A Ranma crossover fanfic
Started - 1 February 2003 Completed – 12 June 2003
Last revised - 10 May 2004 Reason - typos
Characters are from Ranma ½, Sailor Moon and Ah, My Goddess. They are used without permission or profit. This is a form of literary tribute to the original authors and no copyright infringement is intended.
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Chaotic Future . . . by . . . Cloud Dreamer
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Chapter four - Stud Training
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Skuld hesitantly made his way across Asgard. He watched Thor practicing with his hammer for a while before he gained enough courage to call out, "Hey Thor, do you have a moment?"
"Huh, oh, hi little one." Thor grinned down at the diminutive (by comparison) kami. "What do you need? Misplace your doll or something?"
"Thor, I'm in trouble . . ." That was as far as he got.
"I'll tear him apart." Thor roared, "Who has taken your honor from you young maiden?"
Blushing brightly, Skuld grabbed onto Thor's arm and yelled to get his attention. "NO, that's not what I meant."
"Oh, well . . . that's good. Right?"
Skuld decided to just 'bite-the-bullet', dragging the explanation out just wasn't going to work he could see. "Thor, I made Dad mad and He changed me into a guy. But I don't know how to be a boy. You are the manliest man I know so I thought that maybe you'd help me . . . you know, be a guy."
Thor was shocked for a moment before gently chuckling. "That's one heck of a practical joke. I didn't think the ole Man had it in Him." Thor didn't get a chance to say anything else as a massive lightning bolt toasted him.
Fortunately lightning was part of the massive kami's domain and he recovered almost immediately. Hair in wild disarray and clothing smoking, Thor observed somewhat rhetorically, "I guess it wasn't a joke then."
Skuld sighed and decided to try again later.
= = = = =
Ranko watched as Skuld explained the mechanics of how a computer worked. She was a bit loathe to admit it, but she was impressed with what Skuld was able to do.
Skuld smiled, "Here Ranko, let me show you something called the Web." He grinned as he thought of a way to capture her attention, "It's a place where you can find information about all sorts of martial arts and you don't have to worry about being forced to pay for it."
He shared a grin with the redhead, "That's why Nabiki was so careful to not let you know anything about it."
In the next couple of hours, Skuld taught Ranko how to use the computer and surf the net. Ranko was hesitant at first until she happened on an obscure martial arts technique that she already knew. Suddenly fired up, she began to treat it as a challenge, her mind seeking ways to glean information useful to her.
Skuld looked at his newly assembled computer and then back at the redhead using it with obvious enjoyment. Finally coming to a decision he hesitantly asked, "Ranko, would you like to have this computer for your own?"
Suddenly suspicious since nobody ever did anything for her without wanting something in return, Ranko asked, "Why? What do you want in return? I ain't gonna have your kid, you know that don't ya? I'm a guy. So bribing me ain't gonna work."
Skuld absently observed to himself that Ranko's language skills apparently deteriorated whenever she was under pressure. "Yeah, I know that. It's ok too. I really would like to become a girl again, but it's not fair for you to pay that price for somebody else."
Ranko was apparently not listening very well; "I ain't gonna marry ya, no matter what you say."
Skuld sighed and then decided that it was time to clear up a misunderstanding that was primarily Urd's fault at the start. "Ranko, you don't have to 'have' my child. Kami-sama only said that you had to 'name' my first born child of a mortal mother."
"But . . . I thought."
"Well, unless you happened to be interested that is," Skuld teased a little.
"No, nope, nada, no way . . ." Ranko would have continued if Skuld hadn't placed a finger over her perfect lips. Still she muttered, "I'm a guy."
"I understand," Skuld said as he smiled at her. "No, the only reason I brought up the computer bit was that I was just wondering if you wanted to have a computer at home to use. I already have a couple of them and I thought it would be nice to be able to exchange e-mail with you as well as paying you something for teaching me some martial arts."
Ranko felt a slight warm glow in her chest at these words and hesitantly nodded yes. She didn't try to speak, as she was very confused in a happy sort of way that made no sense to her at all.
The two of them boxed up the computer and quickly transported it to Ranko's room. As they set it up, Nodoka peeked in at the young couple. She said nothing, but she inwardly smiled as she watched her child's horizon's expand further.
= = = = =
Thor was enjoying teaching the younger kami all the end's & clouts of being a guy, at least from his perspective that is. "Alright, Skuld, let's see you twirl that mallet of yours again. After all, 'real men' use war hammers in battle."
"But . . . bu"
"Humm, I see what you mean. Your mallet is a bit lightweight to get much distance with it and still do much damage." Thor's massive brow beetled in thought a moment. "Here, try my hammer and see what you think. If you like it maybe we can modify your mallet to be like it somewhat."
Thor handed his massive hammer to Skuld who strained to pick it up.
Thor grinned and imparted some of his energy into the hammer with a deft twist.
Skuld and the hammer began to twirl. Thor scratched his head a bit puzzled as he wasn't sure if Skuld was twirling the hammer or if it was the other way around and around and . . .
The kami of thunder shrugged his massive shoulders and sent a stronger surge of power to the hammer. The huge war hammer began to glow and lightning coursed its path about the struggling Skuld for a few tense moments before the hammer soared off into a thunderous strike against the mountain face that Thor used for his target practice.
"Good toss young one." Thor glanced about for Skuld. "Young one? Skuld? Where did that scamp go?"
Thor summoned a lightning bolt and rode it to the cracked granite mountain flank. He reached for the handle of his massive hammer only to stop when he heard a pitiful sound.
"Owie."
Thor carefully pulled the hammer from the indentation that it had made in the mountain and looked into the hole. A large sweatdrop rolled down the back of his head as he looked at Skuld imbedded into the mountain with the imprint of a war hammer running the entire length of his body.
"Humm, maybe a war hammer isn't the right tool for you after all," he said. Thor looked about himself, he could have sworn that he heard Odin laughing somewhere in the distance.
= = = = =
Ukyo was a little bit surprised when she heard the full (modified) story about what happened to change Ranma into Ranko; they withheld the fact that Skuld was the goddess who had locked Ranma and they said nothing about Skuld's gender dilemma. She was somewhat appeased when both Skuld and Ranko affirmed that they had absolutely no intention of ever becoming an item, not that she really thought her Ranchan swung that way in any case. On the other hand, it pretty well ended her chances with Ranma after Skuld said that it probably be years before a 'cure' could be found. Ranko's feminine appearance was very disconcerting to her though. She admired the new identification wistfully wondering if maybe her legal gender could be changed back to girl.
Ranko grinned, "Let me ask mom about it. Give me the details and I'll see if she can help my best friend."
Ukyo sighed, 'there it was again; 'best friend'. She was really beginning to believe that Ranma, no, Ranko really was serious about just being best friends.' A whimsical smile played across her lips as she considered the problem. She really didn't want revenge on Ranma or Ranko anymore, but a little payback would be nice. She grinned, "Ranko, I've got a better idea. Since I'm legally a guy and now you are legally a girl, whatta ya say that we tie the knot?"
Skuld and Ukyo blinked as Ranko seemingly vanished, the slamming of the door telling them that she had really left at 'light-speed'.
Before Skuld could say a word, the momentary silence was broken by Ukyo's giggles. "Gotcha Ranma!" she crowed.
Skuld thought about it a moment then chuckled too. Seeing the questioning expression on the chef's face, he continued, "So I guess that you were just getting back at Ranko for stringing you along. Do you want me to let her know that or do you want to 'develop' this situation a little longer?"
Ukyo wiped the tears from her face and softly replied, "Just let it be for now. Ranma, I mean Ranko and I will work it out. In some ways I'm serious, but I couldn't really do that to my best friend. Besides, I'm into guys, not gals.
After leaving Ukyo, Skuld quickly found Ranko and soon the two were walking along together talking about their recent experiences. First at Ukyo's, but the conversation quickly turned to something that was bothering Ranko on the internet. Ranko was blushing both with anger and embarrassment as she described a recently found web-site that specialized in semi-nude photos of herself.
"What!" Skuld fumed. "Tell me their address and I'll see about creating a virus that not only will wipe out the site, the server it's on, but will poison everybody who visits it."
A week ago, Skuld's threat wouldn't have meant anything to the neo girl; but now, all she could say was, "Re . . . really! You'd do that for me? Thank you."
"RANMA!"
The young couple stopped and after a quick glance at each other, rapidly scanned the area for . . . oh, Akane.
The angry girl stormed up to Ranko and hissed, "It's only been just over a week and already you have another bimbo. Did you tell her your dirty little secret?"
Skuld chuckled (as opposed to giggled, he really was working on the guy stuff). "Actually, I'm a guy. But don't get me wrong, I think his guy side is just as cute as her girl side is."
Akane lost it then. But just before she could swing the chi mallet she had projected, Skuld nailed her with a carefully judged mallet strike of his own that was delivered like an uppercut. Akane vanished into the atmosphere to appear in the Tendou koi pond a few moments later.
Akane sat in the pond sputtering with anger and frustration. It seems that every time she decided to approach Ranma and apologize, Ranma would do something perverted and set her off again.
Soun sat on the porch and wailed . . . the Tendou patriarch waterworks was in full operation.
She hissed in seething anger. "This is ALL your fault you two lazy old farts!" Akane then pointed an accusing finger at her father, "If you had at least acted like a father and a man, your daughters wouldn't have to cover your ass and we wouldn't be in this situation."
She glared at the elder Saotome, "I'm beginning to understand why you've been able to stay away from your wife for a decade. Maybe your interests lie along the same path as that of your worthless son." Matching their angry glares with a blazing one of her own, she clarified, "I saw Ranma walking along with a guy; a guy that likes both his girl side AND his boy side."
Passing the two frozen men, she stormed into the house, carefully avoiding the destroyed kitchen and made her way upstairs to her room where she had some snacks hidden.
Kasumi quietly came home from spending her day with Belldandy and some of her other friends and amusedly watched the two fathers build a campfire in the yard and prepare a meal for themselves.
Gathering her courage, Kasumi spoke, "Father, as Akane has taken over the household as part of her bridal training since she's the one designated to inherit it, I've decided it was time for me to start to get my own life together. I've enrolled in the local community college. Beginning Monday, I start classes."
Both fathers whimpered.
= = = = =
Over the next several weeks, Ranko studied hard with her mother's encouragement and help. Several days before school started, Ranko was reconsidering having to repeat several years of school. "Mom," she asked. "Do I gotta start school all over?"
"Yes dear, you gotta." She snickered, "at least until you learn to speak somewhat more civilized at the very least."
Ranko nodded, "Well, ok, I guess it really doesn't matter. Besides, it will make it easier in school this way since I already took these classes."
"Really?" asked her mother. "That would be true only if you learned it the first time through."
Ranko sighed and picked up her books again after she finished breakfast.
= = = =
Setsuna grimaced as she read the dossier on the new student. 'So this was the source of all their problems, Ranko Saotome, age 16. Drat! That means she'll be in the same class as the inners. Oh, whoopee. Wait a moment, I thought her name was Ranma, oh, that's her elder brother, ok. How odd, they have the same birthdays. Hummm, there's a note in her file about how she sometime 'subs' for her brother. Ah, so that is where the name confusion comes from.'
Her brow creased in surprise, 'pretty good scores. She's a lot smarter than her brother it seems.' She looked over at the other Saotome folder on her desk that had a note on it that said, 'withdrawn from school for training trip'. 'I wonder why the time gate only shows her now and only her brother in the past since that disaster with Skuld? Hummm, must be the influence of the kami or maybe it's because that's why and when Skuld lost her powers because of her.'
Setsuna decided that she'd have to give the four inner scouts that also attended the school some advance warning and information about the girl. It wouldn't do for them to be either unaware of or alienated from someone so important to their uncertain future.
= = = = =
Nabiki came home briefly one weekend. She didn't stay the night.
Akane struggled with the laundry. She snickered to herself in embarrassment as she pulled out her pink (formerly white) blouses. Genma stared at his pink gi.
Kasumi just smiled as she did her own laundry.
Soun hesitantly started to clean up the kitchen. Mostly they just tossed out the pans and bowls instead of trying to clean them. Genma used a hammer and chisel to clean several of the counter tops of splatters from Akane's experiments in exotic cuisine.
When dinner time came around, Kasumi left citing a previous engagement with a friend. Genma resignedly started another campfire.
Soun whimpered, he'd tried talking with Kasumi but she'd been rather obstinate in her decision that reparations from Akane were necessary before she'd make another meal for the family.
Akane just snarled. She was NOT going to admit that she was at fault. On the other hand, she no longer tried cooking. Not after the third time she'd tasted her own food.
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Ranko sighed as she waited to be introduced to the rest of the class. It was the start of the second half of the school year and she wasn't all that thrilled to be returning to school; especially not as a sophomore instead of a senior. On the positive side, she had managed to score exceptionally high on the tests. On the negative side, her mother had used that as a basis to enroll her into a pre-medical study group. 'Oh, joy. What was it with mother's wanting their kids to be doctor's anyway?'
The day had gone fairly well. She had actually managed to stay awake in class and learn. It was amazing what having a good night's sleep and not having to fight virtually non-stop did for one's ability to stay awake and concentrate.
She had met some very friendly girls who almost seemed to already know something about her. That made her a bit suspicious, but she reserved her judgment for the moment. Ranko was hoping that Ami, Usagi, Minako and Makato would all turn out to be friends. All four of them had unusually strong auras that intrigued her. They all sat fairly near to her seat in class. Each of the four girls was very different yet that actually make their potential friendship all the more interesting.
After school, Ranko trudged off to find where this 'doc-club' was meeting. 'Oh, joy, whoopee, yea'.
The club councilor, who turned out to be Ami's mother, was a practicing physician. She glanced at the new addition to the club and decided to talk privately with her later. "Hello kids, I hope you had a good vacation between semesters, but as I warned you last time, this semester we will be doing 'hands-on' training instead of classroom study like last semester. This will be a chance for all of you to put some of your book skills to practical use. In addition, it will help you to decide if this sort of work is something that you can enjoy."
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Skuld decided that if he was going to be a guy for the rest of his life, he might as well get a bit of social training on how to go about it. He knew just who to ask for help too.
"Hey Thor, can I ask you for a favor?" Skuld blushed brightly but continued, "Tell me about guys and girls, Ok?"
Thor scratched his head, a sound like a logging chain being drug through the brush. "I don't understand Skuld. Since you used to be a girl, don't you know all about girls already?"
Skuld blushed even brighter, "No, you see I never even thought about stuff like that before so I . . . well, I mean I never did anything. I mean, I mean . . . I just don't know any of that stuff because it wasn't ever important to me."
Thor nodded in simulated understanding. "Ok, I'll tell you some of the stuff that I've done and seen and let you chose what you want to try. That work for you?" Seeing the younger fella nod, the older kami then said. "Come on. Let's head over to the tavern for a few mugs of mead. While I talk, the other guys may have some advice to give also."
= = = = =
'Lousy miserable weekend,' mumbled Ranko under her breath. Actually it wasn't the fact that it was a weekend that was bothering the girl. She was complaining about what was happening this particular weekend. Weekends in general were great, but this weekend, she shuddered.
She opened the fridge and looked for some leftovers. She saw the bowl of 'red beans and rice' and shuddered again. 'No way was she gonna 'celebrate' that again.' She grabbed an apple and quickly shut the door.
She looked at the clock, 'well, Skuld would be over soon. That would distract her for awhile,' she thought. She was all too aware of her body just now and craved distraction.
= = = = =
Belldandy was beginning to get worried about her younger brother. For nearly a month he'd come home to the temple on most school nights staggering into the temple and collapsing into bed and reeking of mead.
She asked Urd for help only to blush a bit as Urd revealed that Skuld was receiving guy training at the local heavenly stud institute, i.e. the Asgard tavern. "As though any of those idiots know anything," whispered Belldandy only to blush when she realized that the reason Urd was giggling was because she'd overheard her and agreed too.
Oh well, at least Skuld was keeping his weekends free for Ranko's visits. Both of the youngsters seemed to enjoy their time together. Belldandy sighed, 'it was a shame that they couldn't spend more time together.' Belldandy paused in thought and then placed a call to Nodoka.
"Hello Nodoka, this is Belldandy . . ." Ten minutes of feminine pleasantries passed before Belldandy suggested, "I hear that Ranko is having a little trouble with her classes. You know, Skuld is very smart and has already completed all those same studies. He could tutor Ranko and she could also continue to give Skuld some additional martial arts lessons as well. That would be good training should Ranko ever decide to pursue a career as a sensei."
Nodoka though about it for a moment then, "I'll ask Ranko. It's time my child started to make those kinds of decisions for herself. I think the idea is a good one though. Will that do?"
"Of course," said Belldandy. "Please have Ranko call if the idea is acceptable."
= = = = =
Urd sighed in satisfaction. The legal wrangle with Nabiki had gone just about as she'd expected. She'd met with Nabiki and her attorney in a pre-court meeting after the initial court appearances and displayed the evidence she was prepared to present to the court.
While Nabiki's attorney had appeared shocked, Nabiki was in fact stunned. She'd not realized just how legally vulnerable she was not to mention that the picture Urd painted of her was chilling even to her.
Urd was not interested in negotiating and Nabiki was scared to fight her in court, so the settlement had resulted in Ranko receiving the lion's share of the net profits. Nabiki was able to negotiate a deal whereby she surrendered all her financial interests in Ranma/Ranko and no longer marketed any images of him/her. In return, Urd agreed to not make public the information she had been able to gather.
= = = = =
Ranko had talked to Dr. Mizuno and been granted permission to participate in the club's work-study program based on her years of experience dealing with her own injuries during her 10 year martial arts journey.
Ami grabbed the redhead as her club partner in order to study the other girl a bit closer. The two of them were assigned to be 'candy-stripers' each Saturday afternoon at a pediatric rehabilitation ward in the local hospital.
Ami and the hospital staff were surprised at the depth of knowledge that Ranko displayed on how to restore body mobility.
Ami grinned at the redhead as she cajoled the 8-year-old boy into attempting to walk. "I was watching this Dragonball episode the other day," Ranko started.
"Really, what happened?" the boy eagerly asked.
"I saw them do this really neat maneuver," she squinted at the lad, "You know, I think that you could even do it."
The boy's face fell. "No . . . not since my dad . . . hurt me." The boy struggled to hide his tears, his face to the floor.
"Hey, your ole man is a saint compared to mine and I can do it," the redhead challenged.
"Your dad hu . . . hurt you too?"
Ranko pulled up her skirt on one side noticing that the young boy was much less embarrassed than she was. "Yeah, see the couple of scars here?" She sighed, "There's more but I'm sort of embarrassed to show them now. Anyway, let me show you this move. It's neat and I know that it's something you can do."
The boy looked at the pair of faint white scars that arched over the older girl's knee. He hesitantly held out a small hand and touched them. "That must have hurt a lot." Seeing her nod, he asked, "You really think I can do this." At her smile, he grinned just a tiny bit, "Ok, I'll try if you'll help me."
"No problem kid. Now first you have to stretch out the muscles like this, really slow and careful. Don't worry, I gotcha." Ranko added.
= = = = =
Skuld spent the time just after school tutoring Ranko. Afterwards the pair of them worked out together in the very large new dojo that Ranko had had built next door to her mother's house. Skuld had suggested that perhaps he could be Ranko's financial advisor and agent. The brilliance of Ranko's answering grin rivaled Akane's best.
Ranko was inordinately pleased with the progress that Skuld was making. On the other hand, Skuld was actually remembering when (s)he'd once learned this before when it was the 'wave-of-the-future' several centuries ago or so.
The pair spent every weekend together besides the near daily after school tutoring. Ranko was still on the watch for Mara and Skuld felt guilty for forcing Ranko to be a girl. Both were also helping the other to cope with being the 'wrong' gender. Sometimes it got sort of funny.
Nodoka has having a hard time suppressing her giggles as she watched the two youths attempt to teach the other 'how-to-walk-right' as they termed it.
"No Ranko, don't stride like that! Take shorter steps and keep your feet closer to the centerline of your travel." Seeing the blank look, Skuld attempted to exaggeratedly demonstrate what he meant only to have Ranko fall over giggling uncontrollably.
Still giggling, Ranko stood up and attempted to mockingly repeat what Skuld had done only to have the unusual stimulation of her rear gracefully swaying as her body moved slightly in counterpoint as well. It was very frustrating to her for him to be so blatantly right; especially when her mom praised her for walking so femininely.
Ranko was a bit more direct in her countering lesson. She grabbed Skuld's hips from behind and held them in place as she forced him into a 'manly' stride. In fact she ran him several miles before she was 'satisfied' with the lesson. She wasn't exactly sure what the lesson was but his body trembling with fatigue and sweat seemed to work for her.
Skuld had released his hold on his age lock and even allowed it to accelerate to about thrice the mortal rate. At this rate, in a year his apparent age would match Ranko's.
= = = = =
Ami and Ranko were just finishing up their 'shift' at the hospital one Saturday afternoon when a diamon suddenly appeared outside the building. Ranko was stunned to notice that the weird creature seemed to look a little bit like an animated sub-compact car. But when it crushed the outer wall of the hospital grounds and advanced toward the children's wing, she lost all hesitation about confronting it.
"Ranko" Ami called to her, "Let's get out of sight. Let the Sailor Scouts handle it." Ami was going to add more but Ranko was already gone. Dashing behind the shadowed edge of another building with her communicator in one hand pressing the emergency call button, Ami raised her transformation pen in her other hand in preparation for changing when the sight before her caused her to stop in stunned surprise.
Ranko was pissed; totally, royally and thoroughly. She attacked without fanfare or insults. No testing or kid gloves, she went for the kill from the first strike. She hit the arm that threatened the hospital with a moko takabisha blowing it off at the apparent elbow. As the creature screamed with its blaring horn, she darted at full speed between it's legs and hit both knees with the Amazon 'breaking point' attack as she passed. Both knees exploded in shrapnel that she left behind so fast was her attack. She rebounded off the building wall and her glowing fists suddenly shimmered with a huge glowing mallet that she swung with all of her incredible strength. The blow was so fast that the mallet head became supersonic and the sonic blast blew out the windows of the hospital on that side even as the remains of the diamon simply vanished in the resulting explosion that left a fuming but slightly panting redhead standing in a deep crater where a construct of evil had once stood.
"Holy shit!" murmured Ami into her communicator. The shy girl was subjected to rather intense teasing by her teammates when they met for a Sailor Scout meeting later that evening. The teasing did not last past the explanation of what she'd seen.
= = = = =
Kasumi and Belldandy were sitting and talking, having a very pleasant visit when they were startled by Urd's shout, "YES, way to go girl."
Urd appeared, almost trotting as she rushed to the TV, turned it on and inserted a tape into the player. "You just have to watch this. It happened only a few minutes ago and it's awesome."
It was, especially the appended slow motion 'replay' that Urd had thoughtfully prepared. "Oh, my!" Was the other two girls' response, in stereo.
Kasumi hesitantly said, "That was Ranko, but what was she fighting and when did she get so powerful?"
Urd grinned and replied proudly; "The monster was a leftover from those that the Sailor Scouts used to fight. As for power, Ranko is a lot more powerful than even that. It's pretty obvious that she wanted to end the fight in a hurry so that no one in the hospital would be harmed." She snickered, "Looks like she should have pulled that last blow with her war hammer a bit though. The breaking glass caused by the sonic boom didn't hurt anybody but it could have."
"Oh, my," whispered Kasumi. As Urd started to remove the tape, Kasumi asked, "Urd, may I have a copy of that, please?"
Nabiki had come home for the weekend again and Ryouga had shown up also. After the rest of the family had eaten the camp meal prepared by Ryouga for the family, Kasumi (who had eaten with Belldandy) slipped the tape into the player.
Responses were just about as expected.
Ryouga rose to his feet and shouted out enraged, "how dare he learn MY technique. That dishonorable cur will die when we next meet." A sudden visage of Urd caused him to blanch and then sit down again.
Akane frowned and snarled, "I can't believe that jerk has stolen my technique." She sniffed disdainfully, "and she didn't even have a very good follow through either."
Genma huffed, "I don't know who that was. That girly girl is no relation to me."
Nabiki's eyes nearly popped out, "You . . . you mean that's normal for Ranma?"
A quiet chuckle brought everybody's attention to Kasumi. "Her IDENITY card says she is RANKO Saotome, age 16, DAUGHTER of Genma and Nodoka Saotome. She's using a standard GIRL's mallet attack just like Akane does and an AMAZON technique that I believe Ryouga also knows. She was there to defend the children's wing of a hospital and YOU weren't." Everybody caught the significance of the words that Kasumi had emphasized. Ranma had got on with her life and was doing well; very well without them.
Kasumi added as an aside to Nabiki, "Hummm, actually, Ranko was holding back on her power a lot so that she wouldn't cause any harm to the kids in the hospital. Apparently she's a lot more powerful than that even." She sighed and added, "I hope she doesn't get into any trouble for breaking those windows. It was an accident. I don't think she anticipated the mallet head's sonic boom."
"Daughter?" Genma questioned, "I don't have a daughter. What do you mean? That used to be my good for nothing son who got himself locked as a worthless girl."
Kasumi responded with a quiet grin, "Oh, but I heard it from the head of the Saotome clan, one Nodoka Saotome I believe, that she'd adopted Ranko as her daughter since you had declared that Ranma was not your son anymore."
"Nodoka?" Genma thought about repercussions possibly involving a katana and decided that visiting his home was not a desirable thing to do any time soon.
"Why age 16?" asked Nabiki.
"I think it was to give Ranko a chance to do better in school, besides with her having the same birth date as Ranma, only two years younger, it created an explanation for the confusion between them." Kasumi added, "Sometimes that's all somebody needs in order to be able to ignore the actual magic in Ranma life. Beside," she added, "that is Ranko's apparent mental and physical age anyway, so it works out pretty well."
Ryouga asked, "Why was she at the hospital anyway? I don't think that it's near her school or home or even a mall."
Nabiki gave him a weird look, "You're right, but how would you know that given your sense of direction and spatial relationships?"
Ryouga just glowered a bit in response.
Kasumi grinned; she had discovered that she just loved doing this. "It turns out that Ranko is in a premed school club; she's sometimes a 'candy-striper' there in the hospital's children's wing. Apparently she's pretty good. I've heard rumors (from Nodoka only) that she may give up martial arts and study medicine instead."
Soun and Genma both blanched and quickly huddled to confer about what they could do about this latest development without seeming to take Ranma back just yet.
= = = = =
Ami had just finished helping Skuld to tutor Ranko at the redhead's home and was watching Ranko teach Skuld some of the basic kata of her school. She was in awe both of Ranko's martial arts skill and her teaching abilities. One thing she did notice though was that every once in awhile Ranko would issue a slighting jib that was obviously aimed at challenging Skuld to do better. Skuld on the other hand would simply freeze at that point and wait. Eventually Ranko would apologize and restate what she was trying to say. Skuld would nod and they would continue. It was pretty obvious to the casual observer (herself in this case) that lessons were being taught on both sides.
When Ranko was finished teaching and had set Skuld to repeating some of the day's lessons (kata), Ami took a chance and asked, "Ranko, I was wondering if I and a few of my girl friends could train with you like Skuld is doing?"
Ranko hesitated. She wasn't really licensed to teach yet but figured that since Skuld was a kami, a minor problem like that wouldn't matter, besides she did have a sort of honor debt to the girl turned guy. She sighed, "I'm sorry Ami, but I don't have a license to actually teach classes, so" . . . she paused in consternation as Urd flipped a large manila envelop toward her.
Urd snickered to herself, 'having an approved operations plan made this go so much easier', she thought to herself. It had been quite a while since she had really enjoyed her work so much.
Ranko opened the folder she found inside the envelope. She stared blankly at the certificate inside until Ami finally took it from her hand and curiously examined it.
"Wow," exclaimed Ami. "This says that you do have a license to teach. That's just weird. I mean you are only 16; you must be a prodigy or something."
"I'm the best," absently murmured Ranko.
"Now that your license has shown up, will you teach us now?" Ami was about to mention all the free tutoring that she'd been doing but then changed her mind.
Ranko hesitated, and as she did, Skuld absently noted. "Ami and her friends are a pretty diverse lot. Trying to cope with them might be more than you can do. On the other hand, it would provide a lot of experience in being a sensei. Come to think of it, those girls are your friends and they've all helped you in various ways." He looked over at Ami and added significantly, "Some more than others."
Ranko shrugged her shoulders in reluctant acceptance, "Yeah, I guess it would be ok. Can you arrange a meeting with all of the ones that are interested and we'll set up some sort of schedule."
Ami nodded. After seeing Ranko fight, she was pretty sure that this was something the scouts needed to do to supplement their magic powers.
After Ami left, Skuld walked over to Ranko and remarked, "Well you have your first formal class. Now all you have to decide is whether your students are going to be your friends or your enemies when you are done. In other words, are you going to teach them in 'your' newly emerging style or your father's old insulting style."
Ranko frowned and snapped, "Yeah, I understand. By the way, you haven't finished up your assigned kata yet."
Skuld grinned slightly and began to work his body again while his sensei glowered. Skuld was glad that Ranko would be helping the Sailor Scouts as she knew who they were since she had actually suffered a bit of hero worship for the pretty warriors before her encounter with Ranma. As a result of her interest in them, she had made the effort to discover their identities. Ranko's recounting of her sole meeting with the outer scouts had shocked the young kami and forced him to reevaluate the consequences of Crystal Tokyo.
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Soun was in a panic. Nabiki had refused to pay for the upkeep of the home and dojo and they were running out of instant ramen. Genma had suggested pawning a few things but Akane had overheard him and promptly pounded him for attempting to 'steal' her inheritance.
He sighed, "Genma, old friend, I'm afraid that it's time for the unthinkable."
Genma shuddered. "You don't mean . . . get a . . . get a job do you?"
Soun nodded. "It's either that or start additional classes in the dojo."
Akane paused, "daddy, I like that last idea. If the two of you team taught, then I could not only learn from you but I could help with some of the classes as well and get some experience teaching." She paused and then blushed and quietly muttered just loud enough for them to hear, "I can't do housework or cook, so I better concentrate on the martial arts if I want to carry on the school."
Kasumi had been quietly listening and now quietly asked, "Akane. That's father's idea. What are your dreams? I know you once had dreams of the theater."
Soun frowned at his eldest who just ignored him. Akane sighed and then quietly answered, "Maybe once I did. But like a schoolgirl crush, it was something I grew out of. Father's dream of continuing the dojo and school is also my dream as well now." She grinned, "Come on, Ranma has shown us that the Art is also a type of theater." She began chuckling and added, "In actually, it's a too real form of virtual reality or perhaps it's a weird form of some type of performance arts."
Soun and Genma shouted with joy and slapped each other on the backs. Kasumi just smiled proudly at her youngest sister. Akane knelt before Kasumi, "Kasumi, I'm sorry for breaking my promises. What do I need to do for repatriations?"
Kasumi firmly replied, "When the house, yard and dojo are in the same condition as before you broke your promise to me, then I will resume helping. But understand that I will no longer shoulder the whole load as I did before." She added, "I have my own dreams to follow now."
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Author's note: Additional Ranma fan-fiction can be found on my Web Pages.
C & C to cloud (underscore) dreamer2000 (at) yahoo.com
Web-page - www.geocities.com (slash) cloud (underscore) dreamer2000
And - mysite.verizon.net (slash) cloud-dreamer/index.html
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