A Side of Wild Magic revision.

[KonokoHasano]

In a detour move from working on the revisions of the main story, I have decided to revise a little of A Side of Wild Magic to better fit in with the rewrite as a whole. The original first chapter of this side story has been dropped, and the second chapter has been turned into the first chapter. Certain things that happened within the first chapter that I consider to be aspects that I don't want to drop will get included/mentioned later.
If you want to compare the revised chapter with the original that it is based off of...
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3645554/2/S ... Wild_Magic

A Side of Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever


"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 1


‘10 multiplied by 10 is 100, of course.’ Ranma thought to herself as she wrote down the answer on the line. The two-year-old cat-girl was currently working on some mathematics work that Washu had assigned to her. To the young redhead, the work she was doing was incredibly easy, but she knew that it wouldn’t be for long. Her teacher had decided to start her off in the most basic of areas in each of her subjects, researching to see just where she stood in terms of what she knew and what she needed help in. So far, she understood her addition and subtraction perfectly, and so they only spent the first two days catching up on that. She was a bit rusty when it came to multiplication and division, though, but a little practice had allowed her to get back on top of it.

Reaching up, Ranma readjusted her glasses. She found the things to be incredibly annoying, and couldn’t help but silently curse over the fact that she needed them to read and write thanks to the small issue she had with her eyes not merging very well with the cat part of her. They were pince-nez style glasses, meaning that they didn’t have the bars that were supported by the ears. Since the redhead had cat ears, it would naturally be impossible to wear normal glasses due to not having the ear support. The frames were thin and nearly invisible, but the lenses were large so as to cover the entire area of her eyes and filter out enough light to allow her to see properly.

Upon finishing the final question on the assignment sheet, she decided to sit back and take a small rest. Turning her attention to her side, she glanced at the large, black egg that was sitting on a comfortable pillow next to her. Placing her hand on top of it, Ranma felt an immediate reinforcement of the emotional bond that was between her and what was within the egg. Washu had explained to her that she and her partner would be connected to each other mentally and emotionally. At first, the cat-girl didn’t think all that much about it, but she quickly found herself feeling unable to be apart from the egg for very long. Doing so caused both her and the egg to feel an odd kind of void that tended to force Ranma back to the helpless thing. Being together also gave a feeling of warmth that she refused to let go of, and she would sometimes catch herself purring whenever she rested with the thing in her arms.

Childish desire to be around the egg, keeping it as her own, and not let anybody else touch it was another part of the reason why she was always with it. She often tried to fight it and get a little time to herself, but she couldn’t, and was always drawn back to it. She even found herself talking to the egg, but even though it couldn’t talk back to her, it still sent mental signals that she could understand. Despite the fact that it wasn’t even hatched yet, Ranma already gave it the name ‘Laira’.

“Myaoh?” The voice of Ryo-Ohki caused the cat-girl to look ahead of her to see the cabbit -- in humanoid four-year-old form -- staring at a tall, hexagonal box that was sitting on the table next to her papers and books. “Myaoh yo?”

“They’re cookies.” Ranma answered the question as she leaned forward and grabbed the box. It had a picture of a happy looking little panda on it, and the front of it said ‘Hello Panda’. Sasami had gotten the snack for the young redhead when she made a trip into town the previous day to get some supplies. While Ranma was slightly annoyed at the idea that the girl had gotten them for her just because of the fact that there were small, cute panda images on each of the rounded biscuits, she wasn’t going to complain. After-all, she now had a snack to enjoy. Reaching into the box, she pulled out one to show the cabbit. “They have flavors in the middle of them.”

Ryo-Ohki gave it a small sniff and noted that it smelled like peanut butter. “Mya-yah?”

“I don’t think there are any that are carrot flavor.” Ranma said, to which the cabbit answered with a dismissive wave to the snack. “You like carrots too much, Ryo-Ohki.”

“Myah!” The cabbit announced as she crossed her arms and proceeded to give off several more as she made several gestures along with it.

Ryo-Ohki was stopped when the two-year-old cat-girl raised a hand. “Alright, I get it, you love carrots.” She didn’t really understand the creature’s love for the things, and she couldn’t help but wonder if Laira would develop the same fascination. ‘There’d be a carrot shortage if that happened.’ She though wryly, and earned a mental ping from her egg.

Sitting back and enjoying the peanut butter filled snack she was eating, Ranma allowed her crimson tail to appear in front of her and watched as it swished around. She no longer felt distraught over having been transformed into a cat person like she had when it had originally happened, and figured that it must have had something to do with what Washu mentioned about the merging of her human and feline mentalities. In a way, she was thankful for the merger, because it kept her from going into hysterics over the thought of being part cat, but she also feared that it would make it so that she wouldn’t want to get rid of that side of her later on when her body had settled. The biggest problem she had, however, was on trying to figure out how she would be able to be around normal people when she wasn’t even human anymore. It wasn’t like nobody would notice the cat side of her and react unfavorably and call her a monster.

Perhaps the only place for her now was outer space, because from what she had been told, there were a few races out there that were feline-like in appearance, along with a multitude of other kinds of races that would make her not look like some kind of weird creature.

‘I wonder if I can get Washu-sensei to take me on a tour of space.’ Ranma was curious about what it was like, and since she was living in a house that was full of extraterrestrials, she figured that it would only be inevitable that she would get a chance to get out and explore it. The very thought triggered her childish imagination and caused her to excitedly think about what it would be like.

“Mao-yah, myao!” Ryo-Ohki spoke up as she sat down next to the redhead.

“Huh?” Ranma asked as she turned her attention to the other girl. “You want to see me do a little magic?” At the humanoid cabbit’s nod, the two-year-old thought about it for a moment. While she found doing it fun, she hated that she could easily become tired after using up a small amount of it. Her desire to show off, however, was much stronger than her need to conserve energy. “Alright!” She said as she hopped off of the sofa and placed her hand over the glass of water that was sitting on the table. Through a little messing the day before, she had found out that she could change water into ice and vice versa, and she couldn’t help but wonder what else she would be able to do with her magic once obtaining a better understanding over it.

“Watch this, Ryo-Ohki.” The cat-girl announced as she pulled out the water from the glass and allowed it to surround her hand. Keeping the palm of her hand facing upward, she made the liquid congregate to the palm of her hand and solidify into an ice sculpture. “Look, it’s an ice carrot!”

Ryo-Ohki’s eyes looked on in awe at the frozen work of art within the two-year-old’s hand. “Myah!” She shouted as she grabbed it and held it within her hand. She found it amazing, but was sad that it was already starting to melt.

Ranma gave off a small sigh as she sat down back on the sofa. Taking control of the water and converting it into ice like that managed to tire her out a little, and so she didn’t think that she would be able to do anymore magic at the moment. ‘What good is magic if I can hardly use it?’ She thought to herself in annoyance as she tugged on her dress. She had access to so many amazing things, and yet because of her age, she couldn’t perform any of them without either getting tired easily or lacking the needed control that she wouldn’t be able to have for a few years.

The redhead’s ears quickly started to twitch at the sound of the doorbell. ‘That’s still hard to get used to.’ She thought in regards to her twitching ears that seemed to have a mind of their own when it came to noise.

“Hey,” Ryoko said tiredly from her position up in the rafters, “Somebody get the door.”

“Why don’t you do it since you’re up?” Ranma asked as she stared up at the cyan-haired woman. When said woman glanced back down at her, she had to keep from allowing a shiver to come over her.

“It’s because I’m too tired to bother, Tiny.” Ryoko answered with a yawn.

Sasami yelled out from the kitchen. “I can’t at the moment. Could you please get it?”

“I’ll do it.” Ranma said as she hopped off of the sofa and made her way out of the living room and into the entryway, accidentally phasing through the sliding door that separated both areas in the process. Deciding not to pay the slip any attention, she continued on towards the door. “I’m coming!” She said as she stood on her tip-toes to open up the door.

As soon as the door opened, an oddly dressed, blue-haired woman launched forward and attempted to wrap her arms around the person that she thought would was there. “Sasa-- huh?” She blinked in confusion as she glanced around for whoever had opened the door. On her forehead were two small dots, and her hair was made up in a high ponytail. Her outfit consisted of some kind of cloak that was split apart on the sides. The bottom of it was a dark green, while the top portion was a royal blue. Between both colors was a strip of lighter green that ended in a thin yellow boarder towards the middle. On each side of her cloak was a lone yellow ribbon. Underneath the cloak, from what Ranma could see, the woman wore a pair of light gray pants and a maroon long-sleeved shirt.

“Hey, down here!” Ranma shouted with an annoyed pout as her ears and tail drooped. She knew she was tiny, but she didn’t think that she was small enough to not be noticed at all.

Misaki tilted her head downward, and what she saw caused her eyes to widen in absolute shock. It was a young girl who couldn’t have been any older than two, with the most fascinating eye coloring that she had ever seen. The upper half of her eyes was a crystal blue, while the lower half was crimson. In front of her eyes was a pair of large-lens glasses that gave her a mousy and shy appearance. Her crimson hair was tied in a loose ponytail that draped around her tiny shoulder, and the outfit she was wearing consisted of a simple green-colored dress with red slippers. Perhaps what caught the woman’s attention the most, however, were the crimson-furred cat ears on top of the child’s head, as well as the long furry tail that could be seen around her legs. Finally, she was giving off the appearance of a dejected little girl, with her drooping ears and tail enhancing her feeling of sadness.

Now normally, Misaki would jump at just about anything that she deemed to be cute and adorable. It was something that was known by anybody familiar with the second wife of Azusa. Faced with the obscenely adorable site before her, however, the woman couldn’t help but feel her mind break at the sheer cuteness of the tiny little cat-girl that she had never seen before.

Ranma couldn’t help but feel weirded out in the presence of this unknown woman. For some reason, she became completely stiff and silent as soon as she caught sight of her, and the cat-girl was worried that her ears and tail may have frightened the woman in some way. This feeling changed into confusion as she watched the woman’s eyes become incredibly large and shiny, with small tears appearing in the corners. She stood rooted in place as the blue-haired stranger slowly squatted down and placed her hands together under her chin.

“You’re so adorable…” Misaki let out in a soft voice with an ever so slight tilt of her head. “What’s your name?”

“R-- Ranma.” The redhead said shyly as she looked down at the floor and made circles with her toes. She quickly found the woman’s arms wrapped around her before being pulled into a close embrace. “H-- Hey!”

“Come here to Misaki.” The woman said softly as she gave the two-year-old a comforting pat on the back of the head. “It’s alright, I won’t hurt you.”

Ranma was in the midst of a dilemma. On one hand, due to her childish mentality, she felt afraid of the fact that she was being held by a complete stranger who she had never even met before. On the other hand, she was able to sense that the woman was a good person, and she couldn’t help but feel a desire to stay with her. ‘W-- What do I do?’ She asked herself as she mentally cursed both her child and feline parts for making her all confused.

“Thanks for answering the door, Ranma.” Sasami said as she opened the sliding door to the entryway. “I appreciate your help in--” The eight-year-old stopped when she caught sight of the woman holding on to the two-year-old. “Mommy!” She shouted as her eyes began to shine.

Misaki raised her head to see her youngest daughter, and after a moment of silence, she quickly let go of the cat-girl in her arms and shot to her feet. “Sasami!” She shouted as her own eyes started to shine again.

Ranma blinked softly as she turned her head and watched as the blue-haired duo ran towards each other and shared a loving embrace. ‘So she’s Sasami’s mother.’ She thought to herself. They did look alike, and so she felt silly that she didn’t notice it right away. Keeping her distance, Ranma followed them into the living room and stopped just inside the sliding door. She found herself unable to shake the curiosity that she was feeling as she watched the woman.

“Hey,” Ryoko began as she appeared next to the two-year-old, “Who’s the woman?” She frowned slightly when the girl jumped, but felt that it was better than how she previously reacted around her. ‘I definitely could have handled our first confrontation better.’

“Sasami’s mother.” Ranma answered as she continued to stare at the blue-haired woman. “Hey, wait,” She said with wide eyes as she turned her attention back onto Ryoko, “That means she’s a queen, doesn’t it?” There was an obvious glint of childish wonderment present within her eyes.

Ryoko placed her arms behind her head as she leaned against the wall with a bored expression. “Yeah, she is.” She watched as the small cat-girl teleported over to the sofa and hid behind the arm farthest from the mother and daughter, poking the top of her head over it. ‘At least she seems to be getting some bearing on her abilities.’ Although she did wonder why the girl was acting the way she was at the moment, since she didn’t seem to be the overly shy type.

Ranma also couldn’t understand why she was acting so shy around the woman. Sure, she found herself occasionally feeling shy around people she didn’t know due to her age, but acting like this just felt weird. She also couldn’t shake the odd feeling she had of wanting to get close to the woman. Something about the woman was drawing in the young redhead, as if safety and warmth was waiting for her.

“Myah?” Ryo-Ohki asked as she appeared -- in cabbit form -- at the two-year-old’s side.

Squatting down to hide from view, Ranma placed a finger to her lips. “Shh, don’t let her know I’m here!” She whispered as she poked her head over the arm of the sofa again. She watched as Ayeka appeared, followed by the rather odd confrontation between mother and daughter that ended up with Ryoko getting her cheeks violently pinched before being the victim of a hug.

‘She seems kind of weird.’ Ranma thought. She promptly ignored the spectacle of Ryo-Ohki hopping out of hiding in favor of the mental call from her own cabbit egg sitting on the sofa opposite of the one she was hiding behind. Missing the sight of Ryoko crashing into the wall, Ranma snuck out from her hiding place and made her way over to her egg. ‘Sorry for leaving you alone, Laira.’ She said mentally as she hugged it close to her.

“Oh, I was wondering where you went!” Misaki’s voice caused the cat-girl to raise her head, to see the blue-haired queen’s large and shiny eyes just centimeters from her face. “Come to Misaki and let her get to know you better.” She added as she extended a hand.

“But I need to take care of Laira.” She said as she stared down at her egg. She didn’t want to leave her alone again.

Sasami gave her a smile. “I’ll watch over her for you.” She said as she gently took the large object out of the cat-girl’s hands.

“Hey-- But--” Ranma wasn’t sure she liked that idea, and attempted to reach out to grab the egg back, but instantly found herself held within the arms of Misaki. She was unable to say anything as the woman sat back down and placed her down on her lap. All Ranma could really do was nervously play around with her tail.

“There’s no need to be so shy.” Misaki said as she gently ran her hand through the child’s crimson hair. The girl was perhaps the cutest thing that she had seen in a long time, and her nervousness only made her more so thanks to her drooping ears. Her hand stopped at the base of the girl’s right ear, and she decided to scratch the area and see if she could convince the cat-girl that she meant no harm.

As soon as Ranma felt the base of her ear being scratched, she found the tension within her body disappear, causing her to feel completely relaxed. Her mind, likewise, also became lax, and she found herself unable to keep her eyelids from falling closed. After her entire being felt at ease, a soft purring began to reverberate from within her.

Everyone in the room could only stare in surprise at the sudden action from the two-year-old cat-girl. It was already known what would happen if someone touched or pulled her by the tail, but now they knew how she reacted if she was scratched behind the ears. It was just another aspect of the redhead’s new form.

“I love this child!” Misaki shouted as she wrapped her arms around the girl and pulled her in close for a tight hug. She wanted to hold onto her and never let go.

Ranma’s eyes slowly fluttered open. “Huh? What happened?” She asked as she attempted to wrap her mind around what occurred just a moment ago. It seemed that as soon as Misaki started to scratch her ears, she basically lost control of her body and went lax and started to purr. Upon realizing this, her cheeks turned red as she fell into total silence. She couldn’t believe that something so embarrassing had happened to her just because her ears were scratched. It didn’t really feel all that bad, though, and being scratched behind the ear felt kind of good.

Misaki noted the look on the child’s fact, and realized that she had probably done something to make the two-year-old highly uncomfortable and embarrassed. “Oohh, I’m so sorry Ranma-chan.” She said with large and shimmering eyes. She didn’t want the cute little redhead to fear her. “If having your ears scratched bothers you--”

“No, no,” Ranma interrupted with a quick shake of her head. She still couldn’t understand the weird attraction she had to the woman. “I was just shocked that it happened.” Her crimson ears twitched a few times due to an inner hope that the woman would continue. The reaction she had was weird, but she was more curious than anything else about the whole thing.

“Then you wouldn’t mind if I did it some more?” Misaki asked as she became excited about being able to hear adorable purring again. Before the young cat-girl could give an answer, the second wife of Azusa went ahead and did it. It didn’t take long before the young redhead returned to her purring as a look of content appeared on her face. Her long, furry tail could even be seen swishing happily to the side of her.

“I think Ranma-chan and mother get along really well.” Sasami whispered to Ayeka and Ryoko.

“I wasn’t expecting that kind of outcome.” Ayeka said softly. Knowing their mother like she did, the purple-haired princess had assumed that the young two-year-old would end up overwhelmed by the woman and attempt to escape, or at least attempt to put up some kind of struggle instead of giving in so willingly.

Ryoko, who was keeping her distance from Misaki, gave her shoulders a shrug. “I’ll bet her cat half is the cause. Washu did say that since it’s a new part of her, there will probably be some minor imbalance issues where she acts a little more cat-like until the changes settle.” At least, she thought that was what the woman said.

“You remembered that?” Ayeka asked with wide eyes.

“Ryo-Ohki reminded me, actually.” The cyan-haired woman said as she pointed to the cabbit sitting on the back of the couch next to her. Since the small creature assimilated with a cat not all that long ago, she had some understanding of the cat-girl’s actions.

“What planet is this adorable little girl from?” Misaki asked as she continued to scratch the two-year-old, who changed her position and was now curled up on the woman’s lap. She was aware of five planets that had a majority of feline-like races, but the races from two of those planets also had fur on every inch of their bodies. That didn’t mean, though, that this child could have only come from those planets, and could have lived somewhere else. “The report we obtained never mentioned anything about her living here as well.”

The three girls shared a quick look before Sasami decided to answer the question. “She’s not from another planet. She was actually a normal Earth child who got into an accident and would have died if it wasn’t for Washu. Something happened during her healing that caused her to change into a cat-girl though.”

Misaki looked horrified at the news. “She almost died?” She asked as small tears appeared in the corner of her eyes. The girl had obviously been through quite a lot at such a young age if she had been so close to death. “What about her parents? Surely they must be worried about her more than anything.”

“All Ranma-chan has told us is that her parents live in England, which is almost halfway across the world.” Ayeka spoke up. “She mentioned something about her parents allowing some man to take her and help train her, but he brought her to Japan and abandoned her in the forest. He only left her with a note telling her how to get here, and another for Washu that told her to teach Ranma-chan. Except for that, we don’t know anything else about her.”

Misaki’s eyes narrowed as the warm look within her red eyes became hard and cold. “What?!” She asked as she stopped scratching the redhead’s ear. “What kind of parents would allow someone of her age to be taken away by some unknown man who is obviously too irresponsible to take care of her?” It was unforgivable. “They probably don’t even know that their own child almost died, do they?”

“Nnn?” Ranma let out softly as her eyes slowly opened. She found herself feeling somewhat disappointed that her ear was no longer being scratched. She blinked when she was suddenly picked up and turned around to face Misaki. “Huh?” She asked intelligently.

“Ranma-chan,” The woman began, “It is inexcusable that your parents allowed someone to just take you away. That is not something that a parent should allow to happen, especially when the child is as young as you are.”

‘It’s not like it’s the first time that it’s happened to me.’ Ranma thought.

Misaki gave the redhead a wide smile. “How would you like it if I became your new mommy? I’ll take really good care of you, and we’ll have so much fun together!”

“Mother!” Ayeka shouted in total shock. “You can’t JUST decide to adopt her like that. She already has--”

“Does this mean I’ll be able to have a younger sister?!” Sasami asked with wide and hopeful eyes.

“Sasami!” Her sister gave her a disapproving look. “It wouldn’t be proper to do that, and-- Will you stop laughing?” Ayeka growled as she turned to look at a snickering Ryoko.

“But I already have a mom.” Ranma said with a sweat-drop.

Misaki’s lips turned into a pout. “You don’t think I’ll be a good mommy to you?”

“N-- No, I think you would be a great one!” The cat-girl answered frantically as she waved her arms. “I really like you, Misaki, but I like my parents also…” She tapped her fingers together as she glanced around. She had a feeling that this was going to get really awkward if she continued to stick around. “Umm-- I think I hear Washu-sensei calling me!” Managing to activate a teleport, she disappeared out of the woman’s arms and next to Sasami. Grabbing hold of her egg, she ran out of the living room.

“Maybe I came on a little too strong.” Misaki said as she placed a finger to her lips. “She’s just so adorable though!” She added with a squeal, causing everyone else in the room to sweat-drop.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma gave off a sigh of relief as she sat on the steps in the entryway. She really didn’t know how to deal with that woman. ‘Why did I give into my cat side like that and allow her to scratch my ear?’ She hated it when the feline part of her came out and caused her to do odd things. It was even stranger that she actually had no problem with Misaki doing it, when she would have become embarrassed about something like that any other time.

“I actually was about ready to try and get your attention.” Washu said from behind the two-year-old. This caused her to jump up and spin around, almost losing her balance in the process. Thankfully, some quick work with her tail allowed her to keep it. “It seems that you’re getting the hang of your new body.”

The fur on Ranma’s tail bristled. “Don’t just appear behind me like that!” She could have fell and hurt either herself or -- worst of all -- her egg. She then caught what the older redhead said. “Why? Is it time to get back to learning already?” The cat-girl wasn’t looking forward to it, but she’d rather do that than stick around and be with Misaki at the moment.

“No, I was thinking that we could take a small trip up to the shrine. There’s someone visiting it that I’d like to meet.” Hopping down off of the steps, Washu started out the door. “Well, come on. Unless you want to go back and be with Misa--”

“Let’s go, Washu-sensei!” Ranma quickly said as she grabbed her teacher’s hand. “It’d be silly if I didn’t accompany my wonderful and fantastic sensei!” She gave her a wide-eyed and cute look.

Washu had to stifle a laugh at the younger redhead’s antics. It really was hard to remember that she was basically a teenager in a two-year-old’s body, which is why the crab-haired genius decided to completely ignore that aspect. Her being a teenager was in the past, and what she was right now was a two-year-old. An intelligent one with knowledge beyond her years, yes, but she was still a child of two completely down to her mentality.

Oh sure, it was easy to tell that she attempted to act like her former age, but she constantly reverted back whenever she was relaxed or not paying attention. In fact, it seemed as if trying to act like her former age was something the cat-girl did only when she actually thought about it. It made sense, really, because the last two years most likely involved her having to rely on the mentality of her age, because attempting to act older would have led to a lot of complications. The issue of it would wane as she grew older until she got close to her original age, but for now, attempting to fight it only meant defeat.

“It seems that you’re quite fond of Misaki.” Washu commented, noticing her companion’s ears twitch at the statement. “And she seems to have taken quite a liking to you as well.”

Ranma gave a small nod. “I don’t know why I was so interested in getting near her.” She answered. Actually, she knew that it was most likely because of her cat side sensing something comforting about the woman. “Is she really a queen? She seems to be a little ditzy.”

Washu nodded. “She’s the second wife of the emperor of Jurai, as well as the supreme commander of the Jurai royal bodyguards.” The look she received was priceless. “Never underestimate someone based on how they seem to act, my adorable little student.”

‘Especially when they’re aliens.’ Ranma thought to herself. It was hard to believe that Misaki was that strong. Then again, Washu had the appearance of a 13-year-old, but she was the greatest scientific genius in the universe. ‘Space is weird.’ Just how many more oddities were there outside of this planet?

“You seem to be deep in thought, Ranma-chan.” The older redhead said as she placed a finger to her lips. “I know, you’re thinking about taking up Misaki on her offer to adopt you?”

The cat-girl’s head snapped towards her direction. “Huh? What are you talking about? Why would I agree to something like that? I already said that I didn’t because I already had parents!”

“Maybe you did, but it didn’t sound like you were too against it. Both you and Misaki seem to genuinely like each other, and Sasami seemed overjoyed at the idea.” Washu clasped her hands underneath her chin. “Oh just think about, Ranma-chan, you’d have two loving older sisters and a mother who would scratch your ears all day long.”

“I bet my mom will scratch my ears as well!” Ranma shouted. Upon realizing what she said, her cheeks turned pink as her left hand reached up and covered her ear. Why did she suddenly think about her ears like that? It was then that a different thought flashed through her mind. “Washu-sensei,” She began as she glanced down at her feet, “What would my mom think of me now that I look like this? She wouldn’t think of me as a monster, would she?” She asked as she looked back up at the older redhead, her eyes showing a large degree of both fear and hope. Her ears flattened against the top of her head as her tail wrapped around her legs, while her arms held Laira’s egg close to her chest for comfort.

Washu winced slightly at the look that was directed towards her. It was the kind of look that one only saw on a scared and confused child who feared rejection. Biting her lip, the crab-haired genius crouched down in front of the cat-girl and placed a hand on the side of her cheek. “I’m not going to lie to you, Ranma-chan.” She began in a soft voice. “There is a possibility that your mother would be scared of your new form, as well as be unsure of how to actually handle it.” She could tell that Ranma was trying her best to keep from tearing up at the thought. “I’d like to believe that she’s not the type to just toss you aside, though. You could say that the person who took you away magically changed your body into this, and I’m certain that your mom would be more worried about your safety than your appearance.”

“But what if she does toss me aside like old cheese?” Ranma asked in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

Her teacher’s eyes hardened. “If she does, then she’s not a mother.” The woman would also learn to fear the name Washu if that happened. Sure, she wouldn’t be able to do anything obvious, but small things here and there would definitely be enough. Oh yes, the woman would definitely pay if she made her cute student miserable.

“Err-- Washu-sensei, you’re laughing maniacally.” The younger redhead stated with a hint of worry.

“Hmm? Oh, it’s nothing to worry about.” Washu said with a wave of her hand. “If she really does do the unthinkable and toss you away, then you still have the people around here to turn to. Misaki would also obviously accept you with open arms.” She gave a small wink. “And even if your mother does continue to want you around, who’s to say that you can’t also decide to be adopted by Misaki?”

“Huh?”

“Well, even if you are able to let your mother know that your body has been changed to being part cat, you wouldn’t be able to tell her about us being aliens, or you having Masu DNA and other aspects incorporated within you. You could still have your Earth parents, but you’d also -- secretly -- have some parents in outer space that you could also turn to. No need to cut ties with your current family for that.”

“Really?” Ranma asked. It was interesting to know that she could basically have two families if she wanted. “I still don’t think I wanna agree with that.” She found herself unable to shake the thought from her head, though. “And I also think my mom will accept me!” She added with a determined look.

Washu shrugged her shoulders as she stood up, happy to know that the younger redhead seemed to be feeling better. “It’s your decision to make. I was merely informing you of what your options were if you were really thinking about it.” When they arrived at the stone steps that led up to the Masaki Shrine, Washu gave the child an amused look. “Think your small, delicate self can handle walking up these steps again?”

The cat-girl’s lips turned into a pout. “Of course I can! Just you watch.” As she started up the steps, she was suddenly reminded of just how weak and untrained her current body was. She was certain that she’d be glad once she was able to get back to training so that things like this wouldn’t tire her out so quickly. Until then, though, she figured that it was best to just continue and enjoy her second childhood. Except for her work from Washu, there wasn’t anything expected of her because of her age, and so she could spend her free time lounging around or genuinely having fun. After-all, everyone thought of her as a two-year-old -- which she was, -- and so she was able to get away with a lot of things she normally wouldn’t be able to if she were older.

As the two made their way up the steps, Ranma already felt her legs getting tired. They weren’t even halfway up the stairs yet, and the child found herself wondering how she managed to climb up them a few days previous. As they continued on, they soon caught sight of a pair of figures coming down the steps and in the midst of discussion. Ranma could easily tell that one of them was Tenchi, but the other was a woman who she had never seen before. Said woman was talking softly to the boy, but the cat-girl’s ears could make out what was being said, and it was something about him being able to go with them.

“Tenchi!” Washu said, making the presence of the two redheads known, and causing both Tenchi and the woman to turn towards them. When the lady switched her look from Washu to her, the cat-girl found herself disappearing behind her teacher and poking the right half of her face out from behind the older redhead’s leg.

The woman seemed to exude a calm and mature presence about her, unlike Misaki who was energetic and childish. Her hair was long and black, with a bundle of hair draping over her shoulders on each side of her head. Her eyes were a brownish color, and she had a single dot on the center of her forehead. The cloak she was wearing was similar to Misaki’s, but with the majority of it being a baby blue color with a stripe of emerald green on the chest area. The middle of the cloak was a dark purple with a green bottom. Unlike Misaki, her underclothes consisted of what looked like a pink and beige-colored kimono of sorts.

“Ah, Washu, you scared us.” Tenchi said before motioning to the woman. “This lady here is--”

“Funaho, the queen of Jurai, right?” The crab-haired genius extended her hand. “How do you do? My name is Washu.”

Ranma found herself blinking in confusion. Washu said that this lady was the queen of Jurai, but how could that be if Misaki was also the queen of Jurai? They couldn’t both be queens, could they? ‘Unless the emperor has two wives.’ She thought to herself. It was a strange thought, but it was possible, right?

As soon as Funaho returned the greeting, she glanced down at the tiny cat-girl. “And who is this young girl?” The report never mentioned anything about a young cat-girl, and so she was curious.

[KonokoHasano]

“Her name is Ranma, and I took her on as a student just a few days ago.” Turning towards Tenchi, Washu handed him the thermos that she was carrying and told him to take it home, and that she would show Funaho the way back. As soon as the boy left, she turned towards the raven-haired woman. “Lady Funaho… shall we?”

“Excuse me, Washu,” Funaho began as an amused smile appeared on her face, “Could you call me Funaho-chan? I’d like that.”

At her teacher’s exasperation, Ranma couldn’t help but allow a childish giggle of amusement to escape her lips. “Turnabout is funny, isn’t it, Washu-sensei?” This earned her a small whap upside the head. “Ow…” She gave off a small grumble as she rubbed her head and ignored the small conversation they were having about Mihoshi. She was interested, though, about the comment that her teacher said ‘no’ to. “Hey, what do you mean? What was it that you came here for?” It was obvious that she couldn’t contain her curiosity. “Was it important or something?”

“Your name is Ranma, yes?” Funaho asked as she glanced down at the cat-girl who was clutching a large egg close to her. “How old are you?” The girl couldn’t be all that old.

“I just turned two a few days ago.” Ranma answered softly.

The first queen of Jurai’s eyes widened a little. “You’re so young. Where are your parents?”

“England.”

Whatever Funaho was expecting, what she got was not even close to that, and all she could do was blink in confusion. England was about halfway around the world, so the question was how the girl found her way here. In fact how could her parents, or parent, live where they did if they were cat-people as well?

Washu sighed as she placed a hand on the back of her neck. “There’s an odd and complicated story behind it all, Lady Funaho.” She quickly told the woman an abridged story of how the younger redhead arrived, and what basically happened that caused her to be transformed into the cat-girl that she is now.

“Wait, so if you didn’t change me into a Masu, I could have had the same kind of accident later on because of my strong ki, magic, and other stuff overwhelming the limits of my body?” Washu never really told her why she did it before, except for mentioning something about ‘dangers’ that could happen. She didn’t know that she could end up burning out her body well before she even reached three-years-old just because she had mana and ki levels that were much higher than a human of her age should have.

“It seems that having to change her entire genetic structure was an unavoidable incident.” Funaho said with a frown. She couldn’t believe that the girl’s parents allowed her to be taken away by somebody who was virtually an unknown entity. “It does raise a problem for if she is to ever adventure out into public on this planet, since it could accidentally lead to a developing world such as this to learn things that it shouldn’t.” It was too bad that such a young girl had such a difficult time ahead of her in regards to her secret if she continued to remain on Earth. “She might even have to refrain from getting in contact with her mother again if--”

“No way!” Ranma shouted as she gave the woman a defiant look. “I’m not going to just stay away from my mom like that.” There was no way that she would allow a similar incident like what happened with Nodoka to repeat itself. “I’m gonna see her again, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me!” She glared at the woman, daring her to try. Of course, she knew that she would be incapable of going against anybody, being just a child with no real power to back up her words. It wasn’t like she really cared, though. “I don’t care if you are a queen.”

Funaho blinked at the sudden courage and cheekiness displayed by the tiny redhead, and she couldn’t help but find herself breaking out into a fit of giggling. Noticing that this was causing the cat-girl to pout, the raven-haired woman crouched down and gently placed a hand on the girl’s cheek. “You’re quite an outspoken and brave little girl. I can tell that Washu made an excellent choice in taking you on as her student, and I’m certain that you’ll become a great genius when you grow up.”

Blushing slightly at the compliment, Ranma lowered her head and found a sudden interest in her tail. “Thanks.” She said softly. Feeling a hand on her head, she glanced up to see that it belonged to Washu.

“I KNOW that she’ll become a superb genius, because I’m going to drill everything I can into that cute little head of hers until she’s second best to nobody.” Except for herself, of course. “We’re going to have such a fun time, won’t we, Ranma-chan?” The genius asked as she tickled the younger redhead’s chin.

“Yeah… such a fun time that we’ll have, Washu-sensei.” Ranma answered, not exactly looking forward to the very idea. “But wouldn’t that take a really long time to do? You’re over 20,000-years-old, right? So wouldn’t it be impossible for me to--”

“Oh, don’t be silly, Ranma-chan.” Washu interrupted happily. “We have all the time in the world to work on your studies. Now that your body has been changed, and you are no longer human, your current lifespan will extend to thousands, hundreds of thousands, possibly even millions of years if you take care of yourself properly.” She noted the shocked look she was receiving from her student. “Ranma-chan?” She asked as she poked the girl a couple times. “Oh dear, it looks like I broke her already.”

“It is a bit much to comprehend for someone so young.” Funaho commented as she glanced at the shocked child. She doubted that the girl even realized just how long that really was, being as young as she was. What impressed the raven-haired queen the most, though, was how smart she seemed to be for her age, and could only guess that she must have been a fast learner. Perhaps she even already had a some kind of genius mentality, and if so, then it was probably best that Washu managed to come in contact with her so that her mind could properly grow. “Washu, I’ve been meaning to ask, what is that egg that she’s carrying?”

“Oh, that little thing?” Washu asked. “That’s just her partner. I felt that she could benefit from having, and it would allow her to have a companion that she would be able to confide in and trust. Something that would be able to understand her and help her out as she grew.” She decided to drop the bomb and see how the woman reacted. “It’ll basically be similar to Ryo-Ohki, since that’s what I based its design, form, and function off of.”

Funaho’s eyes widened. “You mean that you ended up creating another Ryo-Ohki and gave it to a two-year-old girl?”

“There’s no need to worry about both her safety and the safety of everything else, Funaho.” Washu answered with a wave of the hand. “I have a special limiter collar that I’ll place on her when she’s born that’ll prevent her from interfacing with the matter she ingests and assimilates with so that she can’t turn into a spaceship. She’ll basically be limited to her animal form until much later when I deem it safe to disable the collar. Until then, she could basically be considered an adorable little pet that belongs to a cute little girl.”

Funaho gave a sigh of relief. At least Washu had the foresight to keep from allowing a small child to have possession of an obviously dangerous weapon. Hopefully the girl would grow up to understand exactly what she possessed, and that Washu -- as well as the others -- would provide a good influence. “Washu, about why we came…”

Ranma only half-listened to the women as her mind flew through the information that she had just learned about how long she could end up living. It was something that she couldn’t even begin to fathom, and wondered just how it would be possible. Judging by Ryoko’s physical appearance, and the fact that her physiology was basically the same as the cyan-haired woman’s, Ranma considered the idea that once she hit 17 or 18, her body would stop aging. ‘I’ll have to ask Washu-sensei.’ She was curious to know just what would happen to her.

“What you are saying is this…” She heard Washu say as she focused back on the conversation. “Jurai’s ships are powerful, but can’t be mass produced. Ryo-Ohki and the one Ranma-chan will have, however, can be mass-produced easily.”

‘Huh? Powerful? Mass produced?’ Ranma thought in confusion as she attempted to figure out that statement. Her ears twitched slightly as her mind went about deciphering it. Glancing down at the egg she held in her hand, she could feel a string of emotions flowing through the mental link they had.

Funaho chose that moment to respond to the smaller woman’s statement. “It’s fine if we’re the only ones with the technology, but if we’re not--”

“I don’t like it.” Ranma interrupted with a frown.

Both women glanced down at the tiny cat-girl, and Funaho couldn’t help but blink. “What do you mean by that, Ranma-chan? What don’t you like?”

“Mass producing Ryo-Ohkis and Lairas to use as weapons.” She elaborated. “It’s stupid, and Laira agrees with me on that.” Maybe she didn’t understand the specifics behind what they were talking about, but she didn’t like what she heard.

Washu smiled as she placed a hand on top of Ranma’s head. “Well, seeing as how my lovable little student here disapproves of the very thought, I don’t think there’s anything to worry about, because I’ve decided that I won’t help anybody. I’d hate to see her lose trust in me and quit her studies over something as silly as this.”

Funaho gave off a sigh of relief that she had no idea that she was holding. “Thank you so much, Washu.”

Ranma’s ears twitched as a faint noise came into existence around them. Glancing around, she found herself incapable of finding the source of the sound. As it got closer and louder, she tilted her head upwards, and what she saw appearing over the tree-filled mountains caused her eyes to almost bug out. “H-- Hey, what is that thing?! Is that a spaceship?” She wasn’t expecting it to be so humongous.

“Is this your first time seeing an actual spaceship, Ranma-chan?” Funaho asked.

The cat-girl nodded. “Well, I’ve seen Mihoshi’s ship, but her’s is an ant when looking at this one.”

“The emperor of Jurai is currently on that ship.” Washu said, causing the two-year-old to stare back up at the monstrosity. “Well, shall we hurry up so that we don’t miss anything?”

“Yes, let’s.” Funaho answered with a nod.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“…and then Misaki asks her if she’d like to have her as her new mommy.” Washu finished with a laugh as Funaho giggled. “Ranma-chan wasn’t able to think of anything to say, and so she ran out of the room.” She placed a hand on the currently fuming cat-girl’s head. “You have no idea how adorable this child can be when she gets flustered.”

‘It’s almost always your fault.’ Ranma thought with reddened cheeks as her ears flattened in an agitated manner as her tail curled behind her. The conversation that started as they made their way back to the Masaki home started out innocently enough. Funaho had asked the two-year-old several questions in an effort to get to know her a little better. They were mostly simple questions that asked such things as if she got along well with the people in the house, how far she was in her studies with Washu, and several other easy questions that she should be able to answer. Sure, she knew a lot more than one her age should, but Funaho still saw her as a young child.

Somewhere along in the chat, Ranma accidentally let slip that she had already met Misaki, and the raven-haired queen had decided to ask how the meeting went. Since the cat-girl felt reluctant to talk about it, Washu made a grab at the chance to fluster her student a little by mentioning what little she had managed to witness. This information included everything that happened during and after the younger redhead’s ears were scratched.

Upon reading the Masaki house, Ranma watched as Sasami excitedly ran up to hug Funaho, and she smiled in amusement when Misaki grabbed Washu in a powerful hug. ‘Let’s see how you like it, Washu-sensei.’ She thought… right before Ryo-Ohki happily wrapped her arms around her neck.

“Myah-yah myao mya!”

“So Misaki liked your dance?” Ranma asked. She had watched the cabbit practice it a few times, and even found herself dragged into performing it along with her on a couple of occasions. It was an incredibly embarrassing thing to do, but the cat-girl couldn’t help but have fun with it.

Hearing a noise, the two-year-old glanced up to see some sparkling motes of light heading downward from the huge space ship in the sky. When the light reached a few centimeters above the wooden dock, it materialized into a tall man with long purple hair, beard, and mustache. Upon finally touching the ground, he pushed his brown cloak to the side as he placed a hand on his hip and stood there with a stern look on his face.

Ranma’s initial thought regarding the man was that he seemed to have a stern and serious air about him, like he was a person who didn’t appreciate nonsense all that much. She quickly found herself thinking that he was a huge, stubborn jerk for how he was acting towards Tenchi just because of who the boy’s grandfather was.

She had to snicker, though, upon seeing him become slightly cowed by both Misaki and Funaho’s annoyed expressions regarding his statement against Earthlings. The cat-girl did feel a small bit of pity for the man, because having two wives had to be incredibly inconvenient at times. She couldn’t imagine what it would have been like if she had ended up married to at least two of her former fiancées. More than likely, she would have died in the aftermath.

Regaining his composure, Azusa turned his gaze back onto his eldest daughter. “Ayeka, I have already chosen a fiancée for you. One that is suited for the crown princess of the planet Jurai!”

Before Ayeka could respond, Ranma spoke up. “Are you a panda?”

Everyone turned to stare oddly at the two-year-old girl. Why she asked such an odd question was beyond them, and so they all decided that it must have just been part of some childish antics.

“Of course I’m not a panda.” Azusa answered with a confused look, wondering just who the small girl was. “Wait-- What’s a-- no, why am I even bothering to answer this silly question?”

“Oh c’mon,” Ranma began with a childish pout, “Don’t you even want to know what it is? It’s no fun if you don’t know.”

A vein appeared on the emperor of Jurai’s forehead. “Will somebody please do something with this child?” This was not the time for such nonsense.

Misaki quickly scooped the cat-girl up into her arms. “How about we let them get back to what they were doing, Ranma-chan? It’s impolite to interrupt when there’s an important discussion going on.”

‘I know what is and isn’t polite.’ Ranma thought to herself from her spot within Misaki’s arms. She really wished that she could do something interesting instead of watch a bunch of people talk; like watch some TV, play a few games, read a little, or even get back to working on her assignments. Anything was better than this boring scene. ‘The emperor’s a jerk.’ She added upon watching him make Ryo-Ohki cry. Her opinion changed slightly, though, when she watched him comfort the humanoid cabbit.

‘I wonder if I can get Misaki to put me down so I can go inside and do something else. This is just getting too boring.’ The egg in her arms suddenly sent out a few mental pulses. ‘You know, I really wish I knew when you were going to hatch.’ She blinked at the reply she was receiving. ‘Really soon? That doesn’t give me much to go on, you know.’

“Alright, you can do as you please.” Azusa said in annoyance. He wasn’t exactly happy that everything was turning out so difficult. “Under one condition, though. You can have your wish if, and only if, that boy can win a duel with the man that I choose as your fiancé.” He was certain that Yosho’s grandson would be incapable of winning, and so this matter would be settled within a few moments.

“A duel?” Everyone turned to look at the cat-girl being held within Misaki’s arms. Her heterochromatic eyes were shining in absolute amazement as her tail swished happily. Maybe she would stick around just to see the fight. “This is gonna be awesome.”

A sweat-drop appeared on Azusa’s head as he stared at the girl. ‘What is with this child?’

Ranma’s excitement turned into dismay as she watched the man who would be fighting Tenchi descend from the spaceship in a rather showy and obnoxious entrance. First, the area around them -- somehow -- grew dark, and a spotlight came down and focused on a spot on the dock. Next, a pink-haired man dressed in an overly fancy outfit appeared in a swirl of flower petals. Finally, he gave off a pompous chuckle as he pulled out a paper fan and spouted off some cheesy one-liner.

‘Lame.’ Ranma thought with a pout. She was hoping for someone who seemed competent, and not a person who was completely full of himself. She did, however, notice the telltale signs of a skilled fighter that showed in the way that the man carried himself. She may have lacked all of her martial arts and abilities, but she still retained the ability to tell how skilled a person was by watching them. ‘Maybe this won’t be so bad.’

She turned her head to glance up at Misaki. “Who is this guy?” She asked, wanting to know what she could about him.

“His name is Seiryo Tennan. He’s the son of one of Jurai’s wealthiest families.” The blue-haired woman answered as she sat down on the porch deck and set the cat-girl down next to her. “Ranma-chan, I’m sorry for making you run away earlier. You don’t hate me, do you?” She asked as she clasped her hands together and gave the child an intense puppy dog-eyed look.

“O-- Of course I don’t!” The cat-girl announced with a quick shake of her head. This woman was just way too confusing in how she seemed to act. One moment she could seem completely mature and calm, but then she could switch to childish and emotional quicker than anything.

A wide smile appeared on Misaki’s lips as she happily wrapped her arms around the two-year-old. “I’m so glad!” She proceeded to give the redhead a small kiss on the forehead.

‘I give up…’ Ranma thought. Trying to understand this woman was just too much effort, so it was probably best to not try. She blinked when she saw a cup held out in front of her. Glancing to the side, she saw that it was being handed to her by Sasami. She also noted that there were trays of snacks, along with some popcorn.

“Here’s some orange juice, Ranma-chan.” The pigtailed princess said as she handed another cup to her mother. “And here’s your tea, mother.”

The two-year-old nodded as she accepted the juice, glad that Sasami got her that instead of tea. She didn’t know why, but for some reason, she hated the taste of tea. Green tea and others that she had tried so far since being reborn gave an unpleasurable taste. She didn’t understand why, because she didn’t mind the stuff before. In fact, the same could be said for a lot of foods that she used to like. She absolutely loved sweets, but regular food was a total hit and miss with her.

“Kick this guy’s butt, Tenchi!” Ranma shouted as she raised a fist. In the long run, she really didn’t think the boy could beat Seiryo, but if he lost, then Ayeka and Sasami would have to leave. She had grown rather attached to Sasami, and so she would hate to see the girl leave.

Seiryo gave off a small chuckle. “It seems as if that little girl over there has a lot of confidence in you. As such, it pains me to destroy the hopes of a young child such as her, but it just can’t be helped.”

As the two combatants stood facing each other, everyone quickly started to make bets of who they thought would win. Except for Azusa, who bet on Seiryo, everyone else bet on Tenchi to win. Everyone except for Washu, that is. The diminutive genius decided to bet on Mihoshi, momentarily confusing everyone around her.

‘Jeez, do something already.’ Ranma thought as she grabbed a handful of popcorn. The pink-haired guy seemed to have skill, but he was a total windbag. “Hey,” She began upon noticing how everyone was getting umbrellas. “What’s with the umbrellas?” She also wondered where the faint whistling sound was coming from.

“Mihoshi.” Ryoko answered. “She’s probably going to crash down into the lake.”

“What?” The cat-girl asked with a blink. They acted as if someone crashing down into the lake wasn’t anything to worry about. The two-year-old gave a wince upon realizing that the whistling sound was getting louder and more painful by the second. “It hurts…” She whined as she set her egg next to her and placed her hands to her ears.

The statement confused Ryoko a little. “Huh? What are you talking about?” Upon noticing how the redhead was acting, the former space pirate started to worry. “Washu, I think there’s something wrong with her.”

Everyone turned their attention onto the two-year-old to see that was making a series of whimpering noises, with her legs pulled inward against her chest and her hands covering her ears. It appeared as if she were in actual pain.

“It’s the noise from Mihoshi’s ship.” Washu answered as she quickly appeared next to the child. “This is the first time that she has heard a sound of this magnitude since her transformation, and so it’s probably affecting her a lot more than it normally would if she was used to it.”

“Is she going to be okay?” Misaki asked with worry as she reached out to the two-year-old before pulling her close.

“Yeah, is she?” Sasami asked everyone stared intently at the genius for confirmation.

Washu raised her hands in an attempt to calm the group’s worry. “Ranma-chan will be fine. She’s only suffering right now because she is unused to overly loud noises with her more enhanced senses. Once she gets used to them, problems such as this will lesson with time.” She may have to examine the cat-girl’s ears later to make sure that nothing was damaged, but she was certain that Ranma was okay. She did find herself wishing to grab hold of the child and comfort her, but Misaki was doing that job just fine.

When Mihoshi’s ship finally crashed into the lake, it caused Ranma to give a large jerk as she lay with her head on Misaki’s lap. Said woman calmly comforted the two-year-old as she gently ran a hand through her hair. “Shh, it’ll be okay, little one. The noise is gone, so everything will be alright.”

Ranma’s tail was completely still as she lay within Misaki’s lap. She was semi-out of it and imagining that she was in a certain other person’s lap. “Mama…” She mumbled as her ears quickly twitched.

Unfortunately for her, Misaki heard this and was incapable of keeping herself from bursting with emotion. “She’s so cute!!!” The blue-haired woman squealed girlishly, causing everyone around her to sweat-drop. “How could her mother allow someone to just take this adorable little thing away?”

The shout caused Ranma’s eyes to flitter open. With a groan, she pushed herself into a sitting position and placed a hand to her forehead. “What happened? My head feels like it was hit by something huge.”

“The sound that was made as Mihoshi’s ship fell down into the lake became too painful to you.” Ayeka provided. She was glad that the cat-girl was alright.

“Is that what happened?” Tenchi asked as he appeared in front of the group. “I could hear that something happened, but I didn’t know what. I’m glad that you’re okay, Ranma-chan.”

“Thanks.” Ranma said as she felt the pain in her head diminish. She promptly realized something that made her turn to stare at Tenchi “Hey, wait, what about your fight?”

The pony-tailed boy scratched the side of his head. “It’s over.” He said. “It seems I won.”

As Sasami and Ryo-Ohki jumped around happily, Ranma hopped to her feet and sported a displeased expression. “You mean I missed the fight because of my stupid ears?” She asked as she grabbed hold of the aforementioned protrusions. “I hate these things!”

Ryoko placed her arms behind her head. “There wasn’t much of a fight, actually. Mihoshi’s crash caused a large splash of water that knocked pinky out and pulled him into the lake.”

The young cat-girl blinked before running over to the edge of the dock, passing a soaking wet and sniffling Mihoshi on the way. Leaning over, she watched as the unconscious Seiryo floated on his back amidst the bobbing water. “Talk about embarrassing.” Ranma said with a shake of her head.

“At least I’m not the only one who thinks so.” Azusa said as he stopped next to her and stared down into the water. “It’s depressing to think that Seiryo was taken out by a simple splash of water. Maybe you wouldn’t think so by looking at him now, but that man is definitely an accomplished fighter.”

Ranma nodded. “Yeah, the way he carried himself showed that he had a lot of skill. He would have given Tenchi a good fight.”

The ruler of Jurai stared down at the girl with an odd look on his face. “How could you tell if he had skill or not by paying attention to the way he moves? A child such as yourself shouldn’t have that kind of eye for things.” Just who was this girl?

Mentally cursing to herself for the slip-up, Ranma turned her head towards the man and gave him a wide-eyed and curious look. “He didn’t fall or anything, so doesn’t that mean that he has skill? Washu-sensei has a lot of skill also. You should see her when she teaches me things I need to know.” She gave him a bright smile.

“Nice try.” Azusa responded. “However, I’m not about to fall for a childish cover up such as that.” He kept his voice low so as to not let anyone else hear. “I’ve been curious about you ever since you first spoke up a little while ago. Misaki called you by the name Ranma, did she not?”

The redhead gave a nod in response. Was her cover already completely blown?

“You seem to know a lot more than a child of your age should, and you’ve just shown a certain degree of understanding that only someone older should know.” He stared down at the girl out of the corner of his eyes. “What I would like to know is if you are hiding your real self via an age disguise.”

Ranma shook her head. “I really am two-years-old.”

“Then how--”

“It’s a secret!” The cat-girl interrupted with a look of childish defiance. “And I’m not gonna tell you, beardy man!” She quickly turned and ran away, sticking her tongue out at him as she did so. The embarrassment over calling the Juraian emperor ‘beardy man’ was flashing through her mind.

“Beardy man?!” Azusa asked in a pouty way as he watched the girl run towards that large egg she seemed to carry around. As she disappeared inside of the house, Azusa grumbled to himself about children disrespecting royalty. “Someone needs to teach that child some manners.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma rubbed her eyes as she pushed herself up into a sitting position on the sofa. ‘Must have fallen asleep.’ She thought with a stretch. ‘Where’re my glasses?’ She wondered upon noticing that they weren’t present upon her face. After a quick search, she saw that they were resting upon the table. Feeling that she really didn’t need the things at the moment, Ranma decided to leave them there in favor of worrying about another issue.

“Where’s Laira?” The egg was nowhere to be seen, and she was certain that it was within her arms before she fell asleep. Panicking a little over her missing egg, the cat-girl started running around the room and looking in every spot she could while calling out to the large object. “Laira?!”

Sasami’s voice spoke up from behind. “What’s wrong, Ranma-chan?” The younger girl was obviously distraught over something.

“IcantfindLairaandIknowshewaswithmebeforeItookanap!” Ranma shouted in a fast-paced manner as she spun around to look at the girl in pigtails. Upon doing so, she saw that her egg was safely within Sasami’s arms. Her eyes lit up as she held out her hands, expecting the older girl to hand the object over.

The blue-haired girl giggled as she handed the egg back to Ranma, and watched as the redhead pulled it close to her chest and happily rubbed her cheek against the top of it. “Sorry for making you worry, Ranma-chan.”

“No problem.” Ranma answered. It was then that she noticed that something was amiss. “Where’s Misaki and the others?”

Sasami’s smile faded a little. “Mother, Father, and Auntie Funaho already left to go back to Jurai.”

“Huh? You mean that I missed them leaving because I fell asleep?” There was a look of disappointment on the cat-girl’s face.

“There’s no need to worry, Ranma-chan.” The blue-haired girl grabbed the redhead’s hand and led her towards the table in front of the sofa. “Mother was disappointed that she couldn’t properly tell you goodbye, but she left this for you.” She pointed to the small and silver rounded device on the table. “It’s already pre-set, so you just have to press this button.”

Ranma was wary about pushing strange buttons, but figured that if Sasami told her to do it, then it must be safe. As soon as she pressed it, a holo-screen popped into existence in front of her with the word ‘connecting’ flashing upon it. She was about to ask what was happening when Misaki’s face instantly popped up onto the screen.

“I’m glad to see you awake again, Ranma-chan!” The woman shouted happily. Her sudden appearance caused the two-year-old on the other end to yelp and fall backwards. “Huh? Where did she go?”

“I think it’s her first time communicating via a holo-screen.” Sasami supplied as she watched Ranma climb back onto her feet. “You startled her when you appeared.” She added with a small giggle.

“Ooohhh, I’m so sorry, Ranma-chan.” Misaki said with sad eyes. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s okay.” Ranma said as she scratched her cheek. She couldn’t believe that she fell backwards like that. ‘This holo-communicator thing is amazing.’ She found herself quickly becoming interested in all of the alien technology that she constantly came across. She was curious to understand just how they worked, and wondered just how it was possible to do such things. “Sorry that I was asleep when you left.”

Misaki gave her a bright smile. “It’s okay. Getting your sleep is much more important for someone your age. Besides, you looked so cute that waking you up just wasn’t an option.”

‘I think she likes embarrassing me.’ The cat-girl thought with a blush.

After about another minute of conversation, Misaki said her goodbyes to both Ranma and Sasami and allowed the screen to go blank. She had informed them that they would visit again soon, and that in the meantime, the communicator could be used for when Sasami and Ayeka -- as well as Ranma -- desired to get into contact with her.

Sasami giggled as she stared down at the small redhead. “I think Mom considers you to be one of the family, Ranma-chan.”

Ranma stared at the device that was sitting on top of the table. Being thought of like that didn’t sound all that bad, and it made her feel a little happy on the inside to know that.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Author’s Notes:
None at the moment.

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

First part, "She could have fell" becomes 'She could have fallen'

“But what if she does toss me aside like old cheese?” -- really nice image.

“Well, I’ve seen Mihoshi’s ship, but her’s is an ant when looking at this one.” -- hers

she watched as the unconscious Seiryo floated on his back amidst the bobbing water. -- I'd suggest "...she watched the unconscious Seiryo floating on his back, bobbing with the waves."

[Spokavriel]

. It didn’t take long before the young redhead returned to her purring as a look of content appeared on her face.

I think in this case contentment would fit a teensy bit better.

Post 2

Ranma-chan should have heard Mihoshi's ship almost before the umbrellas were being passed out. She has the most sensitive ears with the least experience in having to limit things like that. Everything else fits it's just the timing of when she starts hearing it that seems a bit late.

The adventures of Beardy Man! And his sidekick Wives!

So I was a little less attentive than usual on my read-through but well it was really fun and I can't help but wonder how Ranma-chan had seen Mihoshi's ship before and when.

Edit: I miss her using magic to beat Tennan herself. That was a cute moment.

[KonokoHasano]

Ellen: Thanks for the corrections.

Spokavriel: I was attempting to figure out just when to have Ranma start hearing Mihoshi's ship. I might have to tweak that a little more.

Ranma managed to catch sight of Mihoshi's ship a few days earlier. It was only a brief glimpse, but she did see it.

I debated on whether or not to have her fry Seiryo with magic again, but decided not to. It would have been a good moment to have Washu explain the importance of conserving magic again, but I decided to incorporate that aspect when Laira first hatches. Ranma will attempt to entertain Laira by performing several magic spells, but end up getting exhausted and white-haired in the process, causing Washu to need to explain the importance and all.

I won't include the limiter collar thing on Ranma again, though. Instead, it would probably be better for Washu to decide that it's basically something that Ranma should do on her own. If she constantly tires herself out by using magic, then she would become incredibly exhausted and sleepy. This would then lead to her attempting to sleep during her lessons with Washu and slacking off, which would then lead to a few punishments that would be enough to convince her not to overuse her magic.

[Spokavriel]

I think the Collar should have a place at some point. Even if only as a training aid. After all being able to train the body without the enhancements it could be all too easy to take for granted from Ki can seriously improve training. Also being able to turn off the Mau enhancements comes to mind... So I guess having it appear as a further punishment around school isn't going to happen now and the whole sequence of Peaves taking advantage of that from the pre-rewrite main story will also be out now.

[KonokoHasano]

Mau enhancements? What Mau enhancements? Unless you mean Masu.

And I don't really think that ki is the sole factor of what allows people to do the physical feats that they do. They can do what they do from actual training of the body, and if anything, trying to make ki move through your body and enhance your physical abilities would more than likely help in damaging the body itself. I just don't see it working that way.

Having Ranma's physical abilities and powers limited while in public is -- in the long run -- not a good idea. The sheer dangers that could occur with Ranma incapable of defending herself could be high. If anything, it would only work when Ranma is in a save place such as the Masaki home where there could be people around to actually help if she is in danger.


Edit: You know, something I just realized is that having her Masu enhancements limited could be a bad, BAD thing for Ranma. Her Masu aspect gives her the extraordinary immunity to illness and poisons. If that was limited, then she could get terribly ill. Also, due to her Masu side, she doesn't need to breath in oxygen due to being able to just absorb nutrients and convert it to energy. If limited, she could have difficulty breathing and taking in oxygen.

[Spokavriel]

The letter s didn't register when I was typing I guess. I'm using a backup keyboard while I repair a short in the one I normally use on this system. It's prone to occasionally missing characters and dropping in extra spaces. I just forgot to lok over it closely I AK it did it on look I'm leaving in that typo to and I guess t hat extra space to show what I mean. Two extra spaces now. Well it could be worse.

Yeah cutting off anything that is a physical ability for her doesn't make sense but being able to limit her Mana when she has no ability to limit it herself or limiting her Ki since her Body can't take it all just yet or to help her train in the physical aspects without overdoing it due to Ki making things easier in unnoticeable ways.

[KonokoHasano]

In the long run, the aspect that would probably pose the most danger to Ranma would be her mana. It could very well be that the amount she has grows way too fast for her young body to handle, and ends up causing her to become ill due to an imbalance within her. Her Masu physiology would help by preventing her from becoming critical to the point that would kill her, which is an outcome that would have turned real if her body was never converted.

Washu would then give her a device that would limit her mana enough so that she wouldn't be ill, but would only be able to use enough of it to perform one or two spells before becoming tired. The limiter device doesn't have to be a collar. It could be anything from a ring to whatever else.

[Spokavriel]

How about including it with that device that was beeping before Washu contacted her through Stringy recently in the main story?

[KonokoHasano]

That might work. It'd be something that originated as a mana limiter with a few smaller functions, and then then later when she could safely go with it off, the limiter function was removed.

[Spokavriel]

And having it as a sort of data assistant and pager or even emergency voice only galactic communicator/locator all seem to make sense for future replacement functions.

[KonokoHasano]

Yeah, that's true. I like that.

Also, I'm considering the idea of uploading the revised chapters of Wild Magic onto Fanfiction.net as a separate story, and keeping both the original and revised versions up for people to compare. By doing that, it would be much easier to upload instead of fiddling around with replacing chapters.


And if I decide on doing that, I could just go ahead and upload the revised Wild Magic chapters onto FF.net instead of waiting until I have the entire thing revised. This would also make a good moment to work a little more on the side story, such as maybe do the next chapter of it before getting back to revisions.

[Spokavriel]

I wonder what the readers who go to your profile will think having so many chapters seemingly come out of nowhere all at once if you do post the revised edition that way.