Sendai
By M. Zephyr

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. This story was written for non-commercial purposes only.

Ranma x Akane. See the bottom of Chapter 1 for an author's note dealing with the entirety of this story.

Chapter 4. Employment

On Monday morning, Tofu ate his breakfast quietly, then left to drive to his clinic. While Kasumi and Akane washed up (there wasn't really room for a third person in the kitchen), Ranma sat at the table going over employment ads in the newspaper, marking possibilities both for himself and for the girls. From time to time his voice would call out with a question, such as "Is anyone interested in a job as an assistant librarian?" or "Just what the heck is an actuary?" By the time that he was done, there were about three dozen prospects marked, of which about a third were in the near vicinity of either their apartment or the medical clinic, and another third, only partially intersecting the first, were part-time jobs which Akane or Ranma would be able to do after school or on weekends.

Afterward the trio left the apartment and walked three blocks to a bus stop, where they waited about ten minutes before the bus they were waiting for pulled up, one which would drop them off at a short distance from the medical center. Akane sat beside Ranma, and Kasumi sat across the aisle from them. As the bus drove off, Ranma turned to speak to Kasumi.

"I've gotta hand it to you, Doc Tofu does seem to be getting himself under control. Another day or two and he might be just about normal."

Kasumi allowed herself a mischievous smile. "Yes, nothing like throwing a person into a river to see if he can learn to swim."

Akane, sitting beside Ranma on his other side, growled. "Not the analogy that I would have chosen." Then her voice brightened a bit, "Still, it seems to be working a lot better than I had expected."

"I just hope he's going to forgive me once it's over with," Ranma sighed.

After getting off of the bus, they walked several blocks to reach the medical center containing Doctor Tofu's clinic. They then split up to obtain and fill out applications for the several part-time (or in Kasumi's case, full-time) positions which, as Tofu had suggested, were available. This took the rest of the morning after which, as previously agreed, they met at the clinic to go out to lunch together. Ranma walked in to find Akane and Kasumi in the waiting room already. His fiancée looked up at him with a smile.

Looking back at her, Ranma pointed first to Kasumi and then back into the depths of the clinic, a question in his eyes. Akane grimaced, and shook her head in the negative. As he walked over to them, the older girl also noticed his presence.

"Hi. Is Doc Tofu ready to go to lunch yet?" he asked aloud.

"The receptionist told us that he's with his last patient now," Kasumi replied. "He should be out in just a few minutes."

Ranma took the opportunity to look around at what he could see of the clinic, which amounted to the waiting room, the office behind the receptionist, and through an open door a bit of hallway beyond which the examination rooms presumably were located. It seemed to be a very nice place, perhaps even a little bit more upscale than Ranma was expecting of the kindly doctor who wasn't above using ancient folk remedies. He then sat down beside Akane and picked up a year-old magazine to browse through while he waited. After a few minutes a little old man, presumably the patient, came out into the waiting room and left. A short while later Tofu emerged as well. He started shuddering when he caught sight of Kasumi, but got himself under control after a minute.

"Everyone ready to go eat?" he asked. "Although I suppose that goes without saying in your case, Ranma."

Ranma growled while the girls giggled, and they all filed out, and came out of the building into a bright and sunny day. Tofu led them on a short walk down the street to a small Italian café. After they sat down and ordered, the doctor asked about their luck with the job applications at the medical center.

Ranma gave him a lopsided smile. "Well, I wasn't having much luck with most of the places, but the head of facilities hired me on the spot as a member of the maintenance staff. It doesn't pay quite as much as some of the other positions would, but it's still pretty good and I know I can do the work."

Akane looked a little forlorn. "None of them offered me a job yet, although a couple of them said that they might be in touch after they check my references. I hope one of them comes through."

Kasumi for her part smiled demurely and said, "Well, I also don't have a firm offer yet, but two of the clinics trying to hire a receptionist seemed favorably inclined. One is an optometrist, and the other is a pediatrician. They both said that they would probably be in touch tomorrow to let me know."

Tofu's hands trembled briefly at the thought of her working in the same building as himself, but inwardly he was smiling, as he hoped that soon there would be no signs left of his old affliction. Akane on the other hand grimaced, not having received as warm a reception as her elder sister. However, she soon cheered up as the conversation moved onto other matters. They spent a while discussing the excellent food, and places of interest in Sendai that Tofu had visited or heard of, until he changed the subject to ask about how and when they were informing everyone of their departure.

All three started speaking at once, but Akane and Ranma fell silent almost immediately, allowing Kasumi to explain. "I left a package containing four envelopes with a friend in Nerima, with instructions to mail them two weeks after we left, which is when we are due back from this alleged training trip. Two were somewhat similar letters to our father and Ranma's parents, explaining what we had done and our reasons for doing so. The third was addressed to Nabiki, appealing to her as a personal favor to me not to help our parents or anyone else to discover where we have gone. I believe she will heed this request, if only because she should still be feeling guilty after a long talk which I had with her concerning the part that she played in the wedding fiasco."

Kasumi fell silent, letting Ranma take up the thread of the narrative. "The fourth is addressed to Ukyo. While I haven't come close to forgiving her for what she did at the wedding, she was a friend of mine for a long time. I explained that I had originally felt a debt of honor to her as a result of the engagement my pop made between us, even though the engagement to Akane had prior claim, and that I could understand that she felt a need to try to put a stop to that wedding both because of her claim and the fact that she knew that getting married that day wasn't my idea. But I also told her that there was a right way and a wrong way to try to do that, and wrecking the wedding and dojo, and throwing around bombs that could have injured guests as well as members of my family and the Tendo's, was so deeply wrong that I consider the debt of honor which I once owed her as canceled. I informed her that due to our previous friendship, I would probably forgive her one day, but that would take a long while and I wanted some time away from her. I asked her not to try to find me."

Tofu nodded. "What about the other girls? Shampoo and, ... what was her name? Kodachi Kuno, wasn't it?"

Akane snorted feelingly. "We're not telling them anything. We'll let them figure it out for themselves sometime after we don't come back from our 'training trip', when they realize they haven't seen us yet. Probably they'll ask Nabiki, who will tell them the truth, that we've left to live somewhere else and she doesn't know where. In our letter to her, we told her that she doesn't have to keep that a secret from anyone."

"And how do you think everyone will react to your disappearance?" the doctor asked.

Kasumi tilted her head to the side slightly, and spoke consideringly. "Everyone will be upset with us of course. Our parents will be livid about not having been consulted, and not being able to control Akane's and Ranma's lives. I think that they will have trouble finding us if Nabiki does not help them. Nabiki will be unhappy that we are asking her not to sell information regarding our whereabouts, and that she will no longer be able to make money off of these two. However, I believe that she will heed our request not to help find us." She was secretly hoping that she was right about this last statement.

"Ukyo will be deeply unhappy, but I believe she will not pursue Ranma. The tone of his letter to her makes it clear that doing so will not help her standing with him. The Kuno's are likely to be little more than a nuisance even after they find us. They will find us more quickly if they hire private investigators, which they can certainly afford to do, but I think it more likely that they will rely upon their servant Sasuke to find us, which should take longer.

"Cologne and Shampoo will probably track us down shortly after the start of the school term. However, their reaction is much harder to predict. Shampoo is unquestionably infatuated with Ranma, but is unlikely to openly defy Cologne. By this time, I think that Cologne might be growing worried over the idea of bringing Ranma back to her village. The man who killed Saffron is hardly likely to fit into the subservient role that is expected of males of her people, and could even prove dangerous.

"Ryoga is just as likely to stumble across us here before he even shows up in Nerima again. Despite his total lack of a sense of direction, he demonstrates an uncanny knack for appearing where and when you least expect him. However, I think the fact that Akane voluntarily chose to come here to live with Ranma is more probable to cause him to go into a fit of depression than to react with violence."

Ranma caught himself staring at Kasumi, and dropped his eyes down to his plate. He had never expected such an analysis of people's reactions from her, having always regarded her as being rather oblivious to the goings on in the Tendo home. The only point on which he found himself in disagreement was in her assessment of Ryoga's likely reaction. Of course, that was hardly surprising, as there was pertinent data about him which she did not possess.

When they had finished their meal, Doctor Tofu paid the bill and they left. He went back to his clinic while the other three went off to explore some of the job opportunities Ranma had marked in the newspaper that morning, particularly those which might be appropriate for Akane or Kasumi. Neither were offered jobs on the spot, but Akane was a little more cheerful by the time they got home since a couple of the prospects had seemed promising.

Later that afternoon, after they had returned to the apartment, Akane and Ranma were at the table cutting shapes out of dough for cookies while Kasumi was in the kitchen beginning dinner preparations. The telephone rang and Ranma, being closest, answered it. "Hello, this is the Ono residence. Yes, one moment. ... Kasumi, it's for you."

The young woman wiped her hands clean, then took the telephone from Ranma. "Hello, this is Kasumi Tendo. Yes. Yes. No, that's fine. Yes, that sounds good. I'm really looking forward to it. Thank you very much. Good-bye."

She hung up the phone and turned around smiling.

"Good news?" asked Akane.

"Yes. That was the pediatrician's office at the medical center where I applied as a receptionist. They've offered me the position and I accepted. I start work there tomorrow morning."

"Hey, that is good news," Ranma said. "Congratulations, Kasumi."

Akane also smiled and congratulated her sister. She hoped that she had managed to keep any envy out of her voice while doing so, but knew deep down that she was not really fooling Kasumi.

That evening Akane, Ranma and Tofu were watching a comedy series on television, while Kasumi sat at the table reading a book. Tofu was sitting in a comfortable chair angled so that its back was to the dining area, while the two teenagers were sitting together on the couch. Akane was leaning slightly on Ranma's shoulder, ostensibly for a better view of the television.

Tofu spoke up, "I'm thinking that tomorrow might be a good time to go by Masamune High School and see about getting the two of you registered. I've already spoken with the principal, and he has agreed in principle to overlook the irregularities of your situation. I was thinking that Kasumi and I could meet you there at lunchtime."

"Sounds like a plan, doc," said Ranma. "Could you leave us the address of that dojo you mentioned before you go tomorrow? Akane and I could stop by tomorrow morning to try to make arrangements to use it. I don't want to go too much longer without a good sparring session. I'll need to go there in the morning since I have to report for my first day of work tomorrow afternoon."

"Sure Ranma. In fact, let me go get you the address now."

He stood, caught sight of Kasumi reading at the table and gave a single tremor from head to toe, but immediately got himself back under control and went back to the bedroom. He returned a minute later holding a piece of paper with an address written on it. He handed this to the boy and returned to his seat.

With a carefully casual air, not looking behind himself, he requested, "While you're there, you might mention that Kasumi and I will probably want to use the facilities a little as well, although not to nearly the same extent as the two of you."

The next morning after Kasumi and Tofu had already left, and Akane and Ranma were getting ready to go out to visit the dojo, the telephone rang. Akane answered. "Hello?"

"May I speak to Akane Tendo please?"

"This is Akane Tendo speaking."

"Oh, good. I'm with Human Resources at the hospital. I understand that you applied for a job with the IT department yesterday, something to do with data entry for patient records. We'd like to offer you the position. You do understand that it is only a part-time position, three hours a day on weekdays, and five hours on Saturday, for a total of twenty hours per week?"

"Yes, I understand, and I'd be happy to accept the job. May I ask how much it pays?"

The woman on the other end answered her, and after a few more minutes of conversation Akane hung up, having arranged to go to the hospital that afternoon in order to take care of the necessary paperwork and to undergo a brief orientation. She would begin the actual work the next day.

"So, what job did you just accept?" Ranma asked, smiling at her evident happiness. "Oh, and congratulations by the way."

Akane smiled. "It's a computer job entering data for patient records. It's at the hospital, just down the street from the medical center."

She told him a few more pertinent facts about the job, including the pay. Ranma scowled slightly, then gave a half-hearted grin.

"Looks like everybody else is going to get paid better than me. Ah well, I shouldn't complain; I'm getting paid well enough, and the more we all make in total the better."

Akane stuck out her tongue at him. "As if it really matters, jerk. Besides, I'll only be making slightly more than you. I could wipe out the excess by treating you to a single visit to an ice cream parlor, at least considering the way that you eat. Now come on, I want to see this dojo."

They left the apartment together, and walked the two blocks to the address written on the paper Tofu had given Ranma. They found the place easily enough, even though the sign outside was rather discreet, and they realized that they had overlooked it both going and coming during their walk on Sunday. Stepping inside, they nodded appreciatively as they took stock of the set up of the facilities. There was a class currently in progress, so they stopped just inside the door and waited to be noticed. After a few minutes, the man who was leading the class left the students to perform a drill and came over to talk to the couple. He was in his early forties and wearing a black belt.

"May I help you? Are you perhaps interested in signing up for classes? I am Saeto Hikari. I own this dojo and, as you can see, teach classes with the help of my sons, although I am afraid that neither of them is here at the moment."

Akane and Ranma both bowed to the man.

"Hello, Sensei," Ranma began. "My name is Ranma Saotome, and this is my fiancée Akane Tendo. We are the heirs to the Saotome School and Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. We're not actually interested in classes, but are looking for a place where we can practice while we are living nearby, and we were hoping that you might be willing to let us use your dojo for such a purpose. We would be willing to pay a reasonable fee, of course."

"Would you object to giving me a small demonstration, to judge your level of skill?"

"Not at all." Ranma turned to his fiancé. "Akane, would you mind performing that kata with me, the one which we were practicing in the park the other day?"

Akane smiled at him, and the two of them stepped away from the door and flowed into the kata. They were moving synchronously, throwing kicks, punches and blocks, making leaps and spins, as if there were but a single mind controlling both their bodies. As they progressed, they increased their speed until they were moving in a blur. The class had ceased their drill, and were staring at the couple with hanging jaws. The pair ended their kata standing beside one another, and bowed to the sensei. It did not appear that either one was even sweating, let alone breathing hard.

"Well, that was certainly impressive," complimented the older man, regarding them with greater interest. "Perhaps one of you would agree to spar with me?"

Although he had clearly been addressing Ranma, Akane stepped forward, and Ranma bowed to her, acceding to her implied request. She smiled happily back at him and dropped into a loose stance. Saeto attacked her after a moment.

A couple of minutes later, looking from their sensei lying flat on his back trying to get his breath back, to Akane, standing over him offering him a hand up, the members of the class were absolutely certain that they never wanted to upset this girl with the short black hair. One of the more experienced students, wearing a brown belt, swallowed particularly hard. He knew from bruising experience that his sensei, a sixth dan black belt, was very good, and this young girl had not only defeated him, but had made it look easy.

"Ah, yes," the man wheezed from the floor. "I believe that I can admit that you are really quite good. I expect that your fiancé is equally skilled?"

"Actually, he's a lot better than I am. But someday I hope to be as good." The girl grinned, enjoying the looks of astonishment on the other faces as they tried to picture someone being better than what they had just seen demonstrated.

"Well, I believe that we can indeed come to an agreement, provided you're willing to fit your practices in around my class schedules. I also think we can keep the fees quite reasonable, especially if you'd be willing to teach me some of those moves of yours."

"We'd be more than happy to do so," Ranma said, also grinning widely. "We have a couple of roommates who are pretty good too, if not quite at our level, who might like to join us occasionally, if you don't mind."

"Then if you could wait until after I dismiss my class, I am sure that we can come to an accommodation with one another."

Once the class had filed out, it only took a couple of minutes of negotiations before they settled on the fees for use of the dojo, and made an initial payment. With a final set of bows they took their leave.

Lunchtime found them standing at the gates of the high school, about one and a half kilometers from their apartment. Although the architectural design was very different from Furinkan, the quality of the facilities did not appear, from the outside at least, to be either particularly better or worse than their former school. They had been waiting for about fifteen minutes before Tofu and Kasumi finally drove up.

The doctor seemed a little flustered. "Sorry, we were delayed a little in traffic. Let's go in."

In the school office, they only had to sit and wait five minutes or so after giving their names to a secretary, before being shown in to the principal's office. The man behind the desk reminded them of a kindly old grandfather, except for the grey eyes that spoke of an iron will. He stood and bowed to the four, before resuming his seat.

"Greetings. I am Principal Bansui. I am a patient of Ono-sensei; he tries to keep me alive despite the high blood pressure I get from this job. He has told me quite a tale regarding the two of you, which I would find completely unbelievable if anyone else had told it to me. Actually, I fear I find it more than a little unbelievable even so. Would you mind demonstrating this supposed curse for me, young man?"

The principal gestured to two thermoses standing on a table at the side of the room. Ranma sighed, stood up, and walked over to them. He opened them both, and determined which one was cold and which was hot. With a grimace he lifted and poured the cold water over his head.

Despite having been told what would happen, the older man realized in that moment that, deep down, he had not accepted it emotionally. He found himself staring with a degree of shock into the sad blue eyes in the face of the young red-haired girl standing there.

"That really is extremely bizarre," the principal murmured. "Forgive me, young man, I am quite sure that you've had more than your fill of people staring at that phenomenon. Unfortunately, I needed to be sure of the facts of the case before I proceed further with this matter. Please transform yourself back, and let us continue."

Ranma gladly poured the hot water over himself, changing back once more into a black-haired male, then dried himself with a towel which had been lying folded on the table beside the thermoses. He walked over and sat in the chair beside Akane once more.

"I hope that the two of you appreciate the irregularity of this situation. Under ordinary circumstances, I wouldn't even consider doing what Ono-sensei has requested of me. Normally we deal only with parents of our students. In a few cases we deal with legal guardians for students who have lost their parents, or guardians designated by the parents if the students have been sent to live with such, who are usually other family members. In your case, your parents are alive and are legally your guardians, and are unaware of your presence here.

"However, these are not ordinary circumstances. Further, aside from my respect for Ono-sensei, there are a couple of mitigating factors which have prompted me to consider permitting this. The first is that my own first marriage was arranged by our parents, and was a disaster." His eyes took on a distant look, and it was almost as if he were speaking to himself. "We were both dreadfully unhappy for nine long years before she succumbed to pneumonia. Mind, I would have wished her well with another, and am sorry that she had to die so unhappy, but we just found it impossible to get along with one another." He cleared his throat, seeming to come back to the present. "Consequently, I tend to be very sympathetic to young people who have to deal with manipulative parents who insist on interfering in such matters.

"The second factor is that Doctor Tofu has told me a lot of background about how you were raised by your parents. Enough that I feel quite confident that if the matter were pushed far enough, they could be taken to court and declared incompetent and you could be removed from their custody. I understand that you do not wish to go so far, at least so long as they do not push you to that point, but I believe that the threat of it can afford me a measure of protection. At least to the point where I am willing to take the risk.

"But I want to be sure that the both of you understand that I am going out on a limb for you. Do not make me regret this decision. I expect you both to do as well at your schoolwork as may be reasonably expected, to show respect to your teachers, and not to be the instigators of trouble."

"Yes, sensei," both teenagers replied, bowing slightly in their seats.

"You understand, Ono-san, that you are filling the role of guardian for the both of them? Tendo-san, of course, may also share that duty with regard to her younger sister. You will sign any documents they bring home which would normally be signed by parents, such as permission forms, and you are the one who will be contacted in case of trouble or if their teachers wish to meet with the person who is responsible for them."

"Yes, I understand."

"Very well. When filling out your paperwork, please put Ono-san's name where it asks for 'parent or guardian'. Here is the name and office number of your guidance counselor, who is just down the hall from here, and with whom you have an appointment to speak immediately after we are finished. He will take care of your paperwork, arrange your class schedules, and give you information on school uniforms and such matters. As per a request of Ono-san, you will share most of your classes, as he tells me that Tendo-san has previously been instrumental in helping Saotome-san keep his grades up."

The principal handed over a couple of business cards, which Akane and Ranma took from him. They contained the name, office number and phone number of the guidance counselor.

"One more thing. I'll be talking with the boys' gym coach later today. I will inform him that due to medical reasons Saotome-san is to be granted permission to use the teachers' locker room instead of showering with the rest of the boys. Hopefully this will ward off any awkward situations involving water in the locker rooms."

"Thank you very much, Bansui-sensei," Ranma said.

As everyone stood, Kasumi asked, "Is there any need for Doctor Tofu and I to remain here? We really should be getting back to work."

"No. Since I've agreed to admit them pending reception of satisfactory records from their previous school, everything else should go smoothly from here. They'll bring home a list of the fees which have to be paid, and the medical forms which will need to be filled out. As long as all of that is taken care of, they can start school with everyone else."

On exiting, they said their good-byes to one another. Kasumi and Tofu turned one way to leave the school, while Akane and Ranma went down the hall toward the counselor's office. After about another hour they were fully registered, with almost identical class schedules, and had all of the information which they needed to take home. They calculated that they had just enough time to head home to drop it all off, before they would need to leave to catch the bus to take them to their jobs.

They walked out of the school gates side by side, their hands almost touching. There was a feeling of accomplishment filling them, along with the realization that they were actively looking forward to the start of school.