Nerima, Japan:
The day is dismal and dreary. The streets are half empty, and the people are crowded under umbrellas and hiding under the shop awnings. The sun hides behind the drab, gray storm clouds. Rain is pouring down in sheets and the air is heavy with building moisture. Four figures walk through an empty alleyway. Coming into view, a redhead is seen walking calmly with a small black-brown rabbit riding on her right shoulder. Following the redhead, is a beautiful woman in a blue, flower-patterned kimono standing under a yellow umbrella. The woman carries a long package in a brown wrapping. Straggling behind them is a large panda, its head staring at the ground.
“Ranma dear,” The woman says to the redhead softly, “wouldn’t you and Motoko rather be under the umbrella?”
“Nah,” Ranma-chan answers. “Motoko and I both think of it as training.”
“I know that you like Kempo dear,” Nodoka begins, “but Motoko’s an Aoyama swordswoman. I don’t think that her families’ art requires training in the elements.”
“I know that she’s an Aoyama,” Ranma-chan replies, “but she’s also training in the Saotome School of Anything Goes, right?”
“That is true,” Nodoka nods. “Alright, but don’t tell me I didn’t warn you if you two catch a cold.”
“If you say so mother,” Ranma-chan sighs. “Why are we in Nerima?”
“Well, your father promised something to Soun Tendo when you were a baby,” Nodoka answers sadly. “I didn’t agree wholeheartedly at first, but I now I think it was a warranted idea. It’ll assure your manliness, and the schools will be stronger for it.”
“If you say so mom,” Ranma-chan shrugs. “So, we’re headed to the Tendo dojo?”
“Yes dear,” Nodoka replies. “I think that Soun and the girls got our letter telling them of our planned arrival today.”
“Okay,” Ranma-chan says with another shrug. “Lead the way.”
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Soun Tendo sits in front of the table, reading the postcard sent by Nodoka. His eyes are tearing and he smiles happily. He stands quickly, and rushes around the house. He first enters the kitchen where Kasumi is busy preparing dinner.
“Kasumi!” Soun exclaims.
“Yes father?” Kasumi replies, turning from the stove.
“Come to the family room,” Soun orders gently. “I’ll be in there with your sisters shortly.
Soun exits the kitchen and runs up the stairs. He turns at the top and runs down the hall to Nabiki’s bedroom. He opens the door and calls out to Nabiki. She sits on her bed reading a magazine.
“Nabiki, meet me and your sisters in the family room,” Soun orders the girl swiftly. “I have important news.”
“Okay,” Nabiki responds. “I’ll be there.”
Soun leaves Nabiki’s room and turns back into the main hallway. He jogs to his youngest daughter’s room to find it empty.
“Now where is that girl?” He asks the room.
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Akane stands in the middle of the dojo, a stack of cinder blocks at her feet. She takes a deep breath, and then plows her right fist through the stack of cement blocks. A stray pebble bounces to the dojo door and Nabiki stops it with the underside of her foot.
“Now that felt good,” Akane exhaled.
“There you go again Akane,” Nabiki admonishes. “This is the type of thing that makes the boys think that you’re so weird.”
“So why should I care Nabiki?” Akane retorts. “I’m not the one who thinks the world revolves around …” Akane grits her teeth, the anger rising within her, “Boys!” She finishes.
“No?” Nabiki quips. “Then I guess that this wouldn’t interest you.” Nabiki turns and walks down the steps away from the dojo, folding her arms behind her head.
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Minutes later, the three Tendo girls sit across the table from their father. He explains to them the whole situation.
“Fiancée?” Kasumi asks her father unsurely.
“Yes,” Soun answers. “The son of a good friend of mine. His name is Saotome Ranma. If one of you three girls were to marry him and carry on the school, then the Tendo family legacy would be secure.”
“Hey!” Akane exclaims. “Don’t we get to have some say in who we’re gonna marry?”
“Maybe you should wait until we meet him.” Nabiki says quickly. “You never know; he might be really cute. Right, daddy?”
Soun laughs and looks at the postcard again. “He’ll be here any minute. Ranma, Motoko Aoyama, and Ranma’s parents have been on a trip. They recently crossed into China.”
“Ooooh, China,” Nabiki says excitedly.
“So he hiked all the way to China,” Akane says, none too impressed. “Wow, big deal.”
“Father, how old is this, Ranma?” Kasumi asks.
“Is he cute?” Nabiki queries.
“Younger men are so … young,” Kasumi states.
“Well, what kind of guy is he?” Nabiki asks again.
Soun laughs a little. He turns his head towards the three girls. “I don’t know,” He states simply. “I’ve never met him.”
Then a girl’s voice is heard at the front gate. “Let go you old fool!” She exclaims loudly. “I told you that I’d come, you didn’t have to carry me!”
“Sounds like we have visitors,” Kasumi says.
“Ooooh, it must be Ranma,” Nabiki says as she takes of for the door.
“Saotome, my friend,” Soun shouts, following Nabiki, “we’ve been waiting.”
Shortly after Soun disappears around the corner, Nabiki runs back into view, soon followed by Soun. Behind them, a large panda carrying a redheaded girl walks in. The girl is wrestling to get out of the panda’s grasp while shouting her protests.
“C’mon pop!” the girl shouts. “You’re scaring them spit less!”
“So Father,” Kasumi says, “this is your friend?” She is staring at the panda.
Soun shakes his head vigorously.
“So,” Nabiki says dryly, “this panda decided to drop in. Is that it?"
Soun shakes his head vigorously again.
Behind the panda, a woman with a black-brown rabbit walks in as well. “Hello Soun,” She says brightly. “It’s good to see you again.”
Soun looks around the panda and stares at the woman for a moment. “N … Nodoka?” He asks finally.
“Good to see that you remember me,” She answers with a smile. “So, these are your daughters?”
“Yes,” Soun nods, “yes they are.”
“You aren’t going to offer us any tea?” Nodoka asks.
“Oh!” Kasumi exclaims. “I’m sorry; I’ll get you some tea right away.”
“Come in, come in!” Soun says, ushering the woman into the room. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”
“I wasn’t aware that my husband would carry Ranma in like that,” Nodoka replied. “Oh, I forgot. Soun, this is my son, Saotome Ranma.” Nodoka shoves Ranma in front of her.
“It’s good to meet you my boy!” Soun exclaims, hugging Ranma-chan. He is surprised at what he feels and gives Ranma a few squeezes. Pulling back, he looks at Ranma oddly. Nabiki, curious at her father’s reaction, looks a Ranma closely. Seeing Ranma-chan’s chest, she pokes her a couple of times then gropes her left breast to investigate.
Unnerved, Ranma freezes. “Could you please stop that?” She asks softly.
“Ranma’s not a boy!” Nabiki exclaims. “He’s a girl!”
“A g-g-g-girl!?” Soun stutters. He looks at Ranma-chan for a second, then promptly faints.
“I figured he’d burst into tears,” Nodoka laughs. “Ranma, you can practice some if you like.”
“Can I have some tea first?” Ranma-chan asks.
“If you want,” Nodoka nods.
The rabbit finally decides to make a break for the kitchen while the Tendo girls are preoccupied with Soun. She gathers a empty kettle into her mouth and fills it in the sink. Hopping over to the stove, she heats the water filled kettle to a bath-type temperature. She turns off the stove and takes the kettle into her mouth again. Hopping into the family room where Nodoka and Ranma-chan are talking, she jumps in front of Ranma-chan with the hot water. Ranma-chan nods and grabs the pack she had been carrying. Pulling out some clothes, she grabs the kettle and the rabbit. Kasumi walks in just as Ranma-chan is about to pour some of the water onto the waiting rabbit.
“Oh,” Kasumi smiles. “That’s a very cute rabbit. Auntie Saotome, I forgot to ask where my old playmate Motoko was.”
Nodoka smiles and points to the rabbit. “Watch and you’ll see.”
Kasumi tilts her head in a questioning gesture. She just nods briefly and turns to Ranma-chan. Ranma-chan pours half of the kettle on herself, triggering a change into Ranma-kun. Then he proceeds to pour the remainder over the rabbit. The rabbit swiftly changes form into that of a young female. She quickly puts the clothing Ranma held out onto her fit frame. Kasumi stands there, slightly awed at the event.
“Oh my,” Kasumi breathes.
Motoko smile ruefully at her old playmate. “Hello Sumi-chan,” She says softly.
Kasumi smiles and walks up to Motoko slowly. “I missed playing with you Toko-chan.”
“I missed playing with you and Nab-chan too,” Motoko replies.
Kasumi pulls Motoko into a tight embrace. “It’s been too long,” She sighs.
“It has,” Motoko agrees. Pulling free from Kasumi’s embrace, she grabs Kasumi’s hand. “What has happened since I was here last?”
“Mother has passed away, and father is far more emotional now,” Kasumi sighed sadly.
“I’m sorry about Auntie Kimiko,” Motoko said softly.
“No, no,” Kasumi said quickly. “Don’t be, it happened a long time ago. This is a happy reunion.”
“Okay,” Motoko nodded. “I guess we’d better explain things to Nab-chan, Akane, and Uncle Soun.”
“I guess that’s a good idea,” Kasumi agreed. “He’ll probably cry himself to sleep if we didn’t.”
Motoko looked around. “Did you see where that no-good Genma-panda went?” She asked Kasumi.
“Oh,” Kasumi glanced around. “The panda was mister Saotome? I guess he might have gone to get hot water.”
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A little while later, as Soun was coming to, Motoko, the Tendos, and the Saotomes were gathered around him. He opened his eyes to see Akane, Kasumi, and Genma looked down at him. He nearly leapt for joy at seeing his old friend’s face.
“Saotome, my friend,” Soun said loudly. “What kept you?”
Nodoka cleared her throat to gather everyone’s attention. “I had better tell you this story myself.”
Everyone gave her their full attention, save Motoko, Ranma, and Genma.
“I’ll start at our journey into China,” Nodoka began. “Genma and I found a guidebook for training grounds found in the mountains. I had little Chinese learned and Genma, being Genma of course, was clueless in the language. I learned more Chinese as we went, but not enough to fully understand what was written in the book. We made it to the training grounds with a helping hand from a few guides. Once there, the grounds guide began to relate the story. My husband, along with Ranma and Motoko, jumped headlong into the grounds without heeding any word. I found out that the grounds were named the “Cursed Springs of Jusenkyo”. But, Genma and these two wouldn’t listen to reason so, I jumped in to teach them a lesson.”
Genma interrupted her at this point. “I was handling these two just fine until that point, but she would see fit to let me handle the situation, and promptly cut the bamboo pole from underneath me.”
“And as revenge,” Motoko cut in angrily, “you saw fit to attack her, but instead hit me. I ended up falling into the ‘Usaginiichuan’, or ‘Spring of Drowned Rabbit’.”
“And to make things go full circle,” Ranma said dryly. “The old man tried to get at mom again, and got me after she easily dodged him. Thus knocking me into the ‘Nyanniichuan’, or ‘Spring of Drowned girl’.”
“That concludes the tale of the unsightly trip to the Jusenkyo training grounds,” Nodoka finished with a nod. “It wouldn’t have been that way if Genma had listened to the guide.”
“As a martial artist,” Genma proclaimed, “you should be prepared to lay down your life for the art.”
“Yeah,” Ranma and Motoko shouted, leaping to their feet.
“But not my femininity,” Motoko yelled while sweeping Genma’s feet from under him.
Ranma’s fist followed Motoko’s sweep, sending the large man sailing into the Koi pond. “And definitely NOT my manhood.” He proclaimed.
Genma-panda rose from the pond and leapt at Ranma and Motoko. Nodoka tossed Motoko’s katana from out of their pack into Motoko’s hand. Motoko swiftly nailed Genma-panda in the gut with the sword’s hilt, doubling him over, then sent him sliding away with a quick kick to the chest. Ranma caught Genma-panda in the back with a round house as Motoko walked away with Kasumi. Regaining his wits, Genma-panda managed to dodge Ranma’s next three attacks and counter with a paw into Ranma’s stomach. Doubling over, Ranma’s guard fell. Seeing the chance, Genma-panda hurled Ranma into the Koi pond, triggering the curse and changing him into Ranma-chan.
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Motoko and Kasumi sat in the kitchen swapping a few stories. Motoko was drinking some tea Kasumi had made and was happily explaining what it was like to live as a rabbit whenever hot water was scarce.
“It’s not really too bad,” Motoko said, “but I still want to find a cure.”
“I think you looked rather cute,” Kasumi said idly. She soon realized her slip, and put a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”
“It’s not a problem,” Motoko said passively. “I thank you for the compliment.”
Kasumi took her hand away from her mouth. “Oh,” She said softly.
Silence fell between the two childhood friends. They sat there for several minutes just drinking tea and enjoying the other’s presence. Their comfort was interrupted by someone clearing their throat at the kitchen entrance. Turning to the intruder, the girls relaxed when they saw that it was only Nodoka. They both smiled a little at the older woman as she walked in between the pair.
“Motoko, Kasumi,” Nodoka said stopping to pour herself a glass of tea, “I would like the two of you to join m in the main room. I have some an announcement to make.”
“Yes Auntie Saotome,” Kasumi replied lightly.
“Hai,” Motoko replied reflexively.
Nodoka gave the girls a soft smile. “Good. Let us go then. Kasumi, please bring the tea with you.”
“Okay Auntie Saotome,” Kasumi replied grabbing the tea tray and several glasses.
Motoko and Kasumi followed Nodoka out of the kitchen and into the main room. They sat next to each other, and Nodoka sat next to Genma and Ranma. She cleared her throat and called the ‘meeting’ to order.
“Now girls, Ranma,” Nodoka said addressing the four Tendo girls and Ranma, “I have come to a decision. Ranma, you can choose your fiancée from Akane and Nabiki.”
“Fiancée?” Ranma blurted out. “Is that why we’re here? That was the promise? How does that prove my manliness? And how can it help the Saotome school of Anything Goes?”
“It doesn’t help the Saotome school, it helps the Anything Goes school,” Nodoka responded. “By uniting the Tendo and Saotome schools, the Anything Goes style of Martial Arts is whole once again. And by proving your manliness, I meant your ability to satisfy and support your bride.”
“That’s great mom,” Ranma said, sarcasm dripping in his voice.
“Um … Auntie Saotome,” Kasumi said, gathering the attention to her.
“Yes Kasumi?” Nodoka asked, turning to the eldest Tendo daughter.
“Why am I not one of the candidates?” Kasumi asked softly.
Nodoka smiled motherly. “Because you are Motoko’s fiancée,” She answered, taking a sip of her tea.
“Oh, so that’s …” Kasumi trailed off as the full realization dawned on her. “Oh my,” She said softly, then she promptly fainted.