Tender Loving Care
Rouge landed and strode to the front door.
"Oh, hello Rouge-san, did you enjoy your constitutional?" Kasumi asked cheerfully, as she let the Deity in.
"Oh yes, it was quite, enlightening," was Ashura's reply; lightly pulsing a fireball in one hand idly.
"You took off pretty fast there," Happosai stated, while walking to the front to meet his partner in vengeance, "You see Red again?"
"Once again, he-she managed to elude my wrath," Rouge snarled.
"Tsk, tsk, twice in one day, Rouge," the ancient martial artist admonished, "Oh well, we have all the time we need, but next time, inform me before you to heading off half-cocked." Happosai winced at his own analogy.
Rouge only nodded. Ranma had asked her to continue the charade, as he had quite a few enemies, and he didn't want to hurt his master's feelings. Just so like Ranma; being so concerned about other people's feelings. She sighed as she poured hot water onto her head, and decided to wait for sweet Ranma.
"I'm home," Nabiki called out not too much later.
"Oh, Nabiki, did you have some business after school?" Kasumi replied from the kitchen.
"It wasn't anything important, just meeting with a new acquaintance," the middle Tendou sister replied. She decided that she liked the girl; maybe she would hire her to help with her school activities.
"I hope you had a good time then. Have you seen Ranma? He left a while ago and hasn't.."
"Yo, Kasumi, when's dinner going to be ready?" Otoku-Ranma replied, walking downstairs, carrying Bunny.
"Oh, I didn't hear you come in, Ranma. It'll be done very soon." Kasumi answered, unconsciously taking a step away from the hissing rabbit in Ranma's arms.
"That's cool, can you get something for Bunny to eat?"
"Uh, you're perfectly welcome to get something out of the fridge for it..." Kasumi stated nervously. Nabiki rolled her eyes.
"Honestly, big sis, it's just a rabbit."
"So you say," Ranma replied with a feral grin. Nabiki walked calmly up to Ranma and the now maliciously growling rabbit, and picked it up by the scruff.
"Cute lil' tyke, isn't he?" Nabiki replied sardonically, as the rabbit roared like a bobcat and flailed its claws at the girl. Ranma blinked, he had to admit that even he was impressed.
"Well? You going to go get it some food, or what?" Nabiki snapped at Ranma. The pigtailed boy went to the cupboard and got some oats.
"Ranma, did you happen to bring home Akane's school assignments?" Ranma looked up from his search.
"Uh, no, was I supposed to?"
"Of course, Akane wasn't feeling very well and stayed home for the day."
____________________________________________
Akane sat in her room in her pajamas, and checked her clock again. It was another hour.
Growling in frustration, she got the bottle of rubbing alcohol and the louver sponge, and went to the mirror. Once again, she set to the task of scrubbing the marker from her face, "Damn it! Why won't it come OFF!!!!!"
____________________________________________
"Hmm, I hope she's okay," Ranma replied with genuine concern.
"She'll be fine," Kasumi placated, "Though she won't be down for dinner. I'll have to bring it up to her."
"Hey, if you want I'll take it up for you," Ranma volunteered.
"Oh no, I'll be fine," Kasumi interjected, Ranma just shrugged, and turned to walk upstairs.
"Hey, aren't you gonna feed your rabbit?" Nabiki asked, and then went back to watching the rabidly flailing animal, and sighed.
____________________________________________
"Yo, 'Kane, you alright in there?" Ranma asked, knocking on her bedroom door. He heard a yip, and the girl brace against the door. His nose twitched as he inhaled.
"I-I'm fine, Ranma."
"You sure? Kasumi said you weren't at school today, that you were home sick." There was a pause from Akane's end, "Akane? Hey, Akane!"
"I'm okay, Ranma, really!"
"You're sure acting funny, but alright," with that, Ranma went to his room.
____________________________________________
Nabiki calmly flicked grapes at the rabbit's face as she held it by the scruff of the neck, every so often, Bunny would catch one and gnash it viciously. Rouge approached the girl with caution towards the bunny, "Has sweet Ranma returned, yet?"
Nabiki and the rabbit paused, and turned to look at the girl, "Sweet... Ranma?" Rouge blinked, it seemed the rabbit even mouthed the words.
A blush formed on the Hindu girl's face, "Oh, I mean Ranma, has Ranma returned? My Japanese isn't as firm as I would like to believe," Rouge covered.
"Riiiiiight," Nabiki replied with a smirk, "He's upstairs, so he'll be down when dinner's ready in a few minutes."
Not too much longer, everyone sat around the table, indulging in one of Kasumi's extravagant meals. Nabiki had to smirk; as she watched how close Rouge was insinuating herself with Ranma, much to her father and Mr. Saotome's irritation. Perhaps this could be exploited to her benefit...
"Whelp, I'm stuffed!" Ranma replied, standing up to leave, "Kasumi, that was delicious, and when you go to bring Akane's dinner, have her use baby oil instead of the rubbing alcohol."
Kasumi remained silent as the pigtailed boy let his pet out of its makeshift cage, and both walked upstairs to work on homework.
____________________________________________
"Oh, Nabiki's just the most wonderful person!" Yuri stated with a sigh.
"Really? She always acted like all she cares about is making money," Leslie replied. She was somewhat jealous of her friend's successful outing with the Tendou girl.
"Rezu, she's really pretty sensitive! And Nice!" Yuri stated adamantly. Her friend's English name still was difficult for her to pronounce.
"And you're meeting with her after school today too?" Kimyou asked incredulously, "You're sooo lucky!"
"Well, at least Akane's still available, if I could only work up the nerve to approach her," Leslie sighed wistfully.
"You're so right, Rezu," Kimyou let out her own sigh, "I get dibs on Nabiki's redhead!"
"I saw her yesterday too, she's a very good martial artist!" Yuri commented with a bit of awe, "I bet she has very strong legs."
"Oooh, and she's just so short and adorable too!"
All three of them waited for Nabiki to arrive at school.
____________________________________________
Nabiki this time couldn't ignore the fact that the whispers started only when she arrived on school grounds, but every time she attempted to focus on someone, they would die down and scurry out of distance. She hated secrets, especially ones about her.
"Is something wrong, Nabiki?" Ranma looked up to her potential fiancée with shining eyes. Nabiki shook herself out of her reverie.
"Oh, it's nothing, Ranma baby. Just thinking to myself."
The whole schoolyard went quiet.
Before the full nervousness Nabiki was experiencing could take effect, Yuri and two other girls approached, "Uh, Nabiki-san, we're still going out to the movies tonight, right?" The girl tried to hold the nervousness she felt out of her voice. She also hoped that Nabiki's redhead friend wouldn't decide to rip her apart for her gall.
"As long as you're still offering to pay me," Nabiki replied in a casual tone, she blinked at the dual sighs that came from the girls beside her.
"Then... can I meet you at your place first? To decide what movie?" Yuri kept eyeing Ranma, and began to get a little frightened at her souring face.
Ranma's mouth twisted into a frown, if Nabiki was actually, like that, her whole setup backfired. At least her date would keep her out of her business.
"I guess, that's not a problem with me, you can walk with us after school," the middle Tendou sister answered.
"Uh, Ranma, would you like to go too? And maybe we can invite Akane?" Kimyou asked with a parched voice.
Ranma snapped to attention at the sound of her name, "I... guess, sure."
"You'll have to ask Akane yourself if she wants to go," Nabiki interjected, "We gotta get to class, meet you after school!" With that, Ranma and Nabiki stepped past the trio of girls. The girls looked at each other with blissful faces, and quickly followed behind.
"Man, who woulda thought, Nabiki..."
"Did she have to take Ranma? She's so cute!"
"Do you think Akane's like that too?"
"Oh, merciful Kami, I plead that the answer's 'no'!"
"But she *is* always saying she hates boys."
"..."
"GODS! HAVE YOU FORSAKEN HUMANITY?!?!?"
"Yeah, it's always the good ones..."
"Speaking of boy haters, here she comes..."
A steady war cry of 'I HATE BOYS' sounded through the gate. As she was through, the Tendou girl almost stumbled when none of the boys moved to attack her.
"Akane! Please say it isn't true!" a member of the boxing team cried in desperation.
"Huh?" Akane intelligently replied.
Kuno stayed hidden behind a tree, having heard everything. Something was bewitching the lovely Tendou sisters and the Pigtailed Goddess into unnatural acts. As a noble samurai, he could not let this go unchallenged. Making a vow to himself, Kuno decided that he would find the cause of the three girl's ailments, and force it to relinquish its ghastly hold. The Kendoist walked towards the Kendo Club's room, missing Akane's enraged cry of 'WHAT', and several boys flying into the air at once.
Rouge landed and strode to the front door.
"Oh, hello Rouge-san, did you enjoy your constitutional?" Kasumi asked cheerfully, as she let the Deity in.
"Oh yes, it was quite, enlightening," was Ashura's reply; lightly pulsing a fireball in one hand idly.
"You took off pretty fast there," Happosai stated, while walking to the front to meet his partner in vengeance, "You see Red again?"
"Once again, he-she managed to elude my wrath," Rouge snarled.
"Tsk, tsk, twice in one day, Rouge," the ancient martial artist admonished, "Oh well, we have all the time we need, but next time, inform me before you to heading off half-cocked." Happosai winced at his own analogy.
Rouge only nodded. Ranma had asked her to continue the charade, as he had quite a few enemies, and he didn't want to hurt his master's feelings. Just so like Ranma; being so concerned about other people's feelings. She sighed as she poured hot water onto her head, and decided to wait for sweet Ranma.
"I'm home," Nabiki called out not too much later.
"Oh, Nabiki, did you have some business after school?" Kasumi replied from the kitchen.
"It wasn't anything important, just meeting with a new acquaintance," the middle Tendou sister replied. She decided that she liked the girl; maybe she would hire her to help with her school activities.
"I hope you had a good time then. Have you seen Ranma? He left a while ago and hasn't.."
"Yo, Kasumi, when's dinner going to be ready?" Otoku-Ranma replied, walking downstairs, carrying Bunny.
"Oh, I didn't hear you come in, Ranma. It'll be done very soon." Kasumi answered, unconsciously taking a step away from the hissing rabbit in Ranma's arms.
"That's cool, can you get something for Bunny to eat?"
"Uh, you're perfectly welcome to get something out of the fridge for it..." Kasumi stated nervously. Nabiki rolled her eyes.
"Honestly, big sis, it's just a rabbit."
"So you say," Ranma replied with a feral grin. Nabiki walked calmly up to Ranma and the now maliciously growling rabbit, and picked it up by the scruff.
"Cute lil' tyke, isn't he?" Nabiki replied sardonically, as the rabbit roared like a bobcat and flailed its claws at the girl. Ranma blinked, he had to admit that even he was impressed.
"Well? You going to go get it some food, or what?" Nabiki snapped at Ranma. The pigtailed boy went to the cupboard and got some oats.
"Ranma, did you happen to bring home Akane's school assignments?" Ranma looked up from his search.
"Uh, no, was I supposed to?"
"Of course, Akane wasn't feeling very well and stayed home for the day."
____________________________________________
Akane sat in her room in her pajamas, and checked her clock again. It was another hour.
Growling in frustration, she got the bottle of rubbing alcohol and the louver sponge, and went to the mirror. Once again, she set to the task of scrubbing the marker from her face, "Damn it! Why won't it come OFF!!!!!"
____________________________________________
"Hmm, I hope she's okay," Ranma replied with genuine concern.
"She'll be fine," Kasumi placated, "Though she won't be down for dinner. I'll have to bring it up to her."
"Hey, if you want I'll take it up for you," Ranma volunteered.
"Oh no, I'll be fine," Kasumi interjected, Ranma just shrugged, and turned to walk upstairs.
"Hey, aren't you gonna feed your rabbit?" Nabiki asked, and then went back to watching the rabidly flailing animal, and sighed.
____________________________________________
"Yo, 'Kane, you alright in there?" Ranma asked, knocking on her bedroom door. He heard a yip, and the girl brace against the door. His nose twitched as he inhaled.
"I-I'm fine, Ranma."
"You sure? Kasumi said you weren't at school today, that you were home sick." There was a pause from Akane's end, "Akane? Hey, Akane!"
"I'm okay, Ranma, really!"
"You're sure acting funny, but alright," with that, Ranma went to his room.
____________________________________________
Nabiki calmly flicked grapes at the rabbit's face as she held it by the scruff of the neck, every so often, Bunny would catch one and gnash it viciously. Rouge approached the girl with caution towards the bunny, "Has sweet Ranma returned, yet?"
Nabiki and the rabbit paused, and turned to look at the girl, "Sweet... Ranma?" Rouge blinked, it seemed the rabbit even mouthed the words.
A blush formed on the Hindu girl's face, "Oh, I mean Ranma, has Ranma returned? My Japanese isn't as firm as I would like to believe," Rouge covered.
"Riiiiiight," Nabiki replied with a smirk, "He's upstairs, so he'll be down when dinner's ready in a few minutes."
Not too much longer, everyone sat around the table, indulging in one of Kasumi's extravagant meals. Nabiki had to smirk; as she watched how close Rouge was insinuating herself with Ranma, much to her father and Mr. Saotome's irritation. Perhaps this could be exploited to her benefit...
"Whelp, I'm stuffed!" Ranma replied, standing up to leave, "Kasumi, that was delicious, and when you go to bring Akane's dinner, have her use baby oil instead of the rubbing alcohol."
Kasumi remained silent as the pigtailed boy let his pet out of its makeshift cage, and both walked upstairs to work on homework.
____________________________________________
"Oh, Nabiki's just the most wonderful person!" Yuri stated with a sigh.
"Really? She always acted like all she cares about is making money," Leslie replied. She was somewhat jealous of her friend's successful outing with the Tendou girl.
"Rezu, she's really pretty sensitive! And Nice!" Yuri stated adamantly. Her friend's English name still was difficult for her to pronounce.
"And you're meeting with her after school today too?" Kimyou asked incredulously, "You're sooo lucky!"
"Well, at least Akane's still available, if I could only work up the nerve to approach her," Leslie sighed wistfully.
"You're so right, Rezu," Kimyou let out her own sigh, "I get dibs on Nabiki's redhead!"
"I saw her yesterday too, she's a very good martial artist!" Yuri commented with a bit of awe, "I bet she has very strong legs."
"Oooh, and she's just so short and adorable too!"
All three of them waited for Nabiki to arrive at school.
____________________________________________
Nabiki this time couldn't ignore the fact that the whispers started only when she arrived on school grounds, but every time she attempted to focus on someone, they would die down and scurry out of distance. She hated secrets, especially ones about her.
"Is something wrong, Nabiki?" Ranma looked up to her potential fiancée with shining eyes. Nabiki shook herself out of her reverie.
"Oh, it's nothing, Ranma baby. Just thinking to myself."
The whole schoolyard went quiet.
Before the full nervousness Nabiki was experiencing could take effect, Yuri and two other girls approached, "Uh, Nabiki-san, we're still going out to the movies tonight, right?" The girl tried to hold the nervousness she felt out of her voice. She also hoped that Nabiki's redhead friend wouldn't decide to rip her apart for her gall.
"As long as you're still offering to pay me," Nabiki replied in a casual tone, she blinked at the dual sighs that came from the girls beside her.
"Then... can I meet you at your place first? To decide what movie?" Yuri kept eyeing Ranma, and began to get a little frightened at her souring face.
Ranma's mouth twisted into a frown, if Nabiki was actually, like that, her whole setup backfired. At least her date would keep her out of her business.
"I guess, that's not a problem with me, you can walk with us after school," the middle Tendou sister answered.
"Uh, Ranma, would you like to go too? And maybe we can invite Akane?" Kimyou asked with a parched voice.
Ranma snapped to attention at the sound of her name, "I... guess, sure."
"You'll have to ask Akane yourself if she wants to go," Nabiki interjected, "We gotta get to class, meet you after school!" With that, Ranma and Nabiki stepped past the trio of girls. The girls looked at each other with blissful faces, and quickly followed behind.
"Man, who woulda thought, Nabiki..."
"Did she have to take Ranma? She's so cute!"
"Do you think Akane's like that too?"
"Oh, merciful Kami, I plead that the answer's 'no'!"
"But she *is* always saying she hates boys."
"..."
"GODS! HAVE YOU FORSAKEN HUMANITY?!?!?"
"Yeah, it's always the good ones..."
"Speaking of boy haters, here she comes..."
A steady war cry of 'I HATE BOYS' sounded through the gate. As she was through, the Tendou girl almost stumbled when none of the boys moved to attack her.
"Akane! Please say it isn't true!" a member of the boxing team cried in desperation.
"Huh?" Akane intelligently replied.
Kuno stayed hidden behind a tree, having heard everything. Something was bewitching the lovely Tendou sisters and the Pigtailed Goddess into unnatural acts. As a noble samurai, he could not let this go unchallenged. Making a vow to himself, Kuno decided that he would find the cause of the three girl's ailments, and force it to relinquish its ghastly hold. The Kendoist walked towards the Kendo Club's room, missing Akane's enraged cry of 'WHAT', and several boys flying into the air at once.