Subject: [FFML] [X/O][R 1/2/A!MG] Contrition
From: Nightman
Date: 8/3/1998, 3:47 PM
To: FFML
Reply-to:
nightman@provide.net

This is the sequel to my earlier story 'Atonement'

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mredding/fanfic/atonement.txt

It's a lightly serious crossover. I'd almost like to call it a clich�
buster but it's not nearly as much of one as the first part was. Still,
I think I manage to turn at least one 'fic cannon' on it's head. ^_^

Any comments, suggestions, reactions, etc, are appreciated. I DID spell
check it, but this is still a quick first draft I tossed off today
during breaks.

Nightman

PS: Thanks to everyone who sent me the name of that fic. You can all
STOP NOW. ^_^
--------------

"I just feel awful about the whole thing," muttered Ryouga, 
his chin in his arms as he slumped at the kitchen table.

"You should!" growled Ranma as he turned around, arms laden 
with a large bowl of Lake Tun-Ting Chicken.

"Ranma!" yelled Peorth, her left eyebrow raised dangerously.

"Why are you taking his side of things?? He's the one that's 
got us into this mess!" protested Ranma as he slammed the 
bowl down on the table. Peorth just continued to scowl, and 
despite the voluptuous goddess's clingy attire, Ranma turned 
away and stalked back to the kitchen. Peorth glared after 
him and then started serving the chicken onto the bed of 
rice she'd already put onto a plate. She set it before 
Ryouga.

"I'm not hungry," he mumbled, his eyes closed nearly to 
slits.

"Well, eat anyway," she said crossly. "As your fianc�e, I 
suppose I have to help you keep up your strength." At the 
mention of the word 'fianc�e,' Ryouga's expression became 
even more pained and he somehow managed to sink lower into 
his arms. He really wished he could have gotten up and 
yelled, "Ranma Saotome! It's all YOUR FAULT!" but for once 
he not only knew it wasn't the truth, he couldn't bring 
himself to start a fight anyway. After all, Ranma had given 
up his only wish to remove Ryouga's more dangerous (and more 
humiliating) curse. He just moaned and turned his head 
sideways.

Peorth rolled her eyes and began eating. "Ryouga, have you 
ever considered seeing a medical professional about your 
depressive episodes?" she asked nonchalantly. Ryouga made a 
noise even weaker than a moan.

��������������-��������������-�����������
     Ranma 1/2 Meets Ah! Megami-Sama       
                    in
               "Contrition"
 Act II of "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished"
��������������-����������������-����������


Ryouga picked at his food. Peorth had set to with a hearty 
appetite though. "Really, I suppose what I've heard about 
the famous Kasumi Tendo is accurate," she said. "This is a 
rather bland dish most of the time but this one has come out 
with nice, delicate flavor. And the chicken is done just 
right."

Ranma grumbled something and stuffed his mouth, not looking 
at her. Peorth blinked, suspicious. "Ranma, Kasumi did NOT 
prepare this dish?"

Ranma started doing his impression of Ryouga. Ryouga, on the 
other hand perked up. As Ranma slowly colored, Ryouga 
started to laugh. "You can COOK? Oh that's hilarious! Does 
Akane know that even you're a better cook than she�"

Ryouga broke off because Ranma's foot was on his face. "Shut 
up Pig Boy or I'll boot ya out into the yard again!"

"Go ahead Ranma, make my day!" Peorth gaped at the 
incredibly clich�d and overly macho barbs that started 
flying back and forth. She sighed and pushed her chair back. 
If her new fianc�e wanted to play with the boys, well, she 
guessed she'd just have to let him. Besides, Lake Tun Ting 
chicken simply did not re-heat well, now that she thought of 
it. She got up and walked into the kitchen.

Ranma and Ryouga were deep into a heated argument over the 
fault for various ills of the world when the front door 
opened and the Tendo sisters walked in, luggage in tow and 
carried by their father and Genma Saotome. The two men 
immediately dropped the several suitcases, Soun's eyes 
beginning to water with happiness. "Saotome, do you smell 
it?" cried Soun. "That delicate smell, that mouth water�" 
Genma Saotome had already darted out of the hallway, to the 
kitchen table, picked up a bowl and without any fresh rice 
scraped the remainder of the chicken into it.

"Saotome how COULD you take the food out of my mouth in MY 
OWN HOUSE??" protested Tendo. 

"Because I know," garbled out Genma as he poured the chicken 
down, "that as your guest you'd want me to have first crack 
at this tasty chicken!"

Tendo took a deep breath and just as he was about to 
explode, a full electric rice steamer was slammed onto Genma 
Saotome's head. Ranma and Ryouga broke off their argument 
and gaped, both the men turned their heads to look, and the 
Tendo sisters entered the room with Kasumi letting out a 
slightly above normal speaking tone, "Oh my!"

Peorth, clad in her form-flattering white outfit, sans 
traveling cape, was holding the steamer. "That was MY dinner 
you just scarfed down Mr. Saotome," she said in an extremely 
cross manner.

"Oh my!"

"You can say that again sis!" said Nabiki in an intrigued 
voice.

"Hello, who are you?" asked Akane, quite befuddled.

Peorth turned her angry glare away from Saotome and wiped it 
off her face. She set the rice cooker on the table and bowed 
properly. "My name is Peorth. Peorth Hibiki."

"Oh my!" said Kasumi. "Are you Ryouga's mother?"

"MOTHER??" shrieked Peorth. 

"Um, sister?" hazarded Nabiki.  Peorth still had one eye 
wider than the other as she glared at the Tendo sisters as 
if they'd walked in hailing the Dark One.

"Fianc�e," she said in a near-deadly tone. "I just thought I 
might as well start using the last name now since otherwise 
I'd have to give out something Norse and nearly 
unpronounceable to you people."

"Fianc�e??" exclaimed Akane, gaping. "No way! You're 
too...!" Peorth turned to look at her. Even though Akane 
felt she was a pretty good martial artist, there was 
something serious in that gaze, "Uh, I mean, Ryouga's too 
young to ... well, you, you DO look like you're um, um..."

"At least 19," said Ranma dryly. Peorth's expression 
immediately became cherubic. 

"Really? You think so? Do you do you??" she said as she 
grabbed him by the shirt.
"Uh yeah, now cut it out!" he said prying her grip from him. 
"You just seemed a little bit older than Ryouga and that's 
not a typical match, you know?"

"Riiight," said Peorth, tossing her hair to good effect. 
"Sorry everyone, but my loss of more of that delicious 
chicken Ranma cooked spoiled my temper. I'm very sorry." She 
bowed to the Tendo household.

"OH, that's all right!" chirped Kasumi, her eyes nearly shut 
she was smiling so intently. "God grant my kitchen isn't 
totaled again," she thought to herself. 

The Next Morning . . . 

Kasumi was in the kitchen as Peorth entered, wearing a man's 
dress shirt as a sort of nightie. Kasumi tried very hard not 
to look at her askance. "Good Morning Ms. Tendo!" Peorth 
said cheerily.

"Morning Ms. Hibiki," replied Kasumi. "Please, call me 
Kasumi-chan."

"Oh, well, call me Peorth-kami then!" the goddess replied 
breezily.

"Whaa-aat?" gasped Kasumi as her WOODEN MIXING SPOON FLEW 
OUT OF HER HAND TUMBLING [slow motion shot here]END OVER END 
OVER END AND ... HIT . . . THE . . . FLOOR wasting at LEAST 
2 tablespoons of cake batter!!!!

Kasumi gaped at the mess on the floor.

"What a shame," said Peorth, sighing theatrically. "And it's 
my favorite. Cherry." She made some gestures and the floor 
miraculously cleaned itself. When Kasumi looked up Peorth 
was wearing an ... outfit. It could be described as looking 
like a black torso outfit with large brass bands of fabric 
enfolding her like scrolls. 

Kasumi, used to the wild vagaries of life around Ranma, 
still found the transformation startling. "WHAT THE HECK!" 
she yelled, then clasped her hands over her mouth at the un-
ladylike outburst. Peorth giggled.

"Sorry, that was a bit cheap of me. I wanted to see if I 
could break your seemingly unflappable calm. Besides, you 
sound just like someone I know and I couldn't resist baiting 
you."

"I ... I don't see," Kasumi confessed.

Peorth gestured for her to sit down and explained who she 
was and why she was there. Kasumi took it very well. ("More 
tea?") Peorth did omit the part about Ryouga's curse being 
lifted. As a well-prepared member of the Earth Assistance 
Office, she had read the several folders of material on the 
various members of the Tendo family and some of their 
associates. She knew, for instance, that Kasumi had once 
been granted a wish by Belldandy not very long after her 
mother had passed away. ("I wish I could take mother's place 
and cook and clean and keep everyone feeling safe and 
happy...")

"So, you're now engaged to Ryouga because of what he 
blurted?" summarized Kasumi. Peorth nodded and sipped her 
tea.

"It's not that simple. I could have refused the wish but it 
occurs to me that a better approach would be to move into 
the area and see about helping him get his life in order. 
Perhaps to find a REAL fianc�e." Kasumi nodded approvingly. 
That's why I need your help. I need you to be an interim 
goddess whenever I get busy with fianc�e duties."

"Oh, of course," agreed Kasumi. "I have just the recip... 
WHAT??"

"It's no big deal," said Peorth. "My office is a little 
short-staffed and if I have to stay here and focus on Ryouga 
there are quicker wishes that need to be granted that aren't 
going to be. I can get you a "learner's permit" so-to-speak. 
You'd be something like a Goddess Third Class, Limited, 
Severely. You wouldn't have any powers of your own but you 
could channel wishes to the Yggdrasil system and that would 
be enough for some of the simpler ones."

"But... but why me?" asked Kasumi totally flabbergasted. 
Peorth shrugged. 

"You're good and kind, trustworthy, and really you DO have a 
little spare time don't you?" the goddess said, setting down 
her cup and peering deep into Kasumi's eyes. "Besides," she 
thought, "You've had a wish already, you can't abuse the 
power, and you're so pure that even an Oni got bored when 
possessing you."

Kasumi shook her head in wonder but did not answer for 
several minutes. "I, I don't know if this is a good idea, 
but if I can help you to help Ryouga and Akane's friends by 
being here then yes, I'll do it." Peorth smiled widely and 
clapped her hands. "Excellent! Let's get to work!"

"But what about breakfast??" Peorth snapped her fingers and 
several bags marked "McDonald's" appeared on the table. 
Peorth grabbed Kasumi's wrist and pulled her out of the 
room.

A few days later at Furinkan High School

Ranma opened his bento box and frowned. There was a plastic 
wrapped lunch from the deli section of the supermarket. 
Again. Ryouga was sitting on the ground next to him; he eyed 
it warily.

Poking the lunch diffidently, Ryouga commented, "It doesn't 
look too ... fresh, if you know what I mean." Ranma glumly 
looked at the food.

"I suppose it's all right ... if you're not used to Kasumi's 
cooking. It sure as hell isn't anything like Akane's 
cooking."

"Nope, lucky there," agreed Ryouga, totally unaware Akane 
was approaching from 10 feet off and a bit to the side. In 
shock, she dove behind a nearby tree. "Ranma insulted my 
cooking and ... Ryouga agreed with him! Oh no! Can this mean 
Ryouga's been lying about my cooking to keep me from feeling 
bad?" She cupped her face in her hands. "Oh no! My cooking 
totally SUCKS!!"

Meanwhile, back at the Tendo Training Hall...

"All right, I think you're ready for your first assignment 
alone, Kasumi," said Peorth. "I'm really sorry about rushing 
you like this, especially when you were able to put me up 
here at your house in a spare room and let Ryouga crash with 
Ranma and his father, but we haven't even had a date yet and 
the Ultimate Force doesn't like wishes being delayed 
willfully."

"It's all right," replied Kasumi brightly. She was in her 
"goddess outfit." Really, it was her "rainy day shopping 
outfit" plus she'd taken some blue eye liner and drawn 
little Blue Seed-esque comma whorls on her checks and in the 
middle of her forehead. They didn't look ... TOO odd.

"All right," said Peorth taking a deep breath. "Your client 
is a very nice man. He's a pillar of the community, does 
charity work, the whole nine yards. Just go up to him, skip 
the preamble, and ask him if he had 1 wish in the world, 
what would it be."

"All right," said Kasumi. "What's this man's name?"

"Doctor Tofu," replied Peorth.

"Oh! I know him! No problem!" exclaimed Kasumi as she 
skipped off toward Dr. Tofu's clinic.  Of course, within 
minutes of visually committing to her destination, a secret 
alert system went into place. The woman who always through 
the wash water out her window used a mirror to flash a 
signal to the woman with the clothes on the line down the 
sidestreet; in turn additional signals were sent, whether 
they were a sign in the window, a pot of flowers moved, or 
something even more arcane. The result was that all the 
clients waiting for the clinic bailed. Even the man with two 
legs in casts grabbed his crutches and hobbled off.

"Hello! Doctor Tofu!" exclaimed Kasumi as she entered the 
door. 

"Kasumi!" he squeaked as his glasses fogged up with 
excitement. He grabbed his anatomy reference skeleton, 
Betty, and started waltzing around the room. "What can I do 
for you Kasumi?"

"Doctor Tofu, if you had to wish for one thing in the world, 
what would it be?" Doctor Tofu stopped and stood stock 
still.

At school, Ranma finished the last of his packaged lunch 
with great remorse. Ryouga looked on in sympathy. "If I knew 
how to get there and back, I'd bring you some ramen or 
something," he said. "Or you could just yell out Ukyou or 
Shampoo's name, I'm sure they'd be here instantly with some 
nice lunch."

Ranma shook his head. "No, thanks, that's QUITE enough..." 
suddenly there was the sound of a softly muffled explosion 
and a pillar of light rose up to the sky off in the 
distance. Both boys exchanged a glance. "That looks like it 
came from the direction of Dr. Tofu's place!" exclaimed 
Ranma. "C'mon!!"

Back at the Tendo Training Hall

Peorth was reading an issue of Modern Photography magazine 
when Kasumi came in, deflated, a hint of redness to her 
eyes.

"Kasumi-chan! What's wrong? Was there a problem?" asked 
Peorth, concerned.

"Noooo..." Kasumi began, haltingly. "I just ... I always 
liked Dr. Tofu and I thought maybe, when Akane and Ranma 
were married and out of the house that he and I might, that 
is that we'd, well, but not now," she finished. Peorth 
looked at her warily, concern mounting. 

"Kasumi, tell me, what was the wish?"

Back at Dr. Tofu's clinic

Ranma and Ryouga arrived to find the clinic deserted 
outside. "This looks bad," Ryouga said. "I wonder if 
Kasumi's been here?"

"He might still be dangerous," replied Ranma, looking around 
warily as if for an ambush.

"DOCTOR TOE FOOOO!!" cried out a woman's voice. "You can't 
hide forever Dr. Tofu!!" The two walked into the examining 
room where they immediately noticed that Dr. Tofu was hiding 
flat against the wall and behind the movable privacy screen. 
They were NOT expecting a buxom, blond haired woman with 
sort of a Veronica Lake look standing naked at the end of 
the room.

"Hiya boys!" she said cockily. "Have you seen my fianc�e Dr. 
Tofu anywhere about?"

Both Ranma and Ryouga slowly turned beet red and then spun 
so as to not look at her nakedness. "Ah, ah, WHO the heck 
are ya?" yelled Ranma over his shoulder.

"Why, I'm Dr. Tofu's fianc�e, I told you that!" she chided. 
"You know me. I'm Betty!!"

A loud yelling could be heard throughout the Nerima 
district.



To be continued in Act III: Corruption