Much to his surprise, when Ranma stepped into the office, he saw it already had furniture. It made sense when he stopped to think about it; the previous manager obviously hadn't taken it with him. There was a large desk, lined with staplers, pens, pencils, a large pad of note paper, and two baskets, one marked 'in' and one marked 'out'.
"I'm going to like this even less than school," he deduced with a frown, glancing around.
In one corner was a battered but functional looking filing cabinet. A potted plant sat atop it, a vine that appeared to have seen better days. Doors led deeper into the complex; the office was the size of the apartment above it, after all. The door to the left contained a stairwell going straight to his apartment, beyond that was a washroom with full-sized furo.
A pair of other rooms held supplies for repair and maintenance of the property, extra lumber, some roofing tiles, and a gratuitous plethora of tools. Ranma wasn't even certain what they were all for, but there was a 'Home Maintenance and You!" series of books that appeared well-worn sitting on a shelf above the majority of them.
Creeping upstairs, he found that he had a two bedroom apartment with one large front room. That room would serve as both the kitchen and the family room, and each of the smaller rooms would be for himself and Hotaru respectively. A tiny room held a washroom, though this one lacked even a shower. Then again, considering the furo downstairs, he didn't expect that would be a problem.
"This is enough room for Hotaru and me," he decided. "Too much, actually," he corrected himself, looking at all the space. He would certainly need some furniture, but how to get it? Well, he was getting paid.... Maybe he could rescue the heiress to a furniture factory? He shook his head before that thought finished forming; that was the last thing he needed.
A knock at his apartment door roused him from his contemplations, and he answered it warily, blinking when he saw Nabiki standing there. She was breathing hard, as though she'd been running some distance, and looked more than a little miffed. "Ranma," she wheezed out. "We need ... to talk."
"We do?" he asked doubtfully, gesturing her inside. "Okay, I guess. Make yourself at home."
"Don't mind if I do," she said, slumping to the floor and heaving a sigh.
"Aren't you supposed to make sure all your business goes through the girls first?" he asked.
"Well, yeah," Nabiki admitted, "but this isn't actually a marketing opportunity or anything like that. I want to move in with you."
Ranma stared blankly. "'Scuse me?" he asked, blinking, and shaking his head. "My hearing must be going."
"Not here," Nabiki retorted, rolling her eyes. "I want to live in the complex; as your agent I should be close on hand to give you advice when it's needed."
"Yeah, but I have a cell phone now," Ranma countered, smirking. "So I could call you whenever."
"And I can call you?" Nabiki asked, raising an eyebrow. "Aside from which, I know all the action's going to happen around you. I can't afford to miss out on things like that."
"Do you even have money?" Ranma pressed. "I haven't bothered looking through the paperwork or anything downstairs, but I'm pretty sure you'd need to pay some kind of rent to stay here."
"Akane can manage it," Nabiki countered. "And I have a proposition for you that may sweeten the deal. Since you haven't bothered, I can manage the paperwork for you. You just fix things when they break, and I'll run your office."
Ranma blinked. That was a good offer; managing the paperwork would take even more time away from taking care of Hotaru, as well as his other responsibilities. This was a good deal, and passing it up could be a disaster. But then, so could placing Nabiki in charge of the property.
"My mom said I should be the manager," he said, shaking his head stubbornly. "I can't just ignore her instructions, especially when she just gave this place to me!"
"Then you can be the manager, and I'll be your assistant!" Nabiki pressed. "You'll manage me, and I'll take care of all the details. You'll still be doing the real work, I'll just handle the papers for you."
"I dunno," he hedged, frowning. It did sound like a deal ... and he was pretty sure his assignments wouldn't include, 'Take care of own paperwork', and if they did, he was already in trouble for letting Nabiki be his agent. "Okay," he finally relented, "if the girls say it's okay, then I'll agree." He privately hoped they did approve; yet another responsibility was kind of daunting.
"Good," she said, grinning. "I know they'll be okay with it."
"How's your dad handling you and Akane moving out all the sudden?" Ranma asked, wondering. It was something he'd have to deal with himself someday, he realized. And he wouldn't have as much time as Soun had.
Nabiki seemed taken aback. "You know," she said slowly, "I didn't think of that." She blinked, eyes widening. "I bet it's going to make Kasumi feel kind of bad, though. I mean, the eldest sister is the last one left at the house...."
"Well, it ain't like you and Akane got married," Ranma protested. "I mean...." He trailed off. "Huh. You think we should do something about it?"
"Like what? Get Tofu to take her on a date?" Nabiki asked doubtfully. "I'm pretty sure we'll both have better things to do with our time."
Ranma was about to object when he heard a noise from outside, through the open doorway. He went to the balcony, not terribly surprised to see Hotaru and her 'big sisters' lugging a slew of bags and boxes. Behind them, a panda lumbered forward, hauling a cart laden with a desk, Akane's bed, and a great deal of additional boxes. Occasional other pieces of furniture protruded from the pile -- a table, some chairs....
Going to the balcony to wave down to Akane, who smiled up at him in tandem with his daughter, Shampoo, and Ukyou, he called down, "Morning, girls!"
"Morning!" they all replied together, each using their own name for him afterwards. Though, he had to admit, it was Hotaru's 'papa' that made him feel warmest inside.
"Oh, hey, Nabiki wants to move in and take care of the paperwork," he called down. "What do you think?"
"Nabiki-oneechan!" Hotaru cheered, grinning brightly. "I have the best family in the world! Oh, Papa, Gramma wants to take me shopping later today, once everyone's finished moving."
Ranma nodded, while Shampoo, Ukyou, and Akane quickly formed a huddle. Genma managed to free himself from the harness attaching him to the cart, and collapsed in a tired pile on the lawn.
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(Posted Wed, 12 Apr 2006 20:02)
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