"Farewell, Sempai," the reported breathed, as he leapt away, Shampoo and Akane shortly behind him.
Makoto stopped recording, and allowed the camera to hang at his side. "Are you okay, Nanami-chan?" he asked. "You seem kind of ... spacey."
"Eh.... I'm fine," she giggled, as her cell-phone began to ring. She grabbed it, humming to herself until she glanced at the caller-ID: 'Channel 8 -- Fujisawa Masamichi'. Whimpering, she answered the phone, putting false cheer into her voice. "Boss?"
"So, I'm hearing through other channels that the incident is over. Do you have something we can air?"
She bit her lip; this line wasn't secure. "I do," she said slowly, "but ... I missed some very critical footage. But don't worry! I've gotten Saotome to agree to a follow-up interview."
There was a moment of silence, and then Masamichi said, "That sounds fine. If you've got time before your interview, please come back to the office." Then he clicked off the line.
"Busted?" Makoto asked, as Nanami pocketed her phone.
"Yeah," she said glumly. "I don't have any idea what came over me."
***
The pace was a bit slower than normal, both Ukyou and Ranma holding back to allow Akane to keep up, but the youngest Tendo had improved to the point where she could roof-hop without much risk of falling and hurting herself. She was currently using the naganita for balance, which Ranma reasoned was a good thing, and Ukyou could probably catch her if she tripped.
Ranma's arms were full of Hotaru at the moment. In short order, they had abandoned the crowds around the site of Tokyo Tower's destruction, and made it back to Nerima.
The Neko-Hanten's sign said, "Closed for Private Party," when they reached it. Ukyou raised an eyebrow and knocked anyway. Shampoo answered the door and beamed a smile at everyone. Inside, one large table had been set up, and the others moved away from it.
There was a bowl of ramen at each place, and several sumptuous looking samples of dim sum as well. Ranma required effort not to drool; the battle with Tarou hadn't been nearly as severe as the fight against Saffron, but it had been messy and draining anyway. He set Hotaru down, and she ran over to hug Shampoo -- ironically, just before Shampoo could launch herself at Ranma.
"Thank you, Shampoo-nee-chan!" she cheered.
"Ah," Shampoo managed, hugging Hotaru back. "Hotaru is friend of Airen -- always welcome here!"
"Yay!" Hotaru cheered, then running to the table and sitting next to Ranma, who had wisely seated himself while Hotaru was deflecting Shampoo. This left one free seat next to Ranma.
Behind him, a three-way glance was exchanged, and several weapons were raised to contest the rightful possessor of that one seat.
"So, Ranma-san, how is being a father for you?" Three girls lowered weapons, turning to see that Shampoo's father had stolen the prized real estate. Sighing in defeat, Shampoo, Ukyou, and Akane took the remaining seats.
"Well, outside of that mess at the tower, pretty good," Ranma admitted. "Though, I am kinda new to it. Say, did Shampoo get kidnapped a lot when she was a kid?"
"Only by Mousse. Ranma-san, I not think I ever give you my name. I am So Pu. You may call me Soap, is easier, yes?" the man asked.
"Sounds fine," Ranma said agreeably, setting into his meal while Hotaru sampled her own.
"Hey, Ranchan, when did you get hired by the J.S.D.F.?" Ukyou asked.
"Er.... That's ... hard to say exactly," Ranma said slowly, wary of lying. He wanted to get some more virtue back on that heroic ID card ... it'd come in surprisingly handy. "Ah," he said, realizing that no lie was necessary. "I was approached for recruitment yesterday."
"And just like that, you're in?" Akane asked, disbelieving.
"Hey, when you've got things like 'Defeater of the Phoenix-god Saffron in Personal Combat at Phoenix Mountain' on your resume, they make it a bit easier to get in," he replied with a shrug. It was misleading, he realized, but at least not an outright lie.
"Shampoo want to thank Airen for revenge on panty-monster," Shampoo added.
"No problem," Ranma replied, sampling some of the dim sum. "All in a day's work."
"Mmm!" Hotaru agreed around a spoonful of soup. "This is good ramen!"
"Shampoo teach you to make, maybe?" the young woman offered, shifting her attention away from Ranma for the moment.
"Yeah! I want to learn to be like all of my big sisters!"
"Me too, right?" Ukyou asked, winking.
"Yeah, Ukyou-nee-chan!" Hotaru cheered.
Ranma settled back into his chair, pleasantly full, and glad that things were turning out well.
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(Posted Thu, 21 Jul 2005 01:57)
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