Disclaimer- I do not own Ranma ½. Tomo and her sister belong to me, however.
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I honestly don't know what I was thinking. Did I think this was going to be fun? Did I think this was going to be easy or something? What am I? A moron? Or maybe I'm just too naïve. Well, whatever I was thinking, it's brought me here. And now I'll merely have to make do. Because that's really the only option I have. Stupid, stupid, STUPID!!! This is all so stupid.
But wait. I'm getting a head of my self, aren't I? You don't even know what's going on. I hate hearing stories where I don't know what's going on. You see, it all stared like this...
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"Tomo! Mail's here! You got some registered letter or something! "My sister Mizuki called as she entered the house one afternoon late in May, the door slamming behind her. She always was on the loud side. I looked up from the bowl of ramen I was slurping from, my eyebrow cocked as she tossed the letter on the table before she walked over to the couch, throwing herself across it as she flipped though some magazine or another.
"Must be from the society." I said around a mouthful of noodles, picking the letter up from the table. I glanced at the address, and sure enough, I was right.
"Hmm. That's interesting." Mizuki said absent mindedly as she thumbed through the magazine, not really paying me any heed. Yeah, did I mention she's self-absorbed? I rolled my eyes in her general direction as I ripped the envelope open, pulling out the papers inside. I glanced them over, a pleased smile on my face.
"Hah! Guess who's going to Japan for her last two years of High School?! Yes! Wait'll everyone hears. They'll be so jealous. "I replied with a cocky grin as I got up from the table and carried my empty bowl to the sink, leaving it on the pile of dishes that were slowly beginning to resemble a mountain.
"Mizuki, do the dishes." I added as I walked past her, kicking the end of the couch to get her attention as I passed.
"Ok fine! Geez! Who's the older sister here anyway?!" She grumbled as she got up, sulking as she stomped into the kitchen. She was muttering about me with every step she took, but that was typical.
"From the way YOU act, I wouldn't know." I yelled as I entered the office, shutting the door with my foot. Guess it was time to call old money bags...I mean dad.
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8 weeks later.
I feel like a zombie. Ugh. Jet lag is sooo uncool. And the trip here took forever. 14 hours straight on a plane is way too long, if you ask me. Man. I don't even know what day it is anymore. All in all though, I guess the flight was pretty uneventful. I got a window seat, and whoever was supposed to set next to me, never showed up. Which was nice. Anyway, though, I was just glad to be off that plane. Even if I did look like I was drunk as I wobbled out of customs and down to baggage claim. I needed to get my money exchanged too, but I figured there had to be a bank somewhere near where I was staying. I'd been assigned to stay with these people named the Tendo's, in a suburb or whatever of Tokyo. I'd be going to Furinkan High School, along with 2 of the Tendo girls. I'd gotten a bit of information on the family, and I'd e-mailed the one girl, Nabiki, to ask if I could bring my cats, but other than that, I hadn't been in any real contact with the family or anything. I really hoped they'd gotten my e-mail with the info on when my plane arrived and stuff. Cause being stuck here would really suck.
But get my e-mail they must have. Since I saw a young lady holding a sign with my name on it after I'd collected my luggage and shoved, pushed, and pulled it onto a cart.
"Um, Hi. I'm Tomo Kagayama." I said as I hesitantly approached the lady, making sure my Japanese was enunciated clearly. I may have been of Japanese decent you know, but still...I WAS American after all.
"Oh! You startled me. I'm very pleased to meet you. I'm Kasumi Tendo." The lady said with a slight laugh, bowing.
"Nice to meet ya. " I replied, hiding a yawn.
"Is this all of your things? "She asked as she glanced at the cart of luggage, her eyes widening as they fell on my cat carrier.
"Oh my. Is that a cat?" She asked, sounding a bit odd.
I stared at her for a few minutes in confusion as people bustled here and there around us.
"Uh, yeah. It was all right I brought them, wasn't it? I'd e-mailed your sister Nabiki, and she said it was ok, so I just assumed..." I replied as I picked at the edge of my sleeve, a nervous habit of mine.
"No, it's fine. It was just a bit of a surprise. She must have forgotten to mention it. Well, shall we go? I'm sure you're tired, and it's still quite a ways to the house. This area is always quite congested." Kasumi relied with a smile as I nodded and followed her from the airport. There was something strange about the whole cat incident but I was tired and decided I'd think about it later.
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It took us 2 freaking hours to get from Narita to their house. If I had thought I felt like a Zombie back at the airport, by then I actually was close to being one. My body was by then moving on it's own accord, probably from necessity. Since my mind WAS like mush by that time. Kasumi helped me pull my stuff from the trunk of the taxi, and then we made our way inside. I pulled my rolling suitcase and carried the cat carrier as I followed her, my carry on and garment bag in her grasp.
"Welcome to our home! We're so glad you've come. Shall I give you a tour now, or would you rather wait until later? "She asked as we stopped in the entryway to remove our shoes.
"If you don't mind, I'm a bit tired. I'd rather take the tour when I'm much more attentive." I said with a weary smile.
"Oh, alright. I'll show you to your room then. Please, follow me." Kasumi said as she lead the way into the house and up the stairs, showing me to the guestroom at the back of the hall. It wasn't very big, but it was big enough, and it contained a nice daybed, a desk, bookcase, and a desk lamp. There was a window with a balcony along one wall, and it overlooked the yard and fence that bordered the property. It wasn't much of a view, but it was better than nothing.
"It's a bit bare right now, but I'm sure you'll have it looking like home in no time. Would you like for me to show you where the bath is? I know you said you're tired, but a nice hot bath may help you feel better. And now would be an excellent time to take one. Everyone else will be gone until this evening. "She said with a smile.
"Yes, thank you. That's probably a good idea. It would probably help me with my jet lag." I replied as I sat the cat carrier on the floor and stretched. Kasumi said something to the effect of "All right." or "That's fine ", as she led me down stairs and showed me where the bath was.
"The towels are in here and you can just leave your laundry here in the bin." She told me, pulling open the closet where the towels were kept. I thanked her before I made my way back to my room, unzipping my suitcase so I could pull my bathrobe and other toiletries out before heading back to the bath.
"A nice, hot soak is probably just what I need. "I muttered as I slid the door closed. I undressed and threw my dirty laundry in the clothes bin, hurriedly washing my hair as I rinsed off with the cold water. I was shivering by the time I turned the hot water on and let the tub begin to fill, wrapping one of the towels around my self as I waited. I was just about to get in when I heard something scratching at the door. I wrinkled my nose as I got to my feet, securing the towel tighter around my body as I went to investigate. I pulled the door open hesitantly, confused as I saw nothing at first.
"Well, I wonder what that noise was?" I mumbled as I glanced down, my eyes widening over what I saw. The dirtiest little black pig sat there, panting as it looked up at me.
"Oh, Tomo." Kasumi said as she rounded the corner and saw me, a frazzled look on her face. "Would you mind bathing P-chan when you're through? I don't know where's he's been, but he's so terribly dirty. I don't want to wait for Akane to bathe him later and have him here in the house looking like that." She asked as she picked the little thing up and handed him to me.
"Uh, sure. I can bathe him." I said as I glanced down at the black piglet in my arms. It seemed to panic when I said that, trying to squirm out of my grasp, but I tightened my grasp before he could make his getaway.
"Thank you very much." Kasumi replied as I nodded and shut the door, glancing skeptically at the pig.
"Alright pig." I said, holding it up to face me by the black and orange bandana it had tied around its neck. "I'm not too wild about this and obviously you aren't either. But Kasumi has a point. You can't run around here looking like that. So...I guess that means one thing. You're getting that bath whether you want it or not. You are, however, very dirty. So I'm bathing first. You can wait out here." I said as I sat the pig down in the laundry room and went to take my bath.
"What's with that pig?!" I muttered to myself as I ditched the towel and climbed into the tub. I sank down into the water, sighing with contentment as the hot water soothed my tense nerves and muscles. I probably soaked in there for about ½ an hour before I remembered I still needed to bathe the pig. The water sloshed as I got out and grabbed my towel, drying off before I pulled my robe on, tying it shut. I gathered my other toiletries and pulled the door open to the laundry room, sitting the basket with my stuff in it on the dryer.
"Ok, it's your turn now, piggy." I said as I picked it up, heading back into the bathroom. He squealed as he tried to get away, but he was no match for me as I knelt by the tub. I held him up until he was at eye-level with me with me.
"Well, you may not want a bath, little piggy, but theme's the breaks." I declared as I smirked at the tiny thing before I tossed him in the tub. He promptly sunk to the bottom as I began to panic.
"Agghhh!! Stupid pig! Don't you dare drown on me!" I exclaimed as I pushed my sleeve up and plunged my arm in the water, fishing around for him. What I felt down there was most definitely NOT a pig!
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Hah! And here's my latest fan fic!! My ode to the first anime I ever got into, Ranma ½ !!! This was actually the first fan fic I ever wrote too. It's just been sitting around in my room for these past couple years, he he!! But it did get a little revision!! I have Imadoki, Alice 19th, Pretear, and Full Metal Panic fan fics in the works, maybe they'll make it up here eventually too!! Lol!!! Actually, Chapter 1 of the Imadoki fic is going up tonight too. Enjoy.