Summary: Xander's pops flogs him off at a young age.
Crossover: Ranma 1/2
Disclaimer: I own nothing! You can prove nothing!
Feedback: Rein of the Coalm
Pre-fic Comments:
As before, "* blah *" indicates foreign speech. Translations get put in curly braces after foreign speech if it's in the original foreign speech.
* * *
Xander knocked on the door. It was beginning to get dark, and he sure hoped his old friend Willow remembered him. He was getting sick of camping out -- his only consolation was that they didn't have to put up with Genma's snoring anymore. Ranma's father had only gotten worse since he'd started learning under him.
A red haired woman answered the door, looking surprised.
"Hi, can I help you?," she asked.
"Um, yeah, I'm Xander," Xander said. "I'm one of Willow's friends, and was wondering if I could see her?"
"She's at school at the moment, in the Library," the woman said. Xander remembered her as being Willow's mum.
"Okay," Xander said. "Can we wait inside for her?"
"I don't see why not," Willow's mum replied.
"Thank you," Ranma said.
* * *
Willow didn't like walking home at night -- as well as burglars, thieves and other nasties, Sunnydale had supernatural nasties. So she was rather relieved when she got home -- until she saw that they had visitors.
"Mum," she asked. "Who're the visitors?"
"Old friend of yours," her mum replied. "Go and talk to them."
"Uh, hi," Willow hesitantly said.
The one in black silks got up, digging in his pack until he drew out a yellow crayon.
"Hiya, Will, remember me? I had to leave ten years ago, but I promised to come back, and here I am!"
"Xander!," Willow yelled, leaping across the room and enveloping Xander in a hug. "I've missed you! You've got to tell me where you've been, mister!"
"Easy there, Will!," Xander laughed. "This is my friend Ranma. Ranma Saotome, this is Willow Rosenberg."
Ranma bowed slightly. "It is good to meet you, Willow."
"Hi!," Willow said, slightly giddy from meeting her best friend of ten years ago. "Story time now, Xander, unless you got into real bad trouble like crime trouble and don't want to tell me, which would be okay since you are still my best friend, and--"
Xander raised a finger, quieting her. "Good to know you haven't changed."
"We've been training in the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts," Ranma explained.
"Strong as well as cute," the girl thought out loud. "I've got to introduce you to Buffy. Maybe you'll get her interested in the warm and breathing kinda guy."
Xander gave Willow a weird look. "Warm and breathing? Will, have you been meeting strange men while I was away?"
Realising that she had possibly given away something, Willow blushed. "Uh, I'm gonna sound crazy when I say this, but it's true. Vampires exist, and Buffy's a Slayer, with magical strength and speed."
Xander and Ranma looked at each other.
"That's a cheat's way," Ranma was the first to say. "True strength is earnt through training."
"I agree," Xander said.
"Well, there ain't anyone else killing vamps," Willow said, slightly defensive.
"Are you three okay there?," Willow's mum asked, entering the room. "Willow, you can get tea for yourself tonight, because your father and I have a meeting."
"Ano, Rosenberg-san, may Xander and I stay at your house tonight?," Ranma asked, reverting to Japanese forms at the start due to nervousness.
"What's wrong with staying at your parent's place?," Willow asked.
"Ahhh... my dad told me to bugger off," Xander said, rubbing the back of his head. "And I'm sick of camping out."
"Sure you can stay," Willow's mum allowed. "Willow, you can prepare the guest room for your guests."
* * *
The next day found Willow getting up reluctantly at daybreak. She stumbled out of her room, still in her flannel pajama's, in search of whoever was making that awful racket.
To her surprise, it was Xander and Ranma, fighting in the front yard. They were poetry in motion, jumping thirty feet in the air, throwing punches, trying to lock each other in throws...
"Can't you guys keep it down?," she asked. "You are guests here."
The two paused, looking sheepish.
"Gomen," Ranma said.
{Sorry}
"It's just, we have to keep practising if we wanna be the best," Xander explained.
"Where's Mum?," Willow asked out loud. "She should be the one telling you guys off."
"I dunno," Xander said. "It's about time for breakfast, anyway."
They found Mr and Mrs Rosenberg in the kitchen, eating breakfast.
"Hi, Mum," Willow said. "Why aren't you telling Xander and Ranma off for waking people up so early?"
Her mother looked at her. "Dear, it's good for you to be awake so early. Morning people learn best according to literature."
"Oh," Willow said. When her mother started referring to psychological papers, she knew there was little chance of dissuading her.
"Xander, Ranma, here's some toast," Mrs Rosenberg said, putting the toasted bread in front of the two boys. "The spreads are out on the table."
"What's this?," Ranma asked, poking the strange stuff. It wasn't miso, and where was the tea?
"It's toast," Xander explained to his friend. "I'll show you."
As the two munched away on the toast once Xander showed Ranma how to spread peanut butter on it, Mr Rosenberg looked up from the paper.
"Have you two boys enrolled at school yet?"
"I don't need school," Ranma said with disdain. "What good is school to a martial artist?"
"If you don't go," Mrs Rosenberg said, "you can find another place to stay."
"I'd listen if I were you guys," Willow said. "My Mum means it when she's talking about school."
"Great," Xander sighed. "At least we won't have to worry about getting the last bread of the day at an American school."
* * *