Neko by Mark Doherty (mdoherty@mailbox.uq.edu.au) Chapter 2: Meow...? Characters are the property of Takahashi Rumiko. I deserve to be thrown in the spring of drowned ferret for even thinking of using them. Please don't sue me, I am but a poor and penniless student. C&C's are welcome, wanted and not wasted on me. My conventions explained: - The suffix -kun is used to denote a character's cursed male form. No suffix indicates that the person isn't in their cursed form. If someone turns up with a girl curse, they'll get the -chan suffix. Animal curses are denoted by the name of the animal as a suffix. After a couple of times, animal suffixes will probably usually be shortened to the first letter. For example, Henry-Mockingbird, or Henry-M after the first couple of times the name is used in a scene. - <> Denotes Chinese. - [] Denotes thoughts. - ** Is animal speak when used without quotes, and is sound effects within quotes. For example: *Hello.* the duck quacked. And: "*sigh*" she sighed. - {} Are Panda signs. "Cruel, but composed and bland, Dumb, inscrutable and grand, So Tiberius might have sat, Had Tiberius been a cat." - Poor Matthias by Matthew Arnold. ********************* "Aren't you cute?" The cat blinked as the strange boy who had rescued him from the black and white beast started to stroke his fur. Rational thoughts floated to the surface of his mind and then they were submerged again, submerged by his cat persona. [No. No...] his thoughts whispered to him. But he ignored such things. What was speech to a cat? [Don't pu...] the cat started to purr as the boy that was holding him continued to stroke him. [No...] his thoughts whispered to him, before the cat within him became dominate again. ********************* Ukyou looked down at the purring cat he was holding. There was something about the feline that seemed so familiar... Nearby, the Tendos were looking at the panda, who was slowly standing. "You don't think its dangerous do you?" Soun whispered to Nabiki. "Why don't you find out, Father?" Nabiki replied, pushing her father between her and the now standing panda. {Hello.} the panda signed. "Well he looks harmless." Kasumi decided. "Would you like some bamboo shoots Mr Panda?" {I'm insulted.} the panda signed indignantly. It hesitated, before it twirled the sign around to reveal {Unless, of course, they're tasty bamboo shoots...} Ukyou, having decided that the panda was no threat, retrieved his giant spatula, keeping the cat in the hook of his left arm. He eyed the dojo speculatively, before he turned to Akane. "Say, Akane, would you mind having a spar in your dojo? It's been a while since I've sparred under a roof. And we haven't sparred as g... uh... in our normal forms for a while now." Akane nodded. "Sure." she said. She looked at the cat, before she added "You seem to like that cat." Ukyou looked at the furry bundle he was carrying. The cat looked back up at him with the typical haughty expression of a cat. "There's just something so innocent about him." he said. "It just reaches into my heart." "Why Ukyou." Akane said with a smile as the two teenagers walked off to the dojo. "I never would have thought you were such a softy at heart." Ukyou smiled as he limbered up his right arm with his combat spatula. "We'll see how soft I am. Remember, I don't go easy on girls." "Like you have the option." Akane retorted as they walked into the dojo. Back where the other Tendos were, the panda looked around, almost as if it was searching for something. Finally, it shrugged and lead a slightly nervous Soun inside. ********************* Ukyou and Akane, who was now dressed in a gi, were sparring in the dojo. Ukyou had the advantage in reach thanks to his combat spatula, but Akane was holding her own in the fight. The cat was napping in a corner of the dojo, apparently completely uninterested in the spectacle. "So when are you going to tell your father?" Ukyou asked as he swung his spatula in a low arc at Akane's feet. Akane leapt over the strike and came down, her fist extended in her own attack. After Ukyou dodged, Akane drew back a bit and said "I don't know... This isn't an easy thing to tell him." "You have to tell him sooner or later." Ukyou noted as she backed up from a series of fist strikes by Akane. Akane sighed as Ukyou stopped dodging and started his own attack. "Maybe..." she admitted. Ukyou stopped his attacks, looked at Akane, and said "Break?" Akane nodded. "I guess." She turned and looked at the cat. "And you were no help. Just sitting there like that." The cat looked up for a moment before he sat his head down again. Ukyou snickered. "I don't think he's too worried." "Well..." Akane said with a glint in her eyes as she advanced on the cat. "We'll see how unfazed our little friend here can stay." She lunged at the cat. The cat seemed to blur as he rose from his resting position and leapt over Akane, using her shoulder as a stepping stone. The weight of the cat overbalanced the girl, and Akane ingloriously fell on her face. Ukyou couldn't help it, he started laughing. It didn't help that the cat was calmly licking one of its front paws as Akane rose from her undignified position. "I think he's defeated you Akane." Ukyou chortled. Akane looked annoyed for a few moments before she started to laugh too. ********************* At the table in the living room, Soun sat opposite a heavy-set man who was dressed in a white gi. The other man wore a white bandanna that covered what was almost certainly a bald head. The man also wear a pair of glasses that were tied around his ears, perhaps to ensure they didn't come off under stressful conditions. Steam was wisping off the man. Perhaps that had something to do with the nearby kettle, which also had steam drifting out of it's spout. "Incredible." Soun said. "Genma, old friend, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed it." The other man, Genma, nodded. His face was set in a serious expression. "And... Ranma...?" Soun asked hesitantly. Genma sighed. "A true tragedy. I wonder if he was born under an unlucky star..." "What curse could affect a man deeper than yours?" Soun asked in awe. "He... isn't a girl is he? You're not saying he can't marry Akane are you?" Genma shook his head. "If only his problem were so simple. This goes beyond the affliction he shares with me. You see..." Genma leaned forward, and started to whisper to Soun. A growing look of horror enveloped Soun's face. Finally, after Genma had finished, he looked at his heavier friend and said "You know, that was pretty stupid, even by your standards." Genma cleared his throat. "Anybody could have made the same mistake." he defended. "Mistakes." Soun corrected. "Well, yes." Genma admitted. "But that is in the past now. What we must do now is look to the future." Soun looked speculative. "I'm sure the engagement will help the boy resolve his problems." Genma grinned. "I agree." The two men smiled, before they shook hands. ********************* Ukyou was sitting on the porch of the dojo, stroking the cat. Kasumi walked up with a towel and said "Ukyou-kun, why don't you take a bath? You must be sweaty after a practice session." Ukyou looked at Kasumi for a second before he said "Ok. Thank you for thinking of me Kasumi." Kasumi smiled. It was no easy job, taking care of this household. Right now, for example, she had to go get some drinks for Father and his friend. It was a testament to Kasumi's efficiency that she had time to take care of the other guest at the Dojo. Still, with all the things on her mind, perhaps it was understandable that she had momentarily forgotten to find out where Akane was... ********************* Akane luxuriated in the bath, enjoying the feeling of the hot water. It was amazing the things you could miss when you didn't have easy access to them. The last three months had taught her that. It had also taught her that some things were best left alone. Still, at least one good thing had come out of the disastrous trip to China. Ukyou. Akane had thought she'd never meet a boy her own age that she could like. But Ukyou was so different. He didn't chase after her like all the other boys seemed to. He seemed to genuinely want to be her friend simply for friendship's sake, not to have her as some sort of trophy like all the other boys she had known. She started from her reverie when she heard a knocking at the bathroom door. "Akane?" Ukyou's voice drifted in. "Are you still in there." Akane's eyes widened. "Don't come in!" she shouted. Stupid! She'd forgotten to stick up the occupied sign when she'd taken her bath. Living without a private bathroom for the last three months had made her forget some of the baser rules of living with others. Still, that was another good thing about Ukyou. He'd never just rush in, even when there wasn't any sign up. He valued people's privacy, both his own and others, too much to ever just walk in. A few minutes later, Akane walked out of the bathroom, dressed in a robe with a towel around her hair. "All yours." she said to Ukyou, who had been waiting patiently outside. She looked down at the cat in Ukyou's arms, and added "You're not going to give him a bath are you?" Ukyou laughed. "No, no. But I don't want the poor thing running off, so I thought I'd keep him somewhere where I can keep an eye on him until his owner turns up." Akane shrugged. "Well, have it your way. I'm going to dress and see if Dad knows exactly when the Saotomes are going to get here. I don't want anymore false alarms like before." Ukyou nodded before he walked into the bathroom, still holding the cat. ********************* Ukyou let the cat go as he closed the door behind him. He looked down at the cat, which was sitting on the tiled floor, apparently content to do nothing. "No peeking now." Ukyou said playfully. "That wouldn't be very gentlemanlike of you." The cat looked up at Ukyou as he took off his shirt. Then, seemingly bored, the cat lay down, resting his head on his front paws. Ukyou, meanwhile, had finished undressing and was now in the bath up to his chin. He looked over at the cat before he shook his head. "You're a strange one." he said. "But that's ok. You'll fit in just fine around me and Akane. Now if you were normal you might have trouble..." The cat didn't deign to reply. But then, he was a cat. Why would a cat be affected one way or another by someone's words? ********************* Akane walked down the stairs, refreshed after her bath. She had gone upstairs after her soak so that she could get changed, and now she was coming down again to see who the man with her father was. "Hello." Akane said as she walked into the living room. Genma and Soun looked up. "Ah, Akane." Soun said. "I'd like to introduce you to Saotome Genma, Ranma's father." Akane felt a stab of ice in her heart. If his father was here, then... she looked around. There was no-one else in the room. "But... where's Ranma?" she asked. "Oh, I'm sure he's nearby." Genma said. He hesitated, before he added "Tell me, Akane, I have a cat that should be around here somewhere. Have you seen him?" "Ukyou's been taking care of him." Akane explained easily. "He just took him with him to the bath." Genma's eyes widened. "What!?" he exclaimed, before he rushed out of the door that led to the bath. "Did I say something wrong?" Akane asked. ********************* Genma barrelled into the bathroom just in time to see Ukyou finish buttoning up his shirt. Ukyou looked up and snarled "Don't you know how to knock... you!" "Do I know you?" Genma asked. Ukyou was about to reply when there was a knock at the half-closed door. "Is there something wrong?" Akane called in. Ukyou clenched his fists. "No. Nothing's wrong." he snarled as he swept past Genma. "I'll deal with you later." he vowed quietly to the older man as he walked out of the room. "How rude." Genma muttered. "Kids these days." He looked over at the cat, who was looking back at him, tail swishing. "Come on Ranma, time to meet your fiancee properly." The cat hissed as the Genma approached him, but Genma had obviously had practice with the cat's attitude before. With a swiftness that belied his size, Genma swept up the cat and, in the same motion, threw the animal into the hot water of the bath. "Time to wake up to yourself." Genma muttered to himself as something a lot bigger than a cat rose from the bath. "In more ways than one, my boy, it is time to wake up to yourself." ********************* In the dining room, the Tendos and Ukyou were sitting around the table. "I can't believe he just walked in like that!" Ukyou was muttering to Akane. Akane looked at her friend with puzzlement on her face. "I can't see what your problem is." she admitted. "I mean, you're both guys, right?" Ukyou cleared his throat. "Ummm... that's not the point. I don't like people walking in on me when I'm in the bath, no matter who they are." Akane shrugged. "Well, I'm sure if you ask everyone not to come in when you're in the bath then won't bother you next time." "Next time?" Ukyou asked. "Well, you told me you had nowhere to go, so I managed to get my Dad to let you stay here for a while." Akane explained. "But what about Ranma?" Ukyou asked. Akane blushed slightly. "Ra... Ranma? What do you mean? You know that I don't want to be engaged to him." "What?" Ukyou asked. "I meant that I don't think I could live under the same roof as him..." "Oh." Akane said. "That vengeance thing. Come on Ukyou, where are you going to go if you don't stay here?" Ukyou thought about it. "Well... if I'm not imposing, and your father thinks it's ok, how can I argue?" "Of course my Dad thought it was ok." Akane said with a smile. [At least he did after I threatened to go back to China. I still have to tell him about my curse too. I bet he'll take _that_ well.] ********************* Nabiki looked over at her younger sister and the young man Akane had brought with her. It was just unbelievable. Her sister, the man-hater, and yet not only did she have every boy at school after her but now she was acting like she and this boy were old friends. What had happened on that trip that Akane had so foolishly taken? "So if that was Mr Saotome..." Akane was saying to her father, "...then where's Ranma?" "Why, he's right here." Genma said from the entrance to the dining room that led to the bathroom. Next to him stood the young man that the panda had chased. Ranma looked a bit woozy. [Hey, he's actually a major hunk.] Nabiki thought as she looked on. [Making Akane the sacrificial lamb in this engagement thing is starting to look a little hasty all of a sudden...] Ranma's eyes seemed to focus before he said "Hi there..." ********************* Meanwhile, at the docks of some Japanese town, the captain of a freight ship was seeing something he'd never been so glad to see. Dry land. That would have to have been _the_ worst trip he had ever _heard_ about, let alone been on. He looked over at the young woman who stood waiting to disembark. She had long black hair that was tied back in a ponytail. She probably would have been beautiful, if it wasn't for her seemingly permanent haughty glare, a glare that she directed at anyone who got too close. Not that anyone did get too close. She was a witch, that one. Not only were there her strange shapeshifting companions, but the first mate had sworn that he had seen her change her shape as well, one night when a storm had been giving them trouble. No-one disbelieved the first mate, if anyone could be a mistress of dark powers, it was this woman. After all, what sane woman would wear a leotard like it was some sort of everyday wear? The woman looked up at the captain, a look that from most would probably be a promise of unending death, but from her was probably an almost friendly goodbye gaze. She looked down around her, at what appeared to be a mass of brown fur. "Come then, my little brethren." the woman said to the heap of brown fur. "It is time to find my brother, and chastise him for conveniently forgetting to bring me back with him." She smiled, and then she laughed as she leapt off the ship onto the dock. The brown mass flowed, before it separated into several dozen shapes. *Right, you heard our Queen.* one of the creatures squeaked. *Follow her!* he cried, before he leapt after his mistress. There was a pause, and then the other lemmings flowed over the side, landing on the dock. Soon, the ship was free of the woman's seemingly magical hold. "Right, let's get out of here." the captain said as he watched the woman bound off, her lemming escort following her. "I thought we were going to have a couple of days rest here." the first mate protested. "In the same country she's in?" the captain retorted. "I'll go get clearance from the docksmaster." the first mate replied quickly. In the distance, an horrible, spine-shivering, insane laugh mixed in with the excited squeaks of several dozen small rodent-like creatures... ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** What, did you think those lemmings wouldn't have a major impact on the story? Lemmings shall rule the world... Till next time.