Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Final Straws ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Kasumi is tired of being alone. How much is too much for her to take?

AU elements inside.

A question for any that read to the end of the chapter.

Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Drama | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 08.14.2005 | Pages: 15 | Words: 11.3K | Visits: 3.3K | Status: Completed

Final Straws

By Lord Raa

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Disclaim-me-do: Pay no attention to the naked man behind the keyboard.

Please note that this story may contain scenes of a highly contrived and sexual nature. That means that it's not for the kiddies. It may also contain a few AU elements.

Continue at your own discretion.

Still here? Well in that case, I can assume that you want to read a (slightly) dirty story.

Oh, before I forget, this is set when Ranma was/is engaged to Nabiki.

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Kasumi Tendo was bored. Not the sort of bored that children get when they can't watch TV or go out and play, but the sort of ennui that people get when they realise that they're living in a rut.

Normally this feeling tends to set in with middle age, but Kasumi Tendo was a mere nineteen years old.

She looked at the rest of her family over the tea set she'd brought in after their evening meal. Akane was still angry about the way Ranma and her sister, Nabiki, had seemingly ganged up on her earlier and the way her manipulative sister was flaunting her new toy - Ranma.

Ranma was trying not to look too embarrassed by Nabiki's overt affection.

The fathers were looking on in approval.

Kasumi sighed and then excused herself. When her father asked if she was feeling ill, she replied, “I'm all right, I'm just feeling a bit tired tonight.”

“Oh, ok,” Soun replied, his concern subsiding.

Nabiki thought that she knew Kasumi better than anyone. She decided to stop teasing Ranma and left to follow her sister.

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Upstairs, Kasumi sat on her bed before falling backwards. The air that came out of her lungs sounded like a depressed sigh.

A knock on the door caught her attention. “Yes?”

Nabiki opened the door. “Are you ok, sis?”

Kasumi nodded, hoping that her sister would leave her alone.

Nabiki would have left it at that, but something bothered her about the whole situation. “You can tell me, Nee-chan.”

“I'm tired.”

“Tired?” Nabiki asked, moving in to the room proper and closing the door behind her. “There's more to it than you just feeling sleepy, Kasumi.”

“I'm tired of being lonely,” Kasumi replied, though her sister could hear the fatigue in her voice. “Why isn't there anyone for me?”

“You mean that you want someone to go on a date with you?” Nabiki asked, feeling a little guilty that her sister had put her life on hold for the family.

“Yes,” Kasumi sighed. It had been a few weeks since Doctor Tofu had vanished off the face of the Earth.

Nabiki, now sitting, hugged her sister. “I'll look into setting one up for you.”

This had the intended effect of cheering up Kasumi. “Thanks, Nabiki.”

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Nabiki sat down on her chair to start thinking about solving Kasumi's problem.

“Damn Tofu for disappearing,” she cursed. “Not that he could control himself when he was around Kasumi.”

She thought about the other men in the neighbourhood, but while there were those that would jump at the chance to date her attractive older sister, she didn't think that any of them would suit her sister.

There was a knock at Nabiki's door. When she called out “Enter”, she saw that it was Kasumi's turn to visit her.

“Kasumi?”

“I've had an idea,” the eldest Tendo girl said in a quiet voice. “About who I could go on the date with.”

“Let's hear it,” Nabiki said enthusiastically. “If I can help, I will.”

Kasumi's face coloured slightly as she sat down on her sister's bed. “I want to go out with Ranma for an evening.”

Nabiki raised an eyebrow. “Ranma?”

“Yes,” Kasumi nodded as she fiddled with the hem of her dress. She turned to her sister.

Nabiki sighed. “Why him?”

“Because he'd be more interesting than any of the other local men. Plus I know that him well enough to know he won't do something improper. I can pay you the fee of 10,000 yen for the evening.”

Nabiki winced; it seemed that her sister had heard about her renting out Ranma for dates and the school's sports teams

“Please, for me?”

Nabiki would have steeled her self against such a blatant ploy if it were any other person. “When we you thinking of going out?”

“As soon as possible,” Kasumi eagerly said.

“I can fit you in tomorrow at 7,” Nabiki said after checking her organiser. “That is if you're sure about this.”

Kasumi looked in her sister's eyes. “I am, Nabiki.”

“Well in that case, if you get him home before 10.30 tomorrow, I won't charge you. One minute later and I'll charge you half rate as a penalty. Rules are rules, after all. And, you don't want to worry Daddy, do you?”

Kasumi nodded thankfully and hugged Nabiki. “Thank you.”

“Don't worry about it, just be careful, I'm sure he'll do his best to keep you safe, but you what crazies are after him,” Nabiki advised. “Not that I see the attraction myself.”

Kasumi wasn't so sure about Nabiki's protestations, but said nothing.

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The next morning, Kasumi seemed to have a new lease on life. The breakfast portions were larger and the lunches were of a higher standard than normal.

As the Tendos and the Saotomes ate the quality cuisine, Kasumi let everybody know that she had plans for the evening and that they'd have to fend for themselves for their evening meal.

Soun asked his first born child where she was going and if she was going to be all right.

“I shall be fine, Father,” Kasumi said in a reassuring voice, “I'll be with a friend of mine.”

“Ok then,” Soun turned his attention to the morning paper.

With that, the rest of the meal was eaten in silence, though Ranma start to feel uneasy at the attention he was now receiving from the older Tendo sisters.

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After an uneventful day at school, Ranma walked home with his fiancée, wondering why she was keeping an eye on him.

“Is something wrong, Nabiki?” he asked, jumping down in front of her.

“What? No, it's just something that Kasumi said to me last night,” Nabiki answered.

“Is she ok?” Ranma asked, worried about his potential future sister-in-law.

“Yeah, she's fine. Why are you so worried about her?” Nabiki asked with a playful smile. “Are you worried about Akane having to cook?”

“I wasn't until you brought it up,” Ranma said with a grimace.

“Well you don't have to worry about that for tonight,” Nabiki started cryptically.

“Why not?” Ranma asked. “I thought that Kasumi was going out tonight and you didn't want to pay for my share of the take-out after the last time.”

The last time Ranma had been part of the takeaway food order, the bill had come to nearly 11,000 yen. Genma had been training with Soun and the master, so he was completely blame-free for this incidence of gluttony.

“Well, I've made plans for you this evening.”

“Plans?” Ranma asked angrily. “I suppose that I've got no say in this, right?”

“Damn right, Saotome,” Nabiki almost said, if only to see his reaction. The middle Tendo daughter often thought about Ranma becoming forceful with her, and those thoughts often led to masturbating to naked pictures of the Saotome boy.

Instead, Nabiki just grinned at Ranma. It was not a pleasant facial expression.

“Fine,” Ranma sighed in resignation. “But this is the last time. I live at the Tendo Dojo, not the Tendo Car Rental Emporium!”

“Don't worry Ranma,” Nabiki smirked, “I'm sure that your date will return you undamaged and with a full tank of gas.”

“What, am I going out for a curry?” Ranma asked in mock stupidity. “And the last time you rented me out, fucking Kodachi started wheeling out her trolley of S&M toys. I barely got out of there in one piece!”

To Nabiki's credit, she managed not to even snicker at Ranma's tale of misfortune, but did make a note to TRY to keep the crazier types from trying to have their way with Ranma.

Of course if one of those “less stable” types happened to offer her a sum that was well above the going rate, then she might reconsider.

“Don't worry, Ranma, I'm sure that this girl will take good care of you.”

Ranma didn't look too convinced, but said nothing.

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When 7 o'clock rolled around, Kasumi stood at the front door to the Tendo house waiting for Ranma. She was wearing a conservatively cut light blue dress, one that matched Ranma's eyes. A few seconds later, Ranma, dressed in his Mao suit, dropped from the top of the stairs.

“Oh, hello, Kasumi. It seems that I'm going out tonight as well.”

Kasumi just smiled pleasantly, though she got a nasty feeling that Nabiki had neglected to tell Ranma something.

“Well, I was told that I was meeting my date here at 7. I wonder where she is,” he asked rhetorically.

Five minutes passed, and Ranma grew impatient. “Well, she's not here and your date seems to have better things to do tonight. I say we have two choices.”

“And they are?” Kasumi asked, now knowing what Nabiki hadn't done.

“First we could decide `screw those jerks', and we go out together,” Ranma said with a smile when he faced Kasumi. “Or we stay at home. And frankly, Akane is a bit grouchy this evening.”

Kasumi moved her hand to her face to hide her giggle.

An embarrassed Ranma rubbed the back of his head and asked Kasumi the 100,000 yen question. “So, since we're all dressed up, would you like to go out for the evening?”

Kasumi's face lit up when she realised her sister's plan. “I'd love to, Ranma. In fact, I think that we can use my reservations.”

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The young couple walked to their destination, a small restaurant that served traditional Japanese food called the Ureshii Yagi.

Kasumi had thought it an appropriate destination when she considered her date for the evening, though she did know some of the staff there and was well aware of the food quality.

Ranma took the odd sounding name in his stride, having seen many bizarre things in his time.

“I hear that the yakitori here is so tender, it melts in the mouth,” Kasumi pointed out when they were seated.

“Is anything else good here?” Ranma asked as he looked over the menu.

“I hear that the vegetable skewers are also very good,” Kasumi said, feeling slightly conspicuous.

“Is everything alright, Kasumi?” Ranma asked before scanning the room for trouble. “You seem upset about something.”

This settled Kasumi down a little, making her feel that this was a proper date and not one where she'd been forced to coerce her companion into attending.

“I will be, Ranma-kun,” Kasumi said with a sweet smile. “Shall I order for us?”

“Make it a decent amount, I'm hungry,” Ranma answered, slightly embarrassed by the admission.

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Back at the Tendo dojo, there was a knock at the door.

Nabiki resigned herself to the task since Akane was still in a mood and the fathers were slightly drunk as they played go.

When she opened the door, Nabiki was surprised to see a middle aged woman wearing a kimono and carrying a long, thin bundle.

“Can I help you?”

“Hello there, sorry to bother you at this time in the evening, but I'm looking for my husband Genma Saotome and my son, Ranma,” the coppered haired woman explained. “I was told that they were staying here.”

“And you are?” Nabiki asked suspicious of the woman's motives.

“Oh, sorry for not introducing myself,” the lady bowed to Nabiki. “My name is Nodoka Saotome.”

Soun waddled over to the door, wondering what all the fuss was. “Can I help you, madam?”

“I hope so, I was told that I could find my husband and son here,” Nodoka smiled hopefully. “I'm Nodoka Saotome.”

“Genma is inside, but I don't know where Ranma is at the moment,” Soun informed the woman. “I am sorry about that.”

“I know where Ranma is,” Nabiki spoke up. “He's with Kasumi at the moment. They should be back by 10.30.”

“Well, if I could, I'd like to stay so I can meet them,” Nodoka bowed again, hoping that she had finally caught up with he family. “I'd like to speak with Genma in the mean time.”

A certain martial artist with a stocky build heard this and started to sweat.

“Certainly,” Soun insisted, not knowing the chain of events he was setting into motion. “Genma is right this way. Nabiki, would you be so kind as to bring in some tea?”

Nabiki smiled, but cursed inwardly as she remembered that Kasumi was the one that was the one with the hostess' skills.

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At the Ureshii Yagi, Ranma was trying not to embarrass his companion with his poor table manners, though it was a bit of a challenge for him.

Seeing that Ranma was not terribly comfortable, Kasumi asked Ranma about some of his adventures during his training trip.

Ranma smiled at the brunette. “Where do you want me to start?”

“Have you ever been to Okinawa?” Kasumi enquired. “I've wanted to visit there for a while, but I've never had the chance.”

“Yeah, I've been there. What can I tell you about Okinawa?” Ranma stroked his chin as he pondered for a moment. “I know.”

Ranma's hand shot out from touching his face to snatch a skewer of chicken.

Kasumi blinked, barely seeing anything out of the ordinary until she realised that Ranma was eating.

“Hebi-ken,” Ranma smiled after swallowing the grilled meat. “It has its disadvantages, though.”

“You seem to do all right with it, Ranma-kun,” Kasumi dryly noted.

Ranma smiled as he got to explain about his favourite subject. “Ah, but you see, every style of martial arts has a weakness. Hebi-ken's primary one is that it focuses on using the arms. The master of Hebi-ken has excellent upper body strength, but his legs are weak in comparison.

“If I was to take up kendo, then I'd be great, not just because I'm the one of the best, but because I can use the skills I picked up from Hebi-ken - lightning strikes and twisting my body around thrusts.”

“You make it sound like you're invincible,” Kasumi said, slightly tired of Ranma's arrogance. This was one of the reasons she hadn't taken up the engagement when Akane had broken it off.

“I'm not,” Ranma admitted in a quiet voice that Kasumi barely heard, “I've got a long way to go before I am.”

“I didn't expect Ranma to make that kind of admission on a first date,” Kasumi mused silently.

“So what about you?” Ranma asked, quickly recovering for his mild depression.

“What about me?” Kasumi asked, unsure as to why anyone would want to know about her.

“Everyone knows about me, but nobody knows nothing about you. What did you want to be when you were a girl?”

Kasumi was taken aback by Ranma's interest in her. She'd assumed that Ranma was only nice to her to get extra food at meal times.

“It's been a long time since I was asked that question,” Kasumi said with a smile that quickly turned to a frown when she realised that her childhood dreams were slowly slipping away from her.

Ranma saw the change on Kasumi's face and started to panic. `Oh shit, I've make Kasumi angry.'

Not that Ranma's expression was exactly hard to read. Ever.

“You've not made me angry, Ranma-kun,” the brunette said in her soft voice. “It's just that I've wanted to be a veterinarian since I was a girl and that I'm getting on in years.”

Ranma blinked. At 19, Kasumi was thinking of herself as nearly over the hill? No, that did not sit right with Ranma.

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Back at the Tendo house, Genma was panicking about Nodoka's presence.

“So then, dearest husband, where is Ranma?”

“He, er, where is he again?”

Nabiki sighed. “Ranma is out on a date with Kasumi since hers didn't show.”

“My son is out on a date with a girl?” Nodoka asked, hope filling her.

Nabiki nodded.

“Is she pretty?”

“Kasumi is very pretty, Mrs. Saotome,” Nabiki answered, but her tone left a hint that she considered Ranma beneath her eldest sister.

“What's up with my son?” Nodoka asked, picking up on the unspoken insinuation. “Is he not very manly?”

“What's with your obsession with manliness?” Nabiki countered. “You make it sound like it's a matter of life and death.”

A parchment was produced from the inside of Nodoka's kimono, showing the room why Ranma's masculinity was of paramount importance.

“For Ranma it is,” Nodoka said, staring Nabiki straight in the eye. “Genma promised that he'd raise Ranma to be a `Man among Men', or they'd both commit seppuku.”

A wide eyed Soun looked at his old training partner with disbelief. “B-but Jusenkyo…”

“What's Jusenkyo?” Nodoka asked, puzzled by the foreign sounding name.

“It's a place where Ranma got cursed. Here look,” Nabiki said as she splashed the sweating Saotome.

Nodoka was speechless when she saw her husband turn into a panda.

“Ranma has a different curse,” Soun added. “He turns into a girl.”

“That's not very manly,” Nodoka said sadly.

“But it's not his fault that he changes into a cute redhead,” Nabiki chimed in. She may not have liked Ranma in the way Shampoo, Ukyo or Kodachi did, but she knew that Ranma had potential.

“What do you mean?” Nodoka asked the middle Tendo daughter.

“Well,” Nabiki started as she got comfortable, “Genma was the one that knocked Ranma fall into the pool. He was the one that didn't heed the guide's warnings.”

Ok, so it was Genma that was the Saotome that Nabiki despised.

“So Genma's the one to blame?”

“Yes,” Nabiki said as she refilled the teacups.

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Back at the Ureshii Yagi, Ranma was trying to think of a way to cheer up Kasumi.

“Would you like to see something cool?”

“Yes,” Kasumi answered, wondering what Ranma would consider “cool”.

After sitting up on his knees, the pigtailed boy held up a used bamboo skewer with his left hand and a piece of onion with his right. He pierced the onion to show that the skewer was solid.

Using the wedge of grilled vegetable as a weapon, he chopped the culinary spear in two. As he did this, his head jerked backwards ever so slightly.

“What do you think?” Ranma asked, handing the pieces of bamboo to his date.

“Impressive,” Kasumi murmured she inspected the clean cut. “How did you did do it?”

“That's not it,” Ranma replied.

“And just what is the trick?” Kasumi asked, wondering just how much Ranma was showing off.

Ranma said nothing, instead turning to look at the ceiling behind him.

Kasumi was about to ask when she saw that Ranma's hair was now unbraided and hanging freely behind him.

“Your hair! How and when did you do that?” Kasumi asked, now sounding suitably impressed. “I was watching you the whole time.”

Moving his leg over the table, Ranma showed Kasumi what he had between his toes - his hair restraint. “Not too shabby, eh?”

“When did you learn to undo knots with your toes?” Kasumi asked, still slightly stunned that a human could be that flexible and have toes like fingers. “With your socks on, no less.”

“Pops insisted that I should be able to untie basic knots with my toes, in case I needed to escape. I think he said that it was something that he wished he'd been able to do when he was training with the Old Freak. I can only undo basic knots and fasteners, nothing fancy.”

“I think that that's fancy enough, Ranma-kun.”

Ranma smiled at the praise, but was still slightly nervous. It was as if he was expecting people to pop out of the woodwork and attack either him or his date.

Kasumi was still a little under-whelmed by this date with Ranma, and Nerima's best known troublemaker picked up on it. Not wanting Kasumi to complain to her sister, Ranma decided to show off some of his more traditional skills.

Picking up a napkin, Ranma guessed his date what sort of animal she liked best. “A pony,” he decided, confusing Kasumi.

With a number of precise folds on the paper napkin that seemed to take no time at all, Ranma presented his gift to Kasumi with a “Ta-da”.

Kasumi blinked as she realised that the napkin was now a piece of origami. “Where did you pick that up?”

Ranma scratched his head as he tried to remember where it was that he learned some of his more esoteric martial arts skills. “I think I was in Kobe.”

“Oh. Is there anything you can't do, in origami, I mean?” Kasumi asked, slightly envious of Ranma's ability to pick up skills and techniques so quickly.

“I don't know, Kasumi, I never really gave it much thought. Are you any good at origami?”

“I was never very good at school,” Kasumi admitted.

“Would you like to practice with me?” Ranma asked with an honest smile.

“Yes, I'd like that,” Kasumi smiled back. The brunette's eyes flicked to the clock on the wall. “Oh my, it's 10.15.”

Ranma blinked as he turned to the clock. “It's that time already?”

“We've got to go, Ranma-kun. I promised Father that I'd be back before 10.30.”

“But it took 15 minutes to walk here and we've not had the bill yet,” Ranma reminded his date.

Kasumi was becoming a little flustered at the situation. While she wasn't too fussed about the fine that Nabiki would charge her, she didn't want to upset her father.

“Don't worry, Kasumi,” Ranma said in his most reassuring voice, “I'll get us home on time and in one piece. That's a promise.”

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Back at the dojo, Nodoka was considering what Nabiki had told her. `If Ranma does actually have this curse, he can hardly be considered a “Man among Men”. But if this Nabiki's story is to be believed, then it was Genma's fault that Ranma is like that,' Nodoka pondered the situation. “Has this curse changed who Ranma is inside?”

“Not that we can tell,” Nabiki answered. “He's as stubborn and uncultured in either form.”

“Hmm,” was the only sound Nodoka made at that piece of information. `So if the curse doesn't change what kind of man he is, then I really should discount it as best I can. Of course, that does mean that I need to be stricter with the other criteria.'

Nodoka drained her teacup. “I think that I will need to speak with Ranma before I can make even my preliminary decision.”

“Yes!” Genma blurted out, hoping for even a small chance of escaping a blade in the stomach. “That's an excellent idea. I can't expect you to make a snap decision on a death contract.”

Nodoka wondered when her husband had become such a pathetic human being.

“Who looks after the house?” Mrs. Saotome asked, curious as to whom it was that kept the dust at bay.

“That would be my eldest daughter, Kasumi,” Soun answered. “She took over following the death of my wife, Reiko.”

“And what do you do to keep the lights on and food on the table?” Nodoka continued her inquisition.

“What's it to you?” Nabiki asked defensively. `If she finds out how I've been treating Ranma, we could be in serious trouble.'

“I'm simply inquiring into what sort of family my son has been staying with since his return to civilisation,” Nodoka replied. “I'm curious to know how he's been treated since he arrived and how he behaved as a guest.”

“How who's been behaving as a guest?” a new voice asked from the doorway.

“My son, Ranma,” Nodoka answered as she turned to face the new girl.

“This is my youngest daughter, Akane,” Soun introduced the newcomer.

“I'm Ranma's mother, Nodoka Saotome,” Nodoka said with a bow.

“Hello,” Akane said politely before turning to leave.

“What do you think of my son?” Nodoka asked before Akane could leave them in peace.

“Ranma is a jerk, plain and simple. I've asked him several times to spar with me, but won't take me seriously. He keeps insulting me, ignoring the fact that he's hardly perfection himself. He's got an ego the size of Kanto, made worse by these floozies that call themselves fiancées that he keeps around him,” Akane huffed.

Nodoka blinked and turned to Nabiki for her response to her sister's answers.

“She's absolutely right,” Nabiki answered with a shrug, though her tone suggested that there was more to the situation.

“But?”

“There are girls that are still willing to pay for dates with him. You should have heard some of the offers I get as his fiancée.” Nabiki winced as she realised that she'd said a bit too much.

“Hang on a minute,” Nodoka raised her hand, “I thought you said that Ranma was on a date with your sister, Kasumi. Why is Ranma with someone else if you're his fiancée?”

Soun, in a rare bout of brain activity, jumped in with an answer. “Ranma is engaged to all of my daughters until we can be sure of the best match.”

Nodoka smiled at that white lie. “So that's what Akane meant by multiple fiancées: Ranma is seeing which girl he's best matched with instead of forcing him into a loveless relationship.”

“Yes,” Soun and Genma nodded in agreement.

“But why would Akane have such a low opinion of her own sisters?” Nodoka was puzzled.

“I never called Kasumi a floozy!” Akane insisted. “I was talking about Shampoo, Kodachi and Ukyo!”

“And just who are they?” Nodoka demanded.

All eyes turned to Genma.

“I can explain. Just let me do it from a safe distance, say Outer Mongolia.”

As the heavy set man inched towards the porch exit, Ranma descended from his leap over the wall with a blushing Kasumi in his arms.

“Going somewhere Pops?” he asked as he gently placed Kasumi inside the house.

“Ranma?” Nodoka asked hesitantly.

“Who wants to know?”

“I'm your mother.”

“My mom?” Ranma asked as he looked the kimono-clad woman over. “And why should I believe you?”

“Because I have proof,” Nodoka replied as she pulled out a photo of her and a child sized Ranma.

After recognising himself in the picture, Ranma leapt at the woman and gave her a powerful hug. “Momma!”

After a moment, the pair separated and Nodoka began to appraise her only child. `He seems manly enough.'

“Is there anything I can do for you?” Ranma asked, still slightly stunned that his mother had been appeared now of all times.

“Well, I would like to get to know my only child,” Nodoka said in a slightly teasing tone. “But I do realise that you have been on a date and you are probably tired.”

“I'm a little,” Ranma admitted. “But if you want to talk, I'll stay up as long as you want me to.”

Nodoka smiled at Ranma's willingness to accommodate her. “Sit down and tell me about your date this evening.”

Taking up a place by the table, Ranma thought how to best word his response. “It was nice.”

“In what way was it nice?” Nodoka asked politely.

“Well, the food was good and I wasn't attacked,” Ranma clarified.

“Are you regularly attacked when you're out with women?”

“Yes,” Ranma nodded. “Sometimes it's fiancées, sometimes it's jealous rivals.”

“Jealous rivals?” Nodoka asked, leaning in.

“Well, yeah,” Ranma answered. “Shampoo has this obsessed nimrod chasing after her, claiming that `I'm an obstacle to his happiness with his Darling Shampoo'. Kuno's been trying to date Akane since before I got here.”

Nodoka took in Ranma's comments.

“And what about all the times you go off to see your other girlfriends?” Akane interjected. “I mean you won't eat my cooking, but you'll eat Shampoo and Ukyo's.”

“That's because their food don't taste like ass!” Ranma shot back.

“Fine!” Akane huffed. “Be like that. See if I help you the next time you need it!”

As Akane stormed off to her room, Nodoka turned to the fathers. “I think that we can safely assume that Ranma and Akane aren't going to get married.”

“But who will run the dojo with Ranma?” Soun wailed, tears starting to form in his eyes.

“We'll sort something out, Father,” Kasumi reassured the human fountain.

Nodoka looked at her son's date. `Hmm, she is attractive.' “Tell me, Kasumi-chan, what did you like about your evening?”

“I liked the pony that Ranma-kun gave me,” Kasumi smiled as she showed the room her gift of origami. “Oh, is that the front door?”

Kasumi left to answer the door.

“You did that?” Genma demanded from his son. “What were you thinking, wasting your time learning useless skills instead of training?”

“HEY!” Ranma shouted at the rotund man. “I learnt those skills in Kobe, when you sold me to that family!”

Nodoka focused her steely gaze on her troublesome husband. “You. Did. What?”

“I tried to round off his training so he'd have a chance at a normal life,” Genma lied. “That's why I let him train with the Imagawa family.”

“Who?” Soun asked. There was nagging feeling in the back of his brain that he should know that name.

“The Imagawas of Kobe,” a male voice replied from the doorway. “I remember you, Soun Tendo. Which one of these girls is your first born daughter?”

“DADDY!” the Tendo girls shouted at their father.

“ACK!”

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To be continued…?

This was pre-read by Chi Vayne, he thinks that this story becoming a lemon would be entertaining, do you?

If this story does take a turn for the sordid, this first chapter will remain as so, but subsequent bits will have “the good stuff”. Obviously I will have to make sure that it's posted in a suitable place.

Yes, there will be humour, as I like to laugh and there is a good chance of some darker scenes, if only to indulge my sadistic nature.

Let me know what you think in a review or email.

Until laterer comes.