Nakamori Ginzo had the day off, after a Kid heist had used up his weekend. For the third week in a row. He would have worked through the full week himself, but his superiors told him to take at least one day off. So he was using the time to clean up the house. He'd never been good at sitting still, and, unlike many Japanese men, he had never shied away from doing some domestic work. (He didn't realise it, but several of the housewives in the neighbourhood swooned when they saw his large frame in an apron and rubber gloves as he took out the trash.)
"You're a jerk, Bakaito!" his daughter, Aoko, shouted from the street. "Aoko is very cute!"
"Oh, please, Ahoko. An actually cute girl wouldn't have to tell anyone she's cute. And wouldn't be built like a barrel," Kaito countered.
Ginzo headed out to the front door, to check on what the two of them were up to. He was greeted by the sight of Aoko, his petite daughter with her mousy brown hair, having picked up one of the planters from the front of the house, looking ready to throw it. It always impressed him how much strength her small frame held. Kuroba Kaito (Aoko's best friend when she wasn't trying to murder him) meanwhile, looked as smug as ever with his boyish grin and short, messy, dark hair.
"Aoko! No throwing pottery at people," Ginzo bellowed, causing her to freeze.
"Oh, hi daddy," Aoko said, the pot still above her head, a few drips from the earlier rainshower falling out on to her shoulder.
"Hey inspector," Kaito added with a casual wave.
"Hello Kaito. You should know better than to antagonize her," Ginzo said, trying not to roll his eyes at the two stubborn kids.
"I didn't start it," Kaito protested.
"Yes you did."
"Nu-uh!"
Ginzo rolled his eyes, sure that the pair would either descend back into name calling or try to trace the origins of this current argument back to their first meeting.
"Listen, just both apologize for calling each other names and call it a day, alright?" he said.
The two teens groaned and offered up barely audible noises that were vaguely apology adjacent before Aoko put the planter down and headed inside. Kaito stuck his tongue out at her back, before heading off to his own house. Ginzo just shook his head, turning to peek in the mailbox before heading in. To his surprise, there was a postcard sitting in there, with some pandas on it. The back had a simple, yet cryptic message:
Hello Nakamori-san. I am bringing Ranma. I hope you remember our old promise.
Sincerely, Saotome Genma.
Ginzo reread the message three times. If his name and address were not on the postcard he'd have assumed it to be delivered incorrectly. The postage stamps indicated the card had been sent from China, which merely led to more questions.
Questions with only one probable answer.
He headed inside, grabbing the phonebook. He rarely called his estranged ex-wife these days. He couldn't forgive her for having left during Aoko's first day of school, insisting their daughter was old enough to look after herself for 'a few hours a day' before he'd get home from work. He'd never understand her putting her martial arts goals before their daughter...
But he had to phone her now. There was no other logical explanation to the postcard he'd received.
After a few rings, he got through.
"Ginzo! Dear! How are you?" she asked, sounding merry and innocent.
"Who is Saotome Genma? What promise did you make him?"
"Sao—oh! Saotome! Yeah! He's a really good guy. A few years back I was hiking in Yamagata and got caught up in a rockslide. Broke my leg. Hours from the nearest road, even with two good legs. Luckily, Saotome saw my smoke signal and helped me get to a hospital. I owe him my life," she explained. "Since I had nothing but the clothes on my back at the time, we ended up agreeing for me to offer the only thanks I could: little Aoko's hand in marriage to his son Ranma. Cute boy. Pro—"
"MARRIAGE!? You arranged a marriage for Aoko? With some boy she's never even met!?" Ginzo roared, scarcely believing this new low for his ex-wife.
"She was always so shy about boys, and Ranma was a good kid... listen, I'd love to talk more, but I have to get back to my training. The old master is glaring at me. Bye, sweetie!"
"Don't you sweetie m—" Ginzo began to shout, only to get cut off by dial tone.
He hung the phone back up and slumped against the wall, no idea what he was supposed to do with this mess. He'd been so young and dumb when they met. His ex-wife had seemed like an adventure. And now she was making his and Aoko's lives harder without even being there.
"What was that about marriage?" Aoko asked, peeking out from the stairwell.
"Your mother..." he sighed.
"She's getting married again?"
Ginzo shook his head. "She's apparently trying to get you married."
He filled his daughter in on the few details he'd been provided, and couldn't blame the girl for her look of outrage.
"How old is he, even?" she asked.
"Well, your mother said he was a kid, so... hm... 21 at the oldest?" Ginzo replied, figuring his ex-wife wouldn't call someone over 11 'a good kid' and 'cute boy', and that the meet up could not have happened before her departure ten years ago. "Probably?"
Aoko had taken a few minutes to scream into her pillow before heading back downstairs. She couldn't focus on her homework with the idea that some unknown guy of unknown age was about to show up and decide he'd get to marry her.
She ended up grabbing a bag of chips and flopping down on the couch, munching away in the hopes that destroying the chips might evaporate a bit of her temper. She was partially tempted to go over to Kaito's house and chase him around with a broom to blow off more steam, but, for once, he didn't deserve her anger. So, she kept destroying chips.
Her father was displaying similar stress levels, digging through legal documents on his laptop in the kitchen. She wasn't wasn't sure what, specifically, he was hunting for, but she wished him luck.
Then the doorbell rang. Aoko and her father both scurried to the door, her father opening it as she hung back, not completely sure what to expect.
Whatever she'd expected, it hadn't been a rather gigantic panda carrying a small human over one shoulder and a backpack on the other. The panda made a grunt as the small human shouted away in a high pitched voice.
"H-hello?" her father asked, staring up at the creature.
The creature nodded and placed the short redhead it was carrying down in front of them. Based off the Chinese style clothing the redhead was wearing, the presence of a giant panda, and the stranger's cute youthful face, Aoko went out on a limb with a guess.
"Are you Ranma?"
The redhead nodded. "Yeah, I'm Saotome Ranma."
Aoko nodded, feeling a bit less upset about this whole mess. Ranma was tiny, and looked so young. He had to be no more than, what, fourtee—it was at that point Aoko's eyes drifted down a little bit.
"Oh," she muttered, taking in a rather prominent chest. That did not seem like it fit the 'fourteen' hypothesis well.
"I don't mean to be rude," Aoko's father said, looking down at Ranma himself. "But... would you happen to be a girl?"
Aoko swore she saw gears turning in the redhead's eyes. "Do ya know many guys with a bust like this?"
"We'd just been told to expect a boy," Ginzo said, before letting out a sigh of relief. "Well, I suppose that makes things easier."
"M-makes things easier? How does it make anythin' easier?" Ranma asked, her eyes flitting towards Aoko. "She is a girl, right?"
Aoko felt her blood pressure rising at the questioning tone Ranma used.
"Yes?" Ginzo replied. "Oh! You think... no, no. My ex-wife made the engagement promise and I was trying to figure out the easiest way out of it. If you're a girl then that's the problem solved already."
Ranma lit up at that, while the panda looked strangely panicked.
"Do come in," Ginzo said, leading the short girl into the house. "I do have a few things I would like to—"
Aoko's father was cut off by the panda charging past him (staying on its hind legs as it ran, for some reason). Concerned about where the animal might be going, Ginzo and Aoko ran after it. To their utter confusion, it kept running about until it found the bathroom. The animal then tried to open the furo door, though it seemed the creature's claws had trouble fitting in the groove handle of the wooden sliding door.
"No you don't! I'm not cleaning panda fur out of the tub!" Ginzo shouted, doing his best to drag the creature away from the furo door.
The creature let out a pained cry.
"Are you hurting it? Is that how you're supposed to hold a panda?" Aoko asked, turning to Ranma for hints.
"He's just dramatic," the redhead said with an oddly smug smile.
Was the girl enjoying seeing the animal struggle?
"He'll probably calm down a bit if you let him out in the backyard. C'mon, I'll help," Ranma said, grinning away as she lifted one of the panda's legs.
Aoko grabbed the other leg and the trio navigated the fidgeting animal outside. Their backyard wasn't large, but there was some room for the panda to move about. Better than most homes in this part of Nerima. Aoko hoped it would be enough.
Once the door was closed back up, Ginzo led their guest over to the kitchen table, Aoko following along out of curiosity.
"Do sit down... now, Saotome-kun... what is your housing situation like?" Ginzo asked, taking a seat himself.
"Housing... like, I think pops was plannin' to stay here?" Ranma replied.
"Ah... and, normally? Where do you live?"
"Normally? We usually got our tents. Or pops manages to haggle a cheap motel room. From time ta time we'd stay somewhere long enough to rent a proper place. A few times we'd get to rent a nice place, but the owners apparently had said they didn't want to see us there and then came home without sayin' nothin', so we had to run away before they could say we... 'violated the lease'?" Ranma explained.
Aoko saw her father's eyes fill with horror. "You... I... okay. If your father doesn't show up in the next couple of days, I am definitely going to phone some friends I have in child protection services. I—how old are you, again?"
"Sixteen?" Ranma replied.
Ginzo nodded. "Mhm. Still a minor. I wouldn't want you sent to an institute, but... maybe we can find a surviving relative."
"Would Ranma stay here while they look?" Aoko asked, glancing over at the other girl.
Ranma's eyes, once the scheming energy had dissipated, seemed so lonely and sad. Aoko couldn't help feel bad for the girl, and hoped she could help her feel a little less lonely. Even if it was only for a few days.
"I think I could be ruled as a responsible temporary guardian," Ginzo replied. "If... if you'd be okay with staying for a bit?"
"Oh, I, uh... I dunno," Ranma replied. "I don't really like the idea a' bein' a charity case or somethin'."
"I'd be a pretty poor police officer if I wasn't willing to look after a girl without a home for a week. It's no problem at all, don't worry," Ginzo said, getting a nervous smile from Ranma.
"Come on. Aoko will show you up to the guest bedroom."
Ranma gave a small nod and followed her. Aoko kept glancing back at the other girl. She was such an adorable mixture of confident and shy. She wasn't as tall and elegant as Koizumi Akako, with her vibrant gothic makeup, but... Ranma was still cute in her own way. Though Aoko kept quiet about that impression, since lots of other girls got the wrong impression when Aoko talked about those things.
Instead, she said: "So, here it is."
The guest bedroom was fairly small, and quite empty. The futon was, of course, tucked away in the closet, so the room seemed almost completely forgotten. There were a couple of pictures on the walls, to try to make the otherwise empty room seem less ominous. A small floor desk sat in one corner. Aoko supposed it probably needed to be dusted.
"Ooh, nice place," Ranma said, stepping in and looking around.
"Ah! I'm glad you think so. We've got an old alarm clock somewhere downstairs too. Aoko thinks there's a lamp we could bring in, if you want," Aoko explained.
Ranma just nodded away. When Aoko finished her discussion she found herself letting out a soft sigh.
"Aoko is so glad you ended up being a girl—I mean, nothing against boys, but the idea of an engagement? While Aoko is still in high school? No thank you," Aoko said.
"Yeah. We're way too young. Pops is nuts, talkin' about that sorta stuff," Ranma replied, stretching as she talked. "I ain't ever even had a girlfriend... don't see how engagements can be in the picture."
"P-pardon?" Aoko asked, feeling her cheeks grow hot.
"Well, I... oh... oh," Ranma said, glancing down at herself and growing flush as well. "Uh..."
It seemed almost like the redhead had forgotten she was a girl, which baffled Aoko. How could someone with a figure like that forget?
Ignoring the strange feeling, Aoko gave a slow nod. "Ah. So Aoko did hear you right. I... um... I don't mind or anything. I just didn't expect it."
"Huh?"
"That you'd be gay?" Aoko replied.
"Gay? I ain't... uh... I mean, I like girls, yeah. So... I'm... yeah?" Ranma replied.
"Aoko thinks girls are very pretty too. Maybe not quite that much. Probably. But... Aoko can easily understand choosing girls over boys."
"Oh," Ranma muttered, blushing once again. (It was so cute.)
Aoko smiled. "Well, Aoko has some homework to finish up. We got distracted by the sudden news and so I couldn't focus on it earlier. Do call if you need anything."
"Thanks," Ranma said.
Ranma dropped his backpack down, looking around the empty room. The way he saw it there were three options: a) he could act like a good son, fess up about the curses, and get himself dragged into an engagement; b) wait until the middle of the night to sneak out and hope pops had passed out in the backyard; or c) pretend to be a normal girl, and follow the Nakamoris' plan. A was out of the question. As nice as Aoko had been, he wasn't interested in getting married so young. C was... tricky. What would he do with pops? You could only keep a crafty panda away from hot water for so long. Contact customs saying that 'her' father had smuggled the animal in? That seemed messy... And Ranma would have to pretend to be a girl the whole time. Though, on the other hand, pretending to be a girl would give Ranma the chance to have ice cream.
Ice cream looked so tasty.
It might just be worth trying to make everything else work out. Ranma pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil, trying to list all the variables and figure out how to overcome them. It would be a lot of effort, but it would be worth it to get to see what a parfait really tasted like.
Ranma was pretty sure he had something resembling a decent plan when he heard heavy footsteps racing up the stairs. He managed to turn around in time to get a bucket of hot water to the face, prompting a transformation back to male form.
Blinking the water out of his eyes, he was left looking at his father, in his bald and solidly built human form again.
"What the... How did you-?"
"The bathroom window was open!" Genma declared with a laugh. "Now, then, boy, what do you have to say for yourself after this girly scheme of yours?"
"You're the one with the hair brained scheme! I was just tryin' ta make the best of a bad situation!"
"I trained you to be braver than this!" Genma bellowed.
"You told me part of the experience of eatin' at restaurants was runnin' away from the waiter at the end instead a' payin'!" Ranma shouted.
Genma marched over, glaring down at him. "What are you insinuating?"
"I'm insult-uatin' that—"
"WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE!?" Aoko shouted, charging into the room with a (slightly dripping) mop.
Ranma and Genma let out yelps of panic as the girl swung the mop at them. She seemed amazingly fast with that thing.
"Why are you breaking into my house!? W-what have you done to Saotome-kun!?" Aoko shouted, smacking Genma on the gut multiple times, leaving a damp spot on his gi.
"Woah, hey, I can explai—ack!" Ranma said, taking a mop to the face himself.
Surprisingly, a direct smack onto his head proved to contain enough water for Ranma's form to revert to female once again. That resulted a confused yelp from Aoko, who back stepped nervously.
"What on earth is going on up here!?" Nakamori shouted, charging into the room and encountering a deeply confusing tableau. "Who are you?"
"Saotome Genma. Ranma's father."
"You're... you know, you have a lot of explaining to do. How did you get up here, and why did you engage your daughter to my daughter!?" Nakamori shouted, his face going red with anger. "And why do you have a pet panda?"
"She was a boy," Aoko offered quietly.
"What?" Nakamori asked, turning to his daughter.
"Ranma. She was a boy. And then Aoko hit her with the mop. And now she's a girl again."
"I can explain everything," Genma said calmly.
Ginzo massaged his temples as Saotome's story wrapped up. He would never have believed bizarre tales of cursed springs if he'd not seen Ranma transform back and forth before his very eyes. As he processed that magic was real (and began to wonder if that meant the time Kid had escaped on a broomstick had been real magic or not), he found himself hating the way Saotome was all smiles.
"See, my being a panda and Ranma's being a girl is really just a minor issue, all things considered," Saotome said.
"Minor my—" Ranma started.
"Watch your language, boy," Saotome hissed, before turning back to Ginzo. "So, the engagement is still on the table."
"I never agreed to the engagement. And neither did Aoko!" Ginzo bellowed.
"Her mother did. Are you about to dishonour the mother of your child? Your daughter's own flesh and blood?"
"It's—no one makes arranged marriages anymore!" Ginzo shouted.
Saotome shook his head. "I had hoped you'd be more cooperative. I guess I will just have to wait until you change your mind."
"I'm not going to change it," Ginzo replied.
"I can be very patient. Especially in such a nice house," Saotome said, looking around.
"Oh, well, thank y—wait, are you planning to squat in my house?" Ginzo shouted.
"You're not going to force me, a single father, and the minor in my care, onto the street, are you? I have made no alternative accommodations. Your wife had given the impression we would be allowed to stay here, so we'd be homeless if you kicked us out," Saotome said, tears starting to flow down his cheeks. "Oh, how I thought an upstanding citizen like yourself, a government employee, would show more compassion and understanding."
"I... fine. You two can stay here until you find somewhere else to live. But there will be no engagement talk, alright?" Ginzo said, hating that he'd broken so easily, but worried about who Saotome might talk to if he kicked them out.
"Sounds good to me," Ranma muttered. "I ain't interested in marryin' such a two faced girl."
"Pardon!?" Aoko shouted, hopping to her feet. "Aoko is two faced?"
"You were bein' all nice to me, then suddenly you attacked me with a mop!" Ranma countered, hopping up to his own feet.
Ginzo felt like the scene was strangely familiar as the pair glared at each other.
"Aoko was nice to a guest and ready to chase off what Aoko thought were people breaking into the house! That's perfectly normal behaviour!"
"Ya still hit me with a mop before I could explain anythin'!"
"It's not Aoko's fault you didn't dodge faster! Kaito can dodge Aoko fine!"
"Hmph!" Ranma said, marching over to the door. "I also ain't interested in marryin' a girl with a figure that can't hold a candle to my girl side's."
Ranma managed to get out two confident laughs before Aoko's chair collided with his head at a speed that rivalled most baseball pitches. Ginzo couldn't help but wince as he watched the impact. Aoko had gotten very good at hitting mobile targets thanks to Kuroba-kun's wiggliness, so it was no surprise Ranma hadn't dodged fast enough.
"Jerk!" Aoko shouted, before storming off.
"Your lack of dodging today has been a disgrace, boy," Genma said, stepping unceremoniously over his unconscious son.
Ginzo shot the man's back a glare before heading over to try to wake Ranma back up. A few light slaps to the cheek failed, so he tried a splash of cold water to the face. That worked, though it also activated Ranma's curse, for which Ginzo felt guilty.
"That doesn't hurt, does it?" Ginzo asked as the redhead blinked a few times.
"What? Gettin' hit in the head with a chair? It definitely hurts, pal," Ranma replied rubbing the side of his head.
"No, no. The transformation," Ginzo said. "Having your whole body change like that..."
"Oh, that? Nah. It's painless. Tingles a little, but don't hurt," Ranma replied with a casual wave.
Ginzo nodded. "Anyway, I am sorry about my daughter. She's developed a bit of a complex about her figure, due to her best friend teasing her about it. I would recommend not bringing it up in future."
"Yeah, yeah. I gotcha. I just wanted to try get under her skin a little, to try to make it clear to pops the engagement wasn't happenin'," Ranma said, standing up.
"I promise you, I'm not going to drag my daughter into an arranged marriage," Ginzo replied.
Aoko had planned to glare at both Saotomes all breakfast, but, instead, she found herself staring in shock at their terrible table manners. She had been thrilled when she'd finished breakfast and had been able to retreat up to her room to get dressed for school. Then she'd have a good seven hours free of the two freeloaders.
Or, at least, that was the plan. She'd found Ranma and her father waiting in the genkan when she'd been about to leave.
"I called ahead, and the school is ready to have Ranma start classes today," her father said. "He'll need you to show him the route."
"What? Daddy—"
Her father held up a placating hand. "I want to get rid of any excuses his father might be able to use to delay apartment hunting. If Ranma's not home then that's one less thing his father can blame for delays... and I think the boy would benefit from having to spend less time with his father."
Aoko wanted to protest, but both points seemed reasonable. Ranma acted significantly worse when his father was around and she wanted the Saotomes gone as soon as possible.
"Alright, alright,' Aoko said, sighing. "But you'd better behave yourself, Saotome-kun. Got it?"
"Yes ma'am," Ranma said with a salute.
It seemed a little too strong to be genuine, but Aoko decided she would ignore that. She headed out the door, Ranma following her for about all of five paces before he hopped up onto the front fence of the Nakamori home. Aoko glanced up at him, ready to ask what he was doing, but apparently had the question on her face clear enough she didn't need to say it.
"Balance practice," he explained.
"Ah," Aoko said, walking along at ground level.
They went around the corner, and passed a small number of houses before reaching the Kuroba home. Aoko fixed her hair in her compact, before heading over to the door.
"This don't look like a school," Ranma said, still perched on the top of the fence.
"Because it isn't, dummy," she replied. "Aoko has to pick up her best friend first."
"Best friend? Judgin' by that blush on your cheeks we're lookin' at more than a friend," Ranma said, in an annoyingly smug tone. "Ooh, would this be one of the girls you think is cute?"
Aoko's flush spread to her full face. "I told you about that in confidence thinking you were a lesbian!"
"Well, I'm, like... half a lesbian, right?" Ranma replied, looking lost in thought.
"That... your curse does not let you claim to be a lesbian!" Aoko shouted once again, wishing Ranma would come down to hitting range so she could give him the smack he deserved.
She decided to glance down, huntin for a rock or something to throw at him.
"What's all this talk about lesbians, Ahoko?"
"I told you to knock that—" Aoko began to yell at Ranma again, until she realised that had not been Ranma. Spinning, she was left looking at Kaito and felt ready to die at the knowledge he'd overheard her.
She also couldn't deny that, now that she was hearing them so close together, Ranma and Kaito sounded oddly alike.
"Wait, you're a guy?" Ranma said, from up on the fence.
"I suppose? I do rather like wearing dresses, but that does not define one's gender, so... eh?" Kaito replied with a shrug. "Who are you, anyway, pal? Bothering Ahoko this early in the morning is usually my job."
"If Bakaito cared about that job he'd wake up in time more often," Aoko said, sticking a tongue out at Kaito.
He replied in kind.
"My pops is a professional freeloader, and we're crashing at the Nakamoris' place," Ranma said, apparently ignoring her and Kaito's squabbling.
"Why is the good inspector letting you stay?" Kaito asked, looking back and forth between Aoko and Ranma.
"Aoko's mother made a dumb promise and they'd be homeless if dad didn't let them stay for a bit," Aoko replied.
"Hey! We'd find a place. Pops is resourceful. An' if he didn't we'd have our tents... I've still got half a mind to book it in case he somehow convinces your old man to go through with the nonsense promise," Ranma said, crossing his arms but remaining perched on top of the fence.
"Wait. Them staying at your place isn't the promise? What's the promise then?" Kaito asked, eyes alight with curiosity.
"N-nothing!" Aoko blurted, turning to march off down the street towards school.
She hoped she wasn't blushing as much as she felt like she was. A glance up at Ranma revealed he looked to be blushing, which was not a good sign for trying to keep a secret from Kaito. Especially not with the way his eyes were sparkling. He wasn't a detective like Hakuba, needing to crack open every mystery, but gossip... gossip he lived for.
"Hm... whatever it is definitely involves both of you. What kind of promise could that be... a kid exchange doesn't make sense. It's not the Meiji era anymore, so it's not like an arranged marriage could be the—"
Ranma slipped off the fence at that point, though he managed to land on his feet (with much flailing of his arms). The way he twisted reminded Aoko briefly of a cat, before the wave of embarrassment crashed over her with the certainty that Kaito had them figured out.
"It's really an engagement!?" Kaito blurted, looking surprisingly panicked.
"It ain't happenin'!" Ranma shouted.
"Aoko is in high school. I'm not getting married yet!"
Kaito, almost blurring with the speed he moved, was at Ranma's side before Aoko could blink. He placed a hand on Ranma's shoulder, while his other hand was gesticulating away with his speech.
"Trust me, she's a terrible choice. She's got a hair trigger temper. And she's violent about it. Absolutely no figure to speak of... curved like a barrel if she's curved at all. And her cooking, it's, at best, mediocre," Kaito said, speaking rather quickly and oddly loudly. "So, really, she's a down right terrible choice for a wi—ow!"
Kaito rubbed the side of his face where Aoko had flicked him. He'd been too busy insulting her to notice her marching over.
"Aoko has many charming points! Bakaito is just too much of a dummy to notice them," she declared with a huff.
"Ahoko... see, she can't even play cute in front of a would be suitor," Kaito replied sharply.
Only to receive a bookbag to the face from Aoko for his troubles.
"That hurt, Ahoko!"
"Bakaito deserved it!"
That reply was backed up with another swing of her bookbag, though Kaito dodged this time. Aoko proceeded to chase him around for a bit, even if Kaito was now in the game and easily dodging. Aoko noticed Ranma smiling a soft little smile out of the corner of her eye, and decided that maybe he could join their friend group after all. But, first, she had to wipe that smirk off of Kaito's face.
"I, uh, I think I'm gonna hop back up on the fence for safety," Ranma said as one of Aoko's bag swings nearly hit him.
Aoko and Kaito both paused to watch him gracefully leap up in one go. Deep down, Aoko had to admit, Ranma was cute, and in amazing shape. If she absolutely had to marry a guy... she could probably do worse.
She needed to get to know him better first, though, before she formed any concrete opinions.
Besides, she still kind of got vague feelings that Ranma wasn't just sometimes physically a girl. There was something deeper there. Maybe they were best suited to just being girl friends.
Something she also wondered about Kaito sometimes, if she was being totally honest...
"Why is he up there anyhow?" Kaito asked.
"He says it's balance practice," she explained.
"Ooh. You know, that makes sense," Kaito replied, before hurrying over to the fence himself.
With a few well placed hand and leg movements, he scaled up to the top of the fence in only a few seconds. Once up there, he gave Ranma a smile. Aoko let out a sigh and kept walking.
"Lookin' for a race, pal?" Ranma asked, a strained smile on his face.
"Oh, I'd gladly destroy in a shortcuts race any time. I know this corner of Nerima like the back of my hand," Kaito replied, wearing a matching expression. "It wouldn't be sporting this time, though. Since you don't even know where we're going."
Ranma blushed and crossed his arms. "Fine. We'll race home then."
"Ooh. You're on," Kaito replied.
Those two were too alike. One Kaito was bad enough. Now she had to live with another one.
Akako stared in horror at the new arrival to her class. Chaos magic was radiating off him to a degree she had rarely seen. It took every fiber of her being not to bolt from the classroom.