The first thoughts that crossed Ranma's mind were that this was something she had never felt from a person: pure, unconditional love. This was the thing she thought she wanted from Ryoga, something she tried so hard to earn, but Shampoo gave it so willingly that she didn't know what to do. Shampoo's feelings were so pure and unyielding. She began to think back; Shampoo had never blamed her for something that wasn't her fault, but what did she feel about Shampoo?
Unfortunately, her thoughts were cut short, far too quickly did they arrive at the Tendo dojo. Laying her ears flat and wrapping her tail around her waist, Ranma then entered loudly and announced her arrival, "Tadaima!" Kasumi was the first to greet Ranma, which made a little less tension; the young woman always radiated a calming aura.
Taking a deep breath, Ranma prepared herself, sounding a lot less confident than she wanted to. "Hey, Kasumi, could you gather the family? Some stuff has happened that we all have to talk about." Kasumi gave Ranma a brief once-over; after the failed wedding, she had begun to study under Dr. Tofu. She didn't seem to notice anything major until her brown eyes gleamed with a slight blue tint, and she covered her mouth.
"Oh my, I suppose we do, but it seems we will be having a long night. I shall make some tea and gather the family." Ranma gave her a nod, then took Shampoo's hand in pure instinct and a need for comfort. She began dragging a smiling Shampoo for a couple of feet before realizing what she was doing and let go quickly after apologizing.
Walking into the family room, the first thing she saw was her father and Soun Tendo playing a game of Go. Ranma walked over to her usual seat and sat down, hoping to avoid being noticed by her father until everyone in the family got downstairs. Shampoo sat beside her, followed by Cologne, pogoing over to her other side. Unfortunately, her large, gnarled cane made echoing clicks on her way over, attracting the attention of the Tendo patriarch and her father.
Genma, barely looking over, saw Ranma in her girl form and instantly scowled. "Boy, what do you think you are doing in the weak and pathetic form? You're starting to act like a weak little girl here recently. It's time you man up and act like a man. You need to uphold the family honor and be a man amongst men, not a sissy!"
Taking a deep breath, Ranma kept herself calm. Her father was the one person she knew she had to keep her patience with. "Shut up, Pops. You have no idea what you're talking about, and I'm not talking to anyone else until the whole family gets here." Genma was quick as always to retort, "Oh, Soun, what did I do to deserve such a weak and disrespectful son?"
Quick on the uptake, Soun decided to try to sweeten their guilt trip routine and started to cry. "Oh, Saotome, at this rate, the schools will never be joined." Ranma decided to ignore them. At this point, it seemed that any time these supposed grown men didn't get their way, they would resort to this same act. Cry, blame Ranma, rinse and repeat—it became so predictable it didn't affect her anymore.
Ranma decided to shift her focus to more important things. Looking to her side, she quietly whispered in Shampoo's ear, "So why are you and the old ghoul surrounding me like this? You know Kane is gonna try to make you move." At this, Shampoo frowned, still surprised that Ranma didn't understand. Then again, she knew the amount of emotional damage and trauma that her love went through. "Shampoo will protect airen from kitchen destroyer. No trust her not to hurt the little one. Kitchen destroyer too violent and hit airen for no reason."
Ranma thought and almost denied this, but when she really thought about it, Shampoo was probably correct. Never had Ranma had a conversation with Akane that didn't end with her getting hit. Ranma understood that sometimes she suffered from the Saotome curse of putting her foot in her mouth, but that wasn't always the case. Deep down, she always thought Akane truly hated her. It kind of hurt Ranma; all she ever wanted was to be friends with Akane, and now she didn't even know if she wanted that.
With a groan, Ranma couldn't help but agree. "Yeah, you're probably right. Thank you for the help, Shamps. I really appreciate it." Shampoo decided to lightly hug the little redhead. "No problem; Shampoo always helps Airen." Both were about to continue talking when the very same girl they were talking about walked into the room.
"Why did you bring the purple-haired bimbo home? Don't tell me the family meeting is because you got her pregnant. I should have known it was her when I found your condoms. Then again, I'm sure you would sleep with any hussy. Guess I made the right decision to force you to come clean. Now we can call off this stupid engagement." Soun took his opportunity to interact; unfortunately, it was the same routine he always went with. "Ranma cheated on my baby. Now the schools can never be joined." Soun began to hug Genma, crying over his shoulder.
Seconds ticked by until Ranma realized Akane said something that resonated in her mind. She did something to force her to come clean? What did she mean by that? But before she could say something to confront her, Cologne decided to interrupt them all. "Okay, I believe it is time for everyone to sit down. We still have a couple of guests who have yet to arrive, so I think it's best to be quiet until they do."
Not even minutes later, Nabiki sprinted into the room with a shout, "What did I miss? I need the details." Only when she stopped did she notice the tense atmosphere that Ranma was in, between the two Amazons, while Genma and Soun were no longer at the go board. Instead, both now sat at the table, with her sister Akane seething beside them like she was about to snap. Not paying attention, Kasumi had managed to sneak behind her and tap her shoulder, giving her a fright.
Kasumi walked in and decided to get the family meeting started. "Okay, everyone, Grandfather Happosai will be down here in a couple of seconds, so I will get the tea, and we can have a calm discussion." Ranma couldn't help but slam her head on the table. It was just her luck that the lech was here. That was when he came bounding through the door, singing to himself something about fondling something bare. Ranma wasn't truly paying attention to it at the time. But as quickly as Happosai came bounding in, he froze and just stared into her eyes, where she noticed a dark pink glint, and silently cursed to herself.
Fortunately, Happosai did the one thing Ranma didn't expect. He only gave Ranma a brief nod and sat down beside Cologne. Ranma really didn't understand the old man but decided that if he chose to sit with her, Cologne, and Shampoo, it meant that he was on her side.