Ranma pulled back a little as his father stood over him, not out of fear, but out of experience. He knew that when his father straightened his shoulders, and stuck out his chin like that, he was going to be making some sort of declaration that Ranma wouldn't want to hear. That was usually the case when his father decided that he needed to expound on some non-existent wisdom that he believed had led him to some great understanding of the world. Since most of his father's 'understanding' wasn't exactly anything of the sort, it wasn't like he expected anything other than the regular yelling.
"Boy!" Genma declared.
"Yeah...." Ranma tried cautiously.
"I.... I'm so proud of you!"
The pigtailed boy's jaw dropped. This, as it were, was not in the normal vein of how things worked. "Huh?"
"I am so proud over how you have taken control over the situation!"
"Ya... are?"
"I sure am! After all, all you needed to know was that Tendo needed you to rescue his daughters, and you went and did it. All without knowing anything about the details of my arrangement of him."
"Well, it was the only thing that I could do," the younger Saotome admitted, aware of how wrong it would have been to leave them in that sort of situation.
"I must have raised you well!"
"Ya just got lucky."
"No, I must have done something right with your upbringing. With all that training, I brought you up to know what is important. Why, you went to make certain that my plans would work out. And now because of you working to support what I, as your father, have decided, we can continue on even better than before."
"I knew it...."
Genma frowned at his son as the boy muttered under his breath. "What was that?"
"Nothin' that ya'd pay attention to, old man."
"Oh, really...."
"Yeah...."
"It doesn't matter anyway. You've done what you were supposed to do, and that means that you're learning to follow my lead. I couldn't be more pleased with the sort of man that you are becoming," the elder Saotome boasted, slapping his son on the back.
"Hey!"
"What?"
"D'ya mind not doin' that?"
"Be a man. You can handle a little tap like that."
"Sure I can, but...."
"Then you don't have to worry about it. You're a strong boy, as my training has been directed towards that. There is no way that someone could reach your strength level by your age other than that. In fact...."
"What?" Ranma asked, recognizing that his father had some sort of idea floating in his head.
"Why don't you bring them into the house?"
"Huh?"
"Your slaves! Or are you just going to leave them to sleep here?"
"Ya want me ta do it by myself?"
"Of course! They do belong to you, and that means that they're your responsibility. Besides, such menial work is not meant for a wise and powerful sensei like me."
"'Witless and powerless' is more like it."
"What did you say?"
"Ya heard me!"
"Stupid boy! It's your job to take your property inside, understand?!"
Ranma glared at his father, understanding the need to take care of the girls, though wanting to pop his old man one, while:
Thu Mar 23 21:51:47 2006