CHAPTER 55
-"A ROSE'S INNOCENCE LOST / THE WHITE LILY RETURNS!"-
It's morning.
R awakens. Despite last night's events, he somehow managed to get a good night's sleep. Though, to be honest, he felt like he could've stayed in bed longer. He doesn't know how long his eyes have been open, or how long he had been staring at the pattern made by the rays of light from outside his window shining on his bedroom ceiling. He's lying in his bed in his darkened bedroom.
In his mind, he reviews what's happened the night before:
The school dance…
The DDR Match between him and Ranma…
Dancing with Kodachi and the passionate kiss they shared…
On remembering THAT, R's eyes bug out. Aw, man! Kodachi! She must think I ditched her! Great. I'd better check back with her. Hope she's not mad at me.
He continues his ponderings:
A steamed bun that he and Ranma fought over…
The cat that showed up and freaked out Ranma…
Ranma acting like a cat…
A pounding headache…
Then darkness… nothingness…
A slap to the face….
Ran's crying…why…?
Those two together, R was somehow able to connect to each other. He still wonders why Ran slapped him, what he did to make her upset.
Then, one name escaped his lips.
"Ranma," R says. Hearing that name causes his mood to darken considerably. Yet, somehow the sound of his voice was reassuring. He remembered talking to Ran sometime before the dance, telling her he was going to fight Ranma Saotome. Information… yes, that was it… he wanted information from Ran about Ranma's weaknesses. Anything he could to gain an advantage over him in a fight. She told him she didn't know anything. That was disappointing.
But what really took the cake for R was discovering that it was RANMA who Ran secretly loved. Finding that out had really hurt, and as a result caused some serious strain on his friendship with her. He remembers being angry with Ran and walking away from her.
OK, between what happened at the dance and waking up in that old temple later, R's drawing a total blank. Then he had a thought: had he been drugged? That WOULD possibly explain the huge gap in his memories between events.
R stirs under the covers, slowly coming to. Up until now, he thought that everything that went on last night had all been a really weird dream. Of course, he still can't remember what he's done while in the madness of Kyoujuu-Urufuken (the Insane Beast Wolf Fist). But now that its violence has passed (for now, anyway), he can think clearly about what's happened before. From the bits and pieces of his recollections, he draws these conclusions:
First, the cat and Ranma's reaction to it during their fight leads R to believe that Ranma's weakness somehow involves cats.
Second, at some point during the fight, Ran slapped him, upset that he'd resorted to using Ranma's possible weakness against him in an attempt to fight and possibly kill him.
Or at least, that's what R now thinks based on what little bit he does remember. Ran's reaction to what he possibly did to Ranma last night is irrelevant to him now; frankly, he doesn't give a damn about what she thinks or feels these days. After all, she'd made clear who she was in love with – did she ever stop to consider R's feelings? Hell no! That selfish little…
As the readers probably already guessed, R's still sore about finding out Ran's crush on Ranma.
BUT, he'd gained a hint to Ranma's weakness as a result of last night. And for that, maybe… maybe he could forgive Ran for her part in this mess, let go of the hurt she'd unintentionally caused him.
Or maybe not…
An evil smile appears on R's lips. Armed with this new knowledge, he's got leverage he can use against her whenever he feels like it. (Does anybody besides this narrator think R's just being straight-up petty here?) And as for Ranma, well… he'd better start watching his back from now on. Next time they fight, R will be ready for him.
And when that happens, only ONE would walk away the victor.
But enough about Ranma and Ran; R decides he'll deal with them later. Taking a deep cleansing breath, he lets out a sigh, letting the memories of last night fade away for now. He then sits up in his bed, feeling the pleasant silkiness of the sheets against his bare skin. He swings his legs onto the floor, stands up, stretches and walks up to the large panoramic window, flipping a switch. Opening the thick curtains, in the glow of the eastern sky, he can see a beautiful view of his private rose garden. He notices puddles of water outside; it must have rained again last night while he slept. The sun's peeking out through the gray clouds above, its light penetrating through the darkness, the only remaining visible reminder of recent events.
R takes it as a good sign. For him, it was the end of a VERY long night, and the beginning of a brand new day. He then does a mental scan of his body, kicks his legs, waves his arms: nothing broken, no unusual sensations, everything apparently intact. Without pausing, he drops to the rug and begins doing push-ups, two per second. After about a couple hundred or so push-ups, R then rolls over on his back and starts doing crunches at the same rate. Eventually he's knocked out three sets of one hundred sit-ups each. Getting up from the floor, he then reaches under his bed for a pair of heavy dumbbells and does curls, one arm at a time, then alternating both arms. Usually, if R wanted to exercise, he'd use the weight room at the RED CATS' base. But that impromptu workout was just the ticket, getting his blood flowing and helping to drive away any lingering memories of last night, at least for a little while.
Finished with exercise, R lifts a bottle of water from the small refrigerator beside his bed, and quickly drains the contents, drinking it down. He then sets the bottle on top of the fridge and then walks over to his closet. Reaching into it, he pulls out a black silky robe, slips it on, and walks down the long hallway to the bath. R's bathroom appears similar to a Western-style bathroom, with a toilet, sink, medicine cabinet, and shower. If one enters the shower, there's another set of sliding glass doors in the stall that lead to the Japanese-style bath inside.
Once inside the bathroom, R shucks off the boxers he'd slept in and goes into the shower, turning on the hot water.
WE INTERRUPT THIS CHAPTER AS A FREE SERVICE FOR OUR FEMALE READERS. LADIES, PLEASE FEEL FREE AT THIS POINT TO IMAGINE FANSERVICE FEATURING R IN THE SHOWER. EVERYBODY ELSE, KEEP ON READING.
THANK YOU. WE NOW RESUME OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED FANFIC.
"HEY! Who put that disclaimer in there!?" The Author demands to know.
Taking a sponge and some shower gel, R washes himself thoroughly from head to toe, the steaming water sliding down his body in a most appreciative manner, and then stands under the shower head letting the water rinse all the suds off him. After he's done rinsing off, he turns to his right, reaching for the second pair of sliding glass doors. Opening these, R steps through them and into the bath proper.
He gingerly steps into the bath, and sits down in the tub. Feeling the hot water making contact with his body, he sighs, relaxing, momentarily forgetting what he'd been and where he was the night before.
Ahhh…. so relaxing. He looks up at the ceiling, sinking down further into the water, becoming more and more relaxed. "Aahhh," R sighs, closing his eyes.
But he can't – for two reasons.
One, for some strange reason, he feels awful. Why?, he wonders. Did it have something to do with last night?
Reason number two is he's not alone. Not by a long shot. Sensing someone else's presence, he opens his eyes and looks straight ahead…
And wishes he hadn't. For the person sitting at the other end of the bath is none other than…
"ACK! DELIA!! What are YOU doing here!?" R panics.
"Bathing, of course," she replies.
"Yes, I KNOW that. But WHY are you here, in MY bath!?"
"Relax, R. Erick knows I'm here. In fact, he sent me to fetch you. He's waiting for you in the living room."
Figures. Erick's got no respect whatsoever for boundaries, R glumly thinks. He shuts his eyes, so he won't get in trouble for seeing Delia in the bath. Even though it's HIS bath. He can just imagine Erick walking in, seeing the two of them together….
His beloved in the bath with one of the henchmen? Ridiculous! But knowing Erick, R imagines him maintaining a calm and cool composure, a smile on his lips…
Except for the single angry vein popping out his head indicating that he's NOT pleased.
In his mind's eye, R sees Erick simply lift a finger, a small spark of psycho-electric charge dancing around his fingertip. Well, R, he would say, I'd say it's time for a little science lesson, don't you think? Surely you've heard the old cliché, "Water and electricity don't mix", right? Let's prove it, shall we?
Then he'd dip his finger into the water, sending an electric current into poor R!
FZZZZZZZZZZZZZZHHHH!
R comes to his senses, realizing he's just imagining things.
But it doesn't change anything at all. Delia's still there, paying R no mind whatsoever. Scary, sexy, tall, sexy, mysterious, beautiful, and sexy Delia. The raven-haired woman is peacefully soaking in R's bath.
From R's point of view, the most eye catching thing about her was, well everything about her caught his eye.
Damn she's sexy... R thinks. ACK! Wait isn't she psychic like Erick? Does that mean she can read my mind too..? Please oh please don't let her be able to read my mind... Yeah, that's it! I should think about something else! Yeah, that'll keep me from thinking about how impossibly hot she looks... man I'm screwed. Erick's gonna kill me. R risks opening one of his eyes and immediately regrets it when he sees that Delia's still in the tub with him.
So he sinks down in the tub so he won't have to look at her. Yeah, like THAT'll help.
It's then that Delia notices R. She chuckles, "My, such modesty. Erick was right about you; you're a gentleman at heart. A rare quality in most men these days, I'm afraid. Your girlfriend is very fortunate to have someone like you." She gets out the tub.
Fortunately, R has his eyes shut tight; if he'd opened them right now, he'd get a VERY good view of Delia, water dripping off her body. Is she gone yet? Not wanting to take the risk, he sinks down further in the tub, holding his breath. Even worse, he feels a slight twinge down below in a very personal spot. And he's not even looking at her! Reaching down there, he restrains himself.
"Ahh… that was refreshing. Well, I'll leave you to finish your bath now, R. Report to Erick as soon as you're done." Delia notices R's still underwater. "Hm hm hm… such a modest boy," she laughs softly as she leaves.
When he's absolutely sure that Delia's gone, R bursts up from the water, gasping for air. "PH-aaaah……!!" After several deep breaths, he finally says, "That girl is downright SCARY. And I thought Erick was bad enough." Man, Bass invades my home. Bubbleman raids my refrigerator, and now THIS! What's next?
You SURE you want to ask that question, R? With his co-workers invading his personal space and privacy, could he ever do anything in secret?
After getting over (or getting out) of a potentially VERY dangerous situation, R walks into his spacious living room. Sitting on a black leather couch is none other than High Priest Erick Genryusai, who has been patiently waiting for him. Erick notices the spooked look on R's face, and decides to toy with him a bit. He cheerfully greets him, "Ah, good morning R. My, you look as if you've seen something that NO mere mortal should look upon. As if… you saw something that lesser men would literally give up their souls for. And it has troubled you greatly, my young friend."
That's a pretty biased way of describing one's girlfriend, Erick, R thinks. I mean, sure, Delia's attractive-looking and all, but…
"But what R?"
"ACK!" Crap! I forgot! He can read minds!
Erick blinks innocently (Sh-yeah right, this is ERICK we're talking about here!), feigning surprise at R's behavior. "There's that 'deer caught in the headlights' look again. Are you sure you're OK?"
R responds quickly. "Oh…! Err… yes, yes, of course! I'm OK! Really! N-nothing to worry about at all, no sir! Heh heh…!" Calming down, regaining his professionalism as an elite agent of the RED CAT GANG, he says, "So, uh… Delia says you wanted to see me?"
Erick nods. "Yes, I did. It's nothing important, really. I wanted to see for myself how you were doing, a sort of an informal debriefing, if you will." Watching R squirm, he asks concernedly, "You're SURE you're all right?"
Panicking, R says, "Yes, yes! Enough with the third degree! What do you want already?" Inwardly, he wills himself with every fiber of his being to forget the sight he's seen this morning.
"Just as I thought," Erick comments. He's getting much pleasure from R's antics right now; he's trying hard (actually, with very little effort, really) not to bust out laughing at the sight of R trying NOT to think perverted thoughts. That poor boy. Delia's freaked him out. As if he hasn't had enough to deal with, heh heh heh…. I think he'll like what I have to say next. That should put him at ease. "Well, I came to tell you that Dr. Wily, the Cat Ghost King, and I have decided that, in light of recent events, you should take some time off. You are an important asset to this organization; you work harder than most of our soldiers. This much I can tell you – some VERY important things pertaining to our plans are on the horizon. We'll need you at your best – and you certainly can't do that now after all the stress you've been under lately. So I suggest you take this time to rest, recharge, train, whatever you need to do."
R's not buying it. "OK, Erick, what's the catch?"
"No catch at all, R. Effective immediately, you'll have three weeks – take four, if you wish - to do as you please, away from the base. Of course, you'll still have to maintain your cover as a student at Furinkan so no one will be suspicious. But think about it – for the next few weeks you won't have to attend any meetings at the shrine, no missions to undertake for us. After you come home from school, you'll have the rest of each day to yourself. If our enemies should interfere, I'll have Wily's bots and our forces deal with them."
Something occurs to R. "And Ranma too…?"
Erick grins. "Of course, eliminating Ranma Saotome will still be YOUR responsibility. Far be it from me to deny you the pleasure of killing him with your own hands." Remembering his latest plan, he mentally adds: That is, unless Akuma gets to him first! Then, what will you do, R? I shall look forward to awakening your true potential!
But R's still uneasy. Why's Erick being so nice to him all of a sudden? Something's up here. "Uhh… yeah, that sounds great and all, Erick… problem is, I don't trust you. This whole thing smells like another one of your plans, so come on – what is it THIS time?"
"Am I THAT transparent to you, R?" Erick then sighs, "I suppose I deserve that…. R, listen to me; I'm aware that you and I don't necessarily see eye to eye. But I would like to think that we at least have a fair and amicable professional relationship, despite our personal feelings toward each other."
R's like, "Whatever. So I really don't have to report to the base for four whole weeks?"
Erick nods affirmatively. He adds, "And if anything important is discussed in a meeting while you're away, you'll be briefed via e-mail, so check your messages."
R considers this, and then he says, "OK, cool, thanks, Erick. Now get out of my house." He then adds, "Please."
Well, at least he said 'please'. The fact that he needs the boy for his OWN plans is the only reason that Erick doesn't "punish" (for lack of a better term) R on the spot for the insolence he's shown him just now. "As you wish, R," he cordially says.
BUT, that doesn't mean he can't show him who's boss. "So, did you enjoy the free service Delia gave you in the bath?"
"ACK!!" R almost facefaults. Aw man, I thought I was home free! Why he'd have to go and bring THAT up now!? Great, just great! He knows and I'm screwed! He snaps to perfect attention, though he's sweating bullets!
Watching R's reaction, Erick has a huge grin of satisfaction on his face. With that one little bit of leverage he has over him, he can keep R in line. Yes… that's more like it. You're VERY fortunate that I'm in a good mood today R.
"My, my… I bet you wish your little girlfriend could look like THAT, eh?" Erick smiles, as he watches R squirm. He gets up and walks toward him; as he passes by, he puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He leans close to R, so close he can literally smell and taste his fear, and whispers, "Relax, R. I know your type, so I have NOTHING to worry about. Besides, if you HAD tried anything with Delia, well… I can assure you that we would NOT be having this nice little chat today. Heh heh heh….!"
R's turned white as a sheet, scared stiff by Erick's implied threat. "……………………….!!!"
Aloud, Erick says, "Well, enjoy your vacation, R. We'll see you when you get back." And with that, he vanishes, leaving behind a GREATLY relieved R.
MEANWHILE, AT NARITA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT….
A beautiful girl, with long blond hair, has stepped out from her private jet. Accompanied by her servants, she walks among the crowd…
It's Asuka Saginomiya, "The White Lily"… Kodachi Kuno's eternal rival.
She is an old kindergarten acquaintance of Kodachi's. When they were young, the two had a contest to see who had the best looking boyfriend. An argument ensued and they destroyed their classroom, but were unable to settle the disagreement.
Asuka and Kodachi meet again years later to finally settle the contest of who has the best looking boyfriend. Once Asuka sees Ranma, she promptly insults him and says that it will be very easy for her to win because her boyfriend is much better looking.
Akane encourages Ranma to accompany Kodachi as her "boyfriend" to prove that he's the better man. Ranma half-heartedly agrees and sets out to meet with Kodachi at the appointed location. Unfortunately for Ranma, Asuka has left behind quite a few traps to ensure that his face is mangled before he can reach her and her boyfriend.
Once Ranma and Kodachi make it through the traps, they find out that Asuka's "date" was actually kidnapped against his will and thereby voiding the contest. Both Asuka and Kodachi agreed to meet again in five years and hold the contest again.
Now, Asuka's returned to Japan for two reasons; first, to get her revenge against Kodachi; the second, to find her new love - R.
With an evil giggle, Asuka says, Kodachi, be prepared, for this time, I will defeat you. Then with hearts in her eyes, And then I will find my lovely Prince!"
But why is she here now?
Methinks it's time for the flashback, don't you?
-(BEGIN FLASHBACK)-
PARIS, FRANCE – AT A RESIDENCE OWNED BY THE SAGINOMIYA FAMILY:
We see Asuka in her room, surrounded by many white lilies. Also, there are many pictures of Kodachi Kuno, all painted with horns, mustaches, daggers on them…
Looking at one of the pictures of Kodachi, Asuka declares, "Kodachi, just you wait, in 5 years I'll have my revenge against you, just you wait!"
"Hu hu hu huuuu…," a man's voice chukles out of nowhere."
"HUH!" Asuka gasps – she wasn't expecting visitors. After all, this was a private estate, one of many owned by her family, used as a place to stay while traveling abroad. So who is this unknown guest? Looking around, she demands, "Who's there? Show yourself!"
ERICK (who else?) appears from the corner of Asuka's room. Asuka jumps back and grabs a bat concealed within one of the large vases filled with her trademark lilies. Yeah right, like SHE could do anything to HIM. In a dangerous tone of voice, she questions. "Who are you?"
Erick lifts his palm, attempting to assure the girl he's come in peace. "Easy there girl. I am Erick, a friend."
"Friend…" Asuka snorts. "I don't know you, so if you don't get out of my room, I'll…"
"Relax girl…I don't want to fight, just to talk to you."
"Talk to me…about what?"
Erick explains, "I know that you have a certain …rivalry with another girl…that goes by the name of Kodachi Kuno, am I right?"
Asuka's surprised. "HUH!? How…how did you know?"
Erick smiles at her. "A little bird told me. Now, I understand that you and Kodachi made a promise to meet up again in 5 years, right, to finish your fight?"
Asuka's even more confused. "WHA…how did you know of that?"
"Doesn't matter… Asuka, I think that it was a bad idea."
"Why?"
Erick politely spells it out for her. "My dear Asuka… MANY things can happen in five years. Heck, many things can happen in just five MONTHS. If I were you dear, I would finish that fight right NOW."
Asuka's unsure. "I don't know. I mean…"
"Plus…here's a little gossip for you that you will find interesting…Kodachi Kuno is interested in obtaining the love of this boy." Erick then takes out a picture of R and shows it to Asuka.
When Asuka sees R picture, she breathes an "AH!" of delight. With hearts in her eyes, she says, "WOW…WHO'S THE HUNK?"
Seeing she's interested, Erick tells her, "His name is R. Quite the man, isn't he Asuka…? Now, last I heard, Kodachi has been going out with him, and I was wondering… What would happen if YOU, Asuka, were to, I don't know, grab this boy's heart? How would Kodachi react toward it?"
Asuka was beginning to see the bigger picture. If she obtains the love of R…
Eager and happy, Asuka agrees, "Yes, yes…I would have a handsome boy by my side." She begins to fantasize, seeing herself, dressed as a Princess, and held by Prince R in his arms.
"Exactly," Erick confirms. "And as for Kodachi…"
With a smug grin on her face, Asuka finishes Erick's statement. "Her heart would be crushed. Ooooh, I can't wait to see the face of that slut, when she sees me with this stud-muffin! I can't thank you enough Mr. Erick… huh!?"
Asuka then notices that she was alone in her room. Erick has vanished. She then notices an envelope on a nearby table for her; opening it, she reads the contents.
-"Never do things for tomorrow…when you can do them today"-
Asuka gratefully says, "You have my thanks, Mr. Erick. Now…now to return to Japan, and get the love of my life! Tee hee hee!!"
-(BEGIN FLASHBACK)-
Asuka then grabs her belongings and heads to the car waiting outside for her… a white Toyota Celsior (Lexus LS 430)… Once escorted inside by her chauffeur:
With a dignified (but still pretty evil) giggle, Asuka says, "Kodachi, just you wait. For this time…I`LL BE THE WINNER AND YOU`LL BE THE LOSER! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
Poor R. He's gonna experience what Ranma has gone through with women.
KUNO MANSION – KODACHI'S ROOM:
Kodachi is watering her black roses, when she sneezes.
"AH-CHOOO…!! Oh my, I get the feeling that someone was talking about me." For some reason, the thought gives her the chills. "…And also, a feeling that something bad is coming."
But, she just shrugs it off as if it were nothing. "Oh well."
And resumes tending to her roses.
THE NEXT DAY – NERIMA WARD, TOKYO – TENDO RESIDENCE:
Breakfast was a rather subdued affair at the Tendos. Still, everyone's gathered around the table, eating. Everybody, except one person's missing…
Ran glances over in Akane's direction. Or rather, to an empty space between herself and Akane. This is where Ranma usually sat these days whenever the family got together. Which in a way was funny – sitting there, he would be beside Akane, and Ran would be right next to him.
Two girls, for VERY different reasons, each in love with the same boy, the object of their affections sandwiched in-between them.
But he's not there, because Ranma's still at the hospital, recovering from the injuries he'd suffered from his fight with R while in the Neko-Ken.
Plain and simple, Ran missed having Ranma around. Ranma Saotome, the one who is her best friend and the love of her life. Her love for him was real, more real to her than anything she'd felt or experienced before she came to Nerima. It kept the nightmares, the dark echoes of her past at bay, gave her the strength to oppose whatever that mad scientist Dr. Wily and his RED CAT allies planted in her head. How could she even WANT to kill Ranma? Lately, she wondered what Ranma did to earn the old man's hatred. She couldn't understand it; it made no sense to her at all.
But that love carried a burden; since she considers both Ranma and Akane as her very best friends, she can't tell Ranma how she feels for fear of jeopardizing his engagement to Akane. Forced to love him secretly, she can't possibly pursue a romantic relationship with him. Even worse, the more Ran tried to hide her feelings toward Ranma, the stronger they became. And when that clashed with the stuff Wily tried to brainwash into her, things would get really messy. A war was being waged inside the poor young lady's heart, with no signs of a cease-fire anytime soon.
Sometimes it would get so bad that she'd had to go and find someplace where no one could see her, where she could be alone and cry because she'd be overwhelmed by it all.
And matters are even more complicated now because R knows that Ranma's the one she loves. This has caused tension between R and Ran, especially since R WAS honor-bound to kill him (Ran knew this) and NOW he's been ordered by the Cat Ghost King and his High Priest Erick Genryusai to kill him. (THIS she doesn't know).
The lovesick girl's affliction is getting to her; in fact, she's hardly eaten since breakfast's started. Akane notices this, and tries to cheer Ran up. "Hey. You okay?"
Ran looks up and nods. "Yeah. I… I'll be fine. I just…" She looks at the space between them. "I miss him, that's all." She mentally adds, blaming herself, And it's MY fault he's not here!
And it's Akane who's now beside her, reassuring her. "It's only been hours since he and R fought. And we both saw him at the hospital last night, right? R may have thrashed him pretty good, but he's still alive. And we're all still together." She smiles at Ran. "So don't worry, Ran – Ranma's a lot tougher than you think. He'll be back home soon. Besides, it's not like it's YOUR fault he got hurt."
That's just it, Akane!, Ran wanted to respond, but the words won't come. I'M responsible! R came to me, wanting to know Ranma's weakness. No, I didn't tell him about the Cat-Fist. But he knows, Akane, R knows I love Ranma, and that's the reason he attacked Ranma at the dance. And it's eating me up that I can't tell you the truth about what's really going on with me right now! I want to. I really do want to tell you. Believe me, I do! But I can't because you're not only my friend but you're HIS fiancée and I don't want to come between you guys. Akane, I'm sorry…I'm… I'm a terrible friend.
Ran would have beaten herself up even more had the phone not rang that moment.
Nabiki answers it. "Tendo Residence. Ah…! That's good…. Yes. Yes. All right, I'll be sure to tell them. Thanks for calling, Dr. Tofu." She hangs up, then says, "That was Dr. Tofu on the phone. He says Ranma's condition has improved considerably since your visit Friday night."
Hearing this news gets both Akane and Ran's attention. "Really?" they simultaneously ask.
Nodding affirmatively, Nabiki says, "Anyway, the doctor's had a chance to stop by and check on him this morning, and thanks to his experiences in treating Ranma's injuries in the past he's shaved off a few weeks of healing time. Of course, the hospital staff can't believe it. So they want to keep Ranma another day or two, and if everything still looks good they'll release him sometime this week."
Soun looks up from his newspaper. "Well, that IS good news, eh Saotome?"
Genma nods in reply. "Mm-hm. You said it Tendo."
But he frowns briefly, because he remembers being home that night when Ran and Akane came home from the dance without Ranma. He'd heard Kasumi talking on the phone earlier and was later watching the news broadcast of the fight between Ranma and R. In his usual fashion, he'd pressed the girls for details on what happened. That his son had been fighting under the influence of the Cat-Fist that night was no surprise; it was that Wolf-Fist technique that R was using that was a source of great concern to Genma. He'd never seen or heard of such a technique before; furthermore, he'd noticed that some elements of it were very reminiscent of Neko-Ken. It was almost as if R was trained in some sort of "anti-Neko-Ken" and using it to counter Ranma's powerful cat-like state.
Now Genma was pretty sure he'd bought the only copy of that "Advanced Combat" manual. If there WAS another copy of it floating around, somebody was using it to train R in Neko-Ken with the intent to kill Ranma with it. And that didn't sit too well with him. Still, he's relieved his boy's OK and that this latest attempt on his life was thwarted.
"There, you see?" Akane assures Ran. "It's just like I said. Ranma'll be fine."
"Yeah...," Ran concedes. The news of Ranma's condition makes Ran's heart lighter. Soon, she'll be reunited with her beloved again. Relieved, she makes a decision. At school tomorrow she'll try to patch things up between her and R.
TO BE CONTINUED…