"Are you okay?" asked the scooter rider as he looked down at the girl he had knocked over.
"Of course she isn't okay!" shouted a guy with a pig tail as he pushed past to kneel in front of the girl.
Ranma quickly surveyed the young woman in front of him. Like the guy on the scooter, she also appeared to be about his own age - about 15 or 16 he guessed. Her hair was a dark red that was almost black, tied into a ponytail behind her. Around the unusual red eyes that threatened to burst with unshed tears, her face was filthy, and a quick glance at the rest of her body showed that she was covered head to toe in dirt. The clothes she was wearing - he had seen some women wearing something similar on his journey through China - appeared to be well worn, and even dirtier than her body if that was possible.
It was the large pack on her back that drew his attention though. It, along with her appearance, proclaimed her to be a traveller like him, someone who knew the hardships of the road without the comforts of a regular bath or place to sleep.
"Do you hurt anywhere?" he asked her gently.
She didn't answer, seeming to try to hold back a cry with her trembling lips, but her hand did drop to cover her shin protectively.
"Let me see," he said as he gently removed her hand and placed his own lightly but firmly on her calves. She gasped slightly in pain as his experienced fingers probed the muscle and bone of her lower leg, checking for damage. He was quite experienced at checking for injuries, having had to do this many times for himself and his oyaji over the years, particularly after some intense sparring matches.
He released her leg and smiled up at her face. "You don't appear to have broken anything," he assured her, "But you are probably going to have a very nasty bruise in the morning."
Ranma noticed a shadow fall across them and glanced up. The scooter guy was staring down at the pair of them, an ashamed look on his face.
"What do you want?" Ranma asked vehemently.
The guy took a few steps back in shock, "I... I just wanted to say that I was sorry..."
Ranma glared at him, "Haven't you done enough damage?" he accused, "You were in such a hurry a few moments ago, why don't you take your scooter and get out of here!"
The boy looked down at his shoes dejectedly, "I'm sorry," he repeated before turning his back and walking to his fallen scooter.
Once he was sure the idiot wasn't going to cause any more trouble he turned back to the girl, and smiled an encouraging smile again.
"You really need to get out of the cold and get a warm drink down you after a shock like that," he said as he stood up and reached a hand down to her, "Lets get you into one of those coffee shops over there, I think I have enough money for a couple of drinks."
The girl...
See other episodes by Murasaki no Tsuki
(Posted Mon, 22 Dec 2003 01:15)
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