Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to any characters and/or symbolism in this fic. I think. Unless this is all a part of an elaborate conspiracy. Which... it isn't.
The Inner Demon
Chapter 2: The Lovely Pig Tailed Girl
Soun had had quite a night. It was very obvious that Genma's childhood... "peculiarities" had resurfaced as child abuse. So Soun did the only logical thing. He kept Genma up all night drinking. He then dragged the Panda onto the sofa (ye gods, what a heavy creature!) and freed Ranma-chan, who was still asleep.
"Thank you, Mr. Tendo," Ranma-chan sniffled. Soun had a very hard time believing that this girl was the brash and excessively violent boy that Genma had described.
Hell spawned bane of the Earth, indeed.
Soun decided to selectively forget that he had definitely seen a boy fall into the koi and a girl crawl out.
"There is still some time before you need to get ready for school, so why don't you relax a bit?" Soun suggested sleepily.
"School?" Ranma-chan bolted up.
"Yes. I took the liberty of enrolling you when I recieved your father's letter," Soun stated.
"I see," Ranma-chan acknowledged plainly, with a slight facial tic that the half drunk and half asleep Soun missed.
They must be purified.
"Please, make yourself at home," Soun invited with partially artificial sympathy. He then called his daughters out of bed and to the living room.
"Daddy, why did you get us up so early?" Akane asked, still groggy.
"Oh my!" Kasumi said as she noticed Genma-panda, "Mr. Panda is passed out on our couch!"
"That panda is the same Genma Saotome I told you about," Soun stated grimly.
"THE Genma Saotome," Nabiki's eyes widened. A rare occasion it is when Nabiki expressed this level of surprise, "THAT is the SAOTOME you were expecting?"
"The Legendary Mad Martial Artist!" Akane choked out as Genma- panda scratched its nether regions in its sleep.
"One and the same," Soun stated as grimly (and maybe a bit more tipsily than) as before,
"But his marriage mellowed him."
"What if he goes berserk?" Akane dropped to her knees. The sound of the voice last night echoing in her mind. But...
No, Genma had been with the others... right?
"Now, Akane," Soun began with a fatherly tone (although perhaps too close to her face), "He and I were close under the Master. Both of us did things we weren't proud of," the panda passed gas on cue, "but we never harmed one another."
Soun selectively forgot the 'covert' incident... and the 'noodle' incident... and that one time in China... and the time in Osaka... then there were all those ninjas...
"So what about this marriage thing?" Nabiki asked, unsure that the bald, obese, and badly scratched up man that turned into a mangy panda could be GENMA SAOTOME.
"Well, I can't very well marry one of my daughters to a girl," Soun replied. Unless Jusenkyo had a 'Pool of Drowned... naah, that was too much.
"Then who is that girl?" Akane asked, directing her thumb back up the stairs.
"Ranma," Ranma said shyly as she descended said staircase tentatively. One would have to be very perceptive to notice the odd twitching of her hands.
The fat one is unconscious.
I am now free.
He is now down.
The ball is tossed to me.
It's gonna be fun.
The redhead was still wearing the dirty gi from last night.
Akane noted for the first time how disheveled the girl was. Probably hadn't bathed for weeks before yesterday. What hells she must've seen!
Blast 'em all and let the Kami sort 'em out.
Kasumi had left the discussion early. She didn't know how to express the feelings she had in this matter.
Whenever she thought about this situation, she felt odd in a different kind of way. The only way she saw to alleviate this was to cook the best breakfast possible.(having yet to discover the joys of selective forgetfulness enjoyed by Soun and Akane)
"Ah, Ranma!" Soun smiled with false cheer, he just felt so sorry for the poor girl.
Suckers.
"Kasumi is already cooking breakfast," He continued, "I'm afraid I had a boy's uniform picked out for you, you don't happen to have any clothes other than that gi?"
"No," Ranma-chan said, downcast. Though something about her would hint to a keen observer that the thought of the uniform wasn't really bothering her.
"I have a a spare uniform," Akane volunteered, not realizing the implications of a school uniform for Ranma.
"Wait!" Nabiki started, "You already enrolled her?"
"Well..." Soun sweatdropped, being put on the spot, "... it seemed like a good idea at the time."
"This could be bad," Nabiki thought, before saying, "I need leave early, so I need to get ready now." And casually walked up the stairs, nearly losing her cool from the strange glance Ranma-chan gave her as she passed.
"odd."
Curiousity drowned the cat in the koi pond outside.
Akane obliviously invited Ranma-chan into her room to pick out the uniform.
Soun sighed, then plopped down into a chair he'd recently purchased and slipped into the comforting oblivion of sleep. Instead of watching the drooling panda as he'd intended.
Nabiki left shortly after. Even though this meant missing breakfast, she knew it was of the utmost importance to prepare for Hurricane Ranma while there was still time.
Breakfast was a quiet affair. Soun had passed out in the living room and Kasumi was very uneasy around Ranma.
Akane was the only one that had even tried to talk to Ranma, but the girl only responded in shy, one word statements.
The rest of the morning passed this way, until they reached Furinkan, that is. Akane trashed the boys quicker than usual. This seemed strange, because some seemed to be K.O.'ed just by the wind of her blows.
Bah! Their ki is weak.
Then the Blue Thunder arrived, "Oh, Akane! How beauteous you are this morn! What a wonder it is to... who is this maiden whom you have no doubt..."
"I will accept Kama-chan," Ranma-chan said with a feral look. Akane cringed without noticing.
"Surely it is a jest that one of such feminine vitality would be known by such a low name," Kuno began, "I, Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, will slay the one who bestowed such a disgr-"
"You dare to insult my family?" Ranma-chan's eyes widened in fury, "I DEMAND satisfaction!" She yelled as she assumed an advanced combat stance.
"A thousand pardons!" Kuno bowed in forgiveness, "I did not realize it was your given name! I shall perform what duties I must in order to satify your honor!"
"You... did not?" Ranma-chan softened.
"I would not wish to incite such a fragile lady to injuring her delicate hands!" Kuno said with sincerity.
"Die womanizer!" Ranma-chan shouted, with an expression on her face similar to one that Akane might wear.
When Ranma-chan came within a yard of Kuno, which was a surprisingly short amount of time, something within the older boy shifted. Ranma would have been able to clobber Kuno before this shift, but now...
"It is a fire inside you that I adore!" Kuno cried and tightly embraced Ranma-chan, who shivered in revulsion.
How... could he be this fast? I MUST flay him now! There
can be no other adequate recompense for this insult!
Akane had been a silent observer in this. At first she wondered if this shy girl could be that fiend...
Then, when she witnessed Kuno pluck the girl out of a dead charge, she decided that the girl must have been traumatized last night.
Of course, this meant she had to stop Kuno from further agitating the poor girl, "DIE PERVERT!"
Kuno would awaken three hours later in a tree.
The girl reverted to complete shyness after the event. Any attempt to question her about it was met with a blush of shame.
I must have retribution. Wait! I have the perfect tool.
Suffer will that fool!
Nabiki was stunned.
Akane could not have seen it from the ground, but it had been clear to Nabiki that "Kama chan" was deserving of that name.
Throughout Akane's thrash session, Ranma had darted in a blur from person to person, slicing them mildly with her bare hands.
No normal human could have done that.
Even though Kuno had miraculously halted the girl, Nabiki knew from experience that Akane had put him out of commission for the time being.
Nabiki would have to call off her other "Distractions," at least, for the time being.
This thing was simply beyond Furinkan High School.
The rest of the day passed without incident (aside from buearocratic errors relating to Ranma's gender) until Kuno popped up after school.
He was very polite, formally requesting a date. This was met with a cry of "DIE WOMANIZER," and a fierce uppercut on par with Akane's mallet.
When they returned home, Genma pounced on Ranma-chan and chained and padlocked her with practiced efficiency.
"Hey pops! Why thmmph-" Ranma-chan started before being gagged.
"You shall cast no more spells, today, demon!" Genma shouted in triumph, before laughing with said triumph.
"..." Was all that Akane could muster, completely unable to figure out what the heck was happening.
"Yup, that's definitely Genma Saotome," Nabiki deduced wisely as she slid in from behind Genma.
"Nabiki!" Akane shouted, frowning, "YOU did this, didn't you?"
You shall recieve judgement first, my sweet.
Nabiki saw the look in Ranma's eyes, and her would be triumphant laugh came out as a nervous chuckle.
Soun then walked in on this and, with a shocked expression, ungagged Ranma, "Good God, Genma How could you do this to your own daughter?"
"Daughter?" Genma started, as he poured a kettle of steaming water on the now male Ranma Saotome.
"Heh," the boy smirked merrily, "Sorry about this, I'm Ranma Saotome."
Akane's eyes rolled into the back of her head and her mind took a trip to la la land.
AN 7/30/03: Things have changed quite a bit, huh? Bet you
didn't expect to see Genma Saotome be refered to as
"The Legendary Mad Martial Artist." BTW in this chapter,
I have called Girl-type Ranma both Ranma-chan and plain
Ranma. This is according to the point of view of the thinker. I may have made an occasional mistake, but only from either a neutral point of view or from Genma or Ranma him/herself at this point should it have been Ranma-chan.
AN 7/6/04: And the Second was revised! I split some of the larger paragraphs, but this one is, for better or worse, largely untouched. For those of you just joining us, 1, 2, and 3 were originally joined as one post. As were 4, 5, and 6. This, of course, caused some trouble with numbering chapters, but ultimately led to my current format. So, 1-6 are the vestigal remains of a system of smaller chapters. If I went by that count throughout, I'd have some 45 rather small chapters. Dodged a bullet, I guess.
AN 4/27/05: I'd forgotten about using "-chan" or plain "Ranma", but then, it has been almost two years since I started this.
