The Teacher
Part 14
To be, or not to be...
Ryo sat across from Makoto with a shocked expression on her face as she
poured tea for the two of them. "Are you sure?" she asked yet again.
"Yes," said the girl growing red again in embarrassment.
Ryo sat demurely across from her and sighed. "Well, what are we going to
do?"
Makoto started to sniffle slightly and Ryo took her into her arms
gently. "I don't know what to do! My mother will disown me, my family...I
won't even be able to hold a steady job!" she pushed her head into the
woman's chest sobbing pathetically and Ryo smiled down at her.
"I don't know what to say Makoto, we'll just have to work it out," she
pat her gently on the head and sighed yet again.
"You'll help me pay for the operation?" asked the woman with a small
glimmer of hope in her eyes.
Ryo's eyes narrowed suddenly and she composed her anger quickly, her
speech quickly moved into a feminine formal tone. "You will never speak
of that again, If this is my child it is a potential Amazon warrior. If I
have to tie you up and drag you to China myself you are going to carry
it."
"Amazon?" said the girl in confusion.
"We will speak of it later, after all we have a wedding to plan now
don't we?" Ryo's face turned into a gentle smile again as she helped the
girl sit up straight.
"What?" gasped the girl in shock; she had truly expected him to turn her
away in shame, or perhaps offer to pay for the abortion at best. This was
a complete revelation to her. "But..."
Ryo smiled warmly. "You expected me to try and shirk my responsibility?
I am an Amazon woman, a father, and a respected administrator. You
haven't known me that long, but I think we can work this out. Tell me how
far along are you?"
Makoto blinked as a slow realization came onto her face. "Two weeks, the
doctor said if I hadn't come in for the check up I might not have found
out for a month or two."
"We'll plan the wedding soon," she stroked the woman's hair as she
visibly calmed suddenly. "That way you won't be showing yet," she thought
to herself. In all practicality it shouldn't have mattered that much, but
her almost forgotten Christian up bringing still lingered slightly.
"Are you sure? I mean we only just met and..." Makoto trailed off
suddenly and fear took hold of her throat as she realized what the woman
was offering her.
"You would rather raise the child alone? Or perhaps have it aborted? I
cannot allow either situation no matter what your decision. Male of
Female the child will have my blood in it, that means it is an Amazon
child and will be raised as one," the woman sipped her tea quietly as she
awaited Makoto's decision.
Makoto looked confused and hung her head. "He's asking me to marry him?"
"You don't have to decide right now dear, take your time and think it
through," offered Ryo calmly.
"Yes," said Makoto suddenly in a quiet voice. Tears fell down her face
and Ryo stood up again stepping back in shock.
"You don't have too...Uh, I mean I'm not trying to make you..." she
started to speak until the girl looked up at her. She was smiling at him,
droplets of water still clung to her glasses from the rain outside and
Ryo frowned as he realized she was still soaking wet. "Here let me get
you some dry clothes!" said the woman in an almost motherly tone. Makoto
ignored her and jumped into her arms kissing her forcibly as stopping
occasionally to let out a muffled sob. Ryo noted casually that the flower
vase that had been sitting on the table flew across the room as Makoto
raised her leg and knocked over the table.
"Oh, you're a woman right now..." she said suddenly as she backed away
with a large blush on her face.
"Come on, I have some clothes you can wear," said Ryo with a small
laugh. She had experimented with her female body while married to Talcum;
it was not exactly a new experience for her.
Makoto looked surprised as Ryo opened one of the two closets in her room
revealing a rack of feminine clothing in her room. "These are yours?"
"I am an Amazon warrior of Joketsuko, I am proud of my womanhood,"
replied the woman with a shrug.
Makoto looked at her and frowned slightly, and then simply shrugged her
shoulders as she lifted an old looking informal Kimono off of the rack.
"With a body like that I guess I would too."
"It's not like that..." said the woman with an embarrassed blush.
Ranma sighed as she lay across the roof of the Tendo home, she was
soaking wet and the rain was still falling gently. Akane peeked out the
window and frowned at her. "Come inside or you'll catch cold!" Ranma
turned her head and frowned, she had gotten caught in the rain while
walking home and decided she needed time to think to herself.
The pigtailed girl rolled over lazily and jumped to her feet, a familiar
shadow moved quietly away from her corner of the roof and dashed into the
bushes below silently. Ranma snorted distastefully and sighed. "She's
still following me."
Torako appeared beside Akane and smiled at them, "She'll stop once she
gets her letter."
"I wish it would come, this is getting on my nerves," snapped Ranma as
Akane handed her a towel as she sulked by on her way to the furro.
"Be careful what you wish for Saotome," said the tiger girl with a feral
shine to her eyes.
Shampoo dashed through the shadows and decided to return home, Ranma was
obviously not going anywhere any time soon. She was wet as well, but
didn't mind that much. Quickly she jumped over the wall and moved into
the street. "Maybe it came today?" she said to herself with a faint
glimmer of hope. She wanted to go home, the sooner this bloody business
was over the better. She was fairly certain of the verdict that would
come, Ranma was female when she defeated her, and the fact that her male
persona obviously was already engaged to an outsider female helped that
as well. Surely the order to dispose of him would come soon. It would be
extra nice to give such a nasty blow to the ugly bowl cut girl of her
past.
Akane sighed heavily as Torako changed the channel every time a man
appeared on the screen. The girl finally stopped on a swimsuit
competition and relaxed, she stayed for a moment until a panel of male
judges appeared on screen and quickly shifted the channel again.
"Tora-chan, stop that!" Akane grabbed the small remote away from her
friend and pulled it into her chest protectively. "Honestly! You can't
spend the rest of your life avoiding men!"
"Says who?" snapped the girl as she sulked back into the corner on her
hands and knees like a large cat, her head was turned away from Akane and
staring into the wall.
"What about Ryoga? You're going to marry him right?" Akane leaned
forward and stared her friend in the eyes forcibly turning her head
towards her.
"Yea, so?" said the girl bitterly obviously avoiding the subject.
"If you marry him you're going too..." said Akane with a blush appearing
on her face.
"Fat chance, Ryoga's not like that!" said the girl defensively as she
backed further into her corner.
"Tora-chan," Akane got a hurt look in her eyes as she stepped back from
her. "You don't really think that's true do you?"
"No, but I don't have to deal with it right now," snapped the girl
angrily.
"I don't understand what the big deal is with you, it's supposed to
be...enjoyable," it was all she could come up with.
"Then how come I don't see you and Ranma having loads of fun, you're as
scared of that thing as I am," snapped the girl giving her friend a
condescending look.
"It's not that I'm...well I am scared of that a little. We just aren't
ready for that yet. Besides who says I'm going to marry him anyway?" said
Akane looking even more embarrassed than she already was.
"The best excuse is still an excuse Akane; You and I both know how you
feel," said the girl curtly as she stood up and walked away with her head
held high.
Akane lifted the remote control up and turned off the television without
looking up from the ground. "H-how do I feel?" she asked herself. Ranma
emerged from the bath and she turned and stared at him for a long moment.
He stopped in front of his door and looked at her as she watched him.
"What did I do now?" he wondered uncomfortably as he walked into his
room and closed the door behind himself.
Ryo lay sprawled out on his couch with a dazed look on his face, the
scope of what he had just done had hit him. Makoto had walked out of his
home a few moments ago and he returned himself to his male form before
sitting where he was and staring at the wall blankly.
"I can't believe I just proposed to her, I'm not even sure if it's
mine." He frowned at his words slightly as his memory played back to the
approximate date she had given him. If it was true it was almost
assuredly his. "One time and I'm stuck for life."
His hand went to his forehead almost out of habit and he stretched out
again placing his arms along the back of the couch. "My last marriage
wasn't exactly normal either," he smiled slightly at a few memories of
old times. "I think this will work out in the end."
A small knock came at the door and he sighed slightly standing up to
answer it with a mostly casual air. The man standing outside smiled and
handed him a card, he was a mail carrier and Ryo signed for the telegram
with a smirk on his face. "It seems Shampoo's letter has arrived."
He flipped it over in his hand and frowned suddenly, it was a short
message typed out on a thin yellow slip of paper.
"Kagome, Bringing Mousse from China. Cologne," the man fell back on to
the couch and sighed.
"Well, the perfect end to the perfect day," he tossed the ball across
the room. The Amazon elder would most likely arrive tomorrow morning. No
doubt to contest his claims, he had it covered though. There was nothing
she could do to stop him, but he was certain it would end in a contest
now. Cologne's pride would be riding on it, and she so hated to lose.
Luckily he had an ally as well. He hadn't seen the old bat in a while,
but was fairly certain she would follow her rival into Japan if it
concerned himself and Torako, and it did. Cologne would cause problems,
but this was not an unexpected event.
"But why bring Mousse along?" he asked himself trying to think with the
Amazon educated portion of his brain. "Of course, if Shampoo comes back
married...even if the mission fails she'll save face by saying that they
fell in love and it couldn't be avoided." He smiled at this small
revelation and then snickered to himself. Shampoo would be pretty angry
at the old woman for bringing him along, she never took his affections
well, even when they were little.
He stood up and heard the phone ring, lazily he walked over to the
phone. "Hello? What?!" he screamed into the receiver. "What time? I'm
expecting some important guest tomorrow night...Oh, that will be fine
then." He hung up the phone with a sick look on his face and grew pale.
"Great just what I need."
Idly he tucked a copy of conversational Mandarin under his arm and walked
into the kitchen to grab an aspirin, before heading over to the Tendo
Dojo.
Makoto sat staring at her belly silently in her worn out easy chair in
the center of the small run down apartment she owned. She rubbed it
gently and sighed to herself. "You'll have a family, a real family..."
The idea was not unpleasant to her, but she wished she had more time to
plan and get to know him. She jerked in surprise and fell over knocking
the chair and a table over as her telephone rang jerking her from her
thoughts. She lifted the receiver to her ear and spoke numbly.
"Makoto honey! I finally got a hold of you!" said the woman cheerfully.
It was the voice her mother used when she wanted something from her.
"Listen, I've got this guy I've been wanting to introduce you too. He's
really nice and has a great job..." the woman sniffed slightly, like she
always did when she was about to lie. "He's from out of town and here on
business, I'd appreciate it if you'd show him around town a little, just
for tonight." Makoto could see her mother nodding to herself as she said
this, the smile that had been growing on her lips widened unbelievably as
the older woman finished her proposal.
"I don't think my fianc�e would like that mom," she said casually. She
looked down at her finger at the small ring he had given her; it had
belonged to his late wife. The stone was quite large, apparently the
woman owned a lot of jewelry.
The girl heard a small crash on the other side of the phone line and
realized that her mother had dropped the phone. She snickered to herself
and waited patiently for her mother's shock to wear off.
"Who is he!?" shouted an excited voice suddenly. Makoto jerked, had she
not been lying on the ground still she would have fallen again.
"His name is Ryo Kagome," answered the girl with an excited giggle.
"What does he do?" the woman had calmed down considerably as the
conversation became business like suddenly.
"He's the dean at Furinkan High School," said her daughter lazily as she
played with the phone chord.
"Dean? A government employee? Income!" said her mother excitedly.
"Yes, mother," Makoto was becoming annoyed by her train of thought.
"Well, he's a school dean...isn't he a little old?" a trace of worry
entered the older woman's voice.
"He's thirty-two mother," said the girl with anger clearly entering her
voice.
"That's not too bad, now what else can you tell me? Oh, never mind, I'm
coming there tomorrow, you can introduce us!"
"Is daddy coming?" asked the girl with a little hope in her voice.
"I suppose I could bring him," sighed the woman wearily. "God knows he
doesn't work around here."
"All right mother, I'll see you tomorrow then," she hung up the phone
and frowned slightly. "I'd better call him and warn him."
TBC...
Boy this guy is going through some tough times...Oh, well it's more fun
for me that way.
Next time: Cologne's arrival, and Mousse. What sort of trouble will the
pair bring with them for Ranma, and what will they tell Shampoo? Kill or
Marry? Also, Ryo meets the in-laws.