Teacher
Part 4,
The Manga begins...
Ryo sat across from his friend with a satisfied smile on his face. "That
beef bowl sure was good Tendo." he said lazily.
"Yes, we'll have to go back some time." agreed Soun merrily.
Akane and Torako were both out for a morning jog and the weekend had
only just begun in the small suburb of Nerima. Soun picked up a small
postcard that had been delivered only a few days ago.
"At last, Ranma is coming here!" he said as he cried more tears of joy.
"I know a boy named Ranma." said Ryo lazily, "He's the son of an old
friend of mine."
"Really? What a coincidence." said Soun with a heavy sigh. "What's the
man's name?"
"Genma Saotome." said Ryo lazily.
"Sa-Saotome?" gasped Soun in shock.
Ryo didn't see the harm in telling him now. "Hmm... Yes, we met while I
was in college years ago, back when your wife was still with us. Is this
the same man?"
Soun looked shocked, "Why didn't you tell me you knew my old friend
Saotome?!" he said with a hearty laugh.
"Never came up before now."
"Really? I was sure I told you about him, he was the man I studied under
the master with all those years ago. He was a good friend, our children
are engaged to be married!" said Soun proudly.
"I thought he only had one son." said Ryo as he raised an eyebrow and
placed a piece on the shogi board.
"Well, yes. It hasn't been decided which of my daughters will marry
him." said Soun cheerfully.
"Well, Akane and Nabiki are about the right age if I remember the boy
right; Kasumi's a little old though." said Ryo looking thoughtful.
"You've met Ranma?" said Soun in surprise.
"Yes, he was pretty young at the time though, the last time I saw the
boy he was about ten." said Ryo as he watched the koi.
A kiyap could be heard from the front yard and Soun turned his head.
"Sounds like the girls are back." said Ryo as he watched the board
intently for the next move.
"That reminds me, they'll be here any time now and I haven't told the
girls yet!" cried Soun as he dashed up the stairs.
Ryo walked out into the yard and turned the corner to see Akane breaking
huge stacks of cement bricks. "Impressive, but what good is it?" asked
the man quietly.
"She says it builds strength." said Torako from her spot on the wall,
she was leaning lazily against the wall and watching her friend work.
"Well, I suppose; bricks don't hit back though." said Ryo as he lifted a
small piece of the stone and crushed it to dust in his palm.
"That's what I said pop." snorted Torako as she shifted uncomfortably.
"Akane, get cleaned up some; but don't take long, your father wants to
talk to you."
Ryo returned to the shogi board to find Soun already sitting there
waiting. "I doubt this will go over well with the youngest, she may need
time to...get used to the idea." said Ryo as he lowered himself.
The three Tendo sisters sat around the table and looked at their father
in shock. "What?!"
"He's the son of a very good friend of mine, they've just returned from
a long voyage of training in China." said Soun happily as he ignored his
three daughters shock.
Ryo smiled at the girls reactions, Torako had remained remarkably silent
and stared at her father in wonder. "You know something."
"Genma returned from a long trip to China? You know he was searching for
Jusenkyo despite my warnings; I wonder if he found it." said Ryo calmly
as he smiled at the unaware group of people.
"Jusenkyo? But if they went there and they tell these people about the
curses..." said Torako quietly.
"Then there will be no need for our hiding our secret in this house any
longer." said Ryo with a sly grin.
Torako glanced at Akane and her sisters; how would they take the news
one of their best friends was a tiger?
"Leggo you old fool!" cried a new voice from the hall.
"Ooh it must be Ranma!" cried Nabiki cheerily.
Ryo simply waited with his daughter at his side while the whole thing
played itself out. Soun passed out and after discovering Ranma was a girl
and Ryo stepped forward.
"Genma my boy, it's been a while." he said cheerfully. Akane and her
sisters glanced up to him from their passed out father.
The panda stepped back in shock at the appearance of his other friend
out of nowhere. "Why look they are the spitting image of each other, they
could be sisters." Ryo looked at Ranma in genuine surprise, he really did
look allot like his daughter. "I warned you about those springs Genma,
but you didn't listen."
The panda made a grumbling noise and glanced from Soun to Ryo in utter
confusion. Ryo held his hand up and smiled. "Tendo here is another old
friend of mine, small world isn't it?"
"Uncle Kagome...why are you talking to that panda like that?" asked
Kasumi. Torako simply rolled her eyes while her father made a complete
fool of himself; she watched Ranma carefully; she might make a good
sparing partner, male or not.
"Now that...is a secret." Ryo waved his finger at the girls and winked.
Torako sat with Akane as they nursed Soun from his 'dizzy spell'; Akane
looked uncomfortably at Ranma and stayed near her friend.
"Sure is Quiet isn't he?" muttered Torako.
Akane glared at her friend for a minute. "She's a girl, quit calling her
that."
"Whatever," muttered the girl in reply, she didn't have the urge to get
into the complicated explanation; they would find out soon enough.
"This is all your fault daddy!" said Nabiki as she grabbed Ranma's chest
and squeezed.
"Please stop that." said the girl timidly.
"Well, I assumed my friend Genma's son was a boy!" cried the poor man as
he lay on the ground. Ryo smiled a little, he had decided to allow Genma
to explain things on his own. His input would only further complicate
things in the end and now was not the time for that.
Akane stood and glared at her sister in shock. "Nabiki! A guest is a
guest!" she turned to Ranma and smiled. "I'm Akane, you want to be
friends?"
Ranma looked up and nodded shyly; Torako could see that he was very
uncomfortable and nervous at the moment, she didn't like it one bit. "He
smells like a boy to me." Akane frowned and turned to face her.
"Be nice to her."
"Him."
Akane whirled around in frustration and grabbed Ranma by the hand,
dragging him into the dojo. "Uhh, actually..." started Ranma timidly as
she gave Torako a confused stare. Akane stopped her as she entered the
training hall and smiled proudly.
"What do you think? Pretty cool huh?"
"Uh, yea." said Ranma shyly.
"I hear you study Kenpo," continued the strange girl oblivious to Ranma.
"A little." muttered the girl shyly.
"Then let's have a little match then!" Akane practically beamed as she
said this causing Torako to snicker slightly. Akane gave her a
disapproving look and turned to face Ranma.
"Ready?" said Akane as she got into her sparing stance, it was obvious
she was going to go easy on Ranma.
"I guess so." replied Ranma as she stood without getting into any sort
of martial arts stance.
Torako was on the alert immediately by this. "Akane, if you go easy on
her you'll lose." she warned.
Akane smiled and let out with a tightly controlled punch to Ranma's
face, the girl stood motionless and did not move to block as it stopped a
millimeter away from her nose. "Your right."
Torako noticed Ranma spread her feet slightly and uncrossed her arms.
"Well, she wasn't ready for that either."
"Fast." thought Ranma as she watched Akane closely, her offense was
really solid; defensively there where allot of flaws in her style. The
other girl didn't seem surprised or impressed either, but she moved
differently than Akane. The fact that they looked so much alike didn't
escape Ranma either, "Who are you?"
Akane launched into the attack again, this time Ranma was forced to
block and was pushed back by the young martial artist. Akane smiled and
pressed harder causing Ranma to jump back and over her head. Akane turned
and performed a spinning side kick at Ranma's side preventing her from
tagging her from behind.
"I was wrong! She's good." thought Ranma as she moved forward to test
the waters slightly. "Maybe this place won't be so bad, especially with
fighters like her to play with."
Akane frowned as a strange grin crossed Ranma's face, it was one she had
seen before; it was the same smile she saw on Torako's face when she knew
a challenge was coming. "Uh-oh."
Ranma blasted forward in an instant, Akane gasped and blocked several
super fast strikes that aimed for her mid section, but she totally missed
the spinning round house kick that connected lightly with her cheek.
Ranma was impossibly fast, Akane gasped as she lowered her fist and
smiled. "Wow, you really are good."
"Uh, thanks..." Ranma seemed to return to the slightly uncomfortable
mode, this time it was less pronounced.
"I'm just glad your not a boy." said Akane cheerfully.
Ranma stared at her for a moment and said nothing.
"That was interesting." noted Torako out loud. "I want to spar some time
Ranma, it would be interesting to see how well I'd do against a faster
opponent."
Ranma turned to face her and looked down at her feet, "Uhh, I guess; but
I don't really like fighting girls."
"Who said I was a girl? You of all people should know better than that."
replied Torako sharply.
Ranma froze and stared at her in disbelief, her mouth fell open in a
strange sort of gawk.
"Silence, they don't know yet." said the girl with a warning tone.
"What are you talking about Torako?" said Akane in confusion.
"Just a shared secret; you'll find out tonight." with that she moved out
of the room with a strange smile on her face.
"What was that about? She's been acting weird all day." Akane turned to
face Ranma and smiled warmly.
Kasumi stepped into the Dojo and bowed politely to the guest. "I'll show
you to where you'll be staying Ranma."
"Uh, thanks I guess." muttered Ranma as she allowed herself to be led
away. "Who the heck is that guy?!" She passed Torako again in the hall
and exchanged glances, it was obvious she was waiting until they could be
alone to talk with him; about what he wasn't sure, "Maybe he's in love
with Akane and doesn't want me in the way?" it was plausible, but he
couldn't be sure just yet. It seemed like she and her father both knew
about Jusenkyo and warned Genma to stay away from it, but he didn't
listen to them. Why hadn't they told the Tendo's about it yet? It was
getting confusing at the moment and he was to tired too think about it.
"This is your room, would you like to take a bath now?" said Kasumi
cheerfully as she handed him a few blankets and towels just inside the
guest room. Over the older girl's shoulder she saw Torako waiting
silently, the bath would be as good a place as any.
"That would be nice, thanks." The girl nodded and walked away.
"What do you want?" asked Ranma as she faced off with her doppelganger
in the furo.
"I want to know what you really are, I've never met anyone who's been to
Jusenkyo besides pop." said the girl with a cheerful smile.
"What I really am?" said Ranma in confusion.
"What kind of animal has instincts that fast? A snake maybe, or a
rabbit? Ooh now I'm getting hungry, but it would be interesting."
Ranma was taken back by the girl now, she seemed rather child like and
innocent at the moment. She pulled at his shirt and started to unbutton
it, "Come on hurry up and get in! I wanna see!"
"You wanna see what?!" said Ranma in a hushed tone as he pulled his
shirt together, "Are you nuts man? I'm a guy!"
"Huh, what kind of animal is that?" asked Torako looking confused.
"What do you mean animal?" asked Ranma as she backed away as it finally
started to sink in.
"Your like me right? You fell into the spring of drowned girl! Show me
what you got come on!" she stripped down and started pulling at Ranma's
clothes again.
Akane walked into the changing room and stopped cold with a look of
anger on her face as she stopped undoing her dogi. "Nabiki, what are you
doing?" she growled.
"Ssshhhh! I had no idea Torako was like that!" whispered the girl as she
lifted her camera up and snapped a few more shots from the crack in the
door. "Go on girl, give it to her."
"Torako's in there?! Nabiki I'll kill you!!" screamed Akane as she
tackled her sister and struggled to take the camera from her.
Ranma was losing the battle for his clothes as the strange Jusenkyo
cursed girl stripped him down. "What do you mean animal? What the hell
are you?"
"Silly boy, I'm a tiger!" Ranma froze and stared at her in shock, a
tiger was one animal he was not going to take a bath with.
Suddenly a scream froze the both of them as Akane burst into the room
and rolled around with Nabiki for a few moments before emerging with the
camera. "Give that back!" cried the Nabiki.
"You wanna spar with me for it?" said Akane coolly.
"You...you," Nabiki fell to her knees and cried. "Your mean!!"
She turned to see a naked Torako sitting at the edge of the tub with a
handsome black haired boy staring at her and her sister from inside the
furo; he was also naked. Akane turned completely red and backed out of
the room, "Uh, I'm sorry, I uh...it was Nabiki with."
"I hope you realized how much you cost me!" screamed Nabiki at her
sister as she was drug out of the bath.
"I wonder what that was about?" said Torako as she looked at Ranma in
confusion, she looked him up and down and frowned. "Human male? Well I
thought you smelled at least a little wild, oh well." she stood and
walked out of the bath picking up her clothes as she went and dressing
gracefully without stopping.
"I...I...I gotta get outa this crazy place." said Ranma as he slumped
down in the tub and soaked for a while.
Akane lay on her bed and stared at the wall, "Torako, I had no idea! Who
was that? It's just so sudden. Maybe that was Ranma, and they are already
in love? She said their parents knew each other." Akane turned the
situation over and over in her mind. "I hope she isn't mad."
Torako slumped down beside her father as he sat with Soun and Genma, the
three men were crying together as they sat in a circle. "So that's it."
said Soun.
Genma nodded and they sat in silence for a moment before the girl spoke
up.
"He's just a stupid boy."
"Pardon?" said Genma in confusion.
"I could have told you Ko-neko, I have known him a while." replied Ryo
calmly. "In fact I recall I did tell you about Ranma."
"You know I never pay attention to you for very long Pop." snorted the
girl.
"Yes, your attention span is your biggest flaw." Ryo crossed his arms
and watched almost painfully as she shifted the topic back again.
"Well, I don't know; it's just a let down. I was hoping for a lizard or
something." said the girl with a small pout.
"Mr. Saotome is a Panda." offered Ryo cheerfully.
"I know what a panda smells like pop, Ranma smelled funny, I guess it's
cause he lives outside." the girl hung off her father and ignored the
confused gazes of the two men.
"Your just thinking with your stomach again Torako, now go play with
Akane." her father turned to face the confused men as she sulked off and
searched for her friend. "I will explain this after we tell the girls,
they deserve to know as well."
"They deserve to know what Kagome?" asked Genma with a deep frown.
"Don't try to pin this on me Saotome, I warned you about those springs,
and the Joketzuko village as well. Don't think my relatives didn't tell
me what happened there after your visit. Your lucky I didn't realize it
was you at the time."
"Relatives?" asked Soun in confusion.
"Tendo, I never told you Talcum was from a remote village in China?" Ryo
looked genuinely surprised.
"I don't think it ever came up," Soun wasn't sure, but she didn't seem
like a Chinese woman, but it was too late now to worry about it, and she
seemed like a traditional Japanese housewife; in the end it didn't
matter.
Akane sat up as Torako sprang into her room, she was being very
kittenish today she noticed. It was unusual but occasionally she would
break from her normal serious demeanor and revert back to her playful
younger days. It never ceased to amaze Akane how much the girl could get
out of a simple moving object or a hanging cord.
"So, how long have you known that boy?" Akane was having a little
trouble and it felt awkward to talk about it.
"You mean Ranma? I've never met him, Pop seems to have though." Torako
bat at the small metal chain on Akane's desk lamp as she sat and rested
her head on her palm.
"What?" asked Akane in shock, she couldn't believe her best friend was
this scandalous.
"Relax Akane, you act like you caught us having sex. I was just seeing
what he really looks like." Her answer confused her friend, but it did
seem to calm her down a bit.
"You shouldn't do that! It's not right, I mean he just let you?" Akane
wasn't sure who to be mad at.
"No, he fought tooth and nail! The big baby, I had to make him. Does he
realize how many boys dream of what I did to him?" Torako sat up and
regained her serious demeanor at once. "Great now I'm mad at him."
Kasumi poked her head into the room, "Our fathers want us both down
stairs girls."
"Why would my pop want me down there?" wondered Torako out loud, "I'm
not the one getting engaged."
The three men sat beside each other across from the girls, Ranma was at
the right side next to Torako and Genma, he seemed very nervous and edged
away from her. Torako had absolutely no interest in the boy any longer.
"I am Genma Saotome and this is my son," said the older man with the
glasses in the dirty white dogi.
"Ranma." finished the boy flatly, he was still trying to put some
distance between himself and the cat girl.
"Then who was that girl we saw earlier?" said Nabiki in confusion.
"Well, I think we should start with this." said Genma as he lifted a
screaming Ranma over his shoulder and threw the boy into the koi pond in
the Tendo back yard.
Ranma came up a girl and snarled at her father, "Wha'd ya do that for?!"
"Ranma's a girl now?" asked Kasumi.
"Told ya." said Torako as she turned her head and stuck out her tongue
at Akane, some how she managed to make it look graceful.
Akane just nodded and stared at the girl as she emerged from the pond
and gave her an apologetic look. Akane wasn't sure what to make of the
mess.
"Allow me Saotome, I do know more about the region than you, and the
legends surrounding Jusenkyo." Ryo frowned deeply and cleared his throat.
"How would you?" asked Genma in confusion.
"Because I once lived in the village of Joketzuko, and I was married to
an Amazon; to be more precise, I was an Amazon a long time ago; still am
in fact. It is a long story and I want all of you to hear it; especially
now that this has come up. It will make my life and the life of my
daughter much easier." Ryo cleared his throat and moved away from the
table; Torako kneeled down beside him and they bowed low to the floor
before the Tendos and the Saotomes.
"Wh-what are you doing?" stammered Soun in shock; Akane watched a
painful gaze from Torako pass as she bowed.
"We must beg for your forgiveness, I have not been honest with your
families for the sake of my daughter's honor and my own; it has not been
easy, but thanks to these unfortunate events I see no reason to place you
in the dark any longer." Ryo sat up and tears filled his eyes.
"What is the meaning of this? What has this got to do with Genma and
Jus..." Soun trailed off as things started to make sense in his mind.
"Jusenkyo, the pools of sorrow, an ancient Chinese Training ground with
over a hundred cursed springs. In each pool a separate curse lies, caused
by the last creature to drown there. The waters have a magical property
and they capture the essence of the poor soul and imprints it upon those
who come in contact with the water. In short, if you fall into one of
these pools you change into the last being to drown there; it is both a
curse and a blessing to me and my daughter, we are both cursed by these
pools." Ryo watched the two families as they stared at them in shock.
"And you didn't tell me about this?!" said Genma in shock.
"I did tell you, but you ignored me Genma." Ryo frowned at the man as he
tried to shift the blame again, unfortunately for him it did not work and
Soun pulled him down to his seat again gently but firmly.
"As I was saying, Tendo, I must apologize to you the most. My
wife...died in China more than fourteen years ago, the woman you know as
Talcum is me. I took her name so that I could put on the appearance of
complete a family for my daughter's sake." Ryo watched the families
carefully, Torako was silent beside him. He wasn't sure what to expect
from them and he hoped for the best.
Soun proved true to his expectations and smiled warmly, "I suspected she
was your sister, you were never together and that always struck me as
strange. I can understand why my old friend, you don't need to apologize
to me."
Akane stood upright and stared at Ryo in complete shock. "Your auntie
Kagome?"
"Yes, I am sorry Akane." said Ryo, the girls were not a factor he had
considered in this.
"But she used to, bake cookies, and take us shopping and, and....I
always wanted to be like her when I grew older, she was so nice to us
and...I." Akane was close to hysterics now she trembled and tears fell
from her face in shock. Ryo turned his head in shame, he had not expected
this from Akane; but it was hardly a surprise.
Torako was the first to speak, "Akane, stop it now! You think he has
changed because he was not a woman? Perhaps you think he didn't enjoy
taking us out that way? I for one am glad he did it!"
Akane looked at Ryo in a confused state of emotion, Kasumi wrapped her
arm around her sister and smiled. "Akane, without auntie Kagome's help I
don't know how I would have gotten through mother's passing. She made all
our lives much easier, and think of what he did for father's sake."
Nabiki was the next to speak and Ryo smiled a little despite himself,
"Akane, she's right."
The trembling girl fell to her knees and looked at Torako's hard and
frightened gaze. Akane stopped cold, she had never seen fear in the
girl's eyes before; she moved away from Kasumi's embrace and latched on
to Torako like a frightened child.
"And what will she think of my secret?" wondered the girl as she watched
Akane rest in her arms.
Ryo cleared his throat and broke the shocked silence, "I must continue,
The curse is fairly simple; contact with cold water will turn us into our
cursed form, hot water will turn us back into our original form."
Akane relaxed visibly, she and Torako had been to the beach and the pool
many times; she wasn't prepared for what Ryo said next.
"What you see before you is my daughter's cursed form. Torako is more
than a name for her, it's what she is." Ryo smiled slightly. "My
daughter's true form is a rather large Bengal tiger."
"You mean Tora-chan isn't human?" asked Nabiki in shock, Akane clutched
her friend tighter and was afraid to look up at her, she had just
realized that the girl had never taken a bath with her or her sisters
when staying over with them.
The girl glared at her accuser, "I am human!"
"She has been human since she was an infant Nabiki, she has never lived
as a tiger; The day she was born I took her to Jusenkyo springs so she
might survive. The tiger who had given birth to her was an old friend of
mine and died in childbirth, she was the only surviving cub and I took
her to Jusenkyo and raised her as my own daughter. In order to feed and
support her, I dove into the spring of drowned mother; that is how the
auntie Talcum you know was born." Ryo watched the room cautiously and
smiled a little more. "I would not change that moment for anything in
this world."
Kasumi smiled and tears streamed down her face. "That is so beautiful!"
"You have all been such good friends to us, I felt that I had to tell
you since you all know of the springs now. Before it was just too risky;
again I must apologize." Ryo and Torako bowed again.
Akane looked at them in a sort of daze, "Tora-chan, why are you
apologizing?" she said suddenly.
"I stand by my father to the end Akane, he did not have to do what he
did for me." said the girl simply; Akane simply nodded and sat calmly for
the moment
"To put it simply Tendo, there is no reason this curse will prevent a
normal life for Ranma or his father. It all depends on them, I see no
reason that this engagement cannot be honored."
"Huh, oh that. I had almost forgotten!" Soun moved over to Ranma and
grabbed him by the shoulder. "Kasumi, she's nineteen, Nabiki, she's
seventeen, and Akane, sixteen. Choose any one you want and she'll be your
new fianc�e."
"Huh?" said Ranma, he had hoped the distraction of Mr. Kagome would be
enough to make them forget.
Moving quickly Nabiki and Kasumi grabbed Akane and shoved her forward.
"Oh, he want's Akane!" said Nabiki.
"Most definitely." agreed Kasumi.
"Why would...?" said Akane defensively.
"Because you hate boys, well your in luck he's half girl." said Nabiki
flatly.
"Strong, fast, and agile. I think he's kind of cute in a roughish sort
of way, a little polish and he'd make an excellent mate Akane; even if he
is male." Torako walked around Ranma and gave him an appraising look.
"What am I a car? I'm out of here!" said Ranma as he stormed off towards
the door. "I don't need a fianc�e! I need a cure! I'm going back to
China!"
[[Do you even speak Chinese?]] asked Torako flatly in Cantonese.
"What?" asked Ranma as he turned around, Torako laid him out flat with a
single punch.
"I thought as much, not even a single dialect I bet, how do you expect
to reach Jusenkyo without speaking any Chinese?" said the girl with an
evil smile.
"I did it before." answered Ranma simply.
"While traveling alone? Someone as young as you, especially someone
pretty and female every time it rains; you won't make it. I'm sure you
know China is dangerous, especially to people who don't speak the
language, but what your planing is suicide even for someone as good at
martial arts as you are. With the old man you have allot more security
around you, but alone your a target for every half wit bandit and two bit
street punk in China." Torako gave Ranma a sharp grin and helped him back
to his feet.
"I'll make it, I don't care what it takes." said Ranma as he wiped his
chin and gave her a sour look.
Torako looked him dead in the eyes and slapped a long knife in his
hands. "When you can kill me with that knife without a second thought,
I'll let you go to China alone."
Ranma looked in his hand at the blade and threw it into the floor, "You
can't stop me."
"No but I can, and so can your father." said Ryo as the two men stood
behind him coolly. "She's right Ranma, even for a martial artist like
you, a trip like that is stupid."
"I ain't marrying nobody." said Ranma angrily.
"I don't care." said the girl as she stared him down coolly; Ranma
wouldn't say it but her gaze was making him nervous. She was watching him
like one of those little demons, those hated things of claws and teeth.
He backed away from her hungry gaze and stood firmly, "I ain't scared o'
no girls." he muttered softly.
"Why are you running from Akane then?" said Torako smoothly.
"Hey! Who's side are you on! I'm not engaged to him!" cried Akane
angrily.
"Give it up, it's far to late to argue about it now." said Nabiki as she
drank a soda and watched the whole thing play out with Kasumi and her
father.
"My sister, engaged! It's so wonderful." said Kasumi with a sigh.
"Oh, they grow up so fast!" sobbed Soun.
"Daaaaddd!" growled Akane as she finally gave up the conversation for
the moment.
"I ain't running from nobody!" retorted Ranma.
"It's a challenge then, we'll see who can get married first." said
Torako with a strange smile. "Me, or you?"
"Wait a minute." said Ryo as he charged between them.
"What?" said Ranma in shock.
"I can get married long before an indecisive jerk like you."
"A frigid girl like you? No way! I can get any girl I want too!"
screamed Ranma in reply.
"Then it's a bet then?" said the tiger girl as she extended her hand.
Ranma looked at Akane and turned back towards his opponent. "You got
it!"
Akane screamed at the both of them, "I don't believe you two! I am not a
bet!"
"Who said anything about you Akane? He only has to get married, who,
how, and when are his own problem." said the cat girl with a patient
smile. "This bet could last for years, there's no rush."
Ranma wasn't paying attention and burned with the fires of youth. "I'll
show her!" he shouted up to the sky in the moonlight over the koi.
"Ranma my boy, your an idiot." said Genma beside him.
"Well done Kagome, now Ranma will have no choice but to marry Akane to
win this bet of yours." said Tendo as he took Ryo over to the side of the
room. "Why with such a pretty daughter I'm sure we can find a suitable
fianc�e in no time to hurry things along."
"I don't know if I like this Tendo, I mean my little girl..." replied
Ryo as he tried to glance over at his daughter. She was sitting with a
satisfied smile next to Akane; the two of them were watching the
television and ignoring Ranma and his father in the yard.
Genma ran over and hugged Ryo roughly, luckily Ryo was larger and it
didn't effect him much. "Brilliant plan! My idiot son will be love sick
with Akane in no time!"
"Look, I'm not taking credit for this! I don't even like it," insisted
Ryo.
"We'll have to plan this carefully." whispered Soun.
Ryo smiled when he realized what was going on, Torako must have somebody
in mind already, she was careful and didn't like to lose; If she made
such a bet she was already sure she would win it. Unless of course she
was doing it for Akane's benefit, but even then she would try to win; she
had to have at least somebody in the back of her mind worked out to make
such a proclamation. It worked out to Ranma rationalization perfectly, he
just had to figure out who it was, and he had an idea of who it might be.
"This could be fun," he thought as he joined the two men with their heads
together. A strange thought formed in his mind, "I never thought I'd be
on this side of the story, ah well, it'll be fun anyway."
TBC.....
Next time: Ranma's first day of school! How will he deal with Dean Ryo
Kagome's iron fist? What else you ask? More on Ranma's strange new
rivalry with Torako, Akane and her sisters react to the new found
knowledge about their friend, Ranma -tries- to be a fianc�e, and Kuno
meets Ranma for the first time!
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