On the train ride, Nodoka enjoyed a bit of chit-chat with Ranma. Even though the trip was via train, that portion of the ride was well over an hour long, easily two if the waits at the beginning and end were counted.
From there, part of the trip was made via bus, as the train had taken them west of Tokyo past Hamamatsu.
Their final destination was one of the older vacation houses belonging to her family, complete with dojo and even a small shrine. She's chosen the relatively modest place to have their vacation as she didn't yet want Ranma aware of the fact that her side of the family was fairly wealthy. As such the staff running the house was also relatively modest, particularly as she'd been arranging this vacation for over a week now.
She had selected this particular home many years ago for her family as she'd always felt the old design and dojo fitted perfectly towards the martial artist lifestyle.
Unfortunately, Genma had ruined several of her plans in that regard by taking Ranma on that training trip. If that hadn't been the case she would have wanted to move there if not spend most of the year there.
She really hoped however that all of the preparations were in order.
It was also her hope that Genma wouldn't remember the place to look for them there as it had been almost a decade since they'd last visited.
Scampering around the house, a young girl was making the final preparations for the arrival of her future master. While she was aware that his mother was coming as well, she knew full well that her only concern was to be making Ranma-sama happy and comfortable.
From what she'd heard, it was almost as if he had been forced into multiple engagements with several abusive girls, though at the time Nodoka-sama had seemed to be on a rant.
Surely Ranma-sama wouldn't have been allowed to be involved with such horrible girls. It must have been exaggerated, though it was still troubling to hear.
Arrangements had been specific, keep things simple and traditional. For that reason she was waiting on the guests to arrive before determining supper, though traditional snacks like rice balls were already waiting.
Of course, there were other considerations in mind. She had only been a little girl the last time they'd met, but she still remembered Ranma-sama. While it was her duty as his personal maid to make sure everything was perfect, it also meant the world to her from a personal stand-point. If Ranma didn't find her pleasing, she'd simply be crushed.
He was why she'd chosen to be a maid when she got older, as with her station in life, it was the only way to be a part of his life. Now that she was back in his life, she wanted to make sure her efforts these past few years weren't in vain.
For his part, Ranma was merely impressed that it was such a long trip. First the train, then the bus, and now they were walking up a small mountain away from the busier parts of town.
The place itself was fairly surprising as it was much bigger than the Tendou compound and even seemed to be older. Of course, he didn't have a problem with old places, just as long as they had decent access to hot water. Since hot water was fairly universal to cooking, he didn't have too many worries in that regard.
Heck, the place might even be far enough out in the boondocks that they might actually get some peace and quiet. With his luck though Ryouga would stumble across them on day three, though with any luck if Ryouga passed the info along he'd tell everyone Ranma was in Hokkaido.
Bustling in anticipation, out stepped the maid to meet her childhood sweetheart...
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(Posted Fri, 11 Aug 2006 20:56)
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