The night continued to be a series of novel adventures for Ranma.
At the moment she was sitting at a table with four other girls and one magic prince with a table of deserts shared between them. The blue-haired girl had left with the food cart in due haste, probably for the same reason she seemed a bit grouchy. Judging by the other girls' comments it wasn't something particularly her fault, the blue-haired girl, Umi, just tended to be a bit stiff.
Ranma already had enough to ponder, so she put it out of mind for now.
The prince was still there, though now he was looking like the odd man out. He seemed intent on trying the deserts out of politeness, but was completely uncertain about actually taking a bite from one.
Personally, Ranma found it amusing to see someone else in that kind of situation, so she could sympathize. The poor guy just didn't know how to fit in with a somewhat girly activity like eating fancy deserts.
With that in mind, she absently snatched his spoon away, neatly made a dainty circular scooping motion into a float and presented it to him for tasting without so much as glancing away from her own desert.
The girls at the table stared and almost said something, but the way Ranma was completely ignoring the event was strong enough hint to not make an issue out of the event. After a moment of hesitation on his part, Arturia gently took the spoon and tasted the desert. Desert continued on a bit longer before Prince Arturia literally bowed out and left the room.
While he did at least finally try the deserts before leaving, this now left Ranma in a delicate position. In her experience being a girl among a group of girls generally ended poorly. Akane for instance would invariably come to the conclusion that he was there to do something 'perverted'. Of course he never was doing anything, but simply being accused seemed to be crime enough.
The black haired girl developed a mischievous expression which set Ranma on edge. The feeling only continued as the girl leaned across the table to slowly and deliberately snag a bite of Ranma's desert. Oddly enough the girl was giving him a sultry expression despite being in female form at the time. "Mhmm, you're really a boy... and in such a lovely curvy little body."
Drawing back just a little bit, Ranma tried hard to restrain her urge to freak out. Still though, that was definitely not the reaction she was expecting. "Uh, yeah I guess. If ya like that sort of thing."
"Tomoyo!"
Turning briefly to stick out her tongue at the short haired brunette scolding her, the named girl moved around the table until her chair was right next to Ranma. She turned to address her friend once she was in place. "Awww, Sakura-chan, how could you think so poorly of me? Do I seem anything like that Alielle girl?"
Sakura seemed to have the grace to look embarrassed then even as Tomoyo scooted closer to the red-head. "Well, no, but Lord Arturia would be upset if you made Lady Ranma uncomfortable."
Ranma squirmed just a bit when the girl gently latched on to her left arm. "You do like girls, right?" Getting a hesitant nod, Tomoyo continued, "Well then, you seem interesting, so I would like to get to know you better. I design outfits by the way, so I'd like to know your preference."
Confused by the girl's actions, Ranma decided to just shelve the feelings and let her be. "Sure I guess. Uhm, something not a dress or really girly I guess. I kinda don't like it when people try to make me a girl and all."
Tomoyo hummed happily and leaned into the red-head's shoulder. "I can imagine. I certain wouldn't want to be a boy, even if I did have the body parts. It'd be no fun at all if you were girly anyways."
Ranma found that attitude to once again to be utterly perplexing, at least to his limited experiences. They knew he was really a boy in female form, she seemed to like him in a sort of romantic but friendly way, and liked him just fine that way?
Tomoyo did hum a curious thought though. "You know, with your body, something just a little girly might look best. Those sorts of curves are hard to hide. Would you mind if I created you a few outfits tonight to try on?"
A bit on edge from the girly comment, Ranma kept her cool. The girl was being nice about it after all.
A bit bored, Ranma sat perched on the side of the claw-foot tub. It seemed a simple enough thing to want to take a bath. She'd missed her morning bath because of the lack of hot water, and the day had pretty much been one long calamity. The hold up was because she apparently was getting treated like a princess and that somehow involved having hand maidens. Well it was more fun than being put through bridal training to fight a monkey for an entirely stupid reason, at least for the moment.
It wasn't really bad though. Fuu had taken the task of clearing the desert dishes away and straightening up the room, while Hikaru had taken up the task of remaking the bed. As Ranma was about to go to sleep soon, she didn't really see a reason why, but who was she to argue?
The hold up was because the suite apparently hadn't been used in a while and Tomoyo and her friend were cataloging the toiletry supplies. All she really needed though was a bath cloth, soap and a towel, though really she could make do with just water if need be. Despite that, the wait was somewhat welcome as she was still coming to grips with the idea that the girls wanted to stay and 'help' her bathe.
Still, they were nice girls, so she'd continue giving them the benefit of the doubt. "Hey, you mind if I at least rinse up a bit?"
The black haired girl glanced over her way from where she was raiding a cabinet. "Well if you want. I found some shampoo already." Turning to her companion, she addressed Sakura in turn. "Keep looking okay Sakura-chan? This room should have been in order already."
A cheery "Sure!" dimly echoing from the linen closet, Ranma began the task of unbuttoning her poor abused Chinese shirt. The poisoned cut on her left arm had resulted in a corresponding gash in the sleeve, so it would need to be sewn up once again. Then of course there was all the grime and grit from when Akane had pounded her into the sidewalk.
A gentle pair of hands on hers brought her out of her internal griping, causing her to look up into the strange smile Tomoyo was giving her. "Allow me my Lady."
Picking up on the emphasis, Ranma put her hands down. "Uhm, my shirt got kinda tore up today."
Nodding gently at the halfhearted attempt at protest, Tomoyo gently undid the buttons and carefully removed the the silk shirt, careful not to widen any of the rips. "I'll take care of it."
As Tomoyo moved to soak the shirt in the sink, Ranma turned on the tap to get a bit of water and started scrubbing at the poisoned cut Kodachi had given her that morning. To her surprise the wound was completely healed up, and she wasn't particularly feeling the burn of the poison any more either. Even the burning feeling in her right arm from using excessive speed while poisoned was gone, all of which was surprising as a deadly poison like that should have taken a day at least to burn out. "Did that food do anything to help me heal faster?"
The shirt soaking in a basin filled with water, Tomoyo turned a curious eye towards her guest. Eyebrow raised, she drew out a card from somewhere within her dress and held it up. As the card began to glow, Ranma surmised it was some sort of magic thing, so she gave the girl a moment to do whatever it was she was up to.
The technique came to an end as the card went from blank to having a design on the side facing Ranma, with Tomoyo pausing to read what was on her side. "Ah, it wasn't the food directly. You have the Mana Burst ability."
The red-head perked up at the sound of having an ability. "Huh?"
Smiling her own smile at seeing the topless red-head, Tomoyo explained indulgently. "It's the ability to directly use mana to boost your own body. In this case, healing and recovery. It's a fairly rare ability."
Thinking about various experiences in her life, the red-head smacked her delicate fist into her palm. "I think I know what you're talking about. I've never been full of this mana stuff before though, right?"
Smirking at the bouncy red-head, Tomoyo was happy Sakura currently had her head in a linen closet. "Apparently so. You know, Prince Arturia also has the Mana Burst ability. The prince uses it for strength and agility while sword-fighting, which is the reason for the search for a princess to provide a sword that can survive Mana Burst at full power."
Typically unmindful of being topless, Ranma used both hands to steady herself while perched on the lip of the tub and leaned forward a bit. "Really? You know, that explains a lot. Always was able to push way past my limits when I had to, but I knew I couldn't just waste it. Think I can learn how to refill this mana stuff without eating the food here? Not that I don't love the food here."
The black-haired young teen moved forward to begin undoing the red-head's Chinese tang pants. "Of course, though such techniques tend to come with magic practice in general. So you would have to study some form of spell casting."
Ranma pouted uncertainly at the idea. "Gotta learn magic? Dunno about that."
Tomoyo in turn grinned at the sight of boxers after having added the pants to the soak. "My my, boxers, how manly of you."
Ranma was uncertain how to respond to that. At first it sounded teasing or insulting, but while the tone was teasing, it also conveyed a sense that she found it daring in a good way. Either way the girl was just a bit odd in her eyes. Speaking of which, the look the other girl kept giving her was just a tad odd as well. No, the other girl was giving Tomoyo the odd look. "So, is this sword thing important?"
Turning around seriously at the change in topic, Tomoyo turned back to rinsing the clothing as she answered, "Of course. The Sword Prince is the general of the armies and leads from the front lines. Ever since those magical girls in Juuban banished that dark army, we've had a demon army invasion brewing in the eastern borderlands."
Ranma wasn't about to let them know she was conflicted on helping them, primarily because she had no intention of playing princess no matter how nice they were. Unfortunately their situation also sounded worse than some brat that wouldn't take his medicine or the heir to a hot spring with a boulder blocking up the spring. "Is that something I could go visit and see for myself?"
"Well, I hate to say it, but all five of us together aren't strong enough to qualify as bodyguards for a trip there. The prince could escort you there and back of course, or you could test for a Magic Knight rank after some magic training. The first is quicker, but the second is probably more satisfying."
"That Magic Knight thing isn't some sort of cutesy magical girl kinda stuff is it?"
"No, just a magical warrior. The definition is somewhat loose, but transformation and weapon summoning are standard, though how that works is pretty much up to you. Sakura used to be a cutesy magical girl type, but she's been learning sword play and how to defend herself in a fight so she can qualify as a magic knight. I'm still mostly support though."
Pausing thoughtfully, Tomoyo straightened up and turned her attention to where Sakura still had her head in the linen closet. "Sakura-chan, could you come show your transformation to Lady Ranma?"
Glad to have her head out of the stuffy closet, the brown haired girl perked up and bounced lightly on her feet. "Sure, but I haven't found the impeller yet."
Tomoyo sighed in frustration as the clockwork impeller was what was required to heat the water for a proper bath. "Well just go ahead and show it, for all we know this bath doesn't have an impeller any more."
Nodding happily, Sakura bounced over to Tomoyo's side so she could pose before Ranma. "Okay!"
Turning around, Tomoyo had a sudden thought. "Actually, Sakura-chan, if Ranma doesn't like girly outfits, yours probably isn't a good example."
Upset, particularly because Tomoyo as always had been the one to actually design her outfit, Sakura turned her ire on her friend. "Tomoyo!"
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(Posted Sat, 12 Mar 2011 05:50)
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