In part 1 the Tendous, Soutomes and in the next car
the Tanakas took the train to Hakone,
Nabiki learns she might have an admirer.
By Joseph Palmer
Part 2.
Nodoka thanked the lady at the front desk and returned
to the others. "Our room won't be ready till three so..."
She walked to a nearby brochure rack and pulled one out.
"We have some time to see the sights. Let's see, we could
take the tram up the mountain." She pulled another from
the rack. "Or we could go down to the sculpture museum in
Gora or.." Nabiki picked one and handed to Nodoka. "The
Hakone Wedding Chapel."
Akane trembled in anger. "NA---BI--- KI-----!" she
growled. Her sister ran to hide behind their father.
"Hmm. The Wedding Chapel. Say, that's a fine idea,
don't you think Soutome-kun?" Soun nodded wisely.
"So, so. A very fine idea,Tendou-kun." Genma agreed,
patting him on the back.
"Old man..." Ranma popped his knuckles menacingly.
"Or we could go to the onsen park instead." Akane held
up another brochure. She flipped it open and read: "The
visitor will find over 30 heated pools climbing the
hillside with a spectacular view of the Hakone hills."
"Onsen Park! Onsen Park!" Soun and Genma cheered,
waving fans and little rising sun flags in the air.
Nadoka sighed. "Well, I see we have their vote.
Kasumi?"
"As much as I'd like to see the chapel," she smiled
sweetly at Ranma and Akane, "I think today we'd better
stick with the onsen park."
" Nabiki?"
"Tough decision, but if it's between the onsen park
and he chapel, I'll have go with the swimsuits and boys."
"Akane-chan?"
Akane picked up a brochure in one hand. "Onsen,
or..." she picked up the other brochure with the other,
"...Chapel."
She held both brochures in her hands. gazing first at
one, then the other. She turned to her fiance "Oh Ranma,
I... I can't decide."
"Heh?" Ranma's eyes popped out. Large drops of sweat
formed on his brow.
"It's just...," she paused, looking first to her
father, then Kasumi, then Nabiki, then Nodoka, then
finally back to Ranma. "I can't decide which swimsuit to
wear."
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Souichi leaned back against he rough rocks lining the
side of the steaming pool. He closed his eyes and tilted
his face up seeking the cool drops of water that fell from
the rocks above. In moments the warm water relaxed him,
and his mind began to drift. With his eyes closed he could
almost imagine he was all alone, and the sounds of the
others sharing the pool and the the ones nearby was just
piped in ambiance. His daydream was interrupted by a
splash of water.
"Wake up, sleepy-head, she's here." Mariko chimed.
"Huh? Who?"
"Who again. It's miss gold top again, except this time
it's a brown swimsuit."
"Will you stop joking around?"
"I saw her in the dressing room. They were just coming
in as I was going out."
"Sis, if you're making this up..."
"Here's the plan. I'll go down and get into the same
pool as her and strike up a conversation. Then you can
come join us and I'll introduce you. Easy, no?" Mariko
jumped from the pool and headed down towards the entrance.
"Don't you chicken out on me!" She called back over her
shoulder.
"Wait a second what about..." Souichi called, but it was
too late. It was a good plan in principal, but he wondered
if Mariko had forgotten about the encounter on the train.
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Mariko reached for the handle of the dressing room, then
stopped. After this morning it might not be good if I
tried to strike up a conversation in the dressing room,
she thought. Maybe I'll just wait for her out here.
She picked a nearby pool and climbed in. The pool was
shaped like a fountain and the water was slightly pink and
smelled of roses. Several girls came out of the dressing
room, but she didn't recognize any of them. Then after a
few minutes the door came open and she could hear voices
from inside.
"Akane-chan are you ready yet?"
"Go on ahead, I'll catch up."
"What's taking so long."
"I still can't decide."
The tallest of the girls from the train held the door
for the woman Mariko had seen with them that morning.
"Thank you Kasumi," the woman said. They stood scanning
the pools for a moment.
"I don't see the others" Kasumi said.
"Never mind, they'll find us. Let's pick a pool one
nearby so we can spot them coming out."
Mariko slid around to give them room to climb in.
"Please go ahead," she said.
"Thank you," Nodoka said to Mariko, then she and Kasumi
slid into the steaming water.
"Ah, this rosewater is so nice, isn't it auntie Nodoka?"
Kasumi waved her arms the the warm water.
"Mmm yes, and probably more peaceful than the visiting
the Wedding Chapel would have been." Nodoka giggled.
"Say, didn't I see you on the train this morning?"
Mariko asked. "I'm Mariko Tanaka." she bowed, accidentally
dipping her nose into the water.
"Hee-hee,", Kasumi giggled covering her mouth with her
hand . "Sorry. Anyway, I'm Kasumi Tendou, I'm very pleased
to meet you, and this is...," she paused, pondering wow to
describe the relationship. "... my sister's mother-in-law,
to-be."
"Nodoka Soutome, pleased to meet you."
"When I first saw you I thought you might be
sisters..."
Nodoka blushed. "You are so nice!" she said.
"But you look so young," Mariko prodded.
"Young lady, I have a son about your age."
"Oh, I remember, red shirt, ponytail, right?"
"That's Ranma, and the girl that was with him is my
sister Akane. Ah, here she comes." Kasumi waved her
sister over.
"Wasn't there another girl about my age with you?"
Mariko asked.
"Yes, that's Kasumi's little sister Nabiki." Nodoka
said. She made room for Akane to join them in the pool.
This is Akane Tendou, my son's fiance.
"Hi, I'm Mariko Tanaka, I'm pleased to meet you."
"I'm pleased to meet you." Akane bowed. This girl looked
somehow familiar to her.
"A Fiance? you're so lucky to have found someone."
Markio said.
"Well, our fathers arranged it."
"Still, How about you Kasumi?"
"Oh, I think they're very lucky too."
"No, what I meant was, do you have a boyfriend?"
"Oh, no, no. I'm far too busy with taking care of daddy
and my sisters.
"Well there is someone..." Akane prodded.
"Really? Nodoka asked.
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Souichi got out of his pool and looked down the hill
for his sister. The pools were terraced down the hillside,
with paths meandering between them.
Souichi began to crisscross down the hill, checking for
his sister. At one point the path doubled back and he
found a couple making out in a secluded pool. He blushed
and turned away to continue his search.
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Markio listened attentively to the conversation, waiting
for the right moment.
"So you're engaged," she said looking at Akane, "and
you have an admirer," she said to Kasumi. "What about
Nabiki? does she have someone special?"
Akane froze. It was the word Mariko had used. 'Admirer.'
Now she remembered. Mariko was the girl from the train.
Masaka!* She just asked if Nabiki had 'anyone special',
not about any boyfriends.
*[After all] (it might be true)
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Souichi was halfway down the hill when he bumped into a
boy with a ponytail. They both apologized, then there was
a moment of recognition, and the both pointed fingers at
each other.
"You look familiar." They both said as one, then
laughed.
"We were on the train together. I'm Ranma Soutome."
"Pleased to meet you, I'm Souichi Tanaka." Souichi
answered automatically. Then it hit him. The station. The
train. His sisters blundered attempt at matchmaking. "Oh
no, that was you..." he let his head fall in shame.
"Soutome-san. please allow me to apologize for the
unfortunate incident with my sister this morning" he said
formally.
"Huh? Oh, No problem." Ranma replied cautiously.
"You see, my sister is really quite notorious in this
respect." Souichi explained. "Ever since she started high
school she's gained quite a reputation."
"I see." Ranma said. He and Akane had only been joking
with Nabiki, but perhaps there was more to it.
"You understand how 16 year old girls sometimes are..."
"Well, yes, that's something I know about." Ranma
nodded.
"Sometimes they settle down and grow out of it, but with
My sister I suspect it may be a lifelong thing.
"So.." Ranma said, backing away a little, so he was
under the lip of a pool on the next terrace.
"Ranma-kun!" Nabiki called cheerfully from the pool
above.
Souichi looked up, there she was, smiling down on them.
He watched fascinated as she dumped a child's pail of
water over the edge in front of him, then she disappeared
back behind the edge.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeya! That's cold!" Ranma-chan shrieked.
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"That'll be Ranma. Again." Akane sighed, then dipped her
head underwater and shook it slowly.
"Mmmmm?" Mariko looked up the hill. It wasn't hard to
find the source of the disturbance, since every guy in the
place was staring at one point. No, better make that two.
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Souichi looked back down, and a red headed girl was
standing right where Ranma had been just a few seconds
ago. He pondered that mystery only for as long as it took
to notice that the girl was topless. Very topless. Right
here, right in front of him, really, very, topless. He
wondered then for a moment why his peripheral vision
seemed to be going dark, and why was it when he rubbed a
tickle in his nose, his hand came away bloody? Then he
wondered why the topless girl seemed to be floating away,
and why it was getting dark so very quickly, and finally
he wondered why it was his sister kept screaming his name?
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
tsuzuku (to be continued)
_____________________________________________________________________________
Joseph Palmer | - The View from Here -
CEO - Video Storage Systems | My observations from Silicon Valley
http://www.VideoS2.com | http://www.best.com/~jpalmer/view/view.shtml
"Solutions for Real Media" | Personal Web site: http://www.best.com/~jpalmer