Ranma shifted awkwardly. She understood that she would have to be a girl for at least half of the rest of her life. That she could live with.
However, the fact that Amaterasu asked her to dress in casual feminine style clothes for this meeting was not something that she was happy about.
Oh, she didn’t have to wear a skirt or anything . . . that was reserved for her stupid magical girl costume. It was the fact that she had to wear panties under the tight fit blue jean pants and a bra under the loose fitting red T-shirt that got her.
If she had to be honest to herself, the panties weren’t that bad . . . sure, they didn’t do well if she had to transform into her male self, but at least they didn’t ride up and rub against . . . certain areas. It was the bra that was causing her the most discomfort.
Ranma again tried to adjust her bra, trying to ignore the fact that, right behind her, lurked her mother, her panda of her father, Akane, and Cologne . . . who was probably curious as to what was going on.
Oh, Ranma knew the old ghoul was in on this whole Taiyohime thing, but how much? Did she recognize him right off the bat, or was his ‘marriage’ to Shampoo an accident?
Something to be sorted out later . . .
Suddenly, she felt someone tap her on her shoulder. Whirling around, she almost fell into a tall, blonde, gaijin boy. He looked kind of goofy, but the way his ki felt . . . wow . . .
The boy noted her staring, and coughed, gaining her attention, “Uh, sorry about that . . . you’re Ranma, right?”
The redheaded aqua-transsexual swallowed nervously, “Um, yeah . . . you the guy Amaterasu called in?”
The blonde nodded, “Yeah. I’d introduce myself, but I think we have company.”
Ranma idly noted the rising battle auras coming from behind her, and realized that Shampoo had apparently been tailing her great-grandmother. “Um, sorry ‘bout this . . . “
The gaijin grinned, and then held out his hand, which held a small crystal that seemed to radiate with energy, “Maybe we should take this somewhere else . . . “
Catching the hidden suggestion, and figuring that there had to be something special about the crystal, Ranma hesitantly took his hand.
The last thing she noted before everything blurred was Shampoo, Nodoka, and Genma heading their way, while a confused looking Akane stood awkwardly behind them.
Half an hour later, Ranma was digging into her third Naco. Both Ron and Rufus sat in awe as the redhead devoured the tray in seconds.
After teleporting away from Japan, Ron and his naked mole rat buddy had introduced themselves and had decided to take Ranma out to eat, just to make things look more casual. Knowing Ron, where else would he go for cheap, casual eating?
Both were quite thankful that Amaterasu had promise to repay them for any expenses accrued.
Finally, Ranma finished eating, wiped her mouth with a nearby paper napkin, and then tried to fix her bra without bringing too much notice to it. Most of the patrons of Bueno Naco (situated back in Middleton), would not have paid much attention to it. Ron, however, had been the best friend of his girl friend for the majority of his life.
“Um, if you want, I know someone who can show you how to fix that,” Ron began awkwardly.
Ranma jolted, and then eyed the boy curiously, “You sayin’ that there’s something wrong with this thing?”
Ron snorted, “I’ve known Kim and Monique long before they had to wear those things. I can tell from here that you have no idea how to . . . shift things properly. Wait until after we finish working a few things out, and then we can go see if they’ll show you.”
His companion sighed, “Why do I even need this thing?”
“They’re meant to keep your breasts from sagging, and to keep them from hitting you in the face if you have to run.”
Ranma blinked, “Really? I’ve just had to figure out how not to move like this . . . they’re still a pain though, bouncing everywhere . . . “
It must be noted that both Ron and Ranma were speaking Japanese. Otherwise, Ron would not be able to discuss this without worrying about someone misunderstanding something.
Still, talking about female undergarments with a girl who was actually a guy stuck in a girl’s body was not something he wanted to do, “Um, can we go ahead and get this going already? We still have a lot of ground to cover . . .”
When the redhead nodded, Ron reached into his bag and brought out a bunch of papers, “Alright, first off, we need to limit the amount of control your mother has over you. I can understand if you don’t want to get rid of her as a parent, but this whole Jusenkyo thing should never have happened.”
Waiting for Ranma to nod her ascent (which she did), he passed her a form, “If you’ll sign and date where all the X’s are, we can turn this into Japan’s Child Services and have you legally emancipated. She’ll still be your mother, but she can’t disown you or anything without valid cause-you’ll be free to act as you’d like!”
“Yeah, but what about the fiancés? I’ve still got to deal with them . . . “
“That’s covered several paragraphs down. To summarize, any debts or promises that your parents have made in your name have no attachment to you. In other word, while you are still a Saotome, you are not legally considered to be Nodoka and Genma’s child . . . on paper, at least. They can still be considered parents, but decisions they have made or will make cannot affect you unless you want them to affect you.”
“And Shampoo?”
“As a magical guardian of a piece of land, it is against Guild regulations to interfere with your duties. They can’t take you away from your territory, ‘cause if they do, the Guild has full rights to classify them as rogue villains . . . and rogue villains usually don’t last long, if you get my meaning.”
Ranma’s head spun in circles, “Wait a sec . . . no offense, Ron-san, but how do you know all this stuff? I’ve heard all about you and Kim-san in the news, but most of those clips . . . “
“Make me look like a clumsy buffoon?”
“Yeah . . . NO! I mean . . . “
Ron chuckled, “I may not have the best coordination without the use of my Mystic Monkey skills, or the best grades, but I know my contracts. My Dad’s an accountant, and my Mom is a lawyer, so I’ve got a pretty good vocabulary. I just don’t like using it all that much . . . gives me an edge, you know?”
Ranma nodded, knowing exactly what Ron meant.
“When KP got to be a big name in the hero business, the Guild started taking an interest in us. Kim didn’t get the whole ‘good in doing evil’ thing, so she wasn’t willing to listen much. Still, since Drakken, Camille, and the Seniors are card carrying Guild members, we had to have everything lined up on paper. I took care of that, so Kim doesn’t have to worry about nasty repercussions.”
“Ah . . . so does Kim know?”
Ron winced at this, “Kind of . . . she’s not happy about having to work by Guild rules, and she’s never been big on paperwork, so she pretty much gives me free reign on this stuff. She knows that some of the bad guys we come across are Guild members, but there are a few things that I haven’t told her about what that involves . . . or what happens when we go up against the few rogue agents that have been able to slip under the Guild’s radar.”
Ron awkwardly shuffled some of the paperwork around. “Alright, we have a couple of options when it comes to limited Guild interaction. First off, we can set you up as an aide to an existing group of heroes who are facing their own enemies. As long as you have your own threat to deal with, the Guild won’t interfere. Problem is, the only group in Japan who is dealing with that stuff is the Sailor Senshi, and there isn’t much info on them.”
“The second option is that we could set you up as a small time hero, doing fire rescues or bank robbery break ups. The Guild doesn’t get involved with that, but in order to be qualified for this status, you pretty much have to give much of your free time up.”
As Ranma nodded her acknowledgement of this, Ron moved on, “What I would advise, however, is to meet up with a Super villain who is looking for the same thing you are. Some of them aren’t really evil, really . . . just really annoyed with how their life went. After they get too old, or decide to settle down, some of them don’t want to give up the Guild benefits, so they set up the bare minimum of diabolical plots a year needed to qualify for them, and then ensure that the threat isn’t that bad.”
“What do you mean?” Ranma asked.
“It usually involves a plot to make things more uncomfortable for a large group of people . . . like maybe inventing a device that would strip people of everything they are wearing within a given radius, or covering said area with cottage cheese. It can also be something geared to embarrass the hero in charge of busting them . . . like a prank. Not enough to break any major laws, but enough to keep the Guild happy.”
Ranma nodded thoughtfully. “You wouldn’t happen to know anybody like that, would you?”
“I might know a few people . . . “
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(Posted Sun, 12 Sep 2010 19:20)
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