Living With Miss Ninomiya
"Stupid panda..." Ranma groused as he walked down the street, nursing a sore spot on the back of his head. As far as he was concerned, his asshole of a father had finally crossed the line and he wasn't at all sorry that he'd left the daft bugger behind.
He'd already been prepared to travel back to China, when the sneaky panda then went ahead and tried to clobber him with a street sign, it just made Ranma realize that a momentary separation from his fathers corrupting presence would be a *very* good thing.
He had been damned lucky. Thinking his father to be defeated, he'd been on his way when he suddenly tripped on some steel panchico balls. His feet had whipped backwards and he'd start to topple forward, when all of a sudden something grazed the back of his head and slammed into his back. His father had paid dearly for that little trick and Ranma had then proceeded to storm off in a murderous rage.
Of course, now he didn't know what the hell to do. His father had nearly all their money, Ranma didn't know anyone in Japan and he didn't even know if his mother was still alive or not.
He sighed, he should at least have gone through the old mans backpack and grabbed whatever money the old fart had left before he stormed off. He supposed that he could look up Saotome in a phone book and see if one name might ring a bell. He couldn't remember his mothers name, but if he saw it in writing then perhaps... Or he could stroll over to a police station, let them find his mother. Perhaps he could get something from the Clan registry, but he had no idea how to go about doing that and he had a faint suspicion that he might have to pay for whatever information he wanted.
While he did want to return to China, he felt like it was a shame to do so right away as he had missed Japan while abroad.
Besides, he would like to learn at least some Mandarin before returning. Perhaps if he had done so before pops dragged him off, he wouldn't be cursed now and wouldn't have had some crazy chick give him a Kiss of Death.
Well, at least he carried whatever food that remained, as well as his tent and all his other personal belongings. He wouldn't starve, not for a couple of days. He dug out his own wallet and gave off a faint sigh as he counted his meager resources. Even with the travel rations that remained, he wouldn't be able to eat for more then four or five days before he would start to starve.
He put the wallet away with a morose expression, trudging on. He didn't even know where the hell he was going, but knew that the important thing was to keep on moving. If he didn't, his father might be able to find him again.
Though Ranma had to admit, that he didn't find that notion as distasteful as he would have a couple of minutes ago. It really was starting to look as if he'd made the wrong decision, but no matter what, he would not come crawling back to his father, asking for forgiveness. No, not that. Never that.
"Hey, big sister... Do you know where this adress is?" a high-pitched voice suddenly intruded on Ranma's line of thinking and he stopped, looking down at a cute little kid wearing a dress that was a bit oversized for her. She was looking up at him with a hopeful expression, holding out a note with an adress scrawled down on it.
"Big sister? Heh?" was all Ranma could get out, then he looked down at himself. /Ah.../ He'd forgotten that the earlier rainfall had turned him into a girl. "Ah, well... Here, let's have a look." he hastily added and looked at the adress, though he knew that the chances of him knowing where it actually were was slim to none. He nodded to himself, he had no idea where it was and handed the note back to the little girl. "Sorry. No idea."
"Oh..." she responded with a sad sigh, then looked around with hints of tears in her eyes. /Argh! Her cuteness is sapping my strength, draining my willpower... Too cute! Must resist.../ Ranma thought as her dissapointed expression made his chest ache. Ranma looked around.
"Where are you parents, little girl?" Ranma inquired, hoping to spot the individuals in question.
"My parents? Uh, they're in Kyoto. Why do you ask, big sister?" the little girl inquired, a confused look on her face.
"In Kyoto?!" Ranma exclaimed, her gaze moving back to the little girl. "What are you doing here in Tokyo, all by your self?"
"I'm looking for my appartment, but I got lost and can't find my way back." she replied, the sad expression comming back.
"Oh..." Ranma responded, then struggled with himself for a few brief moments. But he just couldn't bring herself to leave the little girl where she was. Ranma was a Martial Artist, Martial Artists protected the weak. Kids were weak. Girls were weak. She was a kid and she was a girl. So, she was very weak. Hence, he should protect the little girl and help her get back to 'her' appartment.
Ranma halted a passerby and inquired for the adress the girl had asked him about, got directions, thanked the kindly old lady he'd stopped and then led the little girl off, following the directions he'd gotten.
"What's your name, little sister?" Ranma inquired as the two walked off, hand-in-hand.
"Ninomiya Hinako!" she chirped happily in reply, sucking on a lollipop which she'd pulled out of her handbag. "What's yours?" she countered.
"Saotome Ranma." Ranma replied. "What were you doing back there all alone?"
"Oh. I just moved into my new appartment, but discovered that I was all out of candy! So I walked out to buy some, but got lost on the way back." Hinako replied, patting her handbag with a possessive expression. "D'ya want some candy, Ranma-neechan?" she offered, holding out a small fistfull of candy towards him.
"Thank you." Ranma replied and snagged a piece of candy, popping it into his mouth. It was a rare treat for him. Genma never bought candy and Ranma almost never did either, as he never had that much money to work with and didn't want to spend what little he got on candy. So he certainly wasn't about to turn down free candy when it was offered to him!
When they reached the appartment, Hinako rummaged around in her handbag and eventually found a key among all the candy. Ranma was surprised and while he hesitated, he eventually decided to accept Hinako's invitation to come inside. He could at least watch over the little girl until her parents got back from Kyoto or whatever caretaker she lived with got back.
His eyes bulged as he saw the place, it looked as if a hurricane had swept through it. Empty candy wrappers were all over the place, empty cups of instant noodles were lying in and around a trashcan, clothes were all over the place and there was girly manga everywhere! He had certainly not been any paragon of cleaning and perfect order either during the few times he and his father had actually remained in one place for a longer period of time. But this mess made even him shudder.
"It's a little messy. Haven't cleaned since I moved in last week." Hinako apologised, then tossed her handbag onto a table in the main room. "Have a seat or something. Do you want anything to eat? More candy? Cookies? Cup noodles? Something to drink?" she offered as she strolled over to turn on the TV, giving off a pleased exclamation as a comedy anime came on. She flopped down on the floor in front of the TV, kicking her legs in the air as she watched the show.
"Uh. So... You live here with your parents?" Ranma surmised.
"No, they live in Kyoto." Hinako responded, plopping a sweet into her mouth.
"Ah, you live with your older brother." Ranma guessed. That would explain the terrible mess.
"No. This is my appartment. I live here." Hinako replied, munching on her candy.
"But whom do you live with then?" Ranma inquired.
"Myself." Hinako replied as if that was the most natural thing in the world. "I live here." she repeated and shrugged her shoulders.
"Hinako-chan... That's impossible." Ranma gently berated the little girl. "You're a cute little girl, but you can't possibly live here on your own. You should live with your parents." he continued, then looked around the place. "Well, you shouldn't live here on your own anyway..." he muttered under his breath. The appartment certainly look as if it housed a small messy kid and no caretaker to tidy it up. He was going to have words with this little girls parents about this!
"But I do live here!" she protested. "If I were to live with my parents in Kyoto, I'd have to commute to get to work and I don't want that. That's why I switched appartments after I won some money on the lottery, so I would live closer to work. Well, that and this one is a bit bigger then my old one."
"Work?" Ranma inquired sceptically, now certain that Hinako was pulling his leg. "Well then, Hinako-chan. What do you do for a living?" he inquired sceptically.
"Oh, I'm a teacher at Juuban High. At least right now, but I'm thinking about a job offer I just got from Seigaku. I'd have to start commuting again, but it's only ten minutes by train and the station isn't all that far from here." Hinako replied without hesitation and Ranma blinked, looking down at the cluttered table in front of him. Hadn't he seen... /There it is./ he thought and snatched up a paper lying in the middle of all that mess, one with a Seigaku letterhead.
He hastily browsed through it and founds his eyes wanting to pop out of their sockets as he discovered that it indeed was an offer to teach English at Seigaku for one Ninomiya Hinako. /Must be her mother.../ Ranma reasoned. There was no way that this little tyke was a teacher.
"Look, I don't know what's going on here or what you're trying to pull. But I gotta call your parents." Ranma said and found a telephone, looking through a cute little phonebook resting beside it, decorated with a lovely heart and floral pattern that was so disgustingly cute that he wanted to hurl at the mere sight of it.
"Big sister... That won't be necessary." Hinako sighed and got up, walking over towards Ranma.
"What are you blabbing about?! Of course it's necessary. You're way too young to be left all alone like this!" he exclaimed heatedly.
"Happo Five-Yen Satsu." Hinako said, holding up a five-yen coin between two of her fingers.
"Wha..." Ranma began, but cut himself off as he suddenly felt weak. He stared in shock as he felt his Ki leaving him and flow into Hinako. The girl in question suddenly grew, rapidly rising in stature and filling out rather nicely, until a full-grown woman stood in front of him.
"I have to confess that I... Have a little problem..." Hinako understated to the now very stunned young man, currently very stunned young woman, in front of her. She smiled wryly down at him, then started to explain the situation.
***
"Stupid panda..." Ranma groused as he walked down the street, nursing a sore spot on the back of his head. As far as he was concerned, his asshole of a father had finally crossed the line and he wasn't at all sorry that he'd left the daft bugger behind.
He'd already been prepared to travel back to China, when the sneaky panda then went ahead and tried to clobber him with a street sign, it just made Ranma realize that a momentary separation from his fathers corrupting presence would be a *very* good thing.
He had been damned lucky. Thinking his father to be defeated, he'd been on his way when he suddenly tripped on some steel panchico balls. His feet had whipped backwards and he'd start to topple forward, when all of a sudden something grazed the back of his head and slammed into his back. His father had paid dearly for that little trick and Ranma had then proceeded to storm off in a murderous rage.
Of course, now he didn't know what the hell to do. His father had nearly all their money, Ranma didn't know anyone in Japan and he didn't even know if his mother was still alive or not.
He sighed, he should at least have gone through the old mans backpack and grabbed whatever money the old fart had left before he stormed off. He supposed that he could look up Saotome in a phone book and see if one name might ring a bell. He couldn't remember his mothers name, but if he saw it in writing then perhaps... Or he could stroll over to a police station, let them find his mother. Perhaps he could get something from the Clan registry, but he had no idea how to go about doing that and he had a faint suspicion that he might have to pay for whatever information he wanted.
While he did want to return to China, he felt like it was a shame to do so right away as he had missed Japan while abroad.
Besides, he would like to learn at least some Mandarin before returning. Perhaps if he had done so before pops dragged him off, he wouldn't be cursed now and wouldn't have had some crazy chick give him a Kiss of Death.
Well, at least he carried whatever food that remained, as well as his tent and all his other personal belongings. He wouldn't starve, not for a couple of days. He dug out his own wallet and gave off a faint sigh as he counted his meager resources. Even with the travel rations that remained, he wouldn't be able to eat for more then four or five days before he would start to starve.
He put the wallet away with a morose expression, trudging on. He didn't even know where the hell he was going, but knew that the important thing was to keep on moving. If he didn't, his father might be able to find him again.
Though Ranma had to admit, that he didn't find that notion as distasteful as he would have a couple of minutes ago. It really was starting to look as if he'd made the wrong decision, but no matter what, he would not come crawling back to his father, asking for forgiveness. No, not that. Never that.
"Hey, big sister... Do you know where this adress is?" a high-pitched voice suddenly intruded on Ranma's line of thinking and he stopped, looking down at a cute little kid wearing a dress that was a bit oversized for her. She was looking up at him with a hopeful expression, holding out a note with an adress scrawled down on it.
"Big sister? Heh?" was all Ranma could get out, then he looked down at himself. /Ah.../ He'd forgotten that the earlier rainfall had turned him into a girl. "Ah, well... Here, let's have a look." he hastily added and looked at the adress, though he knew that the chances of him knowing where it actually were was slim to none. He nodded to himself, he had no idea where it was and handed the note back to the little girl. "Sorry. No idea."
"Oh..." she responded with a sad sigh, then looked around with hints of tears in her eyes. /Argh! Her cuteness is sapping my strength, draining my willpower... Too cute! Must resist.../ Ranma thought as her dissapointed expression made his chest ache. Ranma looked around.
"Where are you parents, little girl?" Ranma inquired, hoping to spot the individuals in question.
"My parents? Uh, they're in Kyoto. Why do you ask, big sister?" the little girl inquired, a confused look on her face.
"In Kyoto?!" Ranma exclaimed, her gaze moving back to the little girl. "What are you doing here in Tokyo, all by your self?"
"I'm looking for my appartment, but I got lost and can't find my way back." she replied, the sad expression comming back.
"Oh..." Ranma responded, then struggled with himself for a few brief moments. But he just couldn't bring herself to leave the little girl where she was. Ranma was a Martial Artist, Martial Artists protected the weak. Kids were weak. Girls were weak. She was a kid and she was a girl. So, she was very weak. Hence, he should protect the little girl and help her get back to 'her' appartment.
Ranma halted a passerby and inquired for the adress the girl had asked him about, got directions, thanked the kindly old lady he'd stopped and then led the little girl off, following the directions he'd gotten.
"What's your name, little sister?" Ranma inquired as the two walked off, hand-in-hand.
"Ninomiya Hinako!" she chirped happily in reply, sucking on a lollipop which she'd pulled out of her handbag. "What's yours?" she countered.
"Saotome Ranma." Ranma replied. "What were you doing back there all alone?"
"Oh. I just moved into my new appartment, but discovered that I was all out of candy! So I walked out to buy some, but got lost on the way back." Hinako replied, patting her handbag with a possessive expression. "D'ya want some candy, Ranma-neechan?" she offered, holding out a small fistfull of candy towards him.
"Thank you." Ranma replied and snagged a piece of candy, popping it into his mouth. It was a rare treat for him. Genma never bought candy and Ranma almost never did either, as he never had that much money to work with and didn't want to spend what little he got on candy. So he certainly wasn't about to turn down free candy when it was offered to him!
When they reached the appartment, Hinako rummaged around in her handbag and eventually found a key among all the candy. Ranma was surprised and while he hesitated, he eventually decided to accept Hinako's invitation to come inside. He could at least watch over the little girl until her parents got back from Kyoto or whatever caretaker she lived with got back.
His eyes bulged as he saw the place, it looked as if a hurricane had swept through it. Empty candy wrappers were all over the place, empty cups of instant noodles were lying in and around a trashcan, clothes were all over the place and there was girly manga everywhere! He had certainly not been any paragon of cleaning and perfect order either during the few times he and his father had actually remained in one place for a longer period of time. But this mess made even him shudder.
"It's a little messy. Haven't cleaned since I moved in last week." Hinako apologised, then tossed her handbag onto a table in the main room. "Have a seat or something. Do you want anything to eat? More candy? Cookies? Cup noodles? Something to drink?" she offered as she strolled over to turn on the TV, giving off a pleased exclamation as a comedy anime came on. She flopped down on the floor in front of the TV, kicking her legs in the air as she watched the show.
"Uh. So... You live here with your parents?" Ranma surmised.
"No, they live in Kyoto." Hinako responded, plopping a sweet into her mouth.
"Ah, you live with your older brother." Ranma guessed. That would explain the terrible mess.
"No. This is my appartment. I live here." Hinako replied, munching on her candy.
"But whom do you live with then?" Ranma inquired.
"Myself." Hinako replied as if that was the most natural thing in the world. "I live here." she repeated and shrugged her shoulders.
"Hinako-chan... That's impossible." Ranma gently berated the little girl. "You're a cute little girl, but you can't possibly live here on your own. You should live with your parents." he continued, then looked around the place. "Well, you shouldn't live here on your own anyway..." he muttered under his breath. The appartment certainly look as if it housed a small messy kid and no caretaker to tidy it up. He was going to have words with this little girls parents about this!
"But I do live here!" she protested. "If I were to live with my parents in Kyoto, I'd have to commute to get to work and I don't want that. That's why I switched appartments after I won some money on the lottery, so I would live closer to work. Well, that and this one is a bit bigger then my old one."
"Work?" Ranma inquired sceptically, now certain that Hinako was pulling his leg. "Well then, Hinako-chan. What do you do for a living?" he inquired sceptically.
"Oh, I'm a teacher at Juuban High. At least right now, but I'm thinking about a job offer I just got from Seigaku. I'd have to start commuting again, but it's only ten minutes by train and the station isn't all that far from here." Hinako replied without hesitation and Ranma blinked, looking down at the cluttered table in front of him. Hadn't he seen... /There it is./ he thought and snatched up a paper lying in the middle of all that mess, one with a Seigaku letterhead.
He hastily browsed through it and founds his eyes wanting to pop out of their sockets as he discovered that it indeed was an offer to teach English at Seigaku for one Ninomiya Hinako. /Must be her mother.../ Ranma reasoned. There was no way that this little tyke was a teacher.
"Look, I don't know what's going on here or what you're trying to pull. But I gotta call your parents." Ranma said and found a telephone, looking through a cute little phonebook resting beside it, decorated with a lovely heart and floral pattern that was so disgustingly cute that he wanted to hurl at the mere sight of it.
"Big sister... That won't be necessary." Hinako sighed and got up, walking over towards Ranma.
"What are you blabbing about?! Of course it's necessary. You're way too young to be left all alone like this!" he exclaimed heatedly.
"Happo Five-Yen Satsu." Hinako said, holding up a five-yen coin between two of her fingers.
"Wha..." Ranma began, but cut himself off as he suddenly felt weak. He stared in shock as he felt his Ki leaving him and flow into Hinako. The girl in question suddenly grew, rapidly rising in stature and filling out rather nicely, until a full-grown woman stood in front of him.
"I have to confess that I... Have a little problem..." Hinako understated to the now very stunned young man, currently very stunned young woman, in front of her. She smiled wryly down at him, then started to explain the situation.
***
h43r: , starting from your toes, fingers last so that you can still write 
