Chapter 16: New Introduction
After a breakfast which was every bit as plentiful and delicious as Ranma had come to expect from the Ogasawara mansion, Sachiko showed her the way to Lillian. This was both in terms of physical directions, which Ranma had already mostly known from the reverse trip the previous week, and in terms of process, which was more novel. Buying a commuter pass wasn't difficult, especially with Sachiko helping remind her of the address of the Ogasawara mansion, but it was much more expensive than she had expected; apparently the prodigious sum of money Sayako had given her the previous evening wasn't nearly as preposterous as she had initial thought.
Lillian's campus still showed the echoes of the recent festival. Anything not expected to directly interfere with school life had been abandoned in place. Limp balloons hovered near the ground, and signs still advertised shops which had since closed forever. It would take several days of hard work to clean everything up and restore the school back to normal.
The early hour meant that the school grounds were basically empty. The only movement Ranma saw was the gentle swaying of the trees in the breeze. Even the statue of the hooded woman had nobody nearby for once. Nevertheless, Sachiko stopped in front of it, folded her hands together, and closed her eyes. She paused there for several seconds before opening her eyes again.
Ranma had seen countless girls doing the same thing over the past two weeks and had wondered about it. This seemed as good a time as any to finally find out. As Sachiko was stepping away from the statue, Ranma asked her, "What were you doing just now?"
"I was praying to Maria-sama."
"Praying? What's that?"
Sachiko's eyes raised a fraction. She asked, "You don't know? Didn't you say you had visited numerous temples during your training trip?"
"Yeah, but mainly for martial arts stuff," Ranma said. If it wasn't a technique they could copy, food they could consume, or trinkets they could purloin, they had never had much interest in anything in a temple.
"I see," Sachiko said. "I was asking Maria-sama for her help with what was to come today. She watches over this school, and she provides guidance and assistance to us all." Sachiko made a small gesture towards the statue. "Would you like to try?"
"Sure," Ranma said with a shrug. The upcoming meeting seemed intimidating enough that she wouldn't mind getting some help. "What do I do?"
"For now, let's keep it simple. You fold your hands together like this," Sachiko said, demonstrating for Ranma. "Then reach out to Maria-sama with your heart and ask for what you most want."
Ranma had had some time to think about what she had wanted over the past day and night. She folded her hands together and reached out.
She wanted to be a good person.
She wanted to improve her martial arts.
She wanted to stay with Sachiko and the others.
And would it be too much to want the lunch in her book bag to be good? She wasn't sure how greedy she was allowed to be.
"Are you done?" Sachiko asked after a while.
"I don't know. Is something supposed to happen?" Ranma asked. As best she could tell, everything was identical to how it had been before she had started.
"Sometimes I'll get a revelation or something big will happen, but usually it's more the feeling that Maria-sama is watching that helps," Sachiko said.
"Then I guess so," Ranma said. She wasn't exactly sure what her prayer was supposed to accomplish, but that feeling of non-comprehension when learning something new was one she was very familiar with from all her years of learning new schools of martial arts.
"Then shall we go?" Sachiko asked.
"Sure," Ranma said.
They continued their walk to the Rose Mansion. It was empty, as was expected, and the two went about preparing for the upcoming meeting and demonstration.
The electric teakettle on the side table had just started to steam when Youko arrived. In addition to her book bag, she had another large bag with her. Upon entering the conference room, though, both of these slid from her limp fingers and flopped to the ground.
"Ranko-chan? What happened?" Youko exclaimed in voice which couldn't decide if it wanted to be startled, alarmed, or panicked. She rushed forward, both bags left behind in her haste.
Ranma looked down at herself, worried that she had somehow transformed, or something worse. Everything seemed to be in order, though. She asked, "What do you mean?"
"Your face," Youko said. She gently brushed her hand forward, almost but not quite touching Ranma's temple. "How did that happen?"
"Oh, this?" Ranma asked. She pointed at where Genma had grazed her. "Yeah, pops got me good, didn't he? I really only have myself to blame." In hindsight, the shift of his weight had been a clear signal that she should have dodged left, not right.
"What?" Youko exclaimed, her voice a mixture of shock and outrage. "Your father did this to you?"
"Yeah," Ranma said. She wasn't sure why Youko sounded so surprised. Genma had always been the better fighter. It was why he was the master, not Ranma. If anything, she was surprised at how well she had managed to hold him off.
"I can see why Sachiko said this was an emergency," Youko said. She grabbed Ranma's wrist. "We need to go to the police right now."
"Onee-sama," Sachiko said. She looked pained. "It's not what you're thinking. I know it looks bad, but there's more to it than that. I think it'd be better if we talked to everybody before we did anything hasty."
"What's there to talk about? Look at her," Youko said.
"I know, but please, can we just wait for everybody to arrive first?" Sachiko asked. "It's very important. I promise."
Youko hesitated, looking back and forth between Sachiko and Ranma, but in the end, she let go of Ranma's wrist. She said, "If you're sure." She cast another glance at Ranma and then walked back to where she had dropped her bags. She dusted off the bottom of the cup of pudding that had bounced out of the large bag and replaced it inside. She then brought both bags over to the side table where the electric teakettle and tea service were. She started emptying the large bag there, placing snacks in carefully arranged sets. Even as she did so, her gaze kept flicking over to look at Ranma.
Shimako walked in next. She said, "Gokigen..." She trailed off as she saw Ranma.
"Gokigenyou." Ranma was the only one who responded. Despite that, Shimako looked towards Sachiko and Youko.
Youko shook her head back. She said, "We're going to talk about it."
"Okay," Shimako said. She sounded hesitant, but she walked over to the large table and took a seat. As she moved, she kept glancing over at Ranma.
"Now that I think about it, we should probably do something about your face before we scare everybody in the school," Sachiko said. She reached down and picked up her book bag.
"Scare everybody? What's the big deal? It's just a bruise," Ranma said. It was nowhere close to the worst one she had ever had. It wasn't even in a particularly sensitive place. She really didn't understand why everybody was reacting to it so much. A grazing blow to the head was a very common occurrence.
"That's not 'just' a bruise," Sachiko said.
"Yeah, it is. It's not like it's on my hands or my feet or anything. It's nothing worth whining about," Ranma said.
Sachiko and Youko both visibly winced. Shimako appeared concerned as well, even if she didn't react as visibly as the other two.
"It's not fair to call that 'whining.' It's very legitimate to complain about an injury like that," Sachiko said. She pulled a compact, a tube of liquid foundation, another tube of light brown concealer, and a puff out from her book bag.
"Injury? This isn't an injury," Ranma said. "It'll go away in a few days. If you can still punch and kick, then there's nothing to complain about. Everything else is just whining."
"That's terrible. I don't see how anybody could have survived growing up like that. At least it's over now," Sachiko said. She stood up and walked over to stand by a window. "Why don't you come over here where the light's better?"
"Don't you think you're exaggerating things?" Ranma asked. The fight with Genma had been a hard-pressed one, but the worst thing that could have happened was she break a few bones or get knocked unconscious. It was a far cry from wrestling with that bear or dodging those snakes, let alone the pit of cats.
Ranma stood up and walked over join Sachiko. She took the long way around the table, taking great pains to avoid the steaming electric kettle along the shorter route. It was so annoying that that was where all the snacks were, too. She wanted some, but didn't want to risk the nearby hot water.
"I think that bruise says otherwise. Sorry. This might hurt a bit," Sachiko said. She dabbed some liquid foundation onto her fingers and lightly caressed them to Ranma's temple. Even against the sensitive bruise, Sachiko's soft touch felt like a velvet cloud.
Part-way through Sachiko's efforts of disguising, Ranma caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head and saw Rei entering the room. Her motion caused Sachiko to land her puff squarely into Ranma's hair.
Sachiko gave small sound of annoyance and said, "Please don't move." She slid her puff off of her fingers and used her freed-hand to dust off Ranma's hair.
"What's going on in here?" Rei asked. She walked over to the large table and placed her book bag next to one of the chairs.
"Sachiko is helping Ranko-chan with some makeup," Youko said.
"Oh, really? That's nice," Rei said.
"Not really. Apparently something happened between her and her father," Youko said.
"Something happened?" Rei asked. Concurrently, Shimako exclaimed, "Her father?"
Rei took a closer look at Ranma, and then she blanched upon that closer look. She asked, "What happened?"
"I don't know," Youko said. "Sachiko thinks it's best to wait for everybody to arrive so she can tell everybody at once."
"Okay," Rei said slowly. She sat down heavily in her chair.
Sachiko took hold of Ranma's chin and turned her to a slight angle once again. She then resumed her powdering. A short while later, Sachiko said, "Done." She snapped her compact shut and removed her puff from her fingers.
"That's it? No color-correction?" Ranma asked. Trying to disguise a bruise like hers without color-correcting the dark reddish-purple would have earned her a lash from Kondou. She didn't even need to see it in a mirror to know that it would never escape the notice of an attentive guard.
"What do you mean?" Sachiko asked.
"I'll need some greenish-yellow to fully disguise this dark spot," Ranma said. She pointed at the area Sachiko had covered. "Do you have any concealer like that?"
"No, I don't," Sachiko said.
Ranma looked over at the others in the room. Shimako, Youko, and Rei were staring at her, their faces a mixture of confusion, curiosity, and concern. All of them shook their heads back at her.
That was unfortunate. Luckily, Ranma was a master at improvisation.
"How about anything green or yellow? Eyeshadow? Lipstick?" Ranma asked. Neither of them would be as good as concealer, but their touch of color would still help a great deal.
"Not those colors," Sachiko said.
Ranma took another look at Shimako, Youko, and Rei. They shook their heads back again.
She then cast her gaze around the room at large, searching for chalk or anything else which could possibly suit as a stand-in. Nothing obvious sprung to her attention, though.
"Can we wear hats here?" Ranma asked.
"Why do you ask?" Sachiko asked.
"If people are expecting to see a shadow, then they'll be less likely to notice a dark area on my head," Ranma said. The would-be shadow wouldn't always be in the right place, but every little bit helped when crafting a disguise.
"I see," Sachiko said. "No, hats aren't an allowed part of the uniform."
"Okay," Ranma said. There was another option. She hated doing anything with her dragon whisker, due to the inherent risk every time she touched it, but as long as she kept close attention as she moved it, it should be safe.
She looked down at herself to make absolutely sure she was a girl, and then she reached up and untied her pigtail. She kept a tight grip the whisker as she shook out her braid and tilted her head to the side. She then re-braided her hair such that it obscured the side of her face. Finally, she re-bound her hair with the dragon whisker, being very sure to tie it securely.
It wasn't as good as proper makeup, but the visual distraction and obfuscation of the hair should help a great deal.
"Oh. That looks... good..." Sachiko said.
"At least your bruise isn't looking so obvious anymore," Youko said.
Sachiko picked up her tools and started walking back to her seat. She looked over towards Rei as she did so and asked, "Is Yoshino-chan not coming today?"
Rei visibly forced her gaze away from Ranma to address Sachiko. She said, "No. Yesterday wasn't so good. I didn't even tell her about the emergency meeting. I thought it would just make things worse."
"Her heart?" Sachiko asked as she sat down and put her tools away into her book bag.
"That's right," Rei said.
"Her heart? What about her heart?" Ranma asked, suddenly much more concerned about Yoshino than her own situation.
"Her heart's been weak ever since she was born. Normally it's manageable, but when she overdoes things, it causes her problems. I'm always telling her to take it easy, but she never does." Rei clenched her fists in front of her, and her whole body likewise tensed up.
"Oh," Ranma said. She gave a sigh and sat down as heavily as Rei had earlier. At least that explained how Yoshino could be so enthusiastic about the culture and theory of martial arts, not to mention samurai and sports and everything else, while simultaneously being so divorced from its practice. Ranma couldn't imagine how frustrating that would be.
"It's nothing to worry about. She should be better in a week or two," Rei said. She forced her hands open.
"How unfortunate. I was hoping she'd be here today so we could have the whole Yamayurikai for this," Sachiko said.
"I can tell her later. I'm sure she'll support whatever we do," Rei said.
"It's not quite that easy," Sachiko said.
The room lapsed into a stiff silence. Ranma was trying to mentally rehearse the explanation she had put together with Sachiko the night before, but she found her thoughts drifting to Yoshino's heart condition instead. Everybody else seemed tense as well. The only real movement was from Shimako, who had unwrapped her rosary from around her wrist and was deliberately pulling it between her thumb and fingers one bead at a time.
"Gokigenyou." Eriko's arrival changed all that. She wasn't perky by any stretch, but her relatively ordinary greeting felt that way compared to the weight permeating the room.
"Gokigenyou."
"New hairstyle? It looks exciting," Eriko said. She walked over and took a cup of pudding from the side table. As she did so, she asked, "So what's this emergency we need to discuss?"
"I'm not entirely sure," Youko said. "Sachiko called me last night and said we had to meet about something. It seems to have something to do with Ranko-chan and her father, but that's all I know."
Eriko glanced over at Ranma again. Her eyes squinted as she took a closer look. They then quickly grew wide.
Youko nodded and said, "That's apparently what this meeting is going to be about."
"I see," Eriko said. She sat down and put the cup of pudding on the table in front of her, but she didn't open it.
Sei's arrival signaled the end of the oppressive prelude permeating the room. She took a seat next to Youko, greeting and being greeted by the others in the room. Commensurately, the light anticipation Ranma had felt earlier spiked up substantially to become outright anxiety. It manifested as a steady increase of pressure upon her, until it was almost like she could hear a rush of static in her ears.
Youko looked around the table and said, "Thank you all for coming early today. Sachiko called me last night and said there was an emergency situation which we needed to discuss."
Shimako stopped fidgeting with her rosary and wrapped it around her wrist once again. Rei took a seat from where she had been giving Eriko a cup of tea. All three of those girls, as well as Youko, were all focused on Ranma.
Youko continued, "It appears to pertain to Ranko-chan and her situation,"
That caused Sei to flick her eyes over at Ranma. Much like Eriko before, she glanced, peered closely, and then her eyes widened in surprise.
Youko turned to Sachiko and said, "I believe you have kept us all in suspense for long enough."
"Yes," Sachiko said. She stood up, as did Ranma, and they both walked over to the side of the room. Everybody turned to follow them. "Thank you for coming. I would ask you to try to keep an open mind as you listen. This whole thing does seem quite unbelievable. Onee-sama is correct that this is in regard to Ranko's situation, but that is incorrect as well. I could say more, but I feel it would be better if Ranma were to explain things in his own words."
Youko and the others looked around the room in confusion, trying to spot the person they had somehow missed. After a few seconds, Youko looked back at Sachiko and asked, "Ranma? Who's that?"
Ranma's heart leaped into her throat. Even though she had been expecting it, the moment of crisis always had an explosive jolt that simply could not be repressed.
It was time.
She took a deep breath and stepped forward.
"I'm Ranma. Ranma Saotome."
"What?" Sei asked. She turned her head to look at Youko and Eriko, but they met her confused look with confused looks of their own. They turned back to look at Ranma.
"That's my real name. 'Ranko Sugita' is just something my pops made up when he enrolled me in Lillian," Ranma said. As she spoke, she frantically tried to remember what was supposed to come next. She had to talk about the curse, and her fight with Genma, and robbing from Sachiko, and wanting to stay in Lillian. Was that the order? It had seemed so much clearer the night before.
"Really?" Youko asked. "That's very strange. Why did he do that?"
That prompt decided it. Apparently the next topic was going to be the robbery.
"I was sort of supposed to rob Onee-sama's house two days ago," Ranma said. Her hand reflexively scratched the back of her head as she spoke.
"You what?!" It was hard to tell exactly who had participated in the combined shout, but it was most of the girls in the room.
"It's fine. It's fine," Sachiko said. She made a placating gesture with her hands.
"My pops was trying to rob some 'rich girl' here, and had me attend to order find somebody good. It just happened to be Onee-sama. After the festival, we broke into her house and stole a bunch of her stuff. But... uhh... I sort of changed my mind. I never really thought about it much before coming here, but stealing all that stuff is wrong. I brought it all back and... uhh... I was sort of hoping I could stay," Ranma said.
"Okay..." Youko said, extending the word out, "that is quite an emergency. I can see why you wanted to talk."
"The truth is that that's not quite the emergency. Not all of it, at least," Sachiko said.
"I was wondering when you were going to explain... that..." Eriko said. She gestured to her temple.
"This?" Ranma asked. She pointed at her own temple as well. "What's there to explain? I got into a fight with pops."
"Not that kind of fight," Sachiko quickly said. "A fight fight." She pantomimed some small punches. They were laughably wrong. "They got into this crazy martial arts battle, and in the end, Saotome-san ran away."
"Then where will Ranko-chan... No. Sorry. Ranma-san?" Youko felt out how the name tasted in her mouth. "Where will Ranma-san be living?"
"Ranma," Sachiko said, emphasizing the name and the lack of honorific attached to it, "will be living with me."
Youko's eyes widened fractionally. She said, "I see. Still, I don't understand why you think that makes the emergency worse. If anything, it makes things easier, doesn't it?"
Sachiko said, "That's because that's not what I meant about the real emergency. Please pay attention, because this is the part that is the most unbelievable. Ranma?"
They had talked about the robbery. They had talked about the fight. They had talked about Ranko Sugita. They had talked about wanting to stay. There was only one thing left: the big thing.
Ranma took another deep breath. She then said, "The truth is, I'm really a boy."
Five pairs of eyes flicked down to look at her chest.
Sei's eyebrows raised and she asked, "A boy?"
"Yes. A boy. Here, I'll show you," Ranma said. She turned to the side table and saw that Sachiko was already holding out a cup to her. Ranma took it and poured its contents over her free hand.
Those same five pairs of eyes staring at him grew wide. If Sachiko's announcement that she had found a petite soeur was a heavy footstep, and if Sachiko's declaration that Kashiwagi was her fiance was a slammed door, then this was an outright earthquake. Ieyasu Tokugawa rising up from his tomb and declaring the restoration of samurai rule couldn't have had more of an effect. Everybody in the room held their breath in stunned anticipation, waiting to see what the aftermath would be.
"Oh..." Sei said flatly. "Boy..."
That was the trigger which broke the long, protracted silence.
"What? How?" The surprise was evident in Eriko's voice as she shouted. "What is this?"
"It's a curse. Cold water turns me into a girl," Ranma said. He poured some of the cold water in the second cup Sachiko offered over his hand to demonstrate. "Hot water turns me back into a boy."
"I see," Youko said. She took a deep breath. "It appears that there's a lot more to you than we've been led to believe." Her voice remained calm and steady. "Why don't you tell us about it?"
"Like what?" Ranma asked.
"Everything. Like what you were doing before you came to Lillian, and where you got this curse," Youko said. She took a sip of tea from her cup. If her hand hadn't been shaking, she might even have appeared as calm as she sounded.
Ranma said, "I'm not sure how much there is to say. I've been traveling with pops for as long as I can remember. We went all across Japan, training in martial arts. We'd visit schools, temples, dojos, and wherever to learn any techniques they had. When we ran out of places in Japan, he took me to China. That's where I got this curse. We just got back to Japan when he brought me here."
"So your jumping out that window?" Sei asked. The other girls around the table nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, like that. I've been doing that kind of stuff since before I can remember," Ranma said.
Sachiko nodded, but didn't say anything.
"And that part about your mother being dead?" Eriko asked.
Ranma said, "I don't know. I've never met her, and pops never talked about her at all. She could really be dead, or he could've been lying about that, too."
"That's terrible," Sei said.
"How repugnant," Eriko said.
Sachiko reached over and gave Ranma an open hug with one of her arms. She said, "And that's the big emergency. As he said, Ranma would like to stay in Lillian. However, we," Sachiko emphasized the plural pronoun, "were worried what the headmistress might say, so we were hoping that the Yamayurikai would help support us."
Youko took another sip of tea before putting her cup back on the saucer in front of her. It lightly clattered from her shaking hand before it settled. She said, "When you say emergency, you really do mean emergency. This is quite an issue." She looked around the table to the others sitting there. "What do we all think about this?"
Shimako had once again unwrapped her rosary from around her wrist and was thumbing through the beads one at a time.
Rei looked flabbergasted, her eyes constantly darting back and forth between Ranma and Sachiko.
Eriko was the first to speak. She asked, "You're proposing that Lillian Private Girls' School accept a boy into its midsts? Into the Yamayurikai, no less? How outrageous." Her mouth broke into a mischievous grin. "I think we should do it. I'd love to see what Ran...ma... kun... does around here. It'll be fun to shake things up. Can you imagine what Valentine's Day will be like? I'll bet you a strawberry milk that Ranma-kun manages to beat out Sachiko this year."
"Outrageous," Sei said. Her fingers raked through her short hair and tugged at the ends of it. "Outrageous. Outrageous. It seems like everything's an outrage, isn't it? If anything, I think that's the real outrage."
"Sei," Youko said, addressing her with her given name for once. "You know..."
"I know," Sei said loudly, interrupting Youko. More subdued, she said, "I know. But you can't really think that it'd be better if Ranma-kun left here."
Youko sighed. She said, "No, I don't."
"Then there we go. If this is what Sachiko and Ranma-kun want to do, then I think we should support them," Sei said.
Youko nodded. She then looked over and asked, "Rei, what's your opinion on this matter?"
"Yoshino's never going to believe this. She's never going to forgive me," Rei said with a shake of her head.
"And what about the proposal?" Youko asked.
"That?" Rei asked. She looked up at Sachiko. "In my opinion, if Sachiko has forgiven... Ranma-kun... then far be it for me to disagree."
Sachiko nodded back.
Youko asked, "Shimako?"
In the silence of the room now directed at her, Shimako could be heard quietly saying, "...with me in paradise." She stared down at the rosary in her hand.
Despite Shimako's lack of reaction to Youko's calling her, everybody stayed quiet as she remained unmoving. She then slowly looked up at Ranma, shock and pain evident on her face. In a more normal volume, she said, "It hurts, Ranma-san. Your deception really hurts."
Her statement stabbed at Ranma's heart, leaving her sore.
Shimako continued, her voice thick and heavy, "However, we are taught to hate the sin, not the sinner, for if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." She paused for a moment and tapped her right hand to her forehead, chest, left shoulder, and right shoulder. She then folded it together with her left hand in front of her. "And..." she started saying, but her voice cracked. She swallowed hard. "And if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."
"Shimako," Sei said gently. "This and that are different. You don't need to do this."
Shimako fiercely turned to Sei and emphatically said, "Then that just makes it even more important to do. It would be an anathema to cast out a penitent thief seeking redemption. If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying 'I repent,' you must forgive them." She paused to take a slow, deep breath, and turned back to Ranma. "We will endure this trial and emerge the stronger for it, I'm sure. Ranma-san most of all."
Youko looked around the table and said, "I believe that means we're all in agreement?"
"Does that mean you approve?" Sachiko asked from where she stood beside Ranma.
Youko looked over to Sachiko and said, "Of course. If this is what you want, than what else can I do but to support you? Besides, I like Ranma-kun. I think he'll be good for you, and he'll be a fine addition to the Yamayurikai."
Eriko overtly coughed. She said, "I think that's a little premature to say." Youko turned to look at her, as did everybody else. "We haven't even had a chance to see how well he prepares the tea, after all."
Youko tipped her head in acknowledgement to Eriko and said, "That is very true. Then I'll rephrase that to say that I hope he will be a fine addition to the Yamayurikai." She looked around the table again and asked, "Is there anything else anybody would like to say on this matter?"
Sei shook her head, and everybody else at the table remained quiet.
"Are there any other emergencies we should discuss?" Youko asked. She asked the room as a whole, but her question was clearly directed at Ranma and Sachiko.
Ranma and Sachiko shook their heads back.
"Very well. Then I believe we should inform the headmistress. Wait here. I'll go make the call," Youko said.
As Ranma was still standing at the side of the room, it was obvious that she remained the center of attention, with everybody looking at her as even as Youko left.
The silence was broken by Rei. She asked, "If you're really a boy, then how do you know so much about makeup?"
"What does being a boy have to do with that?" Ranma asked. She didn't see why that was relevant in any way. It would be like noting that she had grown up in Japan, or that the sun rose in the east.
"I thought boys didn't really learn about makeup," Rei said.
"They don't?" Sachiko asked.
"Not really," Sei said.
"I'm pretty sure my brothers know lipstick exists, but that's probably about it," Eriko said.
"Oh? How interesting," Sachiko said.
"Do they know anything about color-correcting?" Rei asked.
"Absolutely not," Eriko said decisively.
"That's what I thought," Rei said. She turned back to Ranma. "And you said you don't really have a mother, too, so how do you know so much about it? You know more than Yoshino does. Actually, you might know more than I do."
"I learned it from Kondou-sensei in Nara," Ranma said. "But are you sure about boys not knowing this stuff? Most of the people I trained with were boys."
"You trained in makeup? Why?" Sei asked.
"Martial arts," Ranma said as if it were obvious, because it was obvious.
"What kind of martial art uses makeup?" Rei asked.
"Lots of them, but Kondou-sensei was teaching ninjutsu," Ranma said.
"Did you just say ninjutsu? Like a ninja? That ninjutsu?" Sachiko asked.
"Yeah," Ranma said.
"You studied ninjutsu?" Eriko asked.
"Yeah. I said I studied martial arts my whole life, didn't I?" Ranma asked.
"But then what does that have to do with makeup?" Rei asked.
"It's for disguises," Ranma said. It was hard to pass as an innocent elderly businessman if a quick glance at your face would give you away. Even better, if you could fake having a prominent scar, it would be a great misdirection that future investigations could mistakenly focus on.
"I see," Rei said. She looked confused, which matched the look of most of the girls around the room. "Exactly how good are you?"
Ranma's gut instinct was to give her standard answer: she practiced a little. Being underestimated by a potential opponent was a good thing. On the other hand, were these girls really her opponents? Thus far, the Yamayurikai hadn't been anything other than supportive. Maybe she could take a risk and open up a little.
"It's hard to say, but I'm probably somewhere close to a master," Ranma said.
"Of ninjutsu?" Rei asked. "Yoshino's going to be so excited."
"Nah. I'm more a journeyman of ninjutsu. It's just something I picked up along the way. I meant of my family school, the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts," Ranma said.
Everybody looked at Rei, who shook her head and shrugged her shoulders in response.
"Anything Goes Martial Arts?" Eriko asked. "That's a strange name. What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's just what it sounds like. It means anything goes. Literally. It takes the best parts of every form of fighting out there and combines them all together into one comprehensive style. Things like rules and traditions don't really matter. The most important thing is that it works. That's why we traveled all around Japan and then China, to learn everything we could of every form of martial art we could find."
"And you've been studying martial arts your whole life," Sachiko said. "Then you must know a lot of them."
"I guess," Ranma said.
"How many do you know?" Sei asked.
"I don't know. Let me see..." Ranma said. She raised her head up and started counting off on her fingers, trying remember as many forms as she could, although she was sure she would miss a lot. "... karate, tae kwon do, jeet kune do, muay tai, kung fu, judo, jujutsu, hapkido, tai chi chuan, aikido, sumo..."
Rei looked skeptical. The other girls looked curious.
"... nunchuks, sai, naginata, tonfa, yari, bow, whip, tanto, wakazashi, kodachi, katana, dai-katana..."
"Are you serious?" Rei asked. The other girls had migrated from curious to skeptical as well.
"... beach volleyball, golf, tennis, static trapeze, swimming, high jump, baseball, mountain bicycle racing, bowling, darts, shot put, dressage..."
"Are we still talking about martial arts?" Eriko asked. Shimako and Sei shook their heads back in confusion.
"... calligraphy, pottery, fishing, haiku, crocheting, tailoring, stir frying, cartography, construction, photography, hunting, tax accounting, traffic directing, karaoke..."
"Traffic directing?" Rei asked, loud enough to interrupt Ranma. "Now I know you're making stuff up."
Ranma directed her gaze back at Rei. "Not at all. Martial Arts Traffic Directing has a proud and noble tradition. I studied it at a police station in Sumida. It has some passing similarity to judo, and I expect there was some inspiration from ninjutsu in the distant past as well. It incorporates a lot of tools like tickets, plastic cones, and chalk sticks. It has a surprising number of tricks with paint ball guns, too." It had taken her days to figure how out to properly ricochet a paint ball. It was a shame she hadn't learned any of the advanced techniques, though; Kobayakawa had been insistent that Ranma get her driver's license first. She would need to go back in a few years to complete her repertoire.
"No way," Rei said, shaking her head. "There's no way you're convincing me that Martial Arts Traffic Directing is a real thing."
"Really? Would you like to spar?" Ranma asked. "It's been a while, and I wouldn't mind a refresher. I assume you have a whistle and some some plastic cones around here somewhere."
"I'd be interested in seeing that that," Sachiko said.
"We can get some plastic cones from one of the gyms," Eriko said.
Before they could continue the conversation, Youko entered the room. Her appearance naturally caused everybody to fall quiet and look at her in anticipation.
"The headmistress won't be able to meet with us today," Youko said as she returned to her seat.
"Even for this? It's quite the emergency. Can't she reschedule something?" Eriko asked.
"No. She's not here at all today. She's out traveling for a conference," Youko said. She pulled out her chair and sat down.
"Really?" Sei asked. "Such bad luck."
"Yes, but it could be good luck, too. It will give us time to prepare. We're scheduled to meet her tomorrow morning at 7:30. Rosa Foetida, are you able to attend?"
"Yes."
"Rosa Gigantea?" Youko asked.
"Yes."
"Ranma-kun, I assume you'll be available as well?" Youko asked.
"Yeah."
"I shall be coming too," Sachiko said. "Ranma is my petite soeur. It is right and proper that I be in attendance as well."
Youko nodded. "Very well. We will meet in front of the administration office at 7:25. Do not be late. In the meantime, I believe we still have our regular agenda to talk about." She looked over at the still-standing Sachiko and Ranma and tilted her head in invitation.
Sachiko returned to her seat and sat down. Ranma did likewise, making a brief detour to the side table. She finally helped herself to two of the cups of pudding there and, for the first time, to a cup of tea as well.
"I guess we do, but it feels so dull now after all that, doesn't it?" Eriko asked.
"Maybe, but we still do have our responsibilities to attend to," Youko said. "Now, I believe the primary order of business today is to discuss the cleanup of the festival..."
The meeting progressed quickly. They discussed all the clean-up tasks that were needed, how the work was to be divided amongst all the different classes and organizations, and where and when things were to be disposed of. Ranma's responsibility was to convey this information to all six of the first-year classes. Additionally, she was to inform the cooking club, the rhythmic gymnastics team, and the karate team as well. More abstractly, she received a great deal of appreciation for exactly how many clubs and teams Lillian had. There were a lot.
After the meeting ended, they did some light cleaning up of the Rose Mansion before everybody left to their respective classrooms. On the way out, Ranma and Sachiko agreed to meet at the statue of Mary, after they had delivered their messages to their respective groups after classes, so they could return to the Ogasawara mansion together.
As Ranma walked to the main school building, the remnants of the festival could be seen everywhere. The arrival of all of the students made the tents, signs, balloons, and everything else Ranma had seen on the way in seem that much more lively. That echo of festivities continued on into the main school building itself. The sign declaring the number of days to the festival had vanished, but that was the only obvious change since two days prior. Storefront advertisements still lined the classroom walls, and ribbons still streamed across the ceiling. There would be a great deal of clean-up needed, and Ranma could mentally see the subdivided lines of responsibility which the Yamayurikai had just discussed.
Ranma entered the First-year Chrysanthemum Group classroom. Like the campus and like the building as a whole, the room still bore the distinct resemblance to the cafe that they had been running. The curtains dividing the room and the large brown pillar had all been pulled to the side to make space for the desks, but everything else remained in place. Brown sheets of paper covered the ceiling, and menus still lined the walls.
"Gokigenyou," Ranma said, greeting Ami as she walked in.
"Gokigenyou," Ami said. "You're trying a new hairstyle? It looks very bold."
"Yeah," Ranma said. "I need to talk to you about the festival clean-up."
She spent a few minutes explaining the logistics to Ami: the sections for which the First-year Chrysanthemum group was responsible and the ways everything should be disposed of. She also mentioned that she would need to go around and tell the other classes as well, so she wouldn't be able to join in the cleaning after class today.
Tanezaki arrived and the day's lessons began. Unlike the setting all around them, the classes themselves were back to normal. There were no cancellations for any festival preparations or anything else unusual. If only Yoshino were present, it would have been a perfectly ordinary morning of school, ignoring the fact that the students in the back of the room sat under what looked like a giant brown storm cloud.
Lunch presented a dilemma all its own: Ranma wasn't sure if she should eat it at her desk or go to the cherry tree behind the primary gym.
Yoshino was obviously absent, which meant that if their lunch tradition was to continue, going to the cherry tree would mean eating with Shimako alone. Simply put, the prospect of that made Ranma nervous, maybe even frightened. She already knew she felt bad from what Shimako had said in the morning, and she was worried what else Shimako might say or do. Shimako had spoken of enduring a trial of some sort, and Ranma had no idea what she had in mind.
If it had been a typical martial arts duel, that would have been fine. Ranma was accustomed to the idea of a fierce battle, and she knew exactly how those went. When Ranma won, it brought with it the sweet taste of victory. If Ranma lost, it provided a visceral demonstration of her shortcomings and gave her both the incentive to train more and a decisive indication of what form that training should be. The worst thing that would happen would be a few broken bones, and that hadn't happened in years.
This whole interpersonal-verbal-emotional thing, though, was new and scary. She knew very little about it. She didn't know how to do it. She didn't know what the stakes were. If things went well, then what should she expect? If things went poorly, what was the worst that could happen? How would she even be able to tell if things were going well or poorly?
Her natural impulse was to keep in her own isolated island, spaced away from Shimako and all of those swirly, confusing uncertainties. It would certainly be easier to just stay away. But, if she were to do that, what would happen the next time she encountered Shimako, as was bound to happen if she stayed in Lillian, let alone in the Yamayurikai? Besides, if she were to run away, it somehow felt like she would be ruining something. What that something was was yet another thing she was unsure of, but she still felt like she would be ruining something nonetheless.
Ranma decided to go to the meeting point, and her jittery nervousness followed her the entire way there. That apprehension came to fruition in the most unexpected of ways, though.
The entire area was empty when Ranma arrived. No Shimako. No sheet. Nobody at all. Only the single cherry tree hidden within the grove of ginko trees.
Surprisingly, the absence of Shimako made her feel even worse, which made no sense at all. When an opponent failed to show up for a duel, it was effectively a forfeit and thus a win for Ranma. It wasn't as good as the triumph of a fight, but the implicit acknowledgement that she was the better fighter brought with it some measure of satisfaction. By the same reasoning, Shimako's forfeiture of the field should have felt good. But it didn't. If anything, it felt closer to a defeat.
Ranma leaned her back against the cherry tree and sighed to herself. She really was in proverbially uncharted waters. She would need to ask Sachiko later. Sachiko was the journeyman of Martial Arts Socialization, or whatever it was; she really would need to learn what it was called one of these days. Regardless of its name, though, Ranma was sure Sachiko could help her make sense of everything or refer her to Youko if need be. In the meantime, Ranma still had her lunch. She looked down at the box she carried in her hands and sighed again. Somehow the prospects of it seemed less enticing than they typically did.
"G..gokigenyou."
Ranma looked up to see Shimako approaching. Her slow and hesitant walk mimicked her tentative greeting.
Shimako's arrival somehow made Ranma feel both better and worse. The inexplicable disappointment Ranma felt diminished, but it was replaced by an equal measure of apprehension.
"Gokigenyou," Ranma said, trying to project a confidence that she didn't feel at all. Showing weakness was always a terrible idea, especially before a potential fight.
"Did you still want to eat? Lunch? Together?" Shimako asked. She sounded as nervous as Ranma felt.
Jitters of uncertainty floated through Ranma. She masked them all as best she could. "Sure, we could."
Neither Ranma nor Shimako said anything as they spread out the sheet and placed their respective foods upon it. If Yoshino had been present, they could have been discussing the recent kendo demonstration, the upcoming tournament, or any number of other things. Or there could have been some exchange of gossip between Yoshino and Shimako, with Ranma learning ever so slightly more about the social landscape of Lillian. As Yoshino was not present, though, Ranma wasn't entirely sure how she should be interacting with Shimako, and the morning events only made things that much more ambiguous.
Shimako was partway through her small salad when she asked, "Were you scared?" Her voice was quieter than normal, and she refused to look up at Ranma's face.
"Not at all," Ranma said immediately. No matter how she felt, she would never admit to being scared of anything. "About what?" She still wanted to know what Shimako was talking about, though.
"This morning and what you told all of us," Shimako said. She continued to stare at the dish in her lap.
"Oh, that's what you meant? It wasn't that scary," Ranma said. On the scale of zero-to-a-herd-of-cats, it ranked somewhere around the level of her first swim across the Sea of Japan. "Onee-sama was there to help, and everybody in the Yamayurikai's pretty nice. Besides, what's the worst that could have happened? You all say no? That's not any worse than not trying at all."
"You could have just stayed quiet and not told anybody," Shimako said. She slowly, reluctantly, raised her gaze to look Ranma in the eye.
That idea hadn't even crossed Ranma's mind. Once she had told Sachiko the truth, it had seemed natural to proceed with telling everybody. Shimako was right, though. It would have been easy to have kept Ranma Saotome hidden and continued on as the fictitious Ranko Sugita. Why hadn't she?
"It seems pretty bad to keep lying about something like that, doesn't it?" Ranma asked. That's what she had thought when facing Sachiko in that camp clearing. As best she could tell, the same reasoning still applied.
"Yes," Shimako said. Her gaze sank back into her lap. "I suppose you're right. Still, you're very brave."
"Uhh... thanks," Ranma said.
Lunch was mostly quiet after that exchange. Yoshino had always been more social than Shimako was, but it somehow felt different this time. There was a strange ambiance around the area. Shimako now seemed more despondent than tentative, and Ranma wasn't sure how to respond to it. She got the distinct impression that there was something she was missing, and she wondered if she had done something wrong. It was something else for her to discuss with Sachiko later.
The meal eventually concluded with the typical formalities, and they both returned to their respective classrooms.
Afternoon classes came and went. Once they had finished, Ranma quickly packed up her things. She would need to move fast if she wanted to reach all five other classes before everybody dispersed for the evening.
"Gokigenyou."
"Gokigenyou," Ami and a few other girls said to Ranma in return.
Ranma hurried out of the classroom and into the adjacent room.
It wasn't the same level of abrupt interruption that occurred when Sachiko entered a First-year classroom, but a ripple of excitement still swept through the room at Ranma's entrance. Two girls Ranma didn't recognize stopped sweeping the floor. Marina stopped dusting the chalkboard erasers out of the window. Slowly the wave of inactivity spread out until the room was quiet and looking at her.
"Gokigenyou."
"Gokigenyou," a girl Ranma recognized but didn't actually know said in response. She was almost as short as Ranma was, and she had long black hair. "Congratulations with the play. It was really good."
"Thanks," Ranma said. "I'm here on Yamayurikai business, about cleaning up the festival. Can you let me know who's your class representative?"
"That would be me. Romi Taniyama. It's a pleasure to meet you," the girl said. She bowed.
"Likewise." Ranma bowed back. She then went through the logistics with Romi, much like she had with Ami in the morning. As she spoke, she remained aware that she was the distinct center of attention for everybody in the room. Once she completed her task, and Romi confirmed she had no questions or concerns, Ranma quickly took her leave. There were still four more classes to go.
The same scene repeated itself four more times. She would enter the classroom, triggering a ripple of excitement from the girls present. She recognized the majority of the faces she saw, even if she only knew the names of some of the girls. Ranma would find the class representative, exchange introductions with her, and then brief her on the cleanup logistics before moving on.
Ranma barely managed to catch the First-year Peach Group as they were in the process of leaving. Shimako was nowhere in sight, and Ranma expected she was in a similar situation as she was: trying to catch all the second-year classes before they left for the day.
The completion of the First-year Peach Group came as a relief. It meant that she had managed to complete all six of her classes. That only left her clubs and teams. They'd have activities for at least an hour, which meant the only timetable she had was her desire to not keep Sachiko waiting for her too long at the statue of Mary.
First on Ranma's list was the karate team, which was ironically the one she was least interested in. She was already a master of that school in all but name, and she sincerely doubted there was any value in observing them. That expectation proved to be true, with the entire club being filled with amateurs. The way they held their stances was already a concern, and the fact they all stopped and stared at her when she walked in only exacerbated her assessment of their lack of dedication and therefore skill. She doubted if any of them could be considered a serious student.
"Gokigenyou, Ranko-san," a burly girl who looked more suited to judo than karate said.
"Gokigenyou. Who's the team captain?" Ranma asked.
"I am," another girl with more of a traditional karate build said. "Mamiko Minase. It's a pleasure to meet you." She gave a bow.
"Likewise," Ranma said, returning the bow. "I'm here on Yamayurikai business, about the festival clean-up."
"I expected it. What should we do?"
Ranma went through their assignments.
"I understand," Mamiko said. She gestured around the room. "Since you're here already, did you want to stay and watch a while?"
"No, I'm good. Gokigenyou," Ranma said. She had already seen enough to know she was not interested. It was impossible to be absolutely sure without facing them in actual combat, but she would have been happy to accept a bet of ramen for a month that she could take on the entire club without being hit once.
"Gokigenyou."
The next group on her agenda was the rhythmic gymnastics team. She had no idea what that was at all, only that the team could be found practicing in a side room near the primary gym.
When she got there, she froze at the entrance, fascinated by the spectacle going on inside. Some girls were flicking long ribbons through the air, and other girls were leaping about while spinning hoops around various parts of their bodies. The instruments were intriguing to say the least, and only grew more so when one girl launched the stick attached to her ribbon high up. There were some girls using more traditional weapons as well, such as balls and clubs, but as Ranma already was very familiar with them, she was much less interested in them.
Ranma's mind whirled with the strategic and tactical possibilities these tools represented. The ribbon was similar to a whip, but it was clearly far lighter and thus less directly threatening, so what was its purpose? Maybe it was something entirely different, like a dart-like projectile which could be retrieved using the trailing ribbon? And what about the hoop? What possible use could a circular tube present? Perhaps it was a defensive thing to block attacks while maintaining maximal visibility?
As Ranma watched more, though, her interest quickly drained. Once the initial luster of surprise had faded, it became clear that the girls were much more interested in flouncing and frolicking than in anything resembling martial arts. What they were doing wasn't useful in the least, except possibly as a distraction. It certainly was eye-catching, but any serious fighter wouldn't be distracted for anything longer than a mere moment, if even that. Sometimes a moment was all that was needed, but even so, there were more practical ways to accomplish that.
Ranma walked in.
"Gokigenyou."
As with the classes and the karate team, the girls all came to a stop and directed their attention to Ranma. The team captain, Azusa Komatsu, greeted her and they exchanged introductions. Ranma then described what the rhythmic gymnastics team was expected to do, with the rest of the team clearly focusing upon her in the way she had come to expect.
"What's all that stuff you're using?" Ranma asked after she had finished her explanation. She gestured with her hand to the various tools around the room.
"They're all part of rhythmic gymnastics. There are several different categories based on the apparatus used. This here is the ribbon. There's also the ball, hoop, clubs, and rope," Azusa said, gesturing to the respective objects as she spoke. One of the girls with short blonde hair flourished the clubs she had in her hands upon their being mentioned.
"But what do you do with them?" Ranma asked.
"We perform with them," Azusa said. "It's like a dance, but with extra things to play with."
"So you don't do any martial arts with them?" Ranma asked.
"Uhh... no. Nothing like that," Azusa said hesitantly. "Do you want to watch a while? It's really a lot of fun."
"I think I'm good. I saw some when I came in," Ranma said. She saw enough to determine she wasn't interested in what the team was doing at least. The tools themselves, though, were another matter. Irrespective of what Azusa said, Ranma thought her original ideas still seemed sound, and she was very curious as to the practicality of the tools for martial arts.
"Actually, do you think I could borrow something?" Ranma asked. Now that she was on her own, she would need to take personal responsibility for the continued development of her martial arts.
"Oh, sure!" Azusa exclaimed. "Whatever you want. What were you interested in?"
"The ribbon and the hoop," Ranma said. Clubs, ropes, and balls were all common things she was already familiar with.
"Good choices. The ribbon is my favorite. Here, I have some spares you can borrow," Azusa said. She led Ranma to the side of the room and handed over a wrapped ribbon and a hoop. "If you have any questions, let me know. And just so you know, we are always interested in getting new members, if you are interested in joining."
"Thanks," Ranma said. She put the ribbon into her book bag and held the hoop in her free hand.
"Gokigenyou."
"Gokigenyou."
Ranma left the gym and made her way to her final group, the cooking club. As she went, she casually twirled the hoop around her wrist like she had seen one of the girls doing earlier. It was vaguely similar to twirling a nunchucku, only slower and covering more space. She next caught it in her hand and twisted it back and forth, producing a different motion entirely. Neither of those maneuvers seemed particularly useful, though. She wanted to do further experimentation, but her arrival at the kitchen brought an end to that.
The air smelled richly tantalizing as Ranma walked in.
"Gokigenyou," Ranma said. Much like the other classes and teams, the attention of all the girls in the room quickly turned to her.
"Gokigenyou," a girl with medium-length black hair said. She turned out to be the club president, and she introduced herself as Satomi Uesaka.
Ranma proceeded to tell her their clean-up responsibilities. As she spoke, her gaze wandered around the room. On the table were several plates of some unknown food. They looked like a cross between a slice of pizza and an okonomiyaki, being some kind of flat, layered pie which had been folded into a wedge.
"What are you cooking?" Ranma asked after she had finished her explanation.
"We're cooking crepes today," Satomi said.
"Crepes? What are those?" Ranma asked.
"They're French. They're somewhat like an okonomiyaki, but you can make desserts with them, too," Satomi said. "This one is filled with strawberries and chocolate, and Sena-san made one with bananas and cream."
"Oh," Ranma said. Both sounded delicious.
"Do you want one? They cook pretty fast," Satomi said.
"Hmmm..." Ranma said. She absolutely did. She liked strawberries and she adored chocolate. On the other hand, she was supposed to be meeting with Sachiko, and she hated to keep her waiting. "No... Onee-sama's waiting for me." Her stomach growled in protest.
"Oh. Well, the nice things about crepes is you can eat them to go, too. Do you like strawberries and chocolate?" Satomi asked. Ranma nodded. "Then here, you can take mine with you. Please. I'll just cook another one." She folded a piece of paper, slid her crepe into it, and then offered it out to Ranma with both her hands.
"Thanks!" Ranma said. Food practically being forced upon her. If Lillian wasn't a paradise, it was the closest thing to it that she had ever experienced. She draped the hoop around her shoulder like a bandoleer and took the crepe.
"You're welcome," Satomi said. "You can come back any time. We're always looking for new members."
"Sure," Ranma said. "Gokigenyou."
"Gokigenyou."
Ranma munched on the dessert as she walked through the hallways. It was just as sweet and succulent as she had expected. She finished it as she was nearing the exit of the building, and she disposed of the paper before emerging into the open air.
Her hand now free again, Ranma resumed her experiments with the hoop. Her next efforts had her trying to swipe it around. It resulted in something which was easier to manipulate than a staff; trying to do the same maneuver with a staff one-handed would have been almost impossible. However, the motion felt like it lacked any weight to it. It left her feeling dissatisfied, but there was far more experimentation needed before she would be willing to write the hoop off.
Sachiko was waiting for Ranma as she arrived at the statue of Mary.
"Gokigenyou."
"Gokigenyou," Sachiko said. "What's that?"
"This?" Ranma asked. She flung the hoop up into the air before snatching it again on the way down. "I borrowed it from the rhythmic gymnastics team."
"Did you now?" Sachiko asked. She fell into step to walk beside Ranma as they made their way to the nearby bus stop. "Are interested in it?"
"Yeah. I was thinking that the tools they were using could be used for martial arts," Ranma said. She tried swiping out and concurrently pivoting the hoop in an arc. It didn't work very well.
"Martial arts?" Sachiko asked. "Like some kind of Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics?"
"Exactly," Ranma said. Her conclusion was that she would really need two hands to properly test any thrusts or slashes with the hoop, so she once again started spinning it around her wrist on the opposite side of where Sachiko was walking.
"Really?" Sachiko asked. "You don't think that sounds strange?"
"Why would it?" Ranma asked. "They already got clubs, balls, and ropes. That's half a school's foundation right there."
"Balls?" Sachiko asked. "I guess clubs make sense, but balls? How does that work?"
"They're pretty common, like in Martial Arts Beach Volleyball, Martial Arts Baseball, and Martial Arts Bowling," Ranma said.
"You said you knew some of those, didn't you?" Sachiko asked. "You simply must show me later."
"Sure," Ranma said.
Several girls had congregated at the bus stop which forced Ranma to stop her experiments, lest she accidentally hit somebody by mistake. She hung the hoop over her shoulder once again and then lined up with Sachiko waiting for the bus to arrive. Once again they got onto the bus and began the long journey back to the Ogasawara mansion.
While transferring in the M Train Station, Ranma stopped by a convenience store to buy some concealer and foundation in preparation for the next day. Sayako had said her allowance was to buy whatever she needed, and based on what had happened in the morning, apparently she needed some makeup. The convenience store's small selection failed to meet her standards, though, so Sachiko suggested they take a detour.
They stopped at the K Train Station and quickly found a department store within the building itself. That store did have appropriate concealers and foundations, as well as the tools for their proper application, but they cost an absurd amount of money. Luckily Ranma had an absurd amount of money, even if her allowance was looking less and less absurd as the day went on.
Makeup and tools safely stored away in Ranma's book bag, they returned to the train and resumed their journey back to the Ogasawara mansion.
Upon returning home, Ranma changed hairstyle, clothes, and body. He then headed to the ballroom. It was a spacious and bright area with tall ceilings and wooden floors. That made it a perfect, if excessively decorated, dojo. There was some time before dinner, and while Ranma had had some time to experiment with the hoop already, he was eager to try out the ribbon as well.
His initial testing only served to prove his intuition: the huge length of fabric had a passing similarity to a whip, but it was a fundamentally different idea. The light cloth produced a satisfying sound when pulled through the air, but it was difficult to gain enough momentum to properly strike out with it. It was likely a skilled master could still cause injuries, but at that point, it seemed substantially inferior to a more traditional whip.
He next tried using it to scribble in the air, as he had seen the girls in the gym doing. The light ribbon spread out and floated much more than a whip ever would, but it didn't seem to have much of a point to it. The most it could have done was possibly dissuade an opponent from attack through it, lest they become entangled.
That idea sounded promising. The lightness of the ribbon gave it less control and direct impact than a whip, but it also gave it more flexibility. Maybe that was the way to think about it: as a whip which had sacrificed its aspect of injury in order to maximize its aspect of utility. If that were the case, then it would serve primarily as a means to control the environment and the opponent.
With that in mind, Ranma tried whipping out again, lassoing around an imaginary opponent. It snagged on, which was a very promising start. He experimentally yanked on it, trying to pull his opponent into range for a decisive attack.
He realized his mistake an instant too late. The vase he had snapped flew up through the air, arcing high in the air. Flowers and water flew everywhere scattering across Ranma's head and onto the floor all around.
She yanked back on the ribbon again, trying to pull the vase back before it smashed into the ground on the other side of her. It had the effect of changing the course of the flying vase, buying precious seconds but only that. The fundamental problem of the vase's plummeting towards a hard wood floor still remained, and it was almost certain to be a bad encounter.
Ranma resolved that problem by jumping up into the air and catching the vase. She clutched it to her chest, and twisted around to make sure she had a firm grasp of it. She spun down, twisted, and landed lightly on her feet. Her head and shirt were very obviously wet, a flower was sliding down her back, but everything seemed stable once again. Crisis averted.
"Dinner's going to be..." Sachiko said at the door, and then she gasped. She quickly walked towards Ranma. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, all good. Just a little training accident," Ranma said. She noticed the ribbon had encircled her while she had been twisting through the air. Some nudging out of her elbows showed that it would be very effective as an entangling instrument. It'd take some real effort to break out. More importantly, it'd take a few vital seconds of vulnerability to do so as well. Using the ribbon as a control tool was definitely an interesting avenue to explore.
"What were you doing in here?" Sachiko asked. She grabbed the stick of the ribbon lying on the ground.
"Martial arts practice," Ranma said. She twisted around as Sachiko fished in the ribbon.
"That Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics you were talking about?" Sachiko asked.
"Yeah. Eventually, I hope," Ranma said. She had the kernel of some interesting ideas. Whether they managed to become real techniques remained to be seen.
"Good luck," Sachiko said. "In the meantime, we should get everything cleaned up in here."
Ranma had finished unwrapping herself, and she and Sachiko gathered the scattered flowers and replaced them into the vase. Then a quick trip to a nearby restroom for some towels and water brought Ranma and the ballroom back to their original state.
Afterwards, Ranma and Sachiko went to the dining room. They met Sayako and Tooru there and ate a luscious dinner. Ranma once again got a substantially larger portion than anybody else, which he very much appreciated. Ranma and Sachiko took the opportunity to tell Sayako and Tooru how the meeting with the Yamayurikai had gone. Subsequent to that, there were some discussions around the table about some completely unrelated topics. Tooru asked Sachiko for some details about an upcoming holiday, and Sayako told a brief anecdote about a friend of hers.
Once dinner had finished, Ranma and Sachiko went to a drawing room and spent some time talking about the upcoming meeting with the headmistress. The discussion with the Yamayurikai had gone well, but Ranma was worried what the subsequent day might bring. Sachiko couldn't provide much reassurance about the headmistress, she being equally concerned about what the following day might bring.
She was able to shed some insight into the situation with Shimako, though. She said it was natural to be worried about losing a friend considering everything that had happened in the morning.
Ranma's first impulse was to deny it. He couldn't be friends with Shimako; he hadn't fought a duel with her or anything. However, upon reflection, he realized that his relationship with Shimako did seem to fit the behaviors of friendship, as far as he knew them: frequently meeting together, talking about random things, exchanging presents. For the first time in his life, one of those mysterious non-duel friendships had somehow occurred to him. Despite having experienced it for himself, though, it remained just as inexplicable as before. Even in hindsight, he wasn't sure exactly how it had happened.
No, two of them had appeared, considering how if Shimako was a friend, then realistically Yoshino had to be a friend as well. No, three of them, as Sachiko herself had to be considered as well. There were the other members of the Yamayurikai, too. For that matter, did Ami, Yukiyou, Yamamura, Shimono, Sayako, Tooru, and all of the others count as well? It was hard to say. Regardless, he had made a lot of friends since coming to Lillian, and not one of them had occurred through a duel. The realization left him absolutely flabbergasted.
As for Shimako's odd behavior, Sachiko suggested that she was probably in a similar place as Ranma was, equally concerned and confused with trying to figure out what this new situation meant for their relationship. Sachiko suggested that they just be patient and let things work themselves out naturally.
The rest of the evening was spent studying classwork. Even though Ranma was effectively studying on his own, as his classes were entirely different than Sachiko's, he still enjoyed the companionship with her.
After that, Ranma took a bath before retiring to his room.
A maid had already prepared the futon for Ranma, and it was waiting for him in the center of the room when he entered. He slid into it, and he was once again embraced by the soft warmth all around him before quickly falling asleep.
Last Updated: September 17, 2021