
"Actually, the concrete thing is kind of cool. I don't think I could do anywhere near that well. But you don't get that kind of time to prep a punch in a real fight."
"So it's useless then?"
"I didn't say that. When you broke those blocks, you were focused and disciplined. Which is good because if you weren't, you'd break your hand."
"Thank you."
"But you need to realize that what's good in practice doesn't always work in real life."
"So what should I do? It's not like anyone around here will actually spar with me," Akane pointed out.
"Well first..." Jeff began before noticing Kasumi entering the yard carrying a laundry basket. "Ooh. Perfect example." Raising his voice, Jeff called across the yard, "Kasumi, could you come here for a minute please?"
"I am rather busy at the moment," Kasumi called back.
"Me and Akane will take care of that," Jeff replied.
Knowing that Jeff was as good as his word, Kasumi set down the laundry basket and walked over to the practice dummy. "What can I do for you Jeff?"
"Could you punch the dummy in the chest once please? I need to see something."
"Oh my, I haven't done any martial arts in years," Kasumi protested.
Jeff smiled and said, "Humor me."
Kasumi stepped up to the dummy, made a fist, drew it to her side palm up and threw a straight punch at the dummy, twisting her wrist on impact. It wasn't a hard punch, but it was properly done including the fact that Kasumi exhaled on the release.
"Thank you. Akane, you take care of the girly stuff, I'll do the rest," Jeff said before walking over to the clothes basket, picking up one of Ranma's shirts and clipping it to the clothesline.
"What was that about?" asked Kasumi.
"I don't know onee-chan, but I'm going to find out," Akane replied before walking over to where Jeff was hanging up one of her father's many identical brown gi tops. She fished out one of her own tops and added it to the clothesline.
Kasumi was glad that Jeff had been helping out with the housework during his stay. Keeping the fighting to a minimum also helped keep the Tendo home in good condition. But it was resulting in something that Kasumi hadn't had much of since Ranma's arrival. Spare time. She would have to figure out something to do with it.
"What _was_ that all about?" Akane asked while hanging up a pair of Nabiki's shorts.
"Two things," Jeff said. "First, anybody, even Kasumi, can hit a stationary target. You might try working with a two ended bag, it forces you to keep your guard up. And there are some agility drills I can show you too." Another shirt was clipped to the line.
"I would appreciate that, thank you." Akane added one of her own blouses to the line before suddenly asking, "What was the second thing?"
"That helping Kasumi with the laundry won't kill you."
-----
"How dare you leave Akane!" were the first words Ryoga said after returning to human form and pulling on some clothes.
Ranma held an open water bottle where Ryoga couldn't help but see it. "I had a really bad weekend last week and I decided I gotta get away for a while and make some hard choices. It's a long version of the Saotome Ultimate Technique."
"You mean running like a coward."
Ranma drew a calming breath and tried again. "Do you even know what happened? Or did ya just hear I was leavin' and decide ta pound me?"
Ryoga looked sheepish and admitted it was the second. Ranma explained the basics of what had occurred. Part of Ryoga rejoiced that Ranma had such trouble, that Ranma knew even a fraction of the hell that he'd been through. But another part thought that nobody deserved to have a promise made by someone else come that close to killing them. This left Ryoga in what many considered to be his natural state. Lost. In thought this time, but still lost.
"So while I'm gone, I want ya ta keep an eye on Akane."
"What?" Ryoga exclaimed as Ranma's request penetrated his brain and was unraveled.
Ranma repeated himself. Ryoga managed another one word response. "Me?"
Ranma detailed his last encounter with Shampoo and Cologne. "You think Akane might be in danger and you're leaving anyway? Ranma, you coward! Prepare to die!" Ryoga stood up and got ready to commit murder.
Ranma waved the open bottle of water in front of him, splashed Ryoga and ended the threat. Ranma took a firm two handed grip on P-chan's body. "Talk time's over, so listen. Akane will be fine as long as you're there ta protect her. So be there."
Ryoga thought of some of the advantages of an absent Ranma. So he shook his porcine head up and down and squealed "Bwee."
"I'm glad ya see it my way. There's just enough hot water left ta change ya back again. Which is good cause I ain't about ta carry ya ta Nerima."
Ryoga once more assumed human form and grudgingly followed Ranma. His immediate anger cooled, Ryoga asked Ranma about something that had been bothering him. "Who was that gaijin at the Tendo Dojo? He looked familiar somehow."
Ranma laughed before answering, "That's Anderson Jeff. He's pretty cool. He kicked ya once when we were fighting at Furinkan. Figured out you were P-chan after he saw me turn into a girl."
"I thought I'd seen him before. But I want to know how he splashed me. There was nobody else in the yard when I got there and before I can say a word, there's a splash and I'm a pig. I swear he never moved."
"Jeff's got a few tricks up his sleeve. And for some reason, he don't like you much."
"Explains why he said I was quote, lucky not to get an absolute ass kicking, unquote. But what'd I ever do to him?" Ryoga asked.
"I think it has sumthin' ta do with ya sleeping with my fiancee," Ranma answered coldly. Somehow he managed not to kick Ryoga into next week or at least the nearest wall.
Ryoga had the good sense to look embarrassed. "Oh. That."
-----
A few hours later, Ranma sat on the roof and looked out over the place he called home. The only home he could remember. If he chose to live with his parents, it might be the last night he ever spent here. 'Unless I marry Akane,' Ranma thought.
His preparations were complete. A single large suitcase packed with clothes and a few mementos sat in his room. The passport he'd got after Jeff's last visit lay on top of it. Ranma's birth certificate had been brought by his parents when they arrived for dinner. The student-visa had arrived by courier earlier that afternoon. 'Kuno-koucho musta been dancing for joy.'
He looked at the airline ticket in his hand. Although too dark to read, he looked at it anyway. Jeff had handed it to him just before he left for his own dinner. He'd wanted some of Ucchan's okonomiyaki before he left and didn't want to be there when Ranma's parents came to say goodbye. 'Not that I blame him.'
His own 'last meal' had been... awkward. Despite Kasumi making a delicious eel teriyaki with all his favorite trimmings, Ranma had little appetite. Seeing his mother reminded him of exactly why he was leaving in the first place. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as soon as she arrived, and the tension in his stomach refused to go away. It was a terrible thing for someone who feared no man, to have such a reaction to his own mother. 'Can I ever forgive her? Should I?'
Kasumi had wished him well. Nabiki had made cryptic comments he didn't feel like worrying about at the time. Tendo-san had wailed openly about Ranma leaving his daughter. Both Akane and Nodoka consoled Soun by revealing Ranma's promise to return. 'I wonder how long it'll be before I come back.'
His father's goodbye was gruff and he told Ranma to be sure to practice his martial arts and that he planned to test his son on his return. His mother's goodbye was meant to be reassuring, but somehow wasn't. Akane went on and on about doing the agility drills Jeff had shown her. About how she would be a better martial artist when he returned. 'Wonder what America will be like.'
Sitting on the roof, Ranma gazed at the not so far off lights of downtown Tokyo. He wondered why he hadn't thought of agility drills or something like that with Akane before. Then he remembered that Akane almost never _listened_ to him. Still, he hoped that she would do whatever it was that Jeff had shown her. If it made her happy, Ranma was all for it. 'I'm gonna miss Ak- this place.'
It was nearly midnight before Ranma saw Jeff come in through the gate. He waved, saw Jeff wave back, then made his way to bed.
-----
Jeff really didn't want to deal with Ranma's parents. He thought both of them needed to be taken out and shot. He also didn't think he could eat eel teriyaki, even if Kasumi made it. He'd grown rather fond of Kasumi's cooking over the last few days, but there were things he wasn't willing to try. Not after Friday night anyway. He also wanted to see Ukyo again before he left. Maybe find out why his okonomiyaki wasn't anywhere near as good as hers. Besides, he liked Ukyo.
The preparations he'd made for leaving Japan and taking Ranma with him were took longer than the ones he'd made to 'officially' arrive in Japan. He'd hacked his way into a travel agency and made it look like he was a passenger on a JAL flight. A little misdirection and a few TK tricks at Narita had got him line with the rest of the people wading through Customs. Carrying an overnight bag filled with clothes purchased at an all night department store, Jeff bluffed his way through Customs and Passport Control. Overall, it took less than five hours to legitimize his presence in Japan. All that had been done in the wee hours of Tuesday morning while the Tendo household slept.
There had been considerable groundwork required before departure. He'd disassembled his staff and stun stars and shipped them out of the country via air express Friday afternoon. Even if anyone examined them closely, they shouldn't arouse suspicion. Labeled as machine parts, they didn't resemble much of anything in their current state. His binoculars, first aid kit and bullet proof trench coat were sent via a different carrier. The regular shuriken he dumped down a sewer along with his smoke bombs. They were too easily replaced to worry about arousing suspicion by shipping them home. The PDA was too useful not to keep with him and wouldn't arouse suspicion anyway.
Plane tickets were paid for with a credit card account that would be used this one time, paid off with a money order and closed out. The part that had worried him, getting the student-visa, went so fast that Jeff swore somebody wanted Ranma gone and was happy at the chance. Given more time, he would have looked that particular gift horse in the mouth.
There had been other details attended to, but Jeff felt that there should be no major problems. Jeff also spent some time keeping up with a few of his normal activities. The money had to keep flowing somehow.
Eventually, Jeff made one last pass at his checklist and saw that everything was done. He felt that he had more than earned a good meal cooked by someone he thought of as a friend. Handing Ranma his ticket, Jeff left the Tendo home and made his way to Ucchan's.
Jeff was met at the door by Ukyo. "Hi Jeff. Hope you didn't want to eat, because I just turned off the grill," the attractive young woman said.
"Why?" Jeff had really been looking forward to getting once last good meal before being having to suffer through airline food.
"Cause it's been slow all day and dead this afternoon. No sense in staying open when I don't have any customers," Ukyo answered.
"Don't I count?"
Ukyo eyed Jeff critically before answering, "Nah, but I'll cook for you anyway. C'mon in."
Jeff noticed that Ukyo hung up the 'Closed' sign before she went behind the grill and fired up a small section of it. While Ukyo made Jeff a double beef okonomiyaki, Jeff helped straighten up the rest of the restaurant. It was only a few minutes before Jeff sat down to eat.
"Glad you let me in. You're saving me from a fate worse than death," Jeff said has he polished off his food.
"Oh really?" Ukyo asked curiously as she looked up from her math homework.
"Ranma's parents are coming to the Tendo's for Ranma's goodbye dinner. We're leaving in the morning."
"Why that little... He didn't invite me!" Ukyo said loudly.
"He didn't invite anybody, so relax," Jeff responded waving his hands vaguely. "I didn't want to be there, so I thought I'd come over here."
"Why not stay there?"
"One, Kasumi was making eel teriyaki."
"What's wrong with eel teriyaki?"
"After barfing up the octopus she made Friday, I didn't want to take the chance."
"What's wrong with octopus?"
Jeff shuddered visibly. "Nothing, if you're used to it. I'm not. Can you say 'violently ill'?"
Ukyo chuckled at the thought of someone having such a reaction to a food that she herself thought perfectly normal.
Jeff continued, "Two. I didn't want to see Ranma's parents again. I might have told them what I really think of them. Since Ranma's still a minor, they could kill this trip if they really wanted. Better to avoid them entirely."
Ukyo's smile left her face. She still had issues of her own with Genma. Ukyo wasn't happy with Nodoka either. Ranma had confirmed that Jeff blocked a killing stroke that night. Coming so close to losing Ranma forever still bothered Ukyo. "I see your point."
"I mean, who is the worse parent? The father who drags his kid on an endless training journey, or the mother who lets him? The father who comes up with a 'man among men' seppuku pledge or the mother that accepts it and tries to enforce it. The father wh-"
Ukyo interrupted, "You can stop now."
"Sorry." Jeff pulled his PDA from his pocket and checked the clock feature. It was too soon to return to the Tendo's. Ranma's parents would probably still be there.
"I need to kill a couple of hours. You want to catch a movie? My treat."
"You mean like a date?" Ukyo asked cautiously.
"No, like a couple friends going out to the movies. For some reason, my wife doesn't let me go on dates with other women since we got married. But I can go out with friends if I want," Jeff finished with a roguish grin.
"I didn't know you were married."
"You never asked." Jeff pulled out his wallet and fished out a few photos. "That's me and my wife Anne. That's my son Bill. That's Anne and Bill with my father-in-law Big Bill."
"Your wife is pretty."
"I think so. It's not the reason I married her though." Internally, Jeff continued, 'God only knows why she married me.'
Ukyo looked at the pictures for a while before realizing she other things she should be doing. "I'd like to, but I have two pages of math homework to finish," Ukyo said tapping the open book in front of her.
"Let me see that," Jeff said, taking both the math book and a stray sheet of paper. After a few seconds he pulled a mechanical pencil from his pocket and started scratching out answers in a precise hand. He used the math program on his PDA to do the few he couldn't solve on sight. Ukyo was too amazed at the speed in which Jeff was working to actively protest. All told, it took less than five minutes, including the problems Ukyo had already finished. Jeff handed the text back to the shocked young woman. "Done."
"I hate you," Ukyo said in mock seriousness. "It would have taken me at least an hour to finish this."
"What can I say, I like math," Jeff answered honestly.
"Fine. But if I let other people do it for me, I'll never learn it myself."
"Were you having any problems with it?"
"No. Well, I don't think so."
"Let me see your answers," Jeff requested. Ukyo handed them over and Jeff compared the two. "These are all correct. I think you understand the principles, all I did was save you a lot of grunt work."
"I doubt my sensei would agree with you."
"I won't tell if you won't. So how about that movie?
Ukyo looked at the paper that she had been putting her answers on, looked at Jeff and then looked at her math textbook. "Let me grab a jacket."
Jeff let Ukyo pick the movie, a slapstick comedy. Jeff didn't get all of the jokes, but there was enough physical schtick that he still had fun. He walked Ukyo back to her home and place of business and made his own goodbyes. When Jeff returned to the Tendo home, he spotted Ranma sitting on the roof. Ranma waved, he waved back and then went in to bed.
-----
The final goodbyes of the Tendos were nearly drowned out by the sound of falling rain. Kasumi and Akane looked as if they'd been crying. Soun wept openly. Nabiki, ever the mistress of her own emotions, reminded Ranma of the money he owed her. Jeff wrote her a check on the spot and told her to "stuff it" before grabbing his overnight bag and walking into the downpour.
"What?" Nabiki protested upon seeing the looks directed at her. She folded the check and put it her organizer to be cashed later.
Ranma just shook his head, grabbed his suitcase and walked after Jeff, his curse activating as soon as he was outside. There was no turning back now. Ranma hoped the dark, overcast, wet morning wasn't an omen of some kind.
END CHAPTER 5
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