Legal: The characters of Ranma � were created by the great Rumiko Takahashi.
I am using them without permission, hopefully for the purpose of
entertaining someone. If anyone who has a right to sue me has that desire, I
have almost no money.
C&C is appreciated, you can contact me at brenda02@sprynet.com. And if you
want to see the earlier parts of this and my other stories, you can find
them at http://home.sprynet.com/~brenda02/Keith/Animeff.htm
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A Ranma 1/2 Fanfict
Surreal Genius
By Brendan O'Donnell
Part seven
Ranma opened his eyes and glanced at the steel reinforced speakers that were
halfway through playing a very percussion heavy version of Betoven's nineth
symphony. "I had to build this thing didn't I" Ranma mumbled as he rose to
his feet and walked to the wall oposite the speakers. Using the small keypad
in the wall he turned the wakeup system off. "Oh yes, 'Don't worry mom, I've
built something to make sure I wouln't be late for school again.'" He shook
his head.
"So, what's Shampoo done with your room?" Nabiki casually asked as she
looked over her bento at Ranma. He and the two Tendo sisters were sitting
under the tree.
Akane slowed her eating and leaned foreward slightly.
"I wouldn't know." Ranma casually commented as he inhaled his own bento. "I
had things to do in the lab." Opening a can of soda, he began gulping it
down.
Akane glanced from Ranma to Nabiki with a slight frown. "By the way Ranma, I
was thinking about getting some Kendo pointers from your Mom."
With a spray of liquid, Ranma started coughing.
Blinking Akane asked, "Something wrong?"
"Um, why were you thinking about asking my mom about Kendo?"
"Well, she did say that she taught Noriko about the sword so she ought to be
prety good, right?"
"Well, now. Mostly."
"Is there something wrong with your mother Ranma?" Nabiki asked.
Ranma considered a moment. "Ok," he said quietly. "I want your word that you
'll never tell anyone what I'm about to say. Or at least not anyone who
might say a word about it to mom." He took a deep breath.
"Ok," Akane responded uncertainly.
"Sounds interesting." Nabiki responded with a grin. "I'll keep it a secret."
Ranma glanced at the pair. "OK. At the moment Mom is prety good. Except with
drawing it. And as long as she stays calm. Come to think of it her footwork
tends to go whenever she moves faster than a slow walk.
"Ok, acording to Grandpa, Mom's family has been professional sword polishers
since some long ago legendary thing. Mom has always been a little too
interested in swords. She's been fascinated by them, and by Samurai Movies.
Of course Gramps didn't like it and forbade her from studying any sort of
fighting technique. That didn't keep her from peeping at the practise
sessions of the local Kendo Dojo and trying to copy their moves and the ones
from the movie anytime she was alone." Ranma shook his head.
"And then when she was fifteen someone tried to break into their house.":
<Flashback>
In the unlit workroom on the ground floor of her families house, Nodoka
carefully picked up the sword. It was a newly forged blade that her father
had been finishing for three days. She smiled as she felt the hilt she had
helped her mother make. With an excited giggle she struck a quick pose.
"Wow."
>From the front there was a quiet crash of glass breaking. Nodoka looked to
the front of the shop. "Burglers?" she commented fearfully. She glanced at
the sword she was holding. "Wait, if I can protect the shop, dad might let
me study Kendo."
She purposely strode toward the doorway. Crack. "Oww," she wispered as she
released the sword with her right hand so she could rub her shin which had
just banged into the stool where her father sat above the main polishing
stone.
In the front two young men in black snuck into the entryway. "Idiot," one
wispered, "What if they heard you!"
"Ah, sorry," the other replied, lifting a hand to rub the back of his head.
"So, we keep to the plan?"
"I'll try upstairs, you check down. You did remember your flashlight,
right?"
With a grin the second theif held up a metal flashlight. With a flourish he
slid the switch to the on position. The bulb stayed dark. Frowning he looked
closer at the item.
The first theif grabed the flashlight from the second. He glanced at it a
moment, considering it's weight. "Batteries?"
A sweatdrop forming on his head, the second theif laughed nervously.
The lights turned on.
Both Theives turned their heads to the doorway where a young woman in a
Kimono stood. She was about 15 years old with her black hair pinned back in
a very traditional style. She was holding a Kitana in her right hand, and
brought her left hand back from the light switch to join it's grip on the
hilt.
"Hold villians! I Nodoka Yotsuya shall not allow you to. . . to. . . I wouln
't let you rob Papa!" She started advancing, holding the sword unsteadily
beform her as she moved foreward with a slight limp.
The two theives looked at her, and started backing away. "Hey," the first
commented, "Stay calm, there's no need to get violent, we'll just be going,
no harm done. . ."
"Wait!" Nodoka said, accellerating slightly. Then she tripped. "WAAAH!!"
Stumbling foreward she waved the sword in an frantic effort to regain her
balance. She tripped, and only the impact of the swords foreward thrust
allowed her to stop on one knee rather than sprawled on the ground.
One of the would be theives screamed, and pushed himself back into the wall,
his attention completely focused on the sword that was struck into the wall,
just over an inch below the point where his legs came together. He reached a
frantic hand down to feel at his crotch. *Not hurt. Thank you Kami-Sama!*
"WE GIVE UP!"
<end Flashback>
Akane looked at Ranma.
"Hey, that's what Grandpa said, at least that's how he put all the accounts
and the physical evidence together. Big fan of Sherlock Holmes, Grandpa."
Ranma paused. "Anyway, He was even more adamant about Mom not studying
Kendo, but with the way she remembered the incident, it just convinced her
that she had a natural gift for swordsmanship. And with no lessons, she
never had anything to challenge that belief. And when Dad married her, he
always tended to just act like she was as good as she thought she was and
steer her away from actually using it on anyone.
"Then when Noriko was starting to get old enough to start thinking about
training, mom thought it would be great to give her the chance she had never
had. And that was what made dad admit that he'd been lying about how he
thought of her sword style. That was the biggest fight they've ever gotten
into. But in the end, Dad wound up taking Mom, and sparing with her until
they could work her swordsmanship into something practicle."
"So is your mom any good with her sword?" Nabiki said.
"Well, as long as she doesn't get to excited, which is a bit of a problem
considering how she acts around swords in general. And Dad's never really
tried to do much with her sword drawing. If she ever tries to draw the sword
fast, try to keep out of the line of fire in case she doesn't grip it
tightly enough."
"So I you don't think I should ask her for lessons." Akane commented.
"Well as long as you don't ask about Sword drawing you should be safe. And
it's the best way to get on mom's good side." Ranma leaned foreward
conspiritorialy. "According to Grandpa, the real reason she became so
interested in him is because she wanted to polish his sword."