Frowning in thought, Akane tried to figure Ranma out. It had taken her several distracted hours in school just to realize how little she knew about him.
Thinking back on the timeline of events, the Jusenkyou curses were supposed to be relatively recent. The thing with the hair was likewise recent. That extra manliness mess though supposedly came about when he was a young boy, so that would have been the long term issue. The last time he'd attended school, he had apparently only had that to deal with.
So the last time he went to school, people found out about that and gave him a hard time for being different. That Ryouga guy sounded like he'd probably get along with Kuno, someone who knew what was best for everyone.
There really wasn't a lot of information outside of her own experience with him. Of course there was that part about being an assistant coach to the girl's team. Imagining that for a moment, she considered the other puzzles. For him to be coaching the girls, he couldn't have been a pervert despite spending lots of time with them. They had also made it to nationals, so his training had to be pretty good.
Akane briefly tried to imagine any of the boys she knew spending that much time with the female athletes while staying professional instead of perverted. The thought was almost comical, particularly when she considered the likes of Kuno attempting to do such a thing. Eventually though the image of one man clicked into mind, Doctor Tofu.
Almost stunned by that connection, unbidden evidence floated to mind. After the match Nabiki had arranged, she'd felt like she was ready to die. Her and Ranma were forced to bathe together by Nabiki with the backing of the fathers. He had her nude and helpless with the blessing of her family in that matter.
Instead, he'd helped her bathe, massaged out the sore kinks in her limbs and left her to soak. He'd apparently done it before, not only because he'd been calm and professional about it, but because she was raring to jump out of the bath barely wearing a towel with energy she hadn't possessed beforehand.
That didn't explain why he was kissing Kasumi in the kitchen, but it apparently hadn't been unwelcomed. For all she knew, the boy thought kissing girls was just being polite, because he was certainly good at it.
Shaking her head, Akane decided to review what she knew from the top.
Alright, girl and panda arrive. Girl is quiet and maybe a bit uncomfortable. Father and Nabiki are very impolite, but the girl stays quiet and declines explaining she's a boy there to marry some girls he's never met. She offers to be friends. Girl is happy and hopeful.
They have the match in the dojo. She's being serious, but the girl remains shy and playful. Was she trying to make friends?
Let's see, then she told the girl she was glad she wasn't a boy. The girl went completely shy and quiet. They drifted apart. Mhmm, then Nabiki told her the bath was ready, except Nabiki wouldn't have bothered to mention it except in passing. Had Kasumi prepared the bath for Ranma? Let's see, she spotted the boy leaving after soaking, so he had to have been there a while, so that was likely.
Let's see, shouting, explanations, more shouting. Ranma stays quiet, but is irritated at his father. More shouting, Ranma continues staying quiet, even ignoring her when she starts calling him a freak. When he did speak up, it was to suggest he teach her martial arts to satisfy honor. She said no. Nabiki made a deal to save her ass while sacrificing her sister. Ranma objected that it wasn't fair?
Looking back at it, that stood out. He certainly hadn't been worried about losing. It was also possible that having to leave didn't bother him at all, as he certainly hadn't been pulling for the engagement. So, was he objecting that she would end up his pet? He probably knew he was going to win, so perhaps. He had seemed rather reluctant about the situation outside of acting like a dementedly cheerful martial arts instructor at times. It was hard to tell though as after the first bath fiasco he hadn't been as open.
Everything from then on out pretty much confirmed it, he didn't seem interested beyond teaching her martial arts. There had been a few moments of perversion, but it always seemed that he was simply comfortable around girls and being playful.
Putting that into perspective, she imagined a young Tofu acting as coach to a team of girls. Probably saw them nude a lot and gave a lot of massages for stiff muscles, had to help girls to the infirmary. Maybe even bathed a few, but nothing improper happened. Of course, he smiled a lot to cheer the girls on and they liked him a lot. Of course they would, how could they not like him?
He was attending the same school as them, so maybe he'd even share a class with some of them. There wouldn't be anything improper about him dating a classmate. Perhaps he has to spend a lot of time with a very dedicated girl that tries hard, but ends up with a lot of scrapes and bruises. Maybe they even share a few secret smiles, but he doesn't feel it's proper to do anything with a girl in his care. So, of course she'd have to make the moves, leaning in for a shy kiss.
"Akane-chan?"
Startling out of her thoughts, Akane looked shyly over to the woman walking beside her. "Sorry sensei, were you trying to say something?"
For her part, the gym teacher wasn't too sure what to make of Akane and the new 'boy'. For one, the girl was usually one of the most vocal against perverts, yet she had basically defended the boy. Now the younger girl was blushing while lost in thought, which was a bit suspicious. "Tell me, how long have you known Ranma?"
Her blush fading as she shelved her thoughts away, the young girl answered promptly. "Since yesterday."
Thinking to herself, the woman wanted some answers to the uncomfortably odd position she found herself in. "So what do you think about this business with him training girls?"
Finding her walk home was almost to an end, Akane shrugged. She wasn't quite sure just how she felt about that, but she knew she wanted to find out more about Ranma. "It's probably true."
Raising an eyebrow, the teacher tried to keep herself diplomatic about this situation. "Really? You sound pretty sure for only knowing him a day."
Shrugging, Akane didn't really feel much doubt herself. "He said I had no finesse. So this morning he taught me Martial Arts Tango."
Having heard a few oddball stories herself, the gym teacher actually took that seriously despite it still sounding ridiculous. "He calls that training?"
Shrugging, even Akane was impressed with the progress she'd shown from that. "You'd be surprised, I know I was."
"..."
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(Posted Thu, 07 Sep 2006 08:49)
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