Ranma... not mine... but not yours either...
I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has been critiquing my work and who have enjoyed the story so far. All this is apprechated.
Chapter 3
Setting her foot firmly on the path...
Nodoka Saotome had spent the morning pruning some of her flowers in her garden. As lackluster as her days have been, the rose garden had been something of a relief for her for the past recent days. The stress of not seeing her son, but having him so close to home was almost unbearable. She wiped the sweat off of her brow as she worked on her garden in full earnest. Only her mind was on her son, and the rage that she had felt for Gemna for taking her son away from her. She forced herself, in recent days, not to think of the contract that she had forced onto the two of them before they had left 10 years ago. It was her disciple alone that kept Soun alive when he lied to her about Ranma's whereabouts. But, what was Ranma so afraid of that he couldn't see her again.
She found herself recounting the first time that she found out that Ranma had returned to Tokyo. She remembered the heartache she felt when they had suddenly gone on a 'training trip'. Did Genma want to keep her son away from her? That in of itself was intolerable to say the least. Then there was Ranko Tendo, such a sweet young woman, almost like a daughter, and more like what her son would be if he had been with them. What a tomboy she was, Nodoka thought to herself, and her pet panda that was one well trained animal.
There was one other thing that stuck out in her mind, the accident at the hot water spring. If it hadn't been for Ranko she would have been seriously hurt, but why did the hands feel larger... more manly... how was it that Ranko had no breasts at the time that she had saved her. She also could never gotten it out of her head a very male voice calling out for his mother. So many questions left her empty and heart broken.
A ringing of the phone brought her out of her sad thoughts. Quietly she resisted the urge to cut the bushes down with one swipe of her katana, and got up to answer the phone inside.
"Saotome residence." She answered as politely as possible.
"Auntie Saotome?" the voice on the other side answered, "This is Kasumi, can I talk to you for a moment?"
Her smile on the phone faltered a bit. Nodoka forgave the Tendo children for supporting Soun's blatant lie to her, after all they were being dutiful daughters. This did not mean that she would let this slight slide forever, "Of course, I have all the time you need." Nodoka could have sworn there was a tension from the eldest daughters voice, something was brewing.
"I really can't talk to you over the phone about this, um, I need to talk to you about Ranma sometime today." Kasumi continued as if someone had release some pressure from her. "It is about the engagements." She immediately chided herself for making the slip of multiple engagements.
Nodoka paused for a moment, 'Engagements', she thought wildly, 'as in more then one?' Composing herself after another moment of rage she started, "I see..." and biting back another question, "I assume you'll want to meet somewhere outside of your house?" As much as she resisted the voice came out a bit more colder then she wanted to, as her hand had slid to the hilt of her katana.
Kasumi noticed the chilling change in Auntie's voice as she realized what had been said. Swallowing up the courage to continue and keeping in mind what needed to be said, "Yes, you are correct. How about your house in a few hours?"
'She's brave enough to come to the loin's den.' Nodoka thought silently, "Very well, I will expect you before the end of the morning." Nodoka didn't want to continue this short conversation any longer than necessary. Fortunately neither it seemed did Kasumi.
"Thank you very much, I will be there as soon as possible, Nodoka" For some reason 'Auntie' just didn't seem very appropriate at the moment. There was a hint of something else in Ranma's mother's voice, was it the slip that caused it? Kasumi was not sure if the tone was there at the beginning of the conversation, but not wanting to unravel before the meeting, she went to the furo to relax a bit before leaving.
As she stepped in she wondered to herself, how am I going to begin to lay the foundation to save Ranma's life? How would she handle Shampoo, Ukyo or even goodness forbid if Akane saw Kasumi as a threat? Would Cologne or Nodoka give any insight to the way to easy the path of honor for Ranma, or would they even try? Most importantly, why did Ranma confide in HER to help him out?
Half a city away Nodoka began the same movements though for different reasons. Why was it Kasumi the one who would bring such things up? Did Soun not have enough willpower to be able to control what was going on inside his own home? What fool thing has Genma done to bring such seething disgrace to the Clan? The one most important thing that stuck out in her mind was where did her beloved son, Ranma, fit into all of this, and how would she protect him if it came down to a question of honor?
'Too many questions, and not enough hints for answers', they both mused to themselves as they took their individual soaks. They both imagined a life without Ranma and both suddenly felt a slight chill, even in the warm waterfilled furo. Surprising the chill could be felt thoughout the know population of Nerima.
Steeling herself, Kasumi realized that there was little time to relax as the morning commute would be a long one. She got out of the furo and changed into some of her spring clothing and as she left taking a bundle and slinging it over her shoulder. She didn't bother to call out to her father, as to not raise suspicion, instead leaving a note that she was taking a walk and would be gone until afternoon.
Quickly she made her way to the train station and left for her destination.
In another part of Nerima, there was one other who felt the ominous stirrings, and this was something that concerned even the Elder of the Amazons. Most calamities that happened in Nerima usually came without a guise or a tremor, but with a force that would make most earthquakes proud. Cologne gave a slight chuckle, it had to be son-in-law's doing, she thought. Not because Ranma was a troublemaker, trouble just seemed to find him and promptly drop him in the center of whatever chaos was happening. Closing her eyes she meditated on the uneasiness and realized why she was so alarmed, there was no sign of chaos anywhere in the air. This became more frightening because it had such a low and hidden feeling to it, yet the feeling of uneasiness was still in the air. The slight smile drifted into a frown as she also noticed the approach of her eager grand daughter. Shampoo's bubbly personality was causing a disruption upon the feeling, and was preventing the elder to peer into the subtleties of what was directing such a dreadful feeling. With a deep breath she broke her concentration and turned her attention upon the younger amazon.
"Shampoo, come here for a moment." Cologne said pointing at a nearby chair. "There is something I want to show you."
Immediately Shampoo complied. 'Is this a lesson?' she thought to herself, "Yes, great-grandmother?" She cursed her voice as it once again betrayed her seemingly lack of knowledge in Japanese. She swore that she'd date Muu Tzu for a chance at more Japanese lessons so that she could at least get the pronouns right. If nothing else she wouldn't sound like she had candy in her mouth running around on a sugar high. Composing herself for a moment and sweeping those thoughts out of her mind she turned her attention back to her beloved grandmother.
Cologne did not reprimand her for losing focus, not yet at least. "All I want you to do right now is sit there, close your eyes and tell me what you see." She knew what would probably be the first thing that she would say, but still gave Shampoo the benefit of the doubt.
Clearing her mind the best she could, Shampoo centered herself and concentrated. Reaching out with her feelings she latched onto the first familiar, and most loved person that she could feel, "Ranma! I felt Ranma!" She almost cried out as she snapped back out of her trance. This of course earned a painful pop to the back of the head.
"I said concentrate and CLEAR your mind." Cologne chided, though sympathetic to the young one. "Your love is strong, I know but there is something... ominous out there, and I need you to ... assist me in locating it." 'And perhaps learn a thing or two from this experience.' she amended silently.
The pain subsided, and Shampoo once again closed her eyes and concentrated. This time she resisted the temptation to 'feel up' Ranma again (though in the recesses of her mind there was a certain thrill to what she did) and instead focused her mind on her grandmother. Using her as a guide, Shampoo felt herself become one with the world around her, and for once she struggled. The chaos that was flowing though the area was immense. As she struggled she used her grandmother's guidance to hold herself together. She could start to sense emotions, not only in people but how they became interwoven in a mesh of conflicts and interests that seemed to stream in an endless array of patterns. It was daunting and confusing and it was all that she could do to keep from fading into the colorful mesh that called for her. How did such conflicting feelings bind themselves together? She thought as the sensation began to confuse her even more so then before. Feeling overwhelmed she reached back out to her great grandmother to discover that she was no longer there.
Horrified and fearful, she struggled in the sea of emotions, as if trying to swim in water for the first time to keep from drowning. Shampoo gave the ultimate effort to reach into the recesses of her mind to bring herself back home again. Her grip of herself became firmer as she could feel her body calling back to her. Shampoo, as she began to awake and feel herself back in order felt something... something odd within the chaos. It was misplaced, yet she couldn't feel where it was coming from. Whatever it was somehow it had to do with herself, grandmother, and...
"Ranma?" She gasped as she came out of her trance. There was not a trace of her bubbliness that usually came with the name, the voice itself was laced with fear and anxiety. Looking questionably at great grandmother she said nothing and only listened to Cologne's lecture.
"What you have done is placed yourself on the first step of awareness that you need to have to become an Elder. It is simply called the mind's eye." Cologne began, "It isn't a trick or a technique that is to be mastered such as martial arts, it is something that is within all of us. A 'sixth' sense as some would call it. There is very little I can do to explain what it is other then a warning that you much go into such a trance with the clearest of minds and the strongest of hearts for without it you could become lost in the cyclone of emotions."
Shampoo gave an exclamation as she asked, "Great Grandmother, Shampoo not know why Shampoo almost lose herself."
"It is simply because your not ready to do such a thing alone." Cologne answered, "At least not yet. One of the components of being able to survive the experience is the 'Soul of Ice' which is the same technique the son-in-law has mastered, though I truly doubt that he would survive such an experience with all of the emotions that he has steeled within himself." Then continued, "He would basically explode from the experience. That is why I have never tried to make you contain your feelings, and yet tried to guide you to a discipline that would allow you to use the Soul of Ice effectively when you were ready to use the Mind's Eye. Now, I'll give you a lesson soon enough, I just wanted to know what it was that you felt when you were opened with the Mind's Eye."
Slowly, Shampoo told her, not leaving out the details of fear and anxiety that she felt when she was alone. Surprisingly to Shampoo this didn't illicit any more then a nod from her grandmother. As she finished she noticed the glint of concern in Cologne's eye when she talked about the displacement of feelings.
"As I feared, something is amiss." the Elder replied, "and if your right it has something to do with everyone in Nerima. I fear child there is nothing to do now but to contemplate what the problem might become. Come, its almost time to open the cafe'." Just as quickly as the lesson began, it ended, leaving Shampoo more then a little confused.
Meanwhile at Furinkan High School, Nabiki Tendo found herself in her normal place in the morning, dragging Kuno's tattered hide into the nurse's office. With a nod from the nurse Nabiki simply flopped the kendoist's body on to the nearest bed. 'Why oh why do I put up with your poetic stupid crap.' she thought irritably to herself. 'Its not like I could get the yen off of you with pictures of my sister or help studying. Why have I more often then not gone into the routine of watching over you instead of just leaving you the bill and walking away?'
She knew the answer as she watched his prone form, 'Because, before Akane came you were spewing that poetic crap at me... before when I use to like it... before you started descending even further into your 'condition'.' Once again the tear threatened, and once again Nabiki's iron will disallowed the tears to fall. They would come later... at night, when no one was watching. For now business needed to be dealt with. "Come on Kuno, its almost time for first period." She took a nearby basin and clocked Kuno awake with it.
"Gah, the foul sorcerer has once again used his foul magic to shield himself from my wrath." Kuno exclaimed as he looked over at Nabiki. "You need not use your trickery to awaken the Blue Thunder, I was merely contemplating on the way to defeating Saotome."
'Oh goodie, we get to see him get beaten for the second time today.' "Come on Kuno-baby." Nabiki said struggling the urge not to clock Kuno harder with the basin, "The English Test is today and I need you for an... experiment, for my Business Class."
"What foul demoness plot have you this time to lift the yen from my hands." Kuno said, he could not understand why he was dealing with such a nuisance. There was only the fragment of a reminder of something that was in the past. But the present called, and the future with Akane, and the Pigtailed-Girl pressed such matters away as he looked sternly at Nabiki.
"Oh I can do that anytime", she answered playfully. "I'm just wanting a partner in an experimental business, and since no one else wants to be your partner I thought I would graciously lend you my support in the endeavor... for a small fee of course."
"The heavens would weep for such a partnership," Kuno answered, yet not rejecting the idea entirely. "If only to show my prowess in the art of business, I will show everyone the the Blue Thunder is not only the greatest Kendoist of Japan, but as well a shrewd man of business."
"Good then over lunch we can hammer out the details", Nabiki answered as they shook on the 'deal'. It was not much, but for now this was the closest that she would get to her friend for a while.
Kuno, with the air of arrogance, walked the hallways. He was dismissing the idea that Nabiki had any other interests other then monetary toward himself. Unaware that looks that Nabiki stole from him.
Still, Nabiki couldn't quite get this morning out of her mind. Ranma was up to something, and now that enough caffeine had punched through the mind fog of the morning, she realized that Kasumi must have been mixed up in his calamity somehow. 'Damn it Saotome, Kasumi was off limits.', she fumed as it was an unspoken rule in the household. Kasumi, she should have been in college by now doing something worthwhile. Nabiki was in the mist of finding someway to either convince Ranma to take over the Dojo (even to the point of paying for his education) or convince her Father to move to an apartment and give some of the profit of the sale as the dowry to the 'happy' couple dividing the rest to everyone's further education.
Whatever Ranma was up to if he harmed Kasumi in anyway there wouldn't be a technique known to martial artists that would protect him from her wrath.
"Tendo?" Kuno looked at his averous adversary through the slits of his eyelids, "I will do so. Merely because it would be less expensive then to come to you later. Tendo? Are ye listening to me?" She had been acted oddly, even for such a demoness.
"Yes, I hear you fine Kuno-baby." Nabiki sighed, she didn't feel like taunting her favorite mark any further. Kasumi was too much in the forefront of her mind.
TBC...
Next time: Rewind... Replay...