Many apologies for my total lack of activity lately. Work is....
Well, I won't bore you with the details. Have some chapter two, and
special thanks to the Refuge for their help in refining this!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ranma smiled hopefully at the assembled residents of the
inn. "So now you know what's going on," he explained, nodding, and
glad for the calm that seemed to have settled over the room.
So calm, in fact, that Shinobu appeared to take a nap right
in her seat, slumping across the table.
"Erm," Ranma noised, tensing at the girl's collapse.
"Anyway, this has been one big mixup after another, so I'll just
take my stuff, get my rent back, and then move along."
Keitaro twitched violently at that. "Um, oh, you don't have
to move out," he said quickly. "I mean, they let me stay here, so
one more boy -- especially one who's a girl half the time --
shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"No," Motoko protested, just as quickly. "He's a pervert,
even less trustworthy than yourself, Urashima. We can not let him
stay here."
"Calm down!" Ranma said, smiling broadly. "There's no reason
to be upset! I don't have a problem with moving out -- there might
not be as good a deal around here in the way of cheap dorms, but I
can find another place. No worries, right?"
"Actually," Keitaro said hesitantly, "there's a small,
little, nearly negligible, mostly insignificant problem...."
"Well, it can't be that bad," Ranma reasoned, his smile
slightly strained.
"Erm.... Well, you see, Oe-san, you remember the fight you
and Motoko-chan had yesterday?"
Ranma's smile became more strained. "Hardly worth commenting
on," he insisted. "I've been through worse, though I usually don't
get hit upside the head with collapsing buildings."
"Er... about that, you see," Keitaro managed, backing away
nervously. "Um, I already spent your rent money on repairs, so I
can't refund it and I'm really really sorry so please don't hurt
me!"
Ranma stared at him blankly. "You mean... all of my money
was wasted because some crazy tomboy wrecked the inn, and now I
can't get it back?" He turned to Motoko, furious. "You're saying
that just because she attacked me, I have to stay here? Are you
_serious_?"
Motoko backed away nervously at the anger Ranma was
radiating, and stammered, "Now, now, now, there's no reason to be
upset!"
Ranma growled angrily. "Stupid, violent-- Okay. This is your
fault. Now how are we going to deal with the problem?"
"It's _not_ my fault!" Motoko countered, overcoming her fear
of Ranma's aggressive demeanor. "_You_ were staring at _me_ in the
bath!"
"Like that means anything!" Ranma snapped. "I've got a much
better looking-- No, wait. I'm not going there again." He took a
deep breath and finished, "Suffice to say that I've seen better,
little girl."
"I am a martial artist, not a little girl!" Motoko yelled.
"And I was attacking you for being a pervert!"
"_Me_ for being a pervert? _He_ is the one who made me think
that this was a boys-only dorm!" Ranma growled, pointing an
accusatory finger at Keitaro.
The manager was standing on one foot, frozen mid-tip-toe
towards the back door. "Eh, heh..." he offered lamely, his face a
mask of mixed fear and worry.
--------------------------------------
Diamonds in the Rough -- Chapter Two -- I'm Not a Pervert!
Disclaimer: Paints in this story are from Takahashi, Viz
(Ranma 1/2), TV Tokyo and Ken Akamatsu (Love Hina), and Tatsuya
Egawa (Goldenboy). The easel is mine. That's all.
Notes: Divergences should become apparent as relevant.
--------------------------------------
Naru stood up, smacking one fist into the palm of the other
hand. "Of course!" she exclaimed, relief flooding her voice. "It's
all Keitaro's fault! Now it all makes sense. KEITA-"
"Not inside!" Keitaro protested, cowering before the punch
that Naru launched towards him.
"Oh, right," Naru said sheepishly, stopping herself. "Forgot
about that. Now, were you just about to step outside, 'Kanrinin'?"
she asked sweetly.
"Why me?" Keitaro whimpered.
"Hah!" Motoko exclaimed, pointing a finger and jabbing Ranma
in the chest. "Trying to shift the blame, are you? It was _your_
attack that caused such devastation, not mine."
"Not really," Ranma said, staring down at the finger Motoko
had jabbed into his chest. "And since you almost attacked Shinobu-
chan yesterday, I had to protect her."
Shinobu had just recovered from her fainting spell in time
to hear that, and immediately broke down in tears. "She's not a
lesbian, she just wants to kill all the girls so she can have the
boys to herself!" she wailed. "I don't want Motoko-sempai to kill
me!"
"I am not trying to kill anyone," Motoko snapped. "I
attacked Ranma, not you!"
"And if I dodged, your attack would have gone right through
the wall and hit her," Ranma countered, crossing his arms over his
chest smugly. "You're far too irresponsible to be a martial artist.
Like Aniki told me, it's a martial artist's duty to protect the
weak."
"Aneue said the exact same thing," Motoko growled. "It's one
of the primary rules for our school."
"Feh," Ranma grumbled. "Pops said it a lot, too, but when
Aniki said it, he _meant_ it. Can _you_ say it and mean it?"
"That does it!" Motoko snapped. "I challenge you to a duel,
Oe! The winner will be declared the innocent party."
Ranma grinned. "Suits me _just_ fine," he growled. "Where do
we fight?"
"Outside -- there is an arena for such things." So saying,
Motoko spun on her heel, brushing past Ranma and marching to the
door, one hand clenched tightly about the hilt of her sword.
Keitaro edged slowly away from Naru while she was distracted
by Motoko. "Does this mean that it's not Keitaro's fault?" she asked
slowly.
"Something like that," Ranma muttered, stalking out the door
after Motoko.
***
Ranma stood at one side of the small island that Keitaro
remembered from his own duel with Motoko. The kendoka stood at the
other, facing Ranma intently. The other girls lined the bank of the
stream at either side of him, watching with varying degrees of
emotion -- apprehension from Shinobu, confusion and worry from
Motoko, and simple curiosity from Mitsune and Suu.
"So, what exactly happens when you lose?" Ranma asked
casually.
Gritting her teeth, Motoko yelled, "I'm not going to lose to
you, pervert! Justice is on my side, and I will be proven right."
Ranma smirked, dropping into an easy, relaxed stance. "Okay,
then go ahead and take me down -- hit me with your best shot."
Motoko charged him angrily, crying out, "Shinmei Ryu -- Ougi
Zangan Ken!"
Ranma tensed slightly, throwing both palms towards Motoko.
"Mouko Takabisha!" he countered, a flaring ball of golden light
forming between his hands and launching itself towards Motoko's
attack. The vacuum blades met with Ranma's fireball, countering each
other in a spectacular explosion, a thin wash of golden light
passing through the smoke and striking Motoko.
The kendoka, uncaring, charged through the smoke towards
Ranma, sword in a ready position. "I will strike you down, fell
minion of perversion!" she declared.
Ranma smirked, ducking her initial sword slash with a lithe
and casual grace. "You're all steamed up!" he taunted, pointing to
Motoko.
She paused, glowering, and glanced at herself. Where the
golden light of Ranma's attack had touched her clothing, it had
begun to smolder. "Aaah!" she shrieked, frantically beating the
flames out with her free hand, but not dropping her sword.
"Looks like you're going to win this fight for sure," Ranma
heckled. "You're absolutely on _fire_!"
Mitsune clicked her tongue against her teeth. "Motoko seems
to be in over her head," she assessed. "What do you think, Suu?"
"I think he's going to do something really sneaky," the girl
responded, nodding sagaciously.
"Auuugh... poor Motoko," Shinobu whimpered. "The strange man
is going to kill her!"
"He's not going to kill her," Naru countered. "He doesn't
have a weapon, and she's got a sword. She'll win for sure."
"Auuugh... poor Shinobu," the little girl sobbed. "Motoko's
going to kill him, and then she's going to kill me!"
"Motoko is not going to kill anyone," Keitaro declared
firmly.
Mitsune eyed Keitaro critically. "Except maybe you, if she
loses."
Blanching, Keitaro shouted, "You can do it, Motoko-chan!"
Either unable to hear his comment, or uncaring, Motoko
slashed at Ranma with her sword, but he seemed entirely unconcerned,
dodging with exaggerated ease.
"Stand still!" Motoko yelled at the man. "It's not fair!"
"Would you rather dance?" Ranma asked, hopping over Motoko's
head, and pivoting in the air to land still facing her. "Why not?
I'll lead!"
Yelling inarticulately, Motoko chased after Ranma as he led
her in slowly narrowing spiral.
"Hmm," Mitsune mused. "He's going to run out of room to run
in a bit if--"
"Hiryuu shouten-HA!" Ranma shouted suddenly.
Motoko froze for a single startled instant. Along the path
that Ranma had run, a puff of air, cold enough to make her path
through the spiral steam hotly, shot upwards. There was only enough
time for the girl to whimper, "Uh-oh," before a sudden violent
whirlwind plucked the kendoka from the island, hauling her upwards
and throwing her into a massive, churning tornado.
Ranma remained in the center of the storm, head bowed, and
one fist raised above him.
"Wow," Suu breathed. "He used the temperature differential
to create a vortex that channeled the heat of her own anger against
her!"
"So that's why he was teasing her," Mitsune whispered,
watching with interest as her hair was whipped about in the high
winds.
Ranma heaved a sudden loud sigh, staring upwards. "Man, she
was angry," he muttered, frowning. "I think I put a little too much
into that one."
"Oe-san?" Keitaro asked cautiously, peering upwards, trying
to make Motoko out in the whirling tornado. "Is she okay?"
Grimacing, Ranma shook his head. "Don't know. I'd better go
get her down, I guess." With that, he vaulted upwards, riding the
wind of the tornado into the air and vanishing after the kendoka.
"Well!" Mitsune exclaimed, smiling broadly at Keitaro. "I
like him. If we get to see fights like this all the time, I say we
let him stay!"
Naru gaped at Mitsune. "Are you serious?" she asked,
unbelieving. "He turns into a girl! He can beat Motoko, our only
defense against Keitaro's perversion!"
"He's paid for half the repairs to the inn himself," Mitsune
countered, her grin widening. "As far as turning into a girl -- just
think how much fun that could be!"
"Auuugh..." Shinobu wailed. "Kitsune-san too!"
"Not like that," Mitsune said hastily. "But think about it
-- you can date him as a he, and then go shopping with him as a
she!"
"I want him to stay!" Suu said excitedly. "I want to study
him, lots!"
"But... but... but..." Naru protested. Turning to Shinobu
for support, she asked, "Do _you_ want him living with us?"
Shinobu sniffled, wiping tears from her eyes, and managed,
"I don't know! Maybe he's a pervert!"
"Exactly!" Naru said, nodding and turning to Keitaro.
"But he can't be nearly as bad as all the perverts we
already have!"
***
Riding the burst of hot air upwards, Ranma raised a forearm,
slapping the flat of Motoko's blade away from his face at the last
second as he drew near her. "Yikes!" he exclaimed, flipping about,
and drifting a meter away from her in the raging whirlwind. "You've
still got a lot of fight in you!"
"And you are a more worthy opponent than I had thought," the
kendoko countered. Her sword was still held in a ready stance, as
her garb fluttered about her, strangely ominous in the updraft.
"Most people I hit with that one give up," Ranma offered,
knowing that with the girl's newfound control over her temper, the
whirlwind would vanish shortly. "It's a long way down. How are you
on landings?"
"If you think to offer me help, you're sorely mistaken to
guess that I'd accept it," she growled, holding her sword before her
menacingly. "I do _not_ need your assistance."
"Okay, okay," he said, smiling. The brief flare of her
temper would feed back into the technique, giving them some time. If
she had enough control to simply allow herself to float in the
center of the tornado, without it tearing her apart... that was
impressive in and of itself. "Where did you learn to fight?"
"This is _not_ the time for idle chatter," Motoko snapped.
"Do you wish to fight further, or will you leave me be?"
"I'm making sure you get down safely," he insisted. "Aniki
says, 'Never leave a girl in distress, double for cute ones,' and I
think it's good advice."
Anger gave abrupt way to confusion, and the intensity of the
whirlwind lessened, lowering them towards the ground, and quickly.
Motoko didn't notice, instead growing angry again, and adding more
heat to the tornado. Whirling about the periphery of the technique,
Ranma's own soul of ice would allow them to hover indefinitely, were
things managed correctly.
They had dropped, though, and were now mere meters from the
ground. Ranma looked at her expectantly. "Well?"
"You are mocking me," the girl assessed. "Is it not enough
that you've shamed me already?"
"Hey!" Ranma protested, raising his hands before him in a
placating gesture. "It's not like--"
The second he shifted his stance, the girl calmed to an
iciness that rivaled his own, plummeting the last few meters and
landing on the ground easily. He dropped to the earth nearby, as she
took up a defensive posture. "Oh," he said, laughing weakly, and
running a hand through his hair. "I guess that looks kind of like
the way you throw a Mouko Takabisha," he joked. "Um, no, look. I
don't want to fight you, really. I got enough of that when I was a
kid."
"So you're _are_ mocking me now?" the kendoka asked,
furrowing her brow.
"I'm not mocking you! Well, I was before, but that's because
I needed to make you hot enough to use the Hiryuu shouten-ha."
"A convenient excuse," the girl growled, loosening her
defensive stance only slightly. "I do not know your school. Where
have you learned such techniques?"
"All around," Ranma said, shrugging uncomfortably. "That
trick I got from... a friend... from China. I learned kempo and the
Saotome school from my pops, but now I study the Oe Ronin-ryu."
"I don't know of that school," Motoko admitted, lowering her
sword, and after a hesitant minute sheathing it. "We will call this
duel a draw."
"So I did peek at you, but you peeked at me too," Ranma
offered, smirking. "Fair enough."
"For the moment," Motoko grumbled. "I am not pleased about
this, and you were a very rude man."
"Uh, sorry about that," Ranma laughed, running a hand
through his hair and scratching the back of his head nervously
again. "I was really angry about the money thing. But it's no big
deal, I can live in the woods behind the inn okay, I've done it
before."
Motoko looked as though she were about to say something, but
dropped her head to stare at her feet nervously. Sighing, she
slumped her shoulders, and admitted, "It would not be fair that you
would contribute so much, and benefit not at all. So... I will agree
that we should let you stay with us... until your three months are
finished."
"Fair enough," Ranma said, nodding. "Anything else?"
"I would... be pleased if you could tell me more of your 'Oe
Ronin-ryu', Oe-san. I am curious," she mumbled, looking away. "Aneue
would likewise be curious to know."
"Eh? Well, if you really want to know... it's a school Aniki
made up." He nodded judiciously, eyes distant as he remembered
everything he had learned with his brother. "Anyway, it's about
learning what to use, and when to use it. Aniki says... 'take
everything you can ever learn, and learn it as best as you can. It's
always going to be useful somewhere, sometime.' So, we go around,
and everything we can, we learn, and add to the Art. Even simple
chores are an extension of the Art, and everything you ever do is
training."
"I'm familiar with the theory," Motoko allowed, nodding.
"And you actually practice this?"
"Eh, me and Aniki, yeah," Ranma said, nodding. "Er... I hear
the other people coming. We must have landed a ways away... anything
you want to tell them?"
"Merely that the duel was a draw," Motoko said, crossing her
arms over her chest as the other tenants exploded from the
underbrush around the landing site, all of them babbling
simultaneously. The little girl with the pale hair seized onto Ranma
immediately, proclaiming that she wanted to keep him. Shinobu seemed
nervous about approaching either of them, while Naru shook her head
sadly. Mitsune watched everything with a broad grin, and Keitaro
smiled hopefully.
"So... I hope you don't mind staying with us for a while,"
the other man managed, between the excited babble, bowing his head
apologetically.
"Yeah... it's okay," Ranma said, shaking his head. "I really
gotta do some stuff, though, and get a part-time job, too, so...."
***
Once things had settled down into some semblance of order,
Keitaro sighed in relief, thankful that he'd escaped with minimal
damage. Tomorrow was the day that the contractors would be coming in
to work on the retrofit for the inn, and it was also the day of
another of the important pre-tests. "Study!" he told himself
insistently, pulling out his notebook, and turning his attention to
a study guide.
After a moment, he heard a scraping and sliding noise, and a
panel in his ceiling slid to one side, a familiar face and head of
hair poking down to observe him. "Hey," Naru said suddenly, dropping
down and flipping over to land on the floor. "Which book are you
looking at?"
Keitaro blinked, turning his attention to the book at his
desk, and read off the title.
Naru nodded, and consulted a notebook of her own. "What did
you get for the long problem on page eight?"
Consulting his notes, Keitaro read, "Uh... I got variable by
seven over three." He looked up to Naru curiously. "What did you
get?"
"Variable by three over seven," she grumped. "But my answer
key is missing."
"Oh, well, let me check." Keitaro flipped through his book
quickly. "Oops. Looks like you were right," Keitaro sighed, shaking
his head sadly. "Anything else?"
"No," Naru said tiredly, tossing the notebook up through the
hole in the ceiling, and consulting another book. "Want to work on
some world history? I'm getting bored of math."
"Sure," Keitaro enthused, smiling. "I'll get some tea -- do
you want me to ask Oe-san if he wants to study with us?"
"Er... I suppose," Naru said, shifting her shoulders
nervously. "I still think he's kind of scary, though."
Keitaro opened his mouth to say something, but the sudden
crash of stampeding footsteps interrupted him. He stared towards his
open doorway in surprise, as Ranma -- as a redheaded girl again --
charged down the hallway, Tamago perched atop her head. Suu skipped
along after him, holding a bucket with her signature logo of three
eyes on the side. "I just want to have the Suu Mecha Analyst Mark
One examine you and find out how you work!" the girl pleaded.
Ranma spun on one foot, the other sweeping through the air
above Suu's head and snapping into a metal object soaring after her.
The device gave a resounding crunch, and bounced away. "No!" Ranma
insisted, shaking her head quickly. "I don't want tests done on me!
It's just a Jusenkyou curse!"
"What's a Jusenkyou? Is it delicious?" Suu asked, peering at
Ranma closely, and seemingly unconcerned with the destruction of her
latest invention.
"I--" Ranma blinked, considering. "Who knows? You don't want
to drink something that's cursed!" Shaking her head, Ranma leveled
an arm and pointed it at Suu sternly. "Now, don't send more machines
after me to try and find out how I work!"
Seeing the extended arm as an invitation, Suu leapt towards
the woman, vaulting onto the limb, and hanging easily by her knees,
rocking back and forth slowly while she prodded at Ranma's shins.
"Where does everything go?" she pressed. "I want to know how it
works!"
Ranma blinked, staring at the girl who looked up at her,
smiling brightly, and running her fingers towards Ranma's feet.
"Stop that!" She shook her arm, trying to dislodge the girl, but
only succeeded in having Suu grab onto her and scurry about to sit
on the girl's shoulders, fingers poking experimentally at Ranma's
head.
"But where's it all go?" Suu asked. "How do the colors
change? What about the other parts you have when you're a boy? Where
do they go?"
"Oh, there's something I was happier never ever _ever_
thinking about," Ranma mumbled, blanching slightly. Keitaro nodded
in sympathy, shuddering. "Look, I don't really know about how
Jusenkyou works, just the hot and cold water thing. I knew some
other guys, way back in the day, who had different curses, but even
the smart people I know don't get this. Can you just leave me alone
about the curse?"
"Is a curse delicious?"
"Now I know you're just being difficult," Ranma asserted,
plucking the girl from her shoulders, and setting her down on the
hallway. "Tell you what, though. If you behave, and don't bug me,
maybe I'll tell you where Jusenkyou is."
Suu debated for a moment, then nodded, and bounced down the
hallway happily.
Ranma slumped visibly, sighing, and wiped her forehead,
Tamago reclaiming the perch as soon as she straightened, and
mimicked her expression. "Oh, heya, Kanrinin, Narusegawa-san," Ranma
greeted, nodding at the pair. Tamago waved, and Ranma rolled her
eyes upwards, leaving her head level. "This critter a friend of
yours?"
"Uh... yes," Keitaro managed, nodding. "Tamago was a gift
from Otohime-chan, he's kind of a pet for the whole inn."
"Neat," Ranma enthused, waggling a finger near the turtle's
nose. It extended its neck slightly, and released a delighted chirp.
"Anyway, looks like you're busy, so sorry for bugging you."
"Actually, we were going to start studying for world
history," Naru explained, smiling at Ranma brightly. "Would you like
to join us? Keitaro was just going to get some tea."
"Er... maybe later," Ranma apologized. "I don't like
spending too much time in my cursed form, and anyway, I need to go
and find a job, and register for classes and tests and everything."
Keitaro frowned, and watched Ranma walk away before turning
to regard Naru questioningly. "I thought you said you didn't want to
study with Ranma?"
"It's different when Ranma is a girl," she insisted. "If
he's a boy, then you outnumber me, and that's not safe."
"Oe-san is not dangerous!" Keitaro defended. "He was very
well behaved, considering that he fought Motoko-chan to a draw so
easily."
"I never said _Oe_ was dangerous," Naru evaded. "You said
you were going to make some tea?"
***
Atop the peak of the inn's roof, alone for the moment, Ranma
carefully faced the city, his back to the building. He flexed his
knees slightly, then sprang away, flipping in the air, gripping the
peak of the roof with his toes and dancing backwards. Dancing was as
good a word as any, though it had taken Kintaro some effort to prove
to Ranma that dancing wasn't just for girls and hopeless romantics.
But the careful and graceful motions, evasions, strikes,
blocks, they were all fluid... there were few better words for the
whole thing, and the word 'kata' sounded too mechanical, robbed the
entire thing of what made it... the Art. So he danced backward, his
own mind and the gentle breeze providing him with a rhythm as he
wove back, parrying and striking at an invisible foe, until he
reached the end of the roof, spun, and danced backwards again.
"That's an interesting kata," Motoko observed dryly, her
hands clasped behind her back.
Failing to notice the kendoka's arrival, Ranma stumbled,
falling to one side of the peak and rolling over repeatedly before
he could right himself, grimacing. "Didn't hear you coming," he
admitted, sighing. "What about it?"
"Very little," Motoko said, shaking her head. "Save....
Another might not grasp the significance, but I see something there,
Oe. You do not seem the type to run as much as that maneuver would
suggest."
"Oh?" Ranma asked, righting himself. "Why do you say that?"
"You have too much confidence, I think," she accused,
smiling slightly. "I do not entirely trust you yet despite
everything."
"What do you want to know?" he asked quietly. "You've seen
my confidence before."
Motoko cupped her hands before her, and summoned a dim flame
of her own ki, burning a pure, pale white. "You showed me something,
Oe, but it did not stay what it was. Not for long." She studied the
weak, flickering flame in her hands for a moment before dismissing
it. "I have shown no one else that I can do that much. My blade is
required for more."
"I get it," Ranma said, sinking to sit on the roof, placing
his hands on his knees. "I show you mine, and you show me yours,
right?"
The girl nodded, one hand sinking to rest on her sheathed
sword. "That would be for the best," she said. "My own power burns
with the pure light of cleansing. What of yours?"
Ranma cupped a single hand before him and concentrated,
summing a flicker of his own power to him. It was difficult, but
within a minute, a golden-white flame of power danced over his palm.
"I'll tell you a story," he said, staring into the flame as though
mesmerized. "But I really don't like this story, so don't expect to
hear it again, little girl."
"Don't call me that," she said reflexively, before stepping
forward cautiously, and dropping her hands to her sides from the
hilt of her sword. "Very well. Speak, Oe. I will listen."
"There was a boy in a town far away from here," he said
softly, staring into the intensifying golden ki-flame. "He had a
curse, and you know that curse, but it was the least of his
problems." He chuckled, as the flame wavered, then strengthened.
"The greatest of his problems was that he didn't know how to control
himself. More importantly, he didn't know _when_ to control himself,
Motoko-chan." A streak of green crept into the flame, strengthening
and widening as he continued. "And he was so sure he couldn't make a
mistake that he _did_ make a mistake, and it was a big one."
He turned to meet her eyes briefly, and some connection was
made there. Though he couldn't fathom the depths of it entirely at
that moment, he knew it was enough that she understood more than he
had simply spoken. "And that mistake cost that boy everything that
he valued," he whispered, the gold vanishing entirely to the sickly,
wavering green. "And everywhere he turned, everything he knew became
something else." The first strains of malevolent black crept into
the wavering strands of ki-flame. "And he lost something very
important to him."
***
The kendoka swallowed nervously, gaze fixed firmly on the
glowing energy, as more of it shifted to dark, wicked flame. "But
then... then something unexpected happened." Suddenly, a white mote
of light burst into the mottled black and green structure, spreading
golden-white light across it, slowly banishing the other colors.
"Then the boy met someone who told him it wasn't lost, it wasn't
over... it was just a question of looking at things differently." He
allowed the ki-flame to vanish, smiling sadly. "And that's pretty
much that, Motoko-chan. This isn't a story I like to tell."
"I... see," she said slowly, struggling with her words.
"But, Oe-san... you haven't told me everything, I think. There is
more that I do not understand."
"That's the way life is, usually," he said, standing up, and
shaking his head. "You want to know if I'm evil or something, right?
Well, I'm not. If I were, I would have taken advantage of you
already, wouldn't I?"
"You should not speak of such things," Motoko said harshly,
her face coloring. "And I never accused you of such."
"Bet you thought it, though," Ranma teased, bounding off the
roof, and dashing across the clothesline where Shinobu was busy
pinning up laundry. The man ran effortlessly across the thin wooden
supports, gliding past so swiftly that Shinobu didn't notice, save
to comment about the wind aloud. The man vanished off the edge of
the balcony, leaving Motoko to stare after him in consternation.
Mere moments later, he pedaled his bicycle down the street,
swiftly vanishing from sight again.
"Perhaps not evil," she mused, "but something is amiss, and
you will not answer my questions." She smiled tapping a finger
against her lower lip. "An easy answer occurs to me, Oe-san. My
sister will divine your true intents easily enough, though I suspect
I know the answer regardless."
***
Once she was done washing laundry, more of a chore than
ever, given the lack of hot water, Shinobu carefully set a pair of
kettles on the stove. There was no telling how much hot water would
be needed around the house, and Ranma would need it even more, given
Suu's declarations of pursuing her investigation of the man. Woman.
Man. Ranma.
The more she thought of it, the more confused she became,
until she finally was able to dismiss it by losing herself in the
ever-present task of housework. The laundry would need to be brought
in, but before then, the dishes needed to be done, and that meant
more hot water.
"Oh, I hope we can have the boiler replaced soon," she
sighed, shaking her head.
Suu bounced into the kitchen, carrying a large thermos
marked with her traditional symbol. "Where's Ranma?" she asked,
looking around and pouting. "I wanted to ask him some questions!"
"I think he's left, Koara," Shinobu apologized, pouring a
kettle of boiling water into the sink, and then adding cold water to
that. "Oh, this is going to take forever," she sighed, testing the
water temperature.
Suu crept over and peered into the dishwater. "What is it?
Is it delicious?"
"No, not at all!" Shinobu warned, pushing Suu away from the
sink. "It's awful, and now it's worse because we don't have enough
hot water."
"Oh! I can fix that!" Suu exclaimed, pulling the cap of the
thermos off, and swiftly disassembling it. She only needed a second
to recombine a number of the oddly shaped pieces inside before she
stuck it on the end of the kitchen faucet, and beamed a smile at
Shinobu. "Hot water!" she pronounced. "I was going to give this to
Ranma for testing, but he's not here, so you can have it!"
Shinobu peeked at the device worriedly. "How does it work?"
she asked hesitantly.
Suu obligingly pointed at the device's three prominent eye-
shaped buttons in turn. "Hot water, cold water, self-destruct."
Fearful of the last button, Shinobu pressed the button for
hot water, and turned on the sink again. To her delight, steaming
hot water began to fill the basin. "Thank you, Koara!" she cheered,
clapping her hands together delightedly. "Now we don't have to worry
so much about hot water!"
The foreign girl nodded absently, stretching her arms above
her head and looking distant. "I was going to give it to Ranma."
Shinobu turned her attention to the dishes, humming happily.
"You like Oe-san, Koara?"
"He's really neat!" the other girl said, nodding happily,
and rummaging through a basket of fruit on the kitchen table until
she found a banana. "I want to see him lots!"
"You like him... like that?" Shinobu asked, pausing her
washing of the dishes long enough to peer at Suu.
Suu was happily munching on her banana, looking out a nearby
window. "He's a Ranma, not a Keitaro," she stated, as though that
explained everything. Beaming a smile at Shinobu, she flung the
banana peel into a trashcan, and skipped down the hall. "He's coming
back now!"
***
Taking a break from studying world history, Keitaro stood
atop the cleanly swept stairs leading up to the inn, leaning on his
broom and staring down at the traffic zipping along the street
below. Shaking his head at his self-distraction, he turned about,
and began to walk towards the inn again. Without warning, Suu
released an exuberant war cry, and leapt from the second story of
the inn, nearly flying across the courtyard to slam into Keitaro.
Knocked down by the girl's mass, Keitaro slid across the
flagstones, back to the very edge of the staircase, when Suu
leapfrogged off of his back, hurtling down the steep flight and
caroling, "Ranma!"
The man in question had just reached the bottom of the stone
staircase on his bicycle, and looked up in alarm at the schoolgirl
as she eagerly zoomed towards him. His eyes widened, and he spun his
bicycle around, the girl colliding with -- and latching onto -- his
back. The momentum launched the pair into the street, Ranma narrowly
evading a bus, and turning the bike sharply downhill.
Keitaro's eyes widened, as Ranma jerked the handlebars
upward, jumping the vehicle onto the hood of an oncoming speeding
car, and bouncing off of it onto the level stone rim that ran along
the staircase. Shooting forward like a rocket, Ranma swiftly piloted
the bike up the slope, jumping off a stone or some bump Keitaro
couldn't see, but passing directly over his head.
He rolled over and sat up in time to watch the pair come
down on the bicycle, Ranma balancing it on the rear tire in the
center of the courtyard, a faint ring of dust rolling away across
the ground, centered around the bike.
Ranma heaved an unsteady sigh, and allowed the bike to drop
to both tires, setting one foot firmly against the courtyard's
surface. He stepped off the bicycle, rewarded by sudden applause
from Mitsune and Haruka, and gave an uneasy smile, grabbing Suu's
arms and pulling the girl off his back. "Don't do that," he warned
sternly. "You could get people hurt."
The girl pouted at him, and said, "You said that you would
tell me where I could find a Jusenkyou!"
"If you behaved!" he grumped. "Jumping down the stairs like
that is not behaving. You could seriously hurt yourself!"
Keitaro coughed pointedly, pulling himself off the ground
and dusting his clothes off. "Sorry about that, Oe-san. Suu-chan is
a little excitable."
"So where's a Jusenkyou?" Suu demanded, tugging on Ranma's
T-shirt sleeve.
Ranma looked askance at Keitaro, then turned to regard Suu
squarely. "If I tell you, are you going to go there?" he queried.
"Yes! I need to investigate it! Or, you could let me study
you."
"Maybe I'd better not tell you, then," the man mused,
stripping off his riding gloves, and tucking them into a pocket.
"Look, Jusenkyou is dangerous, Koara. It makes jumping down the
stairs and throwing us into traffic look like child's play."
"I _am_ a child, and jumping down the stairs _is_ playing!"
Suu gleefully asserted. "So, will you tell me, now?"
"Suu-chan, I think you really should just leave Oe-san
alone," Keitaro warned, nodding at Haruka and Mitsune by way of
greeting. "Um, but, Oe-san, since you've already met Kitsune, I
should introduce you to my aunt, Haruka. Haruka-basan, this is Oe
Ranma, our newest tenant."
Recovering his manners, Ranma bowed to the woman. "It's a
pleasure to meet you," he intoned.
"Charmed," Haruka said, nodding at Ranma, and glancing at
Keitaro pointedly. "Nice job of sweeping the stairs. What happened
to the little redheaded number you had moved in here yesterday?"
Ranma shivered uncomfortably, and offered the women a weak
smile, picking up his bike and inclining his head respectfully to
Haruka again. "Well, anyway, uh, I'll see you around," he managed,
quickly leaving, and trailed by Suu.
"Er... that's a long story," Keitaro hedged. "I don't know
if Oe-san wants to talk about it."
"Oh, Kitsune told me everything," Haruka said, smiling
around her cigarette. "Just thought I'd warn you that Seta is coming
by later, and he's bringing Sarah back with him."
***
Once inside, Keitaro wandered back into the kitchen of the
inn, following Shinobu and Ranma's voices, and the occasional
question from Suu.
"Oe-san, I'm very sorry about not remembering to make you
breakfast," the young cook said insistently. "I have to make
something for you tonight to make up for it!"
"Will it be delicious?"
"Heh! For once, that's actually appropriate. Tell me, Koara,
why do you ask that question all the time?"
Keitaro rounded the corner and paused, watching the
residents chatter. Ranma was standing, looking oddly at ease given
the way Suu was latched onto his back, inspecting an ear curiously.
Shinobu was in the kitchen, dancing between a number of bubbling
pots, wearing a look of fierce determination.
Suu straightened up, crossing her arms over her chest and
looking suddenly very thoughtful, considering that she was suspended
by having her legs wrapped around Ranma's chest. "It's a specially
devised technique to throw people off and learn more about them from
their indirect reactions, allowing me to gauge what kind of person
they are and study them better."
Ranma blinked, twisting his head to one side to try and look
at the girl. "That makes sense," he said quietly. "But you still
want to go to Jusenkyou?"
The girl nodded excitedly. "We can test the effects of a
Jusenkyou on Tamago!"
"Koara, I don't think that Tamago would like that," Shinobu
warned, tapping the side of a pot with a wooden spoon. "If Oe-san
can beat Motoko, and he says that it's dangerous, you should be
careful."
Smiling, Suu declared, "Then I study a Ranma more than a
Jusenkyou!"
Ranma sighed, as Suu leapt off of him, and ran away. "It's
probably for the best," he commented, smirking slightly. "What's up,
Kanrinin?"
"Er... not much," Keitaro said, laughing nervously. "Did you
sign up for tomorrow's pre-test?"
"Nope, they closed admissions since Friday, so I was too
late," Ranma said, shaking his head. "I have an appointment for the
next one, though. Oh, I did get a job. I start on Wednesday. Why?"
"Well, if you're not busy," Keitaro began, sidling closer to
Ranma, and lowering his voice slightly, "I need to stay here to talk
to the contractors tomorrow, but I also have to go to the test...
since you didn't make it, I was wondering if I could ask you for a
favor."
Ranma grimaced, then nodded. "No problem, Kanrinin," he
declared. "I'll watch over the inn for the day. Anything else?"
"No, no," Keitaro said, shaking his head quickly. "I'm
already asking you too much, Oe-san. Thank you very much."
"Well, shouldn't be that bad," Ranma reasoned. "Anything
else I should know about it?"
Keitaro shook his head absently. "I don't have a cell phone,
or I'd give you my number. But I might be able to make it back from
the test with enough time that I can take care of it myself."
"What if they ask me for any information about the inn?"
Ranma asked, raising his arms over his head and stretching casually,
then whipping out his notebook and poising the pen over the paper.
"Er... I guess I'll go ahead and give you a quick rundown,
then," Keitaro reasoned, gesturing towards the damaged section of
the inn. "What we want done is...."
***
Shinobu frowned, turning the stove off, and allowing
everything to sit for a minute. It would need that time to cool
down, and she needed that same time to think. While a part of her
mind wanted to label Ranma 'strange', and possibly 'pervert', given
Ranma's circumstances, he seemed relaxed and calm. Certainly, with
Suu around he nearly felt... innocent, truthfully.
It hadn't taken much time of being in the same room with him
to warm up to him. He was similar to Keitaro in so many ways -- but
much calmer in some respects. She smiled, until she remembered his
battle with Motoko, and shivered. And much more temperamental in
others.
She couldn't fathom how he put up with Suu so good-naturedly
-- she'd heard from Mitsune about the misadventure involving Ranma's
bicycle and heavy traffic -- and yet lost his temper against Motoko.
When he fought Motoko, he insisted it was because he had to... to
defend her, actually, she realized, her face warming up as a blush
crept across her cheeks.
How was that any different from what he had done to protect
Suu and himself, all told? Perhaps it was simply that Suu had put
herself in danger, while Motoko seemed to accidentally put her in
danger? She considered that for a moment before shaking her head.
Motoko wasn't the kind to recklessly endanger the lives of any
resident of the inn, with the possible exception of Keitaro himself.
Even then, she had to question the kendoka's sincerity for
those efforts; she seemed to have some minor affection for Keitaro,
even after all her complaints. So much to consider, and so little of
it made sense!
She sighed, shaking her head and looking up as Naru stepped
into the room, glancing back over her shoulder towards the ruined
bathing area. She paused for a moment, extending the glance into a
lingering gaze before shaking her head and taking a seat at the
table. "How much longer will dinner be?" she asked Shinobu, idly
thumbing through a study guide.
"Oh, ah, it's ready now, actually," she said apologetically,
grabbing a stack of place settings.
Keitaro and Ranma wandered back after that, Ranma first, and
Keitaro with Tamago perched atop his head. "So, that's about it, I
think," the manager concluded, smiling nervously.
"No sweat," Ranma replied, snapping his notebook shut, and
tucking it into his waistband. "If I forget, I have it written down.
Dinner smells delicious, Shinobu-chan."
"Ah! Um, thank you, Oe-san!" Shinobu set the stack of plates
at the table, and was pleasantly surprised when Ranma quickly spread
them to each place before glancing at the kitchen.
"You need help carrying anything?"
"N... no, Oe-san, really, you mustn't," Shinobu insisted,
striding quickly towards the kitchen. "I have to make up for
forgetting to give you anything at breakfast!"
Shinobu glanced up from the first of the dishes in time to
see Ranma look vaguely guilty before he looked away, adjusting his
crimson headband. Naru and Keitaro conversed in low tones about
Naru's notebook, as Mitsune and Suu wandered in, each taking a seat
to one side of Ranma. Suu grinned at Ranma, blinking curiously,
while Mitsune cocked her head to one side, both of them studying him
intently.
He shifted his shoulders uncomfortably, and Mitsune picked
up her glass of water, sloshing it about idly. "Hey, Ranma, how much
water does it take to make you change?" Suu asked, leaning forward
intently.
"Oops!" Mitsune exclaimed exaggeratedly, the contents of her
water glass escaping and dousing Ranma thoroughly.
Ranma sighed, adjusting his-- no, adjusting _her_, now --
headband slightly. "Not much," she commented wryly, as everyone
turned to stare at her in surprise.
Motoko strode into the room just then, raising an eyebrow,
but otherwise saying nothing, and taking a seat opposite Ranma.
"Dinner's coming," Shinobu announced, shaking her head, and
bringing out Ranma's plate first. "I made you some extra, Oe-san,
since I forgot this morning."
Ranma looked distinctly uncomfortable again, for some
reason, and smiled weakly. "Um, thanks, Shinobu," she said, laughing
nervously. "It looks great."
"Oooh!" Mitsune cooed, smirking broadly. "Shinobu, do you
have a crush on the new boy?" She chuckled, eyeing Ranma closely.
"Or girl, at the moment?"
"Auuugh!" Shinobu wailed, distraught. "No! I wanted to make
Oe-san something special! To make up for not giving her anything
this morning!"
"He," Ranma said softly. "I'm a guy."
"Don't feel much like a guy," Mitsune commented, groping
Ranma's chest casually. "Hmm, almost as big as mine," she murmured.
"Not bad!"
Ranma twitched, hands in the air assuming claw-like shapes
as one eyebrow ticked furiously. "Please don't do that," she
whispered.
Mitsune hastily drew her hands back, waving them in the air
before her. "Just checking! Just checking! Motoko got her turn to
see if they were real yesterday!"
Eyebrow still ticking, Ranma turned her attention to Motoko,
who shook her head furiously, waving a hand at Ranma in a warding
gesture. "I was just checking to see if you were a man!" she
protested. "After seeing you in the baths, I was curious!"
"Her hands were a bit lower than your chest, as I remember,"
Mitsune noted, her smile returning. "Isn't that right, Keitaro?"
The man was staring with wide eyes, glancing between the
women assembled at the table rapidly, and clapping his hands to his
nose. "I don't remember!" he protested, shaking his head quickly. "I
just remember that you had no blanket on and Motoko-chan's hands
were all over you!"
"Auuugh!" Shinobu wailed again. "She _is_ a pervert!"
"I am not!" the kendoka yelped, jumping to her feet. "I was
just checking to see if Ranma was a man!"
"I'm sure that's all it was," Ranma said loudly. "Now, can
we stop talking about this and just eat?"
Everyone halted, and turned to look at Ranma speculatively.
"Please?" the redhead added, looking surprisingly haggard.
"Er... yes, Oe-san, I think we could do that," Keitaro
announced helpfully, before anyone else could speak up. "I think,
after all that you're doing for the inn, it's the least we could do.
Right, Narusegawa?"
Shinobu swallowed nervously, calming herself, and turned to
look at the girl in question, but Naru was frozen, nearly statue-
like, staring forward blankly with her mouth halfway open. "I'm
sorry," she giggled, snapping out of her daze instantly. "I thought
I heard something funny. About Motoko."
"Right," Ranma said, pushing the empty plate away from her.
"I'm going to go train for a bit, then hit the sack. Thanks,
Kanrinin. Dinner was great, Shinobu-chan."
The redhead rose, bowed politely to everyone, and marched
out the back door.
A long minute of silence hung over the tenants after that,
finally broken when Suu inspected Ranma's plate curiously, and
asked, "When did he eat? I didn't see a thing!"
***
After pausing for a moment to steal some hot water --
someone had left the small bath on the second floor warm -- Ranma
balanced on the rail off of the laundry balcony. He could just
barely hear the other residents chattering in the distance, too
indistinct for him to make out their words.
The entire weekend had been an irritating ordeal, but he
found it hard to hold it against the residents of the inn -- for the
most part, he could tell that they meant well. Allowing his body to
slip into what he thought of a graceless -- mindless, really --
kata, he tried to focus his thoughts and impressions of the people
he would be living with... at least for three months.
Shinobu was cute, for being a child, and seemed to be the
major domestic influence for the household. Ranma furrowed his brow
at that, punching the air, and spinning, then filing that thought
away to consider later. There was something there he didn't want to
think of just yet.
The pale-haired Suu was also cute, and very excitable. Her
sense of curiosity was something of an annoyance, but she meant no
harm, and Kintaro had taught Ranma nothing, if not to respect
curiosity. How were they to learn if they weren't curious? If she
could calm down just a bit, Ranma expected he'd come to like her
quite a lot.
Curiosity and scheming from Mitsune struck close to home for
Ranma, and reminded him far too much of a girl or two that had
gotten the better of him in the past. Curiously, Kintaro had a knack
for looking like an idiot near them, and _still_ getting the better
of them, but those were abilities that Ranma knew he had not
grasped. Nor did he expect to. While the woman probably didn't mean
any harm, something about her made him nervously uncomfortable, and
he resolved to watch himself around her, wherever possible.
The other woman, Narusegawa, was obviously used to being the
center of attention, probably through Keitaro, unless Ranma missed
his guess. He was thick about that once, and had made a point of
learning better when the opportunity had presented itself. He
couldn't tell much about her, yet, but she seemed fairly
unobtrusive, and he couldn't see himself not getting along with her.
She seemed to have something of a temper, though that too was one of
the mental territories Ranma would have preferred not to tread, as
it reminded him of someone else.
Ranma stopped his kata, and sank to a sitting position on
the rail, rubbing his chin. How long had it been since he'd even
thought of her? He closed his eyes for a moment, leaning back and
staring up, as the sun began to touch against the horizon.
...A peal of thunder crashed in the distance, but not so far
away that it couldn't still be heard, occasional bolts of lightning
providing scattered, rare illumination. The ruins of wood and jagged
timber glowed faintly with the aura of mist from the heavy rainfall,
the constant sound of drumming water only broken by the sounds of
breathing, and more slow rumbles of thunder. Her wide eyes met with
another pair, raw shock met only by intense anger....
Not long enough, he decided angrily, pulling himself back to
the present, and throwing himself into the kata once more, force and
power ruining whatever grace he'd once had. Slowly, he recovered his
temper, at least externally.
"Oi."
The next tenant, after all, was Motoko, and as a martial
artist, she picked up on things Ranma didn't feel like discussing.
The last thing he needed was more questions from her, as eager as
she was to jump to conclusions. She wasn't half bad, as far as
martial artists went, and she had said her ki -- her very life force
-- burnt with the white light of purity. More pure than his own life
was, at least.
"Oi!"
Still, he wasn't sure how well he'd manage to deal with
three months of living near her. She'd given in soon enough when
they dueled, but Ranma didn't look forward to constantly battling
her, as he knew he'd need most of the time he would have soon simply
to study. Perhaps some form of longer truce could be arranged
between them, but he had no idea of how to go about it just yet.
"Hello!"
And that brought his thoughts full circle, back to Shinobu,
and the already raw memories that Naru brought up in him. He'd want
to avoid both of them, he'd guessed, until he had enough time to sit
down and think things through. It had been too much of a trying time
for him to subject himself to people who brought up that much pain
inside him. Kintaro had warned him there would be days like that.
"HEY!"
And then, of course, was the question of how well he'd be
able to afford rent while still studying for college, once he moved
out of the Hinata-Sou. He imagined he could survive well enough in
the woods -- he and Kintaro had before, and he was used to it from
long before he'd met Kintaro, truly -- but the trees weren't
completely adequate for the purposes of studying.
"CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
The cry caught Ranma off guard, and he turned around,
stumbling. His hand brushed perilously close to someone's face,
pulling off a pair of spectacles and throwing them to the deck,
while Ranma tried to recover his balance -- and his temper. Too much
focus, he decided belatedly, frowning at the newly arrived man.
The man blinked, surprised at the loss of his glasses, and
immediately took up a fighting stance. "Is this a challenge?" Ranma
snapped.
"Well, if you want it to be," the man replied, nonplussed.
"I'm always up for training!"
Not giving the man enough time to react, Ranma launched a
fierce uppercut to the man's jaw. To his surprise, the man stepped
to one side, then slipped inside Ranma's guard, and shoved him
forcefully backwards. The blow sent him tumbling through the air,
and he landed on the deck, crouching. After sliding for a meter and
a half, Ranma launched himself at the man, aiming a punch at the
man's midsection, and following through with a spin-kick to his
knee.
The man blocked the punch nearly effortlessly, then jumped
over the kick, retaliating with a blow to Ranma's hip. The palm-
strike staggered Ranma, and he reevaluated his opponent. Obviously
he knew a thing or two about fighting, one way or another. "Oh!" he
exclaimed, nodding at Ranma happily. "Not too bad! A little slow,
and unfocused, but not bad at all!"
"You want me to stop holding back?" Ranma asked, raising an
eyebrow.
"By all means!" the man said, nodding his head, and
gesturing Ranma to come closer. "I see you have admirable kempo
skills."
"Oh?" Ranma asked, furrowing his eyebrows, and charging up
towards the man quickly, halting just outside his range. "Jeet-kun-
do?"
"That's a good part of it," the man admitted, nodding.
Ranma grinned, rushing the man again, throwing a dozen quick
punches to the man's sternum, and following up with a footsweep.
Blinded, missing his glasses, and grinning like a fool, the man
deflected each blow with casual ease, kicking Ranma's leg as it
extended for a footsweep and neatly reversing Ranma's maneuver.
Slamming to the wooden deck, Ranma raised his eyebrows, and
somersaulted away. "Damn," he murmured. "How do you move so fast?"
"It's simple, once you know the trick of it," the man
assured him. "I note a definite Chinese influence to your training."
"It's good stuff," Ranma said defensively, jumping to the
ground before the man, hands first. Planting himself firmly on the
deck with his hands, he sprang away, launching his feet in a
powerful thrust towards the man's head. Ducking, the man allowed
Ranma to pass over him, evading the blow, and standing up in time to
watch Ranma rebound from the side of the inn, flying towards the man
again, this time fists-first.
The man's block failed, and Ranma scored a hit to his
shoulder, sending the man spinning away a half-meter. "Very good,"
the man said ruefully, rubbing his shoulder, and shifting his
stance. "Again?"
Ranma nodded, and led in again, each punch met with a near
deflection, or a careful block. It only took a few moments for
Ranma's control to return to him, his anger fading in the joyous
release of tension that the combat allowed. He wouldn't admit it, or
at least he felt he _shouldn't_, but he loved to fight, even though
he knew how dangerous it could be. If not to himself, then to
others.
The man nodded his approval silently, and began to
counterattack, forcing Ranma to speed up his own attacks, and add
blocks to his movements. Grinning, the man picked up the pace again,
until the air between them buzzed with the constant motion, and
Ranma was hard pressed to focus on which strike was coming next.
Worse, the man's strikes didn't follow a pattern he could recognize
easily, which made deflections difficult.
"You're good!" the man exclaimed, still grinning. "I haven't
had such fun in a while!"
Ranma grit his teeth, pushing himself harder. Had he let
himself go? He'd spent a lot less time studying martial arts, as
compared to other areas of study -- odd jobs, whatever seemed useful
at the time -- but he still tried his best to keep his body in top
physical condition. The slow burning sensation of exertion began to
suffuse his shoulders, and he countered the man's seemingly endless
upper-body stamina with an attempted footsweep.
In response, the man slowed, but only slightly, before he
threw out a footsweep of his own. Ranma hopped over it, focusing all
of his strength and ability on throwing more punches, and faster,
while airborne. The man was rebuffed for a moment, but Ranma
couldn't maintain the pace for long, and knew he was readily wearing
himself down. If he were going to win, he would need to use a trick,
as he had when....
He cut that thought off. The days of serious challenges were
over, in his mind. While he had attacked the man outright, the man
didn't seem to think of it as anything other than sparring. Why make
the fight more serious than it had to be?
The man seemed to notice Ranma's slowly flagging attacks,
and swiftly moved inside Ranma's guard, a quick kick knocking him
off his feet, and a number of strikes slamming him to the wooden
deck painfully. He rolled a few steps, then coughed, and laughed
ruefully. "I deserved that," Ranma said after a moment. "Um... sorry
I attacked you like that."
Heaving a sigh, the man wiped a sheen of sweat from his
brow, still smiling. "Not at all!" he insisted. "My glasses are
nearly unbreakable -- they've been through more fights and car
accidents than I can remember, and it was great fun! I'll admit, I'm
going to be feeling this session tomorrow, but for a challenge like
you, it was worth it."
Ranma climbed to his feet, wincing at the bruises across his
left side, from the final set of blows, and grinned. "Oe Ranma," he
said politely, bowing.
"Noriyasu Seta," the man introduced himself, bowing back,
and plucking his glasses from the deck as he did so. Putting them
back on, he peered around for a moment, then smiled even more
widely. "Hello, everyone!"
Ranma turned around hesitantly, not completely surprised to
see everyone assembled at the edge of the laundry area, staring in
various states of shock. Haruka blinked twice, shutting her mouth a
bit too late, and allowing her cigarette to fall to the wooden deck.
Motoko simply stared, jaw hanging open and eyes wide.
"You... you... you... _you_ were holding _back_!" she protested,
shaking with anger. "That's not fair!"
"What?" Ranma asked, frowning. "Well, you couldn't handle me
if I went full out."
"Yes, that sounds about right," Seta assessed, nodding.
"Motoko-chan probably couldn't beat Oe-kun without a lot of
practice. But Oe-kun, you could be better, too."
"I know," Ranma said sheepishly, scratching the back of his
head. "I haven't gotten in any real fights lately, and my training
isn't everything it could be."
"Oh? Well, who's your teacher?"
"Oe Kintaro helped me train," Ranma said hesitantly, "but...
the man who actually taught me most of my skills was named Saotome
Genma."
"Hmm," Seta mused, rubbing his chin. "That name seems
familiar, for some reason."
"It's not important," Ranma said quickly, shaking his head.
"But, um, do you think we could spar again sometime?"
"Wait!" Motoko protested, her eyes narrowing. "You mean our
duel this morning wasn't a 'real fight', Oe?"
"Er... not really," he said apologetically. "You're better
than one kendoka I knew, but you got a long way to go before you
have what it takes to beat me."
Seta laughed loudly, placing his hands on his hips. "Oe-kun
sure has a lot of confidence for someone I just beat!"
Ranma winced. "About sparring?"
"No! You can't spar with Noriyasu!" Motoko complained.
"That's not fair! If he spars with you, then you have to spar with
me!"
Considering that briefly, Ranma nodded. "Sounds good to me.
What do you think, Noriyasu?"
Seta rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then nodded. "Why not?"
he asked. "I have some time this week. I really only came by to see
Urashima-kun and drop off Sarah, but for a few matches, that would
be fun."
"Wait," Motoko mumbled quietly. "What have I just gotten
myself into?"
***
"I thought Motoko was strong," Naru said, her voice subdued.
"I've never seen a living person move that fast."
Mitsune nodded, glancing out the doorway to Naru's room
before sliding it shut. "Oe sure is strong, too," she mused. "I
wonder if he's seeing anyone?"
"With his curse?" Naru asked skeptically. "I doubt it. But
I'm worried -- we used to have such a peaceful and happy inn. Now
that Oe has moved in, there's so much violence!"
Mitsune raised an eyebrow, saying nothing.
"And I'm really nervous about letting Oe stay here, too.
He's stronger than Motoko -- so who's going to protect us?"
A slow grin formed across Mitsune's face, and she looked at
Naru speculatively. "Well, if you don't want him, I could take
Ranma, and he could protect all of us."
Naru blinked in surprise. "Kitsune? Are you serious?"
"Maybe," Mitsune said neutrally, sliding the door open, and
stepping into the hall. "He _did_ manage to pay for three months up
front, and he doesn't seem very broken up by the loss... he could be
loaded!" She smiled at that, not quite meeting Naru's eyes. "But you
have a test tomorrow. Better grab some sleep while you can!"
***
"Study, study, study, study," Keitaro chanted tiredly,
flipping through his math notes again. "This time for sure."
Finally reaching the end of them, he sighed, shutting the
book, and falling backwards. His eyes tracked across the ceiling
listlessly, a dim corner of his mind pondering where Naru was in
relation to him before he shook his head. "Focus," he mumbled,
crossing his arms over his chest.
He felt bad about Ranma's first impression of the inn --
first, he was attacked by Motoko, and stuck at the inn because of
the repair fees. Then, he couldn't get into the pre-test, because he
was too late. As if that weren't bad enough, Keitaro had dumped the
responsibilities of managing the inn -- even if it was only for a
day -- onto him.
The longer he thought about it, the guiltier he felt, until
he remembered Ranma and Seta's sparring match. He had never seen a
living being move so quickly -- unless it was Naru after she'd
caught him peeping on her. Maybe Ranma, as a martial artist, would
prefer a challenge like that, and have fun, but even if that were
the case, Keitaro wasn't certain that it made up for everything that
had been piled up on the man since his arrival.
Then again, his own arrival wasn't easy, as he was plagued
with variations on 'Operation: Get Keitaro Kicked Out' and the like.
Furrowing his brows, he sat up, uncrossing his arms. That wouldn't
do -- the other tenants simply had to agree to let Ranma stay.
Keitaro didn't have any way to pay Ranma back the difference on his
rent, and wouldn't for at least two months, more likely than not. He
suspected he could ask his parents for help, but was unconvinced
that it would be a good idea, in the grand scheme of things.
Climbing to his feet, he paced back and forth in front of
his door. Something needed to be done to make things up to Ranma.
And, when Keitaro thought about it, new or not, he didn't know Ranma
as well as the other tenants. It would make sense, then, to offer to
take Ranma out to lunch somewhere to thank him for his help, and
chat with him a bit -- learn more about him.
Yes, that would work.
***
On the other side of the inn, Ranma slumped against a wall,
watching Motoko and Suu tiredly. Motoko was all-but bristling with
anger, and Suu had her arms crossed over her chest, grinning with
confident resolve. "You _can't_ sleep with him!" Motoko protested,
waving her arms in the air. "Suu! He's a man, you're just an
innocent girl! He would do such things -- you _can't_!"
"Sure I can!" Suu chirped, latching onto Ranma, and nuzzling
his side with her check. "I must study the sleeping habits of a
Ranma to learn more about Jusenkyous."
"Don't I get a say in this?" Ranma asked cautiously.
"No!" Motoko yelled. "Not at all! Suu, don't sleep with that
man. Come and sleep with me instead!"
Mitsune and Shinobu, alerted by the noise, peeked out from
around a corner, and boggled at the spectacle. "Oooh, there's a
quandary," Mitsune observed. "Would it be better to let her sleep
with a man who's probably six years older than her, or a woman who's
only three years older than her?"
"Auuugh..." Shinobu whimpered. "Not again! Motoko is trying
to seduce Koara!"
"And Suu's trying to sleep with Ranma," Mitsune added,
smiling. "How will they solve this, I wonder?"
Motoko and Ranma both blinked, and glanced sidelong at
Mitsune and Shinobu. "Ah... perhaps I will allow Suu to share a room
with you for tonight," Motoko said slowly, "if you will allow me to
remain in the room as well."
Mitsune gasped, her eyes widening. "That's not much of an
answer!" she protested. "That's even _less_ responsible!"
Shinobu whimpered a second time, and swooned to the floor.
"I don't _want_ both of you in my room when I'm trying to
sleep!" Ranma complained. "Look, since you're so concerned, I'll
just get some cold water, and sleep as a girl. Then nothing can
happen between us." He paused for an exaggerated minute, eyeing
Motoko up and down. "Provided you aren't there, at any rate."
Motoko nodded her agreement before realizing the insult that
she had been given. "Wait!" she protested. "Where's the cold water?"
Ranma rolled his eyes, and stomped away, returning a few
minutes later as a woman again. "Better?" she asked. "Suu, don't you
have any pajamas?"
The girl nodded, and grabbed the hem of her blue skirt,
tearing it and her middy blouse off with glee. Improbably, she was
wearing a long-sleeved pajama shirt and pajama bottoms beneath,
though it hadn't appeared that way before. "Ready!" she announced,
hugging Ranma and nuzzling her face against the redhead's side
again.
Ranma and Motoko stared in surprise for a moment, then shook
their heads and turned to face one another again. "Now," Ranma
asked, "is there anything else?"
Keitaro rounded the corner, glancing about. "Suu-chan," he
warned, "you shouldn't leave your laundry lying on the floor." The
girl released Ranma, stooping to collect the garments, while Keitaro
turned his attention to Ranma. "Oe-san, I wanted to thank you for
everything so far, and for what you're doing tomorrow. I was
wondering if you would like me to take you to lunch to thank you for
it."
"Er... nah, that's okay," Ranma said, shaking her head.
"Well, maybe dinner, then?" Keitaro pressed. "I feel like I
owe you something."
Ranma frowned, crossing her arms beneath her chest moments
before Suu latched onto her again. "Well, dinner's not really my
thing, Kanrinin. I mean, meals are fine and all, but... heh...
you've seen how I eat, haven't you?"
"That's true," Keitaro admitted, chuckling ruefully. "Well,
what would you suggest?"
"For what I'm doing?" Ranma asked, tilting her head to one
side and looking at Keitaro speculatively. "Hey, how about we just
go somewhere for tea and get to know each other a little better?"
Keitaro beamed a smile, nodding. "That would be great, Oe-
san! I'll see you tomorrow after the test, then. Rest well!" With
that, the manager of the inn ambled away, humming tunelessly.
Motoko stared, frozen with shock, while Mitsune gaped with
wide eyes. "I didn't know the curse was that complete," she managed
after a moment. "Oe?"
Ranma glanced at her down the hall, one hand absently
ruffling Suu's hair. "Yes?" she asked.
"You... you would do that... with Keitaro?"
"Well why not?" Ranma asked, frowning. "I mean, yeah, I'd
like to get to know him better and get more settled in before I do
it, but there's too much money in this to just blow him off."
"So that's how she paid for the repairs," Mitsune mumbled.
Ranma blinked, confused. "What?"
"Ranma, I'm tired," Suu protested. "Let's hurry up and get
into bed."
Nodding, Ranma knuckled back a yawn, and slid open the door
to her room. "Good idea, Suu-chan. I'd better rest up for tomorrow.
I'm going to be having to handle Keitaro...." The rest of her
explanation was cut off as the door slid shut behind the pair,
Motoko and Mitsune still gawking at the closed door.
--------------------------------------
Author's Notes:
Special thanks to Bjorn for his in-depth and wonderful C&C
on chapter one, along with Mr. Sommer, and everyone else on the Refuge!