MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!
PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:
Howard Melton,
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 fanfict 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...
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.
"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...
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