"Do we want to give her that kind of power?" Ukyou asked warily, glancing up at the balcony. Her Ranchan was up there next to Nabiki, grinning down at Hotaru, though she saw his glance skip to her briefly. And Akane and Shampoo, too, of course, but she was certain that there was a spark of genuine joy when their eyes met.
And damned if that didn't make working with the other girls entirely worth it.
Akane thought the same, apparently, as her face suddenly reddened. "I think we can trust her," she said, nodding. "But can we trust _him_?"
"Of course we can!" Shampoo replied.
At that moment, Nanami peeked around the gate into the yard, followed almost instantly by a girl wearing too short a skirt in Ukyou's mind. And a blouse that wasn't buttoned up high enough.
"Maybe we can see about having Nabiki turn the place co-ed," Ukyou decided, narrowing her eyes.
Akane nodded quickly, and even Shampoo agreed. "Okay," Shampoo called, once the consensus had been reached, just before Hotaru began to wonder what the discussion was about. "Nabiki can take care of the paperwork!"
***
"Swell," Ranma decided with a grin, vaulting over the railing and going to ruffle Hotaru's hair when she latched onto him with a hug. "Okay!" he called up to Nabiki, who had taken the more sedate stairs.
Nanami swiftly broke from the gate to skid to a halt at Ranma's side, a look of determination on her face. "Saotome-dono," she said, bowing her head quickly, before clenching a fist before her. "I must rent an apartment here!"
"I was thinking of checking if you had any openings...." The girl with the green hair had strode forward until she was standing at Nanami's side, but then had spotted Hotaru. At that, her face had become pale and drawn. "No way!" she finally exclaimed. "That is totally not possible! You can't.... I mean...." She trailed off, realizing everyone had stopped to look at her.
"Do you have a problem with my daughter," Ranma asked, frowning. He didn't know what issues the stranger could possibly have with Hotaru. The girl herself had merely turned to look at the green-haired girl.
"Setsuna," the girl said, shaking her head suddenly. "Sorry. No, um, your daughter looks a lot like a girl I knew once, a way long time ago. She, uh, broke some stuff that was important to me, but it was a totally different girl." Ranma thought he caught a muttered, "Or incarnation, anyway," afterwards. "Um, so, like, do you have an apartment for rent? Your sign says you open today, so I thought I'd totally check you out!"
"I don't think so!" Ukyou, Akane, and Shampoo protested hotly in unison, narrowing their eyes.
"Look at her, Ranchan, she's trouble for Hotaru-chan."
"Ranma, she seems kind of spacey to rent an apartment to."
"She maybe find other people to check out, Airen...."
Ranma blinked, then frowned. "Well, I won't say no," he told Setsuna and Nanami, shrugging. "But this is Nabiki, and she's the one who handles all the paperwork." Crouching slightly, he dropped his voice and asked, "Hotaru-chan, does she look familiar to you at all?"
"Nope," the little girl whispered back. "Papa, what are we going to do next?"
"An excellent question," Genma interjected, having found somewhere to change back to a human. "Ranma, my boy, I think it's past time for a training trip! Obviously these girls are more than capable of taking care of your daughter, so why don't we just-" The rest of his argument cut off into an unintelligible growl as Nabiki dropped the bucket she'd paused to collect.
"First order of business," she declared, rounding on the two new potential tenants. "All of the rooms next to Ranma are taken. Ladies, step into the office, I'll be with you shortly."
"Agent-san?" Nanami asked incredulously, before Setsuna herded her into the office.
"Second," she added, rounding on Genma, "I need my things moved, too. I already packed while Akane was doing her own packing. Won't you go get them, since I'm busy here?"
The panda pointed an accusatory paw at Ranma and growled a query.
"Third order," Nabiki agreed, "is obviously Ranma moving things from down here into Akane's apartment."
"Now-"
"A good manager should help his tenants, especially when he doesn't have to worry about his paperwork."
He considered that briefly, then shrugged. Moving furniture, boxes, and bags? He could handle that. "Hotaru-chan, I think I'll be busy for a bit."
"I'll keep Nabiki-oneechan company," the girl decided, smiling. "Okay?"
"No problem," Ranma assured her, grinning. "I'll be nearby if you need anything." Looking up to Nabiki, he added, "You too, Nabiki."
"'No problem'," she parroted back at him with a wink before whirling and marching into the office.
Genma's panderous bulk sighed as he set about pulling the cart again; Ranma and the girls swiftly unloaded it before he got through the gate. Before they left, and before he could stop them, he found himself enveloped in a tangle of hugs and assurances that they'd all hurry back as quickly as possible. A trio of kisses on the cheek left him flushed and nervous.
Those girls were getting really hard to keep a handle on; he imagined that they would probably blow past his defenses if he wasn't careful. "This was much easier when they didn't get along so well," he decided.
Shivering slightly, he passed by the office and added, "Nabiki -- make this place co-ed, huh? We shouldn't just let girls in."
"You got it, Boss," she replied from the desk, where Setsuna and Nanami were staring at stacks of paperwork Nabiki had set them to filling out with apprehension.
There, he thought. He didn't want people to think he was some kind of pervert. The only guy in an all-girls dorm? And he liked the idea of using his cursed form even less.
With that in mind, he set about moving Akane's things into her room, carefully stacking them in the middle of the main room. Her room, he realized, was much smaller than his; just the main room, a bedroom, and a cramped washroom with a shower.
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(Posted Thu, 13 Apr 2006 02:12)
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