"It would probably be normal now," thought Simon a quarter of an hour later, "if I were scared to death now." But he wasn't afraid. Absolutely none! And that wasn't because he was particularly brave or brave, but simply because he didn't think about it. He was too busy seeing and hearing.
He was sitting next to the Jusenkyo guide. They formed the upper part of a small oval of people who sat on the edge of the training area, around the small fire that, now that Ryoga had added wood, lit all faces. On top of that, the moon was still shining and the stars were glittering. So it was twilight.
The martial artists, sprung from a drawn story, but nonetheless true, real and lively, chattered eagerly in their language, which Simon could not understand. Sometimes he recognized words or scraps of sentences, but they were of little use. That is why he took a closer look at his idols.They were such perfect reflections of the cartoon characters. If he looked over the eyes and face shape, Simon couldn't see any differences. Ranma, who spoke a lot, excited and evidently angry, wore a sleeveless shirt in blue with yellow buckles on the sides, wide black trousers and black loafers. His face was very flexible and almost grimaced his emotions with exaggerated facial expressions.
Akane, next to him, yawned now and then. Her overalls were made of faded denim and she wore brown sandals. Her soft, round cheeks and supple neck formed a strange contrast with her straight, serious forehead and cheeky, pointed nose. She looked serious, thoughtful, but there was something gentle, almost feline-like in her demeanor that came to the fore as soon as Ranma spoke. Sometimes she gave him looks that were clearly gentle, almost loving. Have you been married? Simon looked closely but couldn't see any rings.But was that common in Japan to swap rings?
Collogne sat next in line with her staff on her knees. Her long, white hair framed her ancient, wrinkled face in thick strands. She was dressed in a simple green and red kimono with a simple strap made of jade green silk. There was - it seemed - no emotion in her features. But every time she fixed her old eyes on Simon, he felt like walking through icy rain. It was like she could see right through him.
Her great-granddaughter sat next to her, her shimmering blue hair loosened and falling smoothly over her shoulders. Shampoo was dressed in a kimono like her great-grandmother, but hers was pink and richly decorated with gold threads and bows. Her belt was woven from silver cord. She looked like a princess from an Asian fairy tale. Her face was a single interplay of sweet charms. Narrow cheeks, a round snub nose, the mouth narrow and delicate, the skin almost white and without a single irregularity.Simon had to swallow. She really was a beauty.
Ryoga, dressed in his yellow ocher combat suit, with a bandana and bare feet, sat cross-legged. His hard face had numerous, tiny scars, but it was pleasant nonetheless. At the moment he followed the conversation with a somber expression. He had spoken only once or twice, in a deep, husky voice, and only a few words each time. Several times he had glared at Simon. Simon could see himself grinding his teeth angrily.
Beside him, silent and serious, sat Mousse, his hands hidden in the wide sleeves of his robe, the glasses with the thick glasses on the crooked eagle nose. His long black hair shimmered in the moonlight and there was a mixture of pride and sadness on his face. The lines that ran from the corners of his mouth to his nostrils were much deeper than would have been normal for his age. Did that mean great grief or the privations of tough training?Genma, leaning against a tree, eyes closed, seemed to be asleep, but Simon had noticed that he occasionally opened one eye slightly. He followed the conversation without taking part.

Suddenly the jusenkyo leader turned to Simon again. His German was fragile, like his English, but he spoke calmly and clearly.
"Why are you here?"
Simon was taken by surprise by this question. The Asians had happily discussed twenty minutes and now they had the brilliant idea of ​​asking him why he was actually here. Simon had assumed that they would be aware of this.
"Um ... I ... I just wanted to ... check something ..." he muttered. He suddenly became aware that he himself had actually come here without a specific resolution. The decision to swim in the spring of the drowned girl was only made later.
The jusenkyo leader did not look satisfied. Although he translated Simon's words, he looked at him doubtfully.The reactions of the others were clearly not satisfied either. The jusenkyo leader said again:
"You came to see what?"
"Um ... I just wanted to know if everything is really real ...", the boy stammered.
Something that looked like a smile slid across the Chinese man's features. "Everything is real? You don't know how[/b]everything is real.", He explained.
Simon's fear subsided.
"Nánda jo?", Ranma spoke up. "Nánda jo", Simon knew that. It means something like "What's going on?".
The jusenkyo leader answered eagerly. Ranma's gaze fell on Simon. For a while he stared into his eyes, and under this look Simon could not withstand. He turned his face to one side. Ranma uttered a few short words.
"He doesn't believe it." The Jusenkyo guide translated.
Simon looked down. "I'm sorry," he muttered.
"I didn't mean to bother you. But you know ... I wanted ... it can't all be real. Why ... How do you get into a comic?"The jusenkyo guide translated, and Ranma jumped up angrily. Again he spoke a few words, but Akane took his hand. She only held it briefly, but it was enough. Ranma sat down again. Akane spoke now. She had a calm, gentle voice and, unlike Ranma, she addressed Simon directly. She spoke English, better than Simon, with the singing undertone of the Japanese language.
"I understand that you are confused and I think it will be reasonable to explain what this all means. What is your name?"
Simon, who followed her calm voice quite well, said his name. As always when he had to speak English, it also pronounced his name as "Saimen". Akane continued.
"You know us all from Ms. Takahashi's manga. You also know our story. Even if she has allowed herself to change details to make the story more comical, the narrative is largely true . "
Simon noticed that Ranma and Genma had slipped closer to the jusenkyo guide.This whispered softly to them. He was probably translating Akane's words now.
"Why did you allow her to write all this down ... it's ... so private." It took an effort to find the right words, his English wasn't good, but Akane understood. She smiled.
"That may be. But we only allowed her to tell our past up to a certain point. And she paid us very well. Half of her income goes to us. And father's dojo is known, almost famous, through the manga . Did you never notice in all the stories that we never had students. The truth is that after Mother's death, Father stopped teaching. And when the money ran out a year after our engagement, Ranma and I decided to be Ms. Takahashi to offer our story to make money and publicity. Well ... the idea came of course from my older sister Nabiki. And the manga have brought us a lot of advantages. We get money and Dad was able to reopen the combat school. "Simon sat with his mouth open. It was almost too much for him, but Akane wasn't finished yet.
"Well, one day we canceled our contract. We now have enough students and fame and finally we can live our own lives again. Besides ...", she gave Ranma another gentle look, "... we are through the comics learned a lot about ourselves and ... decided to act a bit like adults. Ranma and I ... don't care. We finally got a card from Ms. Takahashi. At the end of her series, she organized this trip And we were allowed to come with you. Well ... we came with you. Because it is by no means a pleasure to walk to Jusenkyo ... "
Simon interrupted her. "Are you rid of your curses now?" He paused and repeated his question in English.
Akane grinned and everyone around nodded.
"So what are you doing here?"
She had fixed him again. Suddenly he felt very small sitting there because everyone was staring at him again."I ... I wanted to step into the spring of the drowned girl ..."
He had spoken in German, but the jusenkyo guide let out a loud gasp and Simon spun around. He stared at him in amazement.
"You wanted WHAT?" He gasped.
Ranma asked a question in Japanese and the Jusenkyo guide glanced back and forth between Simon and the young Japanese man before answering.
The group of Asians winced. And suddenly they all started talking, with the exception of Collogne and Akane. The latter had taken a step back and was staring at Simon in disbelief.
"Why do you want to do that, boy?" The old woman had asked that question. She spoke German without any accent. Simon was no longer surprised at anything. "You read the stories after all. You know how difficult it is to live with a curse. So why?"
And with her old, shrewd eyes, she seemed to pin him to the ground. And all the reasons came up in Simon. The boredom in his life, the monotony, the longing for variety, for adventure.And he started talking. He didn't know how long he was talking, but it all came out of him and Collogne listened to him. He talked about the school and its sisters, about the friends he didn't have and about the promise of a future after Jusenkyo. It wouldn't be a curse for him. It would be a blessing. You all might know what it meant to live a tough life as a martial artist, but what did they understand of the monotonous life of a mediocre, normal boy?
Finally he could stop speaking and sagged. Collogne looked at him and still no emotion moved her old features. The Jusenkyo leader had frantically translated Simon's torrent of words and if Simon had looked around, he would have noticed that people weren't feeling sorry for him. No,