Well, here it is at last. The first new chapter of this fic in the last year and a half. Hopefully it will be the first of many, many more, but I've gotten smart enough not to promise anything. Also, I know I sound like a pathetic review seeker here, but at the moment I am… so please, please review?
Warning: Haruka does a bit of Ranma teasing here. It's not that bad, but she's not very subtle, basically due to her inexperience. Also, there's a kinda sappy scene between the Tendo sisters… I suck at doing emotional scenes…
Chapter 11, The decision.
Haruka poked her head out from under her bike as she heard the sound of the front door to the building opening, noticing that the formally dressed woman who had entered with Ranma was coming out, seeming a good deal happier than she had when she had entered. the blond re-entered the maze of components of her bike that littered the ground. Sometimes, she really missed the maintenance team that she had had while living with her parents. As it was, she had to do near constant small repairs on the bike, but dodging the bullet of marriage was worth it. As she continued to work, she finally noticed that there was something casting a shadow over her work area. Curiously, she poked her head back out, nearly hitting it against the leg of the formally dressed woman, who was staring down at her intently.
"Um… can I help you?" she asked, uncertainly.
Blushing slightly, Nodoka, formerly of the Saotome clan, finally had to deny or confirm one of her worries, as well as settle her curiosity. Trying to pick diplomatic words to ask her question, she finally realized that there wasn't any particularly nice way of saying it and asked, "I apologize for asking this, but are you a man or a woman?"
Haruka almost snickered. Truthfully, she had had very few people actually ask her this question, as she was usually good enough to fool people into thinking she was a male on a first, or even thorough, look over. "And why do you want to know?" She finally decided to ask, hoping that she could find out a bit about the mysterious woman.
"I am Ranma's… aunt." Nodoka said, her face breaking into a smile that was a mixture of happiness and regret. "I just wanted to know at least that about the person he is apparently dating."
Haruka almost laughed again. This was the weirdest version of the 'what are your intentions…' question she'd ever gotten. Finally, she decided to answer truthfully. "I'm a girl, but I'd ask you not to tell anyone that. It'd make it pretty hard for me to participate in any races." Her impulse to laugh grew harder to control as she saw Nodoka's expression of relief at her words. 'I wonder what she'd think if I told her that I originally wanted to go out with Ranma's girl form?' she thought, but decided not to say this aloud. She was about to ask a few questions of her own when she noticed that the woman was hurrying away. She contemplated calling after her, but decided that she would just ask Ranma what had gone on later. She had gotten a few answers already, as a member of his old family showing up would be a good reason for how he had been acting when he had first come home, and apparently their meeting had gone well enough.
HR
Nodoka left the grounds of Ranma's apartment building, a small smile on her face. While it was true that she didn't exactly have her son back, she could still see and talk to him, and it was evident that he still cared about her. Maybe the new fact that she could never openly claim Ranma as her son was the penance she had had to pay for the many mistakes she and Genma had made in raising the boy.
Another thing that was raising her spirits was that the person she had seen Ranma so closely associating with over the past week was, in fact, a female. Even if he was no longer her son, she wasn't sure if she could take the thought of him and another man doing… she shuddered. That Haruka though, she was so… unfeminine. Nodoka would have to do something in order to fix that problem, and then the girl would be perfect for her so… for Ranma.
As she headed back to her hotel, for one of the last few nights there, she couldn't help but put a bit of a spring into her step. Maybe her life could be rebuilt after the destruction that Genma, and even she herself, had brought upon it.
HR
In Nerima, Kasumi Tendo looked over the contents of the suitcase she had packed. It seemed that Nabiki was actually capable of squeezing money out of Tatewaki Kuno much more quickly than she had expected, the younger Tendo had said something about telling the blue thunder where his foul sorcerer was and Kasumi really hadn't wanted to know anymore, so here she was, packing for her first extended trip away from the Tendo Dojo since her mother had died. She was slightly worried about the house, but Nabiki had promised to take care of it, and so had Akane.
Snapping the latches on her bag closed, Kasumi hefted it. It was heavy, but not overly so, which was a good thing since she wouldn't have anyone to help her carry it. Nabiki wasn't any stronger than she was, and had warned her not to take Akane to help her, for some reason. She briefly wondered why Nabiki wouldn't want Akane going to Juuban, but dismissed it as she opened the door to her bedroom and walked down stares.
In the living room, her father was wailing about his baby girl leaving home, and the worthless panda was trying to comfort him from his static position near the Shogi board. With what, on other people, would have been a full fledged look of disgust, Kasumi turned to the door and saw her sisters standing there and waiting for her.
"So…" Akane said, sniffing. "You're really going?"
Kasumi nodded. "I'm sorry Akane. Don't worry, I'll come back all the time, I promise." She said, trying to cheer her younger sister up.
"I know…" Akane said, "I'll just… I'll miss you, Kasumi." With that, the youngest Tendo ran forward, and was enfolded in her older sister's arms, Kasumi rubbing her back soothingly.
Nabiki, behind Akane, smirked. "I'm not into all those dramatic tearjerker scenes." She drawled. "I'll miss you, sis. Make sure to call often."
"I will." Kasumi said, disengaging herself from Akane and hefting her bag. "Is the tuition money in my account, Nabiki?"
Nabiki nodded. "You'll need to take a part time job, but I got you a nice deal on an apartment, and I'll send what I can whenever I can."
"Thank you, Nabiki, Akane…" Kasumi said, a few tears gathering in her own eyes.
"I'll take care of the house for you, okay Kasumi?" Akane said, trying to look cheerful. "I'll do all the cooking and cleaning and everything!"
Kasumi nodded, but a small part of her mind speculated as to how long the place would be standing with Akane taking care of it. She knew it was a mean thought, and that her sister truly tried her best, but sometimes Akane's capacity for botching even the simplest of household tasks stretched even her self-control. Pulling her mind away from that, Kasumi left the Tendo house, turning at the gate to wave to her sisters and give them a smile.
Akane and Nabiki both waved back, trying to muster up grins in response, before their sister turned again and walked down the street towards the subway station.
HR
It was later that night, when Ranma knocked tentatively at Haruka's apartment door. "Come in!" the blond called, reclining on her bed in a tank top and her underwear.
The door creaked open, and Ranma entered the single room apartment, quickly turning bright red and whirling around to face the door. "H… Haruka?" He squeaked, surprised.
This time, the blond did let herself laugh. She rarely ever tried to embarrass guys, as she was normally gunning for other girls, and casual flirting worked better in that regard, but the look on Ranma's face before he had turned around was priceless.
"That wasn't funny!" The pigtailed martial artist complained, although he didn't sound particularly angry.
"Aw, c'mon Ranma. It's nothing you haven't seen in a mirror, right?" Haruka teased, as she sat up on the bed, letting her feet settle to the floor.
"Promise you aren't gunna slap me?" Ranma asked, still turned around.
"I won't slap you." Haruka said, solemnly, causing the boy to turn around, briefly looking her over before he slumped into a chair near the bed. Although she had the same habit of wearing tank tops to bed that he did, she wore the correct female undergarments underneath… not that he was looking there, of course not, no way…"So, when do I get the same show? Should I go get some cold water?" She continued, smiling cheekily.
Ranma just glared, all thoughts of embarrassment, at least those caused by her lightly clothed state, forgotten. Letting up on the glare, he shook his head. "Aw, and here I came ta tell you somethin really important, too."
Haruka leaned forward, interested. "Really? What is it?" She asked, curiously.
"I dunno, you wanna know?" Ranma asked, smirking.
"Yes, I want to know." Haruka said, slightly annoyed.
"Well, I decided I was gunna go to that school. Y'know, that one we got the invitation for yesterday?" Ranma said, tentatively.
Haruka looked surprised. From the way he had reacted when the two had first received their invitations, she had expected him to hesitate for a while before agreeing, or maybe even refusing the offer, even if it was a good one. Shunting away her feelings of surprise, she grinned. "That's great, Ranma!" She said, and meant it. "So what made you decide to do it so quickly?"
Ranma looked uncomfortable. "Well, you know that woman who came here today?"
"Yeah… she said she was your aunt." Haruka said, nodding.
"Well, she's sorta in the same boat I am, but she's not used to workin or anything. She was taken care of by a special account her parents set up, or somethin." At this point, he started to look nervous. "So I sorta figured that if I took the offer, we could put her up in one of the rooms of the place we're goin to…?"
Haruka contemplated this for a few moments. True, it was a strange reason to accept, but if a member of her family was in trouble, she supposed she'd probably do the same thing. She assumed 'in the same boat' meant that this Nodoka person had been cast out of the same clan as Ranma, and she distantly wondered what the clan head was thinking. As she noticed that Ranma was fidgeting nervously in the chair across from her, she realized that she'd been thinking for too long, and also wondered why her opinion of his actions meant so much to him. "Sure, that's fine with me, if Meiou-san and the school agree."
Ranma smiled widely. "Thanks, Haruka. I sorta told her I had a place for her ta stay without thinking that you'd be livin there too." He admitted, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "So I guess I'll call 'em up and accept tomorrow, then." He turned to leave, but then turned back as he opened the door. "Thanks a lot, Haruka-chan." He said, grinning.
The blond tomboy sputtered at the last comment, before grabbing a pillow and tossing it at the pigtailed martial artist. "Don't call me that!" She said, laughing.
Ranma grinned, catching the soft projectile and whipping it back before dodging out of the door and closing it behind him. He had stumbled upon that little crack in Haruka's composure during their sparring session the day before, when he'd innocently called her that while asking if she was all right after getting thrown into a tree. It seemed that it irritated her about as much as it did him, and she was a lot more willing to show it. Chuckling, he headed down the hall to his own apartment, wondering what would happen when he registered for school the next day. 'I can't believe I'm throwing myself back into that nightmare…' Was his final thought, as he entered his apartment and flopped down on his bed.
HR
Sometimes Happosai, grand master of the anything goes school, thought that the gods were still angry at him for that little incident with the Shinto priestess last century. He had searched all through the city of Tokyo, until he had finally localized Ranma down to a single district. Then, he had gone on one, little panty raid and everything had gone wrong.
Sure, he had wanted to find the panties of one of those magical girls… but how was he supposed to know that the girls, and therefore their auras, were so pumped full of elemental magic that when he tried to draw energy from a pair of their panties that he had gotten from somewhere, he still wasn't sure what line had held them, he would blow himself half way to hell?
As he lay, still trying to recover from the magical blast that he had been hit with, while completely defenseless, Happosai heard the sound of footsteps coming towards him. Too tired and injured to bother with looking to see who was coming, the old man just waited. Suddenly, a voice rang out. "What the… Grandfather Hino, Come quick! there's some sort of demon behind the shrine!"
Happosai grimaced as another sound came to him, that of two other pairs of feet coming towards him, but his expression turned to one of delight when he sensed the fiery Chi of a young lady coming near, along with the much less interesting, and less powerful, chi of the shrine priest.
"Hotcha!" Happi yelled, springing to his feet, his many injuries seeming not to matter as he jumped at the girl's chest. The old priest flung a demon ward at him, but it wasn't what got him. No, what got Happosai was that this sweet young girl was yet another of those mini-skirted magical girls, obviously in a civilian disguise, and fire hurt a lot more than that bright light he'd been hit with last time.
As Rei Hino, her grandfather and Yuuichiro watched, the little demon that the latter had found in the back of the shrine grounds streaked into the air on a column of fire. "What… was that?" The miko asked, looking down at the portion of her chest where the thing had briefly latched on.
Her grandfather just shrugged and shook his head. He had no clue, although the thing did look mildly familiar.
END.
Well, 'book 2' begins. Ranma and Haruka are heading to school, Kasumi's on her way, and say it with me. Poor Happosai… Why do I always make normally evil characters so pathetic?