After a quick scrub, he dressed in his typical clothing -- the shirt was white today -- and then pocketed his datacube, ID card, and phone. He was going to have a busy day soon, he thought, as he heard Kasumi moving in the kitchen. "Morning," he called, as he poked his head in.
The eldest Tendo sister looked up from the stove and smiled. "Ranma-kun, it's about time for you to wake Hotaru-chan up," she said. "Why don't you have her take a bath while I'm preparing breakfast?"
"Sounds like a plan," Ranma agreed, whisking back upstairs. Hotaru was sleeping on the far side of Kasumi's bed. At a guess, the two had shared it ... which didn't really bother Ranma, except that it meant his daughter didn't really have her own place to put things, or a bed to call her own. Things he'd never had, he supposed, but he had wanted them. Why not let Hotaru have the chance? But every room in the Tendo house was taken ... unless he could get rid of Happosai.
"Hey," he whispered, placing a hand on Hotaru's shoulder and giving her a gentle nudge.
Her eyes fluttered open and she blinked away some dream, sitting up. And then Ranma noticed that she was wearing one of his shirts as pajamas. "Is it morning, Papa-san?" she asked drowsily. "I had a dream that I was a magical princess!"
He laughed softly. "Yeah, it's time to wake up. Breakfast is going to be ready soon, let's see ... we've got to get you some clothes so you can wash up first."
"Ah, Kasumi-onee-chan already got me some," Hotaru announced, bouncing out of the bed and going to a large cardboard box that was sitting in one corner of the room. Ranma distantly noted the 'old clothing' label, and nodded, remembering when he'd been reduced to a child himself, and dug through the same box for outfits.
"Great!" he said, smiling. "Race you to the bathroom?"
"Okay!" she cheered, charging out of the room. Ranma followed, prepared to catch her the second she slipped on the stairs. While she wobbled unsteadily, and nearly overbalanced on the last step, she made it, a hairsbreadth before his grasping hands, and then she was in the bathroom, and closed the changing room door on him. "No boys aloud!" she called out.
Smirking, Ranma said, "You win this time, Hotaru-chan! I'll be in the living room. Don't take too long or your breakfast will walk away."
He heard splashing from inside. "No way!" Hotaru complained. "Food doesn't walk away on its own!"
"Growf," Genma noised from the top of the stairs.
"Morning, Pop," Ranma said, nodding at his father.
"I'll hurry," Hotaru sulked.
"Alrighty," Ranma mused, stepping out of the way as Nabiki edged around Genma's bulky form, and stumbled down the steps.
She paused in front of Ranma, and squinted. "Who's in there?" she asked quietly.
"Hotaru-chan," Ranma replied. "Hey," he said in a whisper, "can you make sure she got behind her ears?"
Nabiki snorted, rolling her eyes, and vanished into the furo. Hotaru gave an embarrassed yelp, and then calmed down, as Ranma heard Nabiki speaking, but much more quietly. He elected not to eavesdrop; Genma was still watching him, after all.
In the living room, Kasumi was already setting the table, and gave him an encouraging smile. "What are your plans for the week of vacation before school starts, Ranma-kun?" she asked.
"Well," Ranma said slowly, "I was going to get things set up to start training Hotaru-chan."
"Oh, my. Does she want to be a martial artist?" Kasumi asked.
"I ... don't know," Ranma admitted. "But I'm worried about her health. She's kind of small for her age, and I want to make sure no one picks on her." A sudden thought occurred to him. "It's going to be hard to keep an eye on her while we're at school."
"Be sure to let her pursue her own interests as well," Kasumi chided.
"Believe me, I thought of that," Ranma said, shaking his head as Hotaru emerged from the bathroom, dressed in one of Kasumi's hand-me-downs. It was just a blouse, vest, and slightly above ankle-length skirt, but it seemed to fit her well.
"Good morning, Papa-san!" she said, trotting over and giving Ranma a hug. "What are we going to do today?"
Ranma hugged her back, noting Kasumi stifling a giggle at the sight. "Well," he said slowly, "you've seen where some of my friends live, so I think it's time to meet some of them."
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(Posted Sun, 17 Jul 2005 17:22)
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