Sorry bout the delay all --' (assigning me a 'helper'...snort)
Kimiko's introduction:
Hello everyone -waves to audience-. My name is Kimiko Habiki, the newest addition to the Broken
Works staff. I'm kinda gonna become a writer... at least they say if I help Hunt with this
Chapter I get to write a one on my own. So lets all hope my trial goes well...
Ranma 1/2 Unexpected Results Part 9
By: J. Hunt (and Kimiko...)
Part 9
Nabiki was finding it hard not to laugh as she sat eating breakfast. There was a battle being fought at the table, and she was thoroughly enjoying the show. Akane and Ukyo had positioned themselves on either side of Ranma and were both waging a war of niceness. Ukyo was being her normal self, only more so, and Nabiki could see that her little sister was being sorely tested to stay calm. Being nice to Ranma was not something Akane was finding easy, especially with one of the other girls there. Akane was smiling, but her eyebrow twitched every now and then, and she had already snapped a pair of chopsticks in frustration once that morning. Nabiki had to give her little sister credit though. She had managed to hold her temper longer than ever before, though Nabiki doubted it was having the effect Akane desired. Ranma looked slightly panicked, not being use to Akane being this nice. The red head kept giving Akane secret little glances as if she expected her to explode any minute and take her with her.
-Poor Ranma,- Nabiki thought with a mental smirk. -Heh, if only you had woke up a few minutes earlier last night. Oh well.-
Nabiki spared a moment to look around the table.
Nodaka was too busy fussing over her husband to notice anything unusual. Genma for his
part had a happy, goofy grin on his face that Nabiki would rather not have thought about.
She had enough trouble-blocking out some of the things she had heard coming from the room
the husband and wife had shared last night, and did NOT want to be reminded of any of it.
Her father was watching the three teenagers with only a few tears. Nabiki was positive that it was only Nodaka's presence that was keeping him from breaking down in full waterworks. Kasumi...well Kasumi was being Kasumi.
"Say AHH, Ranchan," Ukyo said holding up a bite of breakfast okinomiaki to Ranma.
"Ummmm thanks Ucchan, but I can feed myself ya know," The red head replied. She shot a seemingly casual glance to Akane who was sitting on her right side. Akane's smile thinned slightly, but she managed to keep it up.
"I don't think Ranko wants anymore Okinomiaki," Akane said sweetly. "To be honest I'm surprised she's not sick of it, considering it's the only thing you ever try to feed her."
Ukyo almost frowned, but instead smiled, showing more teeth than necessary for the act.
"Ranchan loves my okinomiaki," she replied. "And she hasn't run in fear from anything I've cooked, unlike the food a certain someone cooks."
Akane's twitch increased.
-Uh-oh,- Nibiki thought. -And she was doing so well too.-
"And just what do you mean by that?" Akane said slapping her hand on the table and getting to her feet. "How dare you say that my cooking is bad, and in my own house no less."
Ukyo grinned.
"Why sugar, I didn't say it was YOUR cooking she ran from," She said smiling innocently.
"Why not, I would," Ranma said speaking up for the first time. The entire table was suddenly silent.
Nibiki groaned. -Ranma you dolt.-
"Ranko no baka!" Akane yelled pulling out her mallet and bringing it down towards the top of the redhead's head. It never landed however. There was a strange swooshing sound Akane couldn't place, and the head of her mallet came apart from the handle. Akane blinked and watched in shock as the mallet head fell harmlessly to the floor. She looked to the side in time to see her Auntie Nodaka resheathing her katana. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could make a sound she heard something she thought she would never hear.
"Akane no baka," Came from Ukyo. Akane turned her head and saw the glint of metal just before something shoved her back. She landed with a thump on her rear, and looked up to find Ranma standing over her. Ranma had her arms crossed over her head, blocking a blow from Ukyo's spatula that Akane realized would have bashed her on the head had Ranma not pushed her down.
"I won't let you hurt her, Ucchan."
Instantly Ukyo's look of anger was replaced by horror. The spatula fell from her hands and she took a step back then lunged forward to grab Ranma. Ranma let out a small shriek.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Ukyo repeated breaking out in tears. "I didn't want to hurt you."
"Ghaaaaaaa," Ranma said frantically and tried to pry Ukyo off of her. "I'm fine Ucchan. Let go. See I'm fine."
Nabiki watched as Ranma cast her gaze around the table, her eyes pleading for help. She doubted he would find much there. Genma had passed out when Auntie had first unsheathed her katana. Nabiki, unlike Akane, had seen the swipe that had cut the mallet. Her own father was sobbing into his sleeve. Kasumi looked wide-eyed and nervous. Akane looked as if she was still trying to figure out just what had happened. Nodaka was busy trying to revive her husband.
That left her. Nabiki picked up her bowl and began to eat her rice. -Oh well. He got himself into this he can get himself out...unless there are a few yen to be gained.- Nabiki looked into Ranma's eyes and saw the desperation in them. It was the same look he always got in these situations, and she had seen it hundreds of times, but for some reason it unsettled her this time.
-This is going to cost him.-
"Ukyo I think you had better let Ran...ko go," she said nonchalantly. "I don't think that shade of blue is good for her."
Of course Ranma had not been turning blue, but it had the desired effect. Ukyo let go of
Ranma as if the girl had just become as fiery hot as her hair suggested. This in itself
Nabiki found interesting. Under normal circumstances, Ukyo or Shampoo, especially Shampoo,
would have held a gloomp until Ranma lost consciousness from lack of air and never thought
twice about it. Nabiki added it to her growing list of oddities and picked up her bowl
to continue eating.
Nabiki spent the remainder of the morning in deep thought. After she finished eating, she excused herself and went up to her room. She put the tape she had made of Ukyo and Akane's argument the night before in her personal cassette player and slipped on the headphones.
"Something is definitely up," she mused.
She listened to the tape over and over as she absently read a manga, but still could not find anything on it that she found very helpful. After the third time, she threw her manga to the foot of the bed and took off the headphones.
"This is getting me nowhere," she grumbled, then stretched. She needed more information.
Where to get that information was the problem.
"I wonder how much Akane would pay to keep this tape quiet," she said absently to herself.
It was a tempting idea to think about, but it wasn't helping her with her main focus. She
rolled over onto her side and began doing leg lift exercises as she thought. She hated
not knowing something, or more precisely not being able to figure something out. Every
mystery was a personal challenge to her and she never backed down from a challenge. That
caused her to grin as she had heard the same words out come out of Ranma's mouth more than
once.
-Hmmmm Ranma and Ukyo are hiding something, and Auntie knows at least part of it- Nabiki mused.
-Ukyo thinks that whatever it is will really piss Akane off, and for my little sister's part
the way Ukyo and Ranma are acting has spooked her enough that she actually admitted how she
feels for Ranma. And Shampoo locking Ranma's curse and him putting her in the hospital for it.
Neither one of those makes any sense. Why would Shampoo do something like that for no reason,
and why would he get so mad at Shampoo for a temporary thing. And what was all of that about
Ukyo and Shampoo fighting a duel WITH Auntie's approval. I never thought she would approve
of something that unladylike.-
Nabiki rolled over to do her other leg.
-Okay, something happened that caused Shampoo to lock Ranma's curse. Whatever this something is was important enough that Ranma actually hurt Shampoo over it, it was also a big enough deal that Ukyo doesn't think putting Shampoo in the hospital was punishment enough. So it's something that involves both of them, something important to them both. Let's not forget Aunty. Whatever it is, she's willing to forgo her normal views on how a lady should act for it.-
Nabiki stopped her exercise and frowned up at the ceiling.
-Plus there was that little scene at breakfast, both Nodaka and Ukyo defending Ranma, and Ukyo going into hysterics when she hit him.-
Protecting Ranma. That thought almost made Nabiki laugh. The mighty, macho Ranma Saotome needing protecting.
"But he's not all that macho at the moment," she said out loud and smirked. That smirk didn't last very long, however. Slowly Nabiki sat up. She had a sudden feeling she was on to something with that line of thought.
Meanwhile in the dojo, Nodaka had begun her training of Ukyo, with Ranma, Akane, and the fathers watching on. Both held bokens, with Nodaka going through movements for Ukyo. Ukyo for her part was not having a good time of it. The boken felt strange in her hands, her being used to her weightier battle spatula, and every time she looked at it an image of Kuno flashed through her mind.
"Keep your focus, Ucchan," the elder lady said as she watched Ukyo execute on of the katas she had been shown.
"O-okay, its just this feels a little weird," Ukyo said.
"You just need practice, Dear," Nodaka said. "You need to accustom yourself to it."
"If you say so," Ukyo sighed.
Just then, Kasumi came in.
"Aunty there is a telephone call from you," she said. "They said it was very important."
Nodaka blinked a few times in surprise, then turned to Kasumi.
"Who on earth could that be calling me here," she said. She turned to Ukyo. "Keep practicing what I have shown you and I will return in a moment."
With that she left, followed closely behind by the fathers. When they were gone, Ukyo scowled and stopped her katas. She looked at the boken in her hand and scowled in disgust.
"I don't think this is such a good idea," she said. "I'm just can't get comfortable with this thing."
"Well it might just give you an edge against Shampoo if you can do it," Ranma said. The young redhead was leaning against the wall with her hands behind her head.
"What do you mean, Ranma?" Akane asked.
"Well Shampoo is a very good martial artist," Ranma explained, "who has had training in both unarmed and armed combat, where as you Ucchan rely mostly on your spatula. It might throw Shampoo off a little if you showed up with a different weapon."
"So you're saying I should learn it to mess with her mind a little," Ukyo asked.
"Well yeah, but that ain't all of it," Ranma said. "I'd say you should also work on your unarmed skills too. With a weapon you and Shampoo are pretty even, but if she disarms you, then the fight is hers. If you can keep her off balance and uncertain the fight should go a little easier for you. Using any situation to your advantage, that's the main principle of the Anything-Goes school, and you've seen how good it works for me."
Ranma walked over and picked up Ukyo's spatula from where it was leaning against the wall.
"That doesn't mean you should forget your strengths though," she said. Whatever else the redhead was going to say was cut off by Nodaka returning.
"I'm sorry," she said turning to Ukyo, "but something has come up and I'm afraid I won't be be able to train you after all."
"Is anything wrong Auntie," Akane asked. The older woman sighed.
"No dear," she said, "An old friend with an annoyingly bad sense of timing has called in a favor. She and her husband are leaving on a trip and need me to watch after their young daughter for them."
"That's too bad Auntie," Ukyo said. "Any idea when you will be back?"
"Well we should be back before the week is up," Nodaka responded.
"We?" Ranma asked.
"Yes I will be taking my husband with me," Nodaka said. She turned to look at Ukyo.
"Just keep practicing with what I have shown you and you should do fine."
"If you say so," Ukyo grumbled. Nodaka smiled and walked over to hug the young chef. She then hugged Akane and Ranma, then left the dojo.
"Well what now?" Ukyo said with a sigh.
"Now it's my turn," Ranma said. Ukyo and Akane blinked in confusion and turned to the redhead.
"What do you mean, Ranma," Akane asked. Ranma chuckled to herself softly, then burst out laughing and pointed at Ukyo.
"Now I'll take up your training," she said, "and when I'm done you will be a lean, mean martial arts machine."
"Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling about this," Akane said as she watched Ranma burst out in another bout of cackles. She sighed, then covered her face with hand. "Honestly."
Suddenly the doors of the dojo burst open, and before anyone could react weighted ropes and chains flew throw the opening, and Akane found herself bound tightly.
"What's going...Yeeeeeeeeeeoooooooowwwwwwww," she said as she was suddenly jerked forward out of the dojo.
"Akane," the two remaining martial artist shouted and raced outside after her. They skidded to a stop as they were greeted with sinister laughter and the sight of a white robed young man holding a sword standing over a very irate and struggling Akane.
"Mousse!" Ranma shouted.
"I have you now Ukyo Kounji," the man said. "There is no way I'm going to let you harm my darling Shampoo. Though you are a lot heavier than I thought you would be."
"Who are you calling Ukyo you moron," Akane screamed. The blind boy blinked at that and lowered his glasses to stare down at the girl.
"What the! You're not Kounji," he exclaimed and looked around franticly.
"So good of you to notice," Akane replied in a dangerous voice. Spotting Ukyo standing next to Ranma, Mousse took his sword and pointed it towards the girl.
"I will not let you harm my Shampoo," he said.
"I'd say it's out of your hands sugar," Ukyo said. "Shampoo's grandmother already gave her consent."
"But Shampoo is in no condition to fight," Mousse said.
"I'm sure the old woman will come up with something for that," Ukyo replied.
"I see there will be no reasoning with you," Mousse said taking up a stance, one arm low, the other holding the sword over his head. "Very well then, prepare to defend yourself."
"Anytime you're ready," Ukyo said, unknowingly dropping into a defensive stance with the boken she still held. Ranma noticed, however. She put her hands behind her head and looked between the boy and girl.
"Well before you begin, Mousse," Ranma said to the young man, her eyes hard as steel. "I think there is something very important that you forgot."
"And just what is that Saotome," Mousse snapped.
"Look behind you," Ranma responded.
"Yeah right like I'm going to fall for thaaaack!" Mousse began, but was cut by someone grabbing him by his shoulders and forcing him around. There stood Akane Tendo, her battle aura blazing in all its glory. He felt himself lifted off the ground by his shirt.
"DRY UP AND DIE!" she shouted as her fist connected with the blind boy's jaw and sent him
flying into low orbit. She then stood panting as she slowly brought her aura back under control.
From her window, Nabiki watched and shook her head.
"Violent as ever," she said. Then a thought accord to her. Whatever it was that Shampoo had done and the circumstances surrounding it would most likely be known to Mousse. She paused a moment to gauge the direction Mousse had flown, then quickly left to try to track the blind boy down.
As Nabiki was setting off on her hunt for answers, Shampoo was becoming impatient to set off
for her training. Her grandmother had, over the loud objections of the doctors, removed her
from the hospital the night before. Shampoo's frown of disgust at the memory was aimed
partially at the silly doctors and partially at herself. She had been so weak that her
grandmother had had to carry her. The doctors had said that her grandmother was dooming
Shampoo to death by taking her away so soon. Shampoo snorted at that. Her death would not
be coming soon, and would not be nearly that easy. She was an Amazon, and inheritor of
3000 years of proud warrior traditions. Or at least she had been up until a few days ago.
Had it really only been so short a time since her life had come to an end? She shook her
head. The doctors had been wrong. Taking her away from the hospital wouldn't kill her,
she was already dead.
Well, not fully dead. There was still the matter of Ukyo to deal with. Shampoo bristled at the thought of the Japanese girl. She couldn't wait to show the annoying girl just who she was dealing with. But before her grandmother could train her, she said that Shampoo needed to heal. Shampoo sighed and slouched back into the hot water, sinking down until only the upper part of her face showed. She was in a large bath, in a house just outside of the city. The water was a pale green color, and felt strange and tingly against her skin thanks to a concoction that her grandmother had added. She had explained to Shampoo that it would speed up her recovery, but that she would have to soak in it for about twenty-four hours to get the full effect. There would be a price for the healing, her grandmother had said, but she hadn't said what it would be, and Shampoo hadn't bothered to ask. All that Shampoo had cared about was whether or not it would work, and looking down at her body through the water she could tell it was.
"How do you feel Shampoo?" came a voice behind her. Shampoo turned to see her grandmother.
"Is okay," Shampoo said. "Pain and bruises almost all gone. We start training soon yes?"
Cologne made her way to the bath and looked down at her Granddaughter through the water.
"Hmmmm looks like you're coming along quite nicely," she said. "We should be able to begin your training tomorrow."
"Hiya, Shampoo can't wait."
Cologne smirked and chuckled to herself.
"Let's hope you can keep that attitude tomorrow," she said with a sly grin.
"What, grandmother mean?" Shampoo asked frowning.
"Oh you'll see Shampoo, my dear," Cologne chuckle. "For now just concentrate on healing.
One step at a time and you'll never go wrong."
Shampoo nodded and slouched back into the water. Cologne moved over to stare up at the sky through the small window.
"Tomorrow it all begins," she said. "I hope I'm making the right choice with this. I have the nagging feeling that there is something I've over looked that could blow this all up in my face."
Back in Nerima, a young man sneezed, and shook his head.
"I hope I'm not coming down with a cold," Ryoga Habiki said. "That would be all I need.
Oh Ranma, why can't I find you. The old woman said that you were in trouble but I can't get
to you to help."
The lost boy punched a nearby wall, turning it into rubble.
"Ranma where are you!" He yelled. His only answer was a sudden whistling sound accompanied by a scream that was growing slowly louder.
"What the?" Ryoga said turning to look to the sky. His reward was a face to face encounter with a falling Mousse. Both boys crumpled to the ground in a heap. Ryoga growled and quickly threw the Chinese boy off of him.
"YOU PERVERT THAT'S TWICE NOW YOU'VE KISSED ME!" Ryoga bellowed grabbing the blind boy by his throat and shaking him.
"W-wait Ryo-oga," Mousse crocked out.
"Why should I you pervert?" Ryoga snapped.
"I-I have information about R-ranma that you may find interesting," Mousse said. Ryoga looked at him in surprise and loosened his grip. Mousse took a deep breath and sighed.
"Well what about Ranma?" Ryoga said. "At the hospital Cologne said she was in some kind of trouble, do you know what it is and where she is?"
"She?" Mousse said straitening his glasses and looking at the lost boy. "Then it is true, the potion did make you fall in love with Saotome. Poor guy, ack."
The ack was the sound of an impatient Ryoga grabbing Mousse by the neck and shaking him again.
"Get on with it!" he yelled.
"Okay Okay, no need to be such a grouch," Mousse said. "I don't know how to tell you this Habiki but you're going to be a father."
"Wh-what?" Ryoga said, the color draining from his face. "She, I mean Ranma, she's p-p-p-p-p."
"Pregnant?" Mousse finished. "Yes. Apparently that's one of the effects of the potion Shampoo accidentally gave you two."
Ryoga stared at Mousse, his stunned for a moment, then his eyes curled back in his head and he fainted dead away. Mousse looked at the fallen boy and shook his head. Then suddenly jumped to his feet.
"What am I doing?" He said. "I can't waste my time here, I have to get back to my darling Shampoo incase she needs me."
So saying he ran off, leaving the lost boy where he lay. When he was gone, a figure stepped from behind a vending machine where she had been hidden. Slowly she walked over to the lost boy and looked down at him, then in the direction Mousse had run.
Nabiki Tendo had come searching for answers, and she had found them.
The end part 9
I know I know it took forever for this too come out and I am dreadfully sorry about that.
The next part won't take near as much time (I hope)
Oh, and by the by, PLEASE send any C&C to J-Hunt
If anybody has any ideas or comments they can e-mail them to you want to see something happen, tell me. (Heh, heh, less strain on my imagination.)
If you're interested, you can find most of this at my web page at