The sun rose, its light bathing the webbing of the mother Jorogumo, the man known as Genma Saotome stirred in the threads that bound him, slowly returning to the land of the living, still not noticing the threads that bound him, nor the presence of the two yokai that watched him and his son.
Genma attempted to stretch out his tired limbs and that was when he was alarmed to the feeling of the webbing as it constricted his movements, his eyes snapped open, his head shot round, taking the sight of the rather large spider web.
"What the hell" Genma hissed as he began pulling at the silky threads.
"Don't even bother human" said the mother as she stepped out onto her web in her human form, her hair purple and long, reaching down and below her rear, she wore a loose fitting purple kimono that revealed quite a lot of cleavage and leg "Those threads are stronger than steal, you'll never break free" she continued, Genma turned to glare at the woman.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Genma snarled, his voice reaching his son and causing the boy to flinch and to curl up into a small tight ball within the web, subconsciously waiting to receive a beating, his entire body shaking.
Keito had originally planned on staying out of this and having nothing to do with the human boy whatsoever, but the vibrations of her mother's web, caused by the shaking of the boy caught her attention, she stepped into the light and began to walk along a single thread towards the boy, maintaining her own human form.
When she reached him she lowered herself to kneel on the thread and looked at the younger boy closely, bound in a small blanket of her mother's thread and shaking but not out of fear of herself or her mother, she reached out and gently caressed the boy's cheek, he cringed at her delicate touch, she pulled her hand away on reflex.
'Perhaps mother was right…the boy is innocent and the father is the true monster here' Keito mused to herself, the boy's eyes squeezed tight before slowly opening, his eyes were assaulted by light and the only thing he could see was Keito's face, her appearance made almost angelic by the surrounding light, her eyes so warm to Ranma after having nothing but it his father's cold disapproving glare all his life, he was drawn to them.
The mother continued to glare at the human's father "I am a Jorogumo and my name is Kuroko as for what I want…perhaps a reason I shouldn't kill you" Kuroko replied, making eye contact with Genma and sending him a death glare.
Now despite Genma's idiocy he knew a threat when he heard one and he knew when it wasn't just a bluff, he made a quick analysis of this situation, he was immobilized, a yokai in front of him, very capable of killing him and wouldn't think twice about it, at the moment he couldn't defend himself and so for him that left only one option.
"How about a trade?" Genma proposed.
"A trade" Kuroko sneered.
"Yes a trade, if you let me live you can have my son and heir" Genma replied, planning to steal his son back once he was free and had the element of surprise.
"You would sacrifice your baby in order to live a little longer and you humans call us monsters" Kuroko replied, Genma could see his normal plan was failing and so began to focus upon his Ki.
'Oh please let this work' Genma begged as he made slight movement of his hands within his cocoon, using all his strength, from the outside nothing could be seen of his efforts.
"I say give me a reason not to kill you and then you say that, you might has well have begged me to kill you" Kuroko hissed, revealing her fangs.
"Then I guess it's kill or be killed" Genma sneered before releasing an army of vacuum blades, shredding his cocoon, the webbing around the base causing him to fall to the ground as well as send the vacuum blades off course do to the sudden movement causing a lapse in focus, Kuroko arched her back, back just enough so not to lose her head, however, her forearm wasn't so lucky, it was shredded, her blood and torn flesh scattered about the webbing and her person as she fell onto her back, Genma ran off into the shadows, escaping the Jorogumo as fast as he could.
Kuroko just laid there for a while taking sharp breaths as blood poured out of where her right forearm had been, with her good hand to her mouth and pulling out thin lines of thread before wrapping her new stump until the blood no longer dripped from the now scarlet thread.
"MOMMA" Keito screamed, leaving the boy to himself as she ran towards her mother, Ranma could only watch, his body paralyzed, eyes wide in horror, mouth open, his body shaking, he had never seen his father do something like that before, he had always said a martial artist duty is to protect.
'A martial artist duty is to protect…but pop was…is a martial artist and he…tried to kill her, that lady' Ranma thought to himself.
Kuroko sat up and glanced from her own daughter to Ranma before turning back to her daughter.
"Don't worry Keito, it'll grow back…eventually" Kuroko replied, lightly placing her hand on Keito's shoulder "Now why don't we go welcome your new brother" she chuckled, wanting to change the conversation as quickly as possible and tell the human the good news.
"Ok" Keito replied, weakly nodding, they both rose to their feet and began to approach Ranma.
Two shadows cast over Ranma, he slowly raised his head and was greeted by the sight of the girl that had awoken him and the woman his father had injured, he curled himself up into a small ball, squeezing his eyes shut, awaiting the inevitable beating that was to come.
'Pop tried to…kill…her and now…I'm all alone with…her…she probably hates me…she's gonna beat me for been his son' these thoughts and more continued to circle his mind. Kuroko lowered herself to be at Ranma's level.
"Hello, what's your name?" Kuroko asked in a soft tone, Ranma lifted his head a little until he peered out with a single eye.
"R…Ranma…S…Saotome…I'm Ranma Saotome" Ranma replied, his voice shaking.
"Well Ranma there's no need to be scared" Kuroko replied using the most motherly tone she could muster.
"I…I'm not afraid…Ranma Saotome isn't afraid of anything" Ranma replied weakly, Kuroko chuckled at hearing this.
"Is that so…so I take you're not scared of Jorogumo like us?" Kuroko asked, Ranma violently shook his head, though truthfully he was terrified and by the fact his body was shaking like a leaf it was more than obvious.
"I'm glad to hear it…listen Ranma we would like to offer you a place in our family" Kuroko finally said, wanting to get straight to the point.
"Why?" Ranma asked, letting his second eye peer out.
"Because you're an innocent little boy who has been abused by humanity and in more ways than one considering what I saw last night…you need a family and we are willing to accept you but the final decision belongs to you but know we would be proud to have you" Kuroko replied.
'They want me to be a part of their…family…but how long will that last once they find out my curse' Ranma thought to himself, his mental tone becoming one of depression, he let out a tired sigh.
"I…appreciate what you're saying but…you don't want me" Ranma sighed.
"And why wouldn't we?" Kuroko asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm weak…worthless and a freak…I turn into a girl!" Ranma replied, almost screaming the last part, tears brewing in his eyes.
"I know" Kuroko replied, Ranma stiffened.
"You know?" Ranma squeaked.
"I saw you change from a girl to a boy last night" Kuroko admitted.
"And you still want me?" Ranma asked, unable to believe this was actually happening.
"Yes" Kuroko replied softly "Remember it's your choice Ranma, well…do you want to be a part of our little family?" she asked.
"Yes…YES!" Ranma yelled, leaping onto Kuroko, his arms wrapping around her neck.
A/N Hope you all liked the chappie, plz review, any suggestions will be appreciated.