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"I'm just holding back so I don't hurt ya!" Kasumi looked up from the breakfast she was preparing. "Oh my my... they're at it again." She prudently set a kettle of water on the stove. It was morning. Long shadows stretched across the ground and a thin fog filled the air. Birds chirped merrily at the rising sun. The uncaring dew settled silently on the shoulders of Ranma Saotome who stood facing his father in a ready position. "Come on Pop, I haven't got all day." said Ranma. Genma Saotome stood several yards away, grimly gazing upon his son and heir. "That's your problem boy, lack of patience! All things come to those who wait." , he said prophetically. "Well I'm done waiting!" Ranma sprang at his father and launched a kick at him. Genma smiled and deftly rolled back, letting Ranma sail over his head and right into the pond. Up emerged a dripping and disgruntled female Ranma. "Breakfast is ready!" Kasumi said from the porch. "Coming!" Genma replied with a smile. Kasumi turned in to finish setting the table and spoke over her shoulder, "Oh I have some water for you Ranma. But dry yourself off this time before coming into the house please." "Okay Kasumi," Ranma replied, pulling herself out of the pond. She shot a dirty glance at her Dad. "Looks like you actually survived morning training without turning into a panda!" Genma was already in the house drooling in anticipation of another of Kasumi's feasts. He looked back at his soaking.... daughter. "Son, you're getting soft. I think it's time you went on a training trip across Japan. It's for your own good." Ranma used the water Kasumi had left for her and changed into a guy again. "What, just me? What about you Pop?" "I'm not the one who's getting soft, boy!" Kasumi put a large pot of miso soup in front of him. "Besides, I'm not leaving Kasumi's cooking!" He hungrily spooned out a bowl of soup and started eating ungracefully. Ranma rubbed himself down with a towel, grumbling under his breath as the rest of the Tendo family entered, drawn by the aroma of Kasumi's incredible cooking. Ranma joined them all once he was suitably dry. Soun took a bowl offered by his oldest daughter and looked across the table to his old friend. "You know, you could have waited until the rest of us got down here." Genma, on his fifth bowl of soup looked up at him. "Well Tendo, you know training does pique one's appetite! Can I have some more Kasumi?" Kasumi looked concerned. "But Ranma hasn't even had any yet, Mr. Saotome." "Yeah Pop!" Ranma interrupted. "Besides, you're going to get fat at this rate!" Ranma deftly snatched up his fathers bowl and gulped it down. Genma stood up enraged. "That was my soup Ranma!" Ranma looked up at him. "What you want it back now?" Akane shook her head. "Every day... you think those two would grow up!" There was a knock at the door. Kasumi looked up from her soup. "Oh my, I wonder who it could be this early in the morning?" Nabiki stood up. "I'll get it Kasumi." She walked towards the front hall. Akane's face reddened in anger at Ranma and Genma who were currently trying to strangle each other over a bun. "I wish they'd just disappear." She muttered. Nabiki reached the front door and opened it. "Hello, how may I help you?" On the front porch stood a girl, looking more than a little dirty. She wore a simple martial arts gi, unadorned except by several cuts and tears as well as numerous smears of mud. Her face was more than a little dirty and her dark hair stood up in strange places, seemingly defying gravity. Yet under the mud and dirt there was visible an incredible beauty, a perfectness rarely found. She looked wearily up at Nabiki who was quite shocked at her appearance. "Is this... where... Ranma Saotome stays?" She asked. Nabiki nodded. "Yes it is. Come in!" The girl simply smiled, her face seeming to lighten with that simple action. "Finally..." She said and collapsed. "So who is she?" Akane asked. Everyone in the household was gathered in the guest room over the comatose body of that mysterious girl. Kasumi ran a wet cloth over her forehead. "Well?" Akane asked, irritated at Ranma. "How should I know?" replied Ranma defensively. Nabiki looked up at him. "She did ask for you and seemed quite glad when she knew you were here you know." Ranma shook his head. "I've never seen her before. Do you know who she is Pop?" He looked up only to find that his Father had disappeared. "Pop?" Genma quickly packed up all his belongings in a sack and started for the door, when an angry Ranma, Soun and Akane burst in. "Where ya off to Pop?" Ranma asked his father who was inexplicably a panda now. The panda held up a sign that read, "I've never seen her before!.... honest!" Akane picked up the sack that the panda dropped. "And what is this for then?" Soun looked seriously at his friend. "I think you have some explaining to do." "Where am I?" The girl spoke wearily at Kasumi. "Try not to strain yourself, please." Kasumi warned as the girl tried to sit up. "Here." Nabiki offered a cup of tea. "This will help you feel better." "Thank you." she said gratefully and took a sip of the tea. Then she looked seriously at Nabiki, all traces of her weariness gone. "You did say that Ranma Saotome lives here, right?" "Yes." She closed her eyes, the smile once more dancing on her lips and it seemed like her face was glowing. "Oh I have searched so long to find him... I can hardly believe that my search is over. Please! Please take me to him now!" She tried to stand up but felt dizzy and sank back onto the bed again. Kasumi looked worried. "There will be time enough for that later! But sleep and then well get you cleaned up. Nabiki, go remind Ranma and Akane that it's time to head to school." Nabiki looked at her watch. "That's right. Okay Kasumi, you'll be alright here?" Kasumi smiled and nodded. Nabiki rushed out the door. Akane and Ranma ran towards school. Akane looked up at Ranma who ran on the fence beside the road. "Thanks to you we're going to be late again." "What did I do?" "You heard Nabiki! That girl was looking for you!" "So? It's not my fault she showed up just then and it's certainly not my fault that my Pop turned into a panda and chewed on a tire instead of telling us who she was!" "Hmph," Akane grunted, already convinced in her mind that it was all Ranma's fault. Soun and Genma locked eyes over the dining room table. Genma in human form looked grim and Soun, no less grim looked back at him. "So that's how it is..." "That's how it is..." "We're home!" Akane yelled from the front door as she and Ranma returned from school. "You still acted like a tomboy you know." Ranma said, obviously continuing some ongoing argument. "Oh give it a rest Ranma!" Akane replied angrily. The two of them walked into the dining room where Soun and Genma still sat, looking rather hopeless and forlorn. Kasumi entered from the kitchen. Ranma pointed. "What's up with them?" He asked Kasumi. "They've been like that since morning." Kasumi replied. "Could you run and get me some soy sauce from the market, Ranma? I just ran out." "Sure thing Kasumi!" He said and ran off. "Oh and please hurry!" Kasumi yelled after him. Akane walked upstairs to have a bath before dinner. She gathered her bathing things and walked to the bathroom. She opened the door and walked in and inside there was the strange girl, now bathed and dressed in a robe brushing her hair in the mirror. Her hair was long and luxurious, raven black and it seemed to shimmer as she brushed it. Her face was no longer smudged in dirt and its unflawed beauty was now all too plainly evident. Akane felt ugly just looking at her. Akane recovered from her shock at seeing their new guest and shook off any feelings of jealousy she just had. "Oh, hi!" She said. "Feeling better?" The girl stopped brushing and turned silently to face her. Her icy stare in no way concealed what she thought of Akane. She turned and stomped out of the room, closing the door behind her with a slam. Puzzled, Akane stared after her, but then shrugged her shoulders and walked towards the bath. Ranma returned to the sound of yelling. He flipped off his shoes and quietly tip toed towards the sound. When he entered the dining room again he saw Kasumi with her hands on her face mouthing "Oh my my" soundlessly. Soun was on the porch staring out with obviously unseeing eyes and Genma sat unblinking before a tirade of words that were screamed forth from that mysterious girl who, now clean and dressed in a new kimono, stood above him. Ranma was shocked, not at Genma's silence, or even the seemingly complete lack of propriety, but at the incredible beauty of the girl. Even flushed and yelling, she overwhelmed even Ranma's mind for a moment and he thought that he must be dreaming. No one in reality could be that beautiful. The girl looked up and saw Ranma standing there. Her tirade faltered and died in mid sentence and she suddenly blushed bright red and stood to face him. She tried to say something but could not, words failing her. Ranma no less shocked stood as if nailed to the floor. Kasumi looked at the two, then remembering that her stir fry was still on the stove, she turned back into the kitchen. Ranma was frozen and the girl was blushing, embarrassed. Finally when she realized that no words would come to her mind and it was painfully obvious that Ranma was not going to break the tension, she simply ran towards him, wrapped her arms around him and a huge hug and sighed "Ranma, my love." Akane walked around the corner, bathed and refreshed, just as she said those words were spoken and stood in mute shock. Ukyou, delivering a cup of soy sauce that Kasumi asked for also entered through another door and dropped the cup on Soun who now covered in the dark liquid didn't even seem to notice. Shampoo who was in the neighborhood also walked in at that time. A passing butterfly landed on the porch and surveyed the scene with apparent disinterest. A fish jumped from the pond, seemed to hang motionless in the air and then fell into the water, throwing up a splash of tiny drops that sparkled in the sunlight, coloring the air with rainbow hues before falling to the ground. Akane was the first to recover. She swung a mallet in a wide arc over her head and crashed it down on Ranma with a cry of "Ranma, you jerk!!!" Then she ran away sobbing. The girl opened her eyes and frowned wondering how her love suddenly disappeared from her arms only to find him unconscious on the floor. The butterfly, disturbed by the sudden action fluttered out into the failing light of evening in search of quieter places. The atmosphere at dinner was strained. Akane was red with anger as she chewed viciously at her food. Ranma ate looking pained with a large bump on his head. The girl sat with her arm around Ranma's and she ate with the other arm. Ukyou sat opposite Ranma and looked almost as angry as Akane and Shampoo mirrored that look. Soun and Genma still sat in shock, tears streaming down their faces. Kasumi looked uncomfortable at the obvious tension in the air. Only Nabiki was unperturbed by the events. It was she that broke the silence. "Well, now that we're all here," she addressed the girl, "Perhaps you can tell us your story." The girl sat upright and unwrapped her arm from Ranma's. "Alright, I think that's a good idea. My name is Mika. And I'm Ranma's fiancee!" Ukyou and Shampoo looked up in alarm and Akane's face turned a deeper shade of anger. "Please let me explain. Kasumi has been good enough to fill me in on the situation here. I'm sure you all have some interest in my Ranma. But hear me out! You Akane and you Ukyou," she pointed to them "are also Ranma's fiancees but it was not decided by you or by Ranma, but rather by your parents. And you Shampoo. You are also Ranma's fiancee but by your tribal law. But I am the only one who is Ranma's fiancee by our own choice!" She appeared a little triumphant at that. Genma broke down and cried. "Oh boy you break your father's heart!" Soun wept as well. "What will become of us?" Ranma was too shocked to say anything. Ukyou looked angrily at Mika. "Perhaps you would like to explain a bit further?" Mika smiled and continued. "I was living with my great grandma a while back when I met Ranma. Ranma I knew was going through some terribly harsh training. I believe it was called Cat-fu." Ranma twitched a bit and Mika continued. "It was my great grandma who brought Ranma from the edge when the Cat Fist Fury possessed him. And after Ranma became normal, he and I always played together, we became good friends. His father was often out, training or getting food for them so Ranma was left with us. Those were happy times." Genma suddenly interrupted, continuing the story. "I was gone on the last day of our training in that town, gathering up some supplies for our journey. I left Ranma with Mika, thinking what harm could there be in that. Mika picked up her story again. "And that day we pledged that through everything we would stick together and that one day..." Ranma eyed his food shamefully, mutely. He remembered that day. Mika continued, "We would be married." Ukyou gasped and Shampoo fainted. Akane's anger suddenly turned around and large tears appeared in her eyes. Mika then picked up again after the room had settled a bit. "I was going to leave with Ranma and Genma and join them on their training journey and then some day I was going to marry him. I loved him. I ...love him." Ranma spoke up again. "But when I told Pop that I wanted to marry Mika, he picked me up and ran away, leaving her behind." Genma addressed Ranma. "I had another wife in mind for you, I didn't want you to ruin everything!" he started crying again. "And now.... now look at this!" Mika looked angrily at Genma. "Yes you left me behind... you had your own plan, never cared what Ranma or I thought! So I followed you. I followed you for ten years and now I finally found you. I only want what I wanted then...what we wanted then. I'm going to marry Ranma!" Akane looked up at Ranma. "Say something dummy!" she sniffed. "Don't... don't just sit there!" Ukyou stood up and slammed her fists on the table. " I can't accept this! I won't accept it!" Shampoo revived and quickly joined Ukyou. "That right! We fight you for him!" she yelled at Mika. A tiny glimmer of hope sparked in Soun's eye and he rose. "Yes and Akane too must fight for the honor of the School of Anything Goes Martial Arts!" Mika rose as well. "Very well. Since you have so much staked in Ranma I will give you the chance to keep him. Tomorrow at dawn here at the Tendo dojo, I will fight all three of you for the hand of Ranma!" Ukyou and Shampoo spoke in unison. "Right!" and they stormed out of the room. Akane simply turned her back and walked away. Soun and Genma with hope in their eyes walked away too. Kasumi cleared the table and Nabiki left to take a bath, a little disappointed that she couldn't figure out a way to make money off of the situation. Ranma, left alone at the table sat in bitter misery. "Don't I have a say in this?" He asked the uncaring butterfly who simply turned and flew away. The next morning came all too soon. Mika stretched in the dojo. She wore the simple torn, but cleaned gi that she appeared on the steps of the dojo in. On the opposite side of the room was Shampoo and Ukyou, Shampoo with her clubs and Ukyou with her giant battle spatula. Nabiki, the designated referee sat on one side with Soun and Genma behind her. Kasumi stood in the doorway and watched. Upstairs, Akane was dressed in her gi and was stretching on her own. There was a knock on the door. "Who is it?" "It's Ranma." Akane paused for a second. "Come in." She said. Ranma opened the door to her room and walked in. "Hi Akane." She silently continued to stretch. "Um...I really didn't mean for this to happen. You know, Mika showing up and all." Akane grunted. "And... um... I just wanted to say... I'm.... sorry. I'm sorry for dragging you into this. This isn't your problem." Akane stood up and stared him in the eye, her own eyes flashing a little dangerously. "This isn't my problem huh?" She stormed past Ranma who looked a little bewildered. Ranma chased after her. "Akane, wait." Akane turned, tears streaming down her face. "Do you love her?" "What?" Ranma said, stopping dead in his tracks. "Do you love Mika?" She repeated. "I.... uh.... I ..." Ranma stammered. Akane shook her head and ran down the stairs. When Akane appeared in the dojo, she had a look of sheer determination on her face. Her eyes burned with a passion, a passion to win. Even Ukyou and Shampoo were taken back by her appearance and moved out of the way as she walked over to them. Akane turned and faced Mika who stood doing some final stretches. "Lets get this over with." Nabiki stood up. "Alright, the rules are simple. This is a three on one battle over the hand of Ranma. The win is decided by knock out or surrender of one side! Are you ready?" Mika nodded and stood ready. Ukyou and Shampoo nodded and Akane stood there, not flinching a muscle,giving Mika a look that could make a stone shiver in fear. Continue reading, on to the fight! |