Chapter 14

"Itz sooo hoooot." Ranma-onna sank back into the overstuffed recliner and stared out of the double glazed sliding doors at the lawn browning under the broiling sun.
"It's nineteen degrees in here now Ranma. If we turn the air down
any more the furo's going to freeze over."
"But it's hot out there" Ranma-onna whined, waggling a pathetic
hand in the direction of the outer inferno. "And I wanna work out." He
rolled his head, unwilling to waste energy lifting it from the back of
the chair, toward Nabiki. "When are they gonna finish putting AC in the
doujou?"
"Saotome Ranma, you are the laziest person on the face of the
earth. How did you ever survive ten years on the road?"
"By learning to conserve energy." Ranma replied smugly. "Hey, as
long as you're up, could you bring some lemonade?"
"Honestly Ranma. You can get it yourself."
"But Akane, Nabiki's already up?"
"Good grief I'll get it myself?" Akane started to get up, only to
be clamped in place by a suddenly energetic Ranma.
"Dr. Tofu said you're supposed to take it easy. No heavy lifting,
no martial arts. You've got to rest." He reinforced his command by
pulling the struggling girl tightly against him in the oversized chair.
"He said not to strain myself, not turn into a mushroom." Akane
tried to get up and was gently but firmly pulled back down. "Would you
let go?"
"Nope. Now what would you like for lunch?"
"Why? Are you going to chew if for me?" Akane returned
sarcastically "Or am I allowed to masticate by myself?
"Akane!" Ranma blurted, shocked and blushing.
"Masticate means to chew, sugar."
"Oh." Ranma sank deeper into the chair still red faced.
"Ha, I always knew you were a pervert!"
"It's not like that!"
"Oh, then why are you holding me so close?"
"Hey, were both girls! It don't count if we're girls."
Akane rolled over 'till she was half on top of Ranma.
"Oh? Then this doesn't matter." Akane slowly lowered her lips
toward Ranma-onna.
"Eeeeep." Ranma-onna tried to scramble out from under Akane, and
fell on the floor with a thump. She looked up at Akane's laughing face.
"Gotcha!"
"Akane! That's not fair."

"Hey guys, look at this! It's on again."
Everyone turned to the big screen TV that now dominated one wall
of the family room.
". . . weeks breaking story. More arrest today in the scandal
involving former Deputy Minister of Finance, Takehiro Kenzo. Documents
found with the former Minster outside the. . ."
The screen was suddenly filled with a video taken earlier in the
week. It showed Deputy, former Deputy ,Minister of Finance Takehiro
surrounded by a large crowd of people. The people may have been attracted
by the many boxes of papers encircling him. Boxes of papers that
diagramed years of corruption, extortion and outright theft. However
attractive some of the crowd may have found this documentary evidence of
corruption and scandal, on an international scale, it was the figure of
Takehiro himself that drew the most attention. The former Minister stood,
naked as an egg, every hair, including eyebrows, gone. His hands had been
glued to his buttocks by a powerful industrial adhesive, arching his back
and thrusting his pelvis forward in what the crowd obviously felt was a
very comical manner. He was anchored in place by reason of his male
member being firmly affixed to a light pole by the same, very powerful
glue. Some unfriendly soul had heaped further coals on his head by
inscribing rude words on his nude form.

"Ukyou do good calligraphy."
"Thanks Shan Pu. I get lots of practice making speciality
okanomiaki."
"Well, I think they're being very hard on poor Takehiro."
Ukyou speared Nabiki with a hard stare.
"Well, it's indirectly thanks to Takehiro that we have central
air, the big screen TV, a rebuilt kitchen and all the other goodies. And
it's amazing the wonderful bargains Kasumi is finding every time she goes
shopping. . ." Nabiki favored the room with a huge grin." Takehiro's
remaining 'associates' are so terrified that we might be unhappy
that. . ."

"Akane, come with me."
Everyone started at the nearly forgotten voice. Tendou Soun
hadn't left his room in days.
"Akane, I don't think you. . ."
Akane silenced Ranma with a gentle finger against his lips. "It's
OK, Ranma. He's my father." She stood up, with a little difficulty,
grabbed her crutches and followed her father out of the house. Ranma
watched with worried eyes as father and daughter disappeared into the
doujou.
Akane watched her father sink gracefully to the ground, and Akane
followed, slowly and painfully. She flushed in shame when her crutches
clattered noisily to the floor, but her father didn't seem to notice.
Akane had been so happy to be back home that she had ignored the rift
between her father and herself. She'd let herself pretend that everything
was back to normal, that the 'sakkiken' had never happened.
And now, here in the doujou with her father, she was more
frightened that she'd ever been in her life.
"I loved your mother very much."
Akane felt as if she'd been given an electric shock.
"She was so beautiful. And so strong. I met her when I was
wandering the land, improving my martial skills." Soun laughed bitterly.
"At least that's what I always told people. Actually I was a ronnin. No
family, no job, no friends. So I pretended that I was wandering to
improve my skills. And I pretended for so long that I began to believe
that it was true. Then I wandered into your grandfather's doujou and saw
your mother. She was doing naginatajutsu. I challenged your grandfather,
and he refused. Said that I had to face his senior student first. That
was your mother." Soun smiled at the memory. "Of course I was insulted at
the thought of fighting a woman, and I was contemptuous of her art. I
thought the naginata was a woman's weapon, something for young girls to
play with. Not a serious challenge. After she knocked me down for the
third time, I started to change my mind. And when she broke my arm, I
fell in love."
At Akane's gasp he looked down at her and smiled sadly. "I
deserved it. I was an arrogant, opinionated self-centered jerk. I kept
coming back day after day, and each day your mother would throw me out of
the doujou. Finally, your grandfather took me on as his student. He said
it a reward for my dedication. Actually, I think he felt sorry for me, or
maybe it was just too painful to watch my technique.
I kept challenging your mother and she kept beating me. And then
one day, your mother said that she'd better marry me before I hurt
myself. She said that she'd been talking to her father, and he'd agreed
to let me take the name Tendou. I didn't think that it was possible for a
man to be any happier than I was then. Until Kasumi was born. And then
Nabiki and then you, Akane."
Akane was startled to see tears in her father's eyes. She wanted
to hug him, but wasn't sure if he would accept an embrace from her.
"You were all so perfect, like little angels. I was terrified
that I would break you with my great clumsy hands. I wanted to pamper and
protect and cherish you all. I didn't want you to have the kind of life
I'd had or meet the kind of men I use to be. I wanted your lives to be
perfect."
"And then your mother got sick. And things began to go wrong. I
felt so helpless, so lost without her. I neglected you and your sisters.
I lost my students, I almost lost the house and doujou. When she died I
got into our bed, alone, for the first time in years, turned my face to
the wall and waited to die. I just wanted to follow her. I forgot all
about you, your sisters, my responsibilities. And by the time I realized
I was going to live, I'd lost everything else. Kasumi ran the house,
Nabiki was handling the money, and you. . ." Soun looked at his youngest
child, his eyes bright with some emotion Akane couldn't read. "You were
so like your mother. The same stubborn pride. The same independent
spirit, the heart so giving and so fierce at the same time. And I was a
stranger to you all. I'd lost you, lost her daughters. Abandoned her
children when they needed me most."
"Papa, no. That's not. . ."
Soun silenced her with a gentle shake of his head.
"And this last. After spending years living as a shadow,
depending on the daughters that knew they couldn't depend on me, I lash
out at my baby."
Again Akane wanted to go to her father and again he forestalled
her.
"I was angry that you had learned the 'sakkiken' not for your
sake. Not because of its danger to your life and your spirirt. I was
angry because it reminded me of my failure as a father. Of how much I'd
neglected you; that you'd think you had to do such a thing."
Soun turned to face Akane, and to her horror abased himself as if
in the presence of the Emperor.
"Please forgive me."
"Papa, no papa. Get up. Please get up" She was crying and tugging
at his sleeve, trying to pull him upright. She overbalanced and fell
forward, impacting her father's head with a resounding "thunk".
"Akane are you. . . ?"
"Papa, I'm sorry. . ."
They stopped, staring at each other then burst out laughing.
"Akane-chan. Can you forgive me?"
"Oh Papa. There's nothing to forgive. If Ra. . . if someone I
loved died, I wouldn't outlive them by five minutes. We always knew you
loved us. That mattered more than anything."
Soun hugged her tightly, then sat back and smiled.
"I see that you and Ranma are getting along much better. Should I
call the preacher back?"
"What, me marry that pervert?"
"Hey, I'm not a pervert."
Akane twisted as far and as fast as her injuries would permit her
to see, Ranma hanging from his knees from the door lintel, and behind him
Shan Pu, Moshu, Ryouga, Kasumi and behind them all Nabiki with her video
camera.
"What are you all doing here?"
"Ummm, well. Uh" Ranma stammered, "I, uh, that is we, we were
afraid. . ."
"Afraid? Of what? Are you saying that I can't take care of
myself? What do you mean following me around? To a private
family meeting!"
"Dr. Tofu said you're not supposed to get excited." Ranma said
sternly, dropping to the ground in front of her.
"Excited! EXCITED!" Akane's voice rose. "I'll show you. . . HEY!"
Ranma scooped her up in his arms. "You keep acting like a baby,
and you'll pull your stitches loose." He looked at the fuming girl
critically. "I think you need a nap. Then you won't be so cranky."
"Cranky! CRANKY! Why you egotistical, perverted. . .mmphh."
Ranma looked down at Akane's stunned face. "And there's more
where that came from if you give me any trouble."
With that he marched passed the stunned assembly, carrying Akane
into the house.
"Hey Ranchan, wait up. I've caused you more trouble than Akane
has.'
"Husband come back here. Shan Pu has make more trouble than
anyone."
They raced after Ranma and Akane.
"Oh my, doesn't anyone want tea?"

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End Notes

1: "third eye": This is an old style medical reflector worn on a head
band.

2: kanabo: long iron club traditionally used by Japanese Heroes

3: Gakidou: lit. Hungry Ghost. Referring to both the ferocity of the
fighting and the probable bad end of the losers.

4: Kobayashi: lit. Small Forest. An organized crime family of about sixty
members directly under the Tsuguta-Kumi a two thousand member Yakuza
syndicate. Yakuza: lit. eight-nine-three, a losing hand in an old card
game. Organize crime. Traditional businesses: gambling, extortion,
narcotics, prostitution, protection. Example of an extortion racket is
"Sokaiya". A Yak-chan(friendlier term than Yakuza) will buy one share of
a blue chip stock, then threaten to attend annual shareholders meetings,
ask embarrassing questions or create a disturbance. Corporations will buy
off the Yakuza and often pay for protection against other "sokaiya"
attempts.

5: Nomu-kaypa: lit. Money-Drinkers. Off track betting operation.

6: Katagi: lit. Spirit (common man) Theoretically the Yakuza never harm
the Katagi. However the following reputed quote from a "soldier" of the
Inagawa-kai seems to cast some doubt on this sentiment. "Because we honor
the katagi, we feel the katagi should honor us. They shouldn't pass
insulting laws which harm our prospects."

7: Chimpira: lit. little prick very low grade Yakuza "soldier"

8: Kumi-cho: gang boss

9: Tsuki-waza: direct strikes with hand and arms

10: Keri-waza: direct strikes with feet and legs

11: Aonama Chiasa: Cover Model and sex idol

12: Inpo: lit. impotence. Put down term for male felt to be weak or
inferior

13: Itachi: lit. weasel; skunk; mink; ermine. The "boy" in a lesbian
relationship

14: Zakennayo: originally from the term "fuzakeru na" meaning "to romp
around" "NOT!" Roughly equivalent to "Don't fuck with me"

15: Hakuin: Zen teacher and artist (1686-1769)The misquote refers to a
lesson to his students "You're imposters, the whole lot of you. You look
like Zen monks but you don't understand Zen.. . . What are you really
like? I'll tell you. Large sacks of rice fitted out in black robes."
Hakuin was referring to a lack of enlightenment not respect.

16: Mu: lit. Nothing. Zen term. Meaning varies according to context.

17: Yin/Yang in Chinese Medicine: Chinese medicine is base on the theory
that health is dependent on Yin and Yang being in balance. Disruption of
this balance causes various diseases.

18: Imouta: little sister

19: Kai-kumi: School of spear(yari) fighting in which the position of
readiness is with the yari kept close to the side; Jumonju-yari: Spear
fighting with intricate high and low patterns. ;Kagi-yari: hooked spear
fighting, specializing in parrying, hooking and deflecting techniques.

20: Naginatajutsu: lit. long sword technique. Naginata is also called the
"woman's spear"

21: Fundoshi: loincloth

22: Kyoto: Very conservative and tradition bound city; Doi: Exclusive
restaurant in the eastern hills of Kyoto. An "ichigen" trying to book a
table will be asked "Do you know anyone who eats here?" If the answer is
"No." The response to the request will be "Forget it."; Ichigen: lit.
First look. Restaurants in Kyoto routinely refuse entrance to "ichigen",
a customer that has not been introduced.

23: Kankoku jin: Korean or Japanese-born Koreans associated with South
Korea; Indo jin: Indian or someone who looks south Asian; Chugokujin:
Chinese, viewed as highest status Asians outside of the Japanese; i-jin:
a general way to say foreigner or alien; Gaijin-sama: linguistically
polite. However this depends on context. For example "chotto gaijin-sama
dame literally means "we don't take honerable foreigners". Which however
actually may mean according to context (i.e., tone and body language)
"None of those fu**ing so-called honorable foreign barbarians allowed into
my pure Japanese-only establishment. Get lost!"

24: Ketjak: Balinese Monkey Dance/Wu-shu: Chinese boxing

25: Kubota: right wing lecturer 26: Uyoku: ultra right wing nationalists.
In 1989 the right-wing Seiki-Juku(Common-Sense Party) tried to
assassinate Mayor Hitoshi Motoshimi of Nagasaki because he said that
Emperor Hirohito bore "some responsibility" for WWII. While recovering
from a bullet in the back he was ousted from the Liberal Democratic
Party. Toyohisa Eto, chair of the All-Japan Youth Federation made the
following statement."Freedom of speech is a good thing, but people like
Mayor Motoshima must not abuse that provilege." Although the "Uyoku" who
are fanatical race purists and "Yakuza" have very close ties, the
"Yakuza" are one of the few places in Japan that "hafu" (half-breeds) and
"i-jin" are accepted.

27: Amaterasu-oumi-kami: Sun goddess. Mother of Japanese race.

28: Katanakaji: sword smith; Katanashi: loss of face

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