* * * * *
"Minor abrasions here; just need to clean up that one. Mmm...."
Tofu-sensei examined the injured knee of Akane. She blushed slightly,
wondering to herself if her skirt was accidentally riding up, flashing the
light blue panties she put on that morning to the good doctor. Then she
blushed more for even thinking such a thought. "Pervert," she chided herself
under her breath.
He didn't look up from his examination. "What was that, Akane?"
Her face grew hot pink. "Ah...I..I-I said, 'That hurt!' Yes, that's what I
said." She laughed a bit uneasily.
"Well, I hadn't touched it yet, so you must have banged it harder than you
thought."
"Ah...m-maybe..." She pray to every god that the doctor didn't look up any
time soon. Her face was burning in embarrassment, and she felt especially
foolish for voicing her thoughts.
"Don't worry; it's not broken." Tofu started to look up at Akane, to her
horror.
Suddenly, a clattering sound caught both of their attentions. They tilted
their heads to see Nabiki picking up a silver tray. She turned a slightly
embarrassed smile to the doctor and patient.
"Sorry about that. Accidentally knocked this off the counter." She waved a
hand underneath a chair. "I think a needle went sliding that way..."
Sighing a little, Tofu replied, "It's all right. Accidents do happen.
Excuse me for a moment Akane." He turned from Nabiki and reached underneath
the chair the fetch the fallen needle.
Akane sighed in relief as her face cooled. Lucky thing Nabiki had knocked
that tray off by accident.
"You owe me two now," came the hot whisper into her ear.
Akane blinked twice, then sighed. Okay, so there was no such thing as a
coincidence when Nabiki was concerned.
Tofu replaced the needle on the tray, then went to back to work. Pressing
his index finger upon two specific places around her knee cap, Tofu looked
up. "How does that feel?"
Akane straightened her leg experimentally, then stood on her own two feet.
"It feels better, Tofu-sensei. Thank you."
"It was no trouble. Just be more careful when you're running, okay?"
Her cheeks dusted pink. "Y-yes."
"Oh, and about your hair-"
Fear crawled beneath Akane's skin at the mention of its twisted existence.
All of that time spent growing her hair, maintaining it, wasted.
"-it looks very nice on you. In fact, it makes you look pretty cute."
Akane's eyes widened. "R-r-r-r-really...??"
"Yes, indeed."
A goofy, idiotic grin crept on her face. "Th...th...thank you,
Tofu-sensei..." Maybe Ranma wasn't such a jerk after all.
Just then, the clinic doors opened. Nabiki leaned back to glance inside of
the waiting room and caught sight of Kasumi with a taller Ranma in tow. She
eeped and quickly headed them off before they got within earshot of Tofu.
"Hey there, Sis. What brings you around here?"
The eldest Tendo daughter was a little surprised to find her in the clinic.
"Hello, Nabiki. I just brought Ranma here to get him hot water before school
starts. Did something bad happen to you?"
"No, Akane just banged her knee pretty hard this morning."
Saiyajin-Ranma smirked. "Is that all? ...well, if cutie couldn't stand up
to a serious fight, then why should I be surprised she can't take a little
pain?"
As if on cue, Akane stepped into the waiting room, her ears perked up and her
eyes leveling a glare against Ranma who simply let it wash over him like
water on a duck's back. Then her eyes widened, having caught sight of
Kasumi, and felt the presence of Tofu behind her. Panicking, she spun around
and tried to obscure his vision, but it was too late.
"Ka-Ka-Kasumi..." His glasses fogged up and he began laughing like an idiot.
He addressed Saiyajin-Ranma, whose warning senses were going off insanely.
"What brings you here on such a lovely day? Oh, my, you've certainly grown
since I last saw you. I see you styled your hair like Akane's too." He took
hold of Saiyajin-Ranma's arm as he rambled on.
The next thing anyone else knew, Tofu was flat on his back, dazed from the
sudden impact. Saiyajin-Ranma irritatedly rubbed his arm from where the good
doctor absently tried to tie his arm into a knot, then knelt down before his
face. "Look, doc, I ain't Kasumi. I'm Ranma, Kasumi's fiance, got it?"
Tofu blinked awake on that and shot straight up, startling everyone except
young man. "Fi-fi-fiance?!"
He folded his arms across his chest. "Yeah, 'fi-fi-fiance.' Got a problem
with that, doc?"
Frantically, Tofu's eyes darted to the other occupants of the room. Kasumi
has a blush riding across the bridge of her nose, but was smiling softly.
Nabiki had her arms folded beneath her bosom, wearing a pleased expression.
Akane was looking hopeful, her hands clasped together in front of her.
Inwardly, he sighed, then replied to the question. "N-no...I don't have a
problem with it...Ranma." He smiled again, though it was forced. "Well, you
look to be a fine young man. How did you two become...engaged?"
Saiyajin-Ranma gave Tofu the shorthand version of the first night. When he
finished explaining, Tofu was leaning against a wall, a drop of sweat rolling
down from his temple. "S-so, she...agreed to the...engagement?"
"Yup." He looked at the doctor carefully. "Why do you seem nervous?"
Tofu blinked, then laughed aloud, if a bit nervously. "Oh, i-it...it's no
reason, really. I...I was a little concerned about Ka-Kasumi ever finding
someone el...out there, excuse me, for her. She...she's such a sweet woman
with a lot to offer to that lu-lucky boy who-who gets her."
"Oh...for a moment, I thought you liked her and would try to win her over."
He yelped suddenly as hot water was unceremoniously dumped onto his head. He
glared at Nabiki who was holding an empty kettle. "Hot, not boilin'!"
Before she could respond, Ranma was slapped on the back by a deliriously
laughing Tofu. "Oh, don't be silly! Why would I even think of getting in
the way of Kasumi's happiness?"
"Well," Ranma started, rubbing the spot on his back when he was slapped. "I
guess I'm just bein' paranoid, or somethin'."
"Well, now that we have that out of the way, I think we better get going
before we're late for school," Nabiki said as she headed out of the front
door.
"Oh, my, she's right! We better get going, Ranma."
Ranma shrugged nonchalantly. "All right, Kasumi."
"Good-bye, Tofu-sensei."
"See ya later, doc." He spared a glance behind him. Kasumi's cheeks were
still flushed as she followed him out of the clinic.
Akane smiled warmly at Tofu, who was still laughing slightly. "Good-bye,
Tofu-sensei. I'll try to be more careful where I'm running."
"Yes, you do that, Akane." He weakly waved good-bye to them all. No sooner
than when they were all gone did Tofu bash his head against the wall several
times. He sighed, then berated himself. "And then I had to go ahead and
slap him on the back! What a fool I am...."
* * * * *
Akane, Nabiki, Kasumi and Ranma made their way toward Furinken High School.
The middle Tendo daughter gave her older sister a sidelong glance as she
walked just behind Ranma who made his home upon the chain fence. Stepping
away from Akane, who was more absorbed in her own world of joy than she was
paying attention to outside distraction, Nabiki craned her head so that her
lips were near Kasumi's ear. "So, what brings you all this way, Sis? It's
not like you still have to show Ranma the way to school since you two found
us."
"Well, I have to do some shopping for dinner. Since the market is only a
little ways from Furinken High School, I would like to complete showing Ranma
the way to school."
"Is that all you want to do, Sis?"
"Yes, Nabiki." If Kasumi was aware of what her younger sister was plotting,
she showed no sign of awareness.
However, before Nabiki could ask another question, Ranma asked, "Hey, Nabiki.
What's going on up there?"
"Going on where?"
He pointed toward Furinken's school grounds. "Up there. Looks like a mob
waiting for something."
"Oh, that. That's Akane's fan club."
At the mention of that, Akane roused herself out of her daydreaming and
growled. "I hate boys." She broke out into a run, streaking towards the
high school's front gates. "I hate boys! I HATE BOYS!!"
Ranma blinked. Kasumi softly spoke, "Oh, my." Nabiki whistled as she
whipped out a notepad and pencil.
Shaking off his confusion, Ranma hopped down from the fence beside Kasumi.
"Wanna see what's goin' on?"
Curiously, Kasumi looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"This." With that, Ranma scooped Kasumi into his arms, which elicited a yelp
of surprise from her, and tore down the street after Akane, kicking up a dust
cloud.
Nabiki coughed until the dust settled back upon the pavement. Then she
realized something; they all left her behind. "Hey, wait up!" she cried,
taking off in a run. "I don't want to miss anything good!"