Chapter 11: New Insight
As she had done every day for the past week and a half, Ranma left Genma's company and made her way to Lillian. Along her journey, though, with the occasional greeting of "Gokigenyou" being directed her way, it slowly dawned on her that something felt a bit peculiar. That sensation only grew more pronounced the closer she got to the Lillian. Her face felt tight, somehow, and she poked her finger against her cheek to check it.
She was smiling.
And she had no idea why.
The more she thought about it, though, the more she realized that that wasn't actually that unusual. Over the past several days, she had found herself smiling quite frequently.
It wasn't only her tightened face, or even the bubbly feeling in her chest, that felt a bit peculiar, either. There were countless little things everywhere that seemed a bit different to her. The sunlight was a bit brighter. The flowers were a bit more vivid. The breeze was a bit more refreshing. Somehow, everything around her seemed a bit more present and real.
As Ranma passed under the tall gates at the front entrance of Lillian, the question occurred to her: was this what they called "happiness?"
Once on the Lillian campus, the nods, waves, and verbal greetings sent Ranma's way increased dramatically. The number of girls who went out of their way to acknowledge her in some fashion or another had further declined as compared to the day before, but they still formed the substantially majority of people she saw.
Ranma was recognizing more and more of them as time went by, too. By this point she knew the faces of almost the entire First-year Chrysanthemum Group, and she knew the names of most of them as well. More than that, though, she had started to recognize numerous girls outside of her class, too; she had a brief moment of worry when Mami greeted her from across the path, but the newspaper girl then turned and left her alone.
The announcement sign near the front entrance of the main building had continued its inexorable countdown. Its warning that the festival was only three days away corresponded with another escalation of activity throughout the school.
While the students of Lillian had been busy preparing over the past several weeks, it had always been something of a hidden affair. Small groups would meet in classrooms after hours. Fastidious attention would be paid to hide all of the evidence of their work, such that their efforts would not intrude upon daily school life.
That had all changed. An ignorant visitor would now have no problem spotting the signs of preparation everywhere. Gone were the days of furtive actions done in passing along the way. It was still slightly uncommon to see a girl carrying posters, pots, and paints through the hallways, but it had now become an overt sight.
Ranma passed by three girls assembling some kind of colorful metal and plastic stand in the hallway just outside of their classroom. A little further on, a girl with a large bundle of rolled-up paper in her arms paused briefly to offer Ranma a "Gokigenyou" before she continued onward. As Ranma neared the vending machines, she saw a girl drawing a cartoon caricature of another girl who was modeling for her.
The transformation of Lillian Private Girls' School into a festival ground was on the cusp of beginning in earnest.
At the vending machines themselves, Ranma saw a familiar girl with medium-length blonde hair which had been braided into a pigtail. She couldn't remember having seen anybody with a single pigtail, though, and she struggled to remember why the girl seemed familiar.
The girl picked up the package of instant noodles she had bought, turned, and caught sight of Ranma. "Ehck..." The girl startled back fractionally. The slightest hint of what could possibly be a blush touched her cheeks. She then stammered, "G..gokigenyou, Ranko-san."
"Gokigenyou," Ranma said. Upon seeing her full face, Ranma realized why she had seemed so familiar. "Didn't we meet before? Last week? In the primary gym?"
The girl's eyes widened, and the hint on her cheeks resolved itself into a definite blush. She asked, "You remember me?"
"Yeah. You're in the handicrafts club, right? You were making..." Ranma said, trying to recall what she had seen at the edge of the stage a week ago. She failed to remember. "... something."
"That's correct. I was making a carriage," the girl said with a vigorous nod of her head. "It's going to be the best carriage for you."
"Right," Ranma said. There had been that table and that chair tied together with some string. "I don't think I ever got your name."
"Yukiyou Murakawa. First-year Plum Group, number 22. It's a pleasure to meet you." She gave a bow as she spoke.
"Well, nice to meet you, too," Ranma said, returning the bow.
Yukiyou bowed again and took her leave.
Ranma walked up to the now vacant vending machine, inserted her coins, and was once again the proud owner of three packages of instant noodles. She then made her way to class.
In the front of the First-year Chrysanthemum Group classroom, Ranma saw that Rinna and Reiko had slid two desks next to each other and had placed a large poster on them. They were in the process of decorating the sign to the cafe their class would be running with small drawings of pocket watches, top hats, and playing cards.
"Gokigenyou," they said to Ranma as she walked in.
"Gokigenyou," Ranma said back.
There were various other preparations occurring around the room as well. Sayaka had a stack of paper onto which "Drink Me" had been printed multiple times, and she was cutting those width-wise into long strips. Tomori had a similar stack of papers, onto which "Eat Ne" had been printed, and that was the subject of some energetic discussion between her, Ami, and Sora. At Ami's warning, though, all of the festival preparations were put on hold. All the desks were lined up again, all of the artifacts from around the room were sequestered away against walls and into drawers, and all the girls returned to their seats.
It was to an almost, but not quite, ordinary room that Tanezaki entered.
"Stand. Bow."
For the most part, the morning classes themselves continued as they always did. The main compromise to the looming deadline was the sewing lesson, which Ami had arranged to have canceled favor of festival preparations. For that period, the class split into two groups. The smaller group went to the back of the room to practice food and drink preparation. The larger group, which included both Ranma and Yoshino, moved to the front of the room and spent the period practicing greetings, order taking, and serving.
Lunch was different as well, insofar as it was similar to the day before. While Ranma was reaching for her instant noodles, Yoshino approached her.
"Would you be interested in eating together again today?" Yoshino asked. "You enjoyed my lunch so much yesterday that I thought I'd make some extra to share with you. I think Shimako-san is waiting for us as well."
"Yeah," Ranma said instantly. If lunch the previous day was anything to go by, it would certainly be a trade up. Instant noodles were cheap and filling, but the food that Yoshino and Shimako had brought was more plentiful and tasted far better. Ranma was already giddy in anticipation.
They walked over to the same place they had had lunch the day before, and they arrived just in time to greet Shimako, who was only a few seconds behind them. The three of them spread out the sheet Shimako had brought and placed the three different lunches on top of it. It was a worthy trade on Ranma's end, her giving out two packages of instant noodles and receiving far more in return for them, and she eagerly began eating.
Part-way through their meal, behind Shimako's giggling at a joke Yoshino had said, Ranma heard a click. She looked over in the direction of the sound, and she saw a glint of light coming from some nearby bushes. A closer look resolved it to be a camera. Behind it, the outline of a girl could be seen in the dappled shadows.
Once it had become clear that she had been spotted, Tsutako stood up straight and gave a hesitant wave.
"I'm taking pictures for the upcoming exhibit the photography club is making for the festival," Tsutako said from the bushes. "I'm sorry to bother you. Gokigenyou."
Tsutako bowed and then quickly walked away.
Yoshino exchanged a shrug with Ranma, who exchanged the same shrug with Shimako.
"Don't worry," Shimako said in response. "Tsutako-san always gets permission before keeping a photograph."
Yoshino had said a while ago that the student body loved to admire the Yamayurikai. What that actually meant was finally becoming clear to Ranma.
In the end, neither Yoshino nor Shimako ended up actually eating any of the instant noodles Ranma had brought. At their insistence, such as to not be wasteful, Ranma ended up eating them as well. While she appreciated the extra food, for some reason, she also felt a bit bad about it.
After they had finished lunch, the three of them once again did a bit of light practice. It went quite smoothly, and it proved that Ranma had almost managed to catch up to Yoshino and Shimako. In fact, considering how much larger the role of Cinderella was as compared to Sister A's and Sister C's, she may even have surpassed them. She easily recalled the complicated lines of Cinderella, and her tongue flowed around the flouncy and ornate sentences. She had a few slight hesitations here and there, but none of the flaws were critical, and she still had a few more days to improve even further and complete her mastery.
The lunch break concluded with Ranma, Yoshino, and Shimako cleaning up the lunch boxes and the sheet. They then returned back to class.
It was strange to think that just two weeks earlier, Ranma had been following an obviously lost Genma through the forests of China, her eyes keenly focused on finding something, anything, to eat. In comparison, the stately formality of Lillian was idyllic. There was no doubt at all in her mind that the food and the people here were undeniably better.
Rei arrived in the First-year Chrysanthemum Group classroom shortly after classes ended, receiving a reception was as large as Sachiko's had been. She retrieved Yoshino for some special task, and the two hurried away. Therefore, Ranma was alone as she walked to the Rose Mansion, entered it, climbed the creaky stairs, and went through the biscuit-shaped door into the conference room. Inside, Sachiko, Shimako, Youko, and Sei were all seated around the large table.
"Gokigenyou," Ranma said.
"Gokigenyou," they said in return.
Ranma automatically looked across the room for the snacks of the day. To her disappointment, she didn't see anything. Not only that. She also noticed Eriko was missing as well, which meant that the entire Yellow Rose Family was absent.
She went to the nearby tea service and picked up a cup, being very careful to keep her distance from the steaming electric kettle. She then walked down to the kitchen, filled her cup with water, and walked back upstairs. She re-entered the conference room and took a seat next to Sachiko.
After a few minutes and some inconsequential small talk, Sachiko asked, "They're late today, aren't they?" It was an open question to the room as a whole, rather than directed to a specific person.
"It can't be helped. Eriko was telling me that they had something special planned," Youko said. She then took a sip out of her teacup.
"She told me that, too. What do you think it is?" Sei asked. She leaned her arm on the table, rested her head on her hand, and looked towards Youko. "I'm guessing it's something food related, seeing how she said she would handle it today."
Ranma's disappointment bounced to optimism. Far from nothing to eat, the promise of something special was tantalizing, and her imagination wandered as she tried to think what it could be.
"We're here." Eriko's voice drifted up from the entrance hallway. This was followed by several heavy footsteps on the stairs. A few seconds later, Eriko appeared in the doorway. She said, "Sorry, we're late."
Eriko walked in first, and a thick savory scent filled the room at her entrance. She carried a large and obviously heavy pot in her hands. The pot had a piece of paper taped to its side with a large "2" written on it.
Yoshino entered next. She was also carrying a large pot in her hands. Hers was unlabeled
Rei was the last girl in the convoy. Like Yoshino and Eriko, she also carried a pot. This one had a piece of paper taped to its side with a large "1" written on it.
Sei sat up straight and turned to look at Eriko and the others. She asked, "Is that the big surprise?"
Youko sniffed the air and said, "It smells like... curry?"
Eriko heaved her pot up and placed it on the large table with a sigh of relief. She then said, "That's because it is curry! Tada!" She lifted the lid off of the pot with a flourish. A rich aroma flooded the room, filling it with the smell of cumin, turmeric, tomato, carrot, and everything else blended together.
Ranma could feel her mouth salivating, and she stood up to get a closer look. The pot was in fact filled with a thick reddish sauce. Bits of beige and orange peeked out on the surface of the liquid.
Meanwhile, Rei lifted her own pot and placed it beside Eriko's. She then took Yoshino's pot and placed it on the table as well. The two girls then left the room.
"If that's curry, then what's that?" Youko asked, gesturing to the pot Rei had been carrying.
"Also curry! Tada!" Eriko used her free hand to pull off the lid of the other signed-pot with an equally large flourish. It was likewise filled with a thick broth, this one an off-white.
"And that? More curry?" Sei asked, gesturing to the third pot.
"No. It's rice," Eriko said. She looked down at the two lids she had in her hands, placed them on the table, and then lifted the third lid with yet another flourish. "Tada!"
Youko stood up and looked into the three pots. She said, "That's a lot of curry."
"I got it from the Second-year Cherry Blossom Group. They're opening a curry restaurant for the festival," Eriko said. She placed the lid to the pot of rice on the table as well.
"Yes, but what does that have to do with this?" Youko asked
"That's easy. The class couldn't decide which recipe they wanted to make, so they ended up choosing to make both," Eriko said.
"So they just gave you a bunch of curry?" Sei asked. She sounded surprised and confused.
"Not me. Us. It's for their advertisements. Think of it," Eriko said. She turned and spread her hands out in the air, as if she were flattening a poster against an imaginary wall in front of her. "The preferred curry of Rosa Gigantea. Rosa Chinensis approved." Eriko turned back. "Their sales will double."
"I guess," Youko said. She also sounded skeptical. "But isn't this too much? How are we going to finish it all?"
"I'm sure it'll be okay," Eriko said, waving her hand dismissively. "Besides, if we do have extra, then Kashiwagi-san is coming to visit today, too. He's a boy, and you know how they eat. I'm sure he can help us finish any leftovers."
Across the room, Yoshino and Rei re-appeared in the doorway. They were carrying a stack of plates and utensils. These they placed onto the table in several piles lined up with the three pots already there.
"He may be a boy, but there's still a limit to everything," Youko said. Her gaze flickered back and forth between the two large pots of curry.
"He can take care of himself," Sachiko said. She had a frown on her face.
At that moment, Ranma's stomach grew tired of waiting. It gave a loud growl. All the girls turned to look at her in shocked amazement.
Eriko then gave a full-throated laugh. In between chortles, she said, "She's right. Enough waiting. The curry's getting cold. Let's eat."
Ranma didn't need to be prompted twice. She quickly grabbed a plate from the stack beside the pots, and she spooned a healthy portion of rice onto it. There was only so much available, and she was going to make sure she got her fair share. She then doused the rice with an equally generous portion of curry, half from the red pot and and half from the off-white one. It was a careful balancing act to fit as much food as possible onto her plate yet not so much that any was wasted by falling off of the edge.
She took the almost-overflowing plate to her seat and sat down while Sei helped herself next.
There was nothing amazing about the curry except the amount, but that was the most important thing. It filled her belly with a rich warmness not to be found from eating cold dinners and instant noodles, and she eagerly ate.
While they ate, Rei wrote down the feedback that everybody was providing. Sei commented that the colors seemed muted, which Youko agreed with and added that including something green could be helpful. Sachiko mentioned she didn't really like the coconut in the off-white curry. Shimako said she liked the puffiness of the rice, while Eriko said she would have preferred drier rice. For her part, though, Ranma mainly focused on eating.
After she finished her first plate, Ranma went back for seconds. About a third of the rice and curries still remained in the three pots. It was far more than she had expected, but she wasn't about to question her good fortune. She helped herself to another generous portion and resumed her seat.
"What a healthy appetite," Rei said. She had her spoon on her plate and was looking at Ranma.
Youko and Sei nodded in agreement with Rei's statement. All three of them had about a third of their initial, moderate helpings remaining.
Ranma finished her second plate in short order, and stood up to get thirds. Most of the girls had remained seated, their empty plates sitting in front of them. Only Sachiko had gotten seconds, and she had only just barely started on it.
Upon realizing that, Ranma hesitated, holding the rice paddle in her hand.
"No, no, go ahead. Have more," Sachiko said, gesturing for Ranma to continue. "Feel free to eat it all, if you like. We don't have to leave any for Suguru-san." She then slowly took a bite of her own dish.
That sounded like a challenge, or at least Ranma was willing to interpret it as one, and as a practitioner of Anything Goes Martial Arts, she practically had a moral imperative to tackle all challenges. It was her duty to eat all of that warm, thick, spicy, rich, savory curry, and Ranma eagerly spooned a third helping onto her plate.
Across the table, Eriko sent Rei a wink. Yoshino and Shimako both shared a small nod as well.
When Ranma sat down with her fourth plate, she heard Rei quietly say to Yoshino, "This is incredible."
"Isn't it?" Yoshino asked back to Rei, equally faint.
"She just keeps going and going," Youko said to Eriko, almost in a whisper. Eriko nodded, triumphant smile clear on her face.
"Where do you think it all goes?" Sei softly asked Shimako. Shimako shook her head back in response.
The fifth plate is when it began. A hint of a titter escaped from Rei, not quite blocked by the hand covering the front of her mouth. From there, it spread to Sei and Eriko, who were much more overt in their snickering. Thereafter, it was only a matter of time until the whole table was laughing. Even Sachiko had to put her spoon down from where she had almost finished her second plate, lest her giggling cause her to spill anything.
Ranma didn't understand the joke, but she joined in with the laughter anyway. She was warm, she had a plate full of curry in front of her, and she was surrounded by a bunch of nice people. She definitely liked it here.
Several minutes later, Ranma finally leaned back with a sigh. The only bits of rice and curry which remained were the small trails left behind from where the paddle and ladles had scrapped along the bottom of the pots.
Eriko stood up and gave the official verdict. "Ranko-chan: 1 - Curry: 0."
"I guess that answers the question about leftovers," Youko said with a slow shake of her head. She then turned to Eriko. "Please do give our compliments to the Second-year Cherry Blossom Group. That was quite delicious."
"I'm sure they'll be happy to hear that," Eriko said. She nodded to Rei, who nodded back and wrote it down.
"Ranko-chan, Shimako, Yoshino-chan, can you three please clean up? Kashiwagi-san will be here soon, and we need to prepare for his arrival," Youko said.
The question immediately put Ranma on edge, souring her post-prandial complacency. Dish cleaning was an incredible risk. It was practically asking to be splashed with hot water, which was why she had been intentionally avoiding it throughout the past week.
Then again, Youko had asked all three of the first-year students to help. Maybe if Ranma was sneaky enough, she could somehow escape notice.
"I'm sure it will go fast. Ranko-chan has to know her way around the pots by now," Eriko said, which earned a bit of a laugh from around the room.
And that put an end to the idea of somehow sneaking away. Having been called out specifically, it would be impossible to avoid attention. Apparently Ranma's luck had just run out.
"Fine," Ranma said, resigned. She collected the plates, cups, and cutlery near her and put them into one of the pots. She moved much slower than typical, hoping that something would happen which would offer her a reprieve.
"Sachiko, can you please go and check if Kashiwagi-san has arrived at the front entrance?" Youko asked.
"Onee-sama," Sachiko said, her complaint clear in her exaggerated address, "Why do I have to go? Can't somebody else get him?"
"Kashiwagi-san called yesterday and said that he needed to talk to you specifically about something. It would be best to get that out of the way so we can focus on practice for the rest of the afternoon. Our time here is very short," Youko said.
"Fine. I'll go get him," Sachiko said, elongating her words.
"Sachiko," Youko said sharply, catching the attention everybody in the room. The sharpness of her voice softened, but it remained firm and emphatic. "Hanadera's and Lillian have been partners for decades, and that tradition will continue. You don't need to like Kashiwagi-san, but we will show him the honor befitting his position."
There was no doubt in Ranma's mind as to why Youko was the leader of the Yamayurikai, the grandmaster of the students who had won the school-wide social competition. Her voice carried a compelling confidence that Ranma had never heard from Genma throughout all of his years of shouting, whining, insulting, and cajoling.
"Of course. I will act as is expected of me," Sachiko said. It proved that she was quite an adept master in her own right. It was amazing how much spite could be fit into such a seemingly respectful phrase.
"I am sure you will," Youko said. Her voice returned to normal as she addressed the rest of the room. "In the meantime, we should go downstairs and prepare for Kashiwagi-san's arrival."
Ranma finished collecting the dishes near her and carried the pot out of the room. She followed behind the others to the purgatory that was the kitchen. As she walked, she frantically tried to think what she should do. Even a relatively benign task like drying the dishes would put her in contact with hot water, and that wasn't even considering the happenstance splashes that would surround the sink. It seemed like avoiding a disaster was an impossible challenge.
The epiphany came to her when she was half-way down the stairs. She knew exactly how she could get out of the situation. If she couldn't avoid the water, then the trick would be to make sure the water wasn't hot. If the only water being used was cold, then there'd be no problem.
At the bottom of the stairs, Ranma sped past a startled Yoshino and Shimako and pushed into the kitchen first. She charged straight ahead to claim the sink. There she faced her first dilemma: two handles stood by the faucet, both unmarked, almost daring her to choose incorrectly.
Ranma picked the one on the right, turned it on, and hoped she was correct.
The stream of water started flowing.
Cold.
Thankfully.
She kept her finger in the stream as it poured into the pot in front of her, poised to shut it off at the first hint of a temperature change.
"You aren't going to use an apron?" Yoshino asked. Both she and Shimako had put on an apron, and Yoshino held a third one in her hands.
"No. No. I'm fine," Ranma said. It would only take a few seconds to put an apron on, but a few seconds was all that was needed for water to turn from cold to tepid, and from tepid to hot. She couldn't take the risk, no matter how slight it might be.
"Okay," Yoshino said hesitantly. She put the apron back.
Ranma's pot filled up without incident, and Ranma shut the water off, grateful for the brief reprieve. She then rolled up her sleeves and plunged her hands into the pot. It wasn't the first time Ranma had cleaned up in cold water, and it was much better than trying to use a mountain stream to wash up, let alone trying to clean her full body in icy meltwater. She pulled out a plate and started scrubbing it clean.
Yoshino took a position next to Ranma at the sink, her sleeves also rolled up, and she reached into the pot.
Ranma prepared herself to answer the question of why the water was cold, her excuse being a mixture of being in a hurry and not wasting any water. The question never came, though. Yoshino slightly flinched when plunging her arm into the cold water, but she remained quiet. She simply pulled out a spoon and started scrubbing it.
It was odd, but Ranma had no problem with that. The fewer questions there were, the better.
After a few plates and spoons had been throughly scrubbed, Yoshino turned the faucet on again. Ranma noted with relief, and curiosity, that Yoshino had also twisted the right handle to turn on the water. It was weird that Yoshino was using cold water, but Ranma wasn't about to ask for details. Drawing attention to the water temperature couldn't be a good idea. Even so, the question did prickle at her.
Thereafter, a small assembly line quickly formed. Ranma would scrub the dishes, Yoshino would rinse the soap off of them, and Shimako would dry them and put them away.
As they worked, Shimako looked over at Ranma and Yoshino and asked, "Do you know anything about Kashiwagi-san?"
"You don't know him either?" Ranma asked. The way the others had casually spoken of Kashiwagi, she had assumed everybody else in the Yamayurikai already knew him.
"No. I just transfered into Lillian at the start of the year," Shimako said. "The only things I know about him is that he's the student council president of Hanadera's Academy for Boys and that The Three Roses went and helped him with their school festival about a month ago."
If Kashiwagi was the president of the Hanadera student council, then that meant he had to be an expert in something, and it was always good to know somebody's expertises. Ranma asked, "What's Hanadera known for?"
"Nothing too special, I think. They're dedicated to Buddha, but I don't think they take it as seriously as we do Maria-sama," Shimako said.
"I see," Ranma said. That didn't provide very much information on Kashiwagi, but at least it did confirm Ranma's suspicions of the link between Lillian and Mary. Apparently the school was dedicated to her. Who she was, Ranma still had no idea, but clearly she was as important as Ranma had suspected.
"Yoshino-san, do you know anything about him?" Shimako asked as she placed a spoon into an open drawer.
"I've never met him before, so I only know what everybody else around the school knows. Supposedly he's quite tall and handsome," Yoshino said. She handed a plate to Shimako to dry and put away.
"Do you know if he does any martial arts?" Ranma asked. She handed over the last plate in the first pot to Yoshino and then started scrubbing the pot itself.
"I doubt he does kendo, because I'm guessing at some point Onee-sama would have heard it if he did. Besides that, I have no idea. It wouldn't surprise me if he did, though. Apparently he's really smart and talented. I heard he got one of the early acceptances into Hanadera University," Yoshino said.
"That's not that impressive, is it?" Shimako asked.
"Apparently it is. Hanadera has fewer automatic admissions than Lillian does," Yoshino said.
"Strange," Shimako said. "I had always assumed the two schools were similar to each other. I wonder what else is different there."
Yoshino received the pot from Ranma and then started rinsing it clean. She slightly winced again when her hands fell under the cold stream of water. She said, "For one, I'll bet their student council has hot water."
Ranma almost dropped the spoon she was scrubbing. She asked, "Wait. We don't have hot water here?"
Yoshino directed a curious look at Ranma. She said, "No, we don't. There's no gas." She slightly lowered her voice, as if telling a secret. "Onee-sama says the pipes in here even freeze during winter."
All of Ranma's worries and plans over the past week and a half had been for nothing. She would have felt chagrin if she hadn't been busy feeling relieved instead. She relaxed a bit as she resumed her scrubbing. Apparently so long as she avoided the electric tea kettle, she would be safe within the Rose Mansion.
"They do? You must be joking," Shimako said. "Can you imagine what Minako-sama would print if she knew that?"
"I think she does know it. Didn't the Lillian Kawaraban already do an article on the Rose Mansion?" Yoshino asked.
"Did they?" Shimako asked. She dried out the first pot, but rather than putting it away, she left it on the counter near the door.
"I thought they did," Yoshino said. "Now that you mention it, though, I'm not sure."
The reminder of the newspaper reminded Ranma of all of the trials and tribulations she had undergone with Minako and Mami. She asked, "What is the newspaper club doing for the festival, anyway?"
"They're publishing a special edition of the Lillian Kawaraban with a guide for the entire event," Shimako said. "They're also running a stand where everybody can vote for things, such as who is the Mr. Lillian and who is the school idol."
"That's an easy one. Sachiko-sama is going to win the school idol vote for sure," Yoshino said.
"Really?" Ranma asked.
"Definitely," Shimako said. "Even the third-year students admire her."
"I see," Ranma said. She could understand it. She had only known Sachiko for a few days, but she had already grown to like her.
"Who do you think is going to win Mr. Lillian?" Shimako asked.
"That's harder. Maybe Hibiku-sama?" Yoshino asked.
"Maybe. What about Anaya-sama?" Shimako asked.
"Maybe," Yoshino said. She turned to Ranma. "Hibiku-sama is third-year student on the tennis team, and Anaya-sama is a second-year student on the karate team." She turned back to Shimako. "If Anaya-sama does win, who do you think will sulk more, the karate team or the judo team?"
"Hmm..." Shimako tilted her head in thought. She then nodded and decisively said, "Both." She and Yoshino shared a giggle in response.
There were a few seconds of silence as all three of them continued their respective jobs. Ranma had reached the bottom of the second pot when Yoshino asked, "What are you both interested in doing in the festival?"
"I'd like to attend the seminar the scripture reading club is putting on," Shimako said.
"I think I might visit the Second-year Cherry Blossom Group's restaurant," Ranma said. This statement earned a laugh from Yoshino and Shimako.
"How about you?" Ranma asked. She had completed emptying out the contents of the second pot and had started scrubbing the pot itself clean.
"Onee-sama and the kendo team are doing a demonstration. I'm going to go watch that," Yoshino said. "You should come too. It'll be fun."
"Where's that going to be?" Ranma asked. That also sounded potentially interesting to see.
In the distance, Ranma heard a faint scream. She flung the pot in her hands down into the sink and started running. Screams equaled trouble, and trouble equaled something she should be involved with.
"It's... What? Where are you going?" Yoshino called out after her.
"I heard a scream!" Ranma shouted behind her as she ran out of the kitchen, past the living room, and out the front door of the Rose Mansion. Her soapy hands dripped water on the ground as she went.
Once outside, Ranma was in a much better place to hear the second scream. It was nearby, to the right. Not knowing the exact location of the source, Ranma made the practical decision to go directly at the target. She leaped over a small hedge, straight in the direction from where she had heard the cry. She landed, ran for a bit, jumped over another hedge, and saw a boy she didn't recognize.
The boy stood about a head taller than Sachiko did, which put him at approximately half a meter taller than Ranma herself was. He had grabbed Sachiko's wrist with one hand, pulling her close despite her obvious struggles to escape. His other hand was raised high, ready to strike.
"I said, 'Let go of me!'" Sachiko shouted as she futilely tried to pull away from him.
That was all the prompting Ranma needed. There was no way she was going to let anybody hurt Sachiko.
Ranma's initial instinct was to leap at the boy in a flying kick, using momentum to compensate for his considerably larger size. However, Sachiko was in very close proximity to the boy, and with no walls or other objects nearby, she would have limited ability to redirect an aerial attack once she had committed to it. If something unexpected happened while Ranma was flying through the air, it was possible that she would not be able to compensate for it.
If she couldn't use the full weight of her body, she would need to use the element of surprise instead. She doubled her efforts, sprinting forward.
Once she thought the timing was right, she shouted, "Get away from Onee-sama!"
The boy turned towards her, which made his center of mass an easy target. Ranma's fist hit his solar plexus with a satisfying thump.
The boy flew backwards, landed on the ground, rolled twice, and ended up settling on his back two meters away.
"Are you okay?" Ranma asked. Despite addressing Sachiko, Ranma did not turn away from the boy. Too many years of fighting against too many powerful opponents had drilled that mistake into her mind. She took a ready stance between the boy and Sachiko, using her left hand as if it were a fence to hold Sachiko back and shield her.
"Y.. yes..." Sachiko stammered.
The boy pushed himself over and up to his hands and knees. He gasped, coughed, gasped again, and then shakily climbed to his feet.
"You stay away from Onee-sama!" Ranma shouted. She kept a close watch of the boy's every move, ready to counter anything he might try to do.
"You..." he said. He then coughed again. In between his gasps, he said, "You... Is this what they're... teaching you girls here? I'm going to... have you expelled. No... I'm going to have you arrested!"
"Are you so sure?" Youko asked.
Ranma chanced a quick look behind her, just the briefest of glances, before she snapped her eyes forward to watch the boy again. Behind her, Youko and Rei had arrived. Shimako, Eriko, and Sei were just behind them and were running to catch up. Further behind was Yoshino, who, like Shimako, was still wearing an apron as she quickly jogged forward. All of the approaching girls had scowls on their faces.
Youko continued, her words firm despite her shortness of breath, "From what I saw, it looked like you were attacking Sachiko. So please, by all means, call security. The police, too. I'm sure it would be most helpful to get them involved."
The boy looked at Youko, Sachiko, and then back at Ranma. He asked, "That's how it is, is it?" He coughed again, and then spat on the ground in front of him. "Fine then. You win for now, Sa-chan."
He gave one last glare at Ranma and Youko. He then turned and walked away towards the front entrance of Lillian with the speed of somebody hurrying while trying to appear as if he were not in a hurry.
It was only when he had disappeared from view that the palpable tension in the air started to release. The tunnel vision around Ranma faded, and she was able to better take stock of the situation. Most of the Yamayurikai had formed in a loose, semi-circular line nearby. The exceptions were Sachiko, Youko, and Ranma herself. Sachiko hadn't moved from where Ranma had saved her earlier, and Youko had taken Sachiko into her arms in a light hug.
"Are you okay?" Youko asked. She was slowly stroking the top of Sachiko's head.
"I'm fine," Sachiko said. Despite the strength of her voice, she was slightly shaking.
"What happened?" Eriko asked.
"Who was that guy, anyway?" Ranma asked.
"That was Suguru Kashiwagi-san," Sachiko said. She sighed. "My cousin."
Eriko startled at that statement. She asked, "Kashiwagi-san's your cousin? Really?"
"Yes, but that's not all," Sachiko said. She sighed again, and stared downward in silence for a second. She continued, "He's also my fiance."
The girls around the area were all stunned at the announcement. Jaws openly gaped as they stared at Sachiko.
"Your fiance? You're engaged?" Ranma exclaimed, breaking the silence. She was shocked. She couldn't imagine how anybody in high school could be betrothed. She intellectually knew about marriage, but it had always been an abstract concept related to adults. Not only had she not really thought about it, she hadn't expected to think about it for years to come. To be suddenly confronted with the idea that somebody only a year older than her was already engaged left her bewildered. Over her lifetime, Ranma had barely even known any girls, let alone had a girlfriend. She had no idea how to process it.
"It's not like that. It's an arranged marriage. My grandfather and my parents are the ones who arranged it," Sachiko said quietly. She was no longer shaking, although Youko kept holding her.
Ranma felt bad for Sachiko. No matter how contrived Genma's plots were, no matter how self-centered he was, no matter how controlling he was, he would never do something that drastic. No, maybe he would. Thankfully, he hadn't, though. Ranma didn't know how she would act if she had been placed in Sachiko's position; it would probably be in a way far more drastic than Sachiko was.
"An arranged marriage? I didn't think anybody did those anymore," Sei said.
Youko visibly clutched Sachiko tighter for a moment. Shock fought with sympathy in her voice as she asked, "Why didn't you ever tell me you were engaged to Kashiwagi-san?"
"It's a personal thing. You know how I'm the only child of the Ogasawara group, and a daughter at that?" Sachiko asked. Several girls nodded. "My grandfather still wants me inherit the company, though, so my parents arranged for me to marry him. He would take on the Ogasawara family name and carry on the line as an 'adopted son.' That way I could still inherit the company."
"But I thought he was..." Rei said, hesitating, " ... you know... into boys."
"He is," Sachiko said. She had recovered enough to look everybody else in the face and speak normally once again, and Youko let her go and stepped back. "I used to have a crush on him. I only found out the truth during my high school entrance celebration. He pulled me aside and told me that he was only interested in men. He said I should take a lover outside of the marriage and have his child, and that because he would still be related by blood, he would be able to care for that child as if it were his own. It would all be very convenient."
Everybody gasped at that statement.
"What a cad!" Yoshino shook her fist as she spoke.
"He's nothing like his reputation," Eriko said, shaking her head.
"But why did he attack you?" Rei asked.
"He found out about the casting change of Cinderella and asked me about it. I brought up wanting to cancel the engagement, and things went poorly," Sachiko said.
Rei combed her hand through her hair as she shook her head. She quietly said, "What a disaster." Beside her, Eriko and Sei nodded in agreement.
Youko shook her head and sighed. She took another step backwards, so she could better address the entire group, and said, "We were supposed to practice this afternoon, but after this, I can't see any good coming from it. I think we can all use the break to calm our nerves. Rei-chan, Shimako, Yoshino-chan, can you three clean up the Rose Mansion? Feel free to head home after that. The rest of us had best go report this to the headmistress."
"Report? Report what?" Ranma asked. It seemed very odd to her that the headmistress would have any opinion on Sachiko's engagement.
Everybody stared at Ranma in bafflement. Youko was the one to speak, though. She said, "The fight, of course."
That confused Ranma even more. She couldn't imagine why the headmistress would care about the fight at all. There had been nothing special about it, except possibly how short it had been. It barely even counted as a fight, in her opinion. And even if it had been a tremendous epic struggle, she saw no reason why the school administration would care about it. It had nothing to do with social or verbal skills; it would be like telling a gambling school that she had won a match of Martial Arts Crochet.
Before Ranma could ask for further clarification, though, Sachiko asked, "Is that really necessary?"
"Of course it is. He attacked you," Youko said. "We can't let him back into Lillian."
Ranma commenting on "not really an attack?" Or it was?
Sachiko visibly stiffened. She took a deep breath and then firmly said, "No, he didn't. Not really."
Youko turned to Rei and Ranma in askance, and Ranma passed back a confused shrug. She had no idea what Sachiko was talking about, either. It had very clearly appeared to be an attack to her, too.
"What? What do you mean?" Youko asked. "I saw it for myself."
"He only grabbed me," Sachiko said. "It's not like I was really hurt, and I don't want to cause any trouble."
Youko shook her head. She said, "I'm afraid we can't do that. Even if you don't want to make an issue of this, Kashiwagi-san still could. We need to get the headmistress involved, if only for Ranko-chan's sake."
It was yet another thing Ranma didn't understand in the conversation. The only trouble Kashiwagi could cause would be to challenge her to a duel, or maybe to ambush her. Either way, she would just take care of it. It still didn't seem like something the headmistress would care about.
Regardless, though, she followed behind Youko and the others as they made their way to the main office.
Despite the fact that classes had ended about an hour ago, the main school building was still a hive of activity. Most of the commotion could be heard coming from the classrooms, often through closed doors but sometimes through open ones. There were a couple of girls in the hallways measuring things or taking advantage of the floor space to work on some particularly large projects. Invariably those girls would see The Three Roses and react to the traveling group, although unlike with Ranma walking by herself, more often than not the spectators would freeze in response to the assembly. A couple of girls extended a hesitant "Gokigenyou" to them, which were met by a return greeting from Youko as she resolutely led the group to the main office.
The receptionist was not actually in the main office when they walked in to it. Nevertheless, Youko announced their entry, and the headmistress's head could be seen peeking out from the door to her room. The headmistress then emerged more fully into the central room to address Youko and the others.
"Gokigenyou."
"Gokigenyou."
"This is a late visit. To what do I owe the pleasure?" the headmistress asked.
"I'm afraid I must report that there's been an incident," Youko said, using a more formal and respectful vernacular than usual. She proceeded to provide a succinct summary of what had happened with Kashiwagi earlier, as seen from her perspective. She began by explaining how she had followed Ranma out of the Rose Mansion. She continued by describing Kashiwagi's attack of Sachiko, and Ranma's subsequent rescue of her. She then clarified the true nature of the assault, as Sachiko had later explained it. Finally, she concluded by providing an account of Kashiwagi's departure.
"I see. This is most disturbing," the headmistress said once Youko had finished her explanation. "Ogasawara-san, are you sure you don't want to involve the police?"
Sachiko visibly stiffened at being addressed. She took a breath and said, "Yes. As Onee-sama has explained, this was all a misunderstanding. I'm sorry for the trouble."
The headmistress nodded. She then looked down at Ranma. "As for you, Sugita-san, what should I do with you? You put me in a very awkward position. I can't condone your actions, but I can't exactly criticize them, either.
"It is correct and laudable to help those in need. Too often people ignore the plight of others, and it is commendable that you did not do so. 'Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.' It was a very brave and virtuous thing you have done, and I'm sure Maria-sama approves where your heart is.
"At the same time, I would request that you refrain from behaving so rashly in the future. Violence should be used as a last resort only. Next time, please take a moment to review the situation before you intervene in such a... drastic way."
"Okay," Ranma said. She wasn't sure what to make of that advice, though. Anything Goes Martial Arts was all about instant and decisive decision making in an ever-evolving situation. A moment was the difference between a fist to the face and a successful riposte, and the difference between a foiled venture and a successful ambush.
Clearly the headmistress's instructions didn't fit. That didn't make them wrong, though. It was equally nonsensical to use a naginata to shoot somebody, or to use a horse to perform a reverse diagonal cut. All it meant was that there was a different paradigm in play here that Ranma would need to learn. Once she understood it, she could then figure out how to connect it with the larger scheme as another set of techniques in her repertoire.
"Well, so long as Kashiwagi-san does not choose to make this an issue, I believe we can leave it at that," the headmistress said. "Is there anything else we should be discussing?"
"No," Youko said. "Gokigenyou."
"Gokigenyou."
The group left the office and then returned back to the Rose Mansion. Once there, they parted company, with goodbyes being exchanged between them. Ranma and Sachiko headed up to the conference room for some late training while the Three Roses went into the side room near the entrance.
Rather than beginning the practice session directly, though, Sachiko looked at Ranma with a somber expression. She asked, "A few days ago, you had asked me why I hadn't wanted the role of Cinderella, right?"
In the distance, the front door could be heard opening and closing.
"Yeah." It was a question which had on and off raised itself to Ranma's attention. Sachiko clearly had the capabilities as well as the interest in the play, so why she been so desperate to not be Cinderella?
Sachiko averted her gaze, looking slightly down and to the side. She said, "To tell you the truth, you now know the reason why. You met him, earlier today. It's actually Suguru-san. If I were Cinderella, I would need to act with him."
In hindsight, it was so obvious. Ranma had known Kashiwagi was playing the role of the prince, and now that she had met the boy, she could understand why Sachiko would try to avoid dealing with him.
"I see what you mean. He does seem like cad," Ranma said, using the description Yoshino had used earlier. She didn't have a problem with him, though. In the worst case, she could just give him a bloody nose. No, she could just wait to confirm that he was causing trouble, and then give him a bloody nose. That still sounded a bit weird to her, but she could try it out. It wasn't like Kashiwagi really posed any threat to her.
"Yes. I mean, no. It's not just him," Sachiko said. She then grew even more visibly nervous. She shakily said, "It's... there's... the truth is... it's a bit of an open secret, but my father has a mistress. My grandfather has one as well. If anything, Suguru-san will be a perfect fit for the Ogasawara group. My issue isn't really with him as such." Sachiko's gaze was wandering around the room as she spoke. "The truth is that I'm scared of boys. There haven't been that many of them in my life, and I don't know how to handle them."
That did sound like a problem.
But Ranma had two default solutions for problems: fighting and training. A duel with Sachiko didn't really seem to make sense here, but some special training sounded like it could work. It was just like her own efforts of trying to memorize Cinderella's lines. If Sachiko's help had worked for her, she saw no reason why her own help couldn't work for Sachiko.
Ranma said, "I see. Maybe you just need some practice."
"Practice?" Sachiko asked abruptly, directing her gaze to look Ranma in the eye. "What do you mean?"
"Like what we're doing for the play. I can help," Ranma said, straightening up a bit as she spoke. It would be perfect. She had been a boy for almost her entire life, after all.
"You can?" Sachiko asked. She sounded puzzled but hopeful. "I guess we can try."
Ranma immediately felt self-conscious. Despite that lifetime of experience, she was still flummoxed. Outside the realm of martial arts, she had never paid too much attention to how she acted. That applied to both her male and her female forms. She had never really thought about any of the differences between them. How should she stand? How should she walk? How should she talk? Now that she was trying to intentionally act like a boy specifically, it felt weird.
She sauntered closer to Sachiko, doing her best to emulate how she moved as a boy, and she stopped in front of her.
Ranma tried to stand how she normally stood as a boy, but that proved to be impossible due to the different distribution of mass and the curves on her body.
Nevertheless, she didn't let that bother her as she tried to think of what she should say. What did she and Genma always talk about while they were on the road?
"Hey, Onee-sama," Ranma said. "When are we going to stop for food?"
Sachiko stared at Ranma in bafflement.
When Sachiko didn't say anything in return, Ranma tried prompting her again. She asked, "You think the next village will have anything to eat? I'm getting tired of eating squirrel all the time."
Sachiko then started to snicker. She quickly covered her mouth. Once safely behind the shelter of her hand, her giggles turned into outright laughter. The crystal-like sound rang all the louder in the quiet building.
Ranma scratched her head in confusion. She wasn't sure what had caused Sachiko to react the way she had. Still, Sachiko definitely seemed to be in a better mood, and that brought a smile to her face.
Sachiko gathered herself and, shaking her head, said, "Oh, Ranko. I can't believe it. I think you might be even worse than I am." She then giggled a bit more.
"Huh?" Ranma asked. Talking about food was one of the major things she had Genma had discussed while on the road, and she was fairly sure that she had done it right. She wonder if she should have brought up some martial arts technique instead.
The creaking of the stairs drifted into the room and caused both Ranma and Sachiko to turn to the doorway in confused anticipation. A few seconds later, Youko appeared in it.
"Onee-sama?" Sachiko asked as Youko walked in.
"It sounds like you two are having fun," Youko said. She had the smile of contagious amusement on her face. "What are you doing?"
"Just some practice," Sachiko said. She sent a sidelong glance at Ranma and then returned to addressing Youko. "What are you doing here? Can I help you with something?"
"It's nothing too special. I just have some paperwork to catch up on. Don't mind me. Please, carry on. I'll just be over here," Youko said. She took a seat at the other end of the large conference table and pulled out a small stack of paper from her book bag. The top page had a large grid printed on it, and numerous classes and club names were written along its side. Beside each name were several large numbers.
Ranma and Sachiko then began their more typical practice for the play. Despite the additional presence of Youko and the excitement in the afternoon with Kashiwagi, the training itself was fairly routinely. Unlike the night before, they went through the entire script this time, and by any measure, it was a success. The words came fluidly and easily to Ranma's tongue, and from start to finish the entire play took about 45 minutes to complete.
They had only just finished when there was a loud knock at the front door to the Rose Mansion. It took everybody by surprise.
"Oh no," Sachiko said. Her head sank to the side with a sigh. "I forgot about dinner."
For once, the prospect of dinner didn't send Ranma's stomach into an uproar. It was a very unusual experience. She felt complacent, of all things.
Youko looked up at Sachiko and asked, "Dinner? After all that curry?"
"Yes. I should have called and canceled it," Sachiko said. She shook her head. "Can you help?"
Trepidation was clear on Youko's face as she hesitantly said, "I guess so."
"I suppose there's nothing to be done for it," Sachiko said. She then walked out the door. One minute and two sets of stair creaks later, she returned. Her chauffeur and Yamamura were right behind her.
"Oh. We have dinner for three today?" Yamamura asked. As was usual, she had a large bag with her, and the chauffeur carried two trays in her hands.
"Yes. It's fine. Just give Onee-sama mine, and Ranko and I shall share hers," Sachiko said.
"Very good," Yamamura said. She spread a tablecloth on the side of the table, avoiding Youko's spread out paperwork on the other side, and pulled out three place settings from her large bag.
Ranma, Sachiko, and Youko all took a seat, and Yamamura served them. She placed one tray in front of Youko, and the other in between Ranma and Sachiko. When she pulled off the covers, though, a heavy sigh crossed the room. First from Youko, and then from Ranma and Sachiko in tandem. Ranma knew better than to pass up an opportunity to eat, especially the delicious dishes that she had come to expect, but this time she was sorely tempted to.
The plates of savory meats and flaky fishes were undoubtedly as sumptuous as the past dinners had been. Nevertheless, Ranma found herself picking at them just as tepidly as Sachiko and Youko were. By the end of the meal, Youko had eaten about two thirds of the contents of her tray, while a strong showing from Ranma allowed her and Sachiko to barely finish their shared plates.
After dinner had concluded, Ranma and Sachiko resumed their practice. This time they focused on the physical aspects of the performance, moving about the room and interacting with the various props of the play. Youko got involved as well, leaving behind her paperwork to join in helping with some stage motions and feedback. Near the end, Sachiko spent some time teaching Ranma how to do up her hair, and Ranma couldn't help but notice how soft her hands felt as she moved Ranma's hands in the spiral behind her head.
Eventually, Sachiko said, "It's getting late. We should probably be going soon."
"You are right. It is getting late," Youko said.
"Yeah," Ranma said, although when she thought about it, she found that she was not that eager to go back to camp. However, she did need to get back eventually, and the clock showed that Sachiko's and Youko's declarations were in fact correct.
Ranma and Sachiko did some light cleaning up around the room while Youko packed up the various sheets that had been spread out on the table in front of her. They then made their way out of the Rose Mansion, through the dark campus lit by lamps, and to the tall gate at the front entrance of Lillian. Sachiko's chauffeur was waiting there, as she always was.
"Would you like me to give you a ride home?" Sachiko asked Youko.
"That would be most helpful. Thank you," Youko said.
"How about you, Ranko?" Sachiko asked. "The offer is still open if you would like."
"No, no, I'm fine. Thanks," Ranma said. The situation has not fundamentally changed since the previous week, when Sachiko had first offered.
Youko looked over at Ranma with a bit of surprise. She asked, "You're not coming? Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. it's fine," Ranma said.
Youko sent a questioning look at Sachiko, responded with an equally questioning look in return. Youko then said, "I suppose you have proven that you can take care of yourself today, haven't you. Gokigenyou."
"Gokigenyou," Sachiko said as well.
"Gokigenyou," Ranma said.
On the way back to the small Buddhist temple, Ranma's thoughts return to Sachiko's problem and how she could help her.
Kashiwagi himself was the easy part. If he caused any trouble, Ranma could simply beat him up. After confirming the trouble he was causing, she mentally added.
The bigger question was Sachiko's fear of boys in general. Her first attempts at practice hadn't quite had the effect she had expected, but maybe if she was in her male form, it would work better. The question was how to actually do it. Sachiko had no idea about her male form, and Ranma couldn't think of any way to approach her without scaring her away. At best, it would be tricky to pull off. Plus there was the risk of exposing her curse to Sachiko, too. Hot water was a constant threat, but it was nowhere near as prevalent as cold water was.
Ranma put that thought aside once she arrived at the temple. She performed her typical cursory check for any nearby observers and then sneaked into the camp as normal. She didn't even bother asking Genma about dinner. She had given up on getting anything to eat from him whenever she returned late, and even if he had had something, she wasn't convinced she would be able to actually eat it. She instead just quietly went into the tent, doffed her school uniform, and donned her keikogi.
She walked back out of the tent and caught the bottle of warm water that Genma threw at her. One quick change later, Ranma sneaked out of the camp with Genma. It was time for another night of martial arts training.
Genma surprised Ranma, though, in that he didn't initiate hostilities the moment they had entered the street. That unusual and confusing armistice continued through the run along the street and through the park at the end of it. It was enough for Ranma to start getting twitchy, waiting for the inevitable not-so-surprise attack to occur.
Even when they reached the riverside, Genma didn't initiate hostilities with a supposedly-surprise attack. He instead said, "It's been a while, boy. How close are you to getting into the Ogasawara mansion?"
Ranma almost stumbled at the question, but he managed to maintain his balance and speed.
In truth, Ranma hadn't even thought about the Ogasawara mansion for the past several days. It had somehow just faded into the background, lost amidst the swirl of daily activities associated with Sachiko, Yoshino, Shimako, the Yamayurikai, the play, and school in general. There was no way he was going to admit that oversight to Genma, though. He said, "It's going. Don't rush me."
"Are you even trying? I've left you alone because of that medal, but time's running out, and you should have gotten there days ago," Genma said. "Come up with something. Improvise. I've wasted a lot of time and effort here, and you've got less than a week left. Don't make me regret it."
"Okay, okay," Ranma said.
Genma took advantage of Ranma's possible distraction to launch his not-that-much-of-a-surprise attack. It could have worked, too, if Genma hadn't used the exact same tactic since before Ranma could remember. If anything, the initiation of hostilities relaxed Ranma, as he could stop wondering when it was going to come and instead focus on the task at hand. All other thoughts, plans, and worries vanished into the heat of the immediate fight. He easily dodged out of the way and counterattacked with a high kick.
Later in the night, after their hours of training had concluded, an exhausted Ranma collapsed onto his cold bedroll. There, much like the nameless thickness still in his chest, Genma's task quietly came back to haunt him.
Ranma had forgotten about the goal of getting into the Ogasawara mansion. It had come to feel like his time in Lillian with everybody was just something he was doing for its own sake. With Genma's reminder, though, the looming deadline was now stood prominently in his consciousness. The problem was he had no idea how to proceed.
Questions of how to get into the Ogasawara mansion continued to trouble him as he fell asleep.
Last Updated: May 24, 2021