Okay, I finally got this chapter out. One person suggested a few names for the criminal organization that targeted the royal family. Unfortunately, it was anonymous so I wasn't able to give a private reply.
As for the disclaimer: As I've said, I don't own a thing from Ranma 1/2, Negima, or whatever other thing I may throw in here. I only own the plot and my OCs.
Chapter VI: An obscure plan, interrupted- Yume's latent power
Ranma looked out towards the window as questioning stares were turned towards the car that was driving on Nerima's street. Not that he could really blame them; he was pretty shocked about the car himself when he first saw it.
There were two reasons for this: the first was the fact that the car itself was a very luxurious stretch limousine; even having a long table in the middle of the passenger area where a thermos now sat. It was very finely coated with a deep crimson sheen. The second reason though, was something that made it stand out from other cars like it. On both sides of the vehicle was a large white wing, outlined in a shining silver colour. It spanned all the way from the driver's door the passengers' and had the words 'Ala Alba' written in deep azure above them. Needless to say, it was a surprising sight.
"So… how'd we end up riding this thing again?" Ranma asked out, not really questioning anyone in particular as he continued to gaze outside.
"Well it was sent to aunt Nodoka's house at around four by another one of mom's old friends to pick us up. Then some guys came in from a helicopter and took our luggage from aunt Haruna's car. After that, aunt Haruna left us, saying that she was going to go and take care of some things. All of this was set up by the owner and chairman of the Yukihiro zaibatsu, Yukihiro Ayaka, another former classmate of our mothers' and member of the Ala Alba."
"Oh… okay."
Once again, Ranma had returned back to staring out the window. It was, for once in the entire time he'd spent living there, a peaceful day in Nerima. No 'prepare to die' threats, no over eager fiancé's, no new martial artists and most of all, no general property damage. "Then again, that's probably not going to last. *sigh* hopefully we'll at least make it to the airport on time. A fight is the last thing I need after all this crap."
As the ride continued, Ranma's thoughts drifted back to the little chat that he had with his newly announced sibling. It was… interesting, to say the least. He didn't feel that same rise in his heart like when he had been alone with Akane a few months back; before the failed wedding. It did feel a bit awkward in the beginning though, but that didn't really last all that long. All in all, it was alright… until he got splashed; but even that made rise to a positive point.
-X-
Flashback…
Ranma was back in his room, once again lying down on his futon; his hand at the back of his head as he just stared at the ceiling. "I can't believe how everything's happening now. I've been travelling for years with a thief who I thought were my father for fourteen whole years. And now… now I find out that I'm not really related to the guy."
Ranma turned sideways as he released a heavy breath, propping his onto his right fist. "Now that I think about it, I don't even know if I should be happy or angry. I mean, sure, the old panda is a jerk, and he's pretty much caused nearly every major trouble in my life. But still."
"And really? A king? I go from being the heir of a dojo to the heir of an entire kingdom in just one day flat. But then again… I do have ten sisters, so that might not be completely sure. … Wait… ten sisters…?" he shivered, "why do I get the feeling that I should be really worried."
It was as he at that time when the doors to his room slid open. Just like earlier in the morning, the person that stood behind the boundary to his room was a short teenage girl with long, magenta hair.
"Well speak of the devil."
"Ranma-san, so you think I could stay here till we leave?"
At the mention of the honorific, Ranma released a deep breath. He really didn't like it when people added 'san' to his name. Even less considering that they were, apparently, siblings.
"Sure, but… could you please drop the 'san' already? Just Ranma is fine. I am your brother after all," the martial artist requested.
Stopping for a moment, the shorter teen's head tilted to the side for a moment; her eyebrow arching. "Oh? Alright, I… guess you're right," she paused a tiny smile gracing her face, "nii-san."
Now there were many things that Ranma could say would never shock him, given everything that's happened in his life. Unfortunately, being called 'big brother' was not among those on the long list.
"Nii-san? Where'd that come from?" he asked, completely curious. He knew that he had a bunch of sisters now, but he didn't really expect any of them to actually call him brother. All of them had, after all, been separated even before birth. Although… he had to admit, it actually felt… good… to be treated like family. The only other people that were ever like that to him, as far as he could tell were few in number: his mother, Kasumi and, in very, very rare occasions, Nabiki (although more often than not, there was an ulterior motive involved… like all the time). It felt good to be treated with a little familial respect (or any kind of respect really)by someone his age. Sure, Kasumi was only two years older, but she acted way more mature compared to most others.
The expressionless gaze he got in return told him no clue at all. It took a while before she broke her blank stare, surprising him with the mirth on her face and in her voice. "Well… you are my brother aren't you?"
The humour behind her words were not lost to him as he felt a small tick appear on his forehead as his own words were turned against him, but decided not to say anything. Besides, it looked like she was about to say something else anyway.
"I asked aunt Haruna in the hall earlier. Apparently, out of all of us, you're the oldest by a full five days. I'm nearly a month younger. The difference may not be much, but I've always wanted to call someone brother; whether older or younger and actually mean it. The same goes for calling someone my sister."
Ranma's face formed an 'oh' with his mouth in understanding. He never really had that feeling before. At least not any time that he could remember. But then, it did sound like something many would want; at least from his point of view. Genma, despite only thinking that they were father and son, still wasn't exactly caring. For the most part, it was rare for him to experience familial conduct , so he only knew how to respond in a single way in this case: return the sentiment.
"Heh… I guess that does make some sense… imouto," he responded with a smirk at the end. It was how he pretty much responded to anything really, unless of course if it was one of his admirers' shows of affection. If his rivals attack him, he'd retaliate. Right now, his sister had acknowledged him as her older brother, he'd acknowledge her as his younger sister. An act that made a smile appear on her formerly blank face.
The familial bond between the two may not have been strong, but like the connection between the two worlds, it was finally there. "Now if only the others were this easy to get along with, then it wouldn't be all that hard to be their brother."
But of course, Ranma had learned by now that he couldn't rely on luck in this kind of situation. He'd just have to see about the rest. Hopefully it wouldn't be too bad… yeah right.
Finally taking his invitation, the dark pinkette entered the room, closing the door behind her as she sat down, somehow pulling a drink can out from nowhere.
"So imouto… why'd you decide to come here anyway?" he asked the girl as she drank from the now opened container.
"Nothing much really, just a lot on my mind that I guess I need to think through. Since I couldn't seem to be able to do that on my own, I decided to go to the person that would probably be as new to most of this as I am."
"… Heh… I guess that makes sense." Ranma replied, "but then, I'm already a little used to this anyway. I might not be able to help you as much as you want."
"That's alright. I think that maybe the best thing I can do for now is to learn how to get along with my brother."
Silence passed over the room as they stayed in place. After a while though, the silence finally got into the martial artists nerves. Deciding that something needed to break the silence in the room, he asked a question that he'd asked himself at least a dozen times after returning to his room.
"So… what kind of person do you think he is?" he asked.
"Huh? He…? Oh, you mean our father?"
"Yeah," Ranma confirmed with a nod. "What do you think he's gonna be like? I don't wanna have to go from having an idiotic thief of a father to someone just as bad and is a king."
For a moment, Yume just sat cross-legged in place; taking small sips from her drink can with a contemplative look. "Hmm… judging from aunt Haruna's manga, you definitely don't have to worry. While it should be expected that he won't act exactly be as he was depicted in aunt Haruna's works, given the circumstances as well as the seventeen years of separation. However, father was always shown to have been very honourable and faithful. He was also quite a prodigy in… well, everything really. He was a scholar, a powerful martial artist and an equally powerful mage(don't you dare say that he's a Mary sue… or whatever a guy version of that is called, all that was part of cannon). He may worry and beat himself up for what happened to us. But you definitely needn't worry." She explained, a small, reassuring smile on her lips.
A single eyebrow arched on Ranma's forehead as he heard that. "You're taking this news about our dad pretty easily, aren't ya?"
A soft chuckle was what he got in response as she put down the can in her hand. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But then again, my mother never really told me a lot about my father before today."
"A long time ago, I'd always ask her about my father: who he was, what he did… and why he wasn't with us." She recalled wistfully, before laughing silently once more. "To find that out now… along with everything else… well… I guess it's the last thing on my mind… with the whole 'existence of magic' and 'half siblings' thing and all that. *sigh* Besides, after reading the manga, I was kind of expecting it to have been Negi Springfield anyway. It did say that the characters were based off of real people after all. I just thought that maybe he ended up dying before I was born… it would've been ironic really."
"Hmm… well I guess if you put it that way."
For a moment the two of them just stayed still in silence, thinking. That is until Ranma remembered something of interest to him. "Oh, by the way, about those mangas that aunty gave you?"
"Huh? What about them?" her brow furrowed in curiosity as she asked.
"Do you think I could borrow the series? I really want to learn a bit more about mom and dad when they were… how old are they in that thing?"
"Fifteen at the start, seventeen when the crown was passed on." Yume responded casually, taking another sip right after. "If you want to read it before we meet the others, or at least our dad, then I'm afraid I can't help you. Mom made me leave all my manga at home. But if you really want to, you could just ask aunt Haruna."
Ranma felt a shiver run down his spine at that thought. The woman had proved herself more merciful and compassionate than Nabiki, but she still gave him the creeps. "If she can make anything she draws come to life, I definitely don't want to get on her bad side." He suppressed a second shudder at the thought. Getting someone who could instantly create a clone of you was not a good idea in any way, shape or form.
"At least it isn't Nabiki that has it." This time, it was impossible to hold back. The thought of just how much chaos that could cause was too much… and that was from the local chaos magnet. The young martial artist was practically quivering in terror at the thought. The only comfort in his mind was that Yume looked like she didn't see it. Even if he wasn't fully accustomed to the fact yet, his pride still wouldn't have allowed him to look that weak to his sister… hell, it wouldn't allow him to look weak in front of anyone.
"You know nii-san, the two of us may be siblings, but we don't know anything about each other do we?"
It was at that time that the distinctly chipper voice of one Saotome Haruna decided to shout. "Hey! Ranma-kun! Yume-chi! Our pick-up's about to get here. Get ready to leave!"
"Heh… guess we'll have to fix that on the way to Nerima then," Ranma commented.
Agreeing, Yume swiftly stood and turned to open the door. Unfortunately, she'd completely forgotten the still half-full drink can that was left by her feet. At the speed of her movement and the position of her feet, the container was sent flying in the air; spilling its contents on a certain cursed boy.
Hearing the distinctive sound of the small, metallic cylinder falling on the floor, Yume turned her head to look at what, to her, was an odd sight. In the place of her brother now sat a very annoyed, very frustrated and very busty redhead with her shirt soaking wet with the spilt drink.
Having already known the nature of the curse, she wasn't really surprised. A bit shocked at actually seeing it happen, yes. But that feeling soon faded. So other than a curious gaze, she didn't really pay much mind to it. Though, two thoughts did pop up in her mind at that time; both of which she decided to voice.
"You know nii-san, since we're going to the magic world, you should probably find a cure for that. Considering that it's a magic curse, it shouldn't be all that hard to find. And we are, essentially, royalty, so resource won't be a problem either." Yume turned her head as she walked out, but not before leaving him with a second comment that sent a chill down his spine.
"I'd suggest that you do it quickly too. I'm not going to act that way any time soon. But remember, we have nine other sisters. Chances are, they're going to try and wring out your femininity out of you because of that curse." And with that, she left for the stairs.
Flashback end…
-X-
Ranma had found out one thing about Yume that had given him more proof that the two of them were truly siblings: Yume's attachment to magic. She took to the concept like Ranma himself would take to martial arts and, while previously having been incapable of learning to use it (having learned of its true existence just recently), had been as enthusiastic at the prospect of being trained to use it just as much as him when it came to a new technique.
He had to suppress a laugh when he remembered the younger (if only by a few weeks) girl's antics the moment she saw her mother. Even the usually highly composed Ayase Yue was taken aback when her daughter had shouted, forgiven and then begged her for magic training. Although it also gave her some form of relief from what Ranma could tell. After being berated by Yume for keeping such a big part of her life a secret from her, the elder Ayase was all but expecting to be forgiven just as fast.
The fact that Yume actually went on her knees to ask for training was a little over the top in Ranma's opinion. Though, when he thought back to it, there was at least one time he did something like that himself so he couldn't really say anything.
Before his mind could wander any further, the loud noise of… something, broke him out of his musings. And he wasn't the only one. The other occupants of the car's compartment were now also paying attention as the noise grew louder and louder.
It didn't take the gender cursed fighter a lot of time to figure things out what was the cause… though then again, most of the locals probably would have taken just as little, if not less time. The noise was easy to identify once they were close enough. It was mostly a lot of people shouting, accompanied by a distinctively loud crash or two. To anyone else, such a description could only mean one thing, there was a war going on; something that would inspire the fear of losing one's life. For the residents of Nerima, it was just a normal fight between the Nerima wrecking crew that would inspire fear in the local insurance agencies that were stupid enough to give insurance policies to said residence, and joy to the local repair men, all of whom had earned ten times as much as others of their line of work every day.
It didn't take long for the limousine to reach the source of the noise, which, to Ranma's dismay, was also their destination. Though truthfully, he wasn't at all surprised. Given all the events after the failed wedding, his absence, even if what was only one night, would have still garnered some attention from his usual rivals and admirers. Add in Nabiki's information selling business –not to mention the rumours she'd occasionally add in to make an extra profit– and there was bound to be trouble.
Yells could be heard from behind the walls of the Tendo dojo as the pigtailed boy stepped out of the vehicle with a tired sigh.Nodoka too, stepped out of the luxurious car and stood at the wooden gates; a serious expression on her face.
"So… are we just gonna sneak in there and take my stuff?" Ranma inquired as they stood in front of the gates, not really wanting to be caught up in the mess within. "Normally, I wouldn't mind having a good fight. But last thing I want is to be chased all the way to another country."
Despite her serious visage, the mind reading woman couldn't help but give a quite, but humourless laugh. "I wish. While doing that would undoubtedly be simpler and easier, it would also cast some suspicions towards your location and cause trouble in the future."
She turned her gaze to her son, "no, we need to take a more tactical approach on this. While I'm certain that suspicions will arise no matter what will happen, given all the paranoia of your fiancés… or, should I say, former fiancés –particularly Akane– we should at least be able to lessen it to a great extent if the right steps are taken."
Seeing the logic behind her reasoning, the young man nodded before adopting a calm demeanour… until a certain comment from his mother finally hit home.
"Former fiancés? Serious?" he asked loudly, something that would have been heard by the occupants of the house in front of them, had it not been for the even louder screams of pure feminine fury that blared from the other side of said house, accompanied by a flying human body dressed in blue… who, unfortunately for him, wasn't superman. No, this one was a brown haired, boken(1) wielding, high-school boy dressed in a blue and black kendoka(2) uniform.
There was only one such person that existed in all of Nerima as far as anybody was concerned. One of the earlier members of the Nerima wrecking crew, Kuno Tatawaki flew through the sky and landed smack dab onto the limousine that the mother and son duo were previously sitting inside of. The loud 'thud' of metal hitting flesh causing the remaining two passengers, as well the driver to take a peek out of the window to the top of the car.
"It's a good thing that that car is made of reinforced crusite alloy(3). … Still can't believe Iincho managed to get enough of that exported over to this world to actually build three of those cars in less than a year. Then again, it's just the armour plating so it wasn't really that much," were the thoughts of one Ayase Yue.
Not really surprised by the sight, given the number of times she'd witnessed the event herself, Nodoka decided to answer. "Of course I'm serious sochi. Remember, save for Shampoo, all of your other fiancés were made by Genma. However, as he is not your actual father, he had absolutely no rights to arrange a marriage for you. They're his problem now."
"So I don't have to marry Akane or Ukyo anymore?" he asked, not really sure what to feel. Yes, Akane had given him a lot of trouble, but still…
"Not unless you want to, no." Nodoka answered, turning her eyes towards him for a brief moment, before going back to the wooden gates. "However, I definitely wouldn't recommend it."
"I won't lie to you, I had some high hopes for Akane when I first met her. It was like seeing Anya-chan all over again. However, I've seen enough to know that she is definitely nothing like Anya-chan. Ukyo, I can understand. While she isn't completely what I would expect for a daughter in law, she does have some redeeming qualities. The same goes for Shampoo"
The mind reader walked forward, prompting her son to do the same before she gave her final remark. "In the end, it's your choice. But think of it on this…" she paused for a second, turning to look over her shoulders at the pigtailed boy, "whether or not you are chosen to succeed your father as the ruler of Ostia, the person you marry will still have a large amount of power over the kingdom. Do you honestly want to give that kind of power to someone as horribly tempered as Akane or as much of a lunatic as Kodachi?"
Before Ranma had any time to think about her words, his mother had already opened the wooden gates and started walking along the stone path to the main door.
-X-
A few minutes ago-Tendo dojo…
As per usual, the Tendo dojo was in a state of chaos. There wasn't as much destruction as usual, but it was still pretty hectic. Then again, anything that involved more than one of the Nerima wrecking crew was bound to be like that, so it didn't come as much of a surprise that the situation was bad.
It all started out pretty simply. When Ranma hadn't arrived at school, Ukyo had gotten curious and came over as soon as she could. Shampoo arrived a little later, crashing through the wall; looking to find Ranma, as per usual. Kuno also arrived to… well he is Kuno, it should be obvious why he came to the Tendo dojo. Kodachi came later for… well… what the hell else does she go to the Tendo dojo for? Mousse followed Shampoo and then Ryoga appeared from out of nowhere when P-chan vanished(at least as far as gorilla girl knew).
Of course, considering that Ranma hadn't come back from his flight the previous night, there wasn't really all that much fighting of the physical type. No, instead of the usual fists, feet, sword swings, ribbons, spatulas and various sharp objects (courtesy of Mousse) being thrown about, the choice of weapons used were words… in the beginning anyway.
The moment Ukyo came into her sights, Akane had made one of her usual outbursts and claimed that the 'perverted freak' had been staying over at the okonomiyaki chef's home. Likewise, the 'amazon hussy' was also accused. Not that they really would have minded had the accusation been true (save for the insults). Kuno tried to grope Akane and was promptly knocked unconscious. Kodachi demanded for Ranma's location and, of course, ended up getting the same treatment from Akane as the previous other two girls. All it took was a single insult (take your pick, there's plenty to choose from) from the blue haired tomboy to start a fight between the two, later joined by Ukyo and shampoo.
Mousse came in without his glasses on and tried to hug Shampoo… again. Unfortunately, he ended up grabbing Kodachi instead, causing both of them to get hit with Ukyo's giant spatula. This, of course, angered the psychotic girl even more than she already was at being hugged by someone other than 'her Ranma-sama'. The result was a Chinese hidden weapon's master getting thrown in the direction of the koi pond.
Not wanting to turn into a duck, he used a claw like weapon and attached it to a wall in order to pull himself in another direction… which was right where Mr. Psycho Kendo had just regained consciousness. The resulting crash lead to an irate Kuno who proceeded to (unsuccessfully) slash at the white robed amazon with his boken, all the while shouting 'how there you strike Kuno Tatawaki, you foreign peasant' among other things.
It was during this event that the little black piglet, dubbed as P-chan, decided to make his exit; hoping to find Ranma and beat him up for 'hurting Akane and putting her in danger'. only to reappear in his original form. However, given his sense of direction (or lack thereof), the little pig only ended up bursting through the backyard wall in his original form (a fact not known only by princess paranoia and the psycho siblings). Unfortunately, this happened just as Mousses had hammered Kuno (literally) towards said wall.
Acting upon complete instinct, the bandana wearing globe trotter grabbed the umbrella that rested upon his back and swung it at the offending object (in every possible sense of the term), batting him away to near where the girls were having their own fight.
Then, following the obscene chain of ridiculously unlikely events: Akane, at that time, had just jumped out of getting hit by a rain of spatulas thrown by Ukyo. This unwittingly put her in the direct path of the fast approaching Kuno.
Focusing intently on her fight, it was already too late when she finally noticed the flying kendoka. Kuno had already smashed into her before she could get out of the way, causing the pair to tumble head over heels on the ground until Akane had hit the wall with the back of her skull, head spinning both from the swift roll as well as the impact from the collision.
As soon as she was completely relieved of her dizziness, the youngest Tendo was treated to something that made her very, very, very angry. Just as many would anticipate from what happened, Kuno was definitely on top of her, that in itself was bad enough. The fact that the two of them had ended up in the sixty-nine position was what added an entire warship's worth of fuel to the proverbial fire.
Spiked with intense rage, the violent girl quickly threw the kendoka off her before bringing her 'mallet of impending doom' out into her hands. As soon as Kuno fell close enough, she swung the mallet in a wide arch, hitting the blue clad (wannabe) swordsman skywards.
The entire yard became quiet for a short moment until they saw the blue clad teen descend from his impromptu flight via mallet airways. As soon as he was out of sight, Kodachi turned a pointed glare towards the blunnete.
"So it's not only enough for you to whisk away my Ranma-sama, but you also do so with my brother! A fool he might have been, but even he does not deserve such treatment from a whench like you!" she shouted in outrage, slipping into a fighting stance; her ribbon and clubs, primed and ready. "This time, I will rid this world of you permanently! Not just for my Ranma-sama, but also for the name of the Kuno family!"
With that, Kodachi swung her arm, lashing out with her ribbon towards Akane; continuing their fight. Mousse and Ryoga, on the other hand, having no one to really fight, just decided to stay there and watch. The former in order to try and woo Shampoo later, and the latter to ensure Akane's safety; both staying out of the fight unless absolutely necessary out of fear of getting caught up in the battle. After all, as they say, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned; and in front of them were four such people (though one of them is debatable).
Having already been used to the regular insanity, the other people who were living within the Tendo home simply continued on with their usual activities. Genma and Soun were playing shogi, Nabiki was in the living room reading a manga, Happosai, surprisingly, was very subdued, opting to drink some tea with Kasumi as they watched the fight; though the old pervert did seem very excited when Kodachi's ribbon and Ukyo's spatulas had ended up cutting the other girls' clothing. Kasumi just watched on with her usual calm demeanour. Inwardly though, she was just as worried about Ranma's whereabouts as Ukyo or Shampoo, albeit to a slightly lesser degree.
It was during this time that the doorbell rung, momentarily distracting the fighters. The shogi playing duo also paused for a second, turning their heads in the general direction of where the main entrance would be, before going back to their game.
"Oh my, I wonder who that could be? I'll go get the door," Kasumi said in her usual cheerful tone as she stood up and walked to the front gates.
"That must be that ungrateful son of mine come back. Feh… leaving like that at night without even saying anything and not coming back till nearly an entire day. And to top it off, he left his fiancé alone and still hasn't apologized to her." Genma complained, fixing his glasses in place.
"Now, now Saotome, I'm sure the boy didn't mean any harm. I'm sure that he was simply challenged by somebody and now he's on his way here to apologize for what he did. And I'm sure that once he does, our schools will be closer to being joined! After all, as they say, absence does make the heart grow fonder," Soun said jovially as he looked at his old training partner. Of course, given the relationship between some of the listeners towards said boy, a very predictable reaction was roused from some in the small group of fighters.
"Like hell I'll marry that stupid pervert!"/"Shampoo never let violent kitchen destroyer marry airen!"/"The love between Ranma-sama and myself will never be beaten by this peasant's foul trickery!" three of the girls shouted simultaneously. Ukyo being the only one that stayed quiet, opting instead to simply give a heavy glare towards the duo.
The sudden animosity that filled the air signified the continuation of another fight had it not been for the voice of one Kasumi Tendo.
"Oh! Aunty Nodoka, what a surprise! It's been a while. Please, come in. I see that Ranma is with you as well." came the voice of the eldest Tendo daughter, eliciting a surprised, and, in the case of one Saotome Genma, fearful expression; internally hoping that the brunette had been mistaken.
"Thank you Kasumi-kun. It really has been too long," the voice of Nodoka replied, solidifying the dread in the white clad martial artist's mind.
"Where's my husband, by the way. I need to have a few words with him," she continued after a pause. This time however, all those in the vicinity were able to notice a clear edge in her tone that made the volume of her statement sound forced. It didn't take a genius to know that it was meant to inspire some fear towards someone. And it took even less of a genius to know that that someone was a very nervous Saotome Genma.
"Nodoka really is here! No… this isn't good. She's definitely angry that's for sure. That idiot son of mine had better not have done anything to get us both killed." Genma thought worriedly. Sweating a little as the telltale sounds of people walking in through the halls closed in towards the room they were in.
Sure enough, the doors soon slid open, allowing for Kasumi to re-enter the room, soon followed by a blank faced Nodoka and a very uncertain Ranma.
The sudden change in atmosphere around the room and in the yard was enough to stop even the martial artists outside from continuing their fight. Although the fact that they didn't want to anger their object of affection's mother may have had something to do with it as well.
Even the age old master's face had shifted into a serious frown. He spared a long glance at the kimono clad woman who, for a brief moment, stared him right in the eyes as well, as if giving him silent warning not to do anything to interfere with whatever was to come. There was a foreign aura in the air, radiating from her in waves. He could feel it. An aura that he hadn't felt in a long time.
Images of a small blonde girl appeared in his mind, surrounded by a menacingly cold aura. Her glowing, blood red eyes piercing through his very soul as she raised her arm; creating a giant ball of freezing death high above her head. Her entire body covered in esoteric markings that contrasted her pitch black skin, driving an inherent fear within him to the forefront; paralyzing him with fear, even as she commanded the giant orb to crash towards him.
Happosai shook his head to clear himself of those thoughts. "Yes," he said to himself, "It's definitely like that girl's. It's less oppressive… it doesn't seem demonic in nature either, but… whatever energy Genma's wife is exuding right now… it's definitely the same as that girl's."
He took one last look at the woman who seemed to radiate a sense of foreboding within all those around her. "So… that's it huh? A mage. I haven't seen one of those in over a hundred years. It doesn't help that their all so secretive about being one. I always knew that there was something odd about Ranma… but to think that it came from his mother. I should probably thread things carefully with her around."
The two new arrivals sat down on the side of the table closest to the entrance as Kasumi returned to her place, seemingly unaffected by the odd energy in the air. The other's though, were not as carefree. All those that stood in the now ruined yard of the Tendo household all slid out of their respective stances, each one staring at the woman as the eldest Tendo daughter offered her some tea, which she gladly accepted.
Nodoka eyed all of the teenage martial artists that stood in the damaged grounds one by one, before settling on a girl with short, blue hair. The gaze that she sent Akane was unreadable in appearance alone, but the feeling of unease that it resonated was clear.
This same gaze was turned towards the thick bodied form of Saotome Genma who held a falsely courageous façade. A façade that would fool many had it not been for the fact that he was shooting out beads of sweat. It didn't help that he was also quivering in place.
"All of you come in and sit down. I want each and every single one of you to hear what I have to say," she instructed firmly, leaving no room for arguments. Turning to the eldest Tendo daughter, she gave another command: "Kasumi-kun, would you please get Nabiki-kun in here as well?"
"Hmm? Well, alright," she replied simply, leaving the room once more to get her younger sister.
Once the elder two of the Tendo siblings were both sat in place, Nabiki asked the one question on everyone's mind: "so aunty, what's this all about?"
Keeping her cool composure, the elder woman gave her reply. "First of, Akane…" she said, turning all attention towards the short haired girl. "Tell me Akane, do you intend to marry my son?" she asked pointedly towards the Tendo heiress.
"What kind of question is that? Of course Akane will marry Ranma!" Soun erupted, springing up to his feet.
"That's right! How could you even ask such a thing? For Ranma to marry Akane is a matter of family honour!" Genma joined in, copying his old friend.
Their response was a very, very heated glare. Once more, the two martial artists felt an extremely heavy aura emanate from Nodoka. An aura that caused Genma to involuntarily shiver. And he wasn't the only one: Ranma, Ryoga, Mousse and Shampoo, all four of them quivered from an unknown fear at the presence of the oppressive energy.
Cowed, the two master relented and sat back down.
"I wasn't asking either of you for an answer. I was asking Akane. You will not answer for her, am I clear?"
It was more of a demand rather than a question, if the dark tone of her voice was any indication. It took the two men by complete surprise, Genma in particular. In all the years that he'd known his wife (which was very short mind you), he had never once seen her act like this.
"I said, am. I. clear?" she asked in an even darker voice, stressing every single word while flaring her aura even more. The two men simply nodded shakily in fear.
Inwardly, Nodoka smiled. "I really have to thank Paru and Mana-san for all those interrogation lessons they gave me back then. It may not exactly be the pins and bracelets(4) treatment, but then again, that's never really been how I do things."
"Now… Akane, I ask you again: do you intend to marry my son?" she repeated in a level voice, staring intently at the girl. "And I don't want any lies. I want the whole truth. Right here, right now."
Akane frowned. "Like I would ever marry someone like him," she answered venomously
"Oh? And what exactly is wrong with my son?" Nodoka asked coolly as seventeen years of practice at hiding her emotions from those around her came into play. Her voice even, but hiding a deep threat that few could perceive.
"To be frank aunty: he's a no good cheater. I mean, haven't you noticed at all?" she asked incredulously, as she stood up in agitation, pointing her hand at the other three female martial artists. "Every single day, this stupid pervert just keeps going out with these no good hussies. He doesn't even care about me! How do you expect me to marry someone like that!"
By the time she finished her rant, glares were already being thrown around the room. Ranma, was glaring at Akane for his accusations while Shampoo, Ukyo and Kodachi glared at her for her insults. Meanwhile, Soun, Genma, Ryoga and Mousse were all staring heatedly at Ranma; the first two for making Akane say that she didn't want to marry him, Ryoga for 'hurting' Akane, and Mousse due to the idea of Ranma being with Shampoo. The old, diminutive little master simply kept a level gaze towards all the occupants. Kasumi looked displeasingly at Akane and finally, Nabiki was looking at the situation with analytical eyes.
Nodoka on the other hand, remained calm and composed, completely emulating her best friend and former rival as she drank the tea she was previously offered. "Very well then." She said simply, breaking the long silence.
"Since that's the way you feel…" she paused, taking another drink before pointing an icy stare towards the youngest Tendo. "If that is the way you see things, then you don't need to worry anymore. As of this moment, the engagement between you and my son no longer exists," she announced, silencing all those within the room as the information seeped into their minds.
There were mixed reactions to the announcement from everyone in the room. Predictably, the three female martial artists were overjoyed at having one of their rivals eliminated from the running; though only the leotard clad gymnast showed signs of it. Happosai, Kasumi, Nabiki and Akane were understandably shocked, though all but the last were able to shake themselves out of it. Ryoga, as well, was also happy at the news. Mousse wasn't really sure what to think. Genma and Soun on the other hand…
"What do you mean that the engagement no longer exists!" Soun shouted, his ki taking the form of a giant demonic head in hopes of getting a faster answer.
"What is the meaning of this woman! How can you just make an announcement like that! It is part of Ranma's obligations as the heir to the Saotome Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu(5) to marry Akane and reunite the two schools! It's a matter of family honour!" Genma retorted angrily.
"Like you would know anything about honour! You dirty, no good, rotten thief!" Ranma shouted out, finally getting tired of simply sitting still.
The burly man turned towards the pigtailed martial artist. "Don't you talk to your father like that you ungrateful lout. After all these years that I've taken care of you, this is how you repay me!" he shouted angrily, gritting his teeth as he stared the younger martial artist down.
"Enough!" Nodoka shouted, causing the two to back down in surprise. She turned towards the large man.
"Listen here Genma," she commanded in a seething voice. "I don't care what sort of arrangement you've made for Ranma's life, however, I will not let it stand if his so called 'fiancé' doesn't even trust him. Even if you claim that his marriage is something that required of his family honour, I will still not allow it when you, the very cause of all of his arranged marriages, are dishonourable yourself."
"Hold on a second! You can't do that! Ranma is my fiancé!" Akane protested, banging her fist on the table.
"The hell she can't! Don't forget: this is Ranma's mother. She has just as much say on this matter as his father does." Ukyo countered, finally getting into the argument. This was followed by similar comments from her two rivals.
"But their engagement was a promise me and Soun made before he was even born!" complained the heavily built fighter desperately
"One that was also made before the two of us even met and one that I had never been informed about till I finally met the Tendo family," she opposed coldly, stopping any other form of complaint with her tone.
"Until now, I've always held my word against it as I thought that Akane might have just been a good match for Ranma," Nodoka explained, staring intently at the girl. "Unfortunately, it seemed that as time passed by, their relationship only grew worse."
"Whenever something even remotely concerns Ranma, Akane always ends up jumping to the worst of conclusions at the drop of a hat and assaulting him, half the time when it's her own fault. She takes out all of her frustrations against him and never allows him to explain himself before acting up. For too many times I've witnessed her make wild accusations about Ranma with the barest amount of proof. I will never allow such a person to become my daughter-in-law."
Her words were sure and precise, her face showing complete seriousness and clearly not in the mood to argue. The Tendo patriarch though, was not yet ready to back down.
"Wait a second here Nodoka-san, surely we can reach a compromise for this," the long haired man pleaded, switching tactics from complaining to attempting to appease the woman.
"A compromise? I don't see how we could possibly reach any compromise now Tendo," the mind reader shot out vehemently, causing the older man to back up as the air around her flared once more.
"Uh… p-please, just… just give Akane a bit more time. I'm sure that if she just had a little more time then you would have no complaints about the two getting married. A-after all, you did say that Akane might have been a good match for Ranma-kun right?" Soun implored desperately.
To his dismay, the scowl that Nodoka held deepened even more, and had it not been the contemplative look in her eyes, he would have had to resort to something drastic. An act that the Tendo patriarch somehow knew would end up badly for him.
But while Soun, as well as Genma, were both relieved by her apparent choice for a second chance, a certain party definitely was not.
"You can't seriously be considering this are you aunty?" Ukyo asked out disbelievingly.
"Spatula girl is right! Airen's mother already said that violent girl always hurt airen! She no deserve second chance!" Shampoo followed, trying to reason with the elder woman.
"As much as I hate agreeing with a couple of peasants, I have to side with them on this matter. Ranma-sama doesn't deserve to be treated like that by this peasant of a girl." Kodachi joined in, for once, siding with her two adversaries.
The older woman kept her contemplative expression. Sparing a glance at the still silent listeners, she decided on her next step.
"Kasumi-kun," she spoke, getting the attention of the gentle Tendo daughter. "Among everyone in the Tendo family, I trust your word the most. So tell me: do you think I should give your sister another chance?"
The angelic Tendo's head sprang up at the question in mild surprise. She looked towards the pleading expression on her father's and Genma's face that practically begged her to say yes, the scowls of Ranma's three other regular admirers, each one wearing a deep frown, the curious stares of her middle sister and the four other male occupants of the room… and then finally at her youngest sister who glowered hatefully at the young man in pigtails.
"I'm probably going to regret this." Kasumi mentally told herself.
"Aunty, with all due respect, I believe that you should give Akane another chance. If Akane can just learn to control her temper, I'm pretty sure that Ranma and her would have no problems." Kasumi finally replied, much to the joy of the two men and the displeasure of Ranma's three admirers. Ranma himself looked a little crestfallen.
A slight frown made its way to Nodoka's features, indicating her own disappointment. The woman sighed. "Alright then…" she relented, causing Soun and Genma to do a celebratory dance in their heads.
"I'll give you until me and Ranma return," she continued, causing the others to look at her in surprise. The very implication of Ranma going away for a while left for two very happy cursed martial artists while leaving most of the females in the room slightly depressed. Ranma though, by this time, was just confused at his mother's actions.
"R-re-turn? No-chan, what do you mean 'return'?" Genma asked curiously, hiding his nervousness at her statement. Everybody else listened in as well, eager to find out what she meant.
Nodoka repressed the urge grit her teeth in anger. "Only my friends and my real husband have the right to call me that."
However, despite her irritation, the purple haired woman kept a calm front. Her face never betraying her emotions as she looked at the cowardly bear of a man. "My old high school friend arranged a two week reunion for our old class in Wales and I've decided to take Ranma along with me. We're leaving tonight and came here to get everything that Ranma will need. I was planning on having him live with me right afterwards."
"What! You can't do that! Ranma and Akane must be together as much as possible!"
Nodoka looked at the enraged Tendo patriarch with a deep scowl and determined eyes, unrelenting of her decision. "I can and I will, Tendo-san. From everything that I've observed, Akane will never be able to improve herself while my son is around. Therefore, the smartest thing to do would naturally be to temporarily separate them while Akane learns to better manage her anger."
Despite wanting to make another retort, Soun simply held his tongue. There wasn't anything that he could argue about with what she said. Yes, he disagreed with the idea that Akane, his 'lovely' daughter Akane, could ever be bad at managing her temper, but that matter seemed to have been fixed already. All they would have had to do was unite the schools before the time limit expired. But with Ranma gone, such a thing became impossible. And to make it worse, her logic was completely sound. There was nothing he could do that could possibly work.
The mage turned her gaze away from the emotional man to his eldest child. "Kasumi-kun, Nabiki-kun, I ask you two to please teach your sister how to behave herself, otherwise, I will ensure that the two of them will never get married."
As soon as the information firmly sunk into the three Tendo sisters, her attention focused onto the other three girls in the room. "That leaves us to you three." Nodoka said, immediately getting their undivided attention.
"As I will not give Akane another chance should she fail, I'd like to ask all three of you not to interfere. I'm afraid that if she loses focus on this task, then her chances of curbing her temper will falter. I'm aware that she may just blame you all for her own failure, like she has done in several occasions before…"
"Hey!" the blunette shouted in protest, only to back down as a powerful pressure of energy fell upon her as the elder woman glared.
"As I was saying. I'm well aware that she may blame you all for her own failure, so I will not believe such accusations without proof, so you need not worry without being framed. However, if I do hear that you have interfered with her attempt from either Kasumi or Nabiki, then you too, will no longer be considered eligible to be my son's bride. I hope you understand?" Nodoka finished, now focusing intently at the three young women.
All of them nodded, forcing a smile to come on to her face. "Good. Now that that's been taken care of. Ranma, I believe we need to go and get everything that you'll need," Nodoka said as she stood up and walked out, her son following close behind as they left the room, heading towards the guest's quarters where the pigtailed boy slept.
-X-
As soon as mother and son were out of hearing range, Nodoka released a deep and tired breath, her head cast down a little as if suffering from exhaustion. Ranma looked at her with a mix of irritation and curiosity.
"Umm… what was that all about?" he asked softly, clearly confused but not wanting to let the others hear there conversation.
"What was what about?" Nodoka asked back just as quiet.
"Why didn't you just tell them the truth? I mean, wouldn't it have been better if you just told them that the panda wasn't my real dad and that the engagements were cut off?"
Nodoka sighed once more. "To be honest, I'm pretty sure that that would have been easier as well but…"
"But what?"
"Well, Paru's plans have always had a better chance of success than anything I've ever thought up, so I just followed her script."
A black eyebrow arched as the two walked up the stairs. "Paru?" Ranma asked simply.
"It's Haruna's nickname. She's the best strategist in all of the magic community that I know of." Nodoka looked back at him, seeing a sceptical face on her son. "I'm pretty sure you've noticed it as well didn't you. When you're around her, when she smirks, or when she gets a certain glint in her eyes. It all feels like your around Nabiki, only much, much worse right?"
"Huh?" he looked at his mother curiously, "well… yeah. How'd you know?"
At this, the woman chuckled. "To be honest, I felt something similar the first time I met Nabiki actually. When I first saw how she acted: the way she talks and how she acts, her expressions. It was like I was looking at Haruna when I first met her… minus her artistic talents, of course."
"Oh, so… what, aunt Haruna's the same as Nabiki?" The cursed the aquasexual asked in worry, prompting another small laugh from his mother.
"No, I wouldn't say the same. More like… similar, really. For one thing, she's better at formulating plans. I'd be willing to bet my life that Paru would be able to see through any of Nabiki's plans without even much effort. And I'm pretty sure that Nabiki would fall into any one of Paru's plans should she actually take it seriously. However, be that as it may, Haruna has never once used her skills for money. Heh… although, I would worry about getting blackmailed. It wouldn't exactly be something new when it comes to her."
"Gee that makes me feel so much better," came the sarcastic reply. "So… what is the point of her plan anyway? I don't really see anything special about it" Ranma inquired.
He was disappointed by her response: "*sigh* to be honest sochi, I haven't a single clue. Aside from being known among the magic world as one of the best tacticians in existence, she was also known as one of the most secretive ones. She hardly ever reveals the inner workings of her plans to anyone unless it's extremely important, and even then she'll usually keep her ace in the hole a secret."
"So in other words: you said all that without even knowing why." Ranma stated bluntly, getting a nod from his mother.
The two of them finally entered the relatively empty room where the cursed martial artist headed for where he kept his clothes. "But you know, I still don't really get why we didn't tell them that we aren't really Saotome. I'd think that would've made things easier, don't you think mom?" he asked while stacking his shirts on the ground.
"Hmm… actually, doing that could have probably gone either way. I mean really, it's true that all those arranged marriages that Genma set up wouldn't hold any sway over you anymore. But you have to remember sochi, they aren't the only ones that have a claim on you."
"The Joketsuzoku."
"Precisely. As your engagement with Shampoo was not arranged with by Genma… " she started explaining, spitting out the name with venom, "then they will come unopposed. Chances are, this would end up with Shampoo becoming even more clingy than usual. You can probably guess Mousse's reaction to that, can't you?"
"He'd get even angrier at me and start another fight," the boy answered.
"One that could possibly lead to more trouble than it's worth. While that might not necessarily be the case, it's still very possible, so this course of action is probably better. I may not approve of everything that Haruna's plan includes; giving that girl another chance like that. However, knowing her, this will probably bring more misery to Akane than simply cutting the engagement off directly. The only question is: how?"
The pigtailed boy rubbed his head in thought, trying to think of the results that could occur with everything that was said and done. "I got nothing," he concluded, giving up on trying to figure out the puzzle that was his godmother's intricate plan. Soon, the two finally finished packing all of Ranma's clothes, along with what little other essentials he possessed and finally left the room.
Unbeknownst to them, they never noticed the diminutive figure of the wrinkled out grandmaster appearing in the room, as if the air itself transformed into his being.
"So, that's it eh? I knew something odd was going on. Heh… I always knew that Genma was a fool but… to not even know that Ranma isn't his own son?" the age old master asked himself as he stood in silence. "Either Ranma is a bastard child, or, more likely, Genma was –and probably still is– an even bigger fool than I thought."
Sitting down in the middle of the now empty room, Happosai pulled out his pipe from within his sleeves as he closed his eyes meditatively, contemplating upon all that he witnessed. Then, as if waking up from death, the shrivelled up old man's eyes suddenly opened into a concentrated glare as he threw his pipe towards the open window, his ki infused into it as it flew towards empty air.
*crack*
Or at least, seemingly empty air. Small sparks flew from out of nowhere as the unlit pipe floated just outside the window with its handle, for some reason, missing. Then, nearly as fast as the small makeshift projectile had flown, an odd, capsule like object appeared from thin air; the pipe having apparently broken through what appeared to be a camera lens that was situated near the top of the device.
Happosai's frown deepened. "That thing… is a magic device. A camera, from the looks of it. Hmm… so that's what's been giving me such an odd feeling for the past few months. The energy within it was extremely weak until I broke it so… it must have been under some form of cloaking magic." A meditative expression once more passed by the ancient man's face. "Could this… possibly be a part of the plan that this 'Haruna' woman has concocted?" a dark smirk formed on his lips, "looks like things are going to be a bit more fun around here when the boy comes back. Heheheh… I can hardly wait."
At that last thought, the founder of the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu left the room with in a casual, Nerima-esque stride… in other words, he jumped out of the window and started rooftop hopping.
"Well, until he does come back, nothing's going to be able to stop me from going on my daily and nightly raids. I might as well enjoy it while it lasts."
-X-
Border of Itabashi-ku…(6)
Haruna frowned as she looked upon the floating, see through screen; now having changed from showing the confines of the Tendo guest room to nothing but static after it was struck by the small metal implement. Her eyes darted quickly towards the woman beside her.
She was someone that many would call a true beauty and, had it not been for the fact that she was already married, would probably have a long line of guys that were waiting to go out with her. Hell, the fact that she was married didn't even hinder some of the more aggressive men that she knew. Not that any of their advances ever worked.
Her long red hair was tied up in high pony-tale and had a few long bangs framed her face; one of them even reaching down to her neck, nearly covering her right eye as it curved around it, giving her a more sensual look. She had a well proportioned body –clearly kept in good shape– with a very generous pair of G-cups.
The red head was clad in a red, pinstripe, sleeveless turtleneck, form fitting jeans and an open, brownish-red blazer.
Joining the two women were another pair of younger looking girls. The first one could easily be identified as the redhead's daughter. She was fourteen years old (though those that saw her body tend to say otherwise), and was, much like her mother, very well endowed and held a well proportioned shape. Her red hair –a darker shade than that of her mother's– fell freely past her shoulders in waves.
Her clothes consisted of a black tank top that exposed her well toned stomach and a blue, midriff, open jacket along with a pair of black biker shorts and light blue sneakers with black stripes.
The second girl looked more like a Japanese student from the late nineteen hundreds… which in fact, she was. The girl had cascading, greyish-brown hair and was clad in a black sailor fuku with a red ascot. However, despite her seemingly young appearance, this girl was even older than all of the other three occupants combined.
"It seems that the cloaking spell that your husband put on your golems have just been proven useless against the old master… Kazumi-chan," Haruna stated truthfully.
"Looks that way," Kazumi replied before turning to her old friend and partner in crime. "But… I have to ask: why are you talking like that?" she asked, slightly annoyed.
What she got was a smirk in return. "No reason really. Just thought that it'd fit the situation better," Haruna answered in a mirth filled voice.
"I wonder why he wasn't able to notice them before. I mean, mom's been spying on all of those guys for nearly half a year now," the unnamed daughter wondered.
"Yeah well, he never really focused on sensing it until now. From the looks of it, I'd say that he already had previous experience with mages before now. I can't tell for sure, but that's the most likely case," the mangaka surmised, fixing her glasses as her contemplative expression morphed into a toothy smirk.
"Looks like I'm going to have to adjust my plans a little. I'm gonna have a lot of fun with this."
The younger redhead looked at the older woman as she smiled creepily. "Umm… speaking of that. Saotome-san."
The feral smile on Haruna's face dropped just as fast as it appeared, replaced with clear annoyance. "How many times do I have do I have to tell you Kana-chan, just call me aunty. I don't like being called by my family name. It makes me feel old."
"But you are old… Saotome-san," Kana piped out cheekily, mischief evident in her words.
Haruna's face just grew angrier. "I'm only 35 dammit!" she burst out, drawing a pair of amused laughs from the other two occupants, much to Haruna's ire.
"Hahahahahaha… you don't have to get so angry Paru. You know that she's only joking," the light brunette cheerily pointed out.
"Sayo's right Haruna," Kazumi seconded, turning her head to look at her old classmate.
The taller woman continued to grit her teeth for a moment, still fuming from the joke before finally, albeit hesitantly taking a calming breath.
"That's better. Now… I believe you still haven't answered my daughter's question… and really, I'd like to know the answer myself. You've been having me gather information on these people for four and a half months already. Just what is your plan?"
"Heheheheheh, all in good time Kazumi-chan, all in good time."
A glare of irritation was received for the dismissive reply, though it was left unseen by the retreating form of the mangaka as she walked out of the room. "You three better go prepare. Your pick up should be here soon."
"And where are you going… aunty?"
Haruna stopped in her tracks, right in front of the door, her hand, barely touching the handle as she looked over her shoulders towards the youngest within the house. "something happened earlier that might just end up causing trouble. Normally, I'd encourage it. But considering that it would probably end up with very unproductive results, it would probably be better if I took care of the matter right now."
The remaining three people just looked at the green haired woman as she walked out of the front door, summoning a winged, dolphin like golem once there was enough room before flying off into the sky; applying a cloaking spell on herself and her creation so as not to be seen.
-X-
Back in Nerima…
Akane was angry… very, very angry. This in itself wasn't exactly news, she was always angry at least two thirds of the time when she was awake and sometimes even when asleep. This time though, she was also joined by all three of her usual rivals in her emotional state, albeit less intense. But again, this wasn't so unusual. They fought a lot with each other, after all, so tempers were bound to fly when all four were involved.
What made this special was who their anger was directed towards. All four girls looked on in rage through the wooden gates at the sight of Ranma worrying after a short, magenta haired girl who held an astonished look upon her features; responding to him only with the movement of her head.
Nodoka barely resisted the urge to palm her face in annoyance. Everything was going so well… at least when it came to following Haruna's plan; she couldn't really be sure if said plan would leave good results. It was get in, pull her 'Akane's final chance' act, get everything that Ranma would need, and then get out.
The fiancé brigade (minus Akane) coming near the gate of the house to say goodbye to Ranma wasn't much of a problem, nor were the appearances of Mousse and Ryoga telling Ranma to 'take his time coming back'. The easily recognizable sound of Kuno suddenly latching on to another girl while giving one of his infamous speeches on the other hand, was something to worry about.
This was more so for Nodoka and Ranma who actually recognized the voice. That in itself was bound to cause trouble with the attention it would garner. It did come as a surprise to everybody though when Kuno suddenly burst through the wooden gates, completely knocking them off of their hinges, revealing a magenta haired girl who had her palms outstretched, as if pushing someone away.
The loud sound of the crash only served to alert the occupants still within the house about the commotion of a possible fight, prompting the two martial artists of the Tendo family to check on the problem.
And as if things weren't bad enough, the moment that his sister came into view, Ranma, upon pure, protective instinct –and having occasionally been on the receiving ends of Kuno's acts towards females– ran as quick as he could towards the shocked girl, making sure that she was, in fact, okay. Yue too, had already gotten out of the car, evidently worried.
This was the scene that brought a number of glares their way. The fact that Ranma shouting out her name the moment that he moved towards her didn't really help.
The hateful eyes of the four girls were soon joined by another hate-filled stare from Ryoga. His eyes focusing completely on his rival with only one thought in mind.
"How dare you cheat on Akane! Ungrateful, two-timing, cross-dressing lout."
Soun too, stared at the scene with a frown. He was the first to speak out loud. "Ranma!" his menacing voice called, "what do you think you're doing with that girl? Is that another one of your fiancés?"
Predictably, the thought of a new competitor for the position of the cursed boy's bride caused a big reaction among the four girls. Also very predictable was that Akane would jump onto an even bigger conclusion and accuse Ranma as such.
"Feh… figures. Reunion trip my ass! You just forced your mother to say that so you could go off with another slut!"
Shampoo's attention quickly shifted from the whole scene outside the gates, now focusing solely on the shorter teen. "Look like there one more obstacle Shampoo need to kill."
"Grr… so… another peasant dares to get in the way of the love between Ranma-sama and I." (guess who. You have infinite tries but only the first one counts)
"Ran-chan… what's going on here?" Ukyo grinded out in a semi-calm voice, obviously trying to hide her irritation.
"Shit! This is bad," Ranma thought as he finally took stock of the situation. "I can't tell them that she's my sister, that'd end up ruining everything that mom said… and Akane would probably end up jumping to an even worse conclusion. What should I…"
His thoughts soon trailed off as he saw massive blob appear on top of the house, turning into some sort of thick liquid as it poured its way down to the ground without making a sound; the position of the ensuing that it's shadow wouldn't alert the other fighters of its presence. Before anyone could take notice of where (or what) Ranma was staring at, the giant mass of pink… whatever it was made of, had opened its mouth, causing a powerful vacuum to appear, attempting to suck in the group of martial artists.
Nodoka, having seen and recognized the huge creature, quickly jumped out of the vacuum's range; the augmentation on her legs allowing her to reach the other three near the car. The others though, weren't so lucky. Having no time to prepare, all the people that were left on the Tendo's front yard, including the out cold Kuno, were sucked into the gargantuan blob.
Its body quickly twisted into a long helix, easily reaching higher than the top of the Tendo home before it contracted three times as fast, creating a whiplash effect. What it did after that made all that saw it cringe in disgust. The giant mass bended its head back… which was more or less its entire gargantuan body, and spat out all those that it swallowed onto the ground with extreme force, even managing to create a crater on the path.
Every single one of its victims were left either dazed or unconscious as they lied on the ground. Their entire frames covered from head to toe in pink, slime like saliva.
After that, the great gelatinous mass disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving nothing behind.
Nodoka turned her gaze to the roof. "I know that you're really good at planning ahead and all Haruna, but somehow, I doubt that you actually took the events concerning the Kuno boy into your original ploy," she spoke out.
Sure enough, her former classmate appeared floating near the roof atop a flying golem in full pactio regalia. It didn't take a genius to guess where the humongous blob had come from at that point.
The mangaka looked down with a smirk. "You'd be right on that one. Don't ask me how I anticipated it though. You'll find out soon anyway." The blue machine quickly descended towards the fallen fighters. "You might want to put these guys to sleep though. We don't want them chasing after us," she suggested.
Nodoka gave a curt nod in response, pulling out her Comptina Daemonia, she chanted her spell.
"Recluo, Animus. Anima, Ocula! Aer et Aqua, Facti Nebula Illis Somnum Brevem! Nebula Hypnotica!"
Just like the night before, Nodoka conjured up a fog. This one though, was comparatively much denser, indicating a much stronger potency. When the thick mist cleared, all that was left were eight sleeping/unconscious martial artists and a huge golem in the shape of a giant shield that soon vanished in a plume of smoke.
Haruna calmly strode towards her former classmates. "Well now, I must say, I didn't expect little Yume-chi to have the same power as her grandmother. I always thought that royal magic would never reappear in the same form," she stated offhandedly.
A puzzled face greeted her as she approached the younger Ayase. "Royal… magic?"
"We'll tell you about it once you meet all the others. It would be easier for all of us that way," Nodoka said, ushering the two into the car. "For now, let's just go."
Unfortunately for them, none of them were able to notice the extra passenger that had snuck onto the top of the limo.
-X-
Alright I finally got this chapter finished. Can't believe it took this long though, I was actually hoping to get this up a week ago. But whatever, I won't bother you with anymore details. So to end the chapter, here are some explanations.
(1) Literally translated to 'wooden sword', a boken is usually used by kendo practitioners. They're different from bamboo swords though, so don't get the two confused.
(2) A 'kendoka' is practitioner of kendo. Likewise, a karateka is a practitioner of karate etc.
(3) A fan of my favourite game series should be able to know where this came from. Crusite alloy is a metal found in Ivalice. If you don't know which game that place is from… well… you are no gamer.
(4) A phrase I got from one of my personal favourite stories: Ackdam's 'Naruto One Man Team'. 'Pins and bracelets' is a term that mean 'torture and shackles'.
(5) You have absolutely no true idea of the Ranma 1/2 world if you don't know what this translates to. 'Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu' translates to 'school of indiscriminate grappling' which is the original Japanese name of Ranma's fighting style. The last names 'Saotome' and 'Tendo' are added in the beginning to denote which branch of the style is being mentioned.
(6) Itabashi is a ward in Tokyo right next to Nerima. I find it funny how often Ranma gets sent flying to Minato ward (the place where the sailor moon series takes place in) when it's all the way on the opposite side of Tokyo. Though then again, I probably shouldn't dwell on that. The 'ku' at the end, means 'ward'. This is where Kazumi's house is.
And that's it for this chapter. Have a nice day/night/whatever and make sure to review. A good enough suggestion might just make my story writing faster.
Oh, and before I forget: can anyone guess which gaming icon got a supped up cameo in this chapter.