[FFML] [ffml][R.5][AU] MGR ch01 repost

MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!

PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:

Howard Melton,
Philip Jacobs,
Jeff Denniston
Lord Talon,
And some guy named Steve.

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma �' and all characters therein belong
to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This
fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass
on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfic
may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other
fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even GASP
American comic books!).

CHAPTER ONE:

Before Genma disembarked from the ship at the port in Tokyo, he
went to the souvenir shop to purchase a postcard. He was busily
browsing through the card selection when the shop attendant
wandered over.

"May I help you?" she asked politely. She had seen the man out
and about occasionally on deck, and had at first thought of him as
a scruffy ne'er-do-well in his well worn gi. He had been well behaved
though, never bothering anybody, and he obviously had different
gi to wear as it looked slightly different on different days. So she
changed her presumption of him to that of his being one of those
wandering martial artists - the kind that owned several copies of the
same outfit just so they didn't have to think about what they wore.

Genma looked up at the younger woman who was now standing
near him. Seeing that she was the shop attendant, he thought for
a moment before nodding. "Yes, I suppose I could use some advice.
I had planned on introducing my son to the daughters of an old
friend of mine. Unfortunately, something happened, and now I have
to show up with his token instead. Which card do you think a girl in
her mid to late teens would like?"

Hearing this, and seeing the man's sad countenance, perhaps it was
understandable that the shop attendant made a few more assumptions.
How sad, she thought, his son must have gotten injured and can't
travel for a while. This meeting must be very important for him to have
left his son in China! For his father to do so while bringing a token
must make this an engagement meeting, or a reasonable stand in for
one! She should pick a nice card with subtle romantic tones to it!

Genma thought that the card looked too 'girly', but accepted the
shop attendant's selection. Looking at a machine that turned
photographs into stickers, he tallied his money and found that
he had a suitable surplus. Fishing out a photo of Ranma prior to
the incident at Jusenkyo, he soon had a sticker as well as a stamp
for the postcard.

Not wanting to announce to half of Tokyo and Nerima just what
had happened to his son, Genma decided to keep the message
simple. So, with a short message and a stamp in place, the post
card was mailed as Genma disembarked. That done, he called a
taxi and went to a hotel in Nerima to rest for a couple of days until
the date he mentioned on the card. He wanted to be presentable,
especially since his son could not be so himself...

O O O

Soun looked down the table where his daughters were lined up
sitting in there kimonos. Akane appeared to be less than happy
with the whole arranged marriage issue, and Kasumi had expressed
doubts about the apparent age of the boy depicted in the
photo-sticker, but Nabiki seemed to have some hopes of finding
Ranma to be acceptable.

The postcard that prompted this particular get together was placed
on the table, and was still occasionally being examined by one or
another of the Tendo sisters. Soun, of course, had memorized it's
every detail during the prior two days:

Tendo,

Something happened to Ranma in China. I am coming Saturday
afternoon with his token. If one of your daughters can accept it,
then Ranma is hers. Hopefully the situation with Ranma will
change soon.

With Regret, Genma Saotome.

Obviously Ranma had suffered some sort of training injury and
was now in a hospital in China. That was a possible risk of training
on the road like that. Still, it must not be too bad if Ranma was still
sending a gift for one of his prospective fianc�es.

With two days to digest the news, Akane wasn't nearly as upset
as she had been when she first found out about the arrangement.
Not that she was at all happy with her father for having made it,
but the extra time allowed her to think some things through before
she said too much that her stubborn pride would make difficult to
take back with any grace.

She knew something of the injuries that a martial artist could get
while training, and it had to be pretty bad if Ranma's father was
leaving him back in China to make this visit. So, like it or not, this
promise between families must bear the weight of a lot of giri to it.
At least as far as the fathers were concerned.

So Akane had thought about it for the past two days. Which gave
her time to notice that Nabiki seemed to be interested. As Akane's
interest with boys near her own age had plummeted with the effect
that Kuno's declaration that "anyone who wanted to date her must
first defeat her", she was only too happy to encourage her sister's
interests instead.

Thus, Ranma moved from unwanted potential fianc� to acceptable
prospective brother-in-law. And she made damn sure that her family
knew this too!

Kasumi too, was promoting Nabiki's interests in Ranma. He was
really too young for her to be interested in herself, but he had a
nice face and would surely mature into just the sort of husband
her sister needed within a few years.

Like Akane, Kasumi had her own eye on Tofu as opposed to
someone that their father had neglected to ever mention until the
postcard had arrived. Unlike Akane though, she kept her interest
discrete, even from her own family. She wasn't about to show open
interest until the good doctor could behave himself around her.

Perhaps helping a relationship between Nabiki and this Ranma
would help occupy her time until Kasumi's own hopes panned
out one way or the other.

Nabiki, for her part, was actually looking forward to the meeting.
Granted, Ranma himself wouldn't be there, but he was sending
a gift of some sort. Very proper, and something that Kasumi
approved of naturally, but in this day and age Nabiki simply
respected the fact that he was bothering to send one at all.

The photo-sticker showed a boy near her own age who had a
confident smile. Nabiki thought that she could get used to a
smile like that. And he had those remarkable blue eyes, so rare
among the Japanese, lending an exotic air to his appearance.

Maybe he was stuck in China due to an injury at the moment,
but his father obviously thought that he'd get better. So it
wasn't something that would leave a permanent liability. Once
Ranma finally arrived, perhaps she could convince her father
to take in students again with Ranma as an assistant. Money
wasn't too bad now, but with the Tendo patriarch practically
behaving as if he had retired with only Akane as a student, it
wasn't too good either.

Accepting an engagement to Ranma was a possible way out
of this potentially bad situation. It didn't hurt that he was easy
on the eyes either. Maybe not the most handsome by any
standard, but attractive enough. And well traveled to boot!
She hoped that he got better soon though. If he was laid up
too long, his skills would take a while to get back to wherever
he had originally raised them to.

Then again, Nabiki thought, best not to count dividends until
they mature. So no arranging for tournaments for him to enter
until they knew he could make a good showing...

O O O

Genma chose to use a taxi again, as he still had enough money
to spare and didn't want to lug both packs all the way from the
hotel to the Tendo estate. He was, of course, happy to have
missed the morning rain, having decided to wait at the hotel
until it was closer to the time he had said he'd arrive.

Once he arrived though, it finally occurred to him that all of this
free spending was cutting into money he could be using for
expenses when he searched for a cure to Ranma's condition.
Selling the token was out of the question. Being made of
sapphire, it was too expensive for anyone to leave where he
could easily steal it back from them. And even if he could
manage it, such a scheme had a much higher potential of turning
deadly on him than selling engagements of Ranma ever had.

Genma sighed at the memories that showed even more things
for him to regret as a father. That and the fact that he was even
considering selling Ranma's token showed him that he still had
far to go if he really wanted to atone for the actions that had
cost his son so much.

So very much...

Genma paid the cab driver as the taxi arrived at the front gate
of the Tendo home and dojo. Fighting to maintain his composure,
he gathered the packs, and turned to face an uncertain meeting...

O O O

"Daughters," Soun started formally, once Genma was inside
and seated, "This is my good friend, Genma Saotome, Ranma's
father. Genma, these are my three daughters, Kasumi (age
nineteen), Nabiki (age seventeen), and Akane (age sixteen)..."

"..." Genma remained silent a moment longer, unable to find his
voice now that the time had come. Just when everyone was
beginning to wonder if he would actually say anything or not,
he set a rounded blue disc on the table before the three daughters.
"Here," his voice was gruff with the emotional strain he was under.
"This is Ranma's Token. Whoever..." at which point, Genma broke
off, unsure of how to explain the unbelievable.

By silent agreement, Nabiki was the one to pick up the token. It
was certainly pretty enough, and didn't feel like it was made of
plastic. In fact, she thought that it felt like stone. A shiver ran
down her spine as she considered that it might be a real
gemstone, blue corundum at a guess. The possibility that she
was holding a real sapphire, and the fortune that it might
represent, made her feel weak...

"What? Did Ranma send us a slimy gel packet?" Akane asked
skeptically, noticing her sister's reaction. She reached over to
grab the thing out of Nabiki's hand, which prompted the middle
Tendo daughter to close her hand around it and draw it
protectively in towards her bosom.

Which is when things really began to get freaky!

O O O

Light shined from the stone clutched in Nabiki's fist, a bright
aura that cast the room in shades of blue. Nabiki's kimono,
indeed, everything she had on at the time, down to the light
make up she had on in order to provide a good impression,
flowed into the sapphire lens as if it were all water.

"What the!?" Exclaimed Akane, as she pulled back rapidly,
having lost the right sleeve and a portion of the upper torso
of her own kimono to the effect. Not to mention half her bra
and her own make-up.

Nabiki, for her part, was speechless as she was lifted up and
back. She uncurled from her seated position as she floated
weightlessly, naked as the day she was born. Her hair shifted
to a deep blue hue while her eys became a vibrant green. Then
ribbons of water poured forth from the gem, slowly swirling
around Nabiki's bare body. Several ribbons spiralled in on
Nabiki's hands and feet forming snug gloves and boots, done
in shades of blue, with black trim and reinforced with silver
and stainless steel. As those were finishing up, several other
ribbons began to paint a sleeveless halter top and bicycle
shorts combo on her that left her midrif bare and fit like her
own skin. There was a fitting in the steel and silver plate on
the back of the right glove that seemed to be just the right
size for the lens.

Curious, Nabiki's grip on the sapphire lens relaxed as she
prepared to switch it to her left hand so she could see if it
fit into the fixture. However, it popped out of her hand and
flew into the setting on its own. Nabiki settled gently to the
floor as gravity once again established it's hold on her, and
one final thing came out of the lens and settled on the floor
next to her.

It was small, about the size of a cat or rabbit, covered in blue
fur, and looked kind of like a kangaroo rat.

"Um... Hi, I'm Ranma," it said. "Sorry 'bout this..."

END CHAPTER ONE

O O O

OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS: Pest Control...

It was small, about the size of a cat or rabbit, covered in blue
fur, and looked kind of like a kangaroo rat.

"AHHHHH!" Akane screamed, "It's a rat! Kill it!" Which she
promptly attempted to do with the table!

*SPLAT!*

"..." Soun was flabbergasted...

"..." Kasumi was speechless...

"..." Genma was shocked...

"Right," Nabiki muttered, "That's the fifth blue mouse-type
we've gone through. Casting said that we wouldn't be getting
another one after this until Akane had some therapy. Who's
stupid idea was it to put her through the Nezumi-Ken anyway?"

"Why is everyone looking at me?" Genma asked nervously...

O O O

SPECIAL TREAT - FFML EDITION:
Ranma in his base form in this fic:
http://www.forsaken-innocence.com/images/mgart/Magical_Guardian_Ranma_01_by_Reiko_Foxx.jpg