Disclaimer - I don't know Ranma or any of the characters in this story
- Chapter 2 -
Ranma found himself rummaging around Soun's clothes to try and find something that fit after drying off after a change back to his normal body. While the man was about the same height, his width was another matter and currently everything seemed to make Ranma look ridiculous. Finally he was able to come across some older clothing that would at least be manageable, a button up white dress shirt, and a pair of black slacks that must have been been older than him. Returning to the main room it seemed it was just him and Mr. Tendo. It smelled like cooking was going on in the kitchen, though by who he wasn't sure.
"Sooo… It looks like a nice dojo you have there out back." Not really sure what to say to the older man, but wanting to break the awkward silence.
"Yes, after a bit of a hiatus, I'm glad to say its seeing use once again. Tell me did your father ever tell you much about my side of the school?" Soun asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not really, he just said you guys were training partners under the same master, though he never said your masters name." Ranma replied with a shrug.
"Ah, yes, we uh...don't like to talk about him. But those days were...difficult times, we survived through, together." Soun says, a strained look on his face as he remembers the torture they had suffered through. Hoping to change the topic he asks Ranma about the fight earlier. "Akane is the heir to my style, tell me, what did you think of her fighting style?"
"Well, she's like a bull in a china shop, all brute force, not much finesse. My speed and acrobatics kept me safe from her for the most part." Ranma said, thinking of the fight in minute detail now that he had the chance.
"Yet you still ended up in the pond did you not?" Soun questions with a smirk.
Ranma, looking a bit flustered at that fact thought about what exactly happened. "Yea… she caught me off guard being able to pivot so quickly, even when she was obviously off balance. She never lost sight of her target I guess." Ranma then quickly adds with a smirk "Though if it was a real fight, she would have been on the defensive, not me."
"Yes, well soon enough you two can have a formal spar and we'll see how the two schools match up. For now though let us keep the peace and avoid any more...hasty exits." Soun said, looking at the broken sliding doors behind them they had done their best to put back in place, currently some duct tape was the only thing holding the middle sections together and it was not going to be sliding smoothly anytime soon.
"Ranma, could you help bring out the dishes with Kasumi, I'm going to go check on the rest of the girls." Nodoka said before Ranma had a chance to answer Mr. Tendo. He nodded and headed into the kitchen as she headed up the stairs. Watching her go, Ranma still felt something strange, his heart skipping a beat while his stomach coiled like a snake.
Nodoka knocked on Akane's door and let her know dinner was ready, then headed to the shared guestroom where she, Sachiko, and the little girl stayed, knocking on the door gently before sliding the door open slowly. Inside she saw Nabiki sitting next to the closet where the futons were stored with the little girl in her lap.
"Nabiki, Mirei, food is ready." She announced. The little girl bounced up and walked slowly to the door, though once out of eye sight, the sounds of small feet quickly rushing down the stairs was heard. Nabiki simply followed, giving Nodoka a sympathetic look as she left the room.
"Sachiko dear, how are you doing?" Nodoka said, gently sliding the closet door open a few inches to see the girl hiding there between two futon blankets.
"Why's he back. Why now?" Sachiko whined from inside.
"Dear, this was enevitable, you know that. Ranma's back, and he has some things he needs to explain himself once introductions are done." Nodoka said gently, reaching out a hand to hold the one that was sticking out.
"He's going to hate me just like all the other girl's ex-boyfriends and then he'll just head back out on his trip." She mumbles, gripping Nodoka's hand.
"Sachiko, now you're just jumping to conclusions, you haven't seen him in over four years, and the rest of us don't know him at all. He's hardly a normal boy, so lets give him a chance okay. If things go south you know I promised to always be here for you." Nodoka says, gently pulling on the hand to get the girl moving. "Besides, if he did try to run, Akane would just break his legs." She adds with a chuckle.
Sachiko gives a laugh also as she straightens up, wiping her eyes one final time before heading out the door, still holding onto Nodoka's hand. As they reach the downstairs they're met by the sight of everyone around the table waiting for them, Ranma looking on nervously as the little girl is sitting across from him and glaring at him. Giving a slight tug to keep Sachiko moving, they reach their seats.
"Thank you for the help Kasumi, the meal looks wonderful. Let's not let it go to waste everyone." Nodoka says, and begins to take some of the fish on the platter near her.
As soon as he could eat, the uneasy feelings he had from the looks he was getting slipped away and he began to quickly shovel food into his face. The flavors were amazing, never before had he had such good food, let alone so much, and it was free! Suddenly his danger senses went off and we looked around the table to see everyone staring at him, his mother had a look on her face like she'd seen a monster.
"Ranma, Who On Earth…" Nodoka pinched the bridge of her nose, knowing the answer to that question. "Why...On earth are you eating like that?" She managed to correct herself.
Ranma, taking a large swallow to clear his stuffed mouth then answered. "Uh… It's training, pops would steal my food if I was slow." He answered in a way that made it seem like it was a totally reasonable answer.
"Is your father here right now?" Nodoka asked.
"No..."
"Is anyone trying to steal your food?"
Ranma quickly scanned the table to judge any competition, no one seemed to be reaching for his bowl, stopping briefly on Akane who was glaring at him in return. "I guess not." He answered.
"Then how about eating normally, you need to set a good example for your…for Mirei" She says, catching herself just barely.
"Uh sure…" He answers, looking over at the small girl who's still giving him an unpleasant look.
He resumes eating at about ten percent of his usual speed, but after another look from his mother halves that even. Nobody is really saying anything during the meal, Nabiki seems to be upset about something while Kasumi has a smirk. Akane and Sachiko are whispering back and forth, while Nodoka and Soun just stay silent as they eat, sharing looks at those around the table. Finally after having his fill he let out a loud burp.
"Ranma!" His mother once again looking frustrated at his behavior.
"Uh...thanks for the meal?" he answered, not sure what he'd done this time.
BURP
All eyes turned to the little girl who had just let out a burp to almost rival Ranma's, and who was now laughing at having done it.
"Mirei!" both Nodoka and Sachiko say to get her attention, the looks on their faces immediately telling the girl she'd done something bad.
"Thanks for meal." Mirei added, hoping that would work like it seemed to have for Ranma.
"Ranma, do you see what I mean about setting a good example? Please apologize, then explain why we don't do that." Nodoka said in a stern voice with a look that crumbled his initial desire to talk back.
Ranma wasn't sure what to do, looking around the table at some upset faces, he saw Mr. Tendo was holding the bridge of his nose, but also seemed to be cupping the palm over his mouth which was moving, though not making any noise. Ranma realized he was trying to help and after figuring out what he was mouthing turned to his mother.
"I'm very sorry for burping, it is not appropriate at a dinner table." Turning to Mirei he then addresses the girl. "You uh, shouldn't copy me, I was pretty much raised by a panda and don't know all these fancy rules."
"A Panda!" Mirei exclaims excitedly.
"He's just making a joke honey." Sachiko says to the little girl, earning a cough from Nodoka.
"Yes, well. I'll talk with you more about your table manners later Ranma, right now we have some introductions to make and I think it best you show them your, situation as it were to prevent any confusion in the future." Nodoka said, hoping to get things back to normal, then realizing she just asked her son to change gender at the dinner table and a large sweat drop appeared on her forehead.
Ranma grimaced at the idea of having to show it off and explain again, but there really wasn't any other way they would believe it. After a quick explanation of their trip to China and the forbidden training ground, Ranma tipped a small amount of his now cold tea over his head, after checking no one else was mid-drink this time.
Akane and Sachiko were shocked at the sight, their eyes wide and the jaws practically hitting the floor. Mirei though, who hadn't been listening to most of the explanation until Ranma talked about pandas and Magic and then saw him turn into a girl was now amazed. She ran around the table and touched Ranma's red hair before turning to Sachiko and excitedly yelling "Magical Girl, Magical Girl" before her mind clicked another thing into place. "Magical girl with Pandas!" she shriek, now jumping up and down with her hands clamped on Ranma's hair.
"Ouch Ouch Ouch!" Ranma yelled as he tried to gently remove the girls hands from his hair, not having any luck and looking around the table a bit panicked for some help. Nodoka quickly came around and helped release her son from the death grip, taking Mirei back to her seat and having her sit in her lap. The child now smiling happily at Ranma who was rubbing his head.
"Are you...totally a girl now?" Akane tentatively asks.
"I guess? I haven't seen a doctor or nuthin since it happened." Ranma answers with a shrug.
"Does it hurt?" Sachiko asks next.
"Uh, not really, though I had a few stitches from before and they didn't really work with the size change. Thankfully I was able to just slap some bandages around them as it was mostly healed already." Ranma explained, pointing to his right arm where the wound had been, though the long sleeve shirt hiding it.
"Do you think you're a girl?" Nabiki asked, a bemused look on her face.
"Huh? No, I'm a guy! My brain don't change, just the body." Ranma replied, a distasteful look on his face at the thought of that.
No one else seemed to have any questions at the time, so Ranma poured some tea from the pot and used it to change back. Mirei gave him a sour look, but it seemed to snap the other two girls out of their daze.
"Thank you for explaining things Ranma, now I think we need to address the...bigger issue at hand." Nodoka said, nodding to Sachiko to continue.
Sachiko took a big breath and closed her eyes, letting it out slowly to try and calm herself before starting to tell her story. "Ranma, you haven't realized it yet, but we knew each other before." She says, looking at Ranma to see if he has any look of recognition, but not seeing any she continues.
"Back in junior high, I went to the all girls school across the street from your school. I was much shorter then, along with my hair. I also met you under a different name...Sakura." She finished and hid her face, she hated how cheesy that fake moniker was.
Ranma for his part seemed to have an epiphany when she said that name. "Sakura? You went to the junior high too? What about your master, did you pass your final challenge? Ranma said happily, glad to run into a fellow traveling martial artist.
A large sweat drop appears on those around the table while Sachiko blinks at Ranma's response. "Wait...Ranma...do you still think that I was really a martial artist?" She balks, there's no way he could be that naive still.
"You're style was a bit weird, pops refused to even talk about it when I tried to explain it during our trip to China. But we ran across a bunch of strange styles during our trips." Ranma said, shrugging his shoulders. Leading to most of the table now wondering what styles the boy considered weird after what Sachiko had told them about her meetings with Ranma.
"Ooookay...let me try a different approach. Did you ever notice all the girls trying to get your attention after school?" Sachiko asks.
"Uh...not really? I was usually trying to get Ryoga home, or fighting him. I thought all those girls at the gates were waiting for the other boys." He answered.
"Ranma...they had BANNERS! Banners with yours and Ryoga's name on them!" Sachiko exclaims, wondering how this boy could be so clueless.
"Why would they do that?" Ranma asks innocently.
Sachiko, losing her patience at the sheer ignorance of this boy, snaps back. "Why do you think!?"
"Uhh…" Ranma takes a few seconds to think on the matter before finally coming to his conclusion. "They wanted to train with us too?"
Nabiki and Kasumi can't hold it in and began rolling on the ground laughing, Nodoka is rubbing her temples as a headache begins to set in, Akane is starting think this is all a dream as no one or thing could be this dense. Soun, while maintaining his pose almost perfectly, can't stop his left eyebrow from twitching.
"Nabiki, Kasumi, you're excused… " Giving the two a glare. The two older girls have to help each other up the stairs, their laughter not subsiding until a door was heard closing. "Sachiko, please continue your story." Nodoka says, hoping this isn't going to take all night for her son to get a clue.
"Ranma… ALL those girls, wanted to date you, or Ryoga, or Both. You two had the largest fan clubs in our school, there were doujins made weekly, I think 80% of the school population became Fujoshi's just because you were always holding Ryoga's hand to take him home." She said exasperated.
"What's a Fujoshi?" Ranma asked puzzled.
"That's not important!" Sachiko quickly answered. "Look, what I'm trying to say is everyone was trying to, but failed to get any sort of romantic interest from you. Until I figured out the trick…"
"Trick?" Ranma said, a bit of frown on his face.
"There's no such thing as Martial Arts Dating Ranma, I didn't have some master that wanted me to test my skills against you. All of the challenges I gave you were just what kids our ages did on dates." She explained, and waited to see his reaction.
"Dates? But that's like...for girls to do with some boy they like." Ranma answered, his face scrunching up at the thought of some cheesy romance one of wives at a dojo they visited liked to watch.
"Yeah." Sachiko said, nodding her head very slowly.
"But wait...that would mean you…" Ranma tails off, seeing her nodding "and me…"
Sachiko continues to nod her head, hoping that Ranma finally figures things out.
"No way, we were just practicing, you know the one handed grappling, eating contest, studying martial arts movies, poison removal, and...uhh...your...secret technique" Ranma says with a blush at the last one. Thinking to himself that there's no way he'd gone on a date, they weren't manly at all, training was though.
"Holding Hands, Dinner date, Movie date, Kissing, and...uh…" Sachiko has to pause at the last one, looking over at Mirei and Nodoka. "Something very important…"
Ranma sat there stunned, he'd been tricked, hoodwinked, bamboozled even, and all by a girl. A girl who just admitted she had liked him, had dated him, and even kissed him. Looking at her though, he could see she was worried about something, and none of this explained why she was here. Maybe his dad did something again, that's probably what it was he thought.
"Uh, okay, so we...did all those things. But uh...did my Pops do something stupid again, is that why you're here? Does he owe you money, did he steal something?" Ranma asks.
"Ranma, this has absolutely nothing to do with your father." Sachiko said, then taking another deep breath, begin to explain. "Remember the last night I saw you, you were in a tent in a vacant lot waiting for Ryoga because of some challenge. Well I had overheard you and your dad, when he said you'd be leaving for China in the morning and I kind of panicked..." Her face blushing heavily now as she begins to remember that evening.
"So when I visited you that night, I knew I was going to lose you and I kind of got carried away and we did...the special technique." Her voice getting higher as she finishes each word.
"About nine months later...Mirei was born." Sachiko finishes, her face flushed as she looks straight at Ranma and see's he still doesn't seem to get it. Cursing to herself she adds "You're the father Ranma, She's Mirei Saotome."
Ranma looked at his mother, who nodded at him and then whispered to the girl. Looking closely at the girl he started to see some of the similarities. Her eyes were bright blue like his, her nose matched his mothers, and her hair was mostly a lighter brown than Sachiko's, but had strands of red through out. Looking back at Sachiko his energy seemed to just fall away, suddenly it seemed hard to keep his eyes open and he slumped over backwards.
"Well, he didn't make a run for it Sachiko." Nodoka said, looking at the girl who might pass out herself from how flustered she looked.
"I could break his legs now, just to be sure." Akane offered.
"Akane…" Soun grumbled out.
"I'm joking...mostly…" Akane responded before standing up and offering a hand to Sachiko to help her up.
"My daddy's magical girl?" Mirei asks Nodoka as the girl walks over to Ranma.
"Well, that's one way to see it." Nodoka says, standing up and stretching her legs slightly.
"Do I get a Panda?" Mirei turns with a serious look on her face.
"Well...in a way…" Nodoka says, turning to Akane and Sachiko. "It seems my husband also fell in a spring, the spring of drowned Panda. He took off though when he saw me when they arrived. He thought I was going to make him kill himself if Ranma wasn't a man among men, though I ripped up that agreement years ago. Judging from Ranma's...education, I have plenty of other reasons to though." Nodoka quipped.
"I...I just thought he was kind of innocent back then…" Sachiko says, shaking her head at the idea that the boy was just really ignorant of things other than martial arts it seemed.
"I know boys are dumb, but I never knew one could be so dumb as to not even know how to be a pervert." Akane says, shaking her head at the clueless boy laying on the ground.
While they talked, no one seemed to notice Mirei grab a tea cup from the table, and poor it over Ranma's head. Smiling brightly as her magical girl returned. The transformation seemed to wake Ranma as he now grumbled and held his head as he sat up.
"Man Pops, you're not going to believe the dream I just had." He says while rubbing his eyes to try and clear the green/grey vision as blood finally made its way back in. Unfortunately for him, once his eyes opened he was face to face with Mirei who was more than ready to ask her about magical girl things. Looking around the room and seeing everyone else, he barely remembered to keep the words he wanted to say in his head only.
"Welcome back Ranma. Akane, would you mind if Sachiko and Mirei share your room for the night? I have some things to talk to Ranma about tonight." Nodoka says.
"Sure, its been a while since we had a sleep over." Akane says smiling to Sachiko and Mirei.
Ranma sat in the bath with a look on his face that showed he was anything but relaxed. His mother had spent the better part of the time it took to get the sleeping arrangement setup telling him she was so happy he was here, that Mirei would finally get to know her father, and he'd get to learn the joys of being a parent. 'The only joys of parenting Pops got was selling me off to stuff his face.' Ranma thought bitterly.
His mom's advice when he'd asked how he was suppose to be a father when Genma was his only example sounded simple enough "Do the opposite of what he would do", but that didn't really explain anything. He'd spent some time around kids at the various dojo's and temples, but didn't really know much about them, his own childhood seemed completely foreign to living in a house with so many people.
'A house full of girls, I don't know how Mr. Tendo has survived, especially with that crazy gorilla Akane.' Ranma thought, grimacing at the memory of the looks she was giving him all evening. 'Her sisters seem okay, if a bit strange, they kept saying his name with strange looks that made Sachiko blush for some reason'
'Sachiko…' Ranma thought, his brain drifting from the memories of these supposed dates she took him on, teaching him to "kiss", the special technique…
The thoughts of which caused his lower half to react and Ranma to develop a frown. "Dang it, why does it gotta be so annoying." Looking down at the part of his body that seemed to just act bizarrely to him. 'Well, I should probably get out anyway, Mom said she had more to talk to me about.' he thought, starting to lift himself out of the furo.
As he did so though, the door to the furo opened to reveal Sachiko stepping into the room, and a towel entirely too small to cover all of her. While Ranma's face took on the look of terror, his eyes looked over the young woman, comparing his memories to her now much more mature body. He ended up focusing though on a long horizontal scar below her navel.
Sachiko for her part was in a similar state, her face burning red as she let out a loud scream of surprise. But her eyes traced over Ranma's muscular chest and arms, scars abundantly scattered over them. Her eyes drifted lower though, and the memories of their time together before and the image of what she was seeing now didn't compute, how could it have gotten so much...bigger. She suddenly felt very light headed, and everything was going grey while all she could hear was a high pitched whine.
Ranma, reacting on instincts to try and stop her fall leapt forward to catch her, which he was successful in. What he wasn't successful in though was stopping as his wet feet couldn't grip and they came crashing through the outer door and into the hall in a heap with Sachiko in his arms on top of him, in front of all the Tendo sisters who looked to be headed to join her in the bath.
After what seemed an eternity from the shock, the silence was broken by Kasumi letting out a whistle and a muted "damn…."
"Sachi-chan, I know Mirei wants a sibling but this is a bit quick don't you think?" Nabiki said with a catty grin on her face.
Akane for her part was ready to murder Ranma, slowly, painfully, and with excessive amount of force with the hammer she now had ready in her hands. Unfortunately for her, when holding her hammer up, she'd let go of the towel she'd had around her and the lifting motion had caused it to loosen and fall to the ground.
Ranma for his part was having trouble trying to find a way to get Sachiko off of him with out having to touch her, or look at her, so the towel dropping from Akane was honestly a welcome distraction at this point, his hands freezing and his eyes now looking at the young woman's muscular body and entirely natural blue hair.
Seeing his eyes looking her over, Akane screamed "You're dead!" as she begins swinging her arms down to smash Ranma's face into the floor below. Only to realize her trusty hammer was no longer in her hands and almost falling on top of the two. Looking confused, she turns to see Nodoka there with a disappointed look on her face and the hammer in her hands.
"I came to see what all the screaming and crashing was about, and I see you've chosen violence over your modesty Akane. How about you and your sisters head into the bath and I'll help...extract my son and daughter from this...situation." Nodoka says, willing the hammer back into its ethereal holding space and then shooing the girls away to the bath.
"Ranma, just cover your eyes and I'll get Sachiko off to the bath and bring you a towell" Nodoka says before lifting the unconscious girl up and placing her against the wall in the furo room for the others girls to watch over. Bringing back a towel, she tells him to head back to their room and put on the Pajamas she borrowed from Soun. As she turns back to go check on Sachiko she only has one thought that brings her a smile. 'Man among men indeed!'
When his mom returned that night they spent some time walking through a borrowed text book about the human anatomy and the basics of reproduction, as was her fear it turned out Ranma knew close to nothing about how things worked for his male side, and absolutely nothing about his girl side. It didn't help that the talk was disrupted by shouts and laughs coming from down the hall in the bath. For his part though, Ranma was intrigued by all of it, finally having answers his father wouldn't talk about, or he wasn't sure how to even ask. Finally, after an hour or so they were done with the major points.
"I think that covers the basics Ranma, I think it would be a good idea to see a doctor though and get a checkup, for both your bodies just to be sure, most people go once a year or so at your age." Nodoka says, closing the text book and putting it to the side.
"A Doctor…" Ranma says with a scrunched up face. "Their not gonna need to stick me with a needle are they?"
"Well, that depends on your father and if he kept up with your medical records. I'd like you to start attending school as soon as possible, and we'll need proof that you've gotten all of that covered. Thankfully the new school year just started, so you won't be too far behind." She explained.
"School too?" Ranma says with dismay.
"Ranma, you're almost seventeen, what exactly is your plan for your life?" Nodoka asks a bit worried what that answer was going to be.
"Uhm...I dunno. I figured I'd just be entering tournaments, maybe be like Bruce Lee and do movies, or find a Dojo and teach there until I could open my own." Ranma replies, realizing he didn't really have a plan.
"Okay, well what will you do if you're injured and can't fight anymore in one of those tournaments? You'd need to take acting lessons for any job in films, and Dojo's these days want someone with a college education in physical education at the least, a business degree a plus. An education is important Ranma, no matter what you choose to do in the end, and remember, as unexpected as it is, you're a father now, you need to be thinking about Mirei's future just as much as your own." Nodoka said calmly, hoping Ranma would accept that school wasn't a bad thing.
Ranma chewed on what his mom was telling him, and as much as he disliked being stuck at a desk all day, he really couldn't think of any flaws in her logic. "Okay, but I haven't been to a school in almost four years, Pops picked up some study books when we left for China, but I finished them by about the second year and I have no idea how correct I really was as pops had trouble with them too. I don't wanna be stuck back in Junior high, I'd look stupid." Ranma said worryingly.
"We'll visit the high school the girls go to tomorrow and have them give you an assessment, if you don't test into a grade then we'll get you a tutor and see how it goes. How does that sound?" Nodoka replies hoping to allay his fears.
"Yea, fine." He agrees with a shrug, then a thought enters his head. "Uhm...what about my curse, a uniform will be a problem, not to mention changing for PE…"
"We'll have to cross those bridges when we get there, but I think we'll be able to come up with some solutions. Now, lets get to sleep, we've got a busy day ahead of us tomorrow." Nodoka says, heading towards the light switch.
Ranma nodded and got into his futon, pulling the covers over him. Sleep didn't come though, his thoughts were scattered and the futon was so soft and warm compared to the usual sleeping bag in the tent he was use too. After tossing and turning for half an hour, his mother silently reached out and took his hand and held it. Neither said a word, but both did finally manage to drift off to sleep soon after.
