[FFML] [Ranma 1/2]Curing of the Cat-Fist Part Two

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Curing the Cat Fist
By Troy Thomas

Ranma 1/2 and its characters are the creations and properties
of Rumiko Takahashi. Excepting flames, if you have any
comments or criticisms, feel free to send them my way.

***

Part Two
A Brief Paws Before the Storm

It was late in the summer day, and a father and son were
alone, sitting in a dining room at a table, speaking.

Eventually, the son, who was named Ranma, looked at a tiara
on the tabletop, and then at his father, who was named Genma.
He slowly said, "I'm not wearing that."

"Why not? It'll cure your one weakness, Boy!"

"It's for girls." Ranma pointed at the tiara, and then
himself. "I'm a guy. Understand?"

"Son, I've gone through a lot of trouble to find that find
that crown. Put it on, and don't let all my hard work be for
nothing!" Genma commanded.

"Humph. Hard work..." Pointing at his father, Ranma scowled.
"I bet you just walked into the first store you saw, and
ended up buying the first thing you saw that had a fancy
name!" Leaning back, after seeing the nervous denial writing
itself on his father's face, Ranma smirked. "I'm right,
aren't I?"

"Boy, you need to learn..." Genma sprang forth, the tiara in
his hand. "To do what's best for yourself!" However, before
he could force the tiara on to Ranma's head, his face met the
unmovable force of a steady foot.

"Give it up, Pop. I am not..." Ranma booted his father out of
the house, out towards the setting sun. "Wearing that stupid
girly thing!"

A second later, Ranma's mother Nodoka entered the kitchen.
"Where'd your father go, Ranma?" She looked about. "I thought
he was just here...I swore I heard him speaking with you."

"He had to fly, Mom." Ranma, using his thumb, pointed towards
the sun.

"That's a shame. I really wanted to talk with him." Sighing,
Nodoka left the kitchen.

***

It was the start of a new day, and Ranma opened his eyes to
the sight of his father standing over him holding a bucket of
cold looking water. He instantly reacted by kicking his foot
up.

A wet panda stood where Genma Saotome had just been standing.
"Growf." it growled.

"Pop, this really is too early..." Ranma sat up, and then
clenched his fist.

The panda held a tiara in its paw, which glinted from the
early morning sunlight. In its other paw, it held a sign
reading, "Son, I just thought that if you were a girl, you
wouldn't have any reservations about wearing this." An arrow
on the sign pointed to the tiara in the panda's other paw.

A teakettle flew into the room, and splashed over Genma,
reversing the Jusenkyou curse, reverting him to his human
form. "Not my manly son!" Running into the bedroom,
brandishing a sheathed katana, Nodoka screamed at Genma,
"Out, out, out!" She clubbed him over the head.

"Ow, that hurts!" Genma whirled to face his wife. A large
bump grew on his head.

"Darling, you shouldn't be using your position as your son's
father to force him into such unmanly apparel." A tear rolled
down Nodoka's face, as she watched Genma with an expression
of misapprehension.

Ranma sat back on his bed, and watched his parents in
confusion.

"Nodoka-Dear..." Genma rubbed his head. "I wasn't trying to
force Ranma to not be unmanly...You see, the promise was
fulfilled..."

Both parents lowered their heads, staring at the floor.

"Yes, you're right..." Nodoka concurred. "We no longer need
to hold Ranma to a promise he's already fulfilled." She began
to rub her chin. "Yes Genma, I think I understand what you're
trying to do now."

Standing, Ranma snuck out of the room.

When outside of his room, he quietly shut his bedroom door
and began leaning back against the frame. He sighed in
relief. "Whew. That was weird." He rubbed the back of his
head. "I should take a bath." he finally said.

***

Stunned, Genma walked through the kitchen. It had been nearly
twenty minutes since Nodoka and he had spoken in Ranma's
bedroom, but he still couldn't believe what he had heard.

He rethought.

It had been nearly twenty minutes since Nodoka had told him
what she was going to do concerning Ranma.

He blinked his eyes repeatedly, and then shook his head.

Was that Ranma sitting at the table eating his mother's
delicious breakfast?

Genma wasn't certain, but he didn't bother to see if it was.

He needed to think about things.

***

"Pop? Something wrong?" Ranma asked, looking up to see his
father quietly walking through the dining room.

Genma didn't answer, instead continuing his mindless amble
through the dining room.

"He didn't even notice breakfast was ready..." Ranma
shrugged, and then grabbed his father's plate to dump its
contents onto his own. "His loss, I guess."

***

"I must put things into perspective." Genma said, sitting
outside his home, watching the morning sun creep overtop the
houses of his neighbourhood. He held two fingers to his
temple. "Before Nodoka begins her mad quest, I must resume my
own: to cure the boy of his one weakness."

He didn't need to explain to himself why he wanted to cure
his son.

It was his wife. She didn't know about Ranma's Cat-Fist
training (and the Boy's intense fear of cats), and if he
could help it, she would never need to know.

Standing, he turned towards the house. "Boy, you will wear
this tiara, no matter what."

The crown sparkled in the morning sun, and then Genma's
stomach growled.

"But only after I've eaten."

***

Alone, he sprinted down a street, which led to Furinkan High.

He raised his arm to wave, and called out to his fianc�e, who
was entering through the school gates, "Akane!"

She turned her head, and when she saw Ranma, she stood still
to wait for him.

"Saotome!"

Ducking his head, Ranma wasn't surprised to see a bokken
crash through the school wall where his head once was. A
moment later, the wall fell apart revealing Tatewaki Kuno.

"Upperclassman Kuno! Good morning!" Ranma said, smiling.

"Ranma Saotome, you selfish, inconsiderate, and evil
sorcerer! It has been over four days, and I've not seen the
beautiful pigtailed goddess even once!" Kuno swiped at Ranma,
only to miss the boy as he ducked under the blade. "Where do
you hide her? Bring her to me, so that she and I might
reunite..."

A kick to his head ended his speech. Ranma stood overtop the
kendoist, smiling. "Sorry Upperclassman, but I have to run.
Classes and everything, you know!"

A moment later, and Ranma was gone, having locked hands with
Akane and entered the school grounds.

***

Kuno sat up, and frowned. "I think he refuses to listen to
reason. It was a simple request too. Give me the lovely
pigtails, and then die."

A panda walked over to him, and handed to him a tiara.

"A messenger from the heavens?" Kuno asked. "A gift I am to
present to the girl of my dreams?"

The panda seemed to develop a sweat drop on the side of its
head. It raised a sign, "Uh, yeah, and I am to help you..."
Strangely, written in a smaller font on the sign was,
"Because I can use you to my advantage since you'll do all
the work, while I can sit back and take credit for all the
results. Hee, hee, hee."

Kuno took the crown after he had read the sign up to 'yeah',
and then raised it to the heavens. "My love will wear
this..." He frowned. "It seems I wasn't dramatic enough."

Standing, Kuno raised the tiara again, and then proclaimed,
"I declare, I will place this work of heavenly beauty on top
of my love's head, to show to the world the strength of my
heart." Lightning erupted from the heavens, outlining Kuno
for a brief second. He turned to Genma. "Oh thank you,
Heavenly Beast! Today shall be the day of the gentleman, and
it is do to your panda benevolence. "

Genma blushed, bashfully holding his head away from Kuno's
gaze. The panda shyly swung its leg back and forth behind
itself.

"Now, we must begin the day, for no gentleman waits for it to
come to him."

***

"Saotome!" Kuno ran into the classroom, a panda trailing
behind him. "As before, I demand the goddess be set free from
your tyrant's grip!" Kuno stood beside Ranma's desk, his
bokken waving to and fro in preparation to strike.

"Kuno, I'm kind of in the middle of class right now..." Ranma
pointed to the classroom's front.

"Silence!" Kuno cut down through the desk, slicing it in
half. "I will not be denied! On your guard, mongrel!"

Immediately hefting the broken desk over his head, Ranma
threw it on top of Kuno's noggin. However, Ranma didn't
notice the panda preparing to throw a bucket of cold-looking
water at him.

"Growf!" The panda was stopped by a well-thrown textbook,
which had been thrown at its face.

The book fell down, leaving an imprint on the face of the
animal.

"Ouch." was written on a sign the panda held up, before
falling down.

"Idiots." Ranma said.

***

It was the end of the school day. A bandaged up young man and
panda were standing outside the school, under a shady tree.

Kuno looked at the panda. "You say if I offered the pigtailed
girl a challenge, she would appear?" He rubbed his chin. "It
sounds incredible, but perhaps it is true."

"Yes." The panda held up a sign. "Ranma...I mean the
pigtailed girl wouldn't miss this challenge, because..."

"Because of her great spirit!" Kuno finished. "The foul Ranma
cannot tame her completely, so he allows her this one freedom
so she will obey his lecherous orders!" His fighting spirit
began growing, which increased in significant enough manner
to intimidate the panda.

"Right..." The panda pointed to the tiara, which Kuno held in
hand as though it were a fragile flower. "You only need to
place it onto her head to win. It's perfect. We can't lose!"

"And then the pigtailed girl will know my love for her is
true!" Kuno hugged the crown.

In a tiny font, the panda wrote on its sign, "Idiot. Hee,
hee, hee."

End Part Two

***

Author's Notes:
Damn that Tatewaki Kuno! He wandered into my story, and
didn't want to leave. Oh well. The kendoist is now a major
character in this short piece.

I had a bit of trouble with this part, because of the bokken
wielder, and didn't know how to end it. Then I realised Genma
knows his own son, and voila; we have a well-worded challenge
for Ranma's girl-side from Kuno.

Anyway, I hope to resolve this story arc in two or three more
chapters (I know I said that the last part, but I have an
idea of how things are going to play out).

If you've noticed, I've written into this chapter, and in the
last chapter, plots for future shorts. Wow, I didn't know I
had it in me to think of ideas so easily! Anyway, here they
are: Ranma has a new fianc�e; Nodoka hasn't yet spoken with
Genma about something important; and Nodoka is planning
something about Ranma, which has Genma concerned.

But all that's for the future!

Troy