"Hey, wait," Ranma said, "if she's in here, then who's out-" Ranma turned and came up short, as Haruka was the only other one there. The other green haired woman had vanished.
"The hell?"
Haruka cringed as she realized that she would now have to explain how Setsuna was a time traveler, and they had just been talking to her future self.
"Ranma?" Haruka began tentatively. While normally more inclined to taking a rather... direct approach, even she could tell that this was a situation that required tact and delicacy.
Now, how was she going to explain this to her new husband without freaking him out?
Said husband was frowning at the conspicuously empty hallway. At her question, he turned back to her. She absently noticed that he was much more wary, almost as if he expected to be attacked.
"Is something wrong?" she asked, momentarily diverted.
He started, and a sheepish expression appeared on his face as he relaxed. "Yeah, I s'pose. Magic just gets me on edge, is all."
Haruka blinked. That was not the reply she'd expected. "You believe in magic?"
He shrugged. "I'd hafta be stupid not to, with my curse an' everything that's happened." He snorted, " It's nothin' but trouble."
"Curse?" He suddenly tensed again, a - nervous? scared? - expression flitted across his face before vanishing.
"Aheheh... guess I gotta tell ya. Woulda come out anyway and you're my wife and all, an..."
Haruka waved a hand in front of his face. "Ranma, focus. You're rambling."
He blinked. "Err, right." He smirked, and Haruka was surprised to feel her heart start to beat a bit faster. "Got any cold water?"
One application of cold water and a rather enthusiastic reassurance that no, she did not mind his curse in the slightest, a relieved though somewhat confused Ranma was relaxing in the furo with his blonde spouse.
He had been thrown for a loop by Haruka's behaviour, which did not match up with what he'd experienced so far with attractive women showing his affection - namely, that the experience was rather pleasant as opposed to painful. Pushing aside the confusing tangle of emotions for the moment, he returned to a more comfortable topic - for him, anyway.
"So what was with the disappearing act your housemate pulled?"
"She's your wife now, you know," Haruka pointed out, smirking.
Ranma twitched. "And yours too, now stop dodgin' the question."
The blonde sighed. While she was reluctant to share her secret, he was her husband now - something she found herself suprisingly accepting of - and if Setsuna was to be believed, he was going to be around for a while. It would come out sooner or later.
Time to bite the bullet, as it were. "What do you know about the Sailor Senshi?"
Ranma blinked at the apparent non-sequitor. "I've heard a bit 'bout them. Kasumi's a fan, and I've seen 'em on TV a couple of times. They fight monsters mostly, right?" He shrugged. "I respect what they do, but as fighters they kinda suck, 'cept that green-haired one. She's holdin' back for some reason."
Never let it be said that Ranma was anything but honest. Brutally so.
Haruka twitched. "Do tell."
Ranma, contrary to popular belief, was not completely insensitive to social faux pas, especially when it came to the romantic entanglements in his life. It was just that he usually became aware of it a little too late. Still, his... wife, while apparently angered at something, was willing to let him explain, which was a decided step up from the norm. Well aware that falsehoods were not his strong point, he wisely decided honesty was the best policy.
"Well, for a start, only a couple of 'em have any proper trainin'. The rest are just flailin' about. Then there's that silly posing and speech making they do, that's jus' begging to be nailed by a cheap shot. An' their strategy ain't much either, though that might be the lack of training showing there."
Haruka wanted to be mad, she really did. After all, she and her friends had done their best with what they had. It wasn't like there was anywhere they could go that offered lessons in fighting demons (she was wrong there, not that she knew it). But he did have a valid point... as someone who had training in the martial arts herself, she was aware that the senshi weren't so much fighers as magical artillery.
In addition, all the little hints had come together and she had finally made the connection between her new husband and the (in)famous Ranma Saotome. As someone who had a more than casual interest in martial arts, she knew if even a fraction of the rumours about him were true, he could probably hand her ass to her on a silver platter, even transformed.
And pride be damned, she really wanted to learn from someone who was that good.
"So why'd you ask 'bout the senshi, anyway?"
Haruka sighed. This was probably something that should be done with tact and subtlty and...
Screw it.
"Uranus Crystal Power, Make Up!" Que flashy magical transformation.
Ranma blinked. "Oh." Not exactly the most intelligent response, but what do you say when your new wife literally pulls an obviously magical - and rather revealing - transformation out of thin air? At least it explained the strange feel to her ki. Meaning that the others were probably senshi as well, which explained the why if not the how of the disappearing act.
He abruptly started sweating as he realized that moments ago he had been insulting the very group his wife was part of.
"Uh... you ain't mad, are ya?"
Haruka smiled sweetly. Like a shark. He was kind of cute when he was flustered. "Oh, a little. But you know how you can make it up to me?"
Ranma grabbed the proffered lifeline. "How?"
"Train me."
Elsewhere...
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(Posted Sat, 16 Oct 2010 00:23)
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