DISCLAIMER: I neither own nor make any claim to Ranma Nibunnoichi by Takahashi Rumiko. I just enjoy it. I also enjoy making up stories about the characters. I do not claim to be writing an official continuation of Ranma, if I did I'm sure the laughter alone would cause an earthquake. My characters will have a 'slight' tendency to be considered Out of Character and possibly a bit AU.
If I have spelt something terribly wrong please let me know. I hope you enjoy reading my attempt at writing. If you hate it then the correct option is to simply not read it. This story is fantasy and makes no attempt to be bound by the realities of life; if it did it would not be fantasy or at least not my fantasy.
I write for fun, I will update when I have the next chapter finished. I will do my best to make updates regularly but will only update when I am satisfied that it is ready. Namiko is a composite character of the big sisters of several of my friends and a second grade teacher I knew, most tend to be slightly controlling but in a supportive manner.
Letters is a companion piece or is it the reverse, I have the letters and now I'm trying to write the fill in story. I am hopeless when it come to writing conversations but will hopefully become better at it. I do much prefer using a narrative but some readers have asked for more and I shall try to deliver. If I have made big errors please don't be shy about pointing them out, I'll correct them if I can. I use Microsoft Works with spelling and grammar: English (United Kingdom), I disagree with it at times so errors are likely.
Sorry about the length, I'm not feeling well and it shows. Any help on making this chapter more readable would be appreciated. Pleasedon't hesitate toE-mail me. Numbers in parenthsis refer to foot notes.
Tattered Mist
Chapter 4
Ranko eyed her challenger carefully, Ochi-san was not going to be easy. She carefully began her first move making a bold stroke as she wrote her name at the top of the paper and began to write down what she hoped to accomplish. She maintained the correct posture and hesitated only briefly at points to recall proper phrasing. Twenty minutes later she lay her pen down and passed the paper to Ochi-san, who began to make her own bold marks on it. With each stroke of her pen Ranko could feel the oncoming doom approach. Finally she lay her pen down and smiled, "Very good Ranko-chan, you have a few phrases that are not appropriate and I noted the correct spelling on those you misspelled." She pointed to several places on the paper, "Here and here, I think you should have used different words that may be more descriptive of what you are trying to express. I am really impressed with your penmanship and once you master these words and phrases I think you will do well."
Ranko almost sighed with relief but contained it and bowed respectfully to her sensei. "Thank you Ochi-san. Your praise is much too gracious for my poor effort."
"Nonsense child, you will still have to work on your phrasing until it comes naturally but you are far beyond the minimum you need. These past few days have been a joy to me and I will be here if you have any problems an old lady can help you with. Since you are a martial artist I think you will enjoy reading these. My grandmother had them from her grandmother so do be very gentle with them. This is Miyamoto Musashi's 'Book of Five Rings' and this one is a treatise written by her husband on Sun Tzu's 'Art of War'. Here is modern translations of both so you can compare them and if you have any questions I will be more than pleased to answer to the best of my ability."
Ranko was stunned for a moment and then carefully hugged her. "Sousoba(1), thank you, I will be very gentle with them and I will treasure them and you long after I have read them. You have been very patient with my poor speech and I will endeavour to improve it enough to show you honour."
Kasumi and Namiko came in and after Namiko served tea, joined the conversation. Ochi-san expressed her delight that Namiko was going to be a teacher and shared stories of her class room experiences with them before Kasumi reluctantly wheeled her to the waiting car.
Namiko picked Ranko up and returned her to bed and then began to straighten the room. She rolled a portable desk over beside her stacked with books and writing material and carefully brought over her new reading, she looked at them with obvious admiration. 'The Five Rings' was nicely illustrated, the images still in vibrant colours, but the brush strokes in the text were what caught and held her eyes. These had been done by a master she knew and one who had loved the work he was copying. If Ranko did not notice the details she was definitely going to point them out to her.
Ranko was exhausted. Temporarily deprived of the ability to be physically active she turned to studying 'studying'. Her remark Monday evening comparing it to martial arts had kept intruding in her thoughts until she took it out and began to examine it. The strokes used in writing were much like the moves in a kata, this one to block an over hand strike leading into the next, each only a part of the kata not the kata itself and each had to be placed just right or it did not do the job intended. Each one had to be learned and repeated until it could be done flawlessly each time with out having to think about it, then and only then could it be combined with the other moves. She would not accept sloppy poorly made strokes in writing.
This past week had been an emotional roller coaster ride. When she had cursed at Namiko she had expected retribution of the type her father and Akane had used instead she had had her mouth washed out. She had expected to be told what she had to do instead she had been given options and had them explained. She had actually been asked to do things and given a reason for doing them not just told that it was for her own good.
She didn't like the idea of staying female but agreed with Namiko that until she became comfortable in that body switching to male form would be just an escape. Given an easy out it would be too easy to take it frequently. When learning a new style and before incorporating it into Anything Goes she had to master it or miss some nuance that would make it even more effective, she would master this. Her nightly talks with Namiko had opened her eyes, Namiko had explained the manipulation just she had been subjected to and its consequences. She had admitted to manipulating her as well and gave her the reasons, and then showed Ranko that everyone manipulated things to a certain degree, to get something you had to convince someone that what you had to offer would be in their interest. Children learned it at home then built on it at school learning the ends and outs of manipulation from their school mates and friends, something Ranma had had in short supply.
Kasumi agreed with Namiko and pointed out that society itself manipulated things to maintain the status quo and Ranko was treated to a give and take debate between them. She asked about different points they had raised after they had finished and was rewarded with smiles and answers.
Kasumi brought out the lap top and showed Ranko the latest E-mail. She was elated. Uc-chan had been Ranma's first friend and it was great that something good was being done for her. Ranko chuckled and shared with Kasumi her memory of meeting with the young 'boy' that made such delicious food. The irony was not lost on Kasumi. With some trepidation she prepared and sent off her first E-mail. She was not happy with Shampoo being so severely punished but she was elated that Akane and Nabiki were receiving help. Genma running away was not that unusual.
Things had been hectic and the pace really hadn't slowed down. The principal and the teachers that visited at Namiko's request were shocked at the transformation but quickly agreed to help. The principal had left to start the paper work necessary after talking to Maeda-san, the teachers had gathered at the table and questioned Ranko on everything they could think of. They had taken the assessment test and questioned her on those things she marked as not being sure about and each had promised to provide a study guide with the exception of Nanta-san who referred them to Ochi-san and Ito-san who said that she would be over each evening to help her establish a base for mathematics.
Ito-san was an older version of Akane minus the anger. She insisted that Ranko use proper forms of address, corrected her when she didn't and then explained them to her. She started her back on the very basics of math explaining the concepts and then went to the next stage. When Ranma wanted to rush ahead Ito-san pulled her back with two demonstrations with some children's blocks. The first one was a stack of blocks, one for each year of school, then she was asked to remove one without diminishing the height or stability of the stack. The second one she built a pyramid and asked which the stronger structure was. She then explained that all the blocks at the base weren't math but included a lot of the other courses she needed and that the language to communicate her knowledge with was paramount because she could not help others understand what she did in math if she couldn't tell them in language they could understand.
Ochi-san built on that base explaining that if she used the wrong words or inflections then people would not listen to her or would not take her seriously. She would make a request phrasing it in different ways and have Ranko choose the one that would produce results. Both teachers expected Ranko to explain what she learned in her own words and she found herself striving to please them and began to enjoy it all the more when they praised her when she was able to explain the concept and encouraged her when she couldn't. Not being insulted when she didn't understand something was a new experience for her, one she decided she liked.
Ranko would have worked at it day and night if Namiko had not decreed that for the hour after dinner she wasn't allowed to touch the books. Enforcing her edict was easy, she had Kasumi carry her around and familiarize her with the area. At night she would simply roll the desk away from the bed and tuck her in.
Mastering kanji was not the difficult part, she had an eidetic memory, mastering the necessary vocabulary and using it correctly was. Ochi-san insisted that she read a variety of books and even a few manga that she said was not proper reading at all, smiling the whole time. Cuddled in Kasumi's lap she would read aloud and Namiko or Kasumi would correct her pronunciation. Namiko brought out her shoujo collection and after she stopped blushing she began to enjoy the stories. For math she would meditate and reflect on what she had learned that day and how it joined with what she had learned previously. Many of the things she had sat through in class that had previously not made sense now were becoming clear.
Then there was her laptop. She had read the instructions and then read them again the second reading had made as much sense as the first, none. Kasumi could use it but couldn't explain how it worked or even what most of the instructions meant.
On their walk Thursday evening she had asked Namiko and like Kasumi, she was able to use it but did not really understand it. This happened near a group of students returning from maintenance work on one of the trails and she received several offers to help. One of those offers was from a young programmer and the walk was cut short as he and his girlfriend explained some of the terms used and what books she needed to learn more. With many thanks they had returned to the house and Namiko had found one of the two books that the programmer's girlfriend had suggested would be best to start with.
Ranko had devoured the information the way she used to eat. Then she read it again and then reread the instructions that that came with the laptop the next morning. It now made much more sense but it didn't tell how to do the things she had heard computers were capable of and she wanted to know more.
"Ranko, if you really want to learn about computers they have classes at school. Since you won't need to take P.E. then maybe they will let you take it. That is if you do well in the other classes." Namiko took the book Ranko was reading. "Ito-san is very pleased with your progress and said you should have no trouble taking the placement exams. Ochi-san says the only thing necessary is for you to practice what you have learned. The other teachers will have your study guides for you Monday. Tonight some of my friends are coming over and you are to take a break from studying for school and actually talk to them and learn how to socialise."
"But." Began Ranko.
"No but anything. I know we can trust them and you need to practise your people skills, both of you. Kasumi you need to learn to relate to men as a man and Ranko, you, are going to participate. I'm sure you will be embarrassed at times but we all are at times. Here though it is safe and they can help get you over some of the pitfalls before you start school." Namiko pointed out. "Little Sis, you have been studying more in the last few days than most kids do in for the whole school year. Kasumi you haven't been studying as intensely as Ranko but you need this too."
"I don't think I know enough yet." Came the dual reply.
"And you won't know enough tomorrow either." Namiko rounded on them both. "You must start using what you learn and this way you do it with minimum risk, sure you're going to make mistakes everyone does." She had a grin on her face as she continued. "They will embarrass you, that is a given. Kasumi you remember how it was it was your first year in high school. Ranko, I'm going to be near you and will help you when I can but if you use any of the words you used the other night it won't just be your face that is red."
"Who is coming?" Kasumi asked looking at Ranko's red face wondering just what had happened that night.
"Oh! Just some friends I know from different classes. You'll like them, quite a few are in the medical field. Ranko if you get to know them they can help you learn more about computers several use them extensively to do their research." She gave Ranko a hug. "Tonight we are just going to have fun, Daddy is going out to see some of his friends, and he trusts us enough to know we will not do anything too outrageous"
Ever since she had made the decision to become comfortable in female form, Ranko had been acting very demure in contrast to her previous personality and Namiko was hoping she would loosen up a little. Kasumi had always been assertive in a quite unassuming way she was hoping to bring that back. She was finding herself walking a fine line. She was in new territory, she knew of no other cases of people having magical sex changes and to compound it Ranko was conditioned to be submissive to an authority figure and she had to carefully try to bring her forward, but considering some of the stories she had heard she wasn't sure that not having some type of controlling figure was wise.
As anticipated Ranko lost control first. Not entirely inexcusable as Shinji had had a drink or two before coming over and pinching any woman on the butt was considered risky, much less a martial artist. Ranko being confined to the couch restricted the force of her slap so it didn't break his jaw but it sobered him up immediately. It was Hikaru pinching Kasumi's rear that really ticked off Ranko. Kasumi took it in stride but Ranko began a display that put Mount Akane to shame. Fortunately Namiko was there before she had uttered her third word. "Excuse me we will be right back." She scooped Ranko up and hurried out of the room.
"She .. She .. Did you see what that bitch did? I, I , I'm going to." Ranko sputtered.
"Do nothing." Namiko had Ranko's ear in a firm grip. "Kasumi handled it properly and no harm was done. You on the other hand used some words that I think we had already discussed. We are going back in and you will apologise for your outburst, then you need to talk to Akino and Cho. Ask them what you did wrong and what you should have done. You will control yourself better or do you intend to sleep on your stomach tonight."
"Alright I will, but she shouldn't have done that." Ranko's aura finally left the visible spectrum. "I'm sorry Sis, I lost it didn't I?"
"Yes, you did and you can expect a good bit of ribbing because of it." Namiko answered as she opened the door and they re-entered the room. Ranko couldn't see the grin on her face or the effect of the scolding would have been wasted. She had it off her face by the time she reached the sofa and set her down with a wink toward Cho.
Ranko made her apologies for using inappropriate words and Cho and Akino accepted them and then gently fussed at her and commented on her handsome boyfriend.. After a few minutes she remembered and asked what she should have done.
Cho was silent for a minute. "The best thing is to do nothing. Kasumi handled it his self and Hikaru backed off. You have to trust your boyfriend to do the right thing. When you meet her again the best revenge is to act as if nothing happened."
A burst of denial that she did not have a boyfriend didn't make it to her lips but the blush adorning her face as she remembered being in Kasumi's arms had Cho and Akino laughing and she soon joined in. They included her in their conversation and corrected her with gentle humour when she said something wrong. With a little trepidation she broached her gender curse and had Namiko vouch for her. It didn't matter although they included more embarrassing topics that they would probably not have otherwise. By the time they left she had made two firm friends.
On the other side of the room Kasumi was going through trial and error too. Haru and Kiyoshi managed to diffuse the incident with Shinji who was being very apologetic but persisted in telling slightly off colour jokes that kept Kasumi's face an interesting shade of red. He lost his nervousness as Shinji began to talk about an herbal mixture he was doing a study on. After it was apparent that Ranko had calmed down he convinced Shinji to make an apology to her and with prompting from Cho she accepted it.
Kasumi quickly realised that the language was probably not as bad as some the girls had used when she was in school. It was only that she was on the other side now. Talk about girlfriends did put the blush back on his cheeks but he quickly let it be known he was only interested in one girl. Kiyoshi kept the conversation light and stopped them from getting too immersed in the world of herbs.
Haru wondered over and joined Cho and gave Ranko some tips on doing searches for information on how the computer worked and programming then offered to show her more later as he and Cho often visited. The casual hand touching between Cho and Haru diffused the teasing she received from Haru about Kasumi. And before she knew it time for everyone to leave had arrived, and she had to admit that she had had fun.
Pouting cutely at Namiko earned her a tickling but not her desk as she was bundle off to bed after trying to cover up her second yawn. A hug and kiss later Namiko tucked her in and turned out the light. Ranko did her best to review everything but soon slipped off to sleep with a smile still on her face.
Kasumi was just finishing straightening things up when Namiko came out Ranko's room. With a broad smile on her lips she beckoned Kasumi into the kitchen and heated some sake pouring Kasumi a bowl and then receiving the same courtesy. "You both did wonderful. Even when she became upset at Hikaru for pinching you it was only her words I chided her about. She told them of her curse but to them she is just Ranko and Cho and Akino love her to death. I noticed you were getting along with Miyoshi and Shinji very well. You probably got Shinji started on herbs to get him that involved in a conversation." She took another sip of her sake. "So what did you think of them and how do you feel about tonight?"
Kasumi paused for a moment before answering. "At first I was a little upset they way they talked about girls then I realised that we had talked about boys nearly the same way. They were impressed with Ranko and let me know how lucky I was and I had to agree with them. I'll still be a little nervous but I know I can do this now. Switching back to female is going to be the challenge. I actually feel much freer to express myself in this form. I will have to be careful of how I phrase things but if I do say something the wrong way can honestly say it was the way I was brought up." Kasumi poured more sake for Namiko and asked. "How is Ran-chan doing in your opinion? She is faced with more than I am. I managed to keep studying with a lot of reading , borrowing books from Dr. Tofu but she has so many gaps to fill in."
"She is doing very well. Did you know she speed reads and retains it? When you arrived she had barely the minimum vocabulary, she had to ask the meaning of quite a few words then I showed her my dictionaries and she started to look up the words, then she simply started to read them. I thought she was looking for a word page by page but she read the entire dictionary twice. When she comes a across an unfair word she simply pauses now for a moment while she looks it up in her mind and continues. Her problem right now is she has a lot of words but isn't quite sure of their usage. Ochi-san helped with that and tonight helped even more. Her learning curve is phenomenal, it is only a matter of getting her interested and letting her know it is alright for her to learn." she paused to sip some sake and poured more for Kasumi. "She is becoming more tactile, she no longer freezes when she is given a hug. She initiated a hug with Ochi-san which I do not think she would have done previously." Kasumi nodded her head in agreement. "Given the rate she is assimilating information I would not be surprised if after she tests she isn't put in advanced classes. She is at least a genius, she just has had her educational and emotion growth starved until it was damn near nonexistent. Well we have an early day tomorrow so we need to go to bed ourselves"
Ranko woke the next morning and pulled Happosai's scrolls out and gave them another going over. She was missing a connection but she didn't know what it was. She fixed the scroll in her mind and began to meditate on what she knew of ki manipulation. As she went over it she examined each step in minute detail comparing it to how Happosai had used it and just as she was about to give up it dawned on her that he wasn't using his ki. Well he was but only a minute amount, what he was using was his opponent's ki! Ranko was frustrated, she would need an opponent to learn this technique and she didn't have one. Deciding to see if anyone else was up yet she started to let her senses expand searching out the ki of the people she knew. As she was filtering out the background ki she realised she had ki to practice with just not what she had been looking for. There was ki all around but it was in small amounts here and there so she would have to be very precise to make it work.
Re-entering her meditation she began to gently manipulate the surrounding ki and very gradually was able to edge a pencil across the desk. Frustrated at the slow pace she increased the power of her manipulation and the pencil gave a jerk then exploded into dust. Not what she was expecting nor was there anything in the scrolls that even hinted at that reaction. She again began gradually to edge another pencil and examined the flow of ki around it as she did. She realised that while using ki to move it she was also infusing it with ki and must have pushed too much into it. She began to vary the ki flows around it and then it was in her hand. She went back over what she had done. And realised it was a variant of Happosai's technique for liberating his 'silky darlings'.
She was still in deep meditation when Namiko came in to get her ready for the day. What greeted her sight was Ranko sitting in bed and several books around her and pencils and various items of clothing. She started to berate Ranko for getting out of bed when she saw another book leave the desk and reappear on the bed. She let out a gasp and Ranko opened her eyes with a wide smile on face.
"I did it! Well not quite the way the scroll said but I did it. Now I have to refine it and learn to use it without concentrating so hard." Ranko was bubbling over with excitement. Then she looked at the things that hadn't quite made it to the bed. "Oops!"
"Oops! Indeed!" Namiko stood there with a mock frown on her face looking at a crest fallen Ranko. "Am I going to face this disaster every morning now." Had Ranko looked up she would have seen her shaking in laughter and amazement.
"I'm sorry Oneesan, I didn't think about the mess I was making." Ranko was very contrite. She was startled as she was swept up and into a noisy hug, Namiko finally unable to hold her laughter back.
"Imouto it's alright. I was just kidding you and I was startled. How did you do this? I saw the math book move then it appeared on the bed.." Amazement in her voice.
"I don't know yet!" She let out a giggle, that was definitely not normal for Ranko "I was trying to follow the scroll but there was no opponent to provide the ki I needed and I noticed the ki in the room and tried to use it but the pencil blew up and the then another made it to the edge of the desk and then was here and I've been trying to find out why…"
"Hush, it's alright, it's alright." Namiko held her and sat on the bed rocking back and forth as suddenly Ranko let out a with a shudder and broke into tears. " What's wrong Imouto? Why the tears?" As she shifted her hold on Ranko she suddenly knew why. "Shush now, let's get you cleaned up for breakfast. A bath will make you feel better."
Quickly undressing Ranko, she rinsed her off and put her in the tub. "What's wrong with me? Why am I feeing this way?" Ranko was muttering. She had noticed it was harder to centre that morning but a few adjustments and she had done just fine. She felt worse physically than she had the previous few days discounting the broken bones, a general feeling of unwellness, not ill so much as just not well. "Maybe I ate something that didn't agree with me. My stomach is a little upset so that is probably what is wrong." she continued to talking to herself as Namiko scrubbed her back and then began washing her front. Ranko tensed at first then relaxed as she remembered who she was with.
"I feel awful, Namiko, maybe it's from losing so much ki like Ka-chan said." she finally addressed Namiko directly, fighting the impulse to freeze up or flee. "But it's not like from fighting Ryouga or anything like th… Namiko not there!" She started to slip into full panic mode as Namiko's hands slipped between her legs with the washcloth.
"You have to be washed there, silly. You're going to be seeing the doctor this morning and we have to get the blood off." Ranko froze, unfortunately for Namiko her hand was still between her thighs and Ranko was stiff as a board and as non responsive. Finally after a minute she loosened up and squeaked out, "Blood!"
"Well, yes. That's why you aren't feeling well this morning and last night." Namiko had a frantic bundle on her hands as Ranko began to panic. She was as wet as Ranko by the time she finally had her calmed down. " This is the first time you've had a period isn't it. This is something most women go through, Imouto, I just thought you had already been through it. It's alright now, calm down a bit we all go through it. I'm going to put you in your bed and pick up a bit, want you to relax and calm down for a bit. I'm going to bring the doctor in here you just stay in bed." A few minutes later after Ranko had calmed a bit she left to get Kasumi and the doctor who had just arrived.
"Dr. Akira, this is Kasumi Tendou, a classmate from high school. We are going to need your service sooner than I expected." She turned to Kasumi. "Kasumi why didn't you tell me she had never had a period before. Do you realise how frightened she is."
Dr Akira interrupted. " Namiko why would a young man need to tell you about that and how would he know?"
"Sorry, Dr. Akira but I had expected to be able to talk to you first. Kasumi could you get some hot and cold water and meet us in Ranko's room. Doctor, do you believe in magic?" She started off leading her to meet Ranko.
"I try keep an open mind, most of what I have seen is slight of hand but I have seen a few things that I haven't been able to explain. What does that have to do my being here?" Dr Akira saw the young red head on the bed who was still slightly agitated and went over to meet her and calm her down.
"Well this where your open mind gets blasted." She took the water from Kasumi and when the doctor turned to look at her poured it over him where he promptly shrunk and became a she. Dr. Akira froze in shock as Namiko subjected Kasumi to the process Ranko had gone through a few times. Multiple glasses of water later Ranko was laughing and Kasumi was becoming indignant and more than a little wet.
"But how, what, how?" was all she could say for the next few minutes. "DO you change, too?" She turned to Ranko who had finally stopped laughing and was apologising to Kasumi.
"Yes Dr. Akira but until my bones heal Kasumi doesn't want me to change. Namiko convinced me that I should see you and have you examine me. I've been cursed for over a year." Ranko began the tale and then for the next hour took turns with Kasumi with occasional prompts from Namiko. By this time Ranko had calmed down and had begun to like the doctor.
After hearing of Ranko's injuries she decided to that it would be best to start with Kasumi so she could spend a bit more time with Ranko and provided Namiko with an information packet to share with Ranko. For the next half hour a glassy eyed red head listened to Namiko and tried to come to grips with what was happening with her body.
A very red faced Kasumi and a smiling doctor re-entered the room much to Namiko's relief. "Kasumi is very healthy in both forms." She announced deepening Kasumi's blush. "I do want her to come to the office for blood work, I want to check out the hormone levels in both forms so I can develop a reference base." Noticing the look in Ranko's eyes she turned to Kasumi. "Why don't you and Namiko go prepare some tea while I talk to Ranko?"
Kasumi turned and walked out and Namiko attempted to follow. Attempted because Ranko had virtually tackled her without leaving the bed. "Do you want Namiko to stay Ranko? If you do you might want to let her breathe."
"Please stay!" Ranko release the grip she had and sank back Namiko moved to the other side of the bed and held her hand.
"I didn't have very much luck explaining what was happening to her. She pretty much shut down when she saw the pictures of how the ovum developed into a baby." Namiko gave her hand a little squeeze.
Sex education was not a class that Ranma had attended and had he tried to attend one in Nerima as a female, well the violence would probably have at least matched his battle with Herb.
A very weary trio came out of the room to the table over two hours later to find Kasumi studying quietly with earphones on.
Namiko was very glad she was right handed as her left would be sore for a while. Dr Akira would have laughed Akane to scorn for calling Ranma a pervert, beatings anytime he had innocently touched that area as a child had implanted a phobia that carried over to his female form. It had taken iron will on Ranko's part to allow the doctor to finish the examination.
"Well, she is very healthy. She has some emotional scars that we will have to have talks about. The emotional imbalance she is experiencing is probably due to the stress of the fight and staying in female form. I do agree with Kasumi that changing before the bones heal would be detrimental. I want both of you in my office Tuesday evening and we will have MRI scans of Ranko to be sure the bones are healing properly. Ranko since you didn't have sex education in school I'm giving Namiko a list of books for you to read. I want you to read them with her and she can help if you have any questions. Kasumi here's a list for you to, the course you had in school did not focus on your current body so you get to catch up." She gathered her things and turned toward the door. "Ranko, I want you to be sure to work on those relaxation techniques and use them each time you and Namiko read those books."
Lunch was quiet and followed by Ranko giving a demonstration of the technique she was working on. When Namiko noticed Ranko starting to look tired she put a stop to it and took her to bed. "After a nap you will be able to concentrate better and no cheating. You go to sleep."
Maeda-san was amazed. What Ranko had done was impossible but he had seen it and the results were still lying in the yard after his daughter had taken her to her room. The past few days had been an eye-opener. Twice Namiko had brought an upset Ranko in deposited her in his lap. A girl no larger than Namiko had been when she was twelve but with many more insecurities, he just held her and listened and proving he was a wise man, didn't say anything. Twice she had run down and then dropped off to sleep. He had started some searches based on things she had said and some were disturbing. The list of crimes he was turning up that were charged to Ranma did not make any sense and he began some careful inquiries, forwarding the results to some of his old classmates. A few agencies that had been searching for a much older Ranma quietly re-instituted those searches.
The proverbial old boy network went to work with a vengeance. Problems delaying the identification for Ranko and Kasumi melted away and the packet was on the way. The target of investigation shifted was becoming much darker than previous suspected. He would broach the subject with her later but right now she had more than enough to contend with. A smile came back to his face as he thought of the tsunami called Ranko that had rolled over life. Yes life had been nice and quiet lately but it had been getting boring. Even if her mother did enter her on her clans register she would still be entered on his.
Ranko fought going to sleep for all of two minutes but after being tucked in and kissed by Namiko it just seemed right to do what she said. Being tired had nothing to do with it of course. She smiled before dropping off remembering the look of amazement of Maeda-san's face and as she dropped off her mind was already turning over what she had learned and contriving new innovations to it.
Kasumi found his day increasingly busy, as his new friends dropped by with loads of work and study guides. Gaps in his education were identified, corrected and more information presented. With Namiko correcting speech patterns and Shinji and Kiyoshi throwing information at him he was feeling more and more behind. Cho and Haru pushed him with math and in turn had to stretch when he ask for proof behind an assumption. He had missed the study groups, the push to excel in studies that had ended after school. The notes on herbs and medicine he had studied at Dr. Tofu's came to his aid and before the group knew it ,it was dinner time.
Kasumi found himself pushed out of the kitchen as Cho and Namiko began preparing things so he and Kiyoshi set the table. Maeda-san quietly came in and brought several bottles of sake with him. Seeing Akino standing in the kitchen talking with his daughter he approached her and she went to get Ranko dressed for dinner. After a brief conversation with Cho and Namiko a few items went back into the refrigerator and others came out. A large smile adorned Namiko's face as she and Cho altered the meal.
With everything ready Maeda-san knocked quietly on Ranko's door, and after being told to enter scooped Ranko up in his arms and transported her to the table.
Ranko knew she was in the wrong spot and tried to move over but Namiko just smiled at her and shook her head. After the meal Maeda-san left and returned with several manila packets and Namiko brought the sake to the table.
After the initial serving and the traditional 'kampai' he opened up the first packet and presented Kasumi with his new identification. After everyone had given their congratulations to Kasumi he refilled the bowls with sake. Turning to Ranko he lifted up his bowl, "Ranko, my daughter calls you sister, I am, by your choosing, your guardian, and unless you object, you are my daughter. I have had you entered in my family's clan register. This does not mean you are not a Saotome but does remove you from any and all obligations you may have had registered against you. Without loss of honour on your part obligations made in your name now belong to the person making those obligations. Bonsai(2)!"
Ranko sat there stunned, the smile on Maeda-san's face growing as Namiko gathered her into a hug that made the 'Amazon Glomp' pale in comparison. Kasumi's was no less enthusiastic and only slightly more so than her new friends around the table. The emotions showing on her face went through a full range, Surprise, confusion, happiness, confusion, surprise and when Maeda-san gathered her in his arms acceptance. With everything else it was just too much and she smiled, hugged him and fainted.
Sunday morning dawned bright and clear and Ranko was awakened by Namiko and after breakfast interspersed the assignments Namiko insisted she do with meditation and further work on Happosai's techniques which she had already changed at that point to be almost unrecognisable. Kasumi had several practice exams to go over and they went over them together. Namiko joined them when she finished some of the work she had to do corrected both of their pronunciations of some words. The math section produced a surprise as Ranko was able to answer and explain some of her solutions. She was not expected to be that far along in math. It took more than a few assurances from both that it was alright as she thought by their shock she had done something wrong.
Lunch was light and Ranko made a conscious effort to slow her eating to normal standards and enjoy it for the taste alone. She mentioned her frustration about her search attempts to find information about computers and some of the math she was doing. When Kasumi and Namiko both declared their inexperience in web searches she was disappointed.
After lunch Maeda-san scooped her up and took her to his study. Keeping her in his lap he started to question her about what she wanted to find then showed her how to narrow the search down to those particular parameters. Two hours later she knew how to do the searches she wanted and had, after he told her what he had found out, answered a lot of questions. She was comfortable and felt safe for the first time she could remember and she knew she had a protector. Illogical as it was and she knew it, she was ten times the martial artist he was, but she felt safe. She knew if she was to suddenly change forms that the feeling would still be there. At that moment she just clung to him and wept. He just pulled her to him and let her cry herself out.
He had seen her do things that were scientifically impossible. The reports had shown she/he was capable of things that no human should be able to do. She was and was not his daughter. The 'was not' took a far inferior position to the 'was'. After she was finally asleep he carried her carefully to her bed and lay her down. The trust she had shown cemented what had been nebulous against his and her realities. The old boy network was about to be taxed to its maximum. No one treated his daughter in such a fashion.
Laughter woke her up. Cho and Haru fighting over who would hold her brought her out of peaceful sleep.
"Bakas what is going on." She growled as she woke.
"Oh, just another study session." came the reply from a different section of the room. She had almost enough time to brace before she was inundated by her new friends.
"Oooofff!" Three bodies impacting her from different directions was a little unexpected, a smile lit her face as she recognized her assailants. That did not stop her from depositing them in a heap.
"Sis," Namiko stated from the door way. "that was not nice."
Ranko smiled and Kasumi and Namiko ended on the pile. Then just as suddenly everybody was in the middle of the bed. Unfortunately they were still entangled and it took a moment or to for them to sort themselves out. By this time Ranko was laughing almost hysterically,
You bakas." The grin on her face would have terrified the people of Nerima.
A sleep over was ordained by her sister and protocol went out the window. A few minutes late Akino and her sister and boy friend turned up and they degenerated into morass of teen and almost teen activities. Stunned by the events Ranko let herself enjoy the occasion.
A demonstration of her talents was ordained and she pulled a few books to her bed. A grin split her face as she handed Cho Haru's underwear asking innocently if they were hers. A few minutes later she had cone the same courtesy for everyone and realized her mistake. She couldn't get out of bed and run, she was out numbered and quickly her bottom was bare. She scooted quickly under the covers but not fast enough to escape a few handprints on her bottom or the comments that she was a natural redhead. She opened her mouth for a few choice words and found a hand over it.
"If any word coming out of that mouth is as unacceptable as the ones you used the other night then I'll bring you out from under those covers and you will get more than just those few swats you earned." Namiko could she was considering whether to take the risk anyway. "It won't just be me. You took those from all of us and you will spend time over each knee. Think it will be worth it" Namiko grinned but looking in her eyes Ranko could tell she was not joking.
"I'm sorry." She said in a small voice.
"Don't be." Cho answered her. "It was fun. Nothing got hurt other than your dignity. We also know what to do if you get out of hand from now on." Cho gave her a smile.
A new blush spread across Ranko's face but she smiled. They were not angry and it had really been fun. After a few minutes of banter with everyone trying to see who could get the biggest blush on Ranko's face she stopped blushing and soon they settled down to study.
Ranko surprised them again and again anytime math came up. Finally Akino could not take it anymore and ask. "Weren't you having problems with math?"
"I was. But Ito-san showed me that it is not that different from katas. One must learn the first before the second makes sense , once I understood that the rest began to make sense. I still have much to learn." She explained and was a little confused at their surprise.
Keiko, Akino's sister, caught on almost immediately and began to discuss the foundation she was using. Only Kasumi was able to keep up with that discussion as it quickly became one involving proofs, suppositions and theories. The groups shifted often and the study only ended when Cho looked for Ranko to ask a question about a physics equation and found her and Keiko curled around one another asleep. Namiko took the notebook and pens they had been studying with and covered them up. Cho rolled out a few futons and Haru, Kasumi and Kiyoshi were banished to Kasumi's room.
Namiko woke to find Keiko and Ranko already awake and Keiko explaining Euler's theorem. She avoided them like the plague, no normal person should be able to talk coherently in the morning about any subject until they had coffee, preferably espresso, also preferably in great quantities. Cho woke, looked over and then quirked her eyebrow at Namiko. "Coffee, we'll come back for the idiot savants after we can navigate." Akino grabbed her ankle "Help me up, you are not leaving me in here with those two." Keiko and Ranko never even looked up. Keiko was searching for the proper wording to explain one of the concepts and Ranko had her attention totally focussed Keiko, a bomb going off would likely be necessary to interrupt them now.
The smell of coffee brought Haru, quickly followed by Kasumi and Kiyoshi. While not dependant on coffee Kasumi had fallen in love with espresso and appreciated it. Looking around he noticed the absence of the two and would have gone to get if not stopped by Akino. "Those two are not normal. No one should be able to coherently talk about math theorems this early in the morning before coffee." Kasumi opened the quietly and saw the pair, Ranko gesticulating as she asked a question and Keiko thinking about how to explain it.
"Breakfast will bring Ranko out" Kasumi looked at Akino. "I presume this is normal for her."
"I thought she had learned that math is not a morning subject, now, thanks to your Ranko, it may take weeks for her to remember that normal people don't think, talk or immerse others in math at six in the morning." The smile belied any animosity and sure enough as the smell of food wafted in they came out but still talking math.
Ito-san had shown her the foundations of math now Keiko had taken her to the stratosphere. She knew there were gaps but the knowledge that she was missing was something she could remedy. She had a new world to explore and she was excited. Her enthusiasm brought groans and laughter from everyone even Maeda-san.
"Ranko, Keiko, taking care of a park with an active volcano means I must keep up with what is happening and most of the reports are numbers so I must keep up with them. I can't blindly leave their interpretation to others. I have a section of my library dedicated to math. Why don't you allow me to show you after breakfast, I'm sure my office can survive the morning with out me." Maeda-san enjoyed the next two hours as Ranko began to learn a whole new language, that of mathematics, and while he was no stranger to math he realised that the most he could do was act as a guide to help her find what she needed as she and Keiko finally began to wind down.
When they came back to the dining area Kasumi was there with laptop in hand. They sent a new E-mail to Nodoka leaving out Ranko's new clan affiliation but told about her examination by her new doctor. She also warned her mother not to take Mousse lightly and to pass her assessment to Cologne. She shared the email with Maeda-san from Ichiro and everyone was jubilant about Kasumi and Ranko being included on their families' clan register.
Kasumi's testing went off with out any trouble, the shopping trip on the other hand had everyone except Ranko in laughter. Keiko came to her aid and helped her select a sensible collection and convinced her to go along with some of the more formal dresses.
Kasumi had been taken in hand by Kiyoshi looked great. But when Ranko came out of the dressing room with Keiko and Namiko everyone went quiet. She had gone in dressed as a tomboy but what came out of the dressing room was a lady.
Ranko was blushing at the praise she received but after looking in the mirror had to admit she looked well. She couldn't figure when she would ever wear this though it was definitely not something she could or would wear to school.
1 'sousoba' great grandmother
2'bonsai' live a thousand years "kampai" is to your health.