A/N : Yes, this is a long chapter. It has to do with five people all of which could end up married to one another meeting and making their good, and bad
first impressions, so it deserves the time and space.
Chapter 6 - Fiance/e!?
Soun stared in shock as his sons were hurled into the koi pond by the blast from the little red head they had been fighting over. He sat up straight, and
then said "Now that, they had coming..." to which his old friend Genma just nodded sagely.
Kazuma looked to his sister and said admonishingly "now sis, you really shouldn't't blow people up like that."
Looking at her brother, she was about to apologize until the connection in her head between the word marry, and "Fat man brought me here". The fully formed thought she got was "Fat man brought me here, to marry stupid humans!?" Before she was able to once again attempt to kill her father, the two brothers pulled themselves out of the koi pond.
"What the hell was that you crazy-" Genzinan yelled out, until he was hit in the back of the head by Kentarou.
Kentarou sighed, as he took his shirt off and wrung it out, before putting it back on. That girl was amazing. To think, at her age she had mastered chi attacks. After he had finished getting most of the water out of his shirt,he spoke " Now brother, we were being quite rude. We didn't't even ask what Ranma wanted." after he said this, he paused, then dragged his brother to stand infront of a now confused Ranma. Bowing formally, and being followed soon after by his brother, he spoke again "Even though there is no excuse for the thoughtlessness my brother and I have shown. My brother and I would like to apologize and ask for your forgiveness on this matter." After finishing, the two stayed bowed, waiting for Ranma's response.
Ranma stared at them, confused at the way they were acting. Nobody had ever apologized to her before. She didn't't know how to handle this. The awkward moment went on for a few minutes before Akane leaned over to Ranma and whispered "Psst! They're waiting for you to accept their apology"
"Why? They treat Ranma like thing. Ranma not thing, Ranma is Ranma!" she whispered back harshly.
"Just accept it. Boys are stupid,immature and rude to girls. At least my brothers are willing to apologize for doing those types of things. Your brother doesn't't even apologize for hitting you with a broom!" She whispered back.
"That NOT True! Brother not treat like thing! Brother treat like person. Just hits Ranma when try to kill fat man!" Ranma stated, matter of factly, no longer whispering, causing Akane, Kazuma, and Soun to face fault, and causing Kentarou and Genzinan to struggle valiantly not to do the same. Genma justed sighed.
After looking at the two Tendo boys, Ranma smiled and said "You no do again, and I forgive you." The two stood up promptly, and were gushing promises that they'd never do it again. Both were then lost in bliss, as they heard a light giggle escape from Ranma, who thought :Humans could be funny! Especially when they wanted to mate!: She had promised Kazuma that she wouldn't't kill any humans, unless it was a last resort, but she never promised not to maim or attempt to maim as the fat one had found each time he did something stupid! She was just happy that stupidity was probably the thing he was most adept at so she had plenty of reasons to go after him. The only thing standing between her actually hurting the fat man, was Kazuma. He listened to her,
and didn't't treat her like she was an idiot because she couldn't speak Japanese very well. He had even turned the broom on the fat man a few times when he said cruel things to her. She knew the man was her father, but she would not think of him in such a way. He had much to atone for before she'd every think of HIM as family.
Soun looked at Ranma, who had slipped into thought, then turned to Saotome, and said "Well, that was interesting my old friend. But my sons do have a point. Two of our children must become engaged, to bring the two schools together. I believe Akane and Kazuma would be a great match!" As he said this, Akane,
Kentarou, and Genzinan all objected, and Genma just looked worried. In short, it was pandamonium. too bad no pandas around Looks at Genma Damn
"But father, you know the problems Akane has with men, to force her into a relationship like this would be far too cruel! I couldn't forgive such a thing!"
Kentarou said.
"And seriously, she'd probably pummel him until he got sick of it, and just left. Then where would the contract be to join our schools? You know she has a temper. She even kicked a piece of cinder block at me today!" Genzinan added his two yen.
"But daddy! Why should I have to marry an immature boy like him! You saw what he did to his sister a little while ago!?"Akane said, forgetting about WHY,Kazuma had hit Ranma with his broom.
"But she was going to kill us, Its not my fault! Its not like I would hurt her or anything, she's my sister!" Kazuma said in his defense.
Ranma jumped in "Yeah! Kazuma is good brother! Brother protects me, kept fat man from giving me away as bride to stupid half beast man!"
And again, all eyes were on Ranma, most of them on the verge of shutting down from the complete unlikelihood of what was just said.
At that point, Genma had a thought "Tendo, I have a proposal. As it stands, your boys seem to have taken a liking to my Ranma, and I can see that Akane being in a forced relationship would probably destroy it before it started, how about we gave it some time, and see if any of our children decide they like each other before we push them into it. We do only need one pair to be married, and this would be best for the happiness of our children. And in the end if we do not have anything happen between our children, we can still join the schools by teaching them both to the next generation!" What Genma really didn't't want to say, was that he was reluctant to let his hopes hang on Kazuma, because he wasn't his true son, and if it ever got out, then he would be out
of luck. He also figured that showing at least some form of decency might make Ranma less determined to kill him. Maybe only maim him or something.
Ranma looked at him stupefied. Did Fat man just say she didn't't have to marry the boys if she didn't't want to? He mentioned her, happiness."Who you, and what you do with fat man?" Ranma asked curiously.
"Ranma, I'll admit it. I'm not the best father. And I'm not the smartest" Genma said, continuing on even as Ranma and Kazuma both gave an affirmative to each thing he said "But I love you both, and I want you both to be happy. While what I do may sometimes make little sense, someday you'll understand" he finished looking solemn. That should hopefully get him into Ranma's good graces, at least for a little bit.
"Saotome... You are wise beyond your years. After all this time, you have become an even better man than I. Yes, I agree. Let us have our children get to know each other. I remember the love I had with my wife, long ago... I wish that type of love for my children." Soun had tears streaming down his face as he said this."
All three of the Tendo children looked at their father with empathy. All except Akane had been old enough to see how hard he had taken her passing.
After a short pause, Ranma's stomach growled, to which Kentarou stood up "Before you three arrived, I had been working on dinner. Ranma, would you like to assist me? I could use a hand, and would probably get done sooner if you helped" he said, looking at Ranma with a sort of calm air about him.
Ranma looked at him for a moment, then shrugged. She was hungry, and faster was better. "OK, I help. I get food faster if help right?" Kentarou nodded, and with that they headed towards the kitchen.
Genzinan looked as his brother smoothly get a chance to spend time with that new girl. She was crazy, but with a body like that, and the cute way she spoke, he was at the very least, in lust with her. The fact that she seemed to understand things around her well, and reacted to them in a fast way, had shown that she was even intelligent under that facade. The only bad thing that he saw, was that she seemed to have a chi blast like he'd seen in the mangas he'd been reading of late, and it hurt. Growling at his brother's victory, he walked up to his room, and started thinking of ways to win Ranma's heart. You haven't won brother. She's too much a firecracker for someone like you to handle. i'll win her!
In the kitchen Ranma was in heaven. She watched Kentarou cutting vegetables, meats, and adding seasonings to some sort of liquid in a pot. The smells were doing things to her. She felt so much more hungry, but she could almost taste the food just by smell. It was amazing! She started to salivate. "OK, what I help with?" Ranma asked, looking at Kentarou.
"Hand me the carrots please" he responded as he was dicing a round yellow white thing into cubes, and pushing them to the side of his cutting board.
"What is, carrot?" Ranma asked curiously, testing the second word out.
"Oh, that. Do you see the orange root vegetable here?" he said, walking over and picking it up. "This is a carrot. You've never had one?"
Ranma shook her head in the negative, then wondered what he was doing when he smiled, turned away,brought the vegetable to the sink, washed it off, and walked to the cutting board. She heard some dull thunks, then he turned around, and brought four little round chips to her. She looked down at her hands as he placed them in there. "What I do with this?" she asked.
"Eat them. I don't know if you'll like them raw, but who knows. They're kinda sweet, and very crunchy" he said as he started cutting up the rest of the carrot.
Ranma looked at her hand doubtfully. Then she shrugged, and put one of the chips to her mouth, and bit into it. It was not like meat. It had a sweet, but slightly sour taste to it, that was pleasant, and a crunchy wetness that was very appealing. After she finished the first one, the other three
disappeared quickly. She noticed him looking away from the carrots he had cut, and that he was stirring that appealing water. With inhuman speed, she rushed over to the cutting board, and grabbed the rest of the tasty chips, devouring them as fast as she could, until she heard a soft laughter. He was looking at her. "Well, looks like I need to cut another for our dinner, don't I, Ranma?" he asked.
Ranma's head dropped as she said "Sorry..." and offered about half of the carrot chips she had left.
"Its okay. You really must be hungry to have eaten like that. Its no trouble at all really. Besides, this time, you can cut them" he said, without a trace of annoyance or anger. With this, she proceeded to eat the rest of the chips in her hand.
"Cut them?" She asked, and no sooner than she had, she noticed that the large knife he had been using to cut the carrots and the round yellow things was being pointed at her. But it wasn't being held blade first, it was being held by the handle. She grasped it tenderly. She'd never held a human weapon before.
"Yes, come over here, I'll show you how." he motioned for her to come over to the cutting board, then put his hands over hers, making her left hand form a claw on one part of the carrot, and then bringing the knife down with the other, against her nails, then pulling her hands about a quarter of an inch down the carrot and cutting again. Letting go of her hands, she did the same thing herself, going about a quarter inch then cutting. Soon the carrot was sliced, and Ranma was smiling.
"Ranma did good?" Ranma looked at him, hopefully.
"You did very good Ranma, and its 'I did good, right?' alright?" Kentarou said, correcting her grammar. Even if she was Japanese born, she talked as if Japanese was a second language.
Ranma looked at him, and nodded with a smile on her face. She liked this. Now she could make herself carrot chips whenever she wanted."What now?" she asked.
"Well, next we test the miso to see if its done? Would you like to try it?" he said, walking over to the stove, and lifting the spoon to his lips, he sipped and nodded, then put the spoon to Ranma's lips. she opened them up, and as the liquid slipped into her mouth, she shook a little. It was good! She thought that raw meat was good, and the food that campers had tasted good, except for the outer parts, but this was something she'd never had before.
"Is good!" she made a move towards the miso, but stopped at the hand on her shoulder.
"No, I can't replace miso that is almost done as quickly as I can the carrots." Kentarou said chuckling. After he saw the look of disappointment on her face he said "Don't worry, it tastes even better when its done, I promise!" and with that Ranma perked up. Until the supper was done, she helped him with the rice, had tested the miso with him a few times, and had gone through a few extra carrots. There was no meat in the meal, but Ranma found she didn't't really care, it was too good to complain!
As they finished dinner, and were bringing it out to the table, Kentarou asked Akane to fetch Genzinan from his room. As they all began to eat, they all made comments about how good the food was, to which Kentarou responded "Oh, but it wasn't just me. Ranma was a big help. I couldn't have gotten it done as well as I did without her" Ranma beamed with the praise.
"What!? You let her help! Why do you let a perfect stranger help, but not your own sister? You're just trying to get in good with her, aren't you!" Akane
yelled.
"Akane, you know very well why I don't allow you to cook with me. You refuse to taste what you cook. Ranma probably knows less about cooking than you do,
but she listens to what I say. She also tests anything she is cooking. Cooking is like martial arts. Some people it comes natural too. It doesn't't come natural to you, but you like to think it does." Kentarou said matter of factly, leaving Akane glaring between him and Ranma, neither of which cared.
Ranma was beaming because of the compliment he had given her, and the thought that she could help cook again. She got so much extra food while she was making it, and she liked learning it, it was fun. Kentarou didn't't really care, because he had this battle with her before. She had once tried her own food, but after that refused to do it again, hoping it would get better, but not wanting to risk it herself.
After the conversation, she noticed that her fath...fat man was trying to take food from her brother. With an annoyed growl, she said "Fat man stop stealing brothers food, or else!" Both Kazuma and Genma looked at her for a moment, then disengaged their chop-sticks, and started eating from their own plates. She nodded.
The rest of dinner was a quiet affair, Akane and Genzinan were both sulking, for different reasons. Kentarou was happy for the time he'd spent with Ranma. Ranma was happy because of the food she had eaten, and helped make. She had never made anything before. She liked it. Genma and Kazuma were both bored, being used to sparing even during dinner, but neither wanting to spoil the good mood that Ranma was in, and the lack of flames and attempted patricide that
brought about. Soun was happy as could be. His best friend was here, a man who had at one time served under the horrible master, and he had grown with two
good children, although they were a little odd... He was a father he would do his best to emulate, at least in motives. He had no doubt that at least one
pairing would happen, and the schools would be joined.
As they all finished, Soun announced "Myself and Genma talked for a little while, and I have offered to let you three stay here for as long as you like, since you are almost family, and someday you all may become family. We have a room that Genma and Kazuma may take, but we will have to have Ranma share Akane's room. Welcome to your home, I know you haven't had one for a very long time."
Ranma heard the words, and smiled, then as she ran the word home through her mind she thought, Mother. "Fat man, this is home? Home is where Mother is, yes?"
Genma's face went blank, and Soun's also drooped a little bit, having heard an edited by Genma version of events, he instead interrupted "Ranma, I do not remember where your mother lives, but I will use my position on the city council to find her whereabouts. You shall be meeting her soon. I promise" Genma sighed, thanking kami for the save. With that settled, they all retired for the night, Genma and Kazuma getting their new room set up, and Ranma setting up a mat inside Akane's room.
Akane was looking at Ranma, and said "Why didn't't you bring anything with you? Your brother was carrying a pack, did you have him carrying your clothing?"
"No, Ranma have no clothing, just clothing from amazons. No need more, right?" Ranma said as if it wasn't important.
"Of course you do. You can't just walk around naked while you're waiting for your clothes to be cleaned" Akane argued back.
"I can't?" Ranma asked, unsure why. She didn't't see anything wrong with her body. It seemed like all the males thought she was beautiful with her clothes on, so why she worry so much?
Akane stared at her. "Of course you can't! Men are perverts. They'd do things to you if you walked around naked! And don't you like changing what you wear? How you look?" At the dumb look Ranma gave her, "We don't have school tomorrow, so I'm going to get some money out of Genzinan to get you some clothing and things like that. Don't worry"
Ranma looked at her. The human was being nice to her. All of them were, even fat man. So this was being human? Maybe it wasn't that bad. Ranma smiled shyly and then nodded. After the conversation they went to bed.
That night, they all slept well.