Rather than waiting for the full chapter to be complete, I'm going to post chunks as I get them more or less finalized I think. First part of chapter 4 is below.
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Anything Goes Laundry Service
Chapter 4.1
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"Psst."
Frowning, Genma looked around without seeing anything, a few cans of food in the hand that wasn't currently holding his backpack. It was time for Ranma and he to go on their yearly training trip to the seaside. A few days late if truth be told. He was, admittedly a bit leary of this year, given that the training trip usually involved a trip to Okinawa when they were still moving around the country regularly. Toshima at a minimum. With Ranma in school though, they were going to be forced to settle for Izu.
He wasn't looking forward to a bracing swim in fifty degree weather, regardless of what he told his son. Still, he shouldn't have allowed the boy's issues with Soun and Akane to push it off for the past few days. A bit of time to cool off would have been just the thing.
"Psst."
Turning slightly, he finally identified the person hissing at him. Dropping the cans in the pack, he brought his hand up to adjust his glasses and turned fully towards Nabiki. Just in case, he looked over his shoulder to make sure his son or another member of the Tendo household weren't hiding in the guest room.
No one there. He shrugged.
"What can I do for--" he cut off as Nabiki shushed him, then watched her glance from side to side and beckon for him to follow. Curious.
Pushing his concerns to the side, he followed Nabiki slowly, wondering what the young woman wanted. He had gotten the financial pressure thing out of the way early on with the job at Tofu's place. It was hardly his fault she hadn't specified how long he had to hold it. He wondered what she wanted now, he didn't think they had spoken in private since that time.
They eventually ended up in the dojo, which made Genma raise an eyebrow. "Want some lessons, girl?" He was pretty sure he would refuse if Nabiki actually said yes. The girl was scary enough without martial arts or his other skills. Particularly his other skills, come to think of it.
She ignored his little joke. "Mr. Saotome, I know."
Genma's eyes widened a little. How...
"I know something that... I'm afraid you don't. And I can't keep this secret any longer, despite a certain someone taking me into his confidence."
Letting out a breath, Genma almost sighed openly. Just another of the girl's games it appeared. He really didn't have time for this, best to let her know that and go on his way.
"Ahh, Nabiki. I'm afraid I was just leaving, I'm already running a bit behind because of that, uh, unpleasantness, with Soun." He grimaced at that, the man had been positively rabid about his daughter. Admittedly, he thought Ranma would do better with Akane, but if it came down to it, he felt 'The Plan' could weather a different Tendo daughter.
He eyed Nabiki and the solemn expression that didn't quite hide the glitter in her eyes-- avarice, amusement, or some other emotion that no doubt meant trouble for those around her. Perhaps not any Tendo daughter though. "Another time, maybe?"
Presumably unaware of his thoughts, Nabiki feigned concern. "Oh, I didn't know, though this is... well, I think it's a bit related. It's just... well, I don't want to delay you. I promised not to say anything anyway, so perhaps this is better?" Moving past him, the girl bumped his shoulder. While he was already turning to let her past, the jarring was apparently enough to loose several photos from her pockets that dropped to the dojo floor.
"Oops, how clumsy of me."
Grimacing, Genma bent and picked them up, then froze. He barely registered as Nabiki finished her walk out of the dojo, her earlier furtiveness now a lazy, self-satisified strut that was more common on the girl. The top most photo had all of his attention.
Ranma was standing beside Kasumi in female form, her cheeks liberally smeared with flour and wearing an apron that said "I'M A GUY", not unlike the "BOY" swimsuit he had used a few times this past summer. Not the most horrible thing, he supposed, but the boy presenting a batch of heart-shaped chocolate cookies to Kasumi that looked the equal of some school girl's Valentine's Day love token took any remaining doubts about what it was portraying away.
While that was the worst of them, the other photos did nothing to assuage his rising concerns: one of the boy dusting in his male form, another of her hanging the laundry in a picture of domestic tranquility, a third of him cooking again while laughing. Each subsequent photo felt like a tanto driven into his stomach. Largely because if they ever got back to Nodoka, that is probably exactly what they would amount to.
He took back his earlier thoughts on the 'The Plan'. Kasumi would have Ranma house broken and wearing dresses within six months at this rate and she hadn't even gotten the engagement transferred yet. He wouldn't have his life's work, or more importantly, his life, ruined that easily.
The boy and he apparently needed to have a little talk.
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"Boy, what are you doing?"
Ranma froze, his mind briefly going over the new trouble he had found himself in for today. It had been a couple of days since anything particularly catastrophic or painful had occurred, so, of course, as soon as he let his guard down something like this would happen. This being his father walking into the room when he was supposed to be busy getting ready for the trip in their room. Oh, and the girly pink rubber gloves and matching apron that he was wearing when it happened. Musn't forget that.
He couldn't quite recall how Kasumi had talked him into wearing them now that he thought about. It had seemed reasonable when she proposed it though. Something about bleach, maybe? Ammonia? Certainly there had been something along those lines, but he was pretty sure that Kasumi could have made taking a skydive off a thirty story building sound like a good idea if she really believed it wouldn't hurt.
His father cleared his throat. Right. He needed a response. "Uhh, martial arts?"
He felt he might have a chance at getting away with this, given that he was also currently clinging to the ceiling with his toes and the fingers of one hand in order to clean it. It was possible he shouldn't have phrased that as a question though.
He quickly tossed the damp sponge he was holding across the room as well in case his father hadn't seen it, where it smacked into a wall and slid down slowly. That was probably a mistake. At least it hadn't been pink though. Purple wasn't a lot better, but it was a step in the right direction. Almost blue even.
Except that Genma was now looking at the sponge, rather than him. That seemed like an opportunity if ever he had seen one-- he swiftly flung himself in the other direction. Reaching out, he just barely caught the doorframe in one hand, used it to turn his momentum into a swing through the doorway and he was out.
Another few moments saw him down the hallway and almost ready to dart outside when he remembered a crucial fact. He was still wearing a pink apron and gloves. He turned around. Nabiki smiled from the other end of the hall, raised her camera to her eye and snapped a quick picture.
He ground his teeth as she gave a short little wave and smirked.
"This is your fault!" He pointed. Oh, for the love of... He stripped the gloves off his hands, tossed them in a corner, then pointed again. Better.
Nabiki arched one eyebrow and let the camera dangle from a strap around her neck as she spread her hands wide in a mockingly innocent pose. "Moi? I don't know what you're talking about."
Unfortunately, Genma chose that moment to step out into the intersection of the two halls and Ranma froze before he could respond. Possibly just as well. Engaging in a game of wits with Nabiki, at least on the verbal front, seemed likely to be a losing battle.
Abandoning the house, he dived out the door and dashed to the side already fumbling at the knot that was holding the apron in place. Seriously, what had Kasumi done with this thing? He had had less trouble in the past with sailor's knots designed to hold a two ton ship to a dock.
Danger senses tingling, Ranma threw himself backwards as Genma clove the air where his head had been with his foot before hitting the ground and skidding to a halt. That had been close, the old man was more serious than usual.
"You're not getting out of this that easily, boy!" A flurry of blows put Ranma on the defensive and he gave up on the apron for now. He was going to have to put the old man down before he had a chance to remove it. Taking the initiative, he moved a little faster and started darting between Genma's blows and around the man himself to retaliate with short, sharp jabs to a few key points on the man's body.
His father didn't seem impressed. "You hit like a girl in that thing. Might as well look like one." The warning didn't let Ranma avoid the leg sweep, grab, and throw given that he was reluctant to jump above the height of the walls while he was wearing a frilly pink apron.
Breathing out in a practiced motion, he plummeted into the koi pond and used the water plus a light touch on the bottom to deflect herself off the bottom and throw herself into a ready position on the opposite side. A toss of her head got red bangs out of her eyes and she watched her father warily, then abruptly relaxed.
"What would you know, old man?" She laughed triumphantly as her father's legs suddenly gave out under him. The look on his face was priceless. "I've been learning from more than you lately, ya know. That one was a backup for the Hiryuu Shoten Ha in case things didn't work out. Pressure points don't require no real force half the time." Not all the time unfortunately and on someone with a bit of padding you needed some real strength to push through. Luckily, that didn't include any of her regular opponents. Even her gluttonous old man didn't have any real fat on him when he wasn't a panda.
The real problem with pressure points was that they were hard to land on a wary opponent. It only took a shift of a centimeter or so to throw off the strike, so you were best off using them from hiding or on an opponent who wasn't expecting them. It was one of the reasons the moxibustion might have put her career down permanently. The kind of speed she would need to actually make an entirely pressure point based style work was ridiculous.
Her laughter abruptly cut off in a choke as her Dad took the time she spent gloating to jab himself in the solar plexus and glutes simultaneously, then flipped himself to his feet. He bent forwards and backwards, then slapped his thighs and settled into a horse stance with a cruel grin.
"You don't think I've taught you everything I know, do you, boy?" The sun gleamed off her father's glasses and she gulped as he raised hands abruptly glowing with battle aura. As they began to weave in arcane motions, leaving trails of chi floating in the air Ranma threw herself forward-- she needed to interupt whatever the old man was doing before he finished and quick.
Unfortunately, just as she was throwing a punch, he abruptly stopped everything he was doing without a hint of regret and fell backwards. Eyes widening as she realized she had just been suckered into overextending herself, Ranma twisted desperately but it wasn't quite enough to dodge the powerful kick that took her in the diaphram and forced the air out of her lungs. That alone wouldn't have been enough to end the fight, but no breath, plus an uncontrolled spin through the air left her open and a sharp punch caught her in the temple before everything went black.