(Continued from [sF] [R.5] It Doesn't Matter, Does It?)
---
Morning at the Tendo residence.
---
Nabiki woke up badly to the noises.
"Hell!" she mumbled into the sheets, not at all sympathetic to some shouts
which started to sound like pained yelps as she covered her ears with a
pillow.
---
Kasumi was already awake, and watched the latter parts of the match. It
wasn't so much a match than a chase.
Ranma bounded off of touch-moments with various surfaces, while Genma was
right at his heels, similarly quick. The garden looked like a gymnastics
mat for two, one a hefty afterimage of the other.
"Stop - " *whish* " - it - " *whoosh* " - will - " *thump* " - ya!"
The "thump" was made by Ranma's rump as Genma had tagged his son onto a
largish rock near the carp pond. The younger Saotome slid off before he was
further tagged and flipped onto his knees just to the front of the rock.
"Sorry, Kasumi," Genma shouted, then bound unexpectedly.
Ranma was aware that there was a lightness on his tail - he stopped and
looked up. "OH SH-!"
Genma bopped him across the face, rattling him. "Watch your mouth!" That
was when he noticed the pond.
Kasumi watched as the older man wiped the sneer Ranma was beginning by
holding his collar and - unbelievably - turning in mid-air to propel himself
back by tossing the boy's body into the pond. The elder Saotome made a
two-point landing at the edge, arms stretched out like wings.
Agitatedly, Genma turned and bent toward the pond ripples. "How do you keep
forgetting to trust your instincts and act accordingly? Haven't I been
telling you that you must - ?!" Spalsh!
"GOOD MORNING, MISTER PANDA!" Akane teetered forward on tiptoes right
behind the now hairy marsupial, hiding the bucket labeled "Fire
Protection". "Have you eaten your breakfast yet?"
At the mention of sustenance (and possible over-sustenance), Genma
immediately made way to table.
Only to be stopped by a Nabiki wagging her finger at the bulk. "No pets
allowed on the dining room carpet."
Genma slumped from his "BANZAI!" attack position - and turned to a
still-smiling Akane.
"Here!"
Much as it was hard to go against the wishes of one offering a prepared meal
in a carefully and delicately (read: amateurly and garishly) prepared food
bowl labeled "Mr. Panda's Food", it was hard to ignore the fact that some of
the dirt-encrusted tidbits were still wriggling.
Luckily, Nabiki took pity on the poor beast. "Akane... I don't think pandas
eat anything but bamboo shoots."
"Rats!" She upended the dish, and made way to the back entrance.
"Kasumi...?"
"You owe me one," she said, off-handedly, walking to the edge of the pond.
She could swear that Ranma had not come up yet, and it couldn't be less than
two minutes...
Five minutes later, Ranma came up for breath.
"Let me see," Nabiki started, bending at the knees, but not offering any
assistance, "your father quite simply whups you, and at Jusenkyo, in your
training trip, you manage to dunk him into a cursed spring without him
laying a finger on you?"
Spitting water (without paying much attention to where he was spitting,
Nabiki was almost hit), Ranma pulled up closer to the edge to pull himself
out. "What's so hard to believe about that?" Under his breath, he
muttered, "I would only be so lucky."
Nabiki was eyeing Ranma very closely, as though... did she know?
She puckered her lips at him suggestively. For some reason, he couldn't
muster enough irritation over his embarrassment. He turned from her and
silently went to the beckoning table.
"Hmm..." Nabiki said, watching his back.
---
The inside of the Tendo Dojo proper was probably the only place on the
grounds of the Tendo household that could be immediately identified as
spotless.
Aside from the shrine near the upper wall of one side, and a sign directly
below it saying "hiroi" in three characters in beautiful, simple
calligraphy, the dojo looked all the more like a chapel.
Ranma casually eyed his sparring mates one at a time, appreciating the fact
that Mr. Tendo had kept all three of his daughters limber and fit - benefits
his body contracted from life on the road. A look from Kasumi told him to
mind his own business, but one from Nabiki told him that there was mutual
appreciation.
The door behind him slid open, and he knew well enough to turn. Sure
enough, the two fathers were striding to the wall on the other end of the
dojo.
The sisters concluded their stretching exercises, and stood at attention.
With a gesture from Soun, both Akane and Nabiki took their seats. The
elders soon took their own.
It took some moments after Kasumi had taken a stance for Ranma to realize
that they were going to spar. "Oh, no, I'm not going to -"
With the stomp of a foot, Genma quickly brought himself the attention of all
involved. "Ranma!"
The younger Saotome flinched, cringing for the next blow.
"You shame your father!" Tears now visibly flowed down Genma's cheeks. "My
only son is afraid to spar with a girl!"
Kasumi glared, while Nabiki raised a brow. Akane seemed slightly irritated,
waiting for her own match to start with some anticipation.
"There, there, Saotome." Soun hauled Genma back down to his seat.
Ranma covered his lapse of confidence. "What kind of martial artist picks
on a girl, anyways?" He turned to gesture the eldest Tendo sister. "I've - "
He was cut short by Kasumi's left instep across his mouth.
"Son," Soun began as Ranma reassessed Kasumi, checking his face, "you and
your father may have been training on the road for the last seven years, but
so have all of my daughters, here."
Ranma was slightly unfamiliar with the stance that Kasumi used - a forward
stance that placed the feet much closer together, noticably raising her
center of gravity, compared to normal stances. She raised both arms lightly
but surely above her head, apparently in preparation to strike again.
Anticipating another attempt at a direct hit, Ranma rolled forward and
slightly to the left.
What he was not anticipating was a half-cartwheel maneuver, where his
opponent changed trajectory at the handstand, effectively landing behind him.
"Now," he turned to the side, barely missing the club thrust an inch from
the bridge of his nose.
"Whoa!" Which was when he ducked forward, following the trail of the club
in front of him to avoid the club at his nape. Kasumi completed the full
moon rotation, retracting the clubs to her wings, left leg once extended
bending at the knee to halt her movement. She twirled the clubs outward
pushing the bottoms to the floor.
"What the - ?" He did not wait for Kasumi to pick up the yellow gymnastic
ribbon's stick - he put a foot on the trailing end.
Bad move.
With a flick of the wrist, Kasumi recoiled the ribbon in her hand, causing
Ranma to fall unceremoniously onto his rump, much as an upended bug.
Kasumi pointed the tied end of the ribbon's stick into Ranma's face.
"Wait."
Ranma closed his eyes. His breaths slowed, but grew deeper, and deeper -
until it broke into an small explosion of air.
"I concede."
---
Wait is over.
---
Ranma 1/2 is a most enduring series concluded in early 1997 by Rumiko
Takahashi. Though it may take more than a small amount of time to complete
the translations - Viz has been the major outfit for the delay. Also,
Shogakukan and Kitty Film have contributed to its distribution.
This is not a chain letter. You may pass this along to as many of your
friends as you like - there are no penalties for doing otherwise. You may
also reply to me with comments, suggestions, expositions, interpolations or
any general response regarding the contents.
Next week: Tofu is not bean curd.
Switch
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