That didn't stop Ranma from reaching up and grabbing Ichijo's shirt collar in one fist. "Lemme tell ya now, I ain't 'bout ta let ya, or anyone else bother her if I can help it."
"And what are you going to do?" Ichijo asked, trying to smile bravely. "Beat me up?"
"If I haveta. I just hope that ya ain't that stupid."
"What if I am.... I mean, what if I don't think that you'll stoop to hurting someone who isn't trained in some stupid and fancy 'martial art', huh?"
"Then ya'll be wrong," the pigtailed boy murmured, twisting the part of the shirt that he was holding so that it tightened around the other boy. "I might not be willin' ta do ya serious damage unless ya really try ta hurt her, but I will drive ya away. Do ya got me?"
"I...."
"And my friends'll help her out too."
Swallowing as hard as his currently restrictive clothing would allow, Ichijo looked at the other girls with Ten'ou. The one with the blue-black hair was obviously an immediate danger, but he got a bad feeling about the one with the short hair. She had eyes that reminded him of a fox's, and something about her gaze told him that she was measuring him for creating creative ways to cause him trouble.
"So, what's it gonna be?"
"You're going to let go of him. You have to...." complained one of Ichijo's companions.
Ranma simply reached over with his free hand, caught the chain that the boy was wearing between two fingers, and snapped the thick links with a single light twist. "I ain't plannin' on hurtin' anyone. But I do wanna see ya get smart."
"Trust me. We've got to be smarter than a guy like you," Ichijo sneered.
"How's that?"
"We know when to back off. We're leaving."
"Good," the martial artist boy said simply, and shoved the other boy away from him.
"Whoa... hey.... Um.... That is.... We're going, guys."
"Sure thing," the boy who had protested earlier agreed.
Watching them slink away, Ranma grinned and slipped back into his seat. "That was good, wasn't it?"
"Looks like you got what you wanted," Nabiki dryly observed. "You've managed to protect your woman."
"And the problem with that is...."
"Nothing, really. Kind of sweet, in a way."
"Well, I think it's nice to see," Akane muttered as she tried to smooth out her fork.
"True. Haruka didn't have to raise a hand to do anything."
The named blonde let her mouth twist up a bit. "But it wasn't needed. I can handle myself."
"Who said that ya couldn't?" her husband asked.
"If no one did, then why did you jump into my fight."
"Dunno. Just seemed to be what I had ta do. I couldn't let 'em try ta start somethin' with ya."
"If they'd gotten physical, I wouldn't have any trouble with handling it."
"I should hope so, considerin' that those tricks I taught ya."
"But if you didn't think that she was too weak to defend herself, then why did you step in?" Kasumi asked, looking mildly confused.
Laughing self consciously, the pigtailed boy rubbed the back of his head with one hand. "Didn't stop ta think 'bout that stuff. All I cared 'bout was protectin' her. It didn't matter if she could do it herself or not."
"Then, you were doing it because you felt that you couldn't chose anything else."
"Pretty much."
Ducking her head, Haruka wondered if it was possible to keep falling in love with the same person. She'd already held the fact that he didn't judge her to be odd, due to her interests, but he had just proven that his concern for her was an instinctual part of his makeup. He wasn't about to treat her like some sheltered flower that needed watching over, but as someone that he wanted to protect because he cared for her. "Ranma?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you," she told him, and lightly pressed her fingertips against his face so that she could press a soft kiss against his lips.
His smile turned a little goofy, and he started blushing, much to the amusement of the girls with him, while:
(Posted Mon, 12 Feb 2007 06:18)
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