Disclaimer: The characters in this story don't belong to me but to Rumiko
Takahashi. You know the rest.
Chapter 3: (---Having fun.---)
"So you're the new upstairs maid, huh?" Shampoo asked.
The girl, a short black-haired lady, nodded meekly.
"What's your name?" Shampoo asked again.
"Sazara," Sazara replied, looking up slowly. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------
Akane was in the house where she was supposed to serve the nobility. Gritting her teeth, she answered the purple-haired lady's questions.
"You're the new maid?" the lady questioned loftily.
Akane rolled her eyes, but kept her head down, "Yes."
"What's your name, pray tell?"
"Sazara." Akane looked up at the nosy woman. Really, who did she think she was? "Tendou Sazara."
"Really?" the woman raised an eyebrow. Then she ordered. "You will be sent to your room. You may start work today if you want to."
Akane kept silent. It was really hard to keep herself from barking a remark at the lady.
Leaving the room, Akane heaved a sigh of relief. She had her limits. She couldn't spend too long a time with someone from the ton.
"Psst, Akane- I meant, Sazara! How d' it go?" Akane's childhood friend, Yuka, asked.
Akane gasped. Yuka?
"Yuka? What're you doing here?" Then Akane spotted somebody else. "Sayuri? You, too?"
"We found jobs here a few years ago and shifted here," Yuka explained.
"No wonder I lost contact with you guys!" Akane cried out, hugging Yuka, then Sayuri. "When I asked your parents where the both of you were, they couldn't reply as they were crying very hard. I thought both of you were kidnapped or something!"
The three laughed. "What are the both of you?"
"What do you mean what are the both of us?"
"What are your jobs here?" Akane said dryly.
"We're the upstairs maids. You?" Sayuri asked.
"Same." Akane sighed happily. "I guess staying with the nobility won't be so hard now I have you two here.what a.coincidence?"
"A coincidence." Yuka confirmed.
"Definitely." Sayuri agreed.
The trio started up the stairs towards their rooms, chatting non-stop for the first time in their lives.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Ranma, my son, are you fine?" Nodoka asked, placing a towel on her son's forehead.
Ranma sat up groggily, blinking a few times to clear his vision.
He couldn't really remember what happened. He was going to tell his mother about their Jusenkyo curse. He was going to surprise Mother. But instead Mother shocked him by telling him that he had a-
"Fiancée.you told me that I'm engaged." Ranma groaned. "Oh my kami."
Nodoka frowned, looking closely at her son's expression. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing.I'm fine..nothing's wrong." his face held a tortured look. Hence, it was a surprise when Nodoka smiled.
"I'm glad to hear that."
(What kind of mother is Nodoka?! Can't she even tell Ranma's lying? But wait, he did leave for a long time.so.)
"Anyway, son, Shampoo is in the Lazy Lounge, that is, if you want to meet her."
"Mother, remember when I said that I'd something to tell you?"
Nodoka concentrated for a while, a look of confusion plastered upon her features before it finally dawned onto her.
"Yes. What was it?"
"Well, now I've something else to tell you besides that."
"Really?"
"It's going to surprise you. Absolutely sweep you off your feet."
"Really? A surprise? Ooh, I simply love surprises!" Nodoka exclaimed.
Ranma sighed. It would doubtlessly surprise her, it would.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Do we get to share the same room in the servant quarters?" Akane asked.
"No, we each get our own room," Sayuri responded.
"What?! Then what am I going to do with all the extra space?" Akane flung her hands up into the air.
"You'll figure out what to do with it sooner or later," Yuka predicted.
The duo was helping their friend unpack her clothing and stuff.
"By the way, Akane, have you heard about the Underworld thief?" Yuka took out a handkerchief and folded it neatly, setting it into a drawer.
"Heard about it? I am the thief," Akane said casually.
Both Yuka and Sayuri froze. "What?!"
Akane stopped what she was doing and stared at her friends. "What?"
"We just can't believe it." Yuka reasoned.
"But," Akane frowned, "doesn't the description of the thief fit me?"
"Isn't it a male?" Sayuri stated.
"No, it's me. And don't make such a big deal out of it. I do it for two reasons."
"And they are.?" Sayuri glanced askance at Akane.
"One- I hate them and two- I hate them."
"They're both the same!" Yuka argued.
"Wait, listen. I hate them for two reasons. One- they don't work for themselves and two- it was the nobility who took away my." Akane broke off.
Sayuri and Yuka nodded sadly. They knew what Akane was going to say. The same man who had taken Akane's mother's life had taken lives of their loved ones, too.
"My brother died because.." Yuka glanced at the ground beyond her left shoulder.
"My father departed us." Sayuri dropped a tear.
Akane looked out through her melancholy brown eyes.
"I know.I guess I'm doing this not only for myself but for you guys as well."
Yuka smiled. "You know, you shouldn't do it anymore. You're getting yourself into trouble because of us."
"Yes. Just do it once, don't do it twice. Don't sacrifice yourself."
Akane giggled. "You both are starting to sound a lot like Kasumi."
"Kasumi onee-chan? Your sister? Honestly?" Yuka broke into a laugh.
Sayuri tittered along with the both of them.
"But don't worry, we've got it all covered. Why do you think I'm here? I'm supposed to blend in with them so that they won't suspect me."
Sayuri grinned. "Good luck, then. Oh, and one more thing. Boy, am I glad you're here, Akane."
Yuka looked deep into Akane's eyes joyfully. "Me too."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"You've met Shampoo before? Isn't that great?" Nodoka commented.
"It might be great.you see," Ranma explained, "We accidentally.ate up the prize of a fighting competition."
---*flashback*--- "Aiyah! Sirs, this lady here challenges you to a duel!" The guide exclaimed. "You have eaten up her prize and have angered her greatly!"
"All right, oyaji," a pigtailed female spoke up. "I fight this girl. Might as well do it since I'm so bored having to spar with you every day."
The girl advanced, with her weapon held ready in the air, towards the pigtailed girl.
With a simple kick and a "Hyaa!" the purple-haired girl flew into the air.
After she had picked herself up from the ground, with dirt on her clothes and skin, she walked towards the pigtailed female.
Holding her cheek tenderly, the Amazon gave the other girl a kiss.
It was the Kiss of Death. ---*end flashback*---
"So you see, Shampoo kissed me and now she'll chase me to the ends of the earth just to kill me!" Ranma clarified with his mother. Nodoka held a hand up to her cheek demurely. "What excitement! I hope you had fun, my dear son." Ranma face faulted. His mother still hadn't understood. He was trying to point out that Shampoo would kill him if they were to be married.
"What I don't understand is: how Shampoo didn't recognize you back in the lounge."
"Oh.that. That's the something which I was supposed to tell you before.you know.back at the lounge."
Ranma cleared his throat. He felt worried that his mother might not accept the fact that he was cursed. A dry breeze blew through the room and entwined around the two people. Ranma bit his lip. Mustering all the courage he could gather, he admitted.
"Dad and I fell into these springs while we were training." "Was that before you met Shampoo or after?" Nodoka asked, not bothering to use her brain to think. "Before we met her. We arrived at Jusenkyo, a legendary training place for martial artists." Ranma paused to have a sip of water. He breathed in deeply before continuing.
"Father didn't know Chinese and thus, he didn't know how to read the instruction book. When we arrived at Jusenkyo, we didn't know that each of the spring was cursed."
Nodoka frowned, not sure what her son was getting at.
"Years ago, something fell into each of these springs, drowning them. The waters of Jusenkyo remembered these creatures and thus, now whoever falls into them will take on the body of the creature."
Nodoka frowned, still not using her brain.
"We trained immediately, ignoring the cries of warning from the guide. Father was the first one to fall into a spring where a panda drowned. He turned into a panda. And I.Father pushed me into a spring where a girl had drowned. Therefore, I turned into a girl."
Nodoka gasped. "So now you'll be a girl forever?"
Ranma shook his head. Picking up a glass of water, he dumped it onto himself.
"I'll only be a girl if water touches me."
"Then how do you change back? I mean, you can change back, can't you? You were a man when I met you and now you're a girl and- oh, this is all so confusing!"
"Fetch me some warm water!" Ranma ordered the maids who were outside his room.
"Warm water will transform me back to my old self."
"I don't understand- was this how the girl who drowned in there looked like?" Nodoka asked pointing to Ranma's red hair and body.
"No.whoever falls in the spring-of-drowned-girl will turn into the female version of himself. So if you're a girl and you fall in there, nothing will happen to you. Because you're already the female version of yourself."
Nodoka allowed the new information to sink into her. She felt shocked. But it wasn't a horrible shock; neither was it a pleasant one. It was a shock at how such a thing existed. She'd never heard of such springs in her entire life.
"I think I'm beginning to grasp it."
There was a knock on the door. The water was here.
"Ahh, the water."
"I'll hide myself under the covers of my bed," Ranma said; he pushed himself underneath it and tried to make himself as flat as possible.
"Come in." Nodoka ordered.
The maid, a petite light brown-haired girl, entered and curtsied as she passed the kettle to her mistress.
"Ah, Yuka, 'tis you. Thank you."
"I'll take my leave now," Yuka said, curtsying once more before exiting the room.
Ranma got out from under the covers and accepted the water graciously. She poured it over herself and screamed.
"What's wrong?" Nodoka asked worriedly. "Does the water cause it to have any side effects?"
"No," Ranma assured his mother from under the steam surrounding his body. "It's just that the water was too hot!"
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"You guys promise?" Akane asked suspiciously.
"Honestly, Akane, we were your best friends when we were children and you don't trust us?" Sayuri shot her friend a side-glance.
"No, you're wrong, Sayuri-chan," Akane corrected, "we were best friends and we still are."
"Yes," Yuka agreed totally.
Sayuri grinned a Cheshire cat smile. "You're right."
"But still," Yuka scratched an itchy spot on her left arm, "you don't trust us?"
"Well, it's important! You can't let anybody know that I'm the thief or else! And Sayuri, you mustn't address me as Akane. When we're out in the public, I'm known as great and wonderful Sazara," Akane finished.
"The great and wonderful," Yuka mimicked. "I didn't know a thief could be described with such words."
Akane grinned and choosing a pillow, she tossed it onto her friend.
The grin disappeared and was replaced with a serious smile. "Remember, I'm not Akane anymore, but Sazara."
The two other girls nodded solemnly.
"Hai, Sazara-sama," Sayuri said in a mocking tone, rewarding her with a pillow aimed straight at her face.
The pillow fight continued before there was a knock on the door stating that it was dinnertime.
"We'll be eating with the other servants, which would give us time to introduce you to the rest of them. They're quite lovely, really," Yuka neatened the place up by placing the pillows back in their usual position.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"So should we tell Shampoo the truth?" Ranma removed his glove.
"What the Amazon girl doesn't know won't hurt her," Nodoka smiled serenely.
"Are you sure? It might cause us problems if she found out."
"Absolutely certain, my son. Now if you don't mind, we have to hurry," she pulled her son out of his bed. "Our dinner awaits us." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"What're we going to have?" Akane asked as they walked past several pictures and doors.
They were heading to the basement where a side of the room was cleared for the servants and maids who could have their dinner there or do other stuff.
Yuka scratched her left arm again. "Oh, the usual, stew. Lamb or beef if we're lucky."
Sayuri added. "We will also be having potato soup."
"That's too much! I can't eat all this. Usually right now, Kasumi would whip up her delicious rice with pickles. We'd have a fruit or two after dinner," Akane reminisced thoughtfully.
"Here we are!" Sayuri announced as she dragged her friend into the room.
Almost everyone was settled down already and when they saw Yuka and Sayuri enter the place with a newcomer, they started murmuring questions.
Yuka did a few 'ahems' before declaring loudly. "Hush people, hush! We've got somebody we'd like to introduce to you. This, here, is our friend, Aka- " Yuka groaned. Sayuri had jabbed her in the ribs with her elbow.
"What d' you do that for?" Yuka hissed, reeling over in pain.
Akane grinned, which irked Yuka even more. "You forgot my name. Some friend you are."
Sayuri continued for Yuka. "This is our friend, Sazara. Tendou Sazara is going to be working with all of us. She's the upstairs maid," lots of applauding could be heard from the other upstairs maids as with one more maid, there'd be lesser work for each of them to do, "and I hope that all of you will welcome her warmly."
The workers cheered loudly and clapped, which caused Akane to smile with compassion.
"Okay, now let's all get back to dinner," Sayuri motioned for Akane to follow her as they headed towards the end of the table.
She patted a side of the bench, indicating for Akane to sit.
Akane sat and stared at the plate of food before her.
Knowing that there was too much food but feeling hungry at the same time, she dug into her dinner.
"So, Sazara, how old exactly are you? And how are you related to Yuka and Sayuri?" a girl, whom Akane later learned was Saone, popped a piece of potato into her mouth.
"I'm sixteen. And Yuka and Sayuri and I used to grow up in the same neighbourhood. We were childhood friends," Akane drank some of the soup.
"That's great. I'm sixteen, too," Saone's voice lowered to a whisper. "In fact, most of us are either sixteen or seventeen."
"Really?" Akane asked with great interest.
"Yeah," Yuka cut in. "They're either sixteen or seventeen or else they're nine or ten or else they're twenty or twenty-one; forty-four or forty-five; fifty or fifty-one or else sixty-nine or seventy," Yuka frowned as she stirred her potato soup. "Did I just memorise that whole thing?"
Sayuri grinned and nodded; then she chewed on the potato.
The girls ate in silence before Sayuri looked at Akane.
"Do you know that the Saotomes have a large garden and a couple of koi ponds?"
"They do?" Akane stabbed a piece of carrot in the stew and munched it.
"Yes; if I recall, you love roses, don't you Sazara-chan?" Sayuri nudged her friend; causing Akane to choke on the carrot she was eating.
"Don't- do- that." Akane coughed. When she felt the passageway of her throat was fine, she scolded. "Don't do that ever again. I could have died!"
"Sorry," Sayuri grinned sheepishly. "You do love roses, don't you?"
Ever since Akane was a kid, roses had been her life. Her mother had planted a few in their house and each of them bloomed beautifully. Her mother used to say, "Even though roses have thorns, they have a beautiful side of them, too." Which was the complete opposite of the saying, 'even the most beautiful things are dangerous'.
Akane loved roses the most in the world (if you recall, in chapter one, she wore a pink rose to the party Ryouga's family held). Well, she loved them second from her mother.
She nodded slowly. "Yes.do they have roses in their garden?"
Yuka swallowed the food she had just chewed. "Plenty of them! Half the garden is filled with roses. I guess they're Lady Nodoka's favourites."
"Lady Nodoka? I thought that the mistress of this house is Lady Shampoo."
Yuka, accompanied by Sayuri and Saone, chuckled; causing Akane to glance distastefully at them.
"What?" Akane frowned; she was getting frustrated at her laughing friends who wouldn't explain what she'd done wrong.
"I guess you're still rather blur as to who is who in the household we're serving," Yuka giggled again.
"That's okay. We'll teach you," Sayuri assured.
"You see, Genma is the master of this house," Saone explained. She lowered her voice again. "By the way, we, the servants, cannot address them so casually. We're supposed to use their titles but since we're not in the public, we'll drop the formalities."
"Why?" Akane asked again.
"Because," Saone frowned. "I guess it's because we're rather lazy," she grinned. "Using titles would waste our time."
"And our breath," Sayuri put in.
The foursome chortled at Sayuri's joke.
Yuka was the first to stop tittering. "Genma is the master whom we're serving. He is married to Nodoka."
"The Nodoka you guys just mentioned?"
"Yes."
"Oh. Then who's Shampoo?"
"Let us continue, Sazara. A few days back, Nodoka's son, Ranma, returned with his father from a training trip. And they've betrothed Shampoo to Ranma."
"Their son knows martial arts?"
"Yeah, and so do a couple of other wealthy people," Saone drank up the soup.
"Want to know something else?" Yuka stood up from the bench closing the space between her and Akane. "These other girls from wealthy families are falling in love with him," Yuka clasped her hands together, looking like a besotted girl, "'Oh my,' the girls exclaim, 'the devastatingly good- looking lord Ranma is back! Ooooh, I think I'm in love!'"
Sayuri laughed along. "I don't see what's so handsome about him. I mean, he may be good-looking and all, but do those girls even know his personality? How do they know if his hardworking or lazy? A thrift or a gambler?" she rolled her eyes. "Really, these girls just go for looks. They judge the book by its cover."
Akane set aside the dishes of food which she'd finished. She was rather full after the wondrous meal.
"I agree with the both of you. I disgust such people who never bother to find out more about a girl with freckles or a guy with rough skin," Akane said seriously and burped softly; excusing herself, she blushed.
"Those people in the upper class may be smarter; prettier; more elegant or richer than us but they'll never be better than us if they don't know about compassion or spirit," Saone burped also.
Sayuri burped too, followed by Yuka.
In the end, the girls laughed at the joke and all thought that that was the best dinner they'd ever had.
A/N: I know I didn't 'talk' to you guys before so well, this is my first time chatting. To answer some of the reviews I got: 'sakura' when translated means cherry blossom.
If you're wondering when this story is set, it's more of a modern and olden times mix. If there're any mistakes I made, please tell me so that I can make changes.
Hope ya enjoy the story and if there any queries, just review me.
By the way, I wish all of you a Happy New Year!
Chapter 3: (---Having fun.---)
"So you're the new upstairs maid, huh?" Shampoo asked.
The girl, a short black-haired lady, nodded meekly.
"What's your name?" Shampoo asked again.
"Sazara," Sazara replied, looking up slowly. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------
Akane was in the house where she was supposed to serve the nobility. Gritting her teeth, she answered the purple-haired lady's questions.
"You're the new maid?" the lady questioned loftily.
Akane rolled her eyes, but kept her head down, "Yes."
"What's your name, pray tell?"
"Sazara." Akane looked up at the nosy woman. Really, who did she think she was? "Tendou Sazara."
"Really?" the woman raised an eyebrow. Then she ordered. "You will be sent to your room. You may start work today if you want to."
Akane kept silent. It was really hard to keep herself from barking a remark at the lady.
Leaving the room, Akane heaved a sigh of relief. She had her limits. She couldn't spend too long a time with someone from the ton.
"Psst, Akane- I meant, Sazara! How d' it go?" Akane's childhood friend, Yuka, asked.
Akane gasped. Yuka?
"Yuka? What're you doing here?" Then Akane spotted somebody else. "Sayuri? You, too?"
"We found jobs here a few years ago and shifted here," Yuka explained.
"No wonder I lost contact with you guys!" Akane cried out, hugging Yuka, then Sayuri. "When I asked your parents where the both of you were, they couldn't reply as they were crying very hard. I thought both of you were kidnapped or something!"
The three laughed. "What are the both of you?"
"What do you mean what are the both of us?"
"What are your jobs here?" Akane said dryly.
"We're the upstairs maids. You?" Sayuri asked.
"Same." Akane sighed happily. "I guess staying with the nobility won't be so hard now I have you two here.what a.coincidence?"
"A coincidence." Yuka confirmed.
"Definitely." Sayuri agreed.
The trio started up the stairs towards their rooms, chatting non-stop for the first time in their lives.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Ranma, my son, are you fine?" Nodoka asked, placing a towel on her son's forehead.
Ranma sat up groggily, blinking a few times to clear his vision.
He couldn't really remember what happened. He was going to tell his mother about their Jusenkyo curse. He was going to surprise Mother. But instead Mother shocked him by telling him that he had a-
"Fiancée.you told me that I'm engaged." Ranma groaned. "Oh my kami."
Nodoka frowned, looking closely at her son's expression. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing.I'm fine..nothing's wrong." his face held a tortured look. Hence, it was a surprise when Nodoka smiled.
"I'm glad to hear that."
(What kind of mother is Nodoka?! Can't she even tell Ranma's lying? But wait, he did leave for a long time.so.)
"Anyway, son, Shampoo is in the Lazy Lounge, that is, if you want to meet her."
"Mother, remember when I said that I'd something to tell you?"
Nodoka concentrated for a while, a look of confusion plastered upon her features before it finally dawned onto her.
"Yes. What was it?"
"Well, now I've something else to tell you besides that."
"Really?"
"It's going to surprise you. Absolutely sweep you off your feet."
"Really? A surprise? Ooh, I simply love surprises!" Nodoka exclaimed.
Ranma sighed. It would doubtlessly surprise her, it would.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Do we get to share the same room in the servant quarters?" Akane asked.
"No, we each get our own room," Sayuri responded.
"What?! Then what am I going to do with all the extra space?" Akane flung her hands up into the air.
"You'll figure out what to do with it sooner or later," Yuka predicted.
The duo was helping their friend unpack her clothing and stuff.
"By the way, Akane, have you heard about the Underworld thief?" Yuka took out a handkerchief and folded it neatly, setting it into a drawer.
"Heard about it? I am the thief," Akane said casually.
Both Yuka and Sayuri froze. "What?!"
Akane stopped what she was doing and stared at her friends. "What?"
"We just can't believe it." Yuka reasoned.
"But," Akane frowned, "doesn't the description of the thief fit me?"
"Isn't it a male?" Sayuri stated.
"No, it's me. And don't make such a big deal out of it. I do it for two reasons."
"And they are.?" Sayuri glanced askance at Akane.
"One- I hate them and two- I hate them."
"They're both the same!" Yuka argued.
"Wait, listen. I hate them for two reasons. One- they don't work for themselves and two- it was the nobility who took away my." Akane broke off.
Sayuri and Yuka nodded sadly. They knew what Akane was going to say. The same man who had taken Akane's mother's life had taken lives of their loved ones, too.
"My brother died because.." Yuka glanced at the ground beyond her left shoulder.
"My father departed us." Sayuri dropped a tear.
Akane looked out through her melancholy brown eyes.
"I know.I guess I'm doing this not only for myself but for you guys as well."
Yuka smiled. "You know, you shouldn't do it anymore. You're getting yourself into trouble because of us."
"Yes. Just do it once, don't do it twice. Don't sacrifice yourself."
Akane giggled. "You both are starting to sound a lot like Kasumi."
"Kasumi onee-chan? Your sister? Honestly?" Yuka broke into a laugh.
Sayuri tittered along with the both of them.
"But don't worry, we've got it all covered. Why do you think I'm here? I'm supposed to blend in with them so that they won't suspect me."
Sayuri grinned. "Good luck, then. Oh, and one more thing. Boy, am I glad you're here, Akane."
Yuka looked deep into Akane's eyes joyfully. "Me too."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"You've met Shampoo before? Isn't that great?" Nodoka commented.
"It might be great.you see," Ranma explained, "We accidentally.ate up the prize of a fighting competition."
---*flashback*--- "Aiyah! Sirs, this lady here challenges you to a duel!" The guide exclaimed. "You have eaten up her prize and have angered her greatly!"
"All right, oyaji," a pigtailed female spoke up. "I fight this girl. Might as well do it since I'm so bored having to spar with you every day."
The girl advanced, with her weapon held ready in the air, towards the pigtailed girl.
With a simple kick and a "Hyaa!" the purple-haired girl flew into the air.
After she had picked herself up from the ground, with dirt on her clothes and skin, she walked towards the pigtailed female.
Holding her cheek tenderly, the Amazon gave the other girl a kiss.
It was the Kiss of Death. ---*end flashback*---
"So you see, Shampoo kissed me and now she'll chase me to the ends of the earth just to kill me!" Ranma clarified with his mother. Nodoka held a hand up to her cheek demurely. "What excitement! I hope you had fun, my dear son." Ranma face faulted. His mother still hadn't understood. He was trying to point out that Shampoo would kill him if they were to be married.
"What I don't understand is: how Shampoo didn't recognize you back in the lounge."
"Oh.that. That's the something which I was supposed to tell you before.you know.back at the lounge."
Ranma cleared his throat. He felt worried that his mother might not accept the fact that he was cursed. A dry breeze blew through the room and entwined around the two people. Ranma bit his lip. Mustering all the courage he could gather, he admitted.
"Dad and I fell into these springs while we were training." "Was that before you met Shampoo or after?" Nodoka asked, not bothering to use her brain to think. "Before we met her. We arrived at Jusenkyo, a legendary training place for martial artists." Ranma paused to have a sip of water. He breathed in deeply before continuing.
"Father didn't know Chinese and thus, he didn't know how to read the instruction book. When we arrived at Jusenkyo, we didn't know that each of the spring was cursed."
Nodoka frowned, not sure what her son was getting at.
"Years ago, something fell into each of these springs, drowning them. The waters of Jusenkyo remembered these creatures and thus, now whoever falls into them will take on the body of the creature."
Nodoka frowned, still not using her brain.
"We trained immediately, ignoring the cries of warning from the guide. Father was the first one to fall into a spring where a panda drowned. He turned into a panda. And I.Father pushed me into a spring where a girl had drowned. Therefore, I turned into a girl."
Nodoka gasped. "So now you'll be a girl forever?"
Ranma shook his head. Picking up a glass of water, he dumped it onto himself.
"I'll only be a girl if water touches me."
"Then how do you change back? I mean, you can change back, can't you? You were a man when I met you and now you're a girl and- oh, this is all so confusing!"
"Fetch me some warm water!" Ranma ordered the maids who were outside his room.
"Warm water will transform me back to my old self."
"I don't understand- was this how the girl who drowned in there looked like?" Nodoka asked pointing to Ranma's red hair and body.
"No.whoever falls in the spring-of-drowned-girl will turn into the female version of himself. So if you're a girl and you fall in there, nothing will happen to you. Because you're already the female version of yourself."
Nodoka allowed the new information to sink into her. She felt shocked. But it wasn't a horrible shock; neither was it a pleasant one. It was a shock at how such a thing existed. She'd never heard of such springs in her entire life.
"I think I'm beginning to grasp it."
There was a knock on the door. The water was here.
"Ahh, the water."
"I'll hide myself under the covers of my bed," Ranma said; he pushed himself underneath it and tried to make himself as flat as possible.
"Come in." Nodoka ordered.
The maid, a petite light brown-haired girl, entered and curtsied as she passed the kettle to her mistress.
"Ah, Yuka, 'tis you. Thank you."
"I'll take my leave now," Yuka said, curtsying once more before exiting the room.
Ranma got out from under the covers and accepted the water graciously. She poured it over herself and screamed.
"What's wrong?" Nodoka asked worriedly. "Does the water cause it to have any side effects?"
"No," Ranma assured his mother from under the steam surrounding his body. "It's just that the water was too hot!"
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"You guys promise?" Akane asked suspiciously.
"Honestly, Akane, we were your best friends when we were children and you don't trust us?" Sayuri shot her friend a side-glance.
"No, you're wrong, Sayuri-chan," Akane corrected, "we were best friends and we still are."
"Yes," Yuka agreed totally.
Sayuri grinned a Cheshire cat smile. "You're right."
"But still," Yuka scratched an itchy spot on her left arm, "you don't trust us?"
"Well, it's important! You can't let anybody know that I'm the thief or else! And Sayuri, you mustn't address me as Akane. When we're out in the public, I'm known as great and wonderful Sazara," Akane finished.
"The great and wonderful," Yuka mimicked. "I didn't know a thief could be described with such words."
Akane grinned and choosing a pillow, she tossed it onto her friend.
The grin disappeared and was replaced with a serious smile. "Remember, I'm not Akane anymore, but Sazara."
The two other girls nodded solemnly.
"Hai, Sazara-sama," Sayuri said in a mocking tone, rewarding her with a pillow aimed straight at her face.
The pillow fight continued before there was a knock on the door stating that it was dinnertime.
"We'll be eating with the other servants, which would give us time to introduce you to the rest of them. They're quite lovely, really," Yuka neatened the place up by placing the pillows back in their usual position.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"So should we tell Shampoo the truth?" Ranma removed his glove.
"What the Amazon girl doesn't know won't hurt her," Nodoka smiled serenely.
"Are you sure? It might cause us problems if she found out."
"Absolutely certain, my son. Now if you don't mind, we have to hurry," she pulled her son out of his bed. "Our dinner awaits us." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"What're we going to have?" Akane asked as they walked past several pictures and doors.
They were heading to the basement where a side of the room was cleared for the servants and maids who could have their dinner there or do other stuff.
Yuka scratched her left arm again. "Oh, the usual, stew. Lamb or beef if we're lucky."
Sayuri added. "We will also be having potato soup."
"That's too much! I can't eat all this. Usually right now, Kasumi would whip up her delicious rice with pickles. We'd have a fruit or two after dinner," Akane reminisced thoughtfully.
"Here we are!" Sayuri announced as she dragged her friend into the room.
Almost everyone was settled down already and when they saw Yuka and Sayuri enter the place with a newcomer, they started murmuring questions.
Yuka did a few 'ahems' before declaring loudly. "Hush people, hush! We've got somebody we'd like to introduce to you. This, here, is our friend, Aka- " Yuka groaned. Sayuri had jabbed her in the ribs with her elbow.
"What d' you do that for?" Yuka hissed, reeling over in pain.
Akane grinned, which irked Yuka even more. "You forgot my name. Some friend you are."
Sayuri continued for Yuka. "This is our friend, Sazara. Tendou Sazara is going to be working with all of us. She's the upstairs maid," lots of applauding could be heard from the other upstairs maids as with one more maid, there'd be lesser work for each of them to do, "and I hope that all of you will welcome her warmly."
The workers cheered loudly and clapped, which caused Akane to smile with compassion.
"Okay, now let's all get back to dinner," Sayuri motioned for Akane to follow her as they headed towards the end of the table.
She patted a side of the bench, indicating for Akane to sit.
Akane sat and stared at the plate of food before her.
Knowing that there was too much food but feeling hungry at the same time, she dug into her dinner.
"So, Sazara, how old exactly are you? And how are you related to Yuka and Sayuri?" a girl, whom Akane later learned was Saone, popped a piece of potato into her mouth.
"I'm sixteen. And Yuka and Sayuri and I used to grow up in the same neighbourhood. We were childhood friends," Akane drank some of the soup.
"That's great. I'm sixteen, too," Saone's voice lowered to a whisper. "In fact, most of us are either sixteen or seventeen."
"Really?" Akane asked with great interest.
"Yeah," Yuka cut in. "They're either sixteen or seventeen or else they're nine or ten or else they're twenty or twenty-one; forty-four or forty-five; fifty or fifty-one or else sixty-nine or seventy," Yuka frowned as she stirred her potato soup. "Did I just memorise that whole thing?"
Sayuri grinned and nodded; then she chewed on the potato.
The girls ate in silence before Sayuri looked at Akane.
"Do you know that the Saotomes have a large garden and a couple of koi ponds?"
"They do?" Akane stabbed a piece of carrot in the stew and munched it.
"Yes; if I recall, you love roses, don't you Sazara-chan?" Sayuri nudged her friend; causing Akane to choke on the carrot she was eating.
"Don't- do- that." Akane coughed. When she felt the passageway of her throat was fine, she scolded. "Don't do that ever again. I could have died!"
"Sorry," Sayuri grinned sheepishly. "You do love roses, don't you?"
Ever since Akane was a kid, roses had been her life. Her mother had planted a few in their house and each of them bloomed beautifully. Her mother used to say, "Even though roses have thorns, they have a beautiful side of them, too." Which was the complete opposite of the saying, 'even the most beautiful things are dangerous'.
Akane loved roses the most in the world (if you recall, in chapter one, she wore a pink rose to the party Ryouga's family held). Well, she loved them second from her mother.
She nodded slowly. "Yes.do they have roses in their garden?"
Yuka swallowed the food she had just chewed. "Plenty of them! Half the garden is filled with roses. I guess they're Lady Nodoka's favourites."
"Lady Nodoka? I thought that the mistress of this house is Lady Shampoo."
Yuka, accompanied by Sayuri and Saone, chuckled; causing Akane to glance distastefully at them.
"What?" Akane frowned; she was getting frustrated at her laughing friends who wouldn't explain what she'd done wrong.
"I guess you're still rather blur as to who is who in the household we're serving," Yuka giggled again.
"That's okay. We'll teach you," Sayuri assured.
"You see, Genma is the master of this house," Saone explained. She lowered her voice again. "By the way, we, the servants, cannot address them so casually. We're supposed to use their titles but since we're not in the public, we'll drop the formalities."
"Why?" Akane asked again.
"Because," Saone frowned. "I guess it's because we're rather lazy," she grinned. "Using titles would waste our time."
"And our breath," Sayuri put in.
The foursome chortled at Sayuri's joke.
Yuka was the first to stop tittering. "Genma is the master whom we're serving. He is married to Nodoka."
"The Nodoka you guys just mentioned?"
"Yes."
"Oh. Then who's Shampoo?"
"Let us continue, Sazara. A few days back, Nodoka's son, Ranma, returned with his father from a training trip. And they've betrothed Shampoo to Ranma."
"Their son knows martial arts?"
"Yeah, and so do a couple of other wealthy people," Saone drank up the soup.
"Want to know something else?" Yuka stood up from the bench closing the space between her and Akane. "These other girls from wealthy families are falling in love with him," Yuka clasped her hands together, looking like a besotted girl, "'Oh my,' the girls exclaim, 'the devastatingly good- looking lord Ranma is back! Ooooh, I think I'm in love!'"
Sayuri laughed along. "I don't see what's so handsome about him. I mean, he may be good-looking and all, but do those girls even know his personality? How do they know if his hardworking or lazy? A thrift or a gambler?" she rolled her eyes. "Really, these girls just go for looks. They judge the book by its cover."
Akane set aside the dishes of food which she'd finished. She was rather full after the wondrous meal.
"I agree with the both of you. I disgust such people who never bother to find out more about a girl with freckles or a guy with rough skin," Akane said seriously and burped softly; excusing herself, she blushed.
"Those people in the upper class may be smarter; prettier; more elegant or richer than us but they'll never be better than us if they don't know about compassion or spirit," Saone burped also.
Sayuri burped too, followed by Yuka.
In the end, the girls laughed at the joke and all thought that that was the best dinner they'd ever had.
A/N: I know I didn't 'talk' to you guys before so well, this is my first time chatting. To answer some of the reviews I got: 'sakura' when translated means cherry blossom.
If you're wondering when this story is set, it's more of a modern and olden times mix. If there're any mistakes I made, please tell me so that I can make changes.
Hope ya enjoy the story and if there any queries, just review me.
By the way, I wish all of you a Happy New Year!