Scarf's Story
Scarf's Story
Started by Scarf
At the local port:
A cloaked man gets off of a boat. He looks around and then walks over to a sailor. "Excuse me. How do I get to the Nerima District?" He asked.
The sailor looked at him in disbelief. "You _want_ to go to the Nerima District? Well...it's that way" points towards Nerima "if you want to go there."
Upon seeing the direction to go the man began jumping from roof to roof in the direction.
"Sign here and here." the clerk pointed to the places on the invoice, and Silk quickly signed the characters for her name, she took the crate her mentor had sent by steamer several weeks ago. She had asked for it to be delivered, but none of the delivery people were willing to come anywhere near the Nerima district, let alone down the street from Furinkan High, where her shop was. "You'd think it was cursed or something." she smiled to herself as she took to the rooftops towards home.
She noted another roof born traveler ahead of her, one dressed in a dark cloak. --here we go again...-- Silk thought, picking up speed to try to inspect this newcomer more closely. --It doesn't look like Tarou, but the aura _is_ familiar...--
The cloaked man sensed someone following him. Without even looking back he thought --Oh no...Somehow she beat me here! Got to lose her if I want find the Dojo.-- Upon finishing this thought he hopped down into an alleyway between two buildings and began running down the alley and into a large store where he could lose his follower.
Rinse was surprised by the cloaked man running into the Nekohanten. "Nihao! Welcome to Nekohanten restaurant. How may Rinse be of service?" He said as he pulled out a menu in front of the man.
The man stopped and looked at Rinse. --Rinse!-- he thought --What are you doing here? Well, it doesn't matter, I still need to find the Dojo.-- "Excuse me, do you know how I can get to the Tendou Dojo?"
Rinse looked closer to see who the man was... "Er... do Rinse know you?" he squinted his eyes. "..oh! Tendou Dojo down road, turn left." He said pointing outside the door. "Hmm... strangely familiar..." Rinse thought to himself.
"Thank you." the man said, and then he turned around and ran out following Rinse's directions. He shortly arrived at the front gate of the Tendou Dojo. Reading the sign, he thought --Finally, I'm here.-- He reached up and knocked on the door loudly.
The door opened. Kasumi Tendou, smiling as ever, stood inside, dressed in her gown and an apron. "Hello," she smiled, "Welcome to the Tendou Dojo. Can I help you?"
Back at the Cat Cafe...
Brush came downstairs as the stranger left. "Rinse, who was that guy? Something about him felt very familiar. I think he was from the village."
Rinse stopped piling the rest of the menus up and walked up to Brush. "Oh, Brush mean strange man? Yeah.. Rinse sensed it too.. he said he wanting to go to Tendou Dojo.." He said as he pointed to the dojo's general direction.
Having lost track of her quarry when he dropped off the rooftops, Silk poked her head into the Nekohanten, "Hey, did you guys see a guy with a dark cloak come by here? I could have sworn I knew him from somewhere, just his aura... but it wasn't Tarou or any of the regulars."
Rinse pointed to the direction of the Tendou Dojo. "Strange man go to Tendou household, Silk Chan." He picked up a delivery box and said to the others, "You two want come with Rinse? Rinse have delivery at the Tendou Dojo for Genma and Soun San."
Brush nodded. "Yes, I think I'll go as well. I'm curious now." As she got up to leave, she turned to Silk. "You coming?"
Silk nodded. "May as well. I'll meet you there." she said, getting a better grip on the crate she carried, "I need to drop this off at my shop first. See you at the Tendou's." she left quickly, headed down the street to the Curses and Cures.
Meanwhile, back at the Tendo Dojo...
Alex was walking up to the house to talk about some money matters with Nabiki. "If she want to sell those pics of me, I think I should be compensated for my image." As he walked up to the door, he saw the cloaked stranger and Kasumi. "Hello Kasumi, ummm...and you sir whoever you may be. Excuse me for interrupting, but is Nabiki in?"
"Why yes, Alex, step right in," Kasumi said, smiling. Then she returned to the stranger. "Are you here to challenge Ranma for Akane's hand or some past slight?" she asked in a most pleasant and friendly tone.
The man was surprised by this question. Ahhh...Ranma...challenge? Umm...well...neither I'm here to Soun Tendou. This is his home, isn't it?" the man asked with new uncertainty in his voice.
"Oh, you are here to see Father? How nice for him," Kasumi said in a nice tone. "This is his home, yes. Do come inside."
As the man walked inside the building he thought --Father? Hmmm today has just been a day full of surprises. I wonder what's next?-- He was walked into a room with two men. One wearing a white gi and the other wearing a black gi. They were playing some sort of game involving little pieces of wood. He waited to be told which of them was Soun.
"Nihao!" Yelled a voice from behind the group. It was Rinse and Brush carrying the food Soun and Genma had ordered earlier. "One Ramen Deluxe Feast and one Dim Sung Special!" He said as both Soun and Genma's ears perked up as they sensed food was near.
"Father?" Kasumi said, calling for one of the men's attention. The man in the dark gi turned to look at her as the white gi-ed man started reassigning the wooden pieces.
"Yes Kasumi?" the dark gi-ed man said. "There's a visitor for you," Kasumi said, indicating the cloaked stranger. "You ordered out? You shouldn't have, didn't you know that Akane was going to help me cook tonight?"
"Well," Soun started, looking nervous. "We forgot. Too late now, sadly." As Kasumi seemed to accept this answer, Soun turned to the stranger. "So, who are you then and what do you want from me?"
"I have something important to talk to you about." the man said. "Could you get your family together? I think they should be here for the thing I have to say."
*****
Silk jogged quickly towards her shop, and was more than a little startled to see someone waiting for her. "Akane?" then she remembered, Akane was cooking that night, and had asked for some special order herbs for her new 'recipe'.
It didn't take much to ask if she could come and help test the other girl's latest concoction, so Silk and Akane were just getting to the gate when the young man asked Soun to gather the family together.
Nabiki walked into the main room, sitting down next to her father with a bored expression on her face. Ranma showed up, carrying a broken red umbrella mumbling something about a stupid pork-butt.
Kasumi entered the room again, carrying a tray with lots of cups and a large teakettle and some cookies and began to serve the newcomer and her family.
As Akane and Silk entered the house, she turned to them, smiled that oblivious little smile of hers. "Oh, Akane, Silk, there's someone here who came looking for father. He wants us to hear what he has to say."
"Silk?" the man said. "What are you doing here?" He got up and began walking towards her.
Silk's jaw dropped when she recognized the stranger's voice. "Scarf?" she whispered, and the cloaked man nodded ever so slightly. Her face broke into a wide grin, "It seems like it's been forever... after I left I went to school in Hong Kong and now I'm going to college near here. But please, we can talk later." she said, motioning at the confused Tendou family and Brush and Rinse.
"Yes." the man said. "We should."
He then turned to the assembled group. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting," he said, "but there is someone who I'm awaiting the arrival of. She should be here any..." Upon saying that, there was a knocking on the front gates.
Kasumi set the tray down on the table. "I'll just get the door," she said, walking out of the room. Upon opening the door, she saw a unfamiliar woman who was somehow familiar anyway. She had more than a passing resemblance with...
"Oh my," Kasumi said and then reclaimed her manners. "Hello and welcome to the Tendou Dojo. Is there anything I can do for you?" In the back of her mind, a calm voice told her to get the pillow ready for when father would faint.
Silk was still standing in the hall where she could see the door and who was standing in it... She blinked a few times, then looked from the woman to Scarf, then to the woman again, then her eyes widened a bit as her legs decided to turn traitor and sit of themselves. "Ni hao... Satin." she said softly.
Alex, who had had been rather passively observing, decided to make his presence known after seeing the woman at the door, and noting the resemblance to a woman in a picture of the Tendou family. "Ok, did I miss something here? If I didn't know better, I'd say that was Mrs. Tendo. I thought she was supposed to be dead."
"Tact isn't your strong point, is it?" Silk said to Alex in English, waiting for the responses of the others in the room.
Alex blinked, then flushed crimson. "I said that out loud? I thought I was just thinking." Then Alex looked at Silk and noted the way she seemed to be shaken up about something. "You know something, don't you?"
Before Silk could reply, Satin, the woman at the door, looked inside, saw the hooded man, and then turned to Kasumi and said "Yes, I am here to see Soun and the guest who has just arrived." Upon saying this she walked in and turned and looked at the hooded man. "Well, now you've done it, my son."
Kasumi gently called out "Father, you have a visitor" totally needlessly, since Soun had seen the newest newcomer and pools of fluid had begun to assemble in the corners of his eyes. And then they burst.
"AAAH!" he cried. "Forgive me Kasumi, Nabiki, Akane!"
"What for, Father?" Kasumi asked.
"Yeah. Fess up, dad, " Nabiki glared at her father, suspecting the worst.
Before Soun could respond, Scarf said "I can explain. You see Soun and my mother, Satin, used to be a couple. They split ways about 21 years ago. While Soun didn't know at the time, my mother was pregnant with me. And Soun is my father." Upon saying this he pulled off his cloak, revealing a very handsome man with straight black hair, split at the middle, and gray eyes.
Happosai was just returning from his daily trip to the girl's locker room. He silently crept into his bedroom window, dropped off his souvenirs and started down the stairs. He was hoping that sweet Kasumi had some snacks downstairs.
Looking down from the stairwell he noticed the new arrivals and smiled to himself. Satin had come back. It was true that they never really got along before, but she sure made his favorite student happy.
That young man is Soun's son? I wonder if he might be better than Ranma?
Happosai quietly entered the living room really restraining his natural tendency to glomp all the pretty girls.
"Hello Satin" Happosai smiled " It's been awhile.. And hello Scarf it's nice to meet you."
Silk couldn't decide whether to be proud of her deductive skills for figuring out what was happening before the various revelations, or embarrassed for the people involved. She decided to do both, "So, that's who Scarf's father is... I can see why he wasn't supposed to go look for him... but what are you all going to do now?" she asked no one in particular.
Soun was still crying his eyes out, Akane looking surprised, Nabiki thinking of ways to make money out of this and Kasumi smiled.
Genma-panda relaxed in the corner with a car tire.
"Oh my," Kasumi said, covering her mouth with her hand. "Hello Brother," she said after regaining her composure. "Should I prepare extra beds?"
In her mind she was already making adjustments in the food budget.
Silk looked around at the Tendous and did a quick mental calculation, aware that Satin was unlikely to stay long, and that Scarf wouldn't be going back to Joketsuzoku now that he'd disobeyed his Mother's one absolute decree. "Excuse me, but Kasumi-San, Where would you put him? I mean, there are no rooms left at the Dojo for anyone and the budget is already over stretched. No offense intended." She made placating motions at Nabiki, who looked affronted, "I mean, Scarf, you can stay at the Curses and Cures if you want. I've got a few extra rooms, and Perfume already stays with me, so it would be more like home to you until you get used to Japan."
While this had been happening, Satin, upon seeing Happosai, immediately kicked him into the Koi pond.
"It would be nice to live with some familiar faces." Scarf commented, then turning to the Tendous he said, "Could you all please introduce yourselves, I would like to know who is in my family."
A completely drenched Happi-Chan emerged from the Koi pond. She grinned at Satin. "Glad to see you haven't changed a bit!"
With a raised eyebrow, Satin replied, "Though apparently you have changed a lot."
While Kasumi thought about housing some more people in the Dojo proper, Nabiki sighed and raised her voice. "Yeah, yeah, listen up," she stated, "I'm Nabiki, this is my little sis Akane, engaged to Ranma by the way, the one with the apron here is Kasumi, my older sister and that daddy crying his eyes out. Can we eat now?"
Happi leapt from the Koi pond and quickly rung the excess water from his clothing. He grinned at Satin. "Well, ya know Stuff happens."
She stepped into the dining area and waited to see what would happen next.
Alex slid next to Silk and asked her, "Ok, what just happened here?"
Silk shook her head. "Scarf is a good friend of mine from the village, heck , he was my only friend back then. We sparred together when no one else would. But he never got to meet his father and his mother, Satin, had forbidden him to go looking for him." the healer spoke quietly, "Now it's clear why, Soun had married and had children with another woman and Satin didn't want to disrupt the marriage by bringing in another woman and her child. In fact she got the elders to agree that if Scarf ever sought out his father that he would be outcast from the tribe. Never meeting his father didn't seem to bother him that much when I knew him, but now Scarf for some reason decided to go against his mother's wishes and find his Father: Soun."
Happi chuckled to herself, while staring at Satin and Soun. "Who would have ever thought you had it in ya Soun old boy. I'm proud of ya."
When Soun heard that his master was proud of him, he broke into another wail while Nabiki shook her head in disgust and Kasumi tried to calm him.
"There, there, Father, you don't raid girls locker rooms at least," she said in a comforting tone of voice.
"That's all he lacks from being perfect" Was all Happosai could say.
Silk took one look at Happosai and reached behind her back and closed her hand around a handle. Unlike Akane and Nabiki, her summon weapon wasn't a hammer or mallet, but a round bottomed Chinese frying pan called a wok. This particular one she summoned was small and well balanced, perfect for throwing, and throw she did, the cooking utensil connecting with Happi-Chan's head an knocking her back into the Koi pond. the fish in question all jumped into the air at once as a sign of protest. walking over the edge of the pond, she started to list all of his shortcomings in extreme detail while the others watched with sweatdrops. "Yopparai hentai na Yonmu!" she concluded, through 'drunken pervert jackass' was probably the nicest thing she'd called him.
Happi-Chan growled in anger, she'd had just about enough of Silk for one day. She was going to make that girl pay!
"I have had enough of this!!!!!" She screamed from the Koi pond. "It's time you learned to respect your elders! " Happi Chan leaped from the pool glowing with a red battle aura. In mid air she tossed several of her special tricks. "HAPPO FIRE BURST!!!!!!!"
Silk snatched the umbrella from Ranma's hands and used it to bat all the bombs away from the house and into the pond where they could hardly explode, the fuses put out. then she jumped out the door and flipping over Happi-Chan's head, landed outside so they wouldn't endanger the occupants of the house. She pulled another Wok from hammerspace and chucked it at him, "What were you thinking?!" she demanded, "that could have hit Kasumi or Nabiki!"
Happi-Chan leapt up and used the flying wok as a springboard to reach Silk. "You will pay for embarrassing me and for cursing me with this body!"
Happosai grinned evilly his eyes glowing with chi. "Lighting Voyeur dash!" using a variation of his "Fist of the hermit Crab' technique he leapt at Silk striking her hundreds of times but doing very little damage. As she landed behind Silk, the healer's gi fell apart and dropped from her torso.
"That'll show ya!"
Silk whirled and Struck without hesitation, catching Happosai off guard by her lack of shocked and dismayed reaction. Ryouga's Umbrella was the perfect implement to pound Happosai into the ground with, and Silk proceeded to do so in two quick strikes. on the second lightning fast move she opened the umbrella and turned so it was positioned between herself and the house and Happosai. She then half ran over the clothes line and removed one of Ranma's shirts from it and slipped it on while juggling the umbrella in the other hand. It never occurred to her that she shouldn't have been able to lift the leaded lined parasol with one hand, as she pulled on the tank top. It wasn't a perfect fit, but definitely better than nothing. She closed the umbrella again and walked back over to Happosai. "You'll regret that, Happosai." She then pummeled the ground bound pervert with the Bamboo Umbrella until she felt a hand on her shoulder...
"Uhhh...Silk...I think he's dead." Scarf said, "You can stop now."
Silk looked more closely at the pile of crushed and twisted pervert at her feet and had to concede that her old friend was right. Putting down the umbrella for a moment, she reached down and pulled Happosai out of the ground, shook him once, then punted him into the atmosphere, aiming for a hospital in Beijing. wiping off her hands, she looked back at the house full of partially stunned observers. She held up her hands in a defensive gesture. "Ok, maybe I over-reacted a wee bit, but he had it coming!"
Giving her a scared look Scarf replied "If you say so." Then he turned to the Tendous, "Eat? Now that you mention it I'm starving, would you mind if I join you?"
Kasumi waved her last good-byes to the disappearing Happosai, then turned her attention to the guests. "Why how nice, dinner guests," she said sweetly, stepping aside to allow Scarf and his friends and family to enter the dining room.
Soun's sobbing was subsiding and Nabiki was sitting there, looking bored. Akane was just looking for a way to blame Ranma for all this.
"Do come on in," Kasumi smiled, "There's plenty of food for everyone."
In a Chinese Hospital the comatose Happi-Chan was just waking up. Every part of her body ached, she was still trying to figure out how Silk was able to use Ryouga's umbrella.
"Ow one of these days I'm gonna learn not to mess with that girl!"
Kasumi handed each of the guests a bowl of rice and a pair of chopsticks. "How nice to meet you, older brother," she addressed Scarf. "I am Kasumi Tendou."
Nabiki eyed the newcomer as she nodded slightly to him. "Nabiki. If you ever need a favor, come see me."
Soun was still in geyser-mode.
Akane simply starred at the young newcomer in bewilderment. "My God... he looks alot like father!" she thought before finally introducing herself to Scarf and his mother. "Hello," she stated while bowing slightly. "I'm Akane Tendou, the youngest out of my sisters here." She gestured at Kasumi and Nabiki. "Pleased to meet you!... You don't change into anything do you? Any type of animal or other WIERD FORM, do you?" Her eyes focused on Ranma who squirmed a little before giving an embarrassed fake smile at the others.
Satin bowed to Akane, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Akane Tendou." Scarf raised an eyebrow at the black haired boy who he guessed was Ranma, then he looked back at Akane and said, "No, I don't."
"Ok, good." Akane responded while brushing back a few dark strands behind her ear. "This," she pointed to the pig-tailed boy sitting to her right, "is my fiancée Ranma Saotome." Her tone was unenthusiastically calm, unusual for a normal bride-to-be. Scarf looked back at the couple with a questioning stare.
"Don't ask," Ranma said. "It's a long story. Sooner or later you'll find out."
"Alright." Scarf said with a shrug. "Let's eat." And so every began eating, And Ranma and Genma, he noticed, ate with unusual speed.
The Tendou's were by now so used to strange company and odd occurrences that the rest of the meal passed without incident. Once they were finished eating, Silk rose to her feet, "Thank you Kasumi for the excellent dinner and the hospitality." she looked as Scarf, "I'm going home. Are you coming?"
"Okay." Scarf said. Turning back to his new found family he said "It was a pleasure meeting all of you." Then Satin spoke up, "Well I need to begin going home, Scarf it seems that you are in good hands, Take care." she said with a smile. Smiling back he replied, "And you, mother." With that Satin, Scarf, and Silk left.
End