Categories > Anime/Manga > Ranma 1/2 > A Werewolf in Nermia
Disclaimer: The characters of Ranma 1/2, of course, belong to Rumiko Takahashi (and lots of others). Sati Li, and any other strays that may appear, belong to me, unless otherwise noted.
A Werewolf in Nerima
By: USA Tiger
Chapter 17
"Where are we going Mr. Saotome?" Akane asked as she followed after Genma, dressed in her yellow gi with a large pack on her back and arm still in a wrist cast.
"To a secret training ground," Genma grunted as he climbed over a log. "You want to knock that ungrateful son of mine down a few pegs, don't you?"
"Of course," Akane agreed, but still suspicious. "But I still find it hard to believe you are offering to train me to beat Ranma."
"The boy needs to learn that he still has plenty to learn and that he is isn't unbeatable," Genma said in explanation. Akane leveled a look at the overweight man's back, the fact that he wanted to train her at all, when she knew he often said women were weak, and to train her to beat his own son... the offer was too good to be true. On the other hand, it would be great to make Ranma realized that she was the strongest martial artist in Nerima, not him.
/'And after I beat him into the ground, I'll make those two demon hussies leave next,' /Akane thought with a smirk, she had no love for Sati and Jasper annoyed the hell out of her.
'I hope we find that whelp soon before she realizes I have no true intention to train her,' Genma thought, stopping for a second before choosing a random direction in hopes it would take them to wherever Ranma was training.
Too bad they were not even in the right forest.
***
"AAAAHHHH," Nabiki held up her hands to try and ward off the cold water that Ranma was shaking off her form, having just come out of the water of the pond.
"Ah! Too too funny, money girl get wet!" Shampoo said with a laugh, standing well out of range of the water so it would not trigger her cursed from. Nabiki was sure there was a yipping laugh coming from the direction of the pond as well, but she was too busy glaring and huffing at Ranma.
"Damn it Saotome!" She said as she grabbed a towel to wipe water from her face. Ranma reached up and rubbed the back of her neck, a sheepish look on her face.
"Sorry Nabs," She said, barely grunting as Shampoo pounced on her, arms wrapped tight around her shoulders.
"Arien agree to go on date with Shampoo now?" She purred in her head, nuzzling soft fur.
"Err, Shampoo.... ah..." If she could have, Ranma would have been blushing under her fur, wondering how she could decline the request without hurting the Amazon's feelings.
"Remember Shampoo, this isn't to be used a right to claim Ranma as your husband," Sati warned as she came up with a plate that contained lunch for all of them.
"Shampoo remember, Shampoo hope Arien more open to idea dates with Shampoo now," The girl chirped letting go of Ranma and bouncing over to take the plate from Sati.
"Personally, I don't see why it would be a bad idea," Sati commented, sitting on the edge of Nabiki's lounge chair, ignoring the choking noises Ranma was making in the background.
"Auntie!" She yelped finally.
"Oh come now Ranma, it wouldn't hurt you to go on a date with her. It's normal for someone your age to go on dates," Sati said while picking up a hamburger from the plate as Shampoo sat it down on top of the cooler.
"For one, both Akane and Ukyo would both kill me for different reasons and two, Shampoo will think I'm gonna marry her if I date her!" Ranma said as she waved her arms in the air. Sati laughed softly and shook her head.
"Dates do not equal marriage and as far as Shampoo is concerned, you are married to her," Sati said, amusement shining in her yellow eyes.
"Yeah Ranma-honey," Nabiki drawled slowly as she stretched back out on the chair again, picking up her drink. "She calls you Husband all the time," Ranma continue to sputter for a few seconds before throwing her hands up in the air and going to sit with the others to eat lunch.
"You know, I fail to see the whole deal your putting up with the idea of being married to her," Jasper, who had been in the lake swimming, said as she pulled herself out of the water and walked over dripping wet. "If you’re not gay, what the hell is the problem? Most guys I know would love to have a bouncy, willing girl like her on their arm."
"It's a bit more than that; Ranma is engaged to marry my sister and to marry Ukyo," Nabiki said.
"Yeah, I remember being told that when I first got here, that Ukyo girl was hot under the collar 'cause she thought I was here to marry him," Jasper said, pointing at Ranma-chan. "I don't know that much about arrange marriages but wouldn't the contract with your family been broken when he was promised to another girl?"
"Usually yes, but it seems Genma does not see it that way," Sati said dryly, never had a very high opinion about how the man raised his son (by blood or not). If it hadn't been illegal for her, Sati would have taken Ranma the first day after awakening him from the Nekoken, but she had to obey the human world rules and without proof, the law wasn't on her side. Genma, despite everything, was very good at covering his tracks when it came to Ranma most of the time.
"It's a matter of honor too," Ranma added before shoving a whole sandwich in her mouth.
"Yeah, well no offence but thanks to your father, your family’s honor is pretty tarnished Ranma," Nabiki pointed out. "Cause he keeps making and breaking engagements for you, which in itself is a pretty outdated practice in itself."
"You would be surprised how many places still practice arranged marriages," Sati commented. "Many of the old races still set up arranged marriages."
"Yeah but Genma can't really expect Akane to really marry Ranma here, can he?" Nabiki asked with a frown. "I know she is gonna wait until she's of age and then tell Daddy to jump off a bridge about the whole thing."
"Wait, if she plans on doing that, why the hell does she treat me like I'm the butt of all her problems?" Ranma asked sitting up straight, ears perked up. "It's not my fault... for the most part... that all that crap happens and I don't try to go out of my way to piss her off."
"She's jealous and got an anger management problem?" Jasper suggested, putting her in two cents on the youngest Tendo daughter.
"Sadly, the American mutt is right for the most part," Nabiki said. "Akane-chan believed before your came that she was the best in Nerima and all the boys gave her a lot of attention. And while she doesn't like Kuno-baby, she did love the attention. Then you manage to defeat her in a sparring match the first night you get here without even touching her barring flicking her on the back of the head."
Jasper cracked up hearing that while Shampoo scoffed at how weak the 'kitchen killer' was. The American's laughter was cut short and a thoughtful look crossed over her face.
"What's with the look?" Ranma asked, seeing it.
"It kinda occurred to me that Akane might not be a weakling," Jasper said. "Compared to you guys, yes she sucks but to normal people not so much. She could come close to kicking my ass as a human."
"Shampoo think wolf girl wrong," Shampoo counted with a scowl.
"Hey, not every werewolf is gonna be as strong or as talented in fighting as Sati or Ranma are. Me, I'm just a run of the mill girl wolf, sorta," Jasper said, pointing at herself. “I’m stronger than a human but all I know how to do is a little street fighting. I've never had a teacher and if Akane was to challenge me to a real fight like this, I think she would be able to land a few hits. Hybrid form, it's less likely ‘cause I'm stronger and faster in that form."
"But isn't the were blood what helps give Ranma an edge in his fighting?" Nabiki asked. "I'm not saying that he still isn't the best martial artist in Nerima but it's a big part isn't it?" Sati started to laugh softly, shaking her head.
"Sweet moon, where in the world did you get that idea?" She asked as she got her laughter under control. "Up until over a month ago, Ranma was almost completely human thanks to the seal he was under. All of the training Ranma has had over the years is what made him so strong and quick. With his blood and body correcting itself back to what it should be, it has only increased some, at least in human form. There is a reason our human forms are the weakest form after all."
"So... his were blood has nothing to do with his abilities?" Nabiki asked as her theories were dashed to pieces.
"Not growing up, the seal on him should have repressed his non-human blood to the point he was really human," Sati said with a shake of her head. "I'm still not sure how it works on him without study and I can only hope it was in Happosai's book. I think it was a combined effort of the Nekoken and the Jusenkyo curse with his age that helped break down the seal to the point it would break on its own."
"How ya figure that Auntie?" Ranma still wasn't sure on the whole seal thing, even after she had taken her to the side after breakfast to explain her theory.
"Well, I can only guess the seal was created to suppress your wild animalist side and to stop you from transforming," Sati took up another sandwich, giving it a nibble before continuing. "With the Nekoken 'training', you were forced into a wild state with a very feline mind, which only helped with the fact you are in fact half cat. That part of the seal would have started to break down. Then there's the part of the seal that would have kept you from changing form. With your curse to change from male to female, that part of the seal was over come and started to fully break down over time. The more your curse was activated, the more it would break down.
"Of course, I have no way of knowing if this is the case or if my theory is correct until after I get some sort of chance to study it. Magical seals of this kind are usually used on someone who's at least half human so they have something to work with. Full blooded nonhumans make it a lot trickier," Sati popped the last part of the sandwich in her mouth. "But it is the most likely theory. As it is, I'm not sure how the seal fully affected you and how it changed your curse."
"Changed his curse?" Nabiki asked confused. "Ranma-baby here still changes from male to female with cold water. How is that changed?"
"Yes, that part is the same but the cub fell into the spring of the drowned human girl. Anything that falls into that spring becomes a human female version of their selves. But, as you can see, Ranma now changes into a female version of his natural from. If the curse worked like it was suppose to, he would still be human while a girl. He's not the first were of any breed to fall into that spring." Sati explained.
"So... how did that change then?" Ranma asked confused.
"I'm not sure; Jusenkyo curses are very tricky things. It could have been the fact the seal, which had been powerful enough to all but turn you into a full human for life, bled over into your female from when it finally broke. It could have been something else completely, all the curses react differently and sometimes the way it acts for one being could react a different way for another being," Sati said. "The energy in that place comes from a lot of different sources. Magic, demonic powers, it even lays on a lay line. All together, it makes it very chaotic."
"Wait wait wait, as interesting as this all is this is off track on what I was asking. Why are you defending my sister? I thought you hated Akane?" Nabiki cut in, pointing a finger at Jasper. "Anyone who watches her knows she's a horrible fighter."
"Yeah, she's weak and her temper gets the better of her." Ranma said while Shampoo nodded in agreement.
"Violent-girl make bad-bad Joketsuzoku warrior," Shampoo said. Jasper sighed and rolled her eyes, looking at the three other teens.
"That's 'cause yer comparing her to you and the rest of ya buddies," the American pointed out. "You, the Amazon here, and them others are like super powered fighters almost like sumthing out of a video game or sumthing like it, so of course she weak seemin'. But, compare her to a normal regular person, or sum martial artist that isn't like yall. That's why I said she could land a few good hits in I bet, I ain't some super powered fighter, I barely made a bigger dent that she did in that metal girder a few days back and I still bruised my hand over that."
Nabiki frowned slightly, tapping her finger against chin as she thought about what the two female werewolves were saying.
"You know... she might be right. Akane use to enter a bunch of competition both in Nerima and around other sites in Japan and she usually did very good," Nabiki said, thinking back on it. "But she stopped going to them after you and Uncle Saotome showed up Ranma."
"... your joking" Ranma said, raising a red color eyebrow.
"Violent girl was champion?" Shampoo asked, just as shocked as Ranma.
"I just forget about it all in the rush since you showed up Ranma-baby. It's all be chaos since then," Nabiki shook her head, laughing in disbelief, she use to make so much money off of Akane that way! "And I'm still surprised that your defending Akane-chan," She added to Jasper.
"Dun't get me wrong Nabs, I really dun't like your sister all that much. She's almost like some spoiled little preppy girl that thinks she better than everyone else. Bu,t" Jasper held up a hand to stop any comments that were coming her way "on tha other hand, it does get a little annoying ta hear yall go on and on about how bad and weak of a fighter she is. I may not like her attitude but even I'm willin’ to admit she's not as bad as that. And if you think she's bad, why doesn't anybody fuckin' train her for real?"
Shampoo huffed a little and shrugged her shoulders. She could care less about the kitchen destroyer as long as the girl didn't get in her way in snagging Ranma as her husband. Ranma on the other hand, felt just a tiny bit bad. She always had mixed feelings when it came to Akane, sometimes the girl could be really nice and was cute when she smiled. But more often than not, Akane's temper would get the better of her and on top of that, Akane was not at all trusting when it came to Ranma.
Nabiki sat back into her lounge chair and thought about it all, Akane was her younger sister that helped make her a lot of money to help keep the bills paid. With all the chaos that followed Ranma, she had stopped paying attention to little things like that for her sister if it didn't involve making her money. Akane stopped going to her competition, so she stopped paying attention to it. Funny that it took a gaijin that didn't even like Akane all that much to point out how unfair it all was.
**
"You look like yer thinkin' really, really hard," Jasper said as she padded over to Ranma, who was human and male at the moment. He was sitting on the roof of the cabin looking out over the lake and forest. He glanced up at Jasper, who had shifted to her half-way state at some point, as the other were sat beside him.
"Where's Auntie?" Ranma asked, turning his attention back to the lake.
"Inside getting that teacher lady ready for tonight. Gonna do something to keep her from turning into a kid for now on after tonight," Jasper said with a shrug. She was use to seeing weird things, a human female that changed from a little girl to a grown woman and back was hardly the strangest thing. "So what cha thinking about anyway?"
"... Akane. Some of the stuff both you and Nabiki said... hell, thinking about my whole messed up life," Ranma said, reaching up to fist a hand into his hair. "Ain't nothin’ about my life is normal. I go from being raised by a man who can't think about anything but himself most of the time who not only engages me to a bunch of girls, mostly to feed his fat stomach, but also takes me to a curse training ground and me ending being a girl.
"Then turn around that fat bastard isn't even my dad and I'm not even human at all to begin with. And I still have to deal with a girl who blames me for everything and has pretty much stated that she ain't marrin' me. Then a girl who I see is my best friend who also wants to marry me but I thought was a boy for years!"
"Well you know she'll a girl now don't cha? Can't you see her as a possible girl-friend?" Jasper asked as she leaned back on her hands.
"I still only see Ucchan as my sister at best. I missed her over the years, and I'm sorry I never realized she was a girl but I had always thought as 'him' as the brother I didn't have," Ranma hung his head and sighed. "Finding out Ukyo was a girl was a little shocking but I'm still not all that interested in her beyond her being my best friend."
"Well the few times I've seen her, she doesn't feel the same way," Jasper pointed out. Ranma sighed softly, leaning his chin onto his hand.
"I know, Kami knows she's made that clear plenty of times. And I've tried to make it clear that I didn't want to marry her without hurting her too much. Her family honor has all but been destroyed thanks to Pop and the only way to restore it is to kill me or marry me I guess," Ranma frowned, huffing softly. "Hell, I don't really want to marry any of them. All of them want me for some messed up family honor or cause Pop did something to them. Shampoo and Kodaichi is about the only ones who are really my fault I guess and at least their honest in what they want."
"Who's Kodaichi anyway? She's about the only one of your motley crew I haven't seen or met," Jasper asked, tiring to place a face with the name.
"She's Kuno's younger sister. Crazy as a bat and wants to marry my male self but kill my female one," Ranma explained. "Be happy you haven’t met her"
"I did see a girl at rich-boy's house, she left and I followed her to a dance school," Jasper said. "She was showing a bunch of little girls the basics of Gymnastics. She didn't look to crazy to me."
"Hnn... that can't be righ,t" Ranma said with another frown, that didn't sound like crazy Kodaichi at all. "Must have been someone else you saw..."
"Meh, maybe," Jasper said, shrugging her shoulders, she didn't care one way or another. She was asked here to keep werewolf hunting Kuno boy busy while Sati trained Ranma until he was able to defend himself. Of course, that got derailed a little bit since she was dragged into helping prepare for the first transformation nights. They were lucky that other than wondering around Neirma, the Kuno werewolf hunter seemed happier to be mooching off his cousins. "Still, what cha gonna do about all this?" Ranma sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"That's it, I just don't know. Seems no matter what I decide, my family's name is ruined and honor damaged," He said softly. "Almost everyone that's here either wants to kill me or marry me. Which sucks ‘cause I like to think if we wasn't all fighting, they could all be really great friends."
"Hey, correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as we can tell your adopted right?" Jasper asked, glancing over at the other were. Ranma nodded slowly, wondering where she was going with this. "So.... if you kinda think about it, it's not really your family's name, so you’re kinda in the clear in that."
Ranma blinked then frowned as he though over that statement, he supposed it was one way to look at it. If he went with that idea, then maybe he could get out of most of the arrangements he was stuck in, Shampoo being the only one he couldn't at this time. Then he shook his head and looked at the other were.
"No, Auntie's right. They adopted and raised me, at least pop's did, and legally I'm a Saotome," He said with a sigh.
**
Nabiki frowned then sighed as she leaned back from the window where she had been listening to Ranma and Jasper. She didn't put the stock in the 'family honor' much like her father did, but then again Soun was stuck on tradition. Something none of his daughters, not even Kasumi, followed like he did. Kasumi was stuck at home taking care of the house and their father but Nabiki knew in her spare time, her sister was taking on-line collage courses. Both she and Akane planed on going to collage once they were out of high school. Akane was even talking about going to the USA, mostly to get away from the forced marriage to Ranma.
And Nabiki was starting to really feel bad for Ranma, the younger boy seemed like he felt he was trapped and blamed for everything by everyone.
"Do... do husband really not want Shampoo?" Shampoo asked from the doorway, she had heard Ranma too.
"I don't know if Ranma knows what he wants," Nabiki said as she shut the window and turned to look at the purple hair girl. "Why are you asking that now? Ranma has told you plenty of times he didn't want to marry you but that never stopped you before."
"Shampoo knows but.... Shampoo not hear that tone of voice from Arien before," Shampoo said softly, rubbing her arm. "He sounds...."
“Lost? Depressed? Like his world is ending?" Nabiki supplied. "I don't know if it's that bad but think about it Shampoo, Uncle Saotome is constantly reminding him and Akane that they are suppose to get married. Add on top of that what he thought was his best guy friend is really a girl who wants to marry him then there's you, who came here to kill him then to marry him."
"But... but he defeat Shampoo!" Shampoo protested.
"Shampoo, those laws of your only apply to your village, the rest of the world doesn't care," Nabiki said bluntly. "You try to kill someone anywhere else; you would be thrown in jail or worse. Half the stuff you do would get you in jail anywhere else in fact, Nerima is so weird is the only reason why we're not all thrown into jail as it is."
"But Shampoo is already shamed back home, punishment worse than being forced to train on cursed grounds if she go back without Arien," Shampoo said, putting her hands on hips.
"Well maybe you should try to get to know Ranma better, try to make yourself more appealing to him. Throwing yourself at him, using potions, blackmail and running over his head with your bike isn't the way to make him like you," Nabiki said. "And all the fighting over him isn't helping either. Let me ask you something, is it like Ranma said, are you only wanting to marry him because of some obscure law in your village or do you really love him?"
Shampoo bowed her head, reaching up to absently run her fingers through a lock of hair.
"Shampoo.... Shampoo want marry Arien first cause he too too strong man and make good strong children," She said softly. "But longer Shampoo spends out of village, more she see how world not like village. Village have some things from outside world, medicine and books and even richer villagers have TV's, but life in village is warrior's life. Women are leaders and protectors of village, men place in home taking care and protecting children."
"Do you really think Ranma would go for something like that?" Nabiki asked with a shake of her head. "He's been taught that a woman's place is in the home, in fact most of the world has hand this mine set for years."
"Shampoo know, and Arien would not be force to stay in village if he no want," Shampoo said, looking back up at the other girl. "Lots time outsider men no like our life and rebel. Sometime village sister leave with new husband to live in his world. Lots time husband not live with wife, live in town down mountain where wife can visit. Children spilt then, wife take daughters while husband raise sons. But now, Shampoo not sure if elders will let Shampoo marry Ranma."
"Why not?" Nabiki said surprised.
"Ranma now Lycan, Lycan never would accept life style, not even in town for men," Shampoo explain. "Elders in past try to force Lycan men to live in our village, lot of village was destroyed. So elders decide that while would love Lycan blood in Joketsuzoku to make stronger, not worth risk. Lots times, wife decides to leave so can be with husband. So answer money girl questions.... at first Shampoo after Arien because it law and tradition but now... Shampoo would leave village if mean stay with Ranma, Shampoo give up future as leader for Ranma."
"And what if Ranma chooses someone else to be his wife?" Nabiki asked.
"Shampoo share, lots of men in village shared between village sisters. Is sister wives," Shampoo said. "Arien choose me when think still human, would have helped him choose other outsider girls as wives, new blood for village. Only when outsider defeat village sister do we try kill or we see as weak link or make sure she not attack village. If outsider woman save Joketsuzoku woman life or second wife to husband, is adopted into village and is new sister. Shampoo share with Spatula girl, is strong but not kitchen destroyer, she is an obstacle."
"Akane would never go for that even if she was open to marring Ranma," Nabiki said. Shampoo tilted her head as she looked at the older girl.
"What about you? Would money girl be open to sister wives?" Shampoo asked, making Nabiki blink then tilted her head back, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Hmmm... I don't know," She admitted. "Getting married isn't high on my list of plans right now"
"Shampoo share Arien with Money girl and Spatula girl," Shampoo said as she headed for the door. "Shampoo just putting out there." she added before slipping from the room.
"Hmm," Nabiki tapped her chin as she thought over what Shampoo told her.
***
"Alright cub, you should be in a lot more control tonight," Sati said, standing across from Ranma in the clearing near moonrise time. Both were already in hybrid forms, Ranma only wearing a pair of extremely tight boxers. Up in a nearby tree sat Jasper while Nabiki and Shampoo watched from the house. By Sati's side was Hinako in child from, wearing a long bath robe. The elder werewolf turned to her next. "Hinako, after you drain Jasper I'll use the last of the pressure points to lock you in your true adult form. It will finally destroy what Happosai did to you and in the morning, your two personalities should merge fully."
"I understand... it will be nice to finally stay an adult," Hinako said with a wistful smile then turned to Ranma. "But don't think this is going to help you in school Saotome-san, if you and your friends misbehave, I will still punish you"
"Yes Sensei," Ranma said, his ears flicking backwards as he could hear the snickers from the house.
"Right, I believe it’s show time everyone," Sati said, looking up in the sky as the moon started to come up. Ranma’s eyes closed as he felt the moon's pull on his senses, bringing the more wild part of him to the surface. His auntie was right, while the edge was still there; he had a lot more control over himself. He opened his eyes as he heard Sati call Jasper over and watched as Hinako brought out her 50-yen coin and pointed it at the female werewolf, the coin held between her pointer and middle fingers.
"Happo Fifty-yen Satsu!" the coin started to draw energy from Jasper, making the girl groan as she felt her energy leave her. As the stolen energy flowed from Jasper to Hinako, her body changed from a preteen girl to a very curvy adult. Jasper collapsed to the ground as the attack ended and adult Hinako tossed her hair over her shoulder. "That's better," she said, untying her bathroom and letting it slip down to her waist as she turned her back to Sati. Sati moved Hinako's hair over the other woman's shoulder and started to press the pressure points on her back that would undo the damage that Happosai made and allow Hinako to stay in this form.
Ranma meanwhile picked up Jasper and carried her over to the cabin, handing her over to Shampoo when the Joketsuzoku opened the door.
~That fucking sucked!~ Jasper moaned loudly in English as Shampoo helped her over to the couch. ~I am never doing that again, never ever!~
Meanwhile, Ranma rejoined the two women as Sati finished with Hinako.
"There we are," She said, nodding as she stepped back. "Once you and Ranma have sex, it will help cement the change."
"Well them Saotome-san, should we begin out lessons?" Hinako asked as she turned to Ranma, letting the robe fall all the way to the ground while giving Ranma a coy look while sending out pheromones that quickly heated up Ranma's blood, making him give a sexy part growl, part rumbling purr as he advance toward his English teacher.
****
Author note: First off, let me apologize for taking 3 years to get this chapter out. I don't have an good excuse other than I had a really bad case of writer's block for a long time and my life was really, really hectic for a while so writing wasn't on my mind. I was working at a place that I didn't enjoy anymore and it impacted my writing. But, I've gotten a new job in the last year and I've been working on and off on this and two other stories when I have the urge to write.
I will not be giving up on this story and it will hopefully not take me as long to get the next chapter out. I hope everyone enjoys this new chapter please excuse any errors I didn't manage to catch.
Edit 5-21-14: Fixed more grammar and spelling errors and changed Amazon to Joketsuzoku when needed. Other than that, nothing has changed.
A Werewolf in Nerima
By: USA Tiger
Chapter 17
"Where are we going Mr. Saotome?" Akane asked as she followed after Genma, dressed in her yellow gi with a large pack on her back and arm still in a wrist cast.
"To a secret training ground," Genma grunted as he climbed over a log. "You want to knock that ungrateful son of mine down a few pegs, don't you?"
"Of course," Akane agreed, but still suspicious. "But I still find it hard to believe you are offering to train me to beat Ranma."
"The boy needs to learn that he still has plenty to learn and that he is isn't unbeatable," Genma said in explanation. Akane leveled a look at the overweight man's back, the fact that he wanted to train her at all, when she knew he often said women were weak, and to train her to beat his own son... the offer was too good to be true. On the other hand, it would be great to make Ranma realized that she was the strongest martial artist in Nerima, not him.
/'And after I beat him into the ground, I'll make those two demon hussies leave next,' /Akane thought with a smirk, she had no love for Sati and Jasper annoyed the hell out of her.
'I hope we find that whelp soon before she realizes I have no true intention to train her,' Genma thought, stopping for a second before choosing a random direction in hopes it would take them to wherever Ranma was training.
Too bad they were not even in the right forest.
***
"AAAAHHHH," Nabiki held up her hands to try and ward off the cold water that Ranma was shaking off her form, having just come out of the water of the pond.
"Ah! Too too funny, money girl get wet!" Shampoo said with a laugh, standing well out of range of the water so it would not trigger her cursed from. Nabiki was sure there was a yipping laugh coming from the direction of the pond as well, but she was too busy glaring and huffing at Ranma.
"Damn it Saotome!" She said as she grabbed a towel to wipe water from her face. Ranma reached up and rubbed the back of her neck, a sheepish look on her face.
"Sorry Nabs," She said, barely grunting as Shampoo pounced on her, arms wrapped tight around her shoulders.
"Arien agree to go on date with Shampoo now?" She purred in her head, nuzzling soft fur.
"Err, Shampoo.... ah..." If she could have, Ranma would have been blushing under her fur, wondering how she could decline the request without hurting the Amazon's feelings.
"Remember Shampoo, this isn't to be used a right to claim Ranma as your husband," Sati warned as she came up with a plate that contained lunch for all of them.
"Shampoo remember, Shampoo hope Arien more open to idea dates with Shampoo now," The girl chirped letting go of Ranma and bouncing over to take the plate from Sati.
"Personally, I don't see why it would be a bad idea," Sati commented, sitting on the edge of Nabiki's lounge chair, ignoring the choking noises Ranma was making in the background.
"Auntie!" She yelped finally.
"Oh come now Ranma, it wouldn't hurt you to go on a date with her. It's normal for someone your age to go on dates," Sati said while picking up a hamburger from the plate as Shampoo sat it down on top of the cooler.
"For one, both Akane and Ukyo would both kill me for different reasons and two, Shampoo will think I'm gonna marry her if I date her!" Ranma said as she waved her arms in the air. Sati laughed softly and shook her head.
"Dates do not equal marriage and as far as Shampoo is concerned, you are married to her," Sati said, amusement shining in her yellow eyes.
"Yeah Ranma-honey," Nabiki drawled slowly as she stretched back out on the chair again, picking up her drink. "She calls you Husband all the time," Ranma continue to sputter for a few seconds before throwing her hands up in the air and going to sit with the others to eat lunch.
"You know, I fail to see the whole deal your putting up with the idea of being married to her," Jasper, who had been in the lake swimming, said as she pulled herself out of the water and walked over dripping wet. "If you’re not gay, what the hell is the problem? Most guys I know would love to have a bouncy, willing girl like her on their arm."
"It's a bit more than that; Ranma is engaged to marry my sister and to marry Ukyo," Nabiki said.
"Yeah, I remember being told that when I first got here, that Ukyo girl was hot under the collar 'cause she thought I was here to marry him," Jasper said, pointing at Ranma-chan. "I don't know that much about arrange marriages but wouldn't the contract with your family been broken when he was promised to another girl?"
"Usually yes, but it seems Genma does not see it that way," Sati said dryly, never had a very high opinion about how the man raised his son (by blood or not). If it hadn't been illegal for her, Sati would have taken Ranma the first day after awakening him from the Nekoken, but she had to obey the human world rules and without proof, the law wasn't on her side. Genma, despite everything, was very good at covering his tracks when it came to Ranma most of the time.
"It's a matter of honor too," Ranma added before shoving a whole sandwich in her mouth.
"Yeah, well no offence but thanks to your father, your family’s honor is pretty tarnished Ranma," Nabiki pointed out. "Cause he keeps making and breaking engagements for you, which in itself is a pretty outdated practice in itself."
"You would be surprised how many places still practice arranged marriages," Sati commented. "Many of the old races still set up arranged marriages."
"Yeah but Genma can't really expect Akane to really marry Ranma here, can he?" Nabiki asked with a frown. "I know she is gonna wait until she's of age and then tell Daddy to jump off a bridge about the whole thing."
"Wait, if she plans on doing that, why the hell does she treat me like I'm the butt of all her problems?" Ranma asked sitting up straight, ears perked up. "It's not my fault... for the most part... that all that crap happens and I don't try to go out of my way to piss her off."
"She's jealous and got an anger management problem?" Jasper suggested, putting her in two cents on the youngest Tendo daughter.
"Sadly, the American mutt is right for the most part," Nabiki said. "Akane-chan believed before your came that she was the best in Nerima and all the boys gave her a lot of attention. And while she doesn't like Kuno-baby, she did love the attention. Then you manage to defeat her in a sparring match the first night you get here without even touching her barring flicking her on the back of the head."
Jasper cracked up hearing that while Shampoo scoffed at how weak the 'kitchen killer' was. The American's laughter was cut short and a thoughtful look crossed over her face.
"What's with the look?" Ranma asked, seeing it.
"It kinda occurred to me that Akane might not be a weakling," Jasper said. "Compared to you guys, yes she sucks but to normal people not so much. She could come close to kicking my ass as a human."
"Shampoo think wolf girl wrong," Shampoo counted with a scowl.
"Hey, not every werewolf is gonna be as strong or as talented in fighting as Sati or Ranma are. Me, I'm just a run of the mill girl wolf, sorta," Jasper said, pointing at herself. “I’m stronger than a human but all I know how to do is a little street fighting. I've never had a teacher and if Akane was to challenge me to a real fight like this, I think she would be able to land a few hits. Hybrid form, it's less likely ‘cause I'm stronger and faster in that form."
"But isn't the were blood what helps give Ranma an edge in his fighting?" Nabiki asked. "I'm not saying that he still isn't the best martial artist in Nerima but it's a big part isn't it?" Sati started to laugh softly, shaking her head.
"Sweet moon, where in the world did you get that idea?" She asked as she got her laughter under control. "Up until over a month ago, Ranma was almost completely human thanks to the seal he was under. All of the training Ranma has had over the years is what made him so strong and quick. With his blood and body correcting itself back to what it should be, it has only increased some, at least in human form. There is a reason our human forms are the weakest form after all."
"So... his were blood has nothing to do with his abilities?" Nabiki asked as her theories were dashed to pieces.
"Not growing up, the seal on him should have repressed his non-human blood to the point he was really human," Sati said with a shake of her head. "I'm still not sure how it works on him without study and I can only hope it was in Happosai's book. I think it was a combined effort of the Nekoken and the Jusenkyo curse with his age that helped break down the seal to the point it would break on its own."
"How ya figure that Auntie?" Ranma still wasn't sure on the whole seal thing, even after she had taken her to the side after breakfast to explain her theory.
"Well, I can only guess the seal was created to suppress your wild animalist side and to stop you from transforming," Sati took up another sandwich, giving it a nibble before continuing. "With the Nekoken 'training', you were forced into a wild state with a very feline mind, which only helped with the fact you are in fact half cat. That part of the seal would have started to break down. Then there's the part of the seal that would have kept you from changing form. With your curse to change from male to female, that part of the seal was over come and started to fully break down over time. The more your curse was activated, the more it would break down.
"Of course, I have no way of knowing if this is the case or if my theory is correct until after I get some sort of chance to study it. Magical seals of this kind are usually used on someone who's at least half human so they have something to work with. Full blooded nonhumans make it a lot trickier," Sati popped the last part of the sandwich in her mouth. "But it is the most likely theory. As it is, I'm not sure how the seal fully affected you and how it changed your curse."
"Changed his curse?" Nabiki asked confused. "Ranma-baby here still changes from male to female with cold water. How is that changed?"
"Yes, that part is the same but the cub fell into the spring of the drowned human girl. Anything that falls into that spring becomes a human female version of their selves. But, as you can see, Ranma now changes into a female version of his natural from. If the curse worked like it was suppose to, he would still be human while a girl. He's not the first were of any breed to fall into that spring." Sati explained.
"So... how did that change then?" Ranma asked confused.
"I'm not sure; Jusenkyo curses are very tricky things. It could have been the fact the seal, which had been powerful enough to all but turn you into a full human for life, bled over into your female from when it finally broke. It could have been something else completely, all the curses react differently and sometimes the way it acts for one being could react a different way for another being," Sati said. "The energy in that place comes from a lot of different sources. Magic, demonic powers, it even lays on a lay line. All together, it makes it very chaotic."
"Wait wait wait, as interesting as this all is this is off track on what I was asking. Why are you defending my sister? I thought you hated Akane?" Nabiki cut in, pointing a finger at Jasper. "Anyone who watches her knows she's a horrible fighter."
"Yeah, she's weak and her temper gets the better of her." Ranma said while Shampoo nodded in agreement.
"Violent-girl make bad-bad Joketsuzoku warrior," Shampoo said. Jasper sighed and rolled her eyes, looking at the three other teens.
"That's 'cause yer comparing her to you and the rest of ya buddies," the American pointed out. "You, the Amazon here, and them others are like super powered fighters almost like sumthing out of a video game or sumthing like it, so of course she weak seemin'. But, compare her to a normal regular person, or sum martial artist that isn't like yall. That's why I said she could land a few good hits in I bet, I ain't some super powered fighter, I barely made a bigger dent that she did in that metal girder a few days back and I still bruised my hand over that."
Nabiki frowned slightly, tapping her finger against chin as she thought about what the two female werewolves were saying.
"You know... she might be right. Akane use to enter a bunch of competition both in Nerima and around other sites in Japan and she usually did very good," Nabiki said, thinking back on it. "But she stopped going to them after you and Uncle Saotome showed up Ranma."
"... your joking" Ranma said, raising a red color eyebrow.
"Violent girl was champion?" Shampoo asked, just as shocked as Ranma.
"I just forget about it all in the rush since you showed up Ranma-baby. It's all be chaos since then," Nabiki shook her head, laughing in disbelief, she use to make so much money off of Akane that way! "And I'm still surprised that your defending Akane-chan," She added to Jasper.
"Dun't get me wrong Nabs, I really dun't like your sister all that much. She's almost like some spoiled little preppy girl that thinks she better than everyone else. Bu,t" Jasper held up a hand to stop any comments that were coming her way "on tha other hand, it does get a little annoying ta hear yall go on and on about how bad and weak of a fighter she is. I may not like her attitude but even I'm willin’ to admit she's not as bad as that. And if you think she's bad, why doesn't anybody fuckin' train her for real?"
Shampoo huffed a little and shrugged her shoulders. She could care less about the kitchen destroyer as long as the girl didn't get in her way in snagging Ranma as her husband. Ranma on the other hand, felt just a tiny bit bad. She always had mixed feelings when it came to Akane, sometimes the girl could be really nice and was cute when she smiled. But more often than not, Akane's temper would get the better of her and on top of that, Akane was not at all trusting when it came to Ranma.
Nabiki sat back into her lounge chair and thought about it all, Akane was her younger sister that helped make her a lot of money to help keep the bills paid. With all the chaos that followed Ranma, she had stopped paying attention to little things like that for her sister if it didn't involve making her money. Akane stopped going to her competition, so she stopped paying attention to it. Funny that it took a gaijin that didn't even like Akane all that much to point out how unfair it all was.
**
"You look like yer thinkin' really, really hard," Jasper said as she padded over to Ranma, who was human and male at the moment. He was sitting on the roof of the cabin looking out over the lake and forest. He glanced up at Jasper, who had shifted to her half-way state at some point, as the other were sat beside him.
"Where's Auntie?" Ranma asked, turning his attention back to the lake.
"Inside getting that teacher lady ready for tonight. Gonna do something to keep her from turning into a kid for now on after tonight," Jasper said with a shrug. She was use to seeing weird things, a human female that changed from a little girl to a grown woman and back was hardly the strangest thing. "So what cha thinking about anyway?"
"... Akane. Some of the stuff both you and Nabiki said... hell, thinking about my whole messed up life," Ranma said, reaching up to fist a hand into his hair. "Ain't nothin’ about my life is normal. I go from being raised by a man who can't think about anything but himself most of the time who not only engages me to a bunch of girls, mostly to feed his fat stomach, but also takes me to a curse training ground and me ending being a girl.
"Then turn around that fat bastard isn't even my dad and I'm not even human at all to begin with. And I still have to deal with a girl who blames me for everything and has pretty much stated that she ain't marrin' me. Then a girl who I see is my best friend who also wants to marry me but I thought was a boy for years!"
"Well you know she'll a girl now don't cha? Can't you see her as a possible girl-friend?" Jasper asked as she leaned back on her hands.
"I still only see Ucchan as my sister at best. I missed her over the years, and I'm sorry I never realized she was a girl but I had always thought as 'him' as the brother I didn't have," Ranma hung his head and sighed. "Finding out Ukyo was a girl was a little shocking but I'm still not all that interested in her beyond her being my best friend."
"Well the few times I've seen her, she doesn't feel the same way," Jasper pointed out. Ranma sighed softly, leaning his chin onto his hand.
"I know, Kami knows she's made that clear plenty of times. And I've tried to make it clear that I didn't want to marry her without hurting her too much. Her family honor has all but been destroyed thanks to Pop and the only way to restore it is to kill me or marry me I guess," Ranma frowned, huffing softly. "Hell, I don't really want to marry any of them. All of them want me for some messed up family honor or cause Pop did something to them. Shampoo and Kodaichi is about the only ones who are really my fault I guess and at least their honest in what they want."
"Who's Kodaichi anyway? She's about the only one of your motley crew I haven't seen or met," Jasper asked, tiring to place a face with the name.
"She's Kuno's younger sister. Crazy as a bat and wants to marry my male self but kill my female one," Ranma explained. "Be happy you haven’t met her"
"I did see a girl at rich-boy's house, she left and I followed her to a dance school," Jasper said. "She was showing a bunch of little girls the basics of Gymnastics. She didn't look to crazy to me."
"Hnn... that can't be righ,t" Ranma said with another frown, that didn't sound like crazy Kodaichi at all. "Must have been someone else you saw..."
"Meh, maybe," Jasper said, shrugging her shoulders, she didn't care one way or another. She was asked here to keep werewolf hunting Kuno boy busy while Sati trained Ranma until he was able to defend himself. Of course, that got derailed a little bit since she was dragged into helping prepare for the first transformation nights. They were lucky that other than wondering around Neirma, the Kuno werewolf hunter seemed happier to be mooching off his cousins. "Still, what cha gonna do about all this?" Ranma sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"That's it, I just don't know. Seems no matter what I decide, my family's name is ruined and honor damaged," He said softly. "Almost everyone that's here either wants to kill me or marry me. Which sucks ‘cause I like to think if we wasn't all fighting, they could all be really great friends."
"Hey, correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as we can tell your adopted right?" Jasper asked, glancing over at the other were. Ranma nodded slowly, wondering where she was going with this. "So.... if you kinda think about it, it's not really your family's name, so you’re kinda in the clear in that."
Ranma blinked then frowned as he though over that statement, he supposed it was one way to look at it. If he went with that idea, then maybe he could get out of most of the arrangements he was stuck in, Shampoo being the only one he couldn't at this time. Then he shook his head and looked at the other were.
"No, Auntie's right. They adopted and raised me, at least pop's did, and legally I'm a Saotome," He said with a sigh.
**
Nabiki frowned then sighed as she leaned back from the window where she had been listening to Ranma and Jasper. She didn't put the stock in the 'family honor' much like her father did, but then again Soun was stuck on tradition. Something none of his daughters, not even Kasumi, followed like he did. Kasumi was stuck at home taking care of the house and their father but Nabiki knew in her spare time, her sister was taking on-line collage courses. Both she and Akane planed on going to collage once they were out of high school. Akane was even talking about going to the USA, mostly to get away from the forced marriage to Ranma.
And Nabiki was starting to really feel bad for Ranma, the younger boy seemed like he felt he was trapped and blamed for everything by everyone.
"Do... do husband really not want Shampoo?" Shampoo asked from the doorway, she had heard Ranma too.
"I don't know if Ranma knows what he wants," Nabiki said as she shut the window and turned to look at the purple hair girl. "Why are you asking that now? Ranma has told you plenty of times he didn't want to marry you but that never stopped you before."
"Shampoo knows but.... Shampoo not hear that tone of voice from Arien before," Shampoo said softly, rubbing her arm. "He sounds...."
“Lost? Depressed? Like his world is ending?" Nabiki supplied. "I don't know if it's that bad but think about it Shampoo, Uncle Saotome is constantly reminding him and Akane that they are suppose to get married. Add on top of that what he thought was his best guy friend is really a girl who wants to marry him then there's you, who came here to kill him then to marry him."
"But... but he defeat Shampoo!" Shampoo protested.
"Shampoo, those laws of your only apply to your village, the rest of the world doesn't care," Nabiki said bluntly. "You try to kill someone anywhere else; you would be thrown in jail or worse. Half the stuff you do would get you in jail anywhere else in fact, Nerima is so weird is the only reason why we're not all thrown into jail as it is."
"But Shampoo is already shamed back home, punishment worse than being forced to train on cursed grounds if she go back without Arien," Shampoo said, putting her hands on hips.
"Well maybe you should try to get to know Ranma better, try to make yourself more appealing to him. Throwing yourself at him, using potions, blackmail and running over his head with your bike isn't the way to make him like you," Nabiki said. "And all the fighting over him isn't helping either. Let me ask you something, is it like Ranma said, are you only wanting to marry him because of some obscure law in your village or do you really love him?"
Shampoo bowed her head, reaching up to absently run her fingers through a lock of hair.
"Shampoo.... Shampoo want marry Arien first cause he too too strong man and make good strong children," She said softly. "But longer Shampoo spends out of village, more she see how world not like village. Village have some things from outside world, medicine and books and even richer villagers have TV's, but life in village is warrior's life. Women are leaders and protectors of village, men place in home taking care and protecting children."
"Do you really think Ranma would go for something like that?" Nabiki asked with a shake of her head. "He's been taught that a woman's place is in the home, in fact most of the world has hand this mine set for years."
"Shampoo know, and Arien would not be force to stay in village if he no want," Shampoo said, looking back up at the other girl. "Lots time outsider men no like our life and rebel. Sometime village sister leave with new husband to live in his world. Lots time husband not live with wife, live in town down mountain where wife can visit. Children spilt then, wife take daughters while husband raise sons. But now, Shampoo not sure if elders will let Shampoo marry Ranma."
"Why not?" Nabiki said surprised.
"Ranma now Lycan, Lycan never would accept life style, not even in town for men," Shampoo explain. "Elders in past try to force Lycan men to live in our village, lot of village was destroyed. So elders decide that while would love Lycan blood in Joketsuzoku to make stronger, not worth risk. Lots times, wife decides to leave so can be with husband. So answer money girl questions.... at first Shampoo after Arien because it law and tradition but now... Shampoo would leave village if mean stay with Ranma, Shampoo give up future as leader for Ranma."
"And what if Ranma chooses someone else to be his wife?" Nabiki asked.
"Shampoo share, lots of men in village shared between village sisters. Is sister wives," Shampoo said. "Arien choose me when think still human, would have helped him choose other outsider girls as wives, new blood for village. Only when outsider defeat village sister do we try kill or we see as weak link or make sure she not attack village. If outsider woman save Joketsuzoku woman life or second wife to husband, is adopted into village and is new sister. Shampoo share with Spatula girl, is strong but not kitchen destroyer, she is an obstacle."
"Akane would never go for that even if she was open to marring Ranma," Nabiki said. Shampoo tilted her head as she looked at the older girl.
"What about you? Would money girl be open to sister wives?" Shampoo asked, making Nabiki blink then tilted her head back, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Hmmm... I don't know," She admitted. "Getting married isn't high on my list of plans right now"
"Shampoo share Arien with Money girl and Spatula girl," Shampoo said as she headed for the door. "Shampoo just putting out there." she added before slipping from the room.
"Hmm," Nabiki tapped her chin as she thought over what Shampoo told her.
***
"Alright cub, you should be in a lot more control tonight," Sati said, standing across from Ranma in the clearing near moonrise time. Both were already in hybrid forms, Ranma only wearing a pair of extremely tight boxers. Up in a nearby tree sat Jasper while Nabiki and Shampoo watched from the house. By Sati's side was Hinako in child from, wearing a long bath robe. The elder werewolf turned to her next. "Hinako, after you drain Jasper I'll use the last of the pressure points to lock you in your true adult form. It will finally destroy what Happosai did to you and in the morning, your two personalities should merge fully."
"I understand... it will be nice to finally stay an adult," Hinako said with a wistful smile then turned to Ranma. "But don't think this is going to help you in school Saotome-san, if you and your friends misbehave, I will still punish you"
"Yes Sensei," Ranma said, his ears flicking backwards as he could hear the snickers from the house.
"Right, I believe it’s show time everyone," Sati said, looking up in the sky as the moon started to come up. Ranma’s eyes closed as he felt the moon's pull on his senses, bringing the more wild part of him to the surface. His auntie was right, while the edge was still there; he had a lot more control over himself. He opened his eyes as he heard Sati call Jasper over and watched as Hinako brought out her 50-yen coin and pointed it at the female werewolf, the coin held between her pointer and middle fingers.
"Happo Fifty-yen Satsu!" the coin started to draw energy from Jasper, making the girl groan as she felt her energy leave her. As the stolen energy flowed from Jasper to Hinako, her body changed from a preteen girl to a very curvy adult. Jasper collapsed to the ground as the attack ended and adult Hinako tossed her hair over her shoulder. "That's better," she said, untying her bathroom and letting it slip down to her waist as she turned her back to Sati. Sati moved Hinako's hair over the other woman's shoulder and started to press the pressure points on her back that would undo the damage that Happosai made and allow Hinako to stay in this form.
Ranma meanwhile picked up Jasper and carried her over to the cabin, handing her over to Shampoo when the Joketsuzoku opened the door.
~That fucking sucked!~ Jasper moaned loudly in English as Shampoo helped her over to the couch. ~I am never doing that again, never ever!~
Meanwhile, Ranma rejoined the two women as Sati finished with Hinako.
"There we are," She said, nodding as she stepped back. "Once you and Ranma have sex, it will help cement the change."
"Well them Saotome-san, should we begin out lessons?" Hinako asked as she turned to Ranma, letting the robe fall all the way to the ground while giving Ranma a coy look while sending out pheromones that quickly heated up Ranma's blood, making him give a sexy part growl, part rumbling purr as he advance toward his English teacher.
****
Author note: First off, let me apologize for taking 3 years to get this chapter out. I don't have an good excuse other than I had a really bad case of writer's block for a long time and my life was really, really hectic for a while so writing wasn't on my mind. I was working at a place that I didn't enjoy anymore and it impacted my writing. But, I've gotten a new job in the last year and I've been working on and off on this and two other stories when I have the urge to write.
I will not be giving up on this story and it will hopefully not take me as long to get the next chapter out. I hope everyone enjoys this new chapter please excuse any errors I didn't manage to catch.
Edit 5-21-14: Fixed more grammar and spelling errors and changed Amazon to Joketsuzoku when needed. Other than that, nothing has changed.
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