Chapter 2: Nodoka

Kasumi stood looking up at the stars, remembering the encounter with Henna and the Sprite. She would need to talk to Tofu and the rest first thing in the morning, but she wanted to commit the details to her memory using the skills her fiancé had taught her. When she was finished, she stood for a minute listening to the silence. Ranma and Akane were out at a local festival and Nabiki was at college. Her father had probably retired early since Genma wasn't around right now (Genma had taken to wandering whenever he had a few days off from work).

However, she quickly discovered she wasn't alone. Kasumi couldn't really turn off her Other senses very well – she was too empathetic (something her husband-to-be was working with her on). She felt Nodoka standing over by the koi pond lost silently in thought. She walked towards Nodoka's quiet form and called softly: "Auntie, are you all right?"

"Kasumi? What are you doing outside?" Nodoka asked.

"I fell asleep in the tub and had a bad dream. I was just trying to shake it, Auntie," Kasumi answered softly. "What's wrong?"

Nodoka turned toward the young woman. "Kasumi, how many fiancées does my son have?" Ranma's mother asked.

Kasumi went still for a second. "Oh my. This is not going to be good," she thought. Out loud, she asked: "Why do you ask, Nodoka?"

"I thought it was just Akane, and that Kuonji was just a misunderstanding," Nodoka answered. "But that's not the case is it?"

"What happened, Auntie?" Kasumi asked softly.

"A man came to the door today," Nodoka started. "He had a young woman with him – his daughter. He said he was looking for Ranma Saotome. His father, Genma, had promised Ranma to him for his daughter. When I pressed for the details, the short of it was that Genma had betrothed Ranma in exchange for three watermelons about five years back. The man was here to claim Ranma now that his daughter was of marital age. I managed to convince him that no sensible man would ever sell his son like that. Obviously there had been a mistake. The daughter looked very relieved at least. I sent them on their way after feeding them lunch. 'At the very least, the lunch was worth the three watermelons,' the man stated."

Nodoka continued: "After lunch I grabbed the sword, and went to confront Genma at a work site. When I told Genma the story, he just nodded approvingly. 'Well done,' he said, and then turned to walk away. I screamed at him to explain himself, and he just said that it was a small misunderstanding – nothing to worry about. I asked him how many more lunches I should prepare, and he became very quiet. Again, I asked how many and he bolted at that point. I gave chase, but I couldn't catch him. I yelled that he had no honor, which seemed to hurt him a little, but he yelled back that neither did I now, and then he vanished."

Kasumi wanted to think dark thoughts about Genma, but she was more surprised at Nodoka's stoic attitude. Then again, maybe she shouldn't be – Nodoka had been forced to put up with a lot when her husband abandoned her to take Ranma on that training trip so long ago. However, she was starting to worry where the older woman's thoughts were going.

Nodoka spoke up again. "That's not everything, Kasumi. I think Genma was trying to tamper with my medicine," the woman said calmly.

Kasumi now skipped worrying and started to approach out-and-out distress. Tofu had given Nodoka medicine to fight an obsessive-compulsive disorder and alleviate extreme anxiety. The combination of the medicine and counseling had allowed Nodoka to stop holding the seppuku pact over Ranma's head. The son and mother had started to have a much healthier relationship. If Genma was tampering with the medicine, he was endangering that new relationship. "Auntie, we need to go to Tofu's and have him run some tests immediately. If Genma's poisoning you, we have to find out."

Nodoka shook her head. "He's not poisoning me, Kasumi. I think he was either trying to sedate me or drive me into an asylum before I found out about his misdeeds."

"Then we need to side step him. We can keep the medicine at the clinic. Tofu has the means to stop someone like Genma," Kasumi told the woman.

"I've already taken steps, Kasumi. Genma thinks he's so very clever, but he can't think more than two levels in. If he could, he would be in government somewhere. Honestly, I don't know how he ever developed those martial arts techniques," Nodoka said.

"So what will you do now?" Kasumi asked, afraid to hear the answers.

"I've been going over my options, and I don't have many, if any at all," Nodoka said calmly. "I need to commit seppuku, but I think it will do more harm to Ranma than good, in that Genma will now be his only relative alive. In trying to repair my honor, I may destroy it totally by abandoning my son. I will not convince Ranma to join me." Nodoka sighed then. "I'm tired of being the executioner in my son's life," she finished.

After a minute of silence, Nodoka spoke again: "I think the best thing I can do is wait until Akane and Ranma get married, and then I can convince Ranma to join the Tendo clan. Once he does that, I can divorce Genma, throw him out of the clan, and then commit seppuku. My son gets to have his life, Genma has no connection to Ranma, and I can redeem the Saotome honor."

Kasumi's mind now filled with the Sprite's warning. "This woman is part of my family too," Kasumi thought. "That's why the Sprite stressed that my task was to protect all of them. It's trying to manipulate me into getting involved – as if I wouldn't." Out loud, Kasumi said: "Nodoka, I'm not going to let you kill yourself. There's always another path if you look hard enough. We will start by throwing Genma out of the house."

"He won't be back, Kasumi. He knows I'll kill him in his sleep. He's finally crossed a line with me that he cannot take back. I know now he has no honor – he's just a con-man. I should have realized that from the start," Nodoka confessed. "And I'm sorry, love, but you can't exactly stop me when the time comes," she explained patiently.

"This is insane," Kasumi thought and then froze at that thought. "Insane… yes, it is insane. By the Kami, I've been hanging out with Nabiki and Tofu too long." Out loud, she said: "Don't be too sure, Nodoka. What would you say to a little wager?"

"I'd say you definitely allowed your sister to rub off on you," Nodoka said with a raised eyebrow.

Kasumi pushed on, "If I can restore the Saotome honor and remove Genma from the equation, you don't kill yourself?"

"Not possible, child," Nodoka told her.

"I say it is," Kasumi pushed back. "What do you say? I have time to work on it – Akane and Ranma will not marry until after they are adults."

"And what if you are unsuccessful? What do I get out of this wager?" Nodoka challenged.

"Then, if I fail, I'll be your Second. When you commit seppuku, you don't have to suffer," Kasumi told her.

"Kasumi! I cannot ask you to do that!" Nodoka gasped.

"I'm a competent martial artist, Auntie. I know how to handle a weapon very well. I know exactly what's required of a Second. And I also have an issue with people suffering needlessly. So, if I win, you get to live. If I lose, as you think I will, you will get a clean death. Either way, you avoid a slow painful death," Kasumi argued persuasively. Nodoka paused with indecision. "Well?" Kasumi pushed.

Finally, Nodoka reached into her kimono and pulled out an envelope, and then handed it to Kasumi. "Very well, Miss Tendo, you are now my Second. Should you fail in your task, I will hold you to our Wager." With that, Nodoka turned away from her Second and walked back toward the house.

Kasumi opened the envelope and looked at the contents. The normally reserved young woman's face took on a gleeful look as she looked through the paperwork. "Yes!" she exulted. "I was right!"

The next morning, Kasumi fed the family and then started her daily tasks. At 9:30AM, she began to put together two very large breakfast sandwiches with some unusual ingredients. Once completed, she took the sandwiches with her and walked over to Happosai's room (he often didn't come to breakfast). She knocked on the door, once, twice, and then entered his room with the third knock. The martial arts pervert was sound asleep on his futon, dressed in his usual clothing. Kasumi went over and picked him up by the back of his collar with one hand. She then proceeded to walk out of his room with him.

On her way to the front door, Happosai started to come around. "What? Kasumi? What's going on?" the old man asked groggily. Kasumi answered by shoving one sandwich in his mouth and placing the other in his hands. Happosai realized what she had done, and shrugged his shoulders. Then he began eating. Meanwhile, Kasumi carried him out of the house toward the Ono Clinic.

They walked in through the new automatic front door with Kasumi still carrying Happosai using one hand. "Hello Chie!" Kasumi called out to Tofu's Office Manager (and her good friend). "Happosai and I have a 10AM appointment with Doctor Tofu. Is he ready?"

Chie suppressed her laughter at seeing how Kasumi managed to subdue Happosai, who was still munching on his second sandwich. "Yes, he's expecting you. I'll pass out the tasers to the nurses while you three talk," Chie responded.

"Won't work!" Happosai shouted back between bites as they walked down the hallway to the Doc's office.

Kasumi knocked on the door. "Come in, Kasumi," Doctor Tofu called out. As Kasumi came in, Tofu got up from his desk to come around it. Kasumi placed Happosai in a chair and she exchanged a decent kiss with her fiancé. Happosai ignored both of them as he finished his breakfast sandwich. When they all finished, Tofu sat back in his chair as Kasumi took the third chair in his office. "So, you said at breakfast something urgent had come up?" Tofu prompted.

"Two somethings actually," Kasumi answered. "The first happened when I was in the tub last night," she started. That got Happosai's attention. Kasumi started to describe her encounter with Henna…

Chie heard the shouting coming from Doctor Tofu's office. She listened (at a distance) for a few minutes, but didn't understand much of the yelling. Chie finally decided that she had enough to go on, and pulled up the Nerima Gossip Forum on her computer. She typed in the following message:

Attention all forum members: Please be advised that our favorite doctor is currently scolding Ms. Tendo regarding some unknown adventure. The town pervert Happosai is in full agreement with Dr. Ono and is also scolding her. This unnatural alignment between the angelic and the demonic can only signify that the End Times are approaching. Please notify your local churches and temples and watch for further Signs.

Yours truly,

Chie.

"Well," Kasumi thought to herself. "It is nice to know I am loved, but I could do with a little less of it right now." The two gentlemen seemed to be running down and were dropping their voices accordingly, especially since Kasumi had agreed to allow them to place two Soul Cages surrounding her room. She did know that she wasn't suppose to go roaming around without placing proper protection on herself, so the Soul Cages were probably a good idea. She chose not to make an issue of the fact that she wasn't actually in her bedroom when she encountered Henna and the Sprite.

Once the two men seemed mollified, she then described her discussion with Nodoka that occurred afterwards. Both of them were silent for a little bit after she finished talking. Finally, Happosai spoke up: "I assume you have a plan that you want help with?"

"Yes," she acknowledged and then explained what she intended to do.

When she was finished, Happosai looked her up and down. "Are you sure you don't want to switch to Anything Goes? You'd fit right in."

Tofu snorted. "No wonder the Elders approve of her," he said.

"Will you help me? Please?" she asked them.

"This is utterly crazy," Tofu said. "So, I'm in."

"One of the problems with a long life is that you start to believe you've seen everything there is. Life starts to get boring," Happosai told her. "Well, at least this promises to be interesting, so I'm in too. Besides, this may shake Ranma up a little – he's been getting too smug lately." Kasumi beamed at the two men. Happosai continued, "The first problem I see is with the town's political power structure. Toshio Kuno will try and enter the Game too. He's watching Ranma and Akane for some reason. Maybe it's benevolent, maybe not, but I think we need someone not under his control."

Tofu thought about that for a second. "I think I know just the person," the Doc said. "I saw an article about him in the newspaper this morning." He went over and retrieved a newspaper near his desk. After flipping through it, he found the article he was looking for and the accompanying photograph.

Happosai's eyebrows nearly shot off his head when Tofu showed him the article. "Him?" the old man queried. "He hates your guts!"

"Not really," Tofu disagreed. "He just sees me as his personal nemesis."

"Why does he believe that?" Kasumi asked.

"He and I have had dealings in the past when I was on Council business," Tofu explained. "He thinks every time I show up, his world goes sideways."

"That's because it does," Happosai commented. "He believes in science and rational thought. Things like faith and magic drive him up a wall. He may be perfect for our needs though. Besides, he will definitely make this interesting," Happosai added.

"Do you think the Council will give us a free rein in the matter?" Tofu asked. "They are watching Nerima very closely right now."

"Yeah, they will," Happosai stated. "Actually, they will help. Genma's actions threaten to undo Ranma, and Nerima needs Ranma. I think they will agree that neutralizing Genma without killing him is a worthwhile project. I'll start the conversation today. We may need their help in getting our man to Nerima anyway," Happosai said while pointing at the paper.

Tofu looked at Kasumi. "You do realize that as soon as we start down this path, things will rapidly get out of control?" he asked her. "Ranma seems to invoke Chaos. Your little sister is not exactly what I'd call a calming influence. Are you really ready for this?"

Kasumi nodded. "If we do nothing, Nodoka dies and Genma will do his best to disrupt things further. We may lose Ranma, and I'm not sure we can weather the Storm without him."

"We can't," Happosai said. "That's another reason I'm in. Even with him, it's a 50-50 chance. Without him, Nerima will be a smear on the map, and Japan as a whole will suffer."

"You could give us a few more hints about this Storm," Tofu told the pervert.

"No, I can't," Happosai said firmly. "Some I don't know, some I'm sworn to secrecy on, and everyone will act differently if they knew other pieces, inflicting more damage than not knowing would. I promise I will continue to tell you what I can though."

"Then that's that," Kasumi said.

"What are you going to do next?" Tofu asked Kasumi.

"I need to go to Hokkaido," she answered. "One of the documents Nodoka gave me was internment instructions for her ashes. She has rights to a graveyard on Hokkaido in a town near Muroran. I need to get more background on the main Saotome family. I may be able to get more insight into her psyche. I may also be able to locate and neutralize extraneous issues. If I'm very lucky, I may even find a few allies."

"All right then," Tofu said. "I suppose that's it. Onwards to battle." The other two nodded.

Happosai yelled "Sweeto!" and then bounced out the door.

Tofu got up and pulled Kasumi toward him, then gave her a long kiss as soon as the pervert was gone. About a minute later, the central office light above them dimmed for a moment, causing Kasumi to look up. "What caused that? Akane's not in the building, is she?" (1)

"Nope," said the Doc. "It's just a normal power fluctuation. You're getting awful paranoid, Miss Tendo."

"That's because I hang out with you lot," she answered back. She gave him another kiss and said: "All right, I better get back to the house. I'll see you at lunch." At his nod, she left.

Doctor Ono went back to his desk but left the door open and made a point of checking his appointment book on the computer. He saw who was next and then sat patiently waiting (with a smirk) for his 10:30 appointment to show up. Right at 10:30, the short little man appeared at the door. Happosai was very clearly toasted, covered in first degree burns. His clothes were scorched everywhere.

"Since when do you plug in a hand taser?" Happosai moaned.

"Daisuke thought we needed a bit more kick than a couple of nine volt batteries would provide. Ranma rates the overall effect a '4' on the Akane Scale."

"And the boy has her hit him with '6's'? He's an absolute masochist," the old man groaned. (2)

Footnotes:

1) In "The Date" and In "Her Second Favorite Teacher" we learn that Akane is a Fire Mage. Not only is she able to control fire, but all forms of energy to some extent (and you thought she just had a hot temper…). FYI: Ranma is a Wind Mage able to control air and generate cold (i.e. absorb heat). Ranma's powers also have some interesting side properties we will get to eventually.

2) One of Akane's abilities is generating lightning in a (very) limited fashion. The Akane Scale is the charge she can build up after "X' number of seconds. See the third chapter of "Genma's Job" for details if you are curious.