Oh dear, what a terrible situation to wind up in. Mrs Tendo's motherly instinct was pulling her in two different directions at the same time. On the one hand, it felt rather nice to see Akane make a new friend, someone she could really share her love of martial arts with. On the other there was something odd about that adorable pigtailed girl that was irking her ghostly vision.
Now, why was that? The answer was simple when you consider a few simple things about our senses. For touch we rely upon a variety of nerve endings which sense various different kinds of things, heat, pressure and so forth. For sound, the vibration of liquid in our ears. As for sight, it comes down to light sensitive cells in the back of our eyes which transmit the images directly to our brains.
Do notice though: All of the senses in some way come down to the matter of matter. And as a matter of fact, matter is exactly the thing that ghosts are not made of. They are spectral. Spirits. Souls are not made of atoms and molecules. Ghosts are a kind of energy as yet undetected my mortal science, for its capacity to interact with the rest of the world is, to say the very least, limited. Magic is kind of funky like that.
What this means is that a ghost's senses aren't like yours or mine. Unless you are a ghost, in which case, um, would my condolences be an appropriate response? Anyway, the point is that a ghost doesn't see things the same way that the rest of us do. We're constrained to matter and they are not. What does that mean? Well, it means we see what is physically there, while ghosts see what is <i>actually</i> there.
Which leaves Mrs Tendo in a bit of a bind. She's never seen anything quite like this before. To her it looked like there was a boy and a girl occupying the same space at the same time. Explaining this to Akane would only confuse the poor girl, so off she drifted, idly noting Kasumi telling their guest that they stunk to high heaven and they needed a bath.
"Kasumi, politeness..." she gently admonished while continuing on her way. "Maybe phrase it more as if she's been travelling a lot, so a hot bath should help her relax."
Her eldest daughter became a little flustered at her faux pas, and quite rightly so. Mrs Tendo remembered all too well how it was teaching Kasumi the basics of housework - and then getting Soun to pick up some of the slack when she was proving rather clumsy. Nowadays she was a rather excellent cook, but currently she was worried she'd coddled her oldest a little too much. Maybe if she'd been more self taught, the edges would be a little less rough?
Instead of correcting herself Kasumi silently directed Ranma off towards the bath. Mrs Tendo sighed and continued on back into the house, still deep in thought. What was it about their new guests that was so thoroughly strange? What was it she was actually seeing there? Based on how everyone else was reacting they were seeing a panda and a girl, rather than a middle aged man wearing a dirty gi and a cute boy. Maybe Soun might know something? He always did seem quite knowledgeable on matters about ki and chi and what have you.
"Soun dear, when you have a moment I wanted to ask..." she began, and then trailed off at what she found in their living room. That being her beloved husband, with tears flowing down his face, sitting opposite a familiar looking man in a dirty gi, who was also crying.
"Oh Genma, my old friend!" Soun bubbled. "What a terrible fate has befallen you and your son!"
"The horrors of martial arts training known no depths," the man answered. "This curse has left us forever changed, but I believe that my son will still be a suitable husband for one of your daughters."
"Yes, of course he will!" Soun sniffed. "He returns to being a boy with hot water? Then all is fine! I am certain he shall make one of my girls a very happy woman."
"Hot water...?" Mrs Tendo asked. Soun glanced towards her slightly. Oh, she hated this! Him having to pretend he couldn't see her while they had guests, just because they couldn't see her and they'd think he was crazy. Well, maybe that wasn't such a petty thing. It sure felt like it sometimes though! "Soun, please nod if I understand this correctly: Hot water makes that cute girl turn into a boy."
It's a rare thing where a ghost can be spooked, but there she was. Right about now Mrs Tendo was doing some rather hectic household calculus. Ranma became a boy when hit with hot water. Ranma had just been training with Akane. Normally after she finished training, Akane liked to soak her muscles in a nice hot -
Now, as a matter of politeness it wasn't really her policy to take shortcuts through the house in order to reach a destination, but if this wasn't an emergency circumstance - well, she could think of a few better examples, but not many where she could actually do something to prevent a disaster. She dove upwards and a little diagonally, in an estimated direction of Akane's room passing through the ceilings and walls as if they - or she - wasn't really there.
"Akane!" she called, but found her daughter's room empty. Oh no! She must already be on her way! This was disastrous! That poor girl! She'd feel so thoroughly betrayed if she walked in on him right now, and it would ruin their friendship before it could even solidify. The damning part of it was that she could see both sides of the issue here from her unique perspective: Ranma was obviously quite shy about his curse, so bringing it up in front of a girl he barely knew wouldn't make a lick of sense. Meanwhile, Akane would have the distinct impression that he'd kept it secret from her so he could sneak a quick peek.
Both of them reasonable behaviour under the conditions. Yet both would surely have a huge falling out over it! Such a shame, such a horrible shame, they made such an adorable pair! Not to mention, a cursed fiance like this could help Akane overcome her issues regarding sexual identity - or otherwise completely crush her. As that girl's mother she was duty bound to encourage the former and discourage the latter.
And so she dove downwards towards the bathing area like a bullet. To her great relief it seemed as though Akane hadn't arrived yet and - Goodness, one of her daughters was definitely going to be a happy woman, he was just as cute as a boy as he was as a girl and that really said something - zipped out of the bath section and into the changing section through the dividing door just in time to see the main door being opened up.
"Akane, there you are!" Mrs Tendo said, putting herself right in Akane's way. Her daughter jumped back at the sudden intrusion into her personal space. "Ah, I wouldn't go in there right now. Ranma's having a bath at the moment, and I think a little privacy might be in order."
"Oh," Akane frowned. She looked a little disappointed. "Alright. I can wait a little longer."
Phew. Bullet dodged. Now, actually telling Akane about the curse right now probably wouldn't be the wisest course of action for her to take. It would be a lot better for everyone if Ranma told them about it, in full detail. In case she got something wrong.
"You know mom, I'm really glad that Ranma is a girl," Akane whispered. "No stupid engagement to a boy I barely know, and even better she's a really good martial artist!"
"Akane..." her mother sighed. "Is this about those boys at school bothering you? Not all boys are like that, you know."
"Yeah, I know," Akane admitted. "They're all just... So weak! Even Kuno isn't a challenge anymore, and he's supposed to be the toughest guy in school. As for the rest it's getting to the point I could probably beat them all by stamping my foot, and... then..."
The door slid open, and out stepped a fully clothed, slightly damp Ranma Saotome. Boy form. Akane stared at him for a moment. Breath caught in her throat. Alright! Eye contact had been made! Ooh! They looked so cute together. Okay. Alright. Let's see. Ranma was wearing the same clothes as before, had the same hairstyle...
"Hi?" Ranma said. "Uh... I'm Ranma. Sorry about this."
Oh, he was even a perfect gentleman! He caught her delicately in his arms even as she swooned, and was even careful about where he put his hands. Yes, yes. There was no doubt about it at all, this was exactly what the doctor ordered. All she had to do now was persuade her other two daughters to set sail upon the good ship Akane Saotome, and she was certain that her youngest would finally have a taste of real, genuine contentment!
- All things considered, Akane takes it pretty well.
- Nabiki is plotting and scheming to set her sister up with Ranma
- Kasumi's going about her business. How else is she different?
- The curse is explained to the family, with Mrs Tendo around to observe.
- Something else
No comments:
Post a Comment