Forgotten Past
By: the littlest dinosaur
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of the characters from that anime series, but I do own the original characters. Please do not use them without my permission.
[Begin chapter four]
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"And that's how it was," the old man said, nodding his head curtly.
Sano and Seiji stared at their father with wide eyes. They never would have guessed that he was such a ladies' man with so many women after him. Why hadn't any of that 'magical power' been passed down to them?
"But that's finished now, isn't it?" Sano asked, scratching his head. "Why can't you stay with us? It'd be a lot more fun with you around, dad," he added eagerly.
Seiji's head bobbed up and down in an eager agreement with his brother, "We could be a family again."
The old man sighed. They obviously had not been paying attention to his story as well as he had hoped.
"Since mom's attacker is being condemned for her crime, then shouldn't it be alright for you to stay?" Seiji asked with large and glittering eyes.
"I already told you kids-"
"We're not baby goats!" Seiji stated indignantly, his eyes returning to their normal 'un-shiny' state and earning an elbow in the ribs from his brother.
"-what would happen to your mother if we added unnecessary amounts of stress on her," the boys' father replied tiredly, rubbing his temples. They're just like their mother, too dense for their own good.
"So why'd you come back?"
Their father looked at them with blinking owlish eyes. Why did I come back? A look of discovery flashed over the old man's face, and he searched his pockets for something. The brothers looked at him with curious expressions, silently wondering when their father had gotten clothes with pockets and what would pop out of them. With a cry of discovery, their father produced a tattered picture, and upon further inspection, Sano found that it was a wedding picture.
"I have to leave, but I'll leave that picture with you to figure it out on your own," their father said with a smirk on his face. "And I want it back," he said turning toward the window. Pausing, he turned back toward the boys once more, "Whole." Like the wind, he flipped out of Seiji's window onto the roof. His footsteps were light, and the boys could not hear toward which direction he had run off.
Seiji snatched the picture from his brother, who gave an annoyed cry, to gaze at the black and white picture. It was his father wearing a black tuxedo with a bow tie and his signature pigtail, and mother in a beautiful and full wedding dress with small lacy designs adorned the bodice of her dress. Her veil gracefully lay over her hair, adorned with two giant roses surrounded by lace, and she seemed to be holding a bouquet of flowers. The old man was carrying their mother bridal-style, and they both looked very happy, although the old man had a smirk on his face.
Seiji's mouth hung open at the splendor of the picture. It captured his parents perfectly, though he hadn't seen them together since before he could remember. Sano stole the picture back from his brother and after glancing at it for a moment, proceeded to flip it over. There were faded and smudged words on the back, and the boy was compelled to read them aloud.
"To my dear Ranma," Seiji snorted and pretended to gag, earning a sour look from his brother that immediately shut him up. "Here's a picture of us after the wedding ceremony. I thought you would like to have something for yourself. Love, Akane," Sano read calmly. His eyes scanned the rest of the scribbling on the back of that worn picture. "P.S. Don't forget that our anniversary is on the sixteenth day of the fifth month." A small angry looking face was scribbled at the end of that sentence, followed by a smiley face, causing the boy's mouth to slowly creep into a smile.
A silence rolled quietly through the room. The boys sat on Seiji's bed, saying nothing and letting the silence embrace their still forms. The words were slow to sink into their heads. The younger boy squinted at his calendar of sexy mostly-naked Asian swimsuit models, trying to remember today's date. His eyes glided over the dates, focusing slowly.
Seiji jumped up suddenly turning toward his brother, startling him out of his reverie by grabbing him by the front of his shirt and shaking the older boy a few times, "That's next month!"
Sano sat calmly down again after brusquely brushing his brother's hand away from his shirt. "Which is even more of a reason why he should stay with us," he said resolutely, crossing his arms, eyes closed and nodding curtly.
"It is getting ridiculous. I mean, the woman's being prosecuted for her crimes! What more of a reason could he want for living with his family again?" Seiji threw up his hands to show his frustration with his father. He dropped unceremoniously onto the floor to lie next to his bed. "I don't believe that all of that happened to him, either. It's too surreal!"
"I agree," added Sano flopping back as he positioned himself so his head was hanging off the side of the bed where his brother was. "Who would be able to live such a crazy life?" He looked at his brother's laid-back form, and Seiji looked toward his brother.
Simultaneously, they said, "Dad," sighed in resignation and stared at the ceiling.
"We should get them back together," Sano said after a brief pause in the conversation. "He's never gonna do it himself, and Mom doesn't know! Who knows when they're finally gonna resolve this mess. Maybe when we're married and have kids-"
"Not baby goats!"
"-of our own." Sano's eyebrow twitched with irritation, "Honestly, Seiji, what's with your obsession with not being called a kid?"
The younger boy sighed, ignoring his brother completely, "We should be more concerned on getting them back together again. That way, we can be a family again, and my friends at school can stop asking what happened to my dad." Sano discreetly rolled his eyes. "It kills me not to be able to gloat that Ranma Saotome, the best martial artist in the world, is our dad!" Seiji said pounding the floor next to him and flexing his slender fingers. "They worship him! We have his last name for crying out loud!" He slapped the ground.
Sano's eyes lit up. He had a plan. "Maybe that's it!" He rolled onto his stomach in an attempt to turn toward his brother's form on the floor. "We get them to come to school! We can then reveal that we do indeed have a father and that he's the coolest thing since the Internet! But how do we do that?" Sano sat up quickly, ignoring his screaming body. He was still in pain from the sparring match earlier.
"That's it!" Seiji said snapping his fingers and sitting up to face his brother, "That 'Career Day' thing! I already invited mom, so you can invite Dad," he said, his face lighting up to match his brother's enthusiasm.
"They can meet at school, and since it is a public place and not home, then maybe she won't feel as threatened, and Dad won't suspect that we had anything to do with it!" Sano said rolling over so his head hung over the edge where his brother lay.
They high-fived each other, sealing their brilliant plan for their parents. The two boys rapidly discussed how they would proceed with their idea, but before they get far into their scheme, Sano's stomach growled loudly.
"I'm hungry," he said, patting his outspoken stomach. "We should as Mom to cook for us, and then give some to Dad, so he can know what he's been missing!"
Seiji agreed whole-heartedly (as his brother sprinted away), rolled onto his stomach and started racing his brother toward the living room.
The two brothers raced down the narrow hallway. Sano was in front, due to his unfair head start but was quickly rammed into the wall courtesy of his brother's wonderfully bony shoulder. He grunted and hurled his now aching body down the flight of stairs after his brother.
Seiji was ahead of his brother by five long strides, though Sano was quickly gaining on him. The younger boy started to panic because if he failed find his mother quickly, Sano was likely to pummel him into the ground because he, by himself, walked into the wall! Quickening his pace, he stumbled passed the dining room and glanced inside.
I found her! he thought happily to himself, then yelped in surprise when he went skid past the room to only halt when his body was introduced to the wall.
Sano grimaced when he saw Seiji kissed the hallway wall and successfully maneuvered himself around his fallen brother so they would not end up on the ground again. Looking into the dining room, he found the reason for his brother's hasty partial stop.
Mom!
Sano rushed into the room, ignoring the others already seated around the table, though he saw his Aunt Kasumi smile and make room between herself and his mother. Seiji slid rather roughly into the room (his clothes had gotten caught in a floorboard somewhere), and Sano practically jumped into the seat next to him. Their mother was smiling at them, as was their two Aunts, but Uncle Ryouga did not look incredibly glad to see the two boys. Ignoring the look his "Uncle" Ryouga was giving him, Sano concentrated on his mother.
"What's for dinner, Mom?" he asked sweetly, earning a glare from his younger brother.
Akane looked thoughtfully at her cup of green tea. "I was thinking of making spaghetti for you two tonight," she said smiling brightly and turning to face her sons. "How does that sound to you two?"
A wide grin spread over Seiji's face. He loved spaghetti! Sano nodded eagerly and asked his mother if she needed help making dinner. She gave him a loving smile but declined his gracious offer, though she asked Kasumi to accompany her. Their mother had received a new cookbook for her birthday and wanted to ask her sister which recipe for spaghetti sounded best. Akane turned toward the kitchen, chatting with her sister, leaving her sons, sister and friend in the dining room.
Sano grinned widely and leaned toward his brother, putting a cupped hand near his ear. "This is great! Mom makes the best spaghetti in the world! This will have to convince him to stay!" he whispered to his brother, whose head happily bobbed up and down.
Their "Uncle" Ryouga and Aunt Nabiki promptly started arguing again as soon as the two women exited the room, and Sano just rolled his eyes.
That's all they ever do. They can never agree on anything, the boy thought sadly. He turned to his brother, who promptly cut him off with a squealing noise.
"My date!" Seiji said with an alarmed expression and a high-pitched cry. He was over two hours late, and the girl he had invited out probably would not forgive him for forgetting her. The younger brother sighed in resignation and turned to trudge up the stairs to sulk in his room, deciding it would be best to call her now and apologize profusely instead of letting her wait for him all night.
Sano looked at his brother's retreating back, amusement written on his face, and he, too, retreated to his room. Hopefully he had something there that would help his wounds heal faster, though he doubted that there was such a thing in existence. Still, he sought haven away from the arguing pair.
---
"You've definitely outdone yourself, Mom," Sano praised as he leaned back on one had and patted his full stomach with his other. "That was delicious!"
Soun, Kasumi, Tofu, Michiko, Nabiki, Kuno, Ryouga and Seiji all nodded in agreement, wide smiles gracing each of their faces. The entire family (and then some) had shown up for dinner when they heard the two Tendo sisters were cooking that night.
"Yes, my daughter, your cooking skills have greatly improved these past few years!" Soun said with a grin and a laugh. "You could easily pass as one of the great chefs of this nation!" The others nodded in agreement with the patriarch of the house.
"Indeed, Akane-san, you and Kasumi should open your own restaurant to showcase your delicious meals," Kuno added courteously, followed by a nod from Nabiki. The imaginary wheels in her head were calculating whether there could be a substantial increase in their bank accounts could experience from such an enterprise.
Akane bowed her head and blushed in a shy appreciation as they made their adoration of Kasumi and her cooking known. Smiling, she, Kasumi, and her boys started clearing the table, while the rest of the family members sipped on their green tea. Seiji and Sano both grabbed a handful of the dishes to place on the kitchen counter. There was some extra, and Sano knew no one would notice if it disappeared.
"Mom, Seiji and I can clean up. You and Aunt Kasumi should relax since you both made dinner for us tonight," Sano offered with an innocent smile when his mother entered the kitchen after his aunt. Seiji's head bobbed up and down showing his agreement with his brother's proposal.
Akane looked at her sons in surprise, quietly noting the seemingly innocent smile on her elder son's face. She wondered what the two were up to, since they usually did not help clean up after dinner. "If you are sure you don't mind doing that," she said, a small smile, forgetting her suspicions.
Kasumi beamed at her nephews. "That would be wonderful, boys!" She gave each a heartfelt hug, and gracefully led her youngest sister back into the parlor so they could chat over a nice cup of tea.
Seiji grinned brightly at his two female relatives glide back into the dining room. He turned toward the remaining portion of dinner. "Now... how to sneak this upstairs?" the boy asked himself while tapping his forefinger against his cheek in mock contemplation.
Sano, not missing a beat, shoved a medium-sized white and blue plastic container into his brother's face and with a sigh, turned to face the dirty dishes in the sink. Seiji took the container and stuffed as much spaghetti into it as he could. He grabbed two pieces of leftover rolls from dinner and wrapped them in a napkin before setting both the container of spaghetti and rolls aside. The younger boy snatched yet another container into which he to put the remaining portion of spaghetti and then shoved it uncaringly into the refrigerator. Rolling up the sleeves on his long-sleeved t-shirt, he joined his brother in the silent ritual of washing dishes.
-----
By the time they finished washing the dishes and cleaning the counters and table of the kitchen, it was late. Kasumi, Tofu and Michiko had gone home, as did Nabiki and Kuno. Soun retired to his room for the night, and their mother was sitting quietly, watching an American made-for-TV movie. It was a normal Saturday night for their family.
Seiji snuck upstairs with the food (with a fork, of course), as his brother distracted their mother with questions about the show she was watching. It would be better if they did not have to explain why they were sneaking food into their room after they had an alarmingly large meal only an hour before. At dinner, their mother had commented on their increasing appetites, wondering aloud where they had gotten such bottom-less pits for stomachs, which earned a knowing smile from Kasumi and Tofu, though they hid it well. It would be better to keep this a secret for now.
The boy managed to escape to his room without any incidents. He quietly walked into his darkened room and saw a figure sitting patiently on his bed. Grinning, the boy switched on the light to reveal his grinning father with a small bundle of bright colored paper and ribbon sitting quietly next to him. Seiji handed the meal to his father and got comfortable on the floor again while the man all but inhaled the food. The boy closed his eyes and was almost lulled to sleep by the rhythmic chomping sounds the Ranma made.
"That was delicious!" the man said, smacking his lips in appreciation. He turned his attention toward his son, "Who made it?"
Seiji cracked open an eye and looked at his father expectantly, "Mom, of course."
Ranma blinked a few times. "She made this?" he said with utter disbelief. His hand flew to his stomach, and his other hand tentatively felt his forehead. "But I didn't die!" the old man said quietly as he gazed at the empty bowl, earning a chuckle from his son who had propped himself on one of his elbows to watch his father's skepticism in action.
"There's a lot that you've missed since you've been gone, Dad," Seiji said quietly, gazing at his father who was still staring at his empty bowl. "She's as good as Aunt Kasumi, and maybe even better!" Seiji was very proud of his mother's exquisite cooking skills and grinned widely to prove it.
"Yeah, it is pretty great, isn't it?" Sano said as he quietly crossed the room to sit on the bed next to his father.
"Where did she learn the cook like this?" Ranma asked, his curiosity shining once more. "She used to be a horrible cook! I always thought I would die if I ate anything she made!"
Seiji was first to jump to his mother's defense. "I bet you never gave her a chance, Dad. She has always been a great cook!"
"I remember when her food was inedible," Sano added from the bed. He had shifted his position and sprawled his body across the bed, hugging a pillow to his body. "It was horrible, actually. I remember crying whenever Mom went to the kitchen!" the boy chuckled in reply to his scowling brother. Time to appease the little monster. "But she has gotten better since that cooking lesson she had with Aunt Kasumi." Seiji smiled brightly. "It's been great ever since."
"Wow," Ranma joked thoughtfully, "this is almost enough to make me want to stay with you guys!"
Sano and Seiji's eyes widened with surprise, glittering dramatically with unshed tears of joy. Their dad was going to stay! Oh, happy days!
Ranma looked at his sons' widened and joy filled eyes suspiciously. The reasons he had told them earlier had still yet to sink in. Gods, I shouldn't have stayed away for so long, he thought painfully. This is what I get for letting them stay under her influence for so long: a lot of thick headedness. The older man sighed and waited for the unnecessary glittering to stop.
"Would you really stay with us?" Sano asked hopefully, the unshed tear look gone from his face.
"If Mom gets better then you can stay, right?" Seiji added with more hope in his voice and more unshed tears glittering in his eyes.
"Stop it, Seiji! You're gonna make me lose my dinner!" Ranma said in mock disgust, a pink tongue poking through his frowning lips. Sano laughed loudly at his brother as Seiji glared at his father. In a huff, the youngest crossed his arms and pouted on the floor.
Sano's laughs quieted slowly as the boy attempted to calm himself. He ignored his indignant brother and shifted his attention toward his father. "What are you doing next week, uh, Wednesday, Dad?"
After careful consideration of the question, Ranma decided it was safe enough to answer, "Nothing," but as an afterthought asked why.
Sano had thought carefully about how to get his father to agree to go to the Career Day assembly and give a speech. "Well, since you are the World Champion Martial Artist," the boy stated gesturing to the posters around Seiji's room, "we thought that it would be great if you spoke to our school about it."
Ranma broke out a very wide grin and puffed out his chest.
I knew inflating his pride would do the trick, Sano smirked to himself, trying very hard not to laugh.
"So you will?" Seiji asked enthusiastically. Ranma sat on the bed quietly, and after waiting a few minutes (just to make his sons sweat it out, of course) he nodded once. Seiji and Sano cheered enthusiastically, and were quickly shushed by their father.
"You two do want me to get caught here, don't you?" the two boys' father asked suspiciously, his question greeted by gales of laughter. Irritated by their obvious evil-ness, Ranma walked toward the window, ignoring the two boys' weak protests for him to stop because they were just kidding and did not really want him to leave so soon after arriving.
"Ah, dad! Leaving so soon?" Seiji half-whined in the general direction of the window. His eyes were full of unshed tears of laughter, and the boy began hiccupping soon after the question, sending both him and his brother further into their mirth.
"I'm going to visit your grandmother," Ranma stated, eyebrows raised as he watched his sons laughing hysterically. It did not seem that they would stop soon, and the man shook his head sadly, holding his head in his hand and muttering to himself about leaving alone too long with their mother. "I'll be back soon, kids!"
Seiji burst through his gleeful state and shouted that there were no baby goats present, but Sano shushed him, much to the younger boy's dismay. Their father had disappeared through the window again and into the quiet night.
"Well, that went well," Sano said, calming down slowly, "don't you think?"
"Yeah, well, he didn't have to call us kids," Seiji said sulking, the word rolling off his tongue with utter contempt.
"A small setback, I'm sure," Sano supposed. Ignoring his brother's sputtering of indignation, the older boy continued eyes focused on the small gift-wrapped present sitting quietly on Seiji's bed, "Besides, he left us something to take care of." Sano gently lifted the package to his eye level and inspected it without obviously hurting the colorful paper and ribbon.
"What do you think it is?" Seiji inquired, his former irritable self vanishing quickly. The younger boy poked the box but nothing happened, and he shrugged, curiosity satiated.
"Well, it's gotta be something nice since he went out to get it." Sano looked at the box strangely, "Though I don't think he left it here on purpose."
Seiji shrugged once more, uninterested, and reclined on his bed, hands pillowing his head.
Sano continued on, ignoring his brother's obvious loss of attention, "At least our plan is in motion now. They will meet soon, and we will be a family again."
Sano sighed, tossing the gift to his brother when he opened his eyes. Seiji caught it at the last moment and let out a breath of air he did not realize he was holding.
"See you tomorrow, little brother."
"G'night."
-----
Akane looked toward the ceiling, smiling as she heard the laughter of her sons. Kasumi and her family, and Nabiki and Kuno have all gone home for the night, Ryouga wandered to the dojo and Soun retired for the night, leaving the woman sitting on a zabuton and alone in her living room. The television kept her company though, as she wrapped herself in a sturdy faded yellow blanket and American sitcoms with Japanese subtitles. A cup of hot green tea sat on an elegantly decorated black coaster on the table next to her, whispering softly to her untrained ear. It told her to listen more closely that there was a third voice with her sons. The walls recognized the voice, rejoicing at the familiar happy sound. The voice quietly whispered in her ear to listen intently but was too hushed to register properly.
Sighing, Akane snuggled further into the blanket and grabbed the steaming cup of tea, gently cradling it to her cold body. Ignoring the bright colors flowing steadily from the television set, she reflected upon what her family (and Ryouga, she thought sullenly) had told her earlier that day: about her lack of memories from her past and her long-lost husband who had disappeared long ago shortly after the accident. She scoffed quietly at the thought of Ranma Saotome being her husband, and of them happily married after years of chasing each other. Though she could not put her finger on it, she doubted the story ended there.
The woman drummed her fingers against the hot cup of tea, and then quickly placed it back upon the coaster on the table as it hissed in indignation of her rough handling. A hot tear rolled down her cheek, and her hand flew toward her face to wipe hastily at the offensive tear away. She wondered quietly why she would be crying if she undoubtedly knew she could never have married such a conceited and arrogant jerk like Ranma Saotome.
She knew of him through her sons' blatant obsession. Akane was usually forced to sit through hour long fighting spectacles where the man with the pigtail and shocking blue eyes would always win. She usually scoffed at this, waving off his countless number of wins to the way the fights were rigged. Though whenever he had a close up or they announced his newest victory, she couldn't help but smile inwardly and be incredibly proud of his accomplishment. This was usually followed by an hour of berating herself, telling her self that there was absolutely no way she could have known Ranma Saotome.
She shivered. Just thinking of the name made a cold feeling creep quickly up her spine, and this moment was not unlike the other times she thought of him, trying to hid her movement. She did not let her family know that deep down she knew they were right, and she would have to face up to her unknown wild past.
Softly, she reached for the remote and turned off the noisy box that was advertising a new cleaning agent for wooden floors. Akane rose from her seated position, folding the blanket and placing it in the corner. After straightening the room and putting her tea away in the kitchen, she shuffled toward the stairs. Grabbing the railing, she gasped. A hand flew to her temple, and if the banister had not been there, she was sure she would have collapsed noisily, unnecessarily grabbing her sons' attention.
Akane pulled herself to the first step, sweat beading down her unmarred forehead, and sat unsteadily, still gripping the post with white knuckles. She reigned her breathing to calm, and she could feel her heart beat slow to a steadier and more normal pace. Her thoughts raced through her head, yelling to be brought to her immediate attention. Undaunted by her stream of thoughts, she forcefully pushed them all back and focused on calming herself. After a few minutes and another gale of laughter from above, she stood on sturdy legs and turned toward the stairs. Taking a big breath, she told herself she could handle walking up the stairs that she was sure she had once run up and down in her childhood.
Akane trudged up the stairs with no more complications and stopped at Seiji's closed door. She placed her cool hand upon the Western-styled door. It was a simple door, nothing more than a slab of wood and a shiny doorknob. Smiling to herself, she let her hand drop from the door and turned to glide to the bathroom where she contemplated more on her memory problem and her newest discovery of her past.
When she finished, she wandered to her room down the hall. She opened her door and sighed. She moved toward her dresser and proceeded to get her nightclothes, a pant and shirt set Kasumi had bought her for her last birthday. It was a soft yellow, covered in small ducklings facing many directions. It made her smile when she first received it, and tonight was no different. The pajamas gave her a feeling of security, something she lacked these few past weeks. She crawled under her covers of her queen-sized bed and pulled them up to her chin. She looked to the empty space on her left, feeling the cold space with her warm hand and drifted to dreamland wondering what it would be like for someone to share the bed with her.
-----
Ranma squatted above his wife's window and sat patiently until the lamp flickered off. He hoped that none of the neighbors would think he was a burglar, though he dismissed the thought soon after it flitted through his mind. If his memory served him correctly, she would fall asleep within minutes after making herself comfortable in their large bed.
Our bed, Ranma thought painfully.
The old man fixated his feet so he could hang from the roof safely and open the oiled window to his old room with ease. Looking around, he saw that nothing had changed much. The bed sat near the window, and the desk he had gotten her shortly after they wed was still standing proudly adjacent to the closet door. A plain-looking book lay strewn on the desk, the cover quietly taunting his to open it and see what was written inside, but he quickly dismissed the thought, turning his attention to the sleeping woman. Carefully, like a thief, he crept toward the beautiful sleeping figure of his wife.
He stood over her, a smile creeping on his face, and his hand reached toward her cheek to brush away a lock of hair that had fallen out of her loose ponytail. She seemed to react to his touch positively as she snuggled closer to the warmth of his hand. He grinned at the thought of her subconsciously remembering him, and he knew that all was not lost. Ranma bent toward his wife and gave her a lingering kiss on the same cheek he had touched, and she smiled and shifted toward him in her sleep. His smile became wider as he remembered that if she ever caught him in their high school days, the accusatory ring of Pervert! would ring through the night, and she would knock him clear across half of Nerima.
The digital clock that sat on a nightstand next to her side of the bed changed and caught his attention. Sadly, he knew he had to leave her. Again. It pained his heart, but he knew the time was not now. He would return to her when he knew it was safe, when she would not be put through needless pain anymore. Like a cat, Ranma moved toward the opened window. Besides, if she woke up and he was here, then he would be taking another trip clear across Nerima. Smiling at the thought, he sat on the window ledge to gaze at the sleeping woman once more before he turned to leave.
He hesitated and, throwing caution in the wind, he whispered an I love you in her general direction before vaulting to the roof and gently closing the window so she would not get sick. He moved too swiftly, though because he did not hear her softly call to him.
She had breathed an I love you, Ranma, and shifted in her peaceful, dreamless sleep.
-----
For the next week, the household ran smoothly. No one brought up the subject of Akane's lost memories or her husband. She went through her weekly routine of cooking and going to work. When she returned home, she would do some chores and then start dinner for her two ravenous sons. Nothing disturbed her comfort zone.
Ryouga tried to impress her time after time, but the woman constantly told him to get lost, so halfway through the week, he did just that, and no one had seen him since. Kasumi dropped by with her family every few days to have dinner with her little sister and her nephews, but Nabiki and Kuno were always busy, though they both promised to stop by on Sunday.
Sano and Seiji were more quiet than usual, though no one noticed. They were thinking of all the great things that would happen when their father was finally allowed to stay with them. Consequently, Seiji was so excited that he told some of his friends from Furikan that Ranma Saotome agreed to talk at their Career Day celebration. The information spread like wildfire, and soon posters among posters decorated the lively halls of the school. During breaks, fascinating and exaggerated stories of the great martial artist were told, and even more fabrications made. Sano just shook his head when he found that his brother was the source of all of their father's free publicity. Hopefully, things would cool down by Wednesday.
-----
[End chapter four]
A/n: Kami, it took me forever to get this chapter out, and I'm incredibly sorry for the delay! Two months is a very long time. TT;; Yup, but I do hope you have enjoyed this seemingly short chapter, though I made it longer than I initially planned on writing it. It has two extra scenes, too! :D Mmhmm, so now I'm gonna start working on [Chapter five] right after I eat breakfast!
Jya!