Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Shinji Saotome ❯ Chapter 7 - Keeping Secrets ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter 7 - Keeping Secrets

Slowly Shinji's mind crossed the boundary from sleep to consciousness and started collecting data.

Only working on half power, Shinji's mind registered that whatever he was currently lying on was soft. Clearly remembering that his last location was the open street, which was definitely not soft, he sent out his hands to explore his surroundings. His left arm was trapped under something warm and soft and so his right hand was sent to find out more about the object lying next to him. Scouting the part of the object that was pressed against his side his hand encountered a very round, firm, and warm object that was topped with a stiff peak and covered with a silken material.

Out of reflex his hands squeezed

"mmmhhh! Airen is very bold, I like this very much."

Needless to say _that_ brought Shinji's mind to full alert faster than a bucket of ice water ever could. Snapping his eyes open, the youngest Saotome tried sitting up, only to be pinned to the mattress by the shapely Amazon snuggling into his side. Any further attempts to break free were stopped by the crushing headache he finally became aware off.

Groaning, Shinji rubbed his head with his free hand.

"Is your head still hurting airen? Sorry, but sometimes I don't know my own strength."

Shinji blinked twice, not having expected that turn of conversation in the least. Spice, he thought that was the twin whom he was talking to, didn't seem to mind that her body was pressed intimately into his. Under normal circumstances, Shinji would have been running for the hills by now, but since the girl seemed pretty comfortable where she was, he wasn't going to say anything, otherwise she might just decided to fight him again. Besides, he had to admit, the position was _very_ nice to be in.

So he decided to solve more important matters.

"Why are you calling me `husband'? It's not like I defeated you in battle." He was surprised that his voice was only wavering lightly when he spoke in spite of the situation he was in.

Spice smiled up at him mischievously and gave him an affectionate peck on the cheek.

"Silly airen. Pepper and I knew that you couldn't defeat us in a fight. That's why we challenged you to `fight of marriage'."

Shinji gave her a confused and slightly dazed look, still feeling the after-effects of her kiss.

"Huh?"

Spice giggled.

"It's simple. Instead of the normal laws pertaining outsiders, a warrior can marry the outsider if she wishes so, after defeating him in a fight."

Shinji looked at her crossly.

"Seems you Amazons have covered every possibility eh? I mean no offence to you Spice, but I cannot marry you."

Spice shook her head.

"You have no choice in the matter. It is our law after all."

Shinji pried the girl off his arm and sat upright to look the now sitting girl in the eyes.

"It's not that you're a bad catch or anything, but I have a lot of things to take care of before I can even think of settling down."

Spice frowned slightly.

"There is no way around it. You're our husband now, and that means you have to come with us back to China!"

"Please Spice, isn't there a possibility to go back to China at a later date?"

Shinji swallowed, knowing what he would say next would bind him even further. It was a sacrifice he had to make.

"As your future husband, all I ask is that you trust me in this. I will see about coming back to China and becoming your husband when my business is finished …but right now I can't...under no condition."

Spice cocked her head to one side in consideration. It was obvious that Shinji was sincere when saying he would go back to China later on, but it wasn't her place to decide if this was to be allowed or not. In the privacy of her own thoughts she could admit to herself that she would have asked for the same, though. He probably wanted to say goodbye to friends and family, tie up some loose ends before moving on with his life.

"I can understand your reasons…"

`I doubt that' thought Shinji bitterly.

"But it is not my place to decide this. You have to speak with my great-grandmother about that. I'll see what I can do, though. Wait here, I'll be right back."

As Spice stood up, Shinji grabbed her wrist, causing her to turn around.

He smiled at her warmly.

"Thanks. This means a lot to me."

Spice smiled back.

"No problem. It's not like Pepper or I are in a hurry to marry either."

Then she was gone, leaving Shinji to his own devices.

***************

Meanwhile at the Tendo Dojo

Ranma was sitting in front of the couch, watching the sleeping form of Shampoo with some trepidation. It had been nearly half an hour since their fight and she still showed no signs of waking. How it was even possible for an accomplished martial artist to get knocked out by falling on his or her head was beyond him. It was just one of the things you had to accept or go crazy thinking about it.

What had him worried wasn't Shampoo though. He already knew that she was now obligated to marry him; there was no way around that at the moment.

No, what worried him was his little brother. He wasn't at home or where they had started the fight.

At least he had some peace right now, even though Akane's battle-aura, which he could feel all the way from the dojo, was a little disconcerting.

He had told the Tendos and his old man what had happened with the expected results.

His old man and Soun immediately started raging and/or crying at him for betraying his fiancée while Nabiki simply smirked and walked away. It seemed she found the whole affair rather funny. Kasumi offered a weak smile and left to prepare dinner. Ranma couldn't even hold it against her. It wasn't like she could do anything to solve this newest problem.

Akane on the other hand didn't waste time on words and simply bashed the table over his head. He awoke 5 minutes later without anyone inside the room, still lying where Akane had decked him.

Ranma absently rubbed the bruise on top of his head.

`Stupid tomboy, ain't my fault this happened. At least she saved me from listening to more of Soun's wailing. Bet him and the old panda have gone drinking again…..'

Further degrading thoughts about Soun and Genma were stopped short when the lovely purple-haired girl on the couch groaned and opened her eyes.

The moment her gaze focused upon Ranma, she smiled affectionately (or was that lecherously?) and rose from her position to kneel before him.

Ranma didn't move a muscle when she leaned into him, her right hand coming up to caress his cheek.

The Amazon gave him one last smouldering look…

"Wo ai ni Airen!"

and brought her lips to his in a passionate kiss that took his breath away and robbed him of all conscious thought.

Shampoo held the kiss with her new husband. He wasn't reacting, probably too shocked or something. Taking his inaction for shyness Shampoo decided she needed to be a lot bolder here.

She forced him to lie down and climbed on top of him, now bringing her tongue into play.

`This is pure heaven!'

Ranma came out of his stupor and slipped right into blind panic when a hand entered his pants and grasped something it shouldn't. With both his hands free he used one to push away Shampoo's upper body, freeing his mouth from hers in the process, while his other grabbed her wrist and jerked it out of his pants. Before the purple haired beauty could react, he rolled over to one side to come up with him straddling the girl. One of his arms was holding her hands above her head, the other was…

`agggh, I grabbed her breasts!'

..You get the picture, I think.

As fate would have it, Akane, having vented her anger for now, chose exactly that moment to walk in on them.

A red curtain of anger fell over her senses and she took a few threatening steps forward.

Ranma noticed her and his eyes grew wide.

"Wait Akane, I can explain!"

Akane hesitated and she barely managed to reign in her anger.

She had seen a lot of misunderstandings and weirdness involving her guests these past weeks, maybe she should hear Ranma out before getting violent? Shinji had said she should hear Ranma out before reacting, since things like that seemed to happen often….

Shampoo moaned.

Akane snapped.

*Bam!*

*crash*

"Why meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" screamed the rapidly ascending form of Ranma, which could be seen disappearing through the newly created hole in the roof.

Akane, having vented most of her ire by punting Ranma into the sky, glared at the hussy who was in turn looking up at her with a confused expression.

"Why violent girl hit airen like that?"

Akane glared some more.

"I'm not violent! I'm his fiancée and I punished him for being a pervert. Not that I want to marry the jerk, mind you!"

Shampoo's expression became unreadable as she stood up and regarded Akane closely.

Akane felt like she was being measured and she tensed up slightly.

Suddenly the Amazon snorted and walked out of the house without any further comment.

Akane looked at the retreating figure and shook her head.

"That was weird."

Even after Shampoo was long gone, Akane didn't notice that she had called herself Ranma's fiancée, even though nothing of the sorts had been decided yet.

***********************

`It sucks to be me' Was the foremost thought on Shinji Ikari's minds as he sat on the bed he woke up on, sweating under the scary gaze of Ku Lon from the Amazons.

Spice and Pepper, who were now both his wives under Amazon law, had arrived shortly after Spice had left with the elder in tow. Shinji, feeling guilty after hitting a girl, even though it was in a fight (he's still as wimpy as ever) apologized profusely, which got him a passionate kiss and a hug from said girl.

While Shinji was left to get his mouth and brain back to working order, Cologne had ordered the girls to leave them alone.

Once the girls had gone an uncomfortable silence settled over the pair, uncomfortable for Shinji at least.

After a few minutes of staring, Cologne finally broke the silence.

"So, what do you think son-in-law?"

Shinji decided to pull a Ranma and say what was on his mind.

"Who taught them how to kiss like that?"

Cologne chuckled.

"Now that would be telling! Let's just say it's one of many advantages of marrying them. They are two very fine women after all."

Shinji simply nodded his head, she was right after all.

Suddenly the old gnome was standing less than three inches from his face.

"If you can admit that, then why do you want to wait until you commit yourself to them?"

Her tone was measured but sharp.

Shinji swallowed. What could he tell her that would warrant his continued stay in Nerima?

It was tempting to just tell the truth since it was possible that she would believe him. Ranma did so, after all. Yet, he got the feeling that it would be a bad idea to tell her right now and Shinji had learned to trust his feelings from his time spent with Ranma.

The adopted Saotome was desperately searching for reasons why he needed to stay in Nerima, yet each idea was discarded as fast as it popped up in his head. He didn't know how long it would take until a chance to find his Eva and get back home would show itself. That meant he needed a reason to stay here several years...something he just didn't have.

Meanwhile Cologne's patience was wearing thin.

"Come on sonny-boy, I don't have all day. Why do you want to stay here?"

Having no idea what to tell his interrogator Shinji decided to copy a move from his father (shudder): Withhold information.

"Elder, I would love to commit to these two, but I have some pressing business to take care of, that I _must_ solve under any circumstances. What that is, I cannot tell you at this point of time." He wisely decided not to add `because I don't trust you and don't know what you will do.'

Cologne narrowed her eyes. She was glad that she wasn't lied to, but she didn't like being left in the dark very much either. Pepper and Spice made it clear to her though, that they wanted her to respect his wishes, and so she did.

"Very well son-in-law, I will grant your wish, but I will watch every move you make and if you make the slightest indication of playing me for a fool….you won't like the consequences."

Shinji blinked, not having expected this to be so easy. Remembering his manners, he stood up and bowed deeply.

"You will not regret your decision honoured elder. If you would excuse me now, I have to find my brother to keep him out of trouble."

"You may try, son-in-law" Cologne said in a light tone "but I doubt you'll succeed with that."

Shinji grimaced slightly. He had a feeling it was already to late to keep Ranma from defeating an Amazon, but he had to try.

"Don't remind me. I'll be going now!"

As Shinji left the room, shortly followed by the sounds of two amorous teenagers trying to smother him in affection, Cologne could only chuckle.

`I'll keep my eyes on you, my little walking mystery.'

**************************

Sunday morning - somewhere in Nerima

Soun Tendo smiled brightly at the huge panda next to him, which was carrying a big load of flyers in its paws, just like he did. They had just visited another friend of Soun who was more than willing to print their flyers for the new dojo, which Soun and Genma had designed just yesterday (amidst a lot of drinking).

"Isn't this great Saotome? After all this time the dojo will once again teach students!"

The panda would have answered, but with both paws occupied, writing a sign wasn't possible, so it's only answer was a growl.

`Yeah, but I wanted it opened by my son you %&%$§. Now I'll never be able to retire!'

Soun, totally unaware of his friend's unkind thoughts, started walking in a random direction.

"Come on Saotome, the sooner we get all those flyers spread out over Nerima, the sooner we can start teaching, which in turn will secure the future of our school!"

Crying at the injustice of it all Genma Saotome in panda-form followed his old friend to his first day of real work since…ever.

**********************

Back at the Tendo Dojo, someone else was hard at work.

"Nabiki, don't you think this is a bit much?" Squeaked a blushing and half-naked Shinji-chan, currently in a very compromising position with an equally half-naked Ranma-chan.

The only positive thing was that Ryouga wasn't here. The lost boy had wandered off somewhere yesterday and nobody had seen him since then. That was a very good thing because Shinji doubted Ryouga would have survived the massive nosebleed their current position would have provoked from him.

"Shinji's right! We never said anything about this when talking about this photo shoot!"

Grumbled a red-faced Ranma-chan, who was currently lying on top of Shinji, their faces mere inches from each other.

Standing a few feet away Nabiki rolled her eyes.

"Will you two stop bitching already? That's the last one, I swear. Now if you would please go into position?"

Both boy-turned-girls sighed and pursed their lips while closing their eyes, as if to kiss each other.

*clickclickclickclickclick*

"Okay, you can stop now, we're finished."

Nabiki had barely finished her sentence when both girls were standing a few feet apart from each other and dressing in their regular clothes.

"Come on Shinji, let's spar a little, maybe then I'll forget what the perverts at school will do with these pictures."

Both Saotomes shuddered when Ranma said this and redoubled their efforts to get the hell out of there, lest Nabiki got any other ideas.

Once she was alone in the dojo, Nabiki smiled.

"Damn that was hot! Next time I'll have to convince them to do this while one of them is male!"(1)

************************

Monday rolled by without any major events. No Amazons showed their face, Soun and Genma were actually doing paperwork to get the dojo covered legally and Akane clobbered Ranma every now and then since she was still angry about the whole Amazon business and he hadn't learned to keep his mouth shut.

All in all it was one of the nicest weekends Shinji had had for the longest time.

Then everything went straight to hell.

He had been sitting in his classroom when several loud crashes indicated that someone was being overly violent, and it wasn't Kuno, since he was still out cold in the infirmary after this morning. When he saw Shampoo and Akane walking to the soccer-field with no Ranma in sight, he knew something was seriously wrong.

As he stood up and ran out the door without saying anything, he just _knew_ his grades in this particular subject would be less than desirable this year.

When he arrived at the soccer field only half a minute later, there was no one in sight.

Looking around some more, he spotted Akane lying unconscious on the grass.

Trying to wake her up, Shinji wondered where Ranma was when you really needed him.

Before too long, Akane came around and looked up at him confused.

"What happened? Where am I?"

Shinji helped her to her feet.

"You're at school. It seems you and Shampoo had a fight. Do you remember anything about it?"

Akane scrunched up her face in concentration.

"I can't remember any fight, but my hair sure feels silky, like someone washed it or something. Wanna touch it?"

Shinji felt her hair and had to agree, it was pretty silky right now. That didn't stop him from staring incredulously though.

"Why the hell would Shampoo wash your hair?"

Ranma choose that moment to come sprinting towards them and come to a stop with a concerned expression on his face.

"Hey Akane, you all right?"

Akane blinked several times and looked Ranma up and down confused.

"Do I know you?"

Ranma blinked.

"Of course you know me you tomboy! I'm Ranma Saotome!"

Akane seemed to be thinking for a moment.

"Nope never heard of you, who are you again?"

Shinji slapped his forehead

"Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, I think we might just have a problem here."

*****************

Later that day

Cologne and the girls were closing the Cat Café down after the first day of business. It had already been settled whom Ranma and Shinji belonged to, so all other warriors had gone out on their own to maybe find a husband and return home afterwards. That left Shampoo, Spice and Pepper to help Cologne out at her temporary settlement.

Needless to say the matriarch wasn't exactly elated when the door crashed inwards to reveal a very angry looking Ranma. Nonetheless, she took the time to annoy the kid some more.

"My, my, that was a flashy entrance son-in-law. Of course, I expect you to pay for that door."

If Ranma heard her comment, he made no indication.

"What did you do to Akane, old ghoul?"

Cologne tried to look innocent and failed miserably. (Hey, I want to see you succeeding with that when you have the face of a dried up old mummy!)

"Why, I only had Shampoo remove her memories of you, because she seemed so unhappy knowing you."

That only made Ranma angrier.

Shampoo glomped onto him and started babbling. It was obvious she hadn't noticed Ranma's mood.

"Now that violent girl no know you, Shampoo and airen can go marry."

Ranma pried the purple-haired Amazon off of him and stalked towards Cologne.
"Gimme the cure old ghoul or I'll..:"

Cologne raised an eyebrow.

"You will what? Fight me? You're a few hundred years to young to beat me son-in-law."

"..or we will be forced to call a lawyer, honoured elder." Came a new voice from the front of the shop.

All eyes turned to find an out-of-breath Shinji Saotome standing on the splinters of the broken front door. Spice and Pepper, who hadn't said a word up until now, squealed with delight and the next moment Shinji found himself the target of an Amazon double-glomp. The resulting blush on his cheeks made the steel-eyed look he gave Cologne a lot less impressive.

Cologne raised an eyebrow at the display but ignored it in favour of the current conversation.

"Oh, is that so son-in-law? First you request to stay here for the time being and then you want to use the law against us?"

Shinji gave her a cold look (Gendotm), which made Cologne shiver involuntary and caused Pepper and Spice to loosen their grips slightly.

"Yes, I intend to do just that. You don't have any right to do something like that to Akane. She hasn't done anything to you or your clan, so why did you erase her memories?"

"Because she obstacle when fiancée of airen! She no remember airen, she no can be fiancée, is simple." Said a very proud looking Shampoo, who was still held at arms length by Ranma.

Ranma looked at her wide-eyed.

"Huh? Whoever said anything about her being my fiancée? We're just living with the Tendos right now!"

Shampoo blinked.

"Violent girl say so herself."

Ranma scowled.

"Well, Then you misunderstood something. I ain't her fiancée and she sure as hell wouldn't say that she is my fiancée either. ..uncute tomboy."

Cologne pogoed over to Shinji on her cane.

"Is what he says true?"

Shinji nodded.

"Yeah. We managed to convince our fathers to put off all this stuff about fiancées for half a year and see if one of the girls and Ranma would want to get together. Right now nothing is set in stone."

"In that case; Great-granddaughter please follow these two and give this girl back her memories. No sense in stealing her memories if she isn't even competition for your husband."

Soon after Cologne's declaration, Shinji and Ranma found themselves walking home with Shampoo clinging to Ranma's arm like a barnacle to a ship's hull, only much more affectionately. Fortunately Pepper and Spice had to stay behind to finish closing the restaurant; otherwise Shinji doubted he would have been able to walk all that far.

**********************

Some time later.

Shinji, Shampoo and Akane came walking out of the bath.

Shampoo had been instructing him on how to use the formula while Ranma waited outside because Akane was confused by his presence.

Right now Akane was stomping towards a hopeful looking Ranma.

Ranma became confused as Shinji mouthed several words that said as much as `run as far away as you can!' and made strangling gestures with his hands.

"Why should I run away Shin…"

*BAM*

Ranma never got to finish his sentence as Akane's mallet crashed down on his head.

"Ranma you idiot! This is all your fault."

With his head imbedded in the floor, Ranma groaned.

`At least she has her memories back. Shinji coulda warned me a little earlier though.' He thought, shortly before he passed out.

Shinji looked at his fallen brother then at the retreating Akane and sighed.

`Something has to be done about the two of you.'

Shampoo regarded Ranma's still form with confusion..

"Aiya, violent girl too too stupid. Is she who made Shampoo misunderstand, not airen!"

Shinji rubbed his temples.

While Akane's actions became rather predictable over time, they didn't become any more understandable for him.

"Who knows, Shampoo? Come on, I'll walk you home while Ranma is sleeping off his headache."

Shampoo smiled brightly.

"Shampoo glad you offer, brother of airen!"

It was right there when Shinji gave himself another task, namely helping Shampoo with her Japanese.

"Shampoo, I've got a name. Please use it. Calling people all sorts of things isn't polite."

The purple-haired girl pouted.

"Brother of ai….Shinji always so serious. Shinji should lighten up!"

Shinji chuckled half-heartedly.

"Sorry, I'm just trying to help."

Shampoo waved him off.
"Shampoo not angry, is glad Shinji wants to help. We must hurry now, Shampoo need to get back soon."

Shinji nodded and the two set off into the night.

"All right, let's hurry."

When they finally arrived, Shampoo was ready to throttle Shinji, who had kept correcting her language all the way.

And so life at the Tendos once again returned to normal. Not that this state of things was fated to last long, mind you.

********************

Later that week

It had been a wonderful day for Ranma up until now. No Amazons had shown their face, he hadn't stuck his foot in his mouth the entire day and his brother seemed genuinely carefree for a change ( Ranma hadn't seen that before). All in all it couldn't have been much better (save for Kuno's appearance, but that couldn't be helped).

That was the reason why Ranma was filled with a sense of dread when he walked home with Shinji and Akane. That feeling only intensified when he spotted the expensive looking white stretch-limo, which was parked before his current residence.

"Say Akane, I didn't know your father knows someone with so much money."

Akane, for her part, looked at the limousine very suspiciously.

"He doesn't, at least as far as I know."

Shinji shivered involuntary

"Somehow I've got the feeling that we don't want to go in there. I just know father is responsible for this."

Ranma slapped him on the shoulder.
"Don't be such a pansy! I mean, the worst thing the old smelly panda could have done is engage me to another girl, right?"

Shinji sighed, knowing that they had to go in anyway, and started walking towards the front porch, followed closely by Akane and Ranma.

The moment Shinji entered the living room he found himself confronted by a burly man who had ridiculously oversized ears

"Ah, finally we get to see your fiancée. Hello, I am Ishiro Daikoku."

A vein popped up on Shinji's head as he shook the older mans big hand.

"Ranma" He growled at the perplexed boy standing behind him "NEVER, EVER say anything about being engaged to another girl again…"

Ranma laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Ah ah ah. Guess I shouldn't have said that eh?"

Ignoring the questioning look on the fat man's face, Shinji looked around until he spotted his so called father cowering in a corner in the room.

Giving Genma his glare of death, Shinji stalked over to him.

"Just what did you do this time _father_?"

Several people in the room wondered how the word father could be spoken with so much disdain and why it was suddenly so cold in the room.

Genma only twiddled his fingers; already cowed because of the dressing down Soun had given him for his actions beforehand.

Seeing how no answer was forthcoming, Shinji turned back to the fat man to see him animatedly speaking with Ranma.

"I'm sorry I confused you back there Ranma, son! But now that you're here, look at your bride!"

Saying so, the fat man pointed out the girl that was demurely sitting on one side of the table.

Neither Shinji nor Ranma had noticed her before. She was clad in an elegant, bright white kimono that didn't give away anything. Her face was hidden by the pulled down hood and her hands were hidden within the voluminous sleeves of her robe.

Yet, even without seeing her face one couldn't help but believe her to be very beautiful.

"Isn't she a sweet darling? I doubt you can find a better wife than her in all of Japan. So, what do you say son?"

That was Soun's cue.

"I have to disappoint you, but as I've already said before Ranma already has a fiancée. He is to marry one of my daughters!"

Mr. Daikoku shook his head.

"I am afraid that won't happen Tendo-san. Saotome-san has already accepted the dowry and Kaori's engagement is therefore more valid."

Ranma looked at his father suspiciously.

"Just what did you sell me for this time old man?"

This prompted Genma to undergo a transformation from whimpering fool to self-righteous bastard as he told the tragic tale of how he heroically saved his son's life by accepting the engagement.

When Genma finished his tale, Mr. Daikoku looked confused.

"I am sorry Saotome-san. But as I remember it you agreed to the engagement in exchange for some fish and two pickles. I can't remember anything about your son being mortally ill and needing something only I could give him."

Ranma's eyebrow started twitching as he advanced on Genma

"You sold me for TWO PICKLES AND SOME FISH?!!! That's it old man, you're gonna get beaten!!!"

While Ranma stalked towards his worthless excuse for a father, Shinji nudged Akane.

"Hey Akane, could you give me your mallet?"

The girl shrugged, figuring Shinji wanted to cream the Panda as well.

"Sure, here."

Shinji quickly stepped in front of Ranma to block his path. Shinji gave Ranma a mischievous smile.

"If you beat up the old panda, do it with style!" That said Shinji pressed the mallet into Ranma's hands.

Genma started whimpering in his corner.

"Okay, you old rotten Panda. It's time you got a taste of Akane's mallet!"

Everyone quickly turned away as the massacre started.

"YOU STUPID *Bam* GOOD FOR NOTHING *BAM* PANDA *BAM* HOW COULD YOU *BAM*….."

(The rest of this admittedly one-sided argument is better left not described because unnecessary violence like that would probably raise the rating of this fic.)

Ignoring the screams of pain coming from Genma, Soun continued the argument unhindered.

"You cannot expect Ranma to marry your daughter because of such a dowry. Here I'll even give you the money for that Fish and the two pickles back. Now you can leave and find your daughter another husband."

Mr. Daikoku shook his head.

"I am afraid it's not that easy. This is a matter of family honor and not money. Genma made a pact with me to marry his son to my daughter and now I expect him to hold his end of the bargain."

At that point a blue and bloody looking Genma crawled up to Mr. Daikoku with a triumphant smirk on what could have been his face.

"That's right. I said my son is to marry you daughter, but Shinji here is also my son! Take him instead of Ranma!"

Shinji, who had been listening to the argument, started flexing his right hand. He didn't like inflicting physical pain on anybody if it wasn't sparring, but right now he was sorely tempted to make an exception for his father. Instead he settled for a death-glare, which promptly shut the Panda up.

Mr. Daikoku didn't seem to like the idea very much either.

"No, I won't settle for Shinji, Saotome-san. When we made this arrangement, Ranma was your only son, and therefore Ranma is the son who has to fulfil our pledge."

Then Mr. Daikoku's attention was drawn to his daughter, who cleared her throat to get his attention. The stocky man waddled over and held his ear to her mouth so she could tell him something.

Ranma wondered how uptight one could be, but managed to keep his mouth shut for once. Pummelling Genma had done wonders for his mood.

Suddenly Mr. Daikoku stood to his full height.

"My daughter has made a proposition: There is a martial arts take out race next Tuesday in which one of your daughters and my Kaori are to take part. If Kaori wins, Ranma will be hers and Mr. Tendo has to drop his claim on the boy…and if she doesn't, she will settle for his younger brother."

"AGREED!" Screamed an eager Soun and Genma, both of them sure Akane could beat the little prissy who couldn't even talk for herself. What happened to Shinji wasn't important at the moment anyway.

Shinji and Ranma could only hang their heads: No matter what the outcome of this race, one of them would get another fiancée.

"This sucks!" Was all the duo could say as Mr. Daikoku and his daughter left the house.

************************

Nabiki frowned as she looked over her mail. She had stayed behind at school to check up on her contacts and was still unaware of the new situation at home. That was a good thing because all of her attention was used up for her little pet project at the moment.

Over the course of the last weeks, she had managed to pry the names of Shinji's parents out of the boy, while Ranma said he didn't even know if his mother was still alive. Mr. Saotome wasn't much help either, because he always avoided any questions about his wife and didn't know anything about Shinji. Normally she wouldn't have bothered checking up on the boys' history, but Shinji's uncertainty when he told her about his parents death made her wonder if that was the full story. So she had included Ranma in her little research just to be sure.

That was the reason for her current activity. She had sent her contact all the information she had and told him to find out everything he could about the boy's family. Usually he had something after a week of research, which was the reason why Nabiki was looking _very_ intrigued at the moment. The contact had found Ranma's mother, all right. The question was why would Genma be so reluctant to talk about her? While Ranma's mother hadn't been the reason for this little adventure, Nabiki decided the woman would get a visit from her very soon.

Yet, Mrs. Nodoka Saotome wasn't what intrigued her most.

It seemed a Yui and Gendo Ikari, who had a son named Shinji, had never existed. _That_ was unexpected.

Shinji didn't strike her as the type of guy who lied unless he had a very good reason to. Giving her houseguest the benefit of the doubt, Nabiki decided to wait another two weeks for her contact to find something before making her judgement. No need to alienate the only person who had actually tried to talk to her in a friendly manner because of an assumption. She wanted to be sure about this before she confronted Shinji..

Still, she couldn't help but smile slightly as she started writing a mail to tell her contact he should keep searching.

`I'll find out your secret Shinji, rest assured I will.'

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Tokyo bay - same day

Captain Hiro Yamaha watched the calm waters of the sea with a hawk-like gaze, seemingly searching for something.

A few days back he had overheard two drunkards talking about something sticking out of the ocean floor that looked like a giant purple foot. While he didn't believe anything of what they told him, he could believe that it was the nose of a wreck that had been buried by the wake of time. Being a wreck diver, it was no surprise that he was out here trying to pinpoint the location the two drunkards had pointed out to him. He had enough money to uncover the little baby and who knew, maybe he would find something _very_ expensive down there.

Suddenly a member of the second diving team broke the surface waving his hand in success.

"We found it captain and I gotta admit it really looks like a friggin purple foot!"

Hiro got a glint in his eyes. If his crewmember told the truth he could make more than just money from this.

He had a feeling this would be his greatest find _ever_.

End chapter 7

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(1) Don't know how that came about, but Nabiki always struck me as a pervert, damned if I knew why.

Author's notes:

Well, it seems slowly the pieces are coming together.

How long will Shinji keep his little secret?

Who will end up Kaori's fiancée?

Is that really a purple foot sticking out of the ocean-floor or is the diver Mousse's brother?

And how did that fish end up in my shoe?

All this will or will not be answered in the next chapter. You'll just have to see.

Last but not least I would like to thank my pre-readers NuStrike, Ranshin and kuracao for making this chapter readable. Thanks guys, you are the greatest! (important notice: the following omake was not spellchecked by them so you should be afraid)

And now OMAKE TIME!!

A knock on the author's (me) window captures his attention.

Me: (opens window) who's that?

EVA 01: ROAAAR! ROOAR ROOAR ROOOOAAARAAARRR ROAR! (Translation: Me! That better be not my foot sticking out of the ocean floor, I will _not eat dirt like that again!)

Me:(sweating) ah...ah…ah…Hey ..ohm no prob, you know…I that isn't you down there, really...it isn't.

EVA 01: (not convinced) ROAAAR! ROAAR ROAAAAROOAAR! (Translation: That's it! You're dinner!

Me: HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!

Kasumi walks in.

Kasumi: Now, that's not very nice Mrs. Evangelion. Why don't you leave this to me and drink a cup of tea?"

EVA 01: (nods dumbly, walks away and proceeds to drink from our neighbours' swimming pool after ripping it out of the ground)

Kasumi: (frowns at me)And now Mr. Author you will explain why I didn't have a scene in this chapter….

Me: eeeeeep…….

I just wanted to show you what I have to go through to write this fic. Do you know what it feels like to be dressed down by Kasumi, do you? Thought so!

THE HORROR!

And do you know how much our neighbours are charging for that swimming pool? I'll be a poor man until the end of my life!

Not to mention what EVA 01 did to their kid…Seems like humans make wonderful Eva-sized cookies.