Not that he was under any fantasy that he'd ever understand the way that girls wanted things. In fact, he was certain that he never would, and he was fine with that. 'Investigating' it would take too long, and be too much of a hassle when he was perfectly happy with the way that things were now. He might complain about it from time to time, but he was glad that he knew the girls that he did.
Though, he did need a minute to understand why Akane acted as she did when they got to their booth. He had thought that he was doing the 'proper' thing when he tried to get a chair so that he could sit on it, and all the girls could take booth seats. But when the youngest Tendo saw what he was doing, he found himself pushed towards the booth, and saw her taking the chair for herself. It took him a long moment to realize why she did that, but when she did, he had the grace to blush.
Of course, that color in his cheeks could have also been from the fact that he was seated next to his wife, with his leg bumping up and rubbing against hers.
"Oh, they're sitting together so nicely...." Kasumi sighed happily. "Doesn't it look so cute?"
"Most definitely. I do have to wonder why he didn't want to sit next to her though," Nabiki drawled, giving a probing look at the sole male there.
For a moment, Ranma winced with worry, but then he turned his nose up at her and sniffed. "I wanted ta make it so that ya guys'd get the better seats...."
"Good answer."
"And I'm not just sayin' that!"
"No one said that you were," the short haired brunette responded.
"I really mean.... Oh, right. Well...."
"You really do have him trained well, don't you, Haruka-chan?"
The short haired blonde gave Nabiki an amused look. "I didn't have to 'train' him in anything. Maybe you have to whip your dates into obedience though...."
"Not true. They know the score before I go out with them."
"I see...."
"At least he's better than a lot of guys at our school," Akane muttered. "I swear, not one of them would be willing to actually stop to try and consider me as a person like he does Haruka."
"Sis? I'm not sure that any of them have noticed that you have a brain in your head. They certainly don't think with what's in their skulls, after all."
"Hey!" barked their male companion.
"We're not talking about you, Ranma."
"Oh. Okay."
"The thing is that the guys going after my little sister are all totally wrapped up in the idea of her as some sort of object, rather than a living person. It's rather absurd, though, amusing to watch at times."
"It's no fun to experience, you know!" Akane snapped.
"Just forget them," Haruka told the other girl with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I've raced guys before, and from what Nabiki's told me of your 'situation', I don't think that they're really worth all that much. They're so wrapped up in their own idea of what you, as a girl, are, that they won't actually stop to think that there can be change in the way things go."
"Talking from experience?" Nabiki asked.
"I race motorbikes with some of the guys getting uptight because a girl dares to beat them. They can't win against me, so they make up excuses to soothe their egos, and direct their anger away from themselves."
"Well, these guys have been handed an excuse, and don't seem to realize that she might not like the idea of dating a boy who'd beaten her up."
"Okay, that's kind of harsh compared to mine."
Ranma's expression turned deeply sour. "And it sounds like I should go ta that school."
"You want to attend Furinkan?"
"Nah. I wanna go there and teach those guys what happens when they bother one of my friends."
"You want to beat them up," his wife murmured.
"Pretty much."
"Thanks for the support, Ranma," Akane told him. "But I can handle those idiots just fine."
"If you say so...."
"I do. You can visit, but I can fight for myself."
"I still wanna beat them up," the pigtailed boy groused.
Nabiki gave a small smirk. "You, going to school just to help a friend. Well, I think it fits for you. If there was someone who'd do something like that, you'd be the first one that I'd think of. You planning on coming from our house to do it?"
"Only if I'm visitin'. Even if you're my friends, I don't think that it'd be right ta be takin' up space in your house."
"You don't want to live with us?" Kasumi gasped.
"No, no. It's just that since this 'engagement' thing ain't happenin', I ain't 'bout ta press on your kindess."
"It wouldn't be a hardship...."
"It just wouldn't be right. 'Sides, I should be livin' with Haruka in some way...."
Giving a small smile, Haruka held the hand on the side next to her husband palm up, and grasped his hand. "I want you living with me too...."
"It's wonderful to hear, isn't it?" the eldest of the sisters commented.
"Uh-huh," her siblings agreed.
Seated at a table was a long legged woman who got more than a few second looks. Her tailored skirt showed her shapely limbs off quite well, and her snug blouse fitted her quite well. Long lustrous hair framed a lovely face, and she moved with a dignified grace that was hard to find in one of her apparent age.
Setsuna Meiou simply took the looks in stride, and glanced over at the booth where a certain racer sat with her husband. Their reunion was going quite well so far, and was promising to go well in the future. This course of events was pretty much the one that she had been expecting things to go on, and she was rather pleased by the progress that she was seeing. There would be time for trouble later, and she didn't feel like interfering in anything quite yet.
Instead, she merely lifted her cup to her lips and took a sip, while:
(Posted Wed, 09 Aug 2006 12:10)
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