CHAPTER TEN
The teens spent the next few hours in class, but, finally, the final bell rang, signaling the end of the day and the start of the weekend.
And as Tomoe was gathering her things, her mind wandered to that Sunday, when she would be eating lunch with her current love interest. She didn't know what it was about Ryoga, but she felt some kind of connection with him, like they were meant to meet each other.
Hopefully, her brother wouldn't do anything to mess up her date. Because if he did, she wasn't sure what she would do to him in revenge. All she knew was that it would be long and painful.
Once she was sure she had all her belongings, the redhead stood up from her seat, hoping to leave school grounds without her brother's knowledge, only to be immediately surrounded by a few boys from class, including Hiroshi and Daisuke.
"Hey there, Tomo-chan." Daisuke said with a grin. "You headed home?"
"Actually, I have a few errands to run before heading home." Miyuki answered with a small smile of her own.
"Oh! Well, do you want some help? You know, a little muscle?"
"Sorry, guys. It's kind of something I need to do on my own. But, I'll see you guys on Monday. Bye."
With a final wave and a bit of of an uncomfortable feeling about the boys in her class, the female martial artist left the classroom, leaving the boys behind with all of them wearing identical dreamy stares.
***TIME SKIP***
Tomoe had successfully made it off school grounds without her brother finding out what she was doing and was now walking through the Nerima Ward shopping district. She hadn't been lying when she said she had a few errands to run before heading back home, for she wanted to do some shopping to replace the food she used this morning to make lunch. And not only that, but she was also hoping to do a bit of window shopping at the local stores to get some ideas about what to wear on her date.
As she continued her journey through town, she indeed stopped outside several different shops and boutiques before she finally gave her search and headed for the neighborhood market to complete her original goal.
And nearly an hour later, she finally made it through the crowded store with everything she needed, as well as a few surprises for the rest of the household.
So, walking through the streets with her hands full, she made her way back towards the Tendo Dojo befoe it got too late.
This took a bit longer than she would have liked, but eventually, she made it back to the dojo and walked through the front door, only to be met with the strange sight of her brother in his female form running past with nothing on but a pair of blue boxers and a towel around her neck.
"NO WAY! NOT GONNA HAPPEN!" she was yelling to some unknown person. Unknown that is until both Nabiki and Kasumi came running through the room after him.
"DON'T THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY FROM US, RANMA!" Nabiki called out as the three girls continued to run through the house, making an unnecessary amount of racket.
Already getting used to her brother's weirdness, Tomoe shrugged it off and headed into the kitchen to put away the food she had bought prior to coming home.
Once she had completed her task, the redheaded teen headed upstairs, stopping in surprise when she heard several voices coming from Akane's bedroom. Curious, she knocked on the door, only to have it open and reveal Akane, Nabiki, and Kasumi all trying to force a still-female Ranma into wearing one of Akane's outfits.
"Um…what exactly is going on here?"
Hearing her voice, Ranma's head snapped around, only to have her greatest fear realized when she saw her beloved sister standing in the doorway and was now watching her current humiliation.
"T…Tomo! What are you doing here? And where have you been, anyway?"
"GOTCHA!" Nabiki and Akane suddenly yelled as they each grabbed Ranma by the arm and held her in place while Kasumi held up several different outfits before Ranma was eventually forced into a pale orange skirt, a blush pink shirt with puffy three-quarter sleeves that showed off her bare midrif, and a pair of brown leather sandals.
"Oh, Ranma! You look adorable!" Kasumi said with a satisfied smile.
"This is completely humiliating." Ranma grumbled bitterly. "Why is it when you all get bored, you find it necessary to use me like your personal dress up doll?"
This caused Akane to giggle to herself in amusement, which had Ranma blushing in embarrassment. "It's not funny, Akane." she mumbled softly, only to have Tomoe step forward curiously.
"Not that this isn't one of the weirdest things I have seen or will ever see in my life, but I actually think the outfit suits you, onii-chan. It's kinda fun, like looking at myself in a mirror."
"Not helping, sis." the older twin snapped back.
"Sorry, onii-chan. But, since you guys look busy with…whatever this is, how about I make dinner tonight? As a way of saying thank you for letting me stay here at the dojo."
"Oh, I can't let you do that, Tomoe-chan." Kasumi said with a worried frown. "You're a guest here."
"It's no trouble, Kasumi-chan. I want to do it, so I'll hear no more about it. I insist."
So, without another word, Tomoe exited the room to make dinner, successfully leaving Ranma at the Tendo girls' mercy.
***DOWNSTAIRS IN THE KITCHEN***
While Ranma was going through his torture upstairs, Tomoe was busy preparing what she felt was her best dish, a full course of fried shrimp tempura. And while she was at it, she also prepared a few extra dishes to accompany the main one. She had already decided what to make several of her brother's old favorites, which included garlic fried rice, fried gyoza dumplings, her mother's take on Chinese spring rolls, and broccoli sauted in soy sauce and topped with sesame seeds.
And after about ten minutes, she was joined by Akane, who asked if there was something she could do to help. Appreciating the offer, the redheaded teen told her to keep an eye on the rolled eggs she had just put on the burner.
Finally, the whole meal was complete and the two girls proceeded to carry the plated food into the dining room before calling through the house that dinner was ready.
A few moments later, they were joined by Mr. Tendo and Mr. Saotome, followed closely by the Tendo girls and a now-male Ranma, who was wiping off his damp hair with a towel, making Tomoe realize that he must have changed back by his usual method of a brass tea kettle filled with hot water.
"Just so you know, Tomo, I didn't appreciate you leaving me to the wolves."
"You'll get over it, my boy." Mr. Saotome said with a smirk as the members of the household seated themselves around the table. "You always do."
"By the way, Kasumi dear." Mr. Tendo interrupted as he took in the full table. "This looks incredible. You've really out done yourself."
"Thank you, Father." the brunette answered. "But, it was actually Tomoe-chan who made dinner tonight."
"Really?" Mr. Saotome questioned with genuine interest as he pictured using his daughter's culinary skills to set her up with a rich husband, that way, he could just eat and drink for free for the rest of his life.
Lucky for her, Ranma recognized the greedy look in his father's eyes almost immediately.
"Don't even think about it, old man." the young man threatened in a warning tone.
And the older man was just about to argue with his son when he noticed Tomoe was staring at them both curiously. Deciding to pick his battles, Mr. Saotome dropped the subject, at least for now, as his daughter handed him a plate full of food.
"Thank you, baby girl." he said, answering her gesture with a small smile of his own.
"Of course, Daddy." she smiled back before continuing to pass full plates around the table until everyone had one.
"Please eat up, everyone. I hope you like it."
With that, every person in the group took a collective bite of their food, only to pause slightly when the taste spread across their tongues.
"SO GOOD!" they all called out in a chorus of blissful voices.
As they continued to eat, just seeing their joyful reactions left a happy feeling in Tomoe's heart.
***LATER THAT NIGHT***
Tomoe and Akane were washing dishes while Ranma was upstairs catching up on his unfinished homework.
It took her a while to gather the courage she would need to ask what she needed to ask, but the redheaded teen finally got the nerve to talk just as they were finishing up.
"Hey, Akane-chan? Can…Can I ask you for a favor?"
"Of course, Tomo-chan." the short-haired girl answered. "What's up?"
"I need your help with something kinda important. I'm really worried that my brother might try and stop me from going out with Ryoga tomorrow. And I was hoping you might be able to distract him for a few hours."
Akane took a few seconds to think it over, but, eventually, she turned back to Tomoe with a sly grin.
"I have been wanting to see a new movie that just came out. I wonder if Ranma might wanna come with me."
"You're the best, Akane-chan." Tomoe whispered as she wrapped his arms around Akane in a tight embrace.
"Anything to annoy Ranma for a while." she whispered back before letting go and hold her at arms length. "Besides, I really want you and Ryoga to have a nice time. Ranma may be against it, but I think you two would be really cute together."
"Really? 'Cause I won't lie, since onii-chan got so angry about Ryoga asking me out, I was starting to think it might not work out."
"Tomo-chan, if there's one thing I've learned over the past several months, it's that Ranma is never right when it comes to romance or real human emotions."
"That's true." Tomoe answered as she stretched her back after placing the last plate into the drying rack. "Thanks for helping me with the dishes, but, I'm getting tired and I still have a few pages of math homework I'd like to get done before bed. Night, Akane-chan."
"Good night, Tomo-chan."
***UPSTAIRS IN TOMOE AND RANMA'S SHARED BEDROOM***
Ranma is trying to figure out a partically hard math problem when he hears the sound of the screen door opening, causing him to look up in interest and, seeing that it was Tomoe, he turned back to his homework.
"Hey, onii-chan."
"Hey, sis. You guys get the dishes done?"
"Yep. I just thought I should try and get my math homework done before going to sleep. How far have you gotten?"
"Honestly…not too far. I'm actually having a bit of trouble with this problem here. Think you can help?"
Tomoe smiled at her brother as she sat down beside him and looked at his paper and the problem in question.
Several minutes passed by before she was finally able to start on her own homework. And another thirty minutes later, Tomoe had made it through almost every problem she had been assigned, so she out down her pencil and stretched her muscles before standing up from her seat and gathering up her pajamas and bath stuff so that she could getting ready for bed.
"I'm done for the night, so I'm gonna go take a bath. If you need me for anything, I should be done in about twenty minutes, okay?"
"Sure, Tomo. Go ahead." Ranma said as he waved her off with nothing but a slight wave of his hand.
"Thanks, onii-chan." Tomoe said under her breath while her lips pulled themselves into a small smile.
With this last word, the redheaded teen walked out of the room with her gathered supplies under her arms. After which, she headed down the hall to the bathroom, where she pulled off her clothes and underwear before stepping into the actual bathroom itself and started to fill the tub with water from the faucets. While the tub was filling, she sat down in front of the shower head and porceeded to wash her hair and scrub her body with seperate bottles of cherry-scented shampoo and body wash. Several minutes later, she finally had a full tub and she had even added a bit of her favorite vanilla body oil to give the water a silky smooth feel, as well as soaking her entire body with its pleasing scent.
She soaked in the tub for another ten minutes, but, eventually, the water began to cool and she decided to get out. So, she stepped onto the floor and dried herself off with a fluffy white towel before wrapping it around her thin frame. Once she was sure it would stay in place, she exited the bathing area and re-entered the laundry room located just outside the bathroom door to change into her pajamas and wash her face with her usual orange blossom-scented acne wash.
When she had finished her task, she threw her dirty uniform and towel into the hamper and headed out the laundry room door and back to her bedroom to check on her brother's progress on his homework.
And once she had arrived, she found something that had her forcing herself not to squeal out loud.
Ranma was now fast asleep with his head in his arms and lying on top of his open textbook.
Smiling happily at his's adorable action, she stepped forward as quietly as she could until she reached the small closet, from which she pulled out a spare blanket that she draped gently over his sleeping form. And completing this, she silently set up her own futon on the floor of the room, careful not to wake her beloved brother.
After laying down herself, the redheaded teen looked back at Ranma with her lips still pulled up in a small smile.
"Good night, onii-chan."
With this last statement, she tucked herself into her thick blanket and surrendered to the sweet relief of sleep.
***SOMETIME AROUND 3AM***
Tomoe was pulled out of her dreams by the sudden sounds of something outside knocking over the garbage cans.
Worried and more than a bit scared, she walked downstairs and grabbed the wooden baseball bat from the umbrella stand before slowly opening the front door as quietly as she could.
And when she made it to the garbage cans, she found that, instead of someone breaking into the house like she thought, it was a small black pig that looked strangely familiar to her.
While she tried to figure out how she knew this pig, the small animal seemed to panic as he tried to run away from her sudden appearance.
"Nonononono! Don't be afraid, little guy." she said in a gentle tone that had the pig stopping its retreat. "It's P-chan, right? You're Akane-chan's pet piglet, aren't you?"
Hearing his name, P-chan took a few tentative steps in her direction before he leapt into her arms. This surprised the teen a bit, but not enough that she didn't wrap her arms around his tiny form in a tight embrace.
"Why don't we get inside before we wake anyone up?" Tomoe said in the same gentle voice as she headed back into the house with the small pig nestled comfortably in her arms.
Once the pair was back inside, she placed the bat back in its usual spot before making her way back upstairs to go back to bed. She knew Akane would want to know P-chan was okay, but since it was so late, Tomoe decided to just take the piglet to bed with her.
As she walked up the stairs, the young teen's mind returned to thoughts about her date later that day. So much so that she felt the nervousness she had been trying to hide begin boiling their way to the surface.
"You know who Ryoga is, don't you, P-chan? Well, he asked me out on a date this afternoon and I'm actually kinda nervous. And not just because I'm afraid I may have to kill my brother if he does something to embarrass me. But, the main reason for my nerves is the fact that I really like Ryoga. He's only cool and handsome, but he seems to be a really sweet guy and I'd like to get to know him better. But, I'm worried he might not lie me back. I mean, what if he doesn't like the way I dress or the way I act around him? Or even worse, what if my brother really does do something stupid and Ryoga never wants to see me again?"
As she continued to talk, Tomoe felt worried tears begin to form in her big blue eyes. And this seemed to concern the small animal in her arms because he made a point of nestling even deeper into her chest, as if he were trying to cheer her up even slightly.
And it was this simple action that made Tomoe giggle softly to herself as she wrapped P-chan in a gentle hug.
"You're so sweet, little guy. Thanks for cheering me up."
P-chan appeared to be excited about her kind words because Tomoe was sure that she could before making her way to her own futon by tiptoeing around her brother and father.
Once she had successfully made it to her spot, Tomoe snuggled into her blanket before pulling P-chan into a gentle embrace, even as the small piglet seemed to be fighting against this.
"Calm down, little guy. It's all right. And if you don't keep it down, my brother is going to wake up and believe me when I say that when he wakes up without warning, it's not a pretty sight for anyone."
She then began to try and calm the small animal by petting him softly on the head. And this seemed to do the trick because P-chan's eyes began to droop and he eventually fell asleep sharing a pillow with Tomoe, who fell asleep a few moments later.