Finally home from the rather brief date, Kasumi searched her feelings a bit now that Ranma was gone.
Obviously, she was just pleasant company, it hadn’t been intended as a date to seduce her. On the other hand, it was quite clear he had chosen her as the girl to show off on the date and Ranma’s part in the date had been quite pleasant. Their dinner companions had been less than pleasant. “I’m home.”
Nabiki met her not too far in, leaning against the stair railing and grinning at her. “Well, that was a short date.”
Kasumi flicked her head slightly to the side in a dismissive gesture. “Short but pleasant.”
The short-haired brunette moved to the side as Kasumi went up the stairs, carrying her high heels in her left hand. “So, Saotome bought you that outfit just for a short date?”
Somehow, Kasumi didn’t feel particularly interested in talking to her family in general. “A gift from Ranma-kun. He’s of the opinion I should go out more and have fun, and perhaps that would keep certain people from trying to marry me off to some random stranger.”
Following her older sister up stairs, Nabiki wasn’t about to let this drop so easily. “Oh? I thought someone liked older men?”
Kasumi paused at the top of the stairs, considering something. “It comes to mind, that I am the only one that hasn’t been engaged to Ranma-kun.”
A bit surprised by that statement, Nabiki took a moment to consider a reply as she went up the stairs. Before she could think of something witty, Kasumi went into her room and shut the door. Pausing briefly, Nabiki realized she had a better target, opening Akane’s door at the opposite end of the hall. Finding it empty, she startled as she found the tomboy was standing behind her, having followed from downstairs. “Did you hear that? Seems Kasumi-neechan is willing to take that jerk off of your hands.”
“Uh-huh.”
With that rather dull reply, Akane went into her room and shut the door, leaving Nabiki standing cluelessly in the hall.
Hearing a knock on her door, Makoto turned around but found Minako answering the door before she could say anything.
To the blonde’s delight, she found a certain hunk of romantic beefcake waiting outside. “Ranma! How’d your date go?”
Coming inside, Ranma raised an eyebrow at seeing another girl with short blue hair at the table in the main room. “It wasn’t too nice, my boss brought his step-daughter to try and set us up and she gave off bad vibes the whole meal. I was lucky to get an excuse to leave early and get Kasumi-san out of there.”
Seeing his look, Minako remembered her friend, pausing to briefly introduce them. “Oh, Ranma Saotome, this is Ami Mizuno, one of our friends. She’s the local smart-girl.”
“Hello Ami.” Glancing around the place, Ranma moved in a bit further so he could comfortably talk to Makoto without shouting. “Am I interrupting something?”
Makoto shook her head as she prepared snacks. With Usagi and Rei both cancelling, she had a fair bit of extra. “Not at all, could you stand to eat some snacks?”
“Of course.” Grabbing his mail and noticing the case of Mad Bull it was sitting atop, Ranma sat down at the low table cross-legged as he got comfortable and looked through his business mail. It was nothing important, but he had the time for once to deal with what had built up. “I’m on call tonight, so I might suddenly leave. You can have those energy drinks, no need to save them.”
A bit shy, Ami took the chance to make conversation. “Do you like those sorts of drinks?”
Ranma waved a letter at her. “Nah, I did a commercial for them, so that’s a freebie. You know, promotional stuff.”
Minako sat at the table, wanting to join the conversation. “You did a commercial? Like on TV?”
The young man nodded as he sorted the stack of mail to find the interesting stuff. “Yeah, I’m from a traditional martial artist family, so I’m not supposed to work normal jobs, but I’m not really in a position to depend on family money either.”
Makoto brought snacks to the table, not wanting to miss out either. “So, that’s why you wanted something less than a full apartment?”
Ranma nodded, trying a cookie before talking. “Yeah, although things are getting to where I might need a full apartment soon.”
The tall girl couldn’t hide her disappointment at hearing that. “Oh.”
Ranma shrugged. “I could take you with me. I might not be living there full time, so I’d need someone that can take care of things, plus my family would prefer it if there was a girl to take care of the housework and cooking. My mother is really particular about me not doing anything like cooking and it would keep certain girls from having an excuse to move in with me.” Judging her reaction and guessing she was interested, Ranma hoped her domestic vibes so far were a good indicator of her interest in housework. “It would be a bigger apartment, so I’d have my own bedroom and all.”
Ami surprised her friends by joining in on the conversation. “My mother and I have a large apartment, but since she’s at the hospital most of the time, that might not be such a bad idea.” Blushing a bit, Ami clarified as she glanced between Ranma and Makoto. “It’d be nice to have Mako-chan around and eat her cooking.”
Glancing between the three, Minako was feeling a bit left out. “Is there a position open for a pretty blonde that can wander around in cute lingerie?” Seeing all three looking at her caused her to give a nervous chuckle. “Sorry, I was feeling left out and couldn’t think of anything to add other than eye candy.”
Mentally reviewing the local prices, Ranma shrugged. “I don’t particularly mind, splitting the rooms in a bigger place is more cost efficient. It’s more complicated though, money-wise.”
Makoto nodded, having some clue what he meant. She was the one paying for her apartment, with the twins just paying her for room and board. Splitting the rent meant trouble if one side couldn’t pay in a particular month. On the other hand, it had some benefits for her and her friends. “Minako, can you move into an apartment without your parents?”
The blonde considered the issue. “Well, my parents could go back overseas and I’d probably have to do it for college anyways.”
Makoto turned to her other friend. “And you’re mostly alone in your apartment since your mother is on call all the time?”
Ranma raised his hands in surrender. “Right now, I just need a place of my own some days. No one knows about me coming here, but I might want to let my family know if I get a full apartment and officially move out.”
Considering the issue, Makoto thought of a solution. “We could stay over at Ami’s one night and get a feel for it? I could cook dinner for everyone.”
Raising a hand, Ranma knew he had to stop this before the girls got too far ahead of him. “Well, there are some things you need to know. Like for one, my mother and everyone else would assume we’re doing naughty stuff.”
Minako paused to munch a cookie for emphasis. “Isn’t some naughty fun the point of having a resident studmuffin?”
As Ranma gazed at Minako and then the other two girls, Ami blushed. “My mother says I need to have more fun and study less...”
Makoto somehow handled it better as she was thinking practically at the moment. “It’d be nice to keep that option open, although we know about your girl problems.” With that, she changed the subject. “What about your sister?”
Ranma raised an eyebrow, curious how they would take this little surprise. “I don’t have a sister.”
The blonde leaned in to enjoy the gossip. “Secret lover?”
The young man barked a short laugh of amusement, as lots of people seemed to make that assumption. “No.”
Getting up, he headed into the kitchenette, a petite red-headed girl with a damp shirt hugging her cleavage returning in his place. “I’ve got a curse that turns me into a girl when I’m splashed.” Shifting her clothes a bit, Ranma returned to her spot at the table. “It was simpler to just say I’m twins, but this is part of why my mother freaks if I do anything girly. She’s real traditional about gender roles, to the point where I’m supposed to peep on girls and act like a pervert.”
The disdain in her voice informed the girls present just how much the red-head disliked the idea of being a pervert. With the conversation suddenly derailed, Ranma checked her phone. “I don’t think I’m going to be called away, so would it be alright if I slept here tonight?”
Coming to grasp with the situation, Makoto nodded, sending her ponytail bobbing. “That’s fine, I can get the futons ready when it’s time.”
Minako leaned forward to gently lift the petite girl’s boobs to test their weight. “So... turn into a girl often?”
Ranma shrugged, pulling her shirt off to leave her in a stretchy black undershirt. “Cold water girl, hot water guy. I seem to get splashed at odd times sometimes, and I’ve been stuck as a girl a few times. Had the curse about a year and a half now.”
Ami raised an eyebrow, discretely getting out her Mercury smartphone to do a scan of the red-head. “Is this why you’re against mistreating girls?”
A bit surprised someone had picked up on her dislike of getting perverted with girls, Ranma shook her head. “Nah, that’s not related. Part of my protect others thing I guess. I also went to an all-boys junior high, and seeing guys act like obsessed creeps was pretty disgusting.”
Wanting to lighten things back up, Ranma hefted her breasts and waggled her eyebrows. “Still wanna do sexy stuff with me?”
The increasingly amused looks she was getting were not what Ranma had expected. Minako turned a grin to her friends. “Time for some sleep-over fun?” Nods and secret smiles were her replies, not giving the redhead much of a clue.
Munching the still warm cookies, Ranma tried to figure out what was going on. They’d only met today, but she got along well with Minako and Makoto, and Ami seemed nice too. “In all seriousness, I need to consider a full apartment while I have the time, and I think I would like you there Makoto-san. If not that, I’d have to look for some sort of live-in maid or something, which is an extra expense and hassle.” Shifting gears, she briefly thought out loud for a moment. “Well, I could adopt Konatsu or something, that would work.”
Makoto in turn found herself in an odd situation. The senshi stuff was years behind them, as she was now a sixteen year old high school girl and had grown a bit more, making her taller than Ranma’s male form. Despite having maturity and time on her side, neither she nor her friends had ever had any luck with guys. Now here she was, chatting with a total hottie that was also an all around decent guy, easily becoming friends. “I’d have to know the arrangements, but I think I’d like that. I get my own room, cover the housework and some of the expenses?”
Ranma nodded. “Something like that. If I’m living there, I need someone to do the housework; if I’m just visiting sometimes like this, I need someone to take care of the place. You seem good for both, you’re nice, and since you’re a magical girl I don’t have to worry so much if something crazy happens.”
Glancing between them, Minako was feeling left out again and Makoto had promised to share him. “So, is that cute girl position open or not? I could wear a maid outfit if that helps?”
Ami discretely switched operations on her smartphone to browse local listings instead. “Shall we consider listings?”
Minako pouted at being ignored. “I’m being serious, we promised to share and not fight over him if he was available. Makoto has an unfair advantage with the maid thing.”
Ami absently answered while sifting through listings to find something with enough space. “We could all play maid on different nights. Obviously Mako-chan has the advantage in cooking, but we could do personal service, bed-warming and washing his back. Thus we rotate who is close to him any given night and his family is satisfied.”
About to object, Ranma held her tongue as the short-haired girl finished her thoughts. Now she had a different concern. “Uhm, what exactly are you girls expecting from me here?”
Makoto fidgeted a bit, pressing her fingers together. “Well, we’re all good friends, so we were discussing sharing you, or at least not fighting over you before you arrived. I wouldn’t call it sex-friends, but rather friends that can date and get romantic and have the option of getting more serious.”
Ami nodded, a pleasant smile on her face even as she continued looking at her phone. “Yes, and with some structure and my friends there, I would feel much more comfortable about such an arrangement.”
Minako still had some concerns. “...but maids? That’s fun one night, but all the time?”
The blue haired girl glanced up at Minako this time, gauging reactions. “It could be lingerie or something else, as long as Ranma-kun has his needs taken care of by his partner that night. If I understood things correctly, there might be objections if we slack on such a thing.”
The redhead stared for a moment, a bit shocked they were going so far to accommodate his unusual situation, even if they did seem to be working their own enjoyment into it. “Ah, how far are you thinking of taking the relationship part?”
On a roll, Ami considered it only briefly, rather enjoying a logical progression to romance. “As far as we wish to take it? I believe all we wish for is a chance to progress at our own pace. If say you are having sex with Minako-chan, we might just cuddle on our nights. Are there any requirements you would have?”
Ranma stared at her, this situation having gone in a direction she hadn’t expected at all. The whole thing seemed to be rather nice and well thought-out so far, leaving her with little in the way of objections. “Not offhand, but if I have one, I could say so?”
Ami nodded pleasantly at her. “Yes, please do. The foundation of a good relationship is communication.” Blushing a bit, she shifted to a more personal topic. “I’m rather shy around guys, so could I perhaps cuddle with your female form tonight?”
Ranma plucked her damp undershirt away from her breasts, airing them out a bit. “You want to cuddle with me, right now?”
The short-haired girl nodded, feeling renewed shyness. “Yes, I could get comfortable with you and it is rare for me to meet someone more petite than me.”
The redhead shrugged. “Okay.” Getting up, she walked around the table to sit by the other girl.
As Ami put an arm hesitantly around her waist, she finally noticed that her black undershirt was damp. “Oh, we need to get you dry.”
A bit curious, Ranma allowed her to pull her undershirt off, passing it to Makoto in exchange for the small towel she had on hand for wiping the table of crumbs. Ami gently patted her breasts and belly dry, obviously a bit hesitant at making the wrong move or being too forceful. Grinning a bit to ease the tension, the redhead decided to tease her. “Well, are you going to cuddle me and warm me up?”
Blushing a bit, Ami hesitated now that it came time to actually do something. “Can I... hold you in my lap?”
Amused by the idea, the petite redhead crawled into the slightly taller girl’s lap, breasts pressed into her chest, angling her head over one shoulder so they were loosely cheek-to-cheek. Ranma placed her arms over Ami’s shoulders, loosely holding her neck, finding it amusing to act like a cute girl for this shy girl that wasn’t much larger than her female form.
Relaxing a bit as she’d gotten a more intimate embrace than she was expecting, Ami gently hugged the curvy petite girl, relaxing into the embrace. After taking a moment to get comfortable, she finally spoke up. “I thought you would be more reluctant?”
Giving it another moment, Ranma twisted around, putting her back to Ami’s chest before getting comfortable. “I’m pretty active, I just want to be careful about what I get involved with is all. It’s a bit unusual for girls to be friendly with me.”
A bit surprised by the admission, Ami was under the impression Ranma had good luck with girls, or at least a lot of women in his life. “Well, it is unusual to have non-romantic relationships.”
Ranma rolled her eyes as the smart girl didn’t get it. “I can turn into a girl, although to be fair, I don’t really have any guy friends either.”
Minako leaned in, interested to find out more while admiring her pleasantly plump breasts. “There something bothering you?”
Humming thoughtfully, Ranma took a moment to think about why she wanted to move out on her own so badly. “Misdirection is part of my art, but the people where I live have such a twisted opinion of me, some of them even think I’m illiterate. I go somewhere else like this and I make friends easily; there I’m a stupid, sex-changing, perverted, gullible brawler.” Sighing a bit, the redhead slumped a bit, letting her head rest on Ami’s chest. “Things like this remind me just how bad it is there.”
A bit concerned, Makoto hoped they could cheer up their new friend and potential romantic interest. “I didn’t get that impression of you at all.”
Ranma threw her hands up. “Exactly! So, first week of school there, this guy Ryouga comes by to pick a fight. We end up fighting and he makes a few craters in the ground and destroys the bike shed, so it’s obvious he’s at least that strong, then I casually dealt with him. So they should think I’m scary strong, right?”
Makoto nodded, being a former delinquent herself, she knew how it was to get a tough girl reputation. “Yes.”
Ranma shook her head. “Wrong, I’m great at misdirection, so I defuse things, brag a bit, showboat a little and they all buy it, not taking me seriously and thinking I’m just a lucky goofball, while still acknowledging I’m a kickbutt martial artist. It’s not even like I tried to trick them, I stood out so much they were looking for anything bad to bring me back down to their level, while I just wanted to chill and hang out. Sure I acted like a goofball and hammed it up to get people to relax, but it’s not like it’s a secret I get decent grades. How could someone even think I’m illiterate? I can write working wards and I read often.”
Glancing at Makoto, Minako surmised they shared something in common to a degree. “Why not set them straight?”
The redhead shrugged. “I like being underestimated. I’ve got people that actually try to kill me in my sleep and use underhanded tricks, so being misunderstood is my first line of defense. Not just to protect me, but it keeps fights from getting serious, so I don’t have to actually hurt them.”
Letting that sink in, Ranma gave a contented sigh as she relaxed back into Ami’s hug. “I’d never get to do something nice like this there.” Grinning a bit, she decided to test her luck. “I thought I was supposed to have maids to feed me snacks while I cuddle?”
Minako grinned at the playful teasing, grabbing a cookie and leaning forward across the table to present it before the redhead’s lips. “Oh? Does that mean you’ll let us spoil you?”
Munching the cookie out of her hand, Ranma took her time shewing before replying. “Maybe I’ll let you convince me?”
Still grinning, Minako flicked her head towards Makoto. “You sure? Because she’s just itching to spoil someone silly.”
Makoto looked scandalized, partially because she was aware her own attempts at affection had driven guys away before. “Minako!”
The blonde smiled at her, feeling quite comfortable with this situation. “Relax. I’m not a babbling idiot around him and he didn’t run away when Ami started talking about sexual stuff all serious like. I don’t think he’s going to freak out if you wanna get your housewife on. Isn’t he great?”
The redhaired martial artist looked confused at what the pretty blonde was saying. “Why would something be wrong? I like how Ami talks, it’s easy to understand. She’s got a good head on her shoulders, like you said.”
Minako grinned at the petite girl in Ami’s lap, hoping to get her turned back into a guy if she got her own cuddle time. “We all have our problems around guys. I get nervous and turn into a babbling bimbo around guys. Ami talks too frankly about sex instead of making small talk. Mako-chan tries way too hard to make guys happy. On top of that, Ami and Makoto get accused of being lesbians sometimes.” Seeing that Ranma didn’t flinch at hearing she might be in a lesbian’s lap, Minako continued. “We do make out with each other sometimes, but we really like guys. So we might just gobble you up sweetie.”
Ranma grinned at the blonde in turn, not backing down from the playful threat. “Funny, I don’t feel like I’m in danger of being gobbled up.”
A bit surprised, Minako drew back thoughtfully. “You’re right. I’m not nervous at all, like I’m just comfortable with you being around.” Shrugging, Minako grabbed a brownie to try feeding it to Ranma as well.
Distracted by the turn in conversation, Makoto looked between her friends. Ranma was relaxing back into Ami, the normally shy girl hugging her comfortably. Minako was relaxed as well, casually hand-feeding the redhead with some amusement from watching her nom the food. It didn’t feel awkward to have Ranma around at all, and it wasn’t just the switch to female form either.
Ranma had been relaxed and casual from the start, which she supposed helped a lot. Somehow, nothing really awkward had happened either, plus they’d shared a good bit about their private lives. He didn’t know that they were senshi, but he did know that they were magical girls. In turn, they’d learned a good bit about his own private life. “Would that be alright if I was your maid? I do want someone to enjoy my cooking and other efforts.” She could have said housekeeper, but that didn’t imply she’d be wearing a cute outfit and flirting with him too.
Ranma nodded, softly clapping her hands and summoning her phone between them. After sending out a text message, she turned to Makoto. “Could you bring me a glass of hot water? Bathwater hot, not boiling. I’ll need to be male for the phone call.”
Makoto nodded, making a short trip to get a glass of hot water and a towel. Coming back, Ranma splashed some of it on his chest, using the towel to help soak up the splash and create less of a mess. Pausing for a moment, he decided to remain sitting up instead of leaning back into the shorter girl behind him. “You okay with this for a moment?”
Ami stared at the bare muscular back before her, tracing the play of muscles with her eyes, hesitant to touch and feel them for herself. “Oh my...”
Minako giggled at the sight of Ami losing herself, rather enjoying the sight of Ranma’s male form gloriously topless. “...and we’ve lost her. Say cutie, if say we do this apartment thing, you wouldn’t do a girl a favor and do topless workouts would you?”
Ranma grinned, rather enjoying being appreciated by some nice girls. “Yeah, if there is a room with a bit of floor space. I don’t mind putting on a bit of a show.” With that said, he lifted his arms and flexed a bit, getting happy coos of delight from all three appreciative girls.
The ringing of Ranma’s cell phone interrupted the evening, the young man checking the caller ID before answering. “Hi, Ranma Saotome here. -- No, I’m still waiting. I don’t think they’ll call me in tonight. I wanted to talk to you about something else. -- Well, I’m thinking of moving out on my own, get my own place and all. Since my family is traditional, it would go more easily if they thought you were arranging the apartment so I could be on call, or something to that effect.”
Pausing for a bit longer, Ranma listened to the construction boss as he found out something interesting. “Oh, you know of some places you can get me a deal on? I haven’t decided what exactly I’m looking for yet, but probably at least two bedrooms and a full kitchen. I have a girl that’s volunteered to be a live-in maid so my family doesn’t worry about me doing chores, so I’m looking for a nice place.”
Pausing again to listen, Ranma glanced around, getting a pleasant nod from Makoto and a grin from Minako. “You have an apartment that’s available? If it’s alright, could we try staying there one night to see how it works out? -- We could stay there for a week? -- Ah, the same building with your step-daughter? -- I see. -- No, that’s okay, I think we can arrange to stop by some afternoon. -- Haha, yes. -- No, that’s good, thanks. I hope it works out too.”
Conversation over, Ranma hung up the phone. That had gone better than he expected as calling Denbura about the apartment had helped reassure the businessman after dinner had gone so poorly. “He said there was an open apartment in a building he owned. He’ll leave the key with his step-daughter, Taiga, so we can go over some afternoon and check it out.”
Minako was surprised he’d actually set up an appointment after only spending a few hours together. “We can really go look at an apartment?”
Ranma nodded at her. “Yeah, it’s empty, so as long as we leave it in good condition, we can use it for a week. I’m all for seeing if this works out.”
Makoto glanced over the group before turning her attention back to the young man. “Could we go see it tomorrow afternoon?”
Ranma shrugged. “I can probably get away later in the afternoon.” Thinking about the trouble he’d have to go through made him tense, so he stretched out a bit. This of course meant the girls got another good show of his muscles shifting and flexing.
At which point, Ami finally gave into temptation, overcoming her shyness and putting her hands directly on his shoulders, tracing all the complex muscles of his back.
Happy for Ami, Minako grinned at Ranma, enjoying the casual flirting. “But you don’t get away tonight until I get my turn to snuggle.” Seeing Makoto’s look, the blonde stood her ground. “Hey, he’s sleeping here Mako-chan. You get to wake up and have beefcake for breakfast.”
Makoto’s frown instantly turned into a dreamy smile at the thought of actually getting to play housewife to someone other than her girlfriends. Also, Ami would look cute in a maid outfit.
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(Posted Wed, 24 Sep 2014 07:28)
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