Chasing the Rainbow
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any related characters in any way, shape or form.
Author's Notes: Woah… I thought there might be a little interest in the harem alternate ending, but I never expected that! There won't be any lemons, I'll warn you this ahead of time (not only are they illegal on FFN, I'm not a lemon writer), but the alternate ending will be produced. And I was a little worried that the references might have been too gratuitous; I'm glad to see it wasn't as bad as I feared. I don't know if Kodachi was making a Negima reference; that was Gideon020's invention, not mine. And no, the Kunos aren't descended from Aoshi – if you'll take a second glance at Kodachi's explanation of where she learned it from, it was taught to her ancestor because the original master had no heir of his own.
On Ranma's intelligence & cunning, the thing is, Ranma is actually very cunning in canon, it's just he doesn't particularly care much about education and his plans honestly tend to be rather silly (putting on a play to trick Happosai into changing Taro's name, blackmailing Nabiki by pretending to have fallen for her). He has much more of a reputation as an uneducated jock or a moron in fanon than he really deserves to have.
As for the cruelty of Ranma's plan… yes, it is cruel, it is self-centered, and it is hypocritical. Which are the unifying flaws of all members of the Ranma ½ cast. That said, Ranma especially has a conscience and, while I'm trying not to give things away, let's just say that his plan will find itself harder tested when he puts it into action.
Ryuus2, just using this an excuse to comment on your review of Another Rainy Day… to be honest, I don't see the manga ending as being any better an indication of Ranma & Akane's compatibility than the rest of either the manga or the anime, and certainly not as a sign of the manga being the only reality where Ranma/Akane "worked". Ranma can't even tell himself that he's in love with Akane until he thinks she's been killed more or less because of him – and it's possible he doesn't even say "I love you" to her. In fact, canonically, he specifically denies saying something like that out loud. And then there's the fact that Akane never says anything like that in the series, except when she was mind controlled by the Reversal Jewel – in fact, when she and Ranma are talking during the failed wedding, ignoring the fact she may be actively going along with Soun's blackmail scheme, her focus is on forcing Ranma to admit that he may have confessed to loving her, never once thinking to say the same words to him. Ranma may deny his confessions of love for Akane when he makes them, but Akane has never made a confession of love for Ranma in the first place. And then it ends with Akane siding with Soun in placing all of the blame for the wedding going bust on Ranma, even as Ranma dryly points out that it was just as much Akane's fault as his.
Chapter 17: Ice & Fire! The Two New Girls, Natsume & Kurumi!
Natsume wondered to herself on the strange whims of fate. She and her younger sibling, Kurumi, had been passing through this town as yet another place to go in their search for both martial perfection and their long-lost father. As was so often the case when they were in civilization, her voracious sister had run off to rob people of their food, slipping away from Natsume's watchful eye to do so - by the time that Natsume usually caught her, she'd already made her hit and wolfed down the evidence. It really did startle her how much Kurumi could eat; there were times Natsume wondered if it might be a side effect to her early mastery of hot ki, but dismissed that. After all, the martial artist who had taught them how to progress beyond emotional ki and into temperate ki hadn't displayed any such tendencies, while Kurumi had been a glutton since... well, since as long as Natsume could remember. Chance had led to her managing to stop her sister for once; she had been about to assault a girl of around her age who was walking home with some toasted rice cake. Kindly, the complete stranger had let Kurumi have the treat, and the two sisters had decided that they had to make it up to her: few people were so unthinkingly nice to vagrants like them, so they had a long-standing code of repaying them for it.
The girl had probably not been expecting them to follow her; she broke out into a full sprint about halfway through, prompting Natsume and Kurumi to head to the rooftops to follow her to her home and explain why they were following her. To their surprise, the girl invited them in. It seemed that their luck was finally turning around; the duo took a seat in the living room, while the girl they followed spoke to an older sister to explain why they were here.
As she was doing this, though, a third girl came into the room, giving the sisters a once-over before directing a heavy-lidded look at Akane. "You know, Akane, most people, when they say they're going to catch some thieves, would turn them in to the police when they catch them, not bring them home like a pair of strays." She snarked.
"Oh back off Nabiki. They're harmless, they didn't mean to steal in the first place."
Kurumi had the good grace to blush from her immediate assault of the food that the returning older sister provided them. Akane seemed to be about to continue, when she spotted someone behind them.
"Oh, hello, Ranma! Meet Natsume and Kurumi."
Kurumi blinked in surprise as the strange boy entered the room. "Who're you?" She blurted unthinkingly.
"Kurumi!" Natsume scolded. They might be wandering martial artists, but she had taught her better manners than that!
"The name's Ranma Saotome, of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts." The boy answered casually, giving her a bow that was either mockingly respectful or sloppily sincere.
"Saotome School of Anything Goes?" The sisters asked in unison. Could it possibly be there was another school of Anything Goes? Their father had never mentioned such a thing... but, then again, their father hadn't really told them much about their school beyond the basics of its philosophy and teachings.
"Yep, basically it's the brother school to the Tendo School of Anything Goes. My pop teaches the Saotome School and Akane's dad teaches the Tendo School."
"Tendo School? Tendo School of Anything Goes?" Natsume breathed softly.
"You mean... our father's school?" Kurumi whispered.
Could it be? Both sisters wondered. Could they have last found the dojo they had been searching for, the dojo that their father had promised they would prove themselves worthy to run with their blood, sweat and tears?
Ordinarily, they would have realized that if this was true then Akane was their sister, but the news that they had found a home at long last completely overwhelmed such lesser distractions.
"Father's school? What exactly do you two mean by that?" The two girls blinked and turned to see Nabiki standing nearby with a suspicious look on her face, "Yeah, I heard you two. So what do you mean by father's school?"
Natsume unconsciously drew herself up into a storyteller's posture. "My sister and I have spent our lives on a training journey, wandering all over Japan in our need to fulfill an oath to our father. When we were little, he taught us martial arts and made us promise that we would become great martial artists so that we could take over his school - the Tendo School of Anything Goes, founded by none other than himself. Soun Tendo."
"Woah, woah, hold on there. I have never met you before in my life and I think our dad would tell us he had two other daughters somewhere." Nabiki then pointed at Kasumi in the kitchen, "And more importantly I'd say Kasumi would know considering she's the firstborn in the family."
"We have proof! Show 'em, Natsume." Kurumi demanded indignantly.
Reaching into her pocket, Natsume held up their greatest treasure, the sole physical memento they had of their father, and the written proof of his oath to them. Trying to resist a triumphant smile - it wouldn't be polite - she held it out to Akane.
Akane took the photo and appeared to be trying to work out something to say politely, but failed and decided to just say it outright. "Umm, not to burst your bubble, but this only the guy's back."
Nabiki looked over and sniffed. "Not only that, that gi only says 'Anything Goes', nothing about Tendo either."
At that, Ranma, who had snuck over behind Akane's back suddenly reached over and took it. "The picture may not say much, but this writing on the back says a lot. It says... basically what they just said. It's a promise that they will inherit the Tendo Dojo, signed by Soun Tendo."
Kasumi came out of the kitchen and took a look at the signature, before pulling out a magnifying glass from an apron pocket and carefully took a closer look, comparing the lines to a small piece of paper she pulled from another pocket. Finally, she put them away, blinking in visible surprise. "Oh my, that's father's signature all right."
Nabiki wasn't convinced. "Yeah? We'll see what daddy has to say about it when he gets back with Mister Saotome."
"Ooh! Just wait until dad gets home! I'll give him a piece of my mind!" Akane vowed angrily.
It was almost an hour later when Soun and Genma casually walked through the corridor into the living room. Thankfully, Soun Tendo ducked the flying plate, which instead harmlessly shattered against Genma's thick head. "What's the meaning of this?" He demanded in an outrage.
"Explain yourself, dad! What's the meaning of you hiding two illegitimate children from us!" Akane screamed, throwing another plate at him.
"What are you talking about?" Soun Tendo roared, actually slipping into his demon head attack in his outrage. "I brought you up with better manners than that, young lady! How dare you make such accusations!"
"Oh, is that what you call it?" Nabiki snarked. "How do you explain them then?"
Soun looked over at the hopeful faces of Natsume and Kurumi and then back at Nabiki. "What about them Nabiki? I've never seen them before in my life."
Kurumi looked about ready to cry but Natsume drew herself up straighter.
"But it's us father, Natsume and Kurumi!"
Soun shook his head and the girl looked thoughtful for a moment. "You trained us while we were still young, remember? And sent us on that training trip across Japan so that we could return as heirs to the Tendo School after you taught us the basics."
"Don't be ridiculous! What kind of idiot would send a little kid off to train like that?" Akane demanded, ignoring Genma's insulted look. "Besides, I'm the heir to the Tendo Dojo!"
"You?" Natsume snapped; her patience was too stretched to put up with something that would have been a sore spot to her anyway. "A pampered schoolgirl thinks she has the right to take the place that we have shed blood, sweat and tears for? That we were rightfully promised?"
"Who are you calling a pampered schoolgirl, you vagrant!" Akane barked back; like Natsume, her temper had worn thin and she would not tolerate challenges to her skill. "Daddy clearly knows you're some kind of fraud, anyway!"
"We are not frauds! He's just confused, that's all - and so are you if you think you've got the right to challenge me for my place as the heir to the dojo!" Natsume raged. "We suffered under the Master Fudou, the old lecher, who taught us some of the deep secrets of manipulating ki - we spent weeks trying to boil soup and make ice cream with just our ki alone. We even fought against the Shinmeiryu dojo only a few weeks ago!"
"They beat us, but only just." Kurumi swore. "We'll go back again, and this time they'll lose!"
Ignoring her little sister, Natsume concluded. "Do you really think you deserve the position instead of us?"
"Why don't you put your muscle where your mouth is, street-trash?" Akane sneered.
"Oh, it's a fight you want, you soft little butterball!" Natsume sneered, striding close enough to her 'sister' that they were practically face to face.
As the others watched the fight about to break out, Genma turned to Ranma in a desperate panic. "Do something, boy!" He demanded.
"Like what?" Ranma asked sarcastically.
"Akane's your fiancée, calm her down! Or at least help her win this fight!" Genma cried.
"What?" Ranma barked incredulously. "This is a personal matter of hers, an intra-school matter for the Tendo Dojo - I've got no place sticking my nose into this!" He insisted.
"I don't need your help anyway, Ranma!" Akane growled. "I'm gonna take care of you personally..."
"I'd like to see you try..." Natsume growled back.
"Dojo's out the back."
Natsume nodded at Ranma's announcement and stalked off, Akane following after her. A moment passed and then the rest of the house followed at a safe distance from the two angry girls and crowded in to watch the fight. Kurumi sat down near her sister as she went into some warm up exercises while Akane did the same. Ranma decided to referee the match at least, not trusting either his fathers to do the job correctly or fairly.
Throwing an impassive look at the sidelines, where Genma was glowering and Soun was softly dripping, he raised a hand in an officious manner. "Alright, this fight will be fought until one of you admits defeat or can't raise from the floor after a ten count. Winner will officially claim the right to be called the heir to the Tendo Dojo." He swept his hand down towards the floor with a shout of, "begin!"
Akane immediately charged forward, intent on downing her opponent with a single punch while Natsume moved forward at a slower pace, studying her opponent. They met in the middle of the floor, Akane launching a series of punches and kicks while Natsume began dodging and weaving around the strikes before easily hopping over a low sweep kick and then suddenly snapping off a punch into Akane's face, causing the girl to yelp in pain.
"Ow! That hurt!"
Natsume shook her head. "If I wanted to, I could have fractured your skull. Only a serious fighter should accept a match. So get serious about this, or give up."
Akane simply charged back in as an answer. "You should give up before you get hurt!"
Natsume scoffed as she dodged around a punch and elbowed Akane in the ribs, hard, before spinning to slam her knee into the reeling girl's stomach, knocking Akane to the ground with a gasp as Natsume backed off and smirked. "Funny, I should be saying the same thing to you."
After that the fight continued without another word, Akane trying to get past Natsume's defenses while Natsume easily pushed past Akane's to slam a fist or a foot into her opponent, and it was clear to Ranma that Natsume wasn't even getting tired… unlike Akane, who was breathing hard from the constant barrage of attacks getting past her guard. Finally, Natsume decided to put an end to the fight and easily stepped in close to Akane and slammed an open palm into Akane's stomach before the same hand formed a fist and whipped into an uppercut that sent Akane flying back to land with a thud on the floor of the dojo.
Ranma shook his head just once, subtly, and began to count. "1. 2..." He ticked through the numbers at an even pace, Akane coughing from the impact, dazed and trying resolutely to rise, but unable to clearly bring herself off of the floor. "9... 10." He concluded. "That's it, Natsume Tendo is the winner, and the new heir to the Tendo School of Anything Goes."
Natsume couldn't help herself; she beamed with pride over too many things to count. Magnanimously, she reached out a hand to help her newfound sister up. "You fought well." She told her. It was the truth, after all; she wasn't as good as Natsume or Kurumi were, but for a socialized dojo student, she was incredible. If she got into some of the real hard training that the wandering sisters had undergone, Natsume was certain that she would improve with remarkable speed.
Akane pushed herself off of the floor with her elbows, shooting Natsume's a hand a sour look. Scowling, she swatted it aside, insisting on scrambling to her feet under her own power. "This isn't over!" She swore.
"If you can beat Kurumi and I in a fight, then it's only right that you claim the position of the heir to the dojo - after all, it belongs to the strongest." Natsume replied levelly. They had just met, and not on very good terms after all; she could be graceful.
"Ranma! Why didn't you help your fiancée! Akane should have won, not that girl!"
Despite himself, Ranma leapt, as did Akane, Natsume and Kurumi, at Soun's angry shout, boiling hot tears spattering onto the floor in emphasis of his words. "What was I supposed to do?" Ranma protested. "Natsume won the fight, fair and square, I had to call it like I saw it!"
"He's right." Akane grudgingly conceded. "I lost this time, but I'll beat her next time."
"If you had helped Akane like you should have, she wouldn't have lost in the first place!" Soun thundered in a fury.
Ranma made a show of wriggling a finger in his ear. "I was the referee! I couldn't interfere with an ongoing match! Besides, this is a matter of the Tendo Dojo - this is your school, your heirs, your teachings, your business! I got no place messing around in this!"
"Then you have no place here! I want you out immediately!"
Akane looked aghast. "Dad, what are you saying?" She yelped. She was kind of ticked off at Ranma making no effort to defend her when this whole matter came up, but he was in the right; he really did have no place interfering in what was an internal matter of the Tendo School, not to mention she would have rebuffed him had he offered to help anyway.
"I'm saying that if Ranma won't do his duty as your fiancé, then he is no longer welcome here!" Soun declared, aura burning around him with greater ferocity than Akane had seen in a long time. If he hadn't been making himself look like an unprincipled idiot, Akane would have been cheering him for displaying such passion.
Natsume and Kurumi stared at their father in heartbroken dismay; was he serious? Was he really going to kick out this Ranma person for upholding what was expected of him, simply because that made life harder for Akane? They had dreamed that their father was a great man, a man of truest honor and sincerity. This couldn't be happening!
But it was. Ranma threw a look of smoldering disdain at Soun Tendo. "Alright, alright, I'm going." He stated bluntly.
"Ranma..." Akane began; she wasn't happy with him at the moment, but she didn't want to see him kicked out - particularly not for something that looked like it was basically her dad's fault anyway.
"Relax, it's not like this hasn't happened before." Ranma told her. "I'll get my stuff and go." He told the still-fuming Soun, then calmly left the room.
Uneasily, Natsume and Kurumi headed back out of the dojo and into the house proper, along with the other girls - their sisters, they had to start thinking of them as that. They passed through the living room just as Ranma came down the steps from the top level, a large pack mounted on his shoulders. Akane looked at him and swallowed. "Ranma, I..." She began, then shook herself slightly and drew up some fury. "What are you doing? Just packing up and running off with your tail between your legs?" She jeered.
"Yep." Was all she got in response, to the great startlement of every Tendo sister besides Natsume and Kurumi, who still puzzling over their newfound siblings' reaction. Clawing her way off of the floor, having fallen on her face in shock, Akane stared at Ranma incredulously as he headed for the door. "But, but, but!" She protested. Angry she was with him, but the idea of Ranma just... well, just giving up... it was unthinkable! Yes, the Saotome School had a whole "attack" built around the concept of "run away, think up a new plan, then come back for another go", but admitting defeat... well, it wasn't in Ranma's vocabulary.
But Ranma never even looked back, instead heading straight through the door without even the slightest hitch in his step, from what Akane could see.
A long moment's silence followed, before... "Oh, I need to get started on making dinner." Kasumi proclaimed.
"Let us help!" Kurumi eagerly piped up. She liked eating, but she also really liked cooking things to eat.
"Oh, you needn't trouble yourself." Kasumi proclaimed sweetly.
"I insist; it's only fair." Natsume said, her tone gentle and steel in her words.
The resulting dinner was quiet and Natsume noted that even Kurumi was rather subdued, by her standard, in her eating. Of course, that was to be expected. Both Kurumi and Natsume were feeling heartsick; bad enough to see their father do what he had done, but he continued to ignore them, even as he sat at the table. He would never look at them, and occasionally they could hear the faint teary mumble of "not my daughters" and "why won't they believe me". Each tear that rolled down his cheek to plop onto the table was like an icy shard of glass jabbing into their hearts. They had dreamed of this for so long... and they would not be driven away. They would prove that they were who they were and their father would love them like they knew he did and it would all be well again... this they vowed.
Soon, the time came to go to bed and as the two girls laid out the futons, they had a small conversation.
"You know, this isn't turning out as wonderful as I hoped it would be Natsume."
Natsume nodded as she lay down, turning to her sister. "Well, at least we're here, that's the important part. Nothing is ever like you dream it to be anyway so there's bound to be a few bumps in the road."
Kurumi huffed. "Well, I for one, would like something to go smoothly for once."
Natsume smiled slightly. "So would I."
The next morning, the siblings woke early; they were used to doing so, in order to have breakfast and then get right to training, and they were pleasantly surprised to discover their newfound elder sister, Kasumi, had a similar routine. As the three girls whirled and bustled around the kitchen, Kurumi noticed that Natsume seemed rather distracted.
"What's wrong, sis?" She asked.
"It's just... I've been thinking about that boy who was staying here, Ranma." Natsume stated.
"Oooh! Big sister has a crush, yeh?" Kurumi teased.
"Oh my, that's really not proper." Kasumi added softly.
"It's nothing like that at all." Natsume barked. Honestly! She'd barely even met the boy. "I just feel guilty that he was thrown out of this house because of me and my temper." She declared in a calmer fashion.
"I must admit, that was awfully rude of father." Kasumi added.
"And it didn't look like he had a chance to get anything to eat, either." Kurumi piped up.
Natsume repressed the urge to quip that, of course, Kurumi would pick up on that, instead watching as her scruffy little sister bustled around the kitchen, quickly and efficiently throwing together some basic supplies, which she then thrust into Natsume's arms. "Alright, I'll take this to him... any ideas where he might have set up camp?"
"There's a vacant lot not too far from here that Ranma and his friends like to camp in and have duels." Kasumi replied.
After she gave Natsume proper directions, the heir to the Tendo School of Anything Goes was off like a rocket. While a newcomer to the area, she was able to follow Kasumi's directions easily enough, and soon found herself beholding a rather curious scene.
"This is ridiculous Ranma-honey! Why'd you have to camp out here instead of coming to one of us?" Ukyo was certainly confused, and a little miffed, that Ranma wouldn't jump at a chance for a warm bed for just one night, rather than camping out in this vacant lot.
"Indeed Ranma-sama, why I have hundreds of guest rooms that you could honor with your presence."
Off to the other side of Kodachi, Shampoo nodded as well. "Have plenty of room at Nekohanten! Ranma could even work if he feel guilty about staying!"
Kodachi suddenly glared at the Chinese girl. "And why would he do that when surely he deserves some manner of comfort and, dare I say, pampering for once in his life?"
"Girls, please!" Ranma interjected. "This is one of the reasons why I set up camp here in the first place." He complained.
None of the quartet noticed Natsume, who was wondering who the girls were. Why was that girl with the giant spatula dressed so masculinely? Alright, she wasn't in much position to talk, but she wasn't actively trying to dress like a man. And what was the deal with that other girl with the odango haircut - who on earth would dye their hair blue?
"Well, I'm sure the others would have understood if you stayed for just one night. Right?" Ukyo's question was directed at the other two girls, who looked disgruntled but then nodded slowly as Ukyo grinned, "See? You can stay with me tonight and go to the others next time."
"Hey! No fair!" Shampoo protested.
"Too slow China Doll, so nyah!"
Kodachi was about to join in when she spotted Natsume, "And who might you be?"
"Er... Natsume Tendo. I just wanted to apologize to Ranma for the way my father reacted last night." She replied unsteadily. What was going on here?
"You should apologize! Old man Tendo have lot of nerve, treat my Ranma like that." The bluenette sniffed haughtily, her accent making it almost as clear that she was Chinese as the way her speech was broken did.
"What do you mean, your Ranma?" The other two girls chorused.
"What do any of you mean?" Natsume asked, exasperation coloring her tone.
"It's... hard to explain." Ranma began. "But... well, these girls are my fiancées."
Natsume looked at Ranma. Looked at all three of the girls, and then looked at Ranma again. "Explain." She stated, simply and icily.
"Well... it's a long story..." Ranma began.
"I've got time." Natsume replied.
Meanwhile, back at the Tendo Dojo...
"Look, I swear I'm not a burglar, peeping tom or a flasher!" Mousse pleaded, struggling against the long ribbon currently encasing his wrists and ankles like a steel chain.
"Then what's with the flasher coat, huh?" Kurumi demanded, grinding her heel into the small of Mousse's back.
"It's a traditional uniform of Hidden Weapons Martial Arts!" Mousse complained. This was undignified! He could swallow being beaten up by a little girl, nothing unusual about that, but nobody had ever insulted his clothes before!
"And the pervy glasses?"
"I've got eye-problems, ya little brat!" Mousse snapped, his temper frayed. "If you don't get off me right this second, I'm going to make you regret it!"
"Oh yeah? How?" Kurumi jeered. Her smug expression turned to one of pain and she leapt off with a howl as Mousse twisted inside his robe, bringing some of his myriad sharp implements jabbing squarely into the undersides of Kurumi's feet. Without her pressing him down, he easily managed to twist free of the ribbon, cutting it apart with a pair of giant shears for added insult.
"I warned you..." Mousse declared, clanking the shears together with menace.
"Mousse? What are you doing here?" Came a feminine voice from behind them both.
Kurumi's eyes widened in fear as she looked past her assailant to the source of it. "Nabiki! Run!"
"Nabiki? There you are!" Mousse cried out excitedly, the shears vanishing up his sleeve from whence they came as he spun around to face her.
"I'm over here, Mousse. But what brought you over here at this time of day?" Nabiki asked.
"Wait, you know this weirdo?" Kurumi asked incredulously.
"We... talk a little, that's all." Mousse said, coughing into his covered wrist.
"Yes, and right now I need to talk to Mousse in private so if you don't mind." With a quick stride forward, Nabiki yanked Mousse to her and dragged him out the room as the Chinese boy sputtered out an explanation before Nabiki said something that Kurumi didn't pick up but it was enough to put both a smile on the boy's face and make him shudder. Kurumi watched them depart with a thoughtful look on her face; did she see a small blush on Nabiki's face as she was dragging Mousse out?
Kurumi shook her head and decided to go get something from the kitchen.
As the girl bounced down the hallway to head to the stairs, ignoring the strange noise she suddenly heard from Nabiki's room, she passed Akane on the way, "Hi Akane!" The girl grumbled something as she followed Kurumi down the stairs, turning to head to the door while Kurumi headed to the kitchen, intent on getting a snack and maybe helping Kasumi.
Meanwhile Natsume had just returned from her strange, strange conversation with Ranma and his three fiancées. Three! What kind of father would put a son in such a position? She was so caught up in her thoughts that she nearly bumped into Akane as the girl was exiting the house.
"Oh, Akane! I'm sorry - look, I..." Natsume trailed off as Akane rudely pushed past her and headed away. "What's her problem?" She wondered aloud.
"Don't worry, she'll warm up to you - she's just a little caught up in her wounded pride right now."
Natsume leapt in shock, whirling to find a masculine and most emphatically unfamiliar face staring at her, waifish body clad in strange robes with pale skin and almost gleaming silver hair regarding Natsume with amused, solid copper eyes. "Who are you? And where did you come from?" She quickly demanded.
The stranger bowed formally at the waist. "Forgive me, I am Gelf, an... associate of Ms. Akane's."
"And where did you come from?" She demanded.
"That... I am not at a liberty to say. I... hang around." He said, grinning widely. And then, to Natsume's great shock, he began to fade away until there was nothing left of him but his grin. And then even that disappeared. She shook her head in disbelief.
"This is one strange household." She muttered, and then headed deeper into the house to find Kurumi; it was time for practice.
And thus the chapter comes to a close. Don't worry, there's going to be a lot more of Natsume & Kurumi in the story, though they probably won't get as prominent a role as this again. Ranma's out of the Tendo Dojo and one key step closer to making his final decision, though there's still a way's to go before he makes the final announcement in our coverage of the Tendo Family Christmas Special.
Speaking of specials, our next conversions are intended to be OAVs 10 (Cursed Tunnel of Lost Love) and 11 (The Evil Oni), but things are getting a little blurry… do folks think we should try and adapt the Cursed Tunnel of Lost Love, given the special changes we've already wrought?
And to just clear it up for folks who might have been curious, Gelf is just an original character, not a crossover character. He's intended to be a yosei, a Japanese faerie, but he's kind of absorbing some Eladrin traits…