The next morning, Ranma woke up late. It was already far past the time she normally woke up, but in this reality, there was no Genma that woke her up with early morning exercises.
When she got out of bed, Shampoo raised her head and yawned. "Morning..." she muttered.
"Morning," Ranma replied. "Had a good sleep?" She grinned. "Or had some more romantic time with your new 'friend' Artemis'?"
"Ha ha, very funny, Ranma!"
When Ranma left her room, she ran into Mamoru. Phobos and Deimos were nowhere to find.
"Hey, sleep well?" Mamoru greeted her. "I swear, my whole bed creaked every time I turned around. But I won't look a gift horse in the mouth... By the way, where are our ugly 'guardians'?"
Ranma shrugged. "Beats me. Perhaps they're on a morning walk in the garden?" She stepped up to a window and looked outside. In daylight, the garden looked much more inviting than yesterday when it was dark.
Mamoru stretched his arms. "I had a really strange dream tonight," he said. "I dreamt of a strange corridor full of doors, and I heard voices shouting... And, yeah, I think there was a battle."
Ranma stared at him. He raised his eyebrow. "What?"
"Was there, by any chance, a closet in your dream?"
"A closet?" He shook his head. "No, I don't think so. Why should I dream about a CLOSET?"
Ranma decided not to press the matter and suggested going down for breakfast.
But before they reached the spiral stairs, Grandpa came up. And he wasn't alone.
Following him was no other than the young woman Ranma saw yesterday at the airport. together with the policemen.
Mamoru seemed to recognize her as well, as he said: "Whoa..."
Ranma didn't know what to think. Did Grandpa betray them? What reason did he have to invite this woman into his house? Or did she come for Mamoru?
Both Grandpa and the strange woman smiled when they saw them. "Amnar," the woman greeted her. "And your friend! Thank god! I was worried that something happened to you two."
"Who are...?"
"This is Miss Mizuno, head of the local youth welfare office. I talked to her last night on the phone and I invited her to come over this morning for a little... conversation."
Ranma wasn't too happy. "What's the meaning of all this?" she wanted to know.
"I told you we would find a solution," Grandpa said."
"I think there is just a big misunderstanding, that's all," Miss Mizuno said with a smile. "I can assure you that we all just want to find the best solutions for you. We are doing our best so that you can stay with your grandfather, but... I'm afraid it is not that easy as you might think."
"But why? I talked to him tonight. He said it was alright, I could stay here."
"It's not going to work that way, I'm afraid," Miss Mizuno said with a frown. "There are certain rules and regulations we have to follow."
"Then I can't stay here?" she asked Grandpa.
"Not... right away," he slowly answered the question. "But, see... You ran away from your youth center in Germany, and that caused a couple of problems."
"I promise you, as soon as everything is all right, you will be able to live here," Miss Mizuno said.
Ranma sighed. It was definitely not her problem to live somewhere else, but he had no time for this... He had to find the princess and her guardians, and Amnar's mother certainly had her reasons to send her daughter to this house.
"But I can't..."
"It won't be for long, but for now, I'm afraid you will have to come with me... and your friend as well."
Ranma was surprised. "Mamoru? Why? We haven't even met before I came here. He has nothing to do with this."
Miss Mizuno nodded. "Yes, I know that. But, you know... we are looking for him for quite a while. He has caused the police many problems."
"What did you do?" Ranma asked Mamoru. The boy just crossed his arms and hmph'ed. "Nothing! I only want to be free, I guess that counts as a crime in these days."
"But he helped me out. Can't you let him go?"
Mamoru grinned. "Don't worry. I can take care of things. I have everything under control."
"If you are thinking of running away, I would advise against that idea," Miss Mizuno said casually.
"I see," Mamoru said grimly. "You brought your watchdogs."
Ranma carefully looked out of the window again. And really, on the street, she could see a police car.
"Don't worry," Grandpa said. "Everything will work out just fine. But for now, please go with Miss Mizuno. Go fetch your things, okay?"
After the two adults were downstairs again, Mamoru downright glared at the red-headed girl. "Well?" he spat. "Satisfied now?"
"Wha... what do you mean by that?" she responded angrily.
"You know what I mean. If I just went on my own ways yesterday, I wouldn't be in this mess now. But no, you just had to invite me to your grandpa's house, didn't you?"
"Hey, it's not that I would have known this was going to happen. I was just worried about you. And besides, we shouldn't argue now. We have to think of something. I for my part have no intention of going with this woman."
"Well, do you have a better idea?" he asked, still grumpy."
"Actually, I do," she said and led him to her room.
----
Shampoo was grooming her fur when the two human teenagers bursted in. She almost demanded to know what was going on when she remembered that Mamoru didn't know she could talk.
Ranma wasted no time and went to the hidden door. Her finger nervously wandered over the wooden surface.
"What the heck are you doing?" Mamoru asked. But Ranma didn't respond. When her fingers found the right spot, the mechanism clicked and the door opened. And she was right, behind it, she once again saw the long corridor with the kerosene lamps.
"There," she said. "You can hide inside here."
Mamoru came one step closer and peered through the door. "Say... are you crazy or what? They will find me for sure in there."
"Oh, don't be silly. There have to be dozens of places inside where you can hide."
"Did you hit your head or something?"
"Oh, come on! Just get in!"
"No way!"
"Oh, for the sake of..." she muttered and stepped in, just to prove himself she was right.
She entered the...
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(Posted Fri, 07 Jul 2006 13:20)
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