Chapter 45: 30 Minutes or it's Free

"Martial Arts Takeout?" Shui asked, as the usual quintet sat around eating lunch under a tree on the school grounds the next day.

"Yeah, that's apparently the challenge. I need to manage a crash course on the techniques, and thought you or Ukyo might know. Since you both work with food, and, well, Shui, you do deliveries," Hibari explained.

Shui nodded. "I'm not sure if Japanese standards would accept all my techniques, but I can try to help. After school, I will run you through a crash course."

"Can I join in?" Ranma asked. "The wording of the challenge never said I couldn't get involved. Just that it's a 'girls only' competition. Seems especially unfair since Hibari's arm's still healin'."

"Well, in that case, I think Shampoo will be happy to help too," Shui said with a wink.

"Glad I have such nice girls I can rely on for help," Hibari replied, leaning against Ranma with a smile.

"Oh, sh-should I help out too?" Rie asked, as much to Ukyo and Hibari.

"You're still learning your cooking. Martial arts techniques are a few months of training away," Ukyo replied, the chef's tone was kind rather than dismissive however. "I don't want to see you get hurt."

Rie nodded. "Understood. I... what about you though, Ukyo-kun?"

"What about—oh! I... I'd need a disguise, I think. It would be awkward to get recognised," Ukyo replied.

Suddenly Hibari and Shui lit up.

"Makeover challenge!" the pair declared in unison.

"As soon as you close up shop tonight, come visit my place," Hibari added.

Ukyo blushed a little. "Well, since it's for Ranchan's sake, I'll try. Not really a delivery girl, but I know my food."

Hibari was downing a vanilla milkshake as she and Ranma waited in the backyard of the Neko Hanten. Mixed in was Ranma's healing potion from thathalf forgotten temple. Hidden in by vanilla, and with the calcium and calories needed for her body to heal the amount the potion allowed, it actually wasn't too terrible to consume.

"I feel a little useless out here," the curvier redhead muttered. "I'm gonna go in and help with the waitressin'."

"I'm sure that, if it were busy enough to need you, Cologne would call on you. Heck, she'd probably tell me that a broken arm wasn't a valid excuse for not waiting tables," Hibari replied, laughing a little at the idea.

"Sittin' still is the worst though," Ranma sighed.

"Well, as long as Cologne pays you," Hibari replied, sticking her tongue out.

The back door opened, revealing a somewhat annoyed Cologne. "We don't need any help, and I'm not made of money. If you're bored, practice some yoga or tai-chi to get warmed up."

"You need to teach me your listening secret technique," Hibari said.

Cologne gave her a flat stare. "Marry Shampoo and I'll teach you any techniques you want."

"I'll admit, that's a good bit of incentive," Hibari replied, looking over at Ranma.

The other girl nodded. "We'll take that bit inta consideration."

Cologne smiled, a knowing glint neither teen could read in her eyes, before she closed the door.

Ranma hopped onto her feet, heading out to the more open part of the yard, and began running through some yoga techniques she'd picked up over the years. Hibari stayed seated, finishing her milkshake slowly as she enjoyed the view.

With the mixture of potion, milk, and ice cream finished, Hibari stood up and made an effort to stretch her arm.

"Still a little sore, but I think I'll be good for tomorrow," she said with a smile.

"Do you think you're ready for practice tonight?" Ranma asked, pausing partway through a stretch.

"I can learn a bit by watching," Hibari replied. "And it gives you more time to practice."

"Tongzhi!" Shampoo announced, whipping the back door open. "Dinner rush is done! We can practice now."

"Sounds good ta me!" Ranma replied.

Shampoo rushed over, hugging both redheads, before backing up a little and giving a bow. "Lesson begins now. Serious time."

Shampoo clapped her hands, and a rather annoyed looking Mousse emerged from the restaurant with a large pot of ramen.

"Thank you, assistant," Shampoo said, her tone not overly genuine.

Mousse grimaced as he bowed and returned to the kitchen.

The two redheads then watched quietly as Shampoo pulled out a pair of chopsticks and swirled them in the ramen. They wondered what she was doing a moment, when she suddenly pulled out a large clump and then, with a flick of her wrist she turned the noodles into a whip and lashed out, wrapping an end around a nearby tree. Twisting her wrist again, she caused the wrapped noodles to tighten around the tree, bark starting to peel off.

"This is essential noodle grab technique. It takes one hand, so is good for both tongzhi today," Shampoo explained.

Two hours of Shampoo's training proved that she was indeed Cologne's great granddaughter. Hibari was barely able to get a moment's rest thanks to her still sore arm. Ranma was fully exhausted, collapsing onto her bed when they made it home.

Shampoo herself was full of energy while she and Hibari waited for Ukyo to arrive.

Sitting in the main living room, the pair found themselves in an awkward situation of being in the same room as Ibari.

"So, you two seem to be spending a lot of time together lately," the yakuza patriarch said, as casually as he could.

"Mhm. I can be a charming young man when needed, and tongzhi Hibari is fond of that," Shampoo replied with a surprisingly cattish grin.

Ibari's face slid through several different forms of unsettled. "Well, still..."

"I'll only marry Hibari and Ranma," Shampoo added sharply.

Ibari's eye twitched. "I'm not sure that's technically an option, legally and whatnot."

"Oh, suddenly concerned about legality are we?" Hibari asked, leaning in with a smirk of her own.

Before Ibari could reply the sound of knocking at the door reached them. Shampoo practically launched herself down the corridor, leaving Hibari to scramble after her. She finally caught up to find Ukyo and Rie both at the door.

"Oh, both of you!" Hibari said as she went for a sliding stop that ended in Shampoo catching her. "Ooh, how dashing."

Shampoo smirked. "Always happy to catch one as cute as you."

"Is... is this meant to be a fiancees only night? I can go," Rie said nervously.

"No, those two are just shameless flirts," Ukyo replied with a sigh.

The other two nodded happily, Hibari letting herself grow more comfortable in Shampoo's arms.

"So, where's Ranchan?" Ukyo asked, ignoring the flirtations.

"She's taking a nap. Shampoo is a harsh sensei," Hibari explained, finally standing up from Shampoo's grip. "C'mon, let's go up to my room."

The three others followed her upstairs and to her cutely decorated room. As Hibari pulled out her makeup collection, Shampoo and Rie's eyes lit up in admiration. Ukyo meanwhile found the shear scope of it all intimidating.

"Alright, Kuonji, please take a seat. Shampoo and I shall work our magic... figuratively. No actual magic will be involved," Hibari said.

Ukyo nodded nervously, before sitting down in the chair. What followed was a flurry of brushes, hair clips, wigs, smaller brushes, and... other strange makeup things Ukyo couldn't identify. This was followed by a great deal of hemming and hawing by the two makeup specialists, who then turned the chef towards Rie.

"What do you think?" Shampoo asked.

Rie blinked, moving her head around a bit to see Ukyo's face better. "Wow. Kuonji-kun looks very pretty... er, n-not that you don't normally!"

"I usually aim for handsome," Ukyo muttered.

"Oh! Sorry," Rie apologised, bowing a bit.

"Do you want to see the effect now, or wait until you've got an outfit?" Hibari asked, leaning in a bit too close to the chef's face.

"I think we'll stick to just the face and wig bit for now?" Ukyo replied.

"Sure. It is getting a little late," Shampoo replied grabbing one of Hibari's wigs to put onto the chef, "Where is a mirror?"

"Over here!" Hibari announced, sliding open a folding mirror.

Ukyo turned to the mirror and was stunned by what was there. The chef wasn't sure the blonde wig totally worked, but with the makeup the reflection looked like the feminine sister Ukyo never had.

"Wow. Looks like I can have an entry in the delivery competition. Though, I wonder if a dark wig might suit me more?" Ukyo said.

"Hm, yeah. Probably. Only have so many wigs on hand though... one second," Hibari said, before slipping over to Ranma's room.

A few moments later, the redhead returned with a black wig and a shorter redhead (who still looked half awake at best). Hibari then hurried over, switching Ukyo's wig quickly.

"Hm, yeah, that definitely works better," Hibari said. "What do you think, Ranma?"

The short redhead blinked, taking in Ukyo's current appearance. "Ooh, lookin' real cute there, Ucchan."

Ukyo blushed a bit, not used to compliments from Ranma. "That Daikoku girl won't know what hit her, with the four of us."

Ibari stood in the holding room as Doctor Tofu gave the prisoner a final check over.

"Impressive, he seems to have healed up enough that I think we could remove the bandages," Tofu said, as he walked over to Ibari. "Still a couple days until he'll be fighting fit, at least. But he can definitely travel."

The yakuza father nodded. "Well, boy, we've got plane tickets to Okinawa for you. Try not to change on the plane."

The boy snarled. "I'd prefer not to be in debt to a man who's happy to have a sex-flipping freak in his home, so I won't be counting this as a favour."

The prisoner started to give a smug smile when he found himself grabbed by the collar, Ibari leaning in and flaring up his monstrous chi projection. "The boy's a little odd, but I don't take kindly to family being insulted. It's an internal matter, kid."

The prisoner sneered. "Fine, whatever."

Ibari let the boy go and dropped his monstrous projection. "I'll be glad when you're out of Tokyo."

The gathering crowds were bigger than Ranma had expected. Hibari, on the other hand, was loving the crowd, as per usual. It left the shorter redhead smiling, glad to see her girlfriend enjoying herself. (And Ranma had to admit that Hibari's playful roller skating maneuvers were cute too.)

The pair wandered around amongst the contestants, looking for Shampoo or Ukyo. Sliding through the people, they instead encountered someone they weren't expecting.

"Akane?" Ranma asked.

"Hibari? Ran? You two are in this competition too?" the short haired girl replied.

"Mhm, Ranma's got a new fiancee whose style is all about this stuff, and now we're having to prove ourselves against her," Hibari explained.

"Only you two would have something like that happen," Akane replied, sounding as if she wasn't sure if she should laugh or not.

"There you two are," Ukyo's voice called out, as the chef appeared in disguise. "Oh, and Tendo, hey there."

Akane looked at the chef, confused until she noticed the spatula strapped over Ukyo's shoulder. "Kuonji-kun? Is that what your birth form looks like?"

Ukyo grimaced. "I mean, I am in birth form, but I've also got a wig and a load of makeup on."

"It is not a load," Shampoo grumbled from behind the chef. "Mediocre amount at most."

Further conversation was interrupted by an announcement for all contestants to line up. Hibari and Ranma slid their way forward to the starting line, where they ran into the shiromuku kimono clad Daikoku girl, kneeling at the starting line.

"Yo, what's up Daikoku?" Hibari said, trying to break the ice a little.

The girl turned slightly, with only her disapproving sneer visible. "I was hoping Ranma would be here to see me win."

"Ranma's where Ranma needs to be," the curvy cutie in question grumbled.

Suddenly Daikoku stood up, letting her white shiromuku fall away, revealing a more practical blue and red gi beneath.

"That had better be the finish line," Daikoku Kaori declared as she lifted away her head covering to reveal brown shoulder length hair, cut with flat bangs.

"Confident, ain't you?" Hibari grumbled, crossing her arms and leaning in confrontationally.

Kaori just smirked back.

The starter pistol going off a few seconds later caused most in the crowd to wince slightly, though Hibari was so used to the sound of gunfire that she almost forgot it signalled the start of the race. Then, half a moment later, there was a wave of scooters, skateboards, pogosticks, and rollerblades.

Ranma briefly found herself lost in the wave of taller people, cursing once again about how short her girl mode was, before charging forward, hoping to catch back up with Hibari, who'd zipped off on her rollerskates.

Deciding that sticking to the road wasn't going well for her, Ranma leapt up onto a tree branch alongside the road and began to ricochet along, off awnings, trees, and anything else that seemed convenient. Soon enough she caught sight of Hibari again (her fiancee being up at the front of the crowd), and bounded over to the taller girl's side.

Landing, she arrived just in time to catch Hibari and Daikoku Kaori slide into a standoff at a bridge.

"You're not half bad at racing," Kaori said, "but let's see how you are with the martial arts side of this."

With that, Kaori produced a pair of chopsticks, slipped them into her delivery box, and launched out a whip of noodles. Hibari barely blocked with her own chopsticks, desperately defending her neck.

"You know, I have to really question the hygiene standards of fighting with a customer's meal," Hibari snipped, trying to remember a counter as Kaori withdrew her whip.

"The cleanliness of it is all down to how clean you are, yakuza," the brunette countered before flicking out with another whipping strike. "I hope you washed your neck!"

This attack was countered by Ranma's own noodle whip. The two tendrils of pasta wrapping around one another into a tangled mess. "Try to remember that this race has more than one person against you."

"This is a duel for my fiance's hand! I don't much care for interruptions!" Kaori hissed, pulling back to try and break her noodles free from the tangle.

The sound of a bicycle bell briefly drew the trio for their glares as they turned to the source

"Bu aishi! Out of the way!" Shampoo shouted as she zipped directly towards Kaori's position blocking the bridge.

The brunette yelped as she scrambled out of the way of Shampoo and her bicycle (the Jokestuzoku girl seemed to be going fast enough to break most road speed limits, let alone that of a path, so Kaori barely escaped impact).

"Hey! Get back here! This is my race to win!" Kaori hissed, sacrificing the noodles she'd used in her whip in order to chase after Shampoo.

"Wait, if Shampoo wins, does that affect our engagement at all, with how the challenge was worded?" Hibari asked.

Ranma scratched the side of her head. "I... I don't think so. Oh, but if Ukyo wins, she might try something."

"More reason to win then," Hibari replied with a wink.

The pair ran forward again, hoping to catch up to the others. After a few dozen metres, they were left a bit unsettled by the discovery of Shampoo's bicycle wedged through a tree. A few metres later they discovered several heavily damaged trees from noodle whipping and chopsticks driven into trees and walls.

"Destructive pair," Ranma noted as they continued to race along.

Rounding a corner, they were surprised by the sight of Shampoo wrapped in noodles as Kaori stood laughing. "Hah. You're good, but this is my focus."

Kaori twisted her wristed and the noodle bindings grew visibly tighter around Shampoo. The brunette began to laugh some more.

Her laughter was interrupted by a pinecone to the head, chucked by Hibari.

"A pinecone? That's not a delivery tool," Kaori said, disgust dripping from her voice.

"It is Anything Goes though," Hibari replied with a smirk while roller skating over.

She then launched a series of kicks, forcing Kaori to release her noodle grip on Shampoo. Ranma rushed over to help untie Shampoo, while Hibari and Kaori were engaged in a rather traditional martial arts fight.

"Oh, looks like all of you are having fun," Ukyo said, as the chef hopped over the external wall of the park they'd all run through. "Since it looks like the three of you can keep Daikoku busy, I'll focus on winning."

Hibari posed a moment, rolling away from Kaori as she drifted briefly on her roller skates. "Wait a minute! I'm not going to let you win either!"

Kaori was visibly offended as Hibari raced off after Ukyo. "I'm not going to get ignored!"

Before she could chase after, she received a narutomaki to the cheek.

"I ain't ignore ya. Let's go," Ranma declared.

"Listen, miss. I'd be happy to teach you a lesson another time, but I have to win over the hand of a rather handsome boy right now," Kaori replied.

"How handsome?" Ranma asked, suddenly wanting some compliments.

Kaori smirked. "Hot enough to make me not mind finding out my father betrothed me to him as a baby. I'll say that. Out of your league too, shorty."

"I'm not so sure about that," Shampoo said, having untangled herself enough to get to her feet.

"Don't tell me she's another fiancee?" Kaori asked, her one eye twitching.

"Not quite," Ranma replied, pulling out her bowl of ramen, which was (impressively) still hot. The redhead then upended it on herself.

Only after transforming back to birth mode did Ranma remember that he was in a waitress' outfit, that definitely wasn't tailor for his height.

Kaori just stared in silent confusion.

"Wait, uh, Shampoo, do you got any cold water? It's bit embarrassin' to be dressed like this in boy mode," Ranma asked.

"Sorry, I am keeping cold water as far from me as possible right now," the girl replied. "Don't want to get disqualified."

"Hello Ranma. Hello Shampoo," Akane called out as she skateboarded past.

"Right, need to finish the race. Good luck with Daikoku, tongzhi," Shampoo said, jogging off.

Daikoku's eye was twitching as she still struggled for a reply.

The crowd gathered at the finish line watched in suspense as the mysterious delivery girl for Ucchan's hurried forward. The cheering began, as well as several boys shouting for the unknown cutie's phone number, when a second contestant arrived: Hibari.

The redhead was zipping along in her roller skates at full speed in an attempt to steal first place. Ukyo smirked and spun around, releasing several globs of sticky batter towards Hibari's feet. The other girl danced and dodged, but was losing precious seconds.

"This is a jerk move, Kuonji!" Hibari shouted.

Ukyo froze, then spun around, glaring at Hibari. Maybe trying to use this as an option to up their claim on Ranma rather than sticking to solidarity wasn't the most honourable option, but it certainly didn't warrant getting called by name in front of so many people.

Filled with rage, Ukyo rushed over, spatula drawn, to take out some rage on the yakuza heiress.

"Kuonji?" a boy in the crowd said.

"Oooh, are you Ukyo's cousin!?" another asked. "Does he have your number?"

Ukyo froze mid swing. Their classmates really didn't recognise them?

Unfortunately, Hibari didn't have access to Ukyo's internal thoughts, and only saw the chef charging her with that giant spatula. So Hibari responded with a punch to the gut on Ukyo. Hibari then slipped past Ukyo, heading towards the finish line. The chef might have been feeling a little guilty about overreacting, but that didn't make losing any more appealing.

As such, Ukyo went for a tackle. The two were left grappling, when a third contestant arrived.

"Hey there you two," Akane called out as she skateboarded past.

The other two watched in slight horror as Akane zipped over and crossed the finish line.

"Second place doesn't matter for the challenge, does it?" Ukyo asked, taking a pause from trying to wiggle out of Hibari's judo hold.

"Nope, it was only about first place," Hibari replied.

"Let bygones be bygones?" Ukyo said.

"Sure, sounds good," Hibari replied, releasing Ukyo from the hold.

The pair stood up, bowed quickly, and then jogged forward across the finish line themselves.

Hibari had decided to take everyone out for ice cream to celebrate Kaori not winning, and their crowded booth was getting some stares for being so noisy.

"Wait," Akane said, having finally gotten the full story of the challenge. "The winner of the race was supposed to get Ranma's hand?"

"Yeah... Kuonji got a little excited about that," Hibari replied with a laugh.

The chef just blushed quietly and poked at their ice cream.

"That, um, that doesn't mean I'm engaged to Ranma now, does it? I mean... not offense, Ranma, but, well, I don't need that chaos in my life," Akane asked.

"No offense taken," Ranma replied, barely taking a break from her sundae.

"I think, with the wording of the deal, Akane could make a claim. Since she says no, then there's no problem," Shampoo added.

"Thank goodness," Akane said with a sigh of relief.

Kaori sat in bitter silence as her father ranted at her. She wasn't the one who'd set up an engagement with someone who had an ancient Chinese curse. Or three other fiancees.

"You didn't even get in the top three. The family name is ruined!" her father roared.

"It's one competition," Kaori muttered.

"In Tokyo! With press coverage! You... I can't bear the dishonour."

Kaori stared at the floor, trying to avoid rolling her eyes.

"I've been too soft on you. You need time in the real world. You're staying here in Nerima. Find a job. And then, if you win next year's race, then you can return home."

"Wait, what? That's a massive overreaction!" Kaori blurted.

Her father shook his head. "Not at all. The family business is at risk from your miserable display. You have to rebuild your honour."

Feeling broken, Kaori knocked slowly on the back door of the Neko Hanten. Shampoo had honestly impressed her, so if she hard to reform anywhere, it seemed a good shot.

A handsome looking boy with glasses opened the door. "Do you have a delivery?"

"I... I'm looking for a job," Kaori said.

"Oh," Mousse replied, before turning back to the kitchen. "Elder Cologne! We've got a job applicant!"

A moment later the tiny old woman appeared beside the short haired Mousse.

"What position are you interested in?" Cologne asked.

"Delivery girl, if possible?" Kaori asked.

"Ah. Unfortunately, I have more than enough delivery personnel," the ancient woman replied.

Kaori let out a tired sigh. "Well... thank you for your time."

"Try Ucchan's," Cologne offered. "They're a bit understaffed over there. It's just a few blocks east of here."

"Thank you, ma'am," Kaori replied with a bow.

The brunette set off down the road. She hoped there wouldn't be too many stops before she found a job. Then she just had to find an apartment.

Once more she found herself knocking on a back door of a restaurant. This time it was a nervous looking blue haired girl who answered.

"H-hello there. Can I help you?" Rie asked.

"I'm looking for a job, and was told there may be an opening here?" Kaori asked.

"You want a job?" a handsome brown haired teen asked, appearing beside Rie. "What's your availability? Do you have much cooking experience?"

"I was more thinking of doing delivery, but I do have full time levels of availability," Kaori offered.

Ukyo's eyes were filled with yen signs. "The lunch rush..."

"I can work lunch, yeah?" Kaori replied.

"Time to see if you can cook then!" Ukyo declared, grabbing the girl by the elbow.

What followed was the better part of an hour of Kaori trying to cook an okonomiyaki that Ukyo deemed passable. Kaori knew cooking reasonably well, but frying like this was new for her.

Finally she managed a (very guided) success.

"Not bad," Ukyo said as the chef took a few bites. "Let's get you into a uniform."

Rie and Ukyo led Kaori to the back and handed her a uniform before nudging her into the washroom to change. When the brunette reemerged, Rie was struck by something.

"You know, you and Ukyo could almost pass for siblings," Rie said, looking back and forth between the two brownhaired teens.

The pair glanced at one another before nodding.

"Huh, how did I not notice that before?" Ukyo said. "Definitely need you to work on your cooking then. Can't have someone thinking we're related and then you mess up your okonomiyaki. Time to get serious before dinner starts."

Kaori grimaced. She'd thought that they'd been serious already.