Chapter 2 : And the Fathers…
It's not like it was unexpected : they hadn't been particularly silent during some of their 'celebrations', and when they FINALLY came (no pun intended) out of the bedroom a few days later… They had a white dress and matching tuxedo waiting for them, a fully decorated dojo complete with priest… It was also the first western-style wedding in memory where the bride didn't walk to the aisle with her groom waiting for her, but rather ran to it alongside him, both pushed by over enthusiastic parents.
The priest wasn't that standard either : in under thirty seconds, he had pronounced the usual greetings, and when it came to the telling of the vows by the two bewildered youths in front of him, it was something like this :
"You take him/her as your spouseprotecthim/herinpovertyandrichessyadda yadda yadda?"
"Huh/Wha…?"
"I'll take that as a yes! Now let me present you Mr. and Mrs. Saotome!"
Standing ovation from hastily gathered family and closest neighbors.
"Now where's the sake? Speaking so fast has gotten me thirsty…" And the priest walked off, heading towards an already plastered Genma swinging a wailing Soun around (ever heard of Doppler effect? Well, it was a perfect demonstration of it – with twin sprinklers added in bonus).
It was during the slightly damper than usual ensuing meal that Soun stopped sobbing for a while, and started on a speech that got more and more slurred and hacked by sobs.
"My baby daugob daughter's all grown up!! wail Finally we'll get a proper heir to the dojo Saotomhic Saotome my friend!"
Now Akane should have been terminally embarrassed by that time, which should have led her to anger and then fast negation, saying why should she do something with Ranma…?!
The guy who had popped her cherry several months before and with who she'd been found enacting carnal acts so intense Kasumi had asked her how could she put her ankles THAT way… Ok, an heir it is. But not now!
Wait… PROPER heir?!
And that veil, only partially lifted, imposed itself in her mind once again, along with that deep feeling of angst in her belly. And, instead of a flustered then angry Akane, Soun's words made her utter a soft yet heart-wrenching moan, her eyes teared up, and not understanding why, she flung herself in the arms of a flabbergasted Ranma.
This caught the attention of everybody at the table, except Soun and Nabiki's : the latter cast a look so cold at her father that he should have disappeared from the very fabric of reality, but he matched hers with an uncharacteristically hard gaze. One that said that he had done what he had to.
Akane had been taken by Ranma up to their now common room (there was a rearing stallion under the duck on the door now), still crying softly. When she finally became coherent enough, she had told him that herself didn't know where that had come from… And she told him about the veil and her gut feelings since he came back.
"Something's not right here Akane. I wonder…"
Akane watched him expectantly, her teary eyes clearing up as Ranma's face set itself in determination.
"You should really not wear makeup. You're too set in your tomboyish ways to start now, even your body reacts badly to it."
This got him a banging.
"And anyway, I prefer you like this : I'm so much of a man I need a tomboy for a wife : all the others had no chance to get me. I love my tomboy too much."
That got him another kind of banging.
One that was soon followed by another, on the wall, by an irate Nabiki requiring her beauty sleep.
Feminine retribution enacted, Ranma resumed.
"Something's wrong though. And this kinda effects are more Chinese than I'm comfortable with."
Akane nodded once then caught him in a death grip before falling asleep. Ranma stayed awake a little while longer, slowly caressing her silky blue-black hair.
They got up early, spared a bit (Genma was still too plastered to move), bathed (fun!) and got dressed. Then they headed to the Nekohanten.
Only to find it gone, replaced by a burger joint.
They asked the new owner how long had he been there.
"Only for a few days, the previous tenants were obviously in a hurry. The building contractors are the fastest I've ever seen : they added anti seismic so fast you'd think all of Japan's earthquakes were centered here."
This had a slight sweat-drop running behind Akane's head, while a larger one could be found behind Ranma's. The owner kept talking though.
"I've seen them only once, an old crone balancing on a stick, while the guy was packing tremendous amounts of things in small boxes and the girl helped him by throwing him furniture he packed instantly – only stopping to take care of their child."
"Huh? Mousse and Shampoo had a child while I was off?" Ranma said, "I dunno if Mousse's lucky or signed his death sentence."
"I don't remember, Ranma… Now that I think about it, I just don't know what became of all your fiancées after you left either."
"Oh well. One less thing to take care of. Let's head to doc Tofu's then, I've heard he's back from his trip."
"Hello Ranma, hello Akane! I've heard congratulations are in order. What brings you by?"
"Hey Doc! Well, we wanted to see you, it's been a long time since you were last here. You're back for good?"
"I hope so."
"Doctor Tofu, there's another reason we came here…" Akane stopped talking, thinking about how to explain it.
"Don't worry Akane, I've got everything you'd need to take care of that."
"What? You really have?"
"Well, birth control isn't that uncommon in Japan nowadays, Akane."
Blushes.
"It's not that, Doc. Akane's lost her mindWHACK"
"I can't remember what happened the last eight months or so, Doctor. And thank you, I had my sisters taking care of the… other thing you mentioned."
Tofu looked at the moving pretzel Ranma had become, wondering if there was a cure to the foot in mouth disease, before focusing on what Akane had said.
"Well, let me take a look at you Akane. Follow me into the examination room, if you please?"
A recovered Ranma was hovering near Akane, while Tofu examined her head. Everything was normal, except for something…
"Do you remember the Xi Fa Xiang Gao technique Akane?"
"Yes Doctor, even the time Shampoo applied it now."
"How had you recovered from it?"
Ranma looked away uncomfortably and started whistling.
"Ranma MADE me remember."
"Humm… Pure will restoration, then."
"Yes, so?"
Tofu sat back on a chair.
"Well, the Xi Fa Xiang Gao works by bypassing a memory block, preventing the conscious mind from accessing it. For something unimportant, it is pretty much erasing it in a few days. For something more important, it takes longer; if the mind can access it one way or another, through psychosomatic methods or ingrained reflexes, that block can be felt, and if the will is strong enough, removed. Now, it's like everything else : the more you do it, the better you get at it. And since the Xi Fa Xiang Gao requires enormous will to be removed, one successful attempt is enough to learn how to do that."
"But I tried to lift the veil many times, and I could only remember a few things…"
"My guess is, the technique was applied more strongly this time around. Maybe a better practitioner…"
Ranma and Akane looked at each other.
"Cologne…"
Tofu added, "I'm pretty sure of it. Shampoo's technique was good, but she's not used to shiatsu enough to perform it flawlessly. Luckily, what I said before is still true, and because your mind already knows what will happen if I release your pent-up memories, I can unlock it directly without risking an aneurysm."
So saying, Tofu rose behind the table where Akane was laying, he signed Ranma to hold onto her, and then applied his fingers all around her forehead and temples, his thumbs poised on the top of her head. He pushed once, using some ki in his action. Instantly, Akane's eyes glazed over, she looked around the room without seeing it for a few seconds then started crying.
"My baby… They took her from me…" Akane latched onto a frozen Ranma and started crying like a lost soul.
Tofu shook his head once, half in disbelief and half in anger. Nothing angered him more than seeing formidable techniques used in such despicable ways. Genma for example was bad enough, although he relented from using the most devastating and limited himself to ridiculous (yet effective) ones, but Cologne had just joined Happosai in his up till now very limited Black List.
"We would better make sure."
Tofu was getting angry by the second. After Ranma managed to calm Akane down, he had her strip down to her underwear and looked at her waist.
Stretch marks.
Since Jusendo played with Akane's body a lot (being reduced to a 1/18th scale then inflated again), he asked her for a more thorough exam. Since he had been Akane's gynecologist before he left, the only one feeling really embarrassed here was Ranma. Tofu on his side could see they REALLY were newlyweds, and very energetic at that. But he doubted that even Ranma could cause such elasticity to appear in Akane's body : she definitely had given birth.
But then, she should have suffered some other aftereffects, such as increased bust size and body weariness. Some explanations came from Akane :
"I kept practicing Tai Chi up till the last week, and used mild electrostimulation on my muscles."
Further examination made him discover that Akane's lactation had been stopped using shiatsu. He could disable them easily, but first he needed to know what Ranma and Akane intended to do.
The answer was firm and set in stone.
"We'll get her back."
It's not like it was unexpected : they hadn't been particularly silent during some of their 'celebrations', and when they FINALLY came (no pun intended) out of the bedroom a few days later… They had a white dress and matching tuxedo waiting for them, a fully decorated dojo complete with priest… It was also the first western-style wedding in memory where the bride didn't walk to the aisle with her groom waiting for her, but rather ran to it alongside him, both pushed by over enthusiastic parents.
The priest wasn't that standard either : in under thirty seconds, he had pronounced the usual greetings, and when it came to the telling of the vows by the two bewildered youths in front of him, it was something like this :
"You take him/her as your spouseprotecthim/herinpovertyandrichessyadda yadda yadda?"
"Huh/Wha…?"
"I'll take that as a yes! Now let me present you Mr. and Mrs. Saotome!"
Standing ovation from hastily gathered family and closest neighbors.
"Now where's the sake? Speaking so fast has gotten me thirsty…" And the priest walked off, heading towards an already plastered Genma swinging a wailing Soun around (ever heard of Doppler effect? Well, it was a perfect demonstration of it – with twin sprinklers added in bonus).
It was during the slightly damper than usual ensuing meal that Soun stopped sobbing for a while, and started on a speech that got more and more slurred and hacked by sobs.
"My baby daugob daughter's all grown up!! wail Finally we'll get a proper heir to the dojo Saotomhic Saotome my friend!"
Now Akane should have been terminally embarrassed by that time, which should have led her to anger and then fast negation, saying why should she do something with Ranma…?!
The guy who had popped her cherry several months before and with who she'd been found enacting carnal acts so intense Kasumi had asked her how could she put her ankles THAT way… Ok, an heir it is. But not now!
Wait… PROPER heir?!
And that veil, only partially lifted, imposed itself in her mind once again, along with that deep feeling of angst in her belly. And, instead of a flustered then angry Akane, Soun's words made her utter a soft yet heart-wrenching moan, her eyes teared up, and not understanding why, she flung herself in the arms of a flabbergasted Ranma.
This caught the attention of everybody at the table, except Soun and Nabiki's : the latter cast a look so cold at her father that he should have disappeared from the very fabric of reality, but he matched hers with an uncharacteristically hard gaze. One that said that he had done what he had to.
Akane had been taken by Ranma up to their now common room (there was a rearing stallion under the duck on the door now), still crying softly. When she finally became coherent enough, she had told him that herself didn't know where that had come from… And she told him about the veil and her gut feelings since he came back.
"Something's not right here Akane. I wonder…"
Akane watched him expectantly, her teary eyes clearing up as Ranma's face set itself in determination.
"You should really not wear makeup. You're too set in your tomboyish ways to start now, even your body reacts badly to it."
This got him a banging.
"And anyway, I prefer you like this : I'm so much of a man I need a tomboy for a wife : all the others had no chance to get me. I love my tomboy too much."
That got him another kind of banging.
One that was soon followed by another, on the wall, by an irate Nabiki requiring her beauty sleep.
Feminine retribution enacted, Ranma resumed.
"Something's wrong though. And this kinda effects are more Chinese than I'm comfortable with."
Akane nodded once then caught him in a death grip before falling asleep. Ranma stayed awake a little while longer, slowly caressing her silky blue-black hair.
They got up early, spared a bit (Genma was still too plastered to move), bathed (fun!) and got dressed. Then they headed to the Nekohanten.
Only to find it gone, replaced by a burger joint.
They asked the new owner how long had he been there.
"Only for a few days, the previous tenants were obviously in a hurry. The building contractors are the fastest I've ever seen : they added anti seismic so fast you'd think all of Japan's earthquakes were centered here."
This had a slight sweat-drop running behind Akane's head, while a larger one could be found behind Ranma's. The owner kept talking though.
"I've seen them only once, an old crone balancing on a stick, while the guy was packing tremendous amounts of things in small boxes and the girl helped him by throwing him furniture he packed instantly – only stopping to take care of their child."
"Huh? Mousse and Shampoo had a child while I was off?" Ranma said, "I dunno if Mousse's lucky or signed his death sentence."
"I don't remember, Ranma… Now that I think about it, I just don't know what became of all your fiancées after you left either."
"Oh well. One less thing to take care of. Let's head to doc Tofu's then, I've heard he's back from his trip."
"Hello Ranma, hello Akane! I've heard congratulations are in order. What brings you by?"
"Hey Doc! Well, we wanted to see you, it's been a long time since you were last here. You're back for good?"
"I hope so."
"Doctor Tofu, there's another reason we came here…" Akane stopped talking, thinking about how to explain it.
"Don't worry Akane, I've got everything you'd need to take care of that."
"What? You really have?"
"Well, birth control isn't that uncommon in Japan nowadays, Akane."
Blushes.
"It's not that, Doc. Akane's lost her mindWHACK"
"I can't remember what happened the last eight months or so, Doctor. And thank you, I had my sisters taking care of the… other thing you mentioned."
Tofu looked at the moving pretzel Ranma had become, wondering if there was a cure to the foot in mouth disease, before focusing on what Akane had said.
"Well, let me take a look at you Akane. Follow me into the examination room, if you please?"
A recovered Ranma was hovering near Akane, while Tofu examined her head. Everything was normal, except for something…
"Do you remember the Xi Fa Xiang Gao technique Akane?"
"Yes Doctor, even the time Shampoo applied it now."
"How had you recovered from it?"
Ranma looked away uncomfortably and started whistling.
"Ranma MADE me remember."
"Humm… Pure will restoration, then."
"Yes, so?"
Tofu sat back on a chair.
"Well, the Xi Fa Xiang Gao works by bypassing a memory block, preventing the conscious mind from accessing it. For something unimportant, it is pretty much erasing it in a few days. For something more important, it takes longer; if the mind can access it one way or another, through psychosomatic methods or ingrained reflexes, that block can be felt, and if the will is strong enough, removed. Now, it's like everything else : the more you do it, the better you get at it. And since the Xi Fa Xiang Gao requires enormous will to be removed, one successful attempt is enough to learn how to do that."
"But I tried to lift the veil many times, and I could only remember a few things…"
"My guess is, the technique was applied more strongly this time around. Maybe a better practitioner…"
Ranma and Akane looked at each other.
"Cologne…"
Tofu added, "I'm pretty sure of it. Shampoo's technique was good, but she's not used to shiatsu enough to perform it flawlessly. Luckily, what I said before is still true, and because your mind already knows what will happen if I release your pent-up memories, I can unlock it directly without risking an aneurysm."
So saying, Tofu rose behind the table where Akane was laying, he signed Ranma to hold onto her, and then applied his fingers all around her forehead and temples, his thumbs poised on the top of her head. He pushed once, using some ki in his action. Instantly, Akane's eyes glazed over, she looked around the room without seeing it for a few seconds then started crying.
"My baby… They took her from me…" Akane latched onto a frozen Ranma and started crying like a lost soul.
Tofu shook his head once, half in disbelief and half in anger. Nothing angered him more than seeing formidable techniques used in such despicable ways. Genma for example was bad enough, although he relented from using the most devastating and limited himself to ridiculous (yet effective) ones, but Cologne had just joined Happosai in his up till now very limited Black List.
"We would better make sure."
Tofu was getting angry by the second. After Ranma managed to calm Akane down, he had her strip down to her underwear and looked at her waist.
Stretch marks.
Since Jusendo played with Akane's body a lot (being reduced to a 1/18th scale then inflated again), he asked her for a more thorough exam. Since he had been Akane's gynecologist before he left, the only one feeling really embarrassed here was Ranma. Tofu on his side could see they REALLY were newlyweds, and very energetic at that. But he doubted that even Ranma could cause such elasticity to appear in Akane's body : she definitely had given birth.
But then, she should have suffered some other aftereffects, such as increased bust size and body weariness. Some explanations came from Akane :
"I kept practicing Tai Chi up till the last week, and used mild electrostimulation on my muscles."
Further examination made him discover that Akane's lactation had been stopped using shiatsu. He could disable them easily, but first he needed to know what Ranma and Akane intended to do.
The answer was firm and set in stone.
"We'll get her back."