Watermelon Girl

by Chaos Orchid ← Ron Dow75

19.1 Tsukumogami Reborn

"What am I supposed to do with this thing!?" Ukyō cried, still letting the doll dangle away from her. "A tsukumogami can become something like a poltergeist, can't it?" An old one was supposed to be able animate other objects!

"Poltergeist!" Akane cried louder! "Ordinary ghosts are scary enough!"

Kasumi, "Tsukumogami are not ghosts. The certificate says this one is…. Oh, my!"

"Here!" Ranma said to Ukyō, taking the doll by its diapered hips.

"Treat it like a baby, Ranma!" Kasumi warned.

Akane, "Don't make the poltergeist angry!"

Her face screwed up in distaste, s/he let the doll drop into the crook of her arm; she did keep it from touching any other part of her. "Can I at least put it down?"

Kasumi, "In the bassinet. Lay it down gently." She watched, reminding her to, "Be careful with the baby's head and neck."

"Hmf! The only time a martial artist is gentle is when we're redirecting our opponents' attacks against them, like in jujitsu."

Akane, "If it becomes a poltergeist, then you'll become gentle with it?!"

Ranma was able to put the doll in the bassinet-whatever carrier without getting a comment from big sister Kasumi.

Kasumi knelt and motioned for the others to sit at the common room table with her. And the so-called 'birth certificate' of the baby doll.

Akane sat as far away from the bassinet as she could. Ukyō sat on the same side as it, keeping a wary eye on the doll. Ranma sat directly by it, ready to attack it if it rose into the air.

Kasumi indicated the handcrafted booklet, "This page is written like a letter. Let me read, 'Dear Foster Parent; Shintō understands everything attracts kami, even inanimate objects. More kami essence accumulates over time. The more human contact the object has, the more it will take on the human attributes around it. After about a hundred years, it is advised the objects be brought to a shrine or temple to be ritually cleaned of the human contaminates. Destroying the object releases the kami back to the wider essence of nature."

Ukyō, "Yes. On my travels around Japan, I've seen Buddhist monks do the exorcism, too."

Ranma nodded, "Me, too. Didn't hear an explanation like this, though."

Kasumi returned to the letter, " 'Now to the story of this child. A Girls' Day Hinamatsuri set missing most of the dolls and pieces was delivered to be ritualistically burned. Two dolls fell out of the bonfire. When I went to collect them, Zuiji, the young Guardian, moved. It seemed to be trying to protect Shichō the Servant. When I told the warrior doll it was the only one moving, its duty done, it laid down, allowing me to place it again in the fire. I could not.

" 'I used my knowledge of rituals to transfer the kami saturating the Zuiji into the Reborn Doll I had built from a kit. But I am only the midwife. As a temple is not a home. May my rituals send it to a good home. Everything is now up to you, Foster Parent. This concentration kami made and an individual is ready to become a soul. It will be a pure soul, fresh and new, not reincarnated, carrying only the karma others contaminated it with'." Kasumi fell into contemplative silence after an, "Oh, my."

Ukyō felt like that to, "...Not reincarnated. I never thought of that before, but that's right. You never know what the kid you get carries over from a past life. Lives, actually."

Akane protested, "But it can still become a poltergeist!"

Kasumi told her, "Tsukumogami do have a reputation of being vengeful spirits. They can even be bloodthirsty."

"Bloodthirsty!" Akane wanted to scream. How could Big Sister be so calm about it!?

"But they aren't when they're not provocated. I hear they can even be pleasant."

Ranma, "The doll can be pleasant to you, Kasumi. I just promise not to try and provoke it. Should be easy. I don't want to play with dolls."

"Yes! I don't mind being the foster…. Oh, my."

"What now!?(!)"

"On the back of the letter's page is a form. It identifies you as the foster parent. And it has your official inkan seal."

"NABIKI!"

Ukyō's fist hit the table, "She stole your identity stamp!"

"Borrowed actually," Nabiki said from the doorway. She smirked, "Don't I have impeccable timing(?)

"Though not really. I have been eavesdropping for a while now. Tadaima, everybody."

Akame's hands slammed on the table as she went up, leaning over the form for a closer look. "She didn't forge Ranma's handwriting!"

"I didn't think I had to. I only had to convince Kunō Baby-Benefactor I have power of attorney over his pigtailed girl."

"You DON'T!" The floor shook when Ranma slammed her fist against it.

Nabiki wasn't intimidated. "Remember that little liability problem you and Happosai had when a newly opened, high-end bathhouse became a ruin? I told you I could take care of it IF you gave me your power of attorney."

Akane, "That was months ago!"

"And I've been a busy girl since then. Most will become evident when Ranma is legally an adult at 18." She then grinned, "But the age of consent is lower. That means I have the copyrights to all of those photos I've taken of our busty cutie."

Ukyō was on her feet, Battle Spatula in her hands, "You're not 18, either, Sugar! You can't have power of attorney!"

"You're correct, Ukyō. Nabiki doesn't. It is time to remind Ranma and the others I am the one who has their power of attorney. Besides Father and Uncle Saotome, I am the only one of legal age among us."

"K,Kasumi?!" Akane was startled. Ranma didn't know how to react.

Ukyō, "There she goes, being out-of-character again."

Nabiki defended her big sister, "She's isn't. I bribed her with a trust fund for Ranma when he reaches 18."

Kasumi, "Of more immediate importance is this baby. Ranma, come and sit where I am."

S/he did. Reluctantly. But as s/he slid around to the end of the table, Kasumi was sliding to the other side of the bassinet. The eyes of the baby doll followed her.

But when she was sitting as far away from the doll as Ranma was, the eyes moved to Ranma. And stayed there.

Kasumi, "I see. I'm sorry I cannot be your foster parent, Baby. Ranma does have the capability to be a worthy parent."

She raised her eyes to her, "If he will accept the responsibility."

19.2 Responsibility

Ranma stopped looking at Kasumi. S/he wouldn't look at the baby-like doll looking at her. S/he took a moment to glare at Nabiki. Her elbow on the table, s/he put her head on her hand. S/he did nothing else. S/he said nothing.

"Well, Ranma!? Are you going to protect us from the poltergeist?" Akane asked and demanded.

"Give him time," Ukyō said to her and the others. "You're asking Ranma to play mother to a doll. –And he's a guy!"

Kasumi, "He'll also be helping the baby in ways a father can help, as well."

Nabiki, "Back to being 'Ranma One-Half', eh, Saotome?" She sat herself at the table, between her and Akane.

Ranma moved. But it was only to turn her back on everybody. S/he was frowning, her arms crossed.

Ukyō, "Maybe that story the letter gave isn't completely true. It sounds like just a story that's made up to make a toy more interesting to a customer."

Nabiki, "That's what I thought. Kunō was intrigued by it, and believed it almost immediately, of course. What really sold it to him was the idea that this doll was originally a warrior doll that guarded the doll emperor and empress."

Akane, "I remember the Hina doll stage we brought out on Girls' Day. We almost had all fifteen dolls! And their accessories."

"Yes," Kasumi said wistfully. "They were hand-crafted by a master doll-maker in Kyōto. They were quite expensive. Almost too expensive. It took years to save enough to buy even one doll or item.

"But mother inherited the collection from grandmother and insisted everything on the stage be from the same collection."

Akane got a nostalgic chuckle, "All except one. There was one doll that wasn't like the others. Mom said she sensed something different about it."

Nabiki shook her head and told herself, "No, no, no! You're a sensible girl, Tendō Nabiki! Don't believe in nonsense!"

Ukyō, "What's with her?

"Wait! That baby-doll's story! Your mom's special doll was a Zuiji?(!)"

An eerie chill went through Akane, "No, Nabiki's right! It's just a coincidence!"

Kasumi, "A complete Hinamatsuri set includes two Zuiji, one old and one young. Both carry a bow and arrow." She reached out her hand…but hesitated touching the reborn doll. "Mother had the trained ki energy senses of a quality martial artist."

She withdrew her hand; her head dropped at the memory of, "Mother."

She raised it when Ranma came near. She saw her gazing intently at the doll, the girl's senses alert. Girl senses could be more sensitive than a guy's. Especially when it came to emotionally-charged ki.

Ranma reached out…and lifted the baby doll from the bassinet, careful to support the head, neck and back. S/he just sat there with it.

The longer s/he sat, the more lifelike the baby became, squirming, then yawning. It closed its eyes.

Akane, "Well, Ranma! Tell us!"

Nabiki, "I'd rather not know."

Ukyō, "It's like something out of a fantasy book, isn't it? The baby has a destiny!"

Ranma, "It has no destiny. That's what makes it special."

Kasumi, "You can give it a destiny, Ranma."

She stood up and hurried to the kitchen. When she returned, Ranma was still holding the fidgety baby. S/he wasn't comfortable with it, but s/he was trying to adjust her attitude.

"Shall I?" Kasumi asked.

Ranma looked up and saw she was holding her own official seal. Once used, any document would become legal. S/he hesitated.

Then nodded.

Kasumi pressed the inked hanko onto the "Foster Parent" form where the space asked for the identity of the legal guardian.

The baby cried for the first time. It wasn't loud. It was reedy.

Ranma was at a loss of what to do!

Nabiki was (semi-)amused, "The Great Martial Artist is no match against a baby's special technique."

Kasumi, "Ranma, hand the baby over to Auntie Nabiki."

"I don't want it!" But Ranma was already up and taking the baby to her. "This is Ranma's responsibility!"

Kasumi, "And yours. You are the one who filled out this form as a proxy for Ranma. And you have been acting as proxy in my role of legal guardian of Ranma and Akane."

Akane, "What!? Has Nabiki been doing sneaky things in my name, too!?"

Kasumi, "This is no longer just about just Ranma and Akane. It is about their baby. Things are to change, Nabiki. This time, you will graduate from marital arts school."

"Kasumi! I have better things to do than learn to be a housewife!"

"And a mother. You will show yourself to be as good of a mother as Ranma will be. I have already changed the access codes to your accounts you have registered under my name."

Ukyō, "Damn! Kasumi became a hard-ass! Talk about being totally out-of-character!"

Akane was more amazed, "I think I have to agree with you, Ukyō!"

"She's only playing that game," Nabiki said, fighting to keep her cool. "This is too sudden. You haven't had the time to change my accounts, Kasumi."

"I did it last night. I went over your account books, looking for money to replace the things Akane lost in Ranma's blast. That led me to think about how expensive having a baby will be. The kami in my omamori seemed to agree with me.

"I know how much you help with our expenses, Little Sister. But I also know you view us as charity. You are only as generous as you think you are obligated to be. Soon, you will be eighteen, a legal adult, and feel more independent of us.

"I made the calls to the foreign banks and stock brokers to change your accounts. I had only intended to come to a negotiated agreement. I thought of it as the interest you owed for making me liable for your actions."

Nabiki frowned, " 'Godfather' Kunō changed all that financial need!"

"Akane still needs her things replaced. As well as a few extra things, for good measure.

"But it is your treatment of Ranma that has gone too far, this time. I had hoped I could help Ranma ease into his role as a parent. But now because of this tsukumogami you sealed onto him, he will practicing his parenting skills months before he gives birth."

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NOTES to Section 19.1:

The hobby of creating reborn baby dolls began in the early 1990s when doll enthusiasts wanted more realistic dolls

S2E22, "Bathhouse Battle! We're in Some Hot Water Now" had the ruinous showdown between Ranma and Happosai

NOTES to Section 19.2:

Yes, I think I have uncovered a legality that is inherent in Ranma stories: Only Genma, Soun and Kasumi aren't minors and have the adult ability to enter into contracts, etc. So, how was Nabiki able to do things she shouldn't be able to do because of her age(?)