Ranma & Kaneda
By Ron Dow75
Week One: Tuesday
She-Ranma, Day One
Ch. 23: In The Eye of the Beholder
Part of the ceiling had just fallen near them in the lingerie department.
It took a moment for the surprised Yuka react. She screamed. What if
the wreckage had been even CLOSER?! As it was, everybody was covered
in mostly dusty debris.
While among the wreckage was a drenched, but familiar stranger in a
Furinkan high girls' uniform yelled back, "What's YOUR problem!? It's
not like YOU were hurt!!" Physically, though, the martial artist was
nearly fine. What really hurt was the girl's OWN intensified male pride.
She lashed out, striking the stream of hot water from the broken pipe
falling on her skirt.
She-Ranma, at least, recognized the girl with the long, black hair,
"Akane!" She ran from the department store's dressing room, crying,
"Akane--EENKKH!" She was stopped by a surprise: A wedgie no guy
could experience!
Na had grabbed hold of the back of Ranma's panties and bra. Though
they both had a film of dust on them, she reminded the still half dressed
redhead about, "The store's security cameras!"
Ranma leaned forward, "But Akane!?" The unfamiliar hurts were easy for
a martial artist like her to ignore.
The tall girl said, "She looks okay. You don't!" She used some simple
jujitsu to swing Ranma back into the dressing room, "It can be fun
flashing, but cameras make the moment last too long." Na blushed
slightly. The idea was no longer as amusing to her as it was a couple of
hours ago. It wasn't just to Ranma-chan she was advising, "You have to
start thinking like other girls!" There were a couple of creep ex-
boyfriends out there that had more than just their memories to fuel
their jollies off of her.
Na blocked the doorway, "Security is going to be here. If you don't mind
them seeing you in underwear, do you mind them seeing you wet?"
Ranma frowned, "For the past three weeks, it seems I'm always wet." But
that's when she was straightening the panties.
She reddened deeply, and yanked the dressing room curtain closed!
Na nodded, satisfied. "Now we don't have to pay for them. The store
OWES you! Yuka, too, maybe."
Na went over to the other debris-covered teen, "We have a nice insurance
claim, here. Pick what you want, and the store will give it to you."
On her feet, he-Akane glared at the other girl who looked like she was
wearing only colored scarves for a dress, "I didn't come here for
shopping. The only thing I'm interested in is getting OUT of here."
Na looked at the three men in business suits and the female salesclerk
behind them coming their way, "Too late. Leave everything to me,
Akane."
He-Akane was frustrated: Ranma had blurted out her name! So much
for remaining unknown.
Na grabbed he-Akane's wrist, and pulled her along. Since the girl wasn't
going to stay down and play the wounded bird, Na had to do the next
best thing. Lifting the girl's skirt, she confronted the store personnel
with a peek at Akane's legs, "Look at the bruises and cuts! And
what about the REST of her body! Take us to the camera department, so
we can document her injuries for the law suit!"
Angrily, he-Akane pulled her skirt down, "I SAID I don't want anything
but OUT!" Her impulse was to fight her way past everybody. And she just
might have to. Any disturbance would draw all of the store police, and
anybody else that was hungry for some action. Then she would never
escape having her picture posted, here and in the police kiosks.
Na told the store personnel, "See!!? Is THAT normal?! Acchan used to be
such a sweet girl!"
That hit a nerve. He-Akane yelled, "I was NEVER a sweet girl!!"
Na turned to the gathering customers, "Poor, Acchan!! Because the store
wasn't interested in safety, my friend will have to have brain SURGERY!"
She made sure the bystanders heard at LEAST the last word.
He-Akane groaned. This girl was trying to be like Nabiki.
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Yuka 'knocked' then parted the dressing room curtain, "Ranma-chan?"
From the other side she-Ranma mumbled, "Guys don't have the pee
problems girls do."
Yuka asked, "They don't? How do you know--Your DAD!?" But then she
thought that sounded TOO naïve. "Well, you were on the road together.
And traditionally, Japanese men and
women weren't very modest, and--" She threw back the curtain, "He
STILL doesn't do it in front of you NOW, does he!?!!" So much for the
brunette sounding sophisticated.
What she saw was she-Ranma buttoning up her dirtied, black, silk
Chinese men's shirt over the baby blue bra she had been trying on.
When She-Ranma noticed that Yuka noticed the flowery, cotton panties
on the floor, she blushed. But she left the dressing room, "Akane's still
here, isn't she?"
Yuka looked over at the clump of mostly adults. One girl in the Furinkan
uniform stood out like a dirty, half-drowned cat. Suddenly, something
stirred in her memory, "A wet girl...a wet girl..."
She-Ranma realized that Akane had had her secret since she was born.
Somehow, nobody outside her family knew it. But her friends and
neighbors HAD to have seen her around. After 16 years, they had to ask
themselves where unknown girl came from and where she went to. They
had to at LEAST wonder why she was wet so often. Ranma was honor
bound to steer them away from the truth. Without lying.
"Akane?!? Did I say Akane? *Ha, ha!* I guess I did. But she's not a Ten--
No: She's a Saotome. --Like me! *Ha, ha; ha, ha!*" You'd think with a
pop like hers Ranma would've learned to cover up better by now.
Yuka asked, " "Akane Saotome"? I've heard that name before."
Great! Now Ranma had to do something to distract her from her
curiosity. The uncertain she-Ranma actually found herself giggle.
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What testosterone she still had as a girl rising, he-Akane was struggling
to keep from adopting a martial arts stance as she argued with the Chief
of Security, now, "I TOLD these other guys, I just want to leave!"
The man who was as big as a sumo wrestler said, " "Leave", hunh?
Perhaps the damage to the store ISN'T an accident. Come to the office.
Let's review the security tapes more closely."
Security tapes!! What if they showed the change!!? Now He-Akane HAD
to escape!
"Akane!!" she-Ranma cried, glomping the damp girl around her waist,
leaning head on her shoulder while pressing her breasts to her
shoulders.
It was there! It wasn't a charge, but Akane did make she-Ranma glow in
places that had never been stimulated before.
But it made he-Akane crazy! "What do you think you're doing," she said
through clenched teeth. "I'm a girl." He-Akane had a much more
complex reaction. Without the contrast of male skin, muscle and shape,
she couldn't fully enjoy the feel of a girl's body, even Ranma-chan's. In
fact, her enhanced male spirit resented her not being a guy for the
cutie.
And then there was male spirit she sensed in Ranma's wooden carp.
She-Ranma now wondered if she'd done the right thing, "Don't girls
don't do this with girls?"
"Na!" Yuka giggled, glomping onto the other girl as Ranma was doing to
Akane. To her, though, it was just a game.
She-Ranma was relieved, "Girls are different from guys."
Glancing about at the audience as she pried she-Ranma from her, she-
Akane said, "Not this, uh, one."
Na had less trouble getting Yuka away, "Me, neither! In case you haven't
noticed, Nerima is not a touchy-feely place."
She-Ranma hadn't noticed, being a new girl in a new town. A very new
girl.
Yuka grinned, "And Japan used to frown on a lot of things."
The large chief of security said, "We still frown on property damage and
extortion."
One of his men said, "I recognize the tall one with the spiky hair, now,
sir. I caught her shoplifting!" Na's emotions betrayed her for only a
second. Being more girl now, meant she was more fluid emotionally.
The Chief glared at the girls, "Shall we wait for the police?"
They were in trouble? Was there something Ranma could do to help
without fighting? She remembered what her father had said about police
and why they keep away from them. "The police are for girls. And I'm a
girl." Store police should like an honest answer.
Yuka was nearly as naïve, "They'll sort things out!"
Na had recovered control over her expression, "Doesn't your dad have a
law firm working for him, Yuka?"
"Yes, but--"
Na hurried forward, "Of course, they'll want to call in a building
inspector..."
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A blur? That was all the stop-action security camera captured of Kaneda-
Akane. The top floor of the department store had low priority.
He-Akane asked the guard in the small monitoring room, "Can you let
me GO, now?"
Concerned, she-Ranma said, "Maybe you should go. Yuka--" What could
she say that wouldn't sound suspicious to the guard? "...Well, maybe
Kaneda shouldn't show up, either."
He-Akane heard it another way. Her manhood HAD been compromised
in Ranma's eyes! What could he expect when his fiancée saw him in a
dress? And a school uniform, too! It was notoriously a guy's fantasy
costume. At least it wasn't a fuku/sailor suit. That would have been TOO
much!
He-Akane could just imagine what Ranma thinking. Ranma had the
same curse, but was different when a girl was a crossdresser!
The security guard inside the small monitoring room raised an eyebrow
at the scene, but only said, "I'll need to see some ID."
He-Akane snapped, "Does this stupid dress LOOK like it has a place to
carry anything?!"
With a glance to her bust, the guard said, "Then you'll have to give me
your phone numbers. You DO have relatives, don't you?"
He-Akane came closer to using her martial arts. Her dad would NEVER
acknowledge SHE was his kid! --And he'd had 16 years to do it!
Wanting to be helpful, Ranma volunteered, "Uh, my father and I have
been in situations like this before." Too many times. "Perhaps if I talk to
the man?"
He-Akane watched his fiancée go over to the young guard (perhaps
young enough not to be married, yet!). Ranma-chan put her wrists and
knees together, and batted her eyelashes, "We just came in here to buy
me underthings." Weakened by stress and uncertainty, she-Ranma's
mind yielded to her female brain. The male resistance that could have
opposed it was mostly trapped in the wooden carp.
Her words had the effect on the man the flirt of the spring liked to see.
He-Akane screamed, "That's what you learned from your father!?!"
Ranma stopped and blinked. "Well, uh, he would if he could." She-
Ranma was back, only vaguely aware of what had happened.
Na appeared in the doorway, "Everything's okay. Yuka's ID is enough:
Her dad's got money! They can get to us through her."
He-Akane headed towards her, "Then I'm leaving."
Na held out her hands, "Whoa! Don't you want the free stuff! We're
entitled to comps: Complementary compensation!"
"I have more girls' stuff than I care to have!"
The guard said, "I don't think you WILL be getting anything from this
store. Not unless you can give us ID that proves you don't have any
priors."
She-Ranma pulled out her the hem of her shirt, "C, can I have just,
one?"
The man glanced from her action to the bank of monitoring screens,
"Maybe we CAN help you there."
He-Akane cried, "You want to PEEP at Ranma!!" Before she knew what
she was doing, her fist had smashed though the screen the pervert had
been looking at: Ta-BOOM!
Na yelled, "RUN!!"
Without thinking, again, he-Akane scooped up Ranma in her arms and
fled. Acting on instinct, the guard chased after them. Na entered the
now empty monitoring room.
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He-Akane cursed, "Stupid...Stupid...Stupid!" Carrying Ranma-chan was
not really a problem. Upper body strength was the Tendo specialty. What
she NEEDED was lower body strength. Her legs were shorter as a girl.
And that guard's legs WERE long. And there were more behind him. Her
best chance was to get out to the store area and create an obstacle
course.
She-Ranma said, "We shouldn't run, Akane. You only broke a TV. You're
not responsible for bringing down the roof."
"This is about reputation!" They were coming to the short hall that went
to where the customers were.
She-Ranma told her, "By running, we look LIII--" He-Akane tossed the
redhead. In the next instance, she tripped the first guard and shoved
him forward.
As the man landed stomach first, he-Akane ran over him. She caught
Ranma-chan in her arms again. "I knew you would use your mid-air
training!"
Ranma winced as four more men in suits trampled the first guard.
"Please, Akane, you're making things worse!"
Akane growled, trying to find a justification for her rash act, "I'm
MAKING a reputation! Think of the publicity when we escape!" Great,
she was thinking like Nabiki!
Of course they didn't know that the reason Soun was against publicity
was the reputation ANOTHER martial artist had built up, with Soun and
Genma as his accomplices. It was soon after her last great idea was shot
down that Nabiki had decided to go into a business where publicity
might not be such a good idea.
Perhaps he-Akane was following in her dad's footsteps more than she
knew.
Dodging customers, he-Akane kicked and backed as many racks and
shelves as could to block the way behind them
She-Ranma pointed, "The security cameras!"
He-Akane told her, "Once we get out of here, we can have the home
advantage! Let Nabiki, dad, or Mr. Saotome explain things! You said your
dad was good at--"
She-Ranma was pulling at the hem of her black, Chinese shirt, "I don't
have any panties on!" Only then did he-Akane notice how red with
embarrassment she'd become.
That was enough to keep away the perverted thoughts that wanted to
bubble up.
Looking about, he-Akane said, "I see some! But you're going to have to
kick that plastic dummy down the escalator!"
She-Ranma was conflicted, "Do I have to? It seems so--"
He-Akane swung Ranma-chan's feet around and used them to do just
that.
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After the guards had run halfway down the escalator, they saw that the
girl in the blue dress was just a mannequin.
"Turn around!! They must have used this trick to take the stairs UP!"
The stairs had taken the first of them to the bottom before they could
run up the down escalator. The guy now in the back yelled, "Get moving!
They could be heading to the third floor by now!!"
They scrambled off at the top and ran around to the other escalator
without noticing the two girls crouching among the racks of clothes.
She-Ranma was concerned, "Is this really necessary?"
He-Akane frowned, setting her jaw, "It all started because they wanted to
tape you undressing. You can't trust guys like that." Listen to her! As if
she wouldn't want to. But Ranma-chan was HERS! That made it
different. They WERE, after all, engaged--practically a married couple!
Naïve she-Ranma smiled, "Okay, what do we do now?"
Still crouching, he-Akane motioned her to follow her, "We get you some,
uh, underwear."
She-Ranma whispered, "I, uh, have a, um, bra." He-Akane wondered
why the word made her shy. She wasn't that way with that creep,
peeping guard.
She-Ranma looked at the things around them. They all had pictures of
cartoons on them. "These are little girls' things!" And that wasn't the
only thing that made her think they were in the wrong place.
He-Akane told her, "No. I've seen underwear just like these in Kasumi's
laundry basket." Kasumi bought them just because she thought they
were cute. But Nabiki had worn them. It was part of her Don't-Give-
Them-What-They-Expect Strategy.
She-Ranma looked at the pink tops with sparkles and a very simple,
cartoonish character straight from children's TV, and read,
" "Hello, Kitty"?" Brr!
He-Akane picked the first pair she didn't hate, "Here, I think these will
fit you." They were black, high-cut, with the head and paws of the cute,
white doodle-kitty without a mouth surrounded by a heart of flowers.
She-Ranma held it for a moment, "Isn't there any other characters?
One's that not, uh, cat?"
He-Akane motioned her to stay down, "A saleswoman!" The girl in the
Furinkan uniform then stood up, "Excuse me!" She said to the startled
woman in the store uniform. "Do you have any courtesy tea?"
"Tea?" The strange girl looked like a dirty street person with uncombed
hair, and scratched face, and wrinkled clothes. But the clerk HAD heard
about the only excitement the store had had in months. If she kept this
teenager busy, it would give security time to discover her. She bowed,
"Er, no. But I can offer you some bottled water at my station."
Perfect, he-Akane thought.
When they got to the three-sided counter, before saleswoman had a
chance to press a security button, he-Akane pointed, "I see him in an ad
for Sapporo Beer! What's that American actor's name?..." It helped that
there really WAS a foreigner to see.
While the woman looked, he-Akane ducked and squirted the bottled
water on herself. By the time the salesclerk had turned back around,
she saw a red haired, teenage boy in his school uniform rise behind her
station.
"What happened to the girl?!"
Kaneda said, "There was a girl who just ran that way!"
The women returned to the excitement of looking for the troublemakers.
But Kaneda knew that there would be another salesclerk soon. There
always were in these stores. "Ranma!"
She-Ranma stood up. She thought she had wanted panties, but the first
ones she was actually wearing in public were making her feel
uncomfortable. But that was ridiculous. It wasn't like "Hello, Kitty" was
really a--
He-Kaneda placed something red around her shoulders. She asked,
"What's this?"
Kaneda said, "A riding hood, I think. It's your disguise. Your dirty,
Chinese shirt stands out." It, too, had the white kitten on it near her
heart.
Ranma asked, "Are we going to pay for it?"
"How were you going to pay for the stuff you were going to get here?"
"Yuka was going to loan me the money. Her dad's got money."
Tying the cloak on her, he-Kaneda smiled, "Then that's how we'll pay for
this." He lost his smile, and muttered, "And probably for the other
things, too." As if the family could afford any more debt.
She-Ranma gave in. Pop had done similar things when they had to
escape from one of his fiascos. And now she was doing it for Kaneda. As
with her pop, it made her feel bad and attached at the same time. She
could see her father in him. And didn't a girl want to marry somebody
who reminded her of her father?
She raised the hood over her red hair. She didn't see the red bow, and
white kitten ears sewn on it.
He-Kaneda led she-Ranma by the hand out of the anime merchandise
section and down the aisle for the doors.
Just as the guards in suits could be heard running down the escalator.
They would soon turn and fan out on this floor.
He-Kaneda pulled she-Ranma towards the escalator the mannequin had
gone down. "The best disguise is not to be seen at all." Blocking her with
his male body, the rode down.
At the bottom, he looked around for the exit.
But behind them, he heard, "The clerk says she saw the guy come down
here!" Two guards were near the top of the escalator. "He helped one of
the girls get away!"
They started down, "A guy with long, red hair's going to be easy to spot!"
He-Kaneda picked Ranma-chan up and dashed into the nearest
department. There were stands and cages to crouch behind.
Now that they were looking for everybody with red hair, he had to think
about changing that. He needed to find a hat. Akane's messy uniform
would only attract attention. That was ANOTHER good reason not to
be a girl.
Ranma-chan made a distressed squeal. Jerking his head around, he saw
her back away from some cages in fear. He-Kaneda snickered that she
should be scared of mice, or perhaps the snake that ate them. Ranma
was so like a girl, now. Kaneda, though, was disappointed. Being a bold
martial artist had been one of the things that had set Ranma apart from
others. And what was left of female in him was devastated.
The saleswoman also noticed Ranma-chan and moved towards her, "May
I help you, Miss?" The woman WOULD like kittens! She was managing
three at once.
"C, c, cats." She-Ranma tried to walk away. But Kaneda waved her back.
He couldn't be seen hiding.
Nervously, Ranma stayed where she was. And of all the animal smells
that clung to her, it was the cats' that was overwhelming Ranma. She-
Ranma turned away and caught her reflection in a mirror. Her riding
hood had cat ears and a tail--SHE had cat ears and a tail! "Hello, Kitty"!
Ranma backed into the same cage that had moments ago repelled her.
The wild cat saw the tail sewn on the back of the cape. It snagged it
when it got next to the bars.
Ranma heard its growl, and sensed that it was a "Cat!" She jumped
away. But the claws were caught. In her panic, Ranma moved away,
pulling at the cage. "Cat!"
The saleswoman said something Ranma did not catch. She turned and
the kittens were within striking range! "Cats! Cats! Cats!"
Kaneda went to get the claws out of the riding hood.
"Cats! Cats! Cats!..." Flailing about like a madwoman, Ranma bumped
into him; Kaneda bumped into the cage; the cage door opened; the wild
cat escaped; the clerk went to get the big cat; Ranma pushed the kittens
away towards Kaneda; Kaneda caught them; but only after toppling
more cages; more cats got out...
One growl rose above the other cats' noises. It sent the cats fleeing, and
sent a chill even through the macho he-Kaneda. It was followed by the
sounds of things falling off of pegboards, and knocked from shelves as
the wood was being ripped. It happened so quickly, that by the time he
turned around, he saw Ranma-chan shredding through the stand. She
escaped through the gaping break with a feral howl.
He stopped trying to catch the animals and went after Ranma-chan. Why
she was acting this way he didn't know, but she was pouncing and
clawing at anything in her direct path to the exit. Even metal cages were
no protection. Though, she ignored the canaries, crickets, mice, or
whatever that was in them, they all seemed to slow Kaneda down.
Outside, Ranma prowled about on her hands and feet, uncertain which
way was out. There were too many of those two-legged creatures about. It
made her nervous, penned in. She spit at and raised her claws to any
that got too close.
Those on the down escalator went back up, and those in the elevators
pushed buttons to close the door. The escaped animals, too, knew to
stay away from her.
Everybody but one, Kaneda tripped over a doggie ball he didn't see,
"Ranm--"
Startled, Ranma raised her back and her claws. Backing away, she was
ready to attack if challenged.
Kaneda reached out, "Come on, Ranma! What's your problem!?!"
This mind of this Ranma was more basic, more instinctual; and unlike
she-Ranma, she didn't like the sound of the human's tone.
It liked the yelling guards even more. They were running right at her.
She launched her attack. Before they knew it, their batons and suits
were in shreds. And Ranma had bounded off.
With he-Kaneda following.
Decency required that the guards did not go after either.
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Ranma-chan had felt the breeze from the vent and had clawed and bit at
it hard enough to rip the grate off. By the time he-Kaneda had arrived,
she was gone and a swarm of squealing rats were coming out.
Na came running up, "Vermin: That's Japan for you! Everybody just
leaves piles of garbage bags out on the street with no can." Yuka was
among the screaming people behind her.
Before Na could ask Kaneda what he was doing there, he ran for the
escalators up, "Ranma's acting totally weird! She went up the vent
shaft!"
Na said, "Crap! Here I thought she'd become a guy-magnet! Teases don't
DO things like that!" Yuka saw the two of them and liked the idea of
running. She followed.
Reaching the stairs, he-Kaneda said out loud, "I don't think that hood I
gave her's going to hide her face from all of the security cameras!"
Na grinned, "Forget about them! There was a little...accident. Minor, but
disabling."
"That's good to hear. I hope." He took the stairs four at a time.
Na grinned broadened, "There was also an accident with the forms Yuka
filled out."
He-Kaneda didn't hear her, for when he reached the next floor the path
Ranma-chan had taken was clear. Most of the things in her way she'd
pounced over or on, knocking over many; some she'd just destroyed.
And with the customers now stampeding from the rats, it left a clear
path for Kaneda.
He heard one near hysterical lady cry, "That girl had rats in her
MOUTH!!"
He-Kaneda said, "What does Ranma think she is? I hope she doesn't
EAT those things!"
Though the door without Plexiglas and outside, he-Kaneda could still tail
Ranma-chan. The traffic in this downtown town was in a honking,
screaming chaos. A girl suddenly landing on the hood or roof just
unnerved too many drivers. To get past them, he-Kaneda would have to
develop his Tendo Tarzan technique.
It wouldn't be as fast or pretty as even Ranma's human wall-running and
roof-hopping, but it WOULD speed him up.
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Feeling more awkward than he moved, he-Kaneda pushed off from his
hands from the roof of another car, landed with his feet on the white
line, then pounced hands first on the next. He aimed for a concrete
power pole; pushing off from there he would jump on the mail box, and
then... He'd done this for several blocks. The tall buildings were left
behind him, and traffic was thinner. But there were enough people
about talking about the odd, strange, crazy or red haired girl in the red
"super-Kitty" cape for him to know he was on the right track. (Not to
mention the men still grinning over a girl bounding along in a "mini"
skirt.)
Ranma-chan seemed to be heading some place. And though it was in
the general direction of Nerima, it didn't appear to be back to Kaneda's
house. This worried him. Ranma had been raised semi-wild. With the
way she was acting, if he didn't catch her, she might become completely
untamed. And she had JUST started to become domestic.
He turned a corner and left the land of traffic lines and signs behind. He
was back in familiar territory, one with high privacy walls that made
streets alleys. Most were newer ones of cement, but one large compound
was made of wood and plaster.
The dilapidated place was on the high side of the street, with steps that
led up to its old-fashioned gate way. The sound of babies snarling and
yowling just hurried Kaneda's memory, "The Cat Temple on 5th Street!"
Then he saw the red cloak up in one of the trees that were taller than
the temple's walls. "Ranma!!" Kaneda cried, rushing for her.
He stopped in shock when he saw what was below the tree. A white cat
TWICE the size of a panda! And it talked: "...Comme deown, Mmy Love!
You responded to mmy bell! We are MEANT to be mmarried!"
She-Ranma-cat looked down from a branch, her face lower than the
"Hello, Kitty" tail she was twitching. Her meows were uncertain as she
stared at the huge bell the monster cat was tinkling towards her. "If you
won't listen to mme, then listen to mmy bell..."
Bell? Cat? Japanese folklore was full of stories about the destructive,
foreign beasts introduced from China. They had a power over the dead.
And unless their tails were cut off, they would grow up to become goblin
cats. Older cats, and those that had been mistreated could become ghost
cats.
Kaneda realized that cats, like badgers and foxes, were supposed to be
able to control people! The bell had to be the way this ghost cat did it! --
And it wanted to make RANMA his-- "NO-O-O!!" he-Kaneda cried, racing
to attack his rival.
He was attacked by the cats of the temple first. "Oh, mmy!" the ghost cat
cried, and disappeared into its bell.
Meanwhile, he-Kaneda was running around like a headless chicken with
the horde of yowling cats clinging to him. Everything he did made them
dig their claws deeper. This went on for a painful minute before he saw
the temple's well. "Cat's HATE water!" and he dove in. SPLASH! ME-
OWW!!
From the bottom he said, "Hey! It's cold! With my luck, it could've been a
hot spring."
He got out the same way the cats had, climbing the drainage holes and
seems in the stone-lined well. Again he was developing his Tarzan
technique.
But at the top, the ghost's face appeared, "So! You attempt to steal mmy
BRIDE away from Mme!" Kaneda fell back into the water. SPLASH!
The ghost cat said, "I shall seal you in here, until I have won control over
mmy lovely fiancée!"
He-Kaneda cried, "Wait!! Ranma CAN'T be your fiancee! She's my--She's
a HUMAN!"
Like a Cheshire, the ghost smiled down on him as it lifted the well's
door, "Nnot human enough! For 3,000 years, the bell of Mmaomolin has
been sending out its mmagic ap-peal. Any cat-like female within its
range HAS to respond! Otherwise, she has to wear a smmall bell to keep
her in harmony with mmy bell."
Ranma WAS acting cat-like! And being much more female now, probably
made her more susceptible, too. He-Kaneda cursed, "Why does there
ALWAYS have to be complications!"
Maomolin said, "Stay put until I can win her with mmy charmms!"
He-Kaneda demanded to know, "You have to WIN her?!"
"M-of course! Like any mmariage, she mmust AGREE to be mmy bride!"
Then he chuckled as he shut the door, "Though that DOESN'T mmean,
she has to agree willingly."
Kaneda tried to think of something, "Uh, can you let me go to the
bathroom, first?!" What a lame--
The cat master of the temple opened the door, "You WOULDN'T! Cats
have to DRINK that water, you know! This well feeds a system of
troughs!"
So it WASN'T lame! He-Kaneda threatened to unbuckle his belt, "This
water is also starting to give me a cold." And he made like he was going
to sneeze.
Maomolin flung the door open, "OK! OK! Don't do anything! I'll toss you
a rope!"
When Kaneda had gotten to the top of the well, he found the ghost cat
had drawn out its long claws. Making himself look as big and scary as he
could, the ghost cat told him, "Get out! Get out, and never return!"
He-Kaneda got into his stance, "I'm not leaving without Ranma!"
Backing up, and trying not to cower too much, Maomolin said, "Sh, she
CAN'T leave! I've placed a spell on her! She CAN'T leave the temple
grounds." Its brave front had diminished so much that his assertion,
"Ever!" sounded almost like a question.
"Then take the spell off!"
It ran, "Nno!! 3,000 years is TOO long to wait to be mmaried!"
Maomolin ran back to the tree she-Ranma was in. "Come on, mmy bride!
Comme to mme! Declare your agreement: All you have to do is leap into
mmy armms!"
He-Kaneda ran back, too, "Ranma! Get away! Jumping down and
running isn't a problem for you! I KNOW you can jump from a third
story!" Furinkan, no less.
Running around to the other side of the trunk, Maomolin said to the
bully, "Don't you know ANYTHING about cats? Cats can climb trees, but
it's not easy for us getting DEOWN!"
He-Kaneda said, "Then I'll go up and GET Ranma down myself!"
Maomolin watched him climb, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
He-Kaneda told it, "Well, I'm not you, I'm--" She-Ranma-neko hissed,
snarled, and then scratched.
He-Kaneda landed with a hard thud on the flagstones below.
Maomolin told him, "You mmay not be mme, but you ARE a mmale."
The mauled Kaneda groaned, "What does that mean?"
Maomolin smiled, "It mmeans she views us BOTH as potential grooms!"
He-Kaneda forced himself to get up, "And she's not crazy about the idea
of, uh, mating?"
"Crudely put, but true. The Bride mmust be WON over!"
He-Kaneda looked up at Ranma-chan in the tree, "So she has to be
ENTICED? She'll come down to the one she favors." His increased male
instincts preferred he dominate her rather than real challenge of
winning her. But there was still a way to assert his virility; he turned to
the ghost cat, "If *I* do it, you'll take the spell off of Ranma?! You'll LET
her leave!?!"
"M-of course not!"
He-Kaneda clenched his fists and growled himself. "Then it's not a fair
contest!!"
"Who said I WANT a fair contest!"
He-Kaneda swung with all of his pent up frustration at the animal. It
disappeared into its giant bell. He smacked that clear over the temple
wall and out of sight.
Kaneda waited for the monster cat to return. Moments, then minutes
passed. He finally relaxed his guard. He drew on what he had read about
magic and the like, "He's a ghost cat. I guess he can't be out in the
daylight unless the place has some cat magic." But that meant he would
probably be back when it got dark. He looked up in the tree, "Come on,
Ranma. We have to get you out of here while we can!"
She-Ranma-cat gazed down at his hand. She reached down towards it.
Her fingers curled in, she took a few tentative swipes at it. But she
quickly withdrew her paw when he-Kaneda tried to grab it. Her claws
come out again, and her hackles began to rise.
"Ranma! I'm trying to help you! I'm not going, uh, make you my bride."
Not when you're like this. He had never understood the fascination with
cat-girls. And even if he did decide to try the fantasy, Ranma was WAY
too much cat than girl. "You can trust me! Come, and let me take you
home!" She just paced along the branch. She didn't trust him. But,
then, neither was she trying to get further away higher up.
He-Kaneda thought about climbing up there again and forcing her
down. But that wasn't winning her over. If he did get her down, she'd
probably do to him what she'd done to the store guards and run away.
And this time she wouldn't let him get this close to her again.
He-Kaneda knew when he was defeated.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ghost cat or not, it did walk and talk (almost) like a human. He-Kaneda
figured that it would have liked to have some things a normal cat didn't
have. And, assuming ghosts could eat and drink like they did in
animes, what could be more civilized than--Yes! He found the tea kettle
right where he'd hoped it would be. Now he just needed to start a fire in
the old temple's fire pit. He could use it to keep the hundred or more
cats away.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
She-Ranma-neko was whining, making false starts at climbing head-first
down the tree, and then crouching on the branch cat wallowing some
more.
She picked up her tail and mewed for attention when she saw Akane
coming towards the tree. This creature in a dress didn't look at all like a
male. And by now, she-Ranma-cat was definitely ready to get down. She
stretched her body out towards the non-threatening human.
Setting down the kettle, he-Akane held up both hands towards her,
"Come on, Ranma! Come on down to me..." she said in as good a pet
owner's voice as she could stomach. "Let Akane take you home. I'll give
you a saucer of milk, and--"
She-Ranma-cat dropped into Akane's open arms. The angle was
awkward, and he-Akane didn't want Ranma to think she trying to trap
her. Akane allowed herself to go down; she used her knowledge of how
to land to cushion both their falls.
Purring, she-Ranma-cat began to eagerly nuzzled he-Akane's face. "Okay! Okay!
You can thank me later!" She reached for the kettle, "Right now we have
to get you out of this temple. The ghost cat said he put a spell on you.
Maybe it won't work if you don't LOOK like a girl."
Just after the hot water doused Ranma, he kissed Akane on the lips.
It was Akane's first kiss--And it was from a BOY!
The End of this chapter
[Note: Maomolin is a wanderer, always in search of a bride. In the canon
"Ranma", even if the ghost cat had been near her when she had her cat
fits, Ranma wasn't psychologically female enough to contemplate the
idea of being anybody's BRIDE.]
By Ron Dow75
Week One: Tuesday
She-Ranma, Day One
Ch. 23: In The Eye of the Beholder
Part of the ceiling had just fallen near them in the lingerie department.
It took a moment for the surprised Yuka react. She screamed. What if
the wreckage had been even CLOSER?! As it was, everybody was covered
in mostly dusty debris.
While among the wreckage was a drenched, but familiar stranger in a
Furinkan high girls' uniform yelled back, "What's YOUR problem!? It's
not like YOU were hurt!!" Physically, though, the martial artist was
nearly fine. What really hurt was the girl's OWN intensified male pride.
She lashed out, striking the stream of hot water from the broken pipe
falling on her skirt.
She-Ranma, at least, recognized the girl with the long, black hair,
"Akane!" She ran from the department store's dressing room, crying,
"Akane--EENKKH!" She was stopped by a surprise: A wedgie no guy
could experience!
Na had grabbed hold of the back of Ranma's panties and bra. Though
they both had a film of dust on them, she reminded the still half dressed
redhead about, "The store's security cameras!"
Ranma leaned forward, "But Akane!?" The unfamiliar hurts were easy for
a martial artist like her to ignore.
The tall girl said, "She looks okay. You don't!" She used some simple
jujitsu to swing Ranma back into the dressing room, "It can be fun
flashing, but cameras make the moment last too long." Na blushed
slightly. The idea was no longer as amusing to her as it was a couple of
hours ago. It wasn't just to Ranma-chan she was advising, "You have to
start thinking like other girls!" There were a couple of creep ex-
boyfriends out there that had more than just their memories to fuel
their jollies off of her.
Na blocked the doorway, "Security is going to be here. If you don't mind
them seeing you in underwear, do you mind them seeing you wet?"
Ranma frowned, "For the past three weeks, it seems I'm always wet." But
that's when she was straightening the panties.
She reddened deeply, and yanked the dressing room curtain closed!
Na nodded, satisfied. "Now we don't have to pay for them. The store
OWES you! Yuka, too, maybe."
Na went over to the other debris-covered teen, "We have a nice insurance
claim, here. Pick what you want, and the store will give it to you."
On her feet, he-Akane glared at the other girl who looked like she was
wearing only colored scarves for a dress, "I didn't come here for
shopping. The only thing I'm interested in is getting OUT of here."
Na looked at the three men in business suits and the female salesclerk
behind them coming their way, "Too late. Leave everything to me,
Akane."
He-Akane was frustrated: Ranma had blurted out her name! So much
for remaining unknown.
Na grabbed he-Akane's wrist, and pulled her along. Since the girl wasn't
going to stay down and play the wounded bird, Na had to do the next
best thing. Lifting the girl's skirt, she confronted the store personnel
with a peek at Akane's legs, "Look at the bruises and cuts! And
what about the REST of her body! Take us to the camera department, so
we can document her injuries for the law suit!"
Angrily, he-Akane pulled her skirt down, "I SAID I don't want anything
but OUT!" Her impulse was to fight her way past everybody. And she just
might have to. Any disturbance would draw all of the store police, and
anybody else that was hungry for some action. Then she would never
escape having her picture posted, here and in the police kiosks.
Na told the store personnel, "See!!? Is THAT normal?! Acchan used to be
such a sweet girl!"
That hit a nerve. He-Akane yelled, "I was NEVER a sweet girl!!"
Na turned to the gathering customers, "Poor, Acchan!! Because the store
wasn't interested in safety, my friend will have to have brain SURGERY!"
She made sure the bystanders heard at LEAST the last word.
He-Akane groaned. This girl was trying to be like Nabiki.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Yuka 'knocked' then parted the dressing room curtain, "Ranma-chan?"
From the other side she-Ranma mumbled, "Guys don't have the pee
problems girls do."
Yuka asked, "They don't? How do you know--Your DAD!?" But then she
thought that sounded TOO naïve. "Well, you were on the road together.
And traditionally, Japanese men and
women weren't very modest, and--" She threw back the curtain, "He
STILL doesn't do it in front of you NOW, does he!?!!" So much for the
brunette sounding sophisticated.
What she saw was she-Ranma buttoning up her dirtied, black, silk
Chinese men's shirt over the baby blue bra she had been trying on.
When She-Ranma noticed that Yuka noticed the flowery, cotton panties
on the floor, she blushed. But she left the dressing room, "Akane's still
here, isn't she?"
Yuka looked over at the clump of mostly adults. One girl in the Furinkan
uniform stood out like a dirty, half-drowned cat. Suddenly, something
stirred in her memory, "A wet girl...a wet girl..."
She-Ranma realized that Akane had had her secret since she was born.
Somehow, nobody outside her family knew it. But her friends and
neighbors HAD to have seen her around. After 16 years, they had to ask
themselves where unknown girl came from and where she went to. They
had to at LEAST wonder why she was wet so often. Ranma was honor
bound to steer them away from the truth. Without lying.
"Akane?!? Did I say Akane? *Ha, ha!* I guess I did. But she's not a Ten--
No: She's a Saotome. --Like me! *Ha, ha; ha, ha!*" You'd think with a
pop like hers Ranma would've learned to cover up better by now.
Yuka asked, " "Akane Saotome"? I've heard that name before."
Great! Now Ranma had to do something to distract her from her
curiosity. The uncertain she-Ranma actually found herself giggle.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What testosterone she still had as a girl rising, he-Akane was struggling
to keep from adopting a martial arts stance as she argued with the Chief
of Security, now, "I TOLD these other guys, I just want to leave!"
The man who was as big as a sumo wrestler said, " "Leave", hunh?
Perhaps the damage to the store ISN'T an accident. Come to the office.
Let's review the security tapes more closely."
Security tapes!! What if they showed the change!!? Now He-Akane HAD
to escape!
"Akane!!" she-Ranma cried, glomping the damp girl around her waist,
leaning head on her shoulder while pressing her breasts to her
shoulders.
It was there! It wasn't a charge, but Akane did make she-Ranma glow in
places that had never been stimulated before.
But it made he-Akane crazy! "What do you think you're doing," she said
through clenched teeth. "I'm a girl." He-Akane had a much more
complex reaction. Without the contrast of male skin, muscle and shape,
she couldn't fully enjoy the feel of a girl's body, even Ranma-chan's. In
fact, her enhanced male spirit resented her not being a guy for the
cutie.
And then there was male spirit she sensed in Ranma's wooden carp.
She-Ranma now wondered if she'd done the right thing, "Don't girls
don't do this with girls?"
"Na!" Yuka giggled, glomping onto the other girl as Ranma was doing to
Akane. To her, though, it was just a game.
She-Ranma was relieved, "Girls are different from guys."
Glancing about at the audience as she pried she-Ranma from her, she-
Akane said, "Not this, uh, one."
Na had less trouble getting Yuka away, "Me, neither! In case you haven't
noticed, Nerima is not a touchy-feely place."
She-Ranma hadn't noticed, being a new girl in a new town. A very new
girl.
Yuka grinned, "And Japan used to frown on a lot of things."
The large chief of security said, "We still frown on property damage and
extortion."
One of his men said, "I recognize the tall one with the spiky hair, now,
sir. I caught her shoplifting!" Na's emotions betrayed her for only a
second. Being more girl now, meant she was more fluid emotionally.
The Chief glared at the girls, "Shall we wait for the police?"
They were in trouble? Was there something Ranma could do to help
without fighting? She remembered what her father had said about police
and why they keep away from them. "The police are for girls. And I'm a
girl." Store police should like an honest answer.
Yuka was nearly as naïve, "They'll sort things out!"
Na had recovered control over her expression, "Doesn't your dad have a
law firm working for him, Yuka?"
"Yes, but--"
Na hurried forward, "Of course, they'll want to call in a building
inspector..."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A blur? That was all the stop-action security camera captured of Kaneda-
Akane. The top floor of the department store had low priority.
He-Akane asked the guard in the small monitoring room, "Can you let
me GO, now?"
Concerned, she-Ranma said, "Maybe you should go. Yuka--" What could
she say that wouldn't sound suspicious to the guard? "...Well, maybe
Kaneda shouldn't show up, either."
He-Akane heard it another way. Her manhood HAD been compromised
in Ranma's eyes! What could he expect when his fiancée saw him in a
dress? And a school uniform, too! It was notoriously a guy's fantasy
costume. At least it wasn't a fuku/sailor suit. That would have been TOO
much!
He-Akane could just imagine what Ranma thinking. Ranma had the
same curse, but was different when a girl was a crossdresser!
The security guard inside the small monitoring room raised an eyebrow
at the scene, but only said, "I'll need to see some ID."
He-Akane snapped, "Does this stupid dress LOOK like it has a place to
carry anything?!"
With a glance to her bust, the guard said, "Then you'll have to give me
your phone numbers. You DO have relatives, don't you?"
He-Akane came closer to using her martial arts. Her dad would NEVER
acknowledge SHE was his kid! --And he'd had 16 years to do it!
Wanting to be helpful, Ranma volunteered, "Uh, my father and I have
been in situations like this before." Too many times. "Perhaps if I talk to
the man?"
He-Akane watched his fiancée go over to the young guard (perhaps
young enough not to be married, yet!). Ranma-chan put her wrists and
knees together, and batted her eyelashes, "We just came in here to buy
me underthings." Weakened by stress and uncertainty, she-Ranma's
mind yielded to her female brain. The male resistance that could have
opposed it was mostly trapped in the wooden carp.
Her words had the effect on the man the flirt of the spring liked to see.
He-Akane screamed, "That's what you learned from your father!?!"
Ranma stopped and blinked. "Well, uh, he would if he could." She-
Ranma was back, only vaguely aware of what had happened.
Na appeared in the doorway, "Everything's okay. Yuka's ID is enough:
Her dad's got money! They can get to us through her."
He-Akane headed towards her, "Then I'm leaving."
Na held out her hands, "Whoa! Don't you want the free stuff! We're
entitled to comps: Complementary compensation!"
"I have more girls' stuff than I care to have!"
The guard said, "I don't think you WILL be getting anything from this
store. Not unless you can give us ID that proves you don't have any
priors."
She-Ranma pulled out her the hem of her shirt, "C, can I have just,
one?"
The man glanced from her action to the bank of monitoring screens,
"Maybe we CAN help you there."
He-Akane cried, "You want to PEEP at Ranma!!" Before she knew what
she was doing, her fist had smashed though the screen the pervert had
been looking at: Ta-BOOM!
Na yelled, "RUN!!"
Without thinking, again, he-Akane scooped up Ranma in her arms and
fled. Acting on instinct, the guard chased after them. Na entered the
now empty monitoring room.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
He-Akane cursed, "Stupid...Stupid...Stupid!" Carrying Ranma-chan was
not really a problem. Upper body strength was the Tendo specialty. What
she NEEDED was lower body strength. Her legs were shorter as a girl.
And that guard's legs WERE long. And there were more behind him. Her
best chance was to get out to the store area and create an obstacle
course.
She-Ranma said, "We shouldn't run, Akane. You only broke a TV. You're
not responsible for bringing down the roof."
"This is about reputation!" They were coming to the short hall that went
to where the customers were.
She-Ranma told her, "By running, we look LIII--" He-Akane tossed the
redhead. In the next instance, she tripped the first guard and shoved
him forward.
As the man landed stomach first, he-Akane ran over him. She caught
Ranma-chan in her arms again. "I knew you would use your mid-air
training!"
Ranma winced as four more men in suits trampled the first guard.
"Please, Akane, you're making things worse!"
Akane growled, trying to find a justification for her rash act, "I'm
MAKING a reputation! Think of the publicity when we escape!" Great,
she was thinking like Nabiki!
Of course they didn't know that the reason Soun was against publicity
was the reputation ANOTHER martial artist had built up, with Soun and
Genma as his accomplices. It was soon after her last great idea was shot
down that Nabiki had decided to go into a business where publicity
might not be such a good idea.
Perhaps he-Akane was following in her dad's footsteps more than she
knew.
Dodging customers, he-Akane kicked and backed as many racks and
shelves as could to block the way behind them
She-Ranma pointed, "The security cameras!"
He-Akane told her, "Once we get out of here, we can have the home
advantage! Let Nabiki, dad, or Mr. Saotome explain things! You said your
dad was good at--"
She-Ranma was pulling at the hem of her black, Chinese shirt, "I don't
have any panties on!" Only then did he-Akane notice how red with
embarrassment she'd become.
That was enough to keep away the perverted thoughts that wanted to
bubble up.
Looking about, he-Akane said, "I see some! But you're going to have to
kick that plastic dummy down the escalator!"
She-Ranma was conflicted, "Do I have to? It seems so--"
He-Akane swung Ranma-chan's feet around and used them to do just
that.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
After the guards had run halfway down the escalator, they saw that the
girl in the blue dress was just a mannequin.
"Turn around!! They must have used this trick to take the stairs UP!"
The stairs had taken the first of them to the bottom before they could
run up the down escalator. The guy now in the back yelled, "Get moving!
They could be heading to the third floor by now!!"
They scrambled off at the top and ran around to the other escalator
without noticing the two girls crouching among the racks of clothes.
She-Ranma was concerned, "Is this really necessary?"
He-Akane frowned, setting her jaw, "It all started because they wanted to
tape you undressing. You can't trust guys like that." Listen to her! As if
she wouldn't want to. But Ranma-chan was HERS! That made it
different. They WERE, after all, engaged--practically a married couple!
Naïve she-Ranma smiled, "Okay, what do we do now?"
Still crouching, he-Akane motioned her to follow her, "We get you some,
uh, underwear."
She-Ranma whispered, "I, uh, have a, um, bra." He-Akane wondered
why the word made her shy. She wasn't that way with that creep,
peeping guard.
She-Ranma looked at the things around them. They all had pictures of
cartoons on them. "These are little girls' things!" And that wasn't the
only thing that made her think they were in the wrong place.
He-Akane told her, "No. I've seen underwear just like these in Kasumi's
laundry basket." Kasumi bought them just because she thought they
were cute. But Nabiki had worn them. It was part of her Don't-Give-
Them-What-They-Expect Strategy.
She-Ranma looked at the pink tops with sparkles and a very simple,
cartoonish character straight from children's TV, and read,
" "Hello, Kitty"?" Brr!
He-Akane picked the first pair she didn't hate, "Here, I think these will
fit you." They were black, high-cut, with the head and paws of the cute,
white doodle-kitty without a mouth surrounded by a heart of flowers.
She-Ranma held it for a moment, "Isn't there any other characters?
One's that not, uh, cat?"
He-Akane motioned her to stay down, "A saleswoman!" The girl in the
Furinkan uniform then stood up, "Excuse me!" She said to the startled
woman in the store uniform. "Do you have any courtesy tea?"
"Tea?" The strange girl looked like a dirty street person with uncombed
hair, and scratched face, and wrinkled clothes. But the clerk HAD heard
about the only excitement the store had had in months. If she kept this
teenager busy, it would give security time to discover her. She bowed,
"Er, no. But I can offer you some bottled water at my station."
Perfect, he-Akane thought.
When they got to the three-sided counter, before saleswoman had a
chance to press a security button, he-Akane pointed, "I see him in an ad
for Sapporo Beer! What's that American actor's name?..." It helped that
there really WAS a foreigner to see.
While the woman looked, he-Akane ducked and squirted the bottled
water on herself. By the time the salesclerk had turned back around,
she saw a red haired, teenage boy in his school uniform rise behind her
station.
"What happened to the girl?!"
Kaneda said, "There was a girl who just ran that way!"
The women returned to the excitement of looking for the troublemakers.
But Kaneda knew that there would be another salesclerk soon. There
always were in these stores. "Ranma!"
She-Ranma stood up. She thought she had wanted panties, but the first
ones she was actually wearing in public were making her feel
uncomfortable. But that was ridiculous. It wasn't like "Hello, Kitty" was
really a--
He-Kaneda placed something red around her shoulders. She asked,
"What's this?"
Kaneda said, "A riding hood, I think. It's your disguise. Your dirty,
Chinese shirt stands out." It, too, had the white kitten on it near her
heart.
Ranma asked, "Are we going to pay for it?"
"How were you going to pay for the stuff you were going to get here?"
"Yuka was going to loan me the money. Her dad's got money."
Tying the cloak on her, he-Kaneda smiled, "Then that's how we'll pay for
this." He lost his smile, and muttered, "And probably for the other
things, too." As if the family could afford any more debt.
She-Ranma gave in. Pop had done similar things when they had to
escape from one of his fiascos. And now she was doing it for Kaneda. As
with her pop, it made her feel bad and attached at the same time. She
could see her father in him. And didn't a girl want to marry somebody
who reminded her of her father?
She raised the hood over her red hair. She didn't see the red bow, and
white kitten ears sewn on it.
He-Kaneda led she-Ranma by the hand out of the anime merchandise
section and down the aisle for the doors.
Just as the guards in suits could be heard running down the escalator.
They would soon turn and fan out on this floor.
He-Kaneda pulled she-Ranma towards the escalator the mannequin had
gone down. "The best disguise is not to be seen at all." Blocking her with
his male body, the rode down.
At the bottom, he looked around for the exit.
But behind them, he heard, "The clerk says she saw the guy come down
here!" Two guards were near the top of the escalator. "He helped one of
the girls get away!"
They started down, "A guy with long, red hair's going to be easy to spot!"
He-Kaneda picked Ranma-chan up and dashed into the nearest
department. There were stands and cages to crouch behind.
Now that they were looking for everybody with red hair, he had to think
about changing that. He needed to find a hat. Akane's messy uniform
would only attract attention. That was ANOTHER good reason not to
be a girl.
Ranma-chan made a distressed squeal. Jerking his head around, he saw
her back away from some cages in fear. He-Kaneda snickered that she
should be scared of mice, or perhaps the snake that ate them. Ranma
was so like a girl, now. Kaneda, though, was disappointed. Being a bold
martial artist had been one of the things that had set Ranma apart from
others. And what was left of female in him was devastated.
The saleswoman also noticed Ranma-chan and moved towards her, "May
I help you, Miss?" The woman WOULD like kittens! She was managing
three at once.
"C, c, cats." She-Ranma tried to walk away. But Kaneda waved her back.
He couldn't be seen hiding.
Nervously, Ranma stayed where she was. And of all the animal smells
that clung to her, it was the cats' that was overwhelming Ranma. She-
Ranma turned away and caught her reflection in a mirror. Her riding
hood had cat ears and a tail--SHE had cat ears and a tail! "Hello, Kitty"!
Ranma backed into the same cage that had moments ago repelled her.
The wild cat saw the tail sewn on the back of the cape. It snagged it
when it got next to the bars.
Ranma heard its growl, and sensed that it was a "Cat!" She jumped
away. But the claws were caught. In her panic, Ranma moved away,
pulling at the cage. "Cat!"
The saleswoman said something Ranma did not catch. She turned and
the kittens were within striking range! "Cats! Cats! Cats!"
Kaneda went to get the claws out of the riding hood.
"Cats! Cats! Cats!..." Flailing about like a madwoman, Ranma bumped
into him; Kaneda bumped into the cage; the cage door opened; the wild
cat escaped; the clerk went to get the big cat; Ranma pushed the kittens
away towards Kaneda; Kaneda caught them; but only after toppling
more cages; more cats got out...
One growl rose above the other cats' noises. It sent the cats fleeing, and
sent a chill even through the macho he-Kaneda. It was followed by the
sounds of things falling off of pegboards, and knocked from shelves as
the wood was being ripped. It happened so quickly, that by the time he
turned around, he saw Ranma-chan shredding through the stand. She
escaped through the gaping break with a feral howl.
He stopped trying to catch the animals and went after Ranma-chan. Why
she was acting this way he didn't know, but she was pouncing and
clawing at anything in her direct path to the exit. Even metal cages were
no protection. Though, she ignored the canaries, crickets, mice, or
whatever that was in them, they all seemed to slow Kaneda down.
Outside, Ranma prowled about on her hands and feet, uncertain which
way was out. There were too many of those two-legged creatures about. It
made her nervous, penned in. She spit at and raised her claws to any
that got too close.
Those on the down escalator went back up, and those in the elevators
pushed buttons to close the door. The escaped animals, too, knew to
stay away from her.
Everybody but one, Kaneda tripped over a doggie ball he didn't see,
"Ranm--"
Startled, Ranma raised her back and her claws. Backing away, she was
ready to attack if challenged.
Kaneda reached out, "Come on, Ranma! What's your problem!?!"
This mind of this Ranma was more basic, more instinctual; and unlike
she-Ranma, she didn't like the sound of the human's tone.
It liked the yelling guards even more. They were running right at her.
She launched her attack. Before they knew it, their batons and suits
were in shreds. And Ranma had bounded off.
With he-Kaneda following.
Decency required that the guards did not go after either.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ranma-chan had felt the breeze from the vent and had clawed and bit at
it hard enough to rip the grate off. By the time he-Kaneda had arrived,
she was gone and a swarm of squealing rats were coming out.
Na came running up, "Vermin: That's Japan for you! Everybody just
leaves piles of garbage bags out on the street with no can." Yuka was
among the screaming people behind her.
Before Na could ask Kaneda what he was doing there, he ran for the
escalators up, "Ranma's acting totally weird! She went up the vent
shaft!"
Na said, "Crap! Here I thought she'd become a guy-magnet! Teases don't
DO things like that!" Yuka saw the two of them and liked the idea of
running. She followed.
Reaching the stairs, he-Kaneda said out loud, "I don't think that hood I
gave her's going to hide her face from all of the security cameras!"
Na grinned, "Forget about them! There was a little...accident. Minor, but
disabling."
"That's good to hear. I hope." He took the stairs four at a time.
Na grinned broadened, "There was also an accident with the forms Yuka
filled out."
He-Kaneda didn't hear her, for when he reached the next floor the path
Ranma-chan had taken was clear. Most of the things in her way she'd
pounced over or on, knocking over many; some she'd just destroyed.
And with the customers now stampeding from the rats, it left a clear
path for Kaneda.
He heard one near hysterical lady cry, "That girl had rats in her
MOUTH!!"
He-Kaneda said, "What does Ranma think she is? I hope she doesn't
EAT those things!"
Though the door without Plexiglas and outside, he-Kaneda could still tail
Ranma-chan. The traffic in this downtown town was in a honking,
screaming chaos. A girl suddenly landing on the hood or roof just
unnerved too many drivers. To get past them, he-Kaneda would have to
develop his Tendo Tarzan technique.
It wouldn't be as fast or pretty as even Ranma's human wall-running and
roof-hopping, but it WOULD speed him up.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Feeling more awkward than he moved, he-Kaneda pushed off from his
hands from the roof of another car, landed with his feet on the white
line, then pounced hands first on the next. He aimed for a concrete
power pole; pushing off from there he would jump on the mail box, and
then... He'd done this for several blocks. The tall buildings were left
behind him, and traffic was thinner. But there were enough people
about talking about the odd, strange, crazy or red haired girl in the red
"super-Kitty" cape for him to know he was on the right track. (Not to
mention the men still grinning over a girl bounding along in a "mini"
skirt.)
Ranma-chan seemed to be heading some place. And though it was in
the general direction of Nerima, it didn't appear to be back to Kaneda's
house. This worried him. Ranma had been raised semi-wild. With the
way she was acting, if he didn't catch her, she might become completely
untamed. And she had JUST started to become domestic.
He turned a corner and left the land of traffic lines and signs behind. He
was back in familiar territory, one with high privacy walls that made
streets alleys. Most were newer ones of cement, but one large compound
was made of wood and plaster.
The dilapidated place was on the high side of the street, with steps that
led up to its old-fashioned gate way. The sound of babies snarling and
yowling just hurried Kaneda's memory, "The Cat Temple on 5th Street!"
Then he saw the red cloak up in one of the trees that were taller than
the temple's walls. "Ranma!!" Kaneda cried, rushing for her.
He stopped in shock when he saw what was below the tree. A white cat
TWICE the size of a panda! And it talked: "...Comme deown, Mmy Love!
You responded to mmy bell! We are MEANT to be mmarried!"
She-Ranma-cat looked down from a branch, her face lower than the
"Hello, Kitty" tail she was twitching. Her meows were uncertain as she
stared at the huge bell the monster cat was tinkling towards her. "If you
won't listen to mme, then listen to mmy bell..."
Bell? Cat? Japanese folklore was full of stories about the destructive,
foreign beasts introduced from China. They had a power over the dead.
And unless their tails were cut off, they would grow up to become goblin
cats. Older cats, and those that had been mistreated could become ghost
cats.
Kaneda realized that cats, like badgers and foxes, were supposed to be
able to control people! The bell had to be the way this ghost cat did it! --
And it wanted to make RANMA his-- "NO-O-O!!" he-Kaneda cried, racing
to attack his rival.
He was attacked by the cats of the temple first. "Oh, mmy!" the ghost cat
cried, and disappeared into its bell.
Meanwhile, he-Kaneda was running around like a headless chicken with
the horde of yowling cats clinging to him. Everything he did made them
dig their claws deeper. This went on for a painful minute before he saw
the temple's well. "Cat's HATE water!" and he dove in. SPLASH! ME-
OWW!!
From the bottom he said, "Hey! It's cold! With my luck, it could've been a
hot spring."
He got out the same way the cats had, climbing the drainage holes and
seems in the stone-lined well. Again he was developing his Tarzan
technique.
But at the top, the ghost's face appeared, "So! You attempt to steal mmy
BRIDE away from Mme!" Kaneda fell back into the water. SPLASH!
The ghost cat said, "I shall seal you in here, until I have won control over
mmy lovely fiancée!"
He-Kaneda cried, "Wait!! Ranma CAN'T be your fiancee! She's my--She's
a HUMAN!"
Like a Cheshire, the ghost smiled down on him as it lifted the well's
door, "Nnot human enough! For 3,000 years, the bell of Mmaomolin has
been sending out its mmagic ap-peal. Any cat-like female within its
range HAS to respond! Otherwise, she has to wear a smmall bell to keep
her in harmony with mmy bell."
Ranma WAS acting cat-like! And being much more female now, probably
made her more susceptible, too. He-Kaneda cursed, "Why does there
ALWAYS have to be complications!"
Maomolin said, "Stay put until I can win her with mmy charmms!"
He-Kaneda demanded to know, "You have to WIN her?!"
"M-of course! Like any mmariage, she mmust AGREE to be mmy bride!"
Then he chuckled as he shut the door, "Though that DOESN'T mmean,
she has to agree willingly."
Kaneda tried to think of something, "Uh, can you let me go to the
bathroom, first?!" What a lame--
The cat master of the temple opened the door, "You WOULDN'T! Cats
have to DRINK that water, you know! This well feeds a system of
troughs!"
So it WASN'T lame! He-Kaneda threatened to unbuckle his belt, "This
water is also starting to give me a cold." And he made like he was going
to sneeze.
Maomolin flung the door open, "OK! OK! Don't do anything! I'll toss you
a rope!"
When Kaneda had gotten to the top of the well, he found the ghost cat
had drawn out its long claws. Making himself look as big and scary as he
could, the ghost cat told him, "Get out! Get out, and never return!"
He-Kaneda got into his stance, "I'm not leaving without Ranma!"
Backing up, and trying not to cower too much, Maomolin said, "Sh, she
CAN'T leave! I've placed a spell on her! She CAN'T leave the temple
grounds." Its brave front had diminished so much that his assertion,
"Ever!" sounded almost like a question.
"Then take the spell off!"
It ran, "Nno!! 3,000 years is TOO long to wait to be mmaried!"
Maomolin ran back to the tree she-Ranma was in. "Come on, mmy bride!
Comme to mme! Declare your agreement: All you have to do is leap into
mmy armms!"
He-Kaneda ran back, too, "Ranma! Get away! Jumping down and
running isn't a problem for you! I KNOW you can jump from a third
story!" Furinkan, no less.
Running around to the other side of the trunk, Maomolin said to the
bully, "Don't you know ANYTHING about cats? Cats can climb trees, but
it's not easy for us getting DEOWN!"
He-Kaneda said, "Then I'll go up and GET Ranma down myself!"
Maomolin watched him climb, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
He-Kaneda told it, "Well, I'm not you, I'm--" She-Ranma-neko hissed,
snarled, and then scratched.
He-Kaneda landed with a hard thud on the flagstones below.
Maomolin told him, "You mmay not be mme, but you ARE a mmale."
The mauled Kaneda groaned, "What does that mean?"
Maomolin smiled, "It mmeans she views us BOTH as potential grooms!"
He-Kaneda forced himself to get up, "And she's not crazy about the idea
of, uh, mating?"
"Crudely put, but true. The Bride mmust be WON over!"
He-Kaneda looked up at Ranma-chan in the tree, "So she has to be
ENTICED? She'll come down to the one she favors." His increased male
instincts preferred he dominate her rather than real challenge of
winning her. But there was still a way to assert his virility; he turned to
the ghost cat, "If *I* do it, you'll take the spell off of Ranma?! You'll LET
her leave!?!"
"M-of course not!"
He-Kaneda clenched his fists and growled himself. "Then it's not a fair
contest!!"
"Who said I WANT a fair contest!"
He-Kaneda swung with all of his pent up frustration at the animal. It
disappeared into its giant bell. He smacked that clear over the temple
wall and out of sight.
Kaneda waited for the monster cat to return. Moments, then minutes
passed. He finally relaxed his guard. He drew on what he had read about
magic and the like, "He's a ghost cat. I guess he can't be out in the
daylight unless the place has some cat magic." But that meant he would
probably be back when it got dark. He looked up in the tree, "Come on,
Ranma. We have to get you out of here while we can!"
She-Ranma-cat gazed down at his hand. She reached down towards it.
Her fingers curled in, she took a few tentative swipes at it. But she
quickly withdrew her paw when he-Kaneda tried to grab it. Her claws
come out again, and her hackles began to rise.
"Ranma! I'm trying to help you! I'm not going, uh, make you my bride."
Not when you're like this. He had never understood the fascination with
cat-girls. And even if he did decide to try the fantasy, Ranma was WAY
too much cat than girl. "You can trust me! Come, and let me take you
home!" She just paced along the branch. She didn't trust him. But,
then, neither was she trying to get further away higher up.
He-Kaneda thought about climbing up there again and forcing her
down. But that wasn't winning her over. If he did get her down, she'd
probably do to him what she'd done to the store guards and run away.
And this time she wouldn't let him get this close to her again.
He-Kaneda knew when he was defeated.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ghost cat or not, it did walk and talk (almost) like a human. He-Kaneda
figured that it would have liked to have some things a normal cat didn't
have. And, assuming ghosts could eat and drink like they did in
animes, what could be more civilized than--Yes! He found the tea kettle
right where he'd hoped it would be. Now he just needed to start a fire in
the old temple's fire pit. He could use it to keep the hundred or more
cats away.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
She-Ranma-neko was whining, making false starts at climbing head-first
down the tree, and then crouching on the branch cat wallowing some
more.
She picked up her tail and mewed for attention when she saw Akane
coming towards the tree. This creature in a dress didn't look at all like a
male. And by now, she-Ranma-cat was definitely ready to get down. She
stretched her body out towards the non-threatening human.
Setting down the kettle, he-Akane held up both hands towards her,
"Come on, Ranma! Come on down to me..." she said in as good a pet
owner's voice as she could stomach. "Let Akane take you home. I'll give
you a saucer of milk, and--"
She-Ranma-cat dropped into Akane's open arms. The angle was
awkward, and he-Akane didn't want Ranma to think she trying to trap
her. Akane allowed herself to go down; she used her knowledge of how
to land to cushion both their falls.
Purring, she-Ranma-cat began to eagerly nuzzled he-Akane's face. "Okay! Okay!
You can thank me later!" She reached for the kettle, "Right now we have
to get you out of this temple. The ghost cat said he put a spell on you.
Maybe it won't work if you don't LOOK like a girl."
Just after the hot water doused Ranma, he kissed Akane on the lips.
It was Akane's first kiss--And it was from a BOY!
The End of this chapter
[Note: Maomolin is a wanderer, always in search of a bride. In the canon
"Ranma", even if the ghost cat had been near her when she had her cat
fits, Ranma wasn't psychologically female enough to contemplate the
idea of being anybody's BRIDE.]