Spotting the tall figure of Kaede from quite a ways away, Ranma prepared his little bit of fiction to fool his father. "See Pops, we don't even have ta go in, she's waiting for us outside like I asked. So don't bellyache the next time I take a minute ta call ahead."
Snorting, the fat bald man dismissed the value of such a triviality. "Hmph, so what boy?"
Snorting as he smirked at his old man, Ranma verbally jabbed him right back. "It means ya ain't gotta spend an hour doing paper work that might get some attention, that ain't worth a few minutes for a call?"
Nodding sagely, his old man moved on smoothly. "Ah, it's a good thing I suggested you call ahead."
Happy that his foolish old man now thought it was his own idea, Ranma was confident he wouldn't question how a slave girl could sign herself out like that.
It wasn't like he was so stupid as to leave a girl like her cooped up in some facility for several months, not to mention what that would do to her skills.
Of course, convincing her had been the hard part, she took the whole duty to her lord thing rather seriously. He'd told her to just go back and get some training in at her village until he got back. She'd objected stating that her place was by his side and she would just shadow them if need be, she was a ninja after all.
Eventually he'd won out, persuading her to his plan.
Not only did he get the money that would have been paid for her rent to stay at the facility, but she got to completely avoid the slave imprinting process.
Of course with her being obedient and dutiful already, slave imprinting would have just been a pain, possibly crippling her actions in some way. Of course there was also the possibility that like some people, particularly martial artists, she would shrug off the imprinting, possibly causing bureaucratic problems with them trying other techniques on her.
Ignoring his old man, Ranma stepped up to his tall slave girl, happy to have her around again. He'd made no real secret about it, but he'd chosen her as his ninja because she was one of the best training buddied he'd ever had. Not only had they become good friends almost instantly, but there was a certain chemistry between them. It wasn't something romantic, but Kaede would step in and smooth things over and keep him out of trouble, yet she did it as unobtrusively as possible.
Earning her as his ninja hadn't changed their relationship at all, as during his training she had been quietly at his side. If anything the change in relationship and duty gave her more of a backbone around him. She had never stepped out of line as far as Ranma was concerned, but she also acted on her own initiative, even going so far as to stop Ranma and give him some advice when he was about the do something foolish.
Of course for that, his father hated her quite a bit. Genma was just all around upset about the idea, not only because she was a girl, but because she had the gall to offer Ranma advice and get him to think instead of flying in blindly. More to the point, she undermined his authority and was making the boy think for himself, and Genma didn't like that burgeoning independent streak in Ranma one bit.
Ranma of course liked getting his father's goat when he could. "Heya Kaede-chan, long time no see."
Bearing her ever present smile, the steel haired young woman answered with both amusement and seriousness. "Of course Lord Ranma. It is good to see you well."
Sticking his arms out to show off his outfit, Ranma tried to cheer her up. "Hey, I told ya not to worry. See, I'm alright. You're not still upset about having to stay behind are ya?"
Smiling a bit wider, the tall kunoichi gazed back at her young lord. "I only ask you keep sessha by your side."
Rubbing the back of his head nervously, Ranma grimaced as she reminded him of her only real request. The one which he'd had to deny her of within a week of starting her duties. "Uhm yeah, I hope that won't be a problem any more."
Taking out an old formally folded and wax sealed document, she displayed it for her master while smiling in satisfaction. "Of course, the matter was tended to as you requested."
The matter at hand was one that had given Ranma a lot of trouble. As much as Genma had disliked having Kaede around, Ranma had been really worrying that he would try and sell her. Considering the number of times Genma had tried to sell him, he didn't doubt it for one moment. That was when he'd come up with the bogus 'slave storage' thing and put Kaede on fixing things so Genma couldn't try and sell her off.
The fact that the old man had actually put up money to get rid of Kaede had been all the proof Ranma needed to justify his worries.
See other episodes by Valor Phoenix
(Posted Fri, 11 Aug 2006 20:15)
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