Tenchi rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then turned a curious glance on Nabiki. "The manager didn't seem that old," he finally said. "Is that his little sister? He didn't mention her before."
Nabiki looked at him through half-lidded eyes. "That's his daughter," she replied, smiling. "If he hasn't already told you, I'm his agent. Did you want to hire him for an endorsement or something? I can probably get those girls to agree to it."
"Right," he drawled doubtfully. "Anyway, um, can you tell me about those girls? They sure seemed...." He paused, thinking how nice it would be if Ryouko and Ayeka got along as well as the vivacious brown-haired girl and the lavender-tressed young woman.
"Affectionate," Mamoru piped up suddenly, grinning. "I figure they're his, but that green-haired sweetheart ... wow! Talk about a killer figure!"
"I expect you to be well behaved," Nabiki warned, narrowing her eyes. "My sister lives here, too, and she doesn't take kindly to perverts."
Mamoru blinked at that, frowning.
"Anyway," Tenchi said, shaking his head, "I need to call my father to have him send my things to me. And I should probably register for classes, too. Um, could I use the phone in the office?"
"Go right ahead," Nabiki assured him.
"Now, how violent is this anti-pervert policy?" Keitaro asked, suddenly anxious.
Tenchi chuckled at that and went into the office, swiftly dialing his father and explaining where he wanted his things sent. He had just finished with the call and set down the receiver when someone dashed into the room, skidding into a halt before him and staring in surprise. It was the girl with the short hair who had been with Ranma earlier.
Though, when Tenchi looked at her up close, he realized he'd been doing her a disservice by not placing her with the other two. She was every bit as pretty, though in his mind, she still ranked below Ayeka and Ryouko. She might be able to outdo Mihoshi, though. He pushed that thought from his head quickly. "Hello," he said, bowing politely. "I'm Masaki Tenchi, I just moved in today."
"I.... Oh, well, I'm Tendo Akane," the girl introduced herself, bowing back. "Um, welcome to the place, then. You met Ranma, right?"
"Yeah! He seems like a nice guy," Tenchi said earnestly. "Um, he mentioned that your father taught classes?"
"He does!" Akane said brightly, smiling. "He's looking for students -- are you going to sign up?"
"I'm thinking about it," Tenchi admitted, as the other two girls slid into the room, stopping on either side of Akane and looking around in disappointment.
"Oh, before I forget, these are my very best friends, Kuonji Ukyou, and Shampoo." She paused, as both of the girls bowed politely. "Though, her name is Chinese, and it's really pronounced 'Shan-Pu'." She turned to look at the Chinese girl worriedly, as though she might have offended her friend. "Did I say that right?"
"Is so," the lavender-haired girl agreed, winking at Tenchi. "But 'Shampoo' is fine, too. Is easy to say. He got away?"
"He got away," Akane agreed, offering a sympathetic smile.
"Damn," Ukyou swore, grimacing. "Well ... dinner tonight, then?"
"Too soon," Shampoo judged, shaking her head. "We take care of Hotaru tonight. Saw martial arts books upstairs, give time to read."
"Good thinking," Akane said supportively.
Tenchi felt thoroughly lost. "Um, excuse me...."
"Sorry," Ukyou said, grinning in embarrassment. "Um, see, we all used to be engaged to Ranchan, but now that he's an adoptive father, he doesn't really have time for that. So we're all just really close friends right now. We wanted to have a chance to sit down and talk to him about it."
"E...engaged to all three of you?" Tenchi managed, feeling dizzy. "That's.... Um. That's impressive."
"Isn't he, though?" the girls chorused earnestly.
"Anyway," Akane managed, blushing. "He can be kind of a pervert, but he's been really well behaved since he became a father. I guess the responsibility has been good for him."
"He seemed nice," Tenchi agreed, as Keitaro peeked into the room. "Oh, hey, Urashima-san."
"Call me Keitaro," he said, shaking his head and stepping in. "Sorry if I'm interrupting or anything -- I was going to get some new furniture. Do you know when Saotome-san will be back?"
"This evening, probably," Ukyou said after a moment. "He has to take Hotaru-chan to his mother, and then...." She trailed off. "He might actually have work."
"Work?" Mamoru asked, joining the conversation, and making the office just a bit crowded. "What's he do aside from run this place?"
"He works for J.S.D.F.," Shampoo said proudly. "You not see him on television yesterday?"
"He was on television?" Mamoru and Keitaro asked in tandem, eyes widening.
"Not only that, the girl who interviewed him lives here, too," Akane said, grinning. "But, if you want to know the story...."
***
Ranma shivered slightly, as he stepped into the Tendo home. He assured himself it was only because the place felt oddly empty. Not that he had any right to complain. Akane and Nabiki were living next to him, after all.
"Hello?" he called.
"Ranma-kun!" Kasumi replied from the living room. Ranma crept in with Hotaru, relaxing to see the eldest of the Tendo daughters sitting at the table, along with Tofu. Nodoka was visible across the rear porch, humming to herself as she hung up Genma's drying laundry. Genma himself was slouched in the pool in panda form, exhausted and unresponsive.
"Heya," Ranma greeted, as Hotaru went to the table, sitting between Tofu and Kasumi, though closer to the girl.
"Is everything going well at the new place?" Kasumi asked brightly.
Ranma considered that briefly, then nodded. "We've got some new people moving in, and so far they seem really nice," he allowed. "Um ... I gotta do some shopping, and Mom said she wanted to see Hotaru-chan to get her some clothes."
"That's right!" the woman enthused, appearing suddenly in the doorway and shooting Hotaru a bright smile. The little girl seemed almost magnetically drawn into her 'grandmother's' embrace, and Ranma had to admit ... everything was worth it to see the two of them so happy. "Now, Hotaru-chan, your sisters bought you some nice things, but a girl should have a much wider assortment of clothing. Shall we go shopping together?"
"Yes!" Hotaru cheered. "Me, and Gramma, and Papa! It'll be great!"
Ranma winced. Maybe not everything was worth it; girls loved shopping, something he could do without. He checked his phone quickly, glad to notice that it had a clock built into it. "Sorry, Hotaru-chan," he said apologetically. "I need to get some things for our place while you're with Mom. Er, with Grandmother." Nodoka giggled, releasing Hotaru at that title. "Anyway, I'm going to get us a table, some dishes and ... other stuff." He glanced past Tofu to the television set. "Maybe one of those, too."
"Now, now," Nodoka chided. "You mustn't work yourself too hard, Ranma. I think I shall see to that. Hotaru-chan, why don't we go back to your sisters, and have them help us shop? I'm certain they'll need things, too."
Hotaru had begun to develop a fierce pout over the realization that she wouldn't be going shopping with her father -- but that quickly vanished with the promise of being with her sisters again. "Okay!" she agreed. "Papa, give me a hug before you go to work!"
"W...what?" Ranma managed, kneeling and giving the girl a hug when she asked anyway, spinning her around twice in a tight embrace before releasing her. "Now, what makes you think I'm goin' to work?" He realized his slip and scowled. He had to stop teaching Hotaru improper speech.... He made a note to find someone who was better with words than himself to help educate his daughter, though for some reason he felt uneasy with the idea of it being Nabiki.
"You checked your phone," Hotaru said with authority. "Grown-ups always do that when they've got to be somewhere on time. It's work, right?"
"Well...." He hesitated. He wasn't going to lie to his daughter, even if his new job hadn't made lying in general more difficult. "I'm going to meet with a supervisor," he explained. "She wanted to give me some instructions for work."
"Oh, that sounds rather difficult," Tofu noted suddenly. "Are you going to be working and attending school full-time?"
"Yeah," Ranma agreed, smirking. "School's important." And even if his grades still mostly sucked, at least he could show Hotaru why she'd need to start attending next week. Though, with Nabiki's math trick.... He put that thought aside for later.
"Well, we seem decided, then," Nodoka declared. "Hotaru and I will wait for you to come home tonight. Do you know when you will return?"
Ranma bit his lip and calculated. "Probably two or three hours after sunset."
"Good," Nodoka replied, taking Hotaru's hand in her own. "Let's hurry, so we can have a nice big dinner waiting for Ranma when he comes home!"
"But.... I don't know how to cook yet, Gramma!" Hotaru protested.
"Then we shall begin learning!" And with that, Nodoka was gone.
"My," Kasumi managed, looking at all the furniture unsettled by the wake of the woman's passage. "I think I see where you get it from, Ranma-kun."
He glanced at the panda in the koi pond and nodded warily. "I got to thinking that, too. Anyway, uh ... thanks for the books, Tofu-sensei. And the tea, and the exercises, and ... uh ... well.... Well, thanks for everything."
"It's not a problem," the man chuckled in reply, adjusting his glasses nervously. "I'm just glad I could help."
Ranma watched the doctor for a moment, then glanced at Kasumi. The pair was continually faintly blushing, and not quite making eye contact. A heartbeat passed, and then Soun emerged from one of the hallways, blinking curiously and glancing at a clock. "Kasumi?" he asked his eldest daughter. "When will lunch be prepared? I think Saotome is exhausted from his efforts. A spot of something to eat should be just the thing to perk him up." Nodding judiciously, the man went to a cupboard and produced his treasured shogi set.
Kasumi and Tofu both winced, her with a combination of irritation and guilt, and he with something more akin to rejection. "W...well, Akane-chan and Nabiki-chan are gone," Kasumi said slowly, "so I hadn't thought.... I can start now, I'm sorry, Father."
She climbed to her feet, while Tofu slumped slightly, watching her walk away.
"Hold up a second," Ranma interrupted, flicking his cape behind him from where it had begun to creep over one shoulder. "Tendo-san, sorry to bother you, but I need to ask you for an important favor, first." It wasn't entirely true, he realized, but he could quickly make it the truth.
"Really?" Soun asked in surprise, putting back the shogi board while Kasumi and Tofu watched curiously.
"Yeah," Ranma replied, trying to ignore the couple for the moment. "See, the new apartment complex I got has a dojo, but I need an expert opinion on fixing it up, and some of the guys there are looking for someone to teach them martial arts."
Soun stared blankly for a minute, then said, "But ... I haven't taught classes in so long! With Sachiko gone, I want to focus on my family-"
"Hey, Nabiki and Akane are living with me!" Ranma protested. "You've just got Kasumi here right now."
"You're right," Soun realized suddenly, straightening up and nodding. "Of course. With ... two of my little babies leaving the nest, I should.... I should.... Bwaaaahahahaha! I'm going to die alone! My babies are leaving me!"
With some wincing, hot water, and more cajoling than he preferred, Ranma eventually managed to get Genma to lead Soun to the apartment complex. Hopefully the man would even stop crying by then. Those tears would make Akane's endorsement of the dojo useless. "That worked well," he noted to himself, grinning. Nabiki probably could have managed it better, though. "You two have a nice day," he said to the rather surprised looking Tofu and Kasumi before he fled the house, leaving the pair completely alone.
Kasumi deserved something for all of her work supporting her family, and Tofu was just a nice guy all around. Plus, Ranma owed him for those Shiatsu points and taking care of his daughter. If it got Soun or his father to make themselves useful, he couldn't complain at all....
See other episodes by Sgt. Chibi De'Ohki
(Posted Sun, 16 Apr 2006 20:26)
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