Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma or any thing related to it.
Chapter 9
By the time everyone was seated for breakfast Tuesday morning, everyone was pretty sure the whole neighborhood knew Ranma was once again able to be in his male body as he came in from what was possibly his third of fourth lap of laughing maniacally to himself while hopping across roofs in excitement. His smile was infectious though as others couldn't help but feel good for the boy after his last week. Mirei was the only one somewhat upset but was quickly won over when she was able to get on his shoulders and once again be taller than everyone else.
Arriving to the classroom as a boy, he was greeted by his friends who quickly made a note to never offer a high five to the martial artist as they tried to hide the pain from the rest of the class. Ranma seemed to light the whole classroom up with energy as the teachers noticed everyone seemed to be more attentive and energetic for some reason, even Mrs. Fujiyama noticed students actively raising their hands to answer questions, sometimes even to ask them.
Lunchtime talk was devoted entirely to what movie the boys would bring to the movie night that Saturday at the dojo, and for two of them, what sleepwear they hoped some of the girls would be in. Like wise, the girls were also discussing the movie options in a large group, though it would be days before they would settle on their own pick.
"Are you sure about this?" Ranma asked Sachiko standing outside a door in a community center Wednesday evening.
"Yes." She responds, exasperation in her voice.
"Maybe I'm not ready for this…"
"Ranma, hurry up and get in." She says pulling on his arm as she opens the door herself to enter. Inside the room was mostly open besides a ring of chairs and a single folding table with some cups and water pitchers, and a plate of cookies that looked homemade. There were already some other people standing or sitting around the room in small groups, most only giving them a short glance at their arrival before returning to their chats, though a small group of three girls waved to Sachiko to which she headed over too, still holding onto Ranma and thus bringing him along.
"Hey Sachiko, who's your plus one?" A girl with shoulder length black hair and wearing a white sweater and light green skirt asks with a grin as they approach.
"This is Ranma, Suzu, he's finally returned from his training journey and learned about Mirei and so is going to be joining our group." Sachiko says, before realizing she was still holding him and quickly letting go a bit embarrassed she'd dragged him over.
The three girls seem to just stare at Ranma making him start playing with his ponytail nervously as he greets the group. "Uhm...hi." He says nervously.
The girls seem to quickly grab Sachiko and drag her off to a corner of the room, leaving Ranma standing there by his lonesome. With nothing better to do, he heads over to the table to get some cookies, and try to stay as far away from the water as he can.
"You know, I had some doubts about your whole "he's gone on a training trip" story about your babies daddy was real...but daaaaamn…" Suzu says while giving an appreciative look at Ranma's backside.
"Seriously, did he look even half as good as that when you met him?" the girl with her long brown hair in pony tail asked Sachiko before yawning.
Giving the girl a smirk. "Remember, I told you that him and Ryoga had their own fan groups in my school Arisu."
"And this Ryoga...he's like his friend...and single?" Suzu asks, still not having taken her eyes off Ranma as he seems to nervously reach out for the platter of cookies.
Sachiko's mood seems to drop at the question. "I...haven't seen Ryoga in years. Not since he helped me get to Nerima and meet up with mother."
The third girl steps up and gives Sachiko a hug with out saying anything.
"Thanks Yuko, are you doing okay?" Sachiko says, returning the hug to the tall girl with reddish brown hair she had cut in a pixie style.
"I'm okay. Surprised. Is he...nice?" Yuko responds, giving only slight glances over to Ranma before returning to watching Sachiko after they end their embrace.
"He's nice Yuko, far more afraid of you than you could imagine." Sachiko replies with a smile.
"Hello everyone, sorry for being late, how about we all get seated." A boisterous voice says as a woman enters the room. Wearing a dark green sweater over an ankle length red dress, she seems to be in a bit of a hurry as she makes her way towards the circle of chairs. The rest of the room seems to fall into order and the various groups begin taking their seats, Sachiko motioning to Ranma to sit with her and her group.
"Welcome to all the new comers here at the Young Parents support group, my name is Mrs. Mana Shinsato." She says once everyone is seated. "In this group we share our experiences, troubles, successes, and its perfectly fine if you don't want to share anything, or just have questions."
The rest of the meeting seemed to fly by to Ranma as all these other teenagers seemed to talk about their kids with others asking for help or giving advice. It seemed almost surreal to him that so many others were feeling troubled like him, and that so many of the solutions came from someone else his near his own age. While he declined to share when it came around to him, he did at least introduce himself as Mirei's father and that he'd just returned from his trip to find out about her.
It was while listening to another boy talking about the trouble he'd been having getting his two year old to sleep that he didn't pay attention to the snack table. This in turn seemed to make it all too easy for a girl returning from refilling her cup of water to trip on seemingly nothing and splash him with the majority of the water. The room was silent as the girl stood back up embarrassed and seemed to be staring at her, it was only when she looked down to apologize to Ranma that she noticed the red headed female suddenly in his place.
'Dang it, I even picked the seat furthest from the damn water.' Ranma thought bitterly as he wiped the water out of his face, already feeling the stares directed at him.
"Look, short version is I fell in a cursed spring in China, cold water changes my body to a girl, hot water changes me back. I'm gonna go find the restroom and change back now." He said quickly, while heading for the door without giving anyone a chance to respond.
'And now everyone is looking at me…' Sachiko thinks as the entire room seems to refocus on her after Ranma exits. No one seems to know what to say next, even Mrs. Shinsato is bug eyed at the revelation that there is magic, and it's changing a person's gender based on the temperature of water.
"Uhm...please don't make this a big deal, he's been dealing with a lot of stuff since he got back from China, finding out he had a three year old is just one of the things he's having to adjust too." Sachiko says to the group, though looking at Mrs. Shinsato while saying it.
"Right...right...everyone, lets get back on our topic. Shinji, I believe you were sharing about your boy's trouble staying in his own bed at night?" Mrs. Shinsato says, doing her best to get the groups attention.
Hearing the discussion seemingly going back to normal, Ranma walked away from the slightly ajar door to finally go find somewhere with hot water so he could change back.
"Thank you for coming Ranma, I hope it was helpful for you and that you join us again." Mrs. Shinsato says as she walks up to him outside the conference room after the session finished.
"Yea, it was...good. I never knew there were this many people like me and Sachiko…" Ranma says while watching the other members leaving.
"There are many more than you see here, so don't ever feel like you're going at it alone. I'd like to talk more, but I'm running late for my next group and really need to hurry. See you next time?" She asks with a smile.
"Yea..uh..Yes. See you next time." Ranma says awkwardly, Mrs. Shinsato didn't seem like a teacher or other adults in his life, was he supposed to be formal he wondered.
"Hey Ranma, my friends here wanted me to introduce you to them, now that the sessions over." Sachiko says coming up to him with the three girls in tow shortly after Mrs. Shinsato left.
"This is Suzu, she's nineteen and going to a community college now, and has a cute little two year old boy. Arisu is sixteen, and she's one of the newest members as her daughter is only just nine months old now. Yuko is seventeen like us, and also has a little girl almost Mirei's age, hopefully we'll get to do a play date sometime with them." Sachiko says pointing to each girl in turn.
"Uhm...Hi, again." Ranma says looking over the three girls that were giving him the usual looks of wonderment and unease that the curse usually got him.
The group started to walk down the hallway towards the buildings exit, with the girls asking him the same questions he's been asked before, maybe he should take up Nabiki's offer to get some pamphlets printed up to save time he thought. They reached the outside and continued to talk for a while, about school and their kids mostly, until Sachiko looked at her watch and got a panicked look on her face.
"Shoot. Ranma we gotta hurry, the train's going to leave in a few minutes and if we miss it, it's an hour wait for the next one." She says turning to him.
"Okay I can get us there fast...if you're okay with it…" Ranma replies.
Giving Suzu a glare "Don't say a word…" Sachiko says, already dreading what she was going to say the next time they called each other. Then turning back to Ranma and nodding.
Ranma scooped Sachiko up into his arms like she weighed nothing, and awkwardly said bye as she put her arms around his neck to secure herself before he began leaping up onto the roof of the building and heading towards the train station at his usual roof hopping pace. Leaving the girls below in another state of shock for the day.
"Soooo...he's interesting…" Suzu says to the other two.
"How...how did he just leap onto the roof?" Arisu asks while looking at the spot they had just been and then back up to the horizon where the two were already disappearing.
Yuko let go of Arisu's arm, having grabbed it reflexively when Ranma had leaped so high. "Do you think she'll be alright?"
"Dunno...going to have to ask for a ride ourselves next time to find out…" Suzu says with a smirk.
"Some girls have all the luck…" Arisu states.
"Excuse me...would you happen to know which way is Nerima ward?" A confused looking boy about their ages wearing a yellow bandanna and large backpack asked them.
"Hey guys, uh, welcome to the Tendo Dojo, glad you could make it for this movie thing." Ranma says to his three friends with a smile. They were holding sleeping bags and wearing backpacks and returned the greeting as they headed through the house to the Dojo in the back. The sun was starting to set as they entered in and saw the larger group getting things setup. Nabiki was working on the tech stuff, kasumi and akane were arranging snacks at a table, while Sachiko and her friends were getting their own sleeping bags arranged on the floor.
Ranma brought them over to the section for his group, his bedroll already being laid out, while a futon was between them and what looked like Sachiko's group. After getting their stuff laid down the group heads into the house to change into their pajama's.
"Ranma, you are the greatest friend in the history of friendship." Daisuki gushes as they all change in Ranma's room. "A movie night sleep over, and were outnumbered three to one by babes!"
"Truely this is the greatest timeline, we must have been heroes in our past life Dai to be so lucky." Hiroshi agrees.
"You two realize none of those girls would give you two the time of day normally, right?" Yotaro asks the two boy ecstatic boys with a sigh.
"You realize you're about to be in a room full of girls in their nightware, and I bet the amazon's are aiming to impress Ranma with their...unique attributes." Daisuki replies, causing Yotaro and Ranma to blush at the thoughts of the three girls.
"Yea well, my mom's going to be there the whole time, so don't do anything stupid or we'll all be in trouble." Ranma warns them.
The group hears the ringing of the bell at the gate. "That's probably them now, let's go." Ranma says to the group, ushering them out towards the gate only to see his mother had gotten there first.
"Oh good, Ranma, can you and your friends show them to the Dojo, I'm still busy in the kitchen preparing a few things." Nodoka says as she gives him a smile and heads back into the house.
"Sure, follow me." He says to the three girls, who quickly seem to end up next to him as they walk towards the Dojo, leaving the other three boys to follow along behind them, not that it raises any complaints from the boys.
"You can sit behind us during the movies, but you'll have to move things over later, mom wants all the girls on that side of the room when we go to bed." Ranma explains pointing around the room as the three girls get settled and drop their bags.
The girls thanked him as they got their things organized and Ranma returned with the guys to their area to talk. It wasn't long until Nodoka came to ask for Ranma's help to bring the food out, and letting the girls know they should go ahead and get changed as they'll be starting the first movie soon.
Shampoo sighed as she put on the pajama's she had brought, which were decidedly too frumpy for her taste. She'd seen a cute little teddy with matching panties, but her great grandmother had shot her down quickly, reminding her that Ranma's mother had asked their outfits be appropriate around Mirei who would be joining them for the first movie. She finished slipping on the lavender pair of pajama shorts, and the matching long sleeve button up top, wondering just how many buttons she could get away with undoing once the little girl was in bed, as the loose material itself wasn't doing her assets any justice.
Looking over at the other girls, she saw their outfits were also similar, with Lufa having a deep red top and bottoms, though the shorts seemed to work better on her longer legs, while Lotion's was a cuter light pink with little black pigs and full pajama pants. Heading back out into the hallway they found the other groups of girls all heading back too. Though the amazon's were jealous of Nabiki wearing a spaghetti strap style top that just barely covered her naval, it was Kasumi's black nightgown that left the least to the imagination, only the fact that it was longer and not as see through as the teddy Shampoo wanted was what probably allowed it.
The boy's conversation died the moment the door to the dojo opened and the girls started to filter in. The first group was Sachiko with Achika and Mako, who where were arguing about something from the looks of it as they completely ignored the boys who were doing their best to not look like they were looking. The Tendo sisters along with Sayuri and Yuka were next and while Akane gave them a glare the rest didn't really pay them much attention besides Nabiki just giving them a look that said she knew she looked fine.
The amazon's entered and while Shampoo and Lufa headed over to Ranma to show off their outfits, Lotion instead headed over to chat with Akane and her group, giving Ranma a glance as she did but he was currently looking away as Shampoo seemed to be slowly bending over to adjust her bedroll causing two of the other boys to fall backwards and the other one with glasses to look away also. Lotion smirked as Shampoo's tactics once again failed to get the attention she wanted.
"Alright everyone, welcome to movie night at the Tendo Dojo." Nodoka says loudly over all the chatting as she makes her way into the building, Mirei following behind her in her panda pajamas, though the little girl runs off to her mom once she spots her.
"Our first movie of the night will be Totoro for Mirei, why don't you all help yourself to some snacks while we get it started." Nodoka finishes, waving her hand towards the table covered in mounds of food.
While the groups got up to get in line, Yotaro reached out and grabbed Ranma's shoulder as he saw him about to jump towards the table. "Ladies first is what a gentleman would do." He tells Ranma who was giving him an annoyed look, but seeing that both of the other boys were also waiting for the rest of the girls to get in line realized he was right.
"Uhh right, ladies first." Ranma repeated, looking at the table though was causing him to drool a bit. Nodoka for her part couldn't hear what they were saying, but smiled when she saw Ranma stand and wait for all the girls to get in line.
Once everyone was seated again and the lights went off, Nabiki started the movie to everyone's cheers. While the movie was exceptionally cute and Kasumi teasing her sisters about how they were just as silly as the younger sister, the first scare of the night happened during the little girls adventure into the thicket and found the large sleeping Totoro who's large snore sent Mirei running into Ranma's lap with a little shriek. Thankfully Mirei seemed to get over it quickly and soon returned to Sachiko's side when she realized Ranma had run out of snacks.
The second scare of the evening surprised many though as it was Ranma that was the one crying out and soon attached to the ceiling and making his way out one of the windows when the cat bus arrived. While Nodoka went outside to check on him the rest of the teenagers looked at each other to see the amazon's not that surprised and continuing to watch the movie. Soon enough though Ranma returned looking a little jittery but took his place once again. It was fortunate though that the second appearance of the cat bus happened when he was grabbing some snacks, so at least he had something to eat while he waited for the movie to end while sitting back in the main house.
"Lufa, why was Ranma freaking out over the cat bus?" Sachiko called out to the girl as Nabiki started to rewind the tape.
"He has not told you neko-ken?" She replied a little surprised.
"Neko-what? Let me guess, another martial arts thing?" Sachiko replied, the rest of the room quiet as they listen.
"Yea, Ranma's father got training scroll from someone, it say who ever master technique would be invincible. He didn't read part that said it tended to drive people...insane. He throw Ranma into pit of cats while covered in fish when he little kid, multiple times. Ranma strong, so he survive, but very afraid of cats now, if around one too long he become like a cat." Lufa explained to the group, looks of horror on their faces at the thought of the training.
"What do you mean, "like a cat"?" Akane asks bewildered.
"It happened a few times in village as there are tigers in jungle he run into. He usually show up walking on all fours, maybe steal some fish and eat on roof top. Then he look for someone he trust like Shampoo, and curl up and fall asleep in their lap. He no remember anything though. It very dangerous though if he no like you, single swipe of hand could slash through metal, so the other boys had to stay away." Lufe explained, Shampoo blushing at the memory while the three boys looked at each other with a bit of worry and a silent vow to avoid Ranma if he looked "feline".
Ranma landed on the floor, having come back in through one of the roof windows. "Thanks for explaining things, I don't really like to talk about...it." Ranma says nodding to Lufa who returns it with a small smile.
"Daddy Daddy Daddy, We gotta go meet a Totoro too!" Mirei says running up and jumping around him excitedly.
"Dad" Hiroshi says with wide eyes.
"dy" Daisuki finishes, before they both turn their heads to look at each other in disbelief.
'Aww shit…' Both Ranma and Sachiko thought at the proverbial cat being let out of the bag.
"But she's your sister?!" Yotaro exclaims, giving the two a very confused look.
"Um yea...about that…" Ranma says, trying to think how best to explain things while Mirei is still bouncing around and pulling on his arm.
"Mirei, why don't we head up to bed now, I believe a certain panda is staying in your room tonight." Nodoka says, coming over to take the hyper child out of the room before this conversation gets too involved. Mirei squees loudly as she runs from the room, Nodoka hurriedly following after, a shout from the yard is heard about remembering to brush her teeth.
With the small girl out of the picture, attention turns back to Ranma who is nervously playing with his pigtail. "Look, she's not really my sister." He starts to say.
"Oh, you're like secretly married!" Daisuki blurts out, striking his hand to his palm.
"What, no! I mean, she is my sister now." Ranma replies.
"But you didn't know that when you met her, cause you were on the training trip for so long." Hiroshi finishes for him.
"Would you two shut up, let him finish" Akane angrily yells at the two boys, causing them to cover their mouths with their hands.
"Okay, when we first met in Junior high, she wasn't my sister, but then I headed to China, and her parents weren't no good so she found my mom and she adopted her into the family. So yea, Mirei is my daughter, Sachiko is her mom, but we're now like, brother and sister." Ranma finally manages to get out with no interruptions.
"So now that you're back, why not just get married?" Hiroshi asks Ranma.
"Because who'd wanna get hitched to a screw up like me who changes into a girl?" Ranma retorts with some heat.
The three boys look at each other, then out at all the girls in the room who are either rubbing their foreheads or shaking their heads in disbelief also. Yotaro is finally the one to answer. "Ranma, do you have any idea how many photo's of you were sold in the last week?" He ask his still upset friend.
"Photo's, of me? What are you talking about?" Ranma asks, wondering what his friends talking about.
"Five hundred, and that's because they ran out. There are only about four hundred girls at our school Ranma, some bought backups…" Yotaro states.
"What? Why would people just want a picture of me?" Ranma asks, now thoroughly lost on what this was about. Looking around the room, the girls seemed to be avoiding his view.
"Well, lets just say it was one where you had been practicing for a while, with no shirt on…" Yotaro said, hoping that might help him understand.
"I'm still not getting this, so people are buying pictures of me working out, are they trying to spy on the techniques?" Ranma asks.
"Ranma, remember when we stopped at the convenience store after school once so I could grab the new Manga I wanted?" Hiroshi asks Ranma.
"Yea…"
"Remember how I told you they kept the "good stuff" behind the counter…" Hiroshi continued.
"Yea…"
"Well those are the magazines with people who are...naked, or barely clothed...things you read for enjoyment...in private. Its the same thing for your pictures…" Hiroshi says, a blush on his face, as well as on pretty much everyone else in the room.
Ranma's brain suddenly made the connection, having talked about such...private time, with his mother after the incident when he was a girl. As his face seemed to glow brighter, he looked around the room, not a single girl would make eye contact with him until he turned around to Shampoo who was grinning at him. She proudly held up her hand with two fingers up, letting him know she was one of the ones who got a "backup". That was enough to send his mind into defcon5, and with the rush of blood to his cheaks, his legs gave out and he passed out onto his friends who did their best to catch him, but were still crushed in the fall.
"I really wish he was a girl at the moment." Daisuki said windedly.
"Yea, even if it would be a quick death." Yotaro quipped, surprising the two he would join in their banter while the three tried to roll Ranma off them and onto his own bedroll. Saved only when Lotion came over to help the struggling boys and moved Ranma like he weighed nothing, their stares in disbelief only met by her whispering "too too weak boys" as she walked away.
While Kasumi checked on Ranma to make sure he was okay, Nabiki came over and grabbed Yotaro by the ear and dragged him to a corner.
"For your own sake, lets not tell Ranma too much about those photo's, you understand me?" She whispered to the boy with slight malice.
"Yes yes yes" Yotaro said nodding his head in agreement.
"Also, We don't talk about Ranko, for both our sakes." She said before letting go and walking back to her group.
Ranma awoke to the lights being off once again and a new animated movie playing. It seemed like a man in a red jacket was in a car chase with some men in suits and Ranma just laid there and watched the action, not really wanting to revisit the revelations from before. Soon though he sits up and begins asking his friends who is who, and what's going on. Ranma became far more invested in this movie as it went on, laughing at Lupin's hi-jinxes, Zenigata's bumbling, and wondering if he could learn to use a sword as well as Goemon. As the lights came on again after the movie finished his friends turned to see he had a big smile on his face.
"Guessing you liked it Ranma?" Hiroshi who was the closest asked him.
"Yea, that was great, lots of action and some comedy!" Ranma replied.
"Not to mention Fujiko is a total babe!" Daisuki added.
"Yea, too bad Lupin is so out of her league, she's just using him for her own schemes." Yotaro chimes in.
"I dunno, she seemed to be like an amazon, maybe he just needs to challenge her or prove himself." Ranma replies, thinking about how Fujiko didn't act like a typical damsel in distress like the princess had.
"Humph, Amazon's no want man who try cheat on them like Lupin, he just stupid monkey." Lotion chimes in from across the room, Akane and her friends nodding in agreement to the statement.
"If she's not going to try and have a relationship with him, why shouldn't he go for other girls?" Daisuki challenges back.
Lotion, a bit irked at a weak boy talking back to her, gives him a glare that seems to make him reconsider how invested in the argument he wants to be. "If man no give good impression, no show he only interested in her, why she give chance?" she replies.
"Well she said they were lovers before, maybe she just wants some of that dic…" Hiroshi says before getting hit in the face by multiple pillows.
"Hiroshi, are you trying to get all of us killed?" Yotaro asks his recovering friend, gulping at the looks the girls in the room were giving them all.
A cough coming from Mrs. Saotome who was next to Nabiki helping put the previous movie back in its package was probably the only thing saving them from the continued ire. "While I know you are all in high school now, why don't we keep the language more appropriate for when you're around ladies young man." She says to Hiroshi who quickly nods in agreement.
"Alright, the next movie was picked by the girls, and I'm told its quite popular with sword fights, cunning, and romance. Why don't you all get your pillows and any snacks before we turn the lights back off." Nodoka tells the group.
Ranma and the boys help return the various pillows to their owners before hitting up the snack table one last time. Once everyone was back in their places, Nabiki started the film as Nodoka killed the lights.
"The Princess Bride?" Ranma whispers to his friends, giving them an unsure look. "Is this gonna just be a lot of talking?"
"I've heard its good, with some sword fights and a giant." Hiroshi whispers back. "The girls picked it so don't complain, our lives depend on it…"
The boys sat back and watched, and before long the whole room was wildly engaged with the characters, and the more physical comedy translated well for everyone, gaining many outbreaks of laughter. Ranma felt a connection with the little boy, asking to skip all the kissing scenes, who would want to see that anyway? Though when it finally did happen, he realized all three of his friends, even Yotaro who never acted horny like the other two, seemed to be watching intently.
The kissing itself just seemed...strange to see on the screen compared to his memories of the times he'd "practiced" with Sachiko. Instead of feeling embarrassed, the two actors instead seemed to be...enjoying it? With the scene over and Ranma's thoughts still remembering the times with Sachiko, his eyes wander over to her, only to realize too late that not only was he staring at her...but she and her friends were all suddenly looking at him, catching Sachiko's eyes briefly before quickly looking back at the screen and hoping the room was dark enough they couldn't see how embarrassed he felt.
By the end of the movie, Ranma was desperately hoping that the lights might never come back on and that everyone might just fall asleep. Unfortunately for him, the movie did end, and the lights did come back on and his only option was to simply turn to his friends and ignore the girls around him as they started talking about the movie. Thankfully his friends noticed his distress and quickly announced they'd go brush their teeth first, dragging Ranma up and out of the dojo with them.
"What's wrong Ranma, did something happen during the movie?" Yotaro asked as they walked into the bathroom in the house.
"It was that stupid kissing scene, I was thinking about...stuff, and ended up looking at Sachiko and she and her friends saw me. I bet they think I was thinking about that kinda stuff." Ranma moaned.
"Well, were you? I mean, you've done more than kiss with her…" Hiroshi ask.
"I was just comparing the movie too…" Ranma stops himself, looking away and focusing on brushing his teeth intensely.
"too when you were kissing her back in junior high. Yea, not going to get any pity here man, all three of us haven't even gotten a date with a girl, let alone...all the things you've done." Daisuki says, a bit of annoyance in his voice.
"I'd be more worried about the amazon's Ranma, if they saw you looking at her during that, they might consider her more of an obstacle to getting to you." Yotaro says.
"Oh man...the last thing I need is them being upset with her, their the whole reason pops and I ended up in that stupid spring anyway." Ranma grumbles.
"What? Did they push you in or something?" Hiroshi asks a bit frightened.
"No, pops and I were returning to the village after one of our trips, but when we got there they all started chasing us for some reason. Next thing we know we fell down a hill into Jusenkyo and landed in the pools. Pop's figured it wasn't safe to return and we headed back to Japan." Ranma tells them.
"You haven't asked them why they were chasing you?" Hiroshi asks, a bit bewildered as the girls had joined them over a week ago.
"Not yet, never really crosses my mind when I'm around them I guess?" Ranma responds with a shrug.
"Yea, I would think it would be good to know why anyone might be out for your blood...amazonian or not…" Hiroshi deadpans.
Ranma nods at the advice, seemingly forgotten the reason he was upset in the first place as the boys head back down to the dojo to get ready for bed. Passing the girls on the way Ranma's friends don't miss the looks Sachiko and her friends were giving them, nor the determined looks of the amazons. Once back in the dojo though, Daisuki ask Ranma for a favor, which he agree's too, though not really sure why it would matter.
Ranma lay in his bedroll, unable to sleep as his brain seemed to keep playing through the images from the movie of Wesley and Buttercup, while other parts of his body made it even more uncomfortable to sleep. Ranma kept himself from looking at anything other than the dojo wall, his danger sense constantly telling him he was being watched. Thankfully he had an unobstructed view of the wall after changing positions with Daisuki after the lights went off at his request for some reason.
"What are you going to do Sachi?" Achika whispers to her friend, the three of them having scooted closer so they could whisper.
"Nothing, I'm not going to do anything, it was just a coincidence." She whispered back.
"bull, we saw him looking at you during the kissing scene, ." Mako says as quietly as she can, giving her friend a poke in head.
"So, that could mean anything." Sachiko whispers back.
"This is Ranma were talking about, he's got no filter, obviously he was thinking about you." Achika replies.
"Maybe he was remembering when you guys kissed, or more…" Mako whispers a bit dreamily.
Sachiko really really wished her friends would drop it, because now she was thinking back also and it was going to make falling asleep tonight even harder. "Just drop it, I'm tired and going to sleep."
"Sweet dreams" the two girls whispered in lusty voices, giggling softly as they decided to relent and let their friend rest.
"Do you think he'll live?" Hiroshi asked Kasumi worriedly.
"Well, he's going to need a sling for the arm, the bruising is going to take a while to heal, and he might not be able to have children, but he'll survive." Kasumi said while checking on his friend Daisuki.
"Worth it…" the boy moans out from his swollen face.
Walking back to the other boys he tells them the news. "He'll survive, probably nothing permanently damaged, and if he can't have kids, maybe that's for the best…" Hiroshi tells them.
"Do you think he's suicidal, like has he been depressed lately, strange behavior?" Yotaro asks his friend.
"Suicide by amazon? No, I think he's just an idiot, a slucky to be alive idiot at the moment…" Hiroshi replied.
Ranma was glad his friend would pull through, but the looks Shampoo had given him didn't make him feel safe as she was obviously upset at him for having switched positions with his friend who she had found herself snuggling up against, having then woken the rest of the room up with the sound of the slap, and the cries of pain coming from said boy. His mother was currently talking to the girl outside, while the rest of the group seemed to be talking among themselves.
"How far do you think he got before she figured it out?" Yotaro asks the group, looking at their now bandaged friend.
Before anyone could answer though his mother returned with a Shampoo who obviously had been put through a lecture by his mother and while was holding a stoic face, Ranma could see she was almost on the verge of crying. Following his mother over to Daisuki, Shampoo got on her knee's and apologized to the boy, drawing a gasp from both Lufa and Lotion. Surprisingly, Daisuki apologized also for deceiving her. Once done Shampoo headed back into the house.
"I know its a bit early, but as we're already up I figure we might as well start preparing breakfast. Sachiko could you and your friends come help in the kitchen? The rest of you can start cleaning and packing up, Mr. Tendo does have a class later this morning so lets not leave behind any messes, okay?" She says to the group, getting nods from everyone while Sachiko and her friends follow behind her to the kitchen.
The group quickly start to get things packed up and placing most of the backpacks and bedrolls against the wall before bringing in the various dishes and rounding up all the trash into bags. Akane and Ranma then held a race to see who could wipe down the floor to the cheers of the groups, one which Ranma was sure he could win until he found himself getting hip checked by her into his friends as they were neck and neck on the last patch.
"Hey what gives?" Ranma complained while untangling himself from his friends.
"Anything Goes!" She shouts back amid laughter from her and her friends, even the amazons laughing along.
Hearing a snort behind him he see's Yotaro trying to hold back a laugh also to which he gives him a glare. "Who's side are you on anyway?" Ranma asks the boy.
"Oh I definitely lost money on you, but you have to admit she's right." He says, pointing to a sign in the dojo with the full name of "Tendo Anything Goes Dojo".
Ranma groaned as they headed out of the dojo towards the house to get breakfast. His mood was cheered up though from the smells coming from the kitchen as people lined up to get a bowl or plate handed to them and then people dispersed among the table, dojo and back yard to eat. Soon enough Mirei made her way down and joined Ranma and his two able friends, Daisuki was at the table with Shampoo having to feed him, the looks on their face in obvious contrast.
"Daddy, Grandpa is too noisy at night." She complained at first, still sounding a bit tired.
"It's worse when he's not a panda." Ranma replies, a smirk on his face as he see's her eyes get bigger.
"Worse!?" Mirei seems to question, giving him a doubtful glare.
"Oh yea, I'm pretty sure one time he caused us to get hit by an avalanche when we were in the mountains. We lost a bunch of our supplies that night, but luckily ended up pretty close to a village." Ranma says, wondering if she'd believe him.
"What's an avalanche?" Mirei asks.
"Well, when you're up in the mountains with all the snow, if all the snow decides to fall down at once, that's an avalanche. Sometimes they just happen, other times loud sounds or explosions might cause them." Ranma explains.
"Or a snoring panda!" Mirei says with a laugh before being called in to get her food and eat at the table.
"It's still blowing my mind that the boy who can't figure out when a girl's flirting, somehow became a dad…" Yotaro says after Mirei left them.
"I didn't think you even had interest in them after that day when her friends kept flashing you blatantly and you just asked if they were okay…" Hiroshi says, remembering the two girls "falling" over in front of Ranma, each time causing their dresses to flip up, it was one of the best days in his short life.
"Huh, oh...yea, I thought they were just kinda clumsy…" Ranma says, remembering his confusion when Sachiko apologized for their behavior.
"Still though, you really should just tell the truth to the class, you being Mirei's dad is already one of the bigger rumors people suspect, only most also think you two are real siblings also…" Yotaro says a bit relieved that at least that part wasn't true.
"I don't think that's really up to me…" Ranma replied, looking down at his empty bowl. "Or you guys, so keep it a secret for now."
The boy's nodded, looking over to their missing companion who was still being fed, his mouth stuffed full as Shampoo was obviously trying to speed up this form of torture Mrs. Saotome had forced upon her. Daisuki for his part though was still in heaven, the idea that any girl, let alone one as gorgeous as Shampoo would be feeding him had already sent his brain into a euphoric state. Lotion and Lufa sat nearby, their grins as they watched their rival have to serve such a weak male might be stuck on their faces for the rest of the week.