Another section of the next chapter. Plus a brief snippet that I changed from earlier in the story:
~~~~Snippet~~~~~
Ranma narrowed her eyes at Kasumi.
"But... it might have had something to do with you not wanting to wear them, despite how pretty, soft, and amazingly wonderful they could be for you. And the fact that if you just took a little bit more time to--"
"Kasumi!" Ranma's interruption was exasperated. They had been over this at least three times in the past two days.
"I couldn't let you catch a cold, though! You were wet and it is nearly winter."
Ranma blinked. That was actually a legitimate reason. Though it would have more weight if she didn't have all of her clothes no more than a few feet away.
"Really, Kasumi? This is going to prevent that?" She waved the little wisp of nearly transparent cloth and Kasumi flinched a little.
Ranma wasn't sure whether it was due to her badgering or potential danger to the nightgown, but she abruptly felt like a heel, despite the clear moral advantage she held here. Perhaps it was the fact that they had different views on right and wrong for this stuff. Ranma clearly felt she was in the right and so did Kasumi.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Anything Goes Laundry Service
Chapter 4, Part 4
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"Man, that sucks."
Kasumi's eyes widened momentarily, and Ranma rapidly waved off the comment. "Not you, Kasumi. It's your story, this one and the earlier one really. Don't get me wrong, as much as I rag on him, my old man knows his stuff when it comes to teaching, but I didn't learn any chi techniques until I was what... 9, maybe 10?"
"Really?" Kasumi asked, her voice surprised and her attention apparently derailed from her story. "I suppose my teachers were very surprised as well."
"I mean, I still don't know any techniques that really manifest chi outside the body like that. The Hiryuu Shoten Ha now I guess, but that's more... changing your internal chi and synchronizing it with your opponent's." She shook her head slightly and said, "It's pretty cool stuff, forming fingers of chi or whatever you do."
This caused the home maker to tilt her head slightly and think for a minute. "Perhaps I didn't explain it very well, but I think it is probably closer to what you do than you think. I don't really reach outside of myself as... attract the chi. It is kind of like making myself into a pleasant home and inviting it in, or maybe acting as a magnet? I'm not very good at explaining this I'm afraid.
"It is part of why you need such a close relationship with your si- undergarments though. The attraction must be mutual and true love and respect is required."
Ranma looked a little green for a minute. "You mean that my chi, after it kind of gets absorbed into the cloth of my boxers, thinks that _Happosai_ is a better 'home' than myself?" She gulped and fought down a wave of nausea. "I think I'm going to be sick."
It wasn't like her chi had a brain or anything, so this was kind of anthromor-- anteatermapping-- that thing where you assigned human thoughts to something that didn't have them. Knowing that didn't really make it feel any less like Kasumi had just told her a piece of herself wanted Happosai to fondle her butt though.
Kasumi tilted her head. "I suppose so, but that is just how I think about the technique. Perhaps there are differences in the way that Grandfather Happosai conceptualizes it. Anything Goes is a very personal style, after all. I'm sure you adapt your techniques to yourself after your father teaches them to you."
"Uhh, I guess I do actually." Ranma thought about this, trying to distract herself from the distressing thought of what her own and hundreds or thousands of other girls' chi was doing when Happosai used this technique. "I mean, to some extent you gotta finish out any technique and make it your own, right? Adapt it to your own strengths and away from your weaknesses. Not that I got any. Weaknesses that is."
She jutted out her chest, jabbing herself over the heart with her thumb. The gesture of pride kind of emphasized assets that she'd rather not be reminded of at the moment though, so she gave up on that and walked over to plop down on the ground beside Kasumi.
"Still, woulda been cool to start on chi techniques as early as you. I gotta ask the old man why he didn't do that. I bet I'd be way better than I am now, hard as that is to imagine."
"Perhaps he was focusing upon ingraining another set of strengths that he thought was more crucial. When I met with Sensei Tanaka we talked a lot about early childhood development, though more so later when I caught up with him again after Mother passed away. Apparently those early years when we are most impressionable can lead to developing our greatest strengths."
Ranma gave that some thought and nodded to herself. "Huh. So you got your chi training early on and I got... maybe my adaptability. Pops threw a lot of weird stuff at me early on. It almost didn't even feel like martial arts sometimes."
Ranma smiled to herself as she thought about the early years of the training trip. At that time everything had still felt like a great big adventure. It hadn't been till later that it started getting routine or at least boiled down to something she'd expected rather than been surprised about.
"Ranma?" Kasumi asked softly after a couple minutes of companionable silence, sounding a bit hesitant. "If you don't mind my asking. Why did you lie to your father about what you were doing when he walked in?"
"Ahh..." Ranma hesitated. Kasumi and her had talked about her own past a little, but there was a lot of stuff in there that she thought might be misinterpreted. And a few things like the c-ca-feline fist that were legitimately terrible and she didn't want to think about herself. So she just kind of avoided it. Just a little. Kasumi had more to get off her chest anyway.
Still, this wasn't nothing too bad. "Well, it's not really a long--" She paused as Kasumi held up a finger.
"Akane, perhaps you would be more comfortable joining us, rather than listening at the door?" An embarrassed silence followed this, but a small cough finally revealed that Kasumi had been on the mark about someone being out there. Akane's voice called out a moment later.
"Excuse me," Akane said, her voice reflecting the same palpable embarrassment that had permeated the earlier silence, but she started sliding the door open.
Ranma raised an eyebrow, once more impressed with Kasumi's senses, but then her gaze fell on the nightie still lying on the floor near the dresser. Blanching, she leaped across the room, scooped it up, pulled open a drawer, and shoved it in blindly.
Akane gave her an exasperated look as she finished opening the door and stepped inside to see her with her arm stuck in her dresser. "I've seen you in your underwear often enough Ranma, I'm not going to flip out because you left your boxers lying on the floor."
As Akane walked over to sit beside her sister, Ranma wondered exactly how much she had heard. She assumed not too much, but she raised an eyebrow at Kasumi to ask the question silently. She received a short shake of the older girl's head, so she assumed her secret at least was still safe.
She caught a slight blush on Akane's features as she settled down and Ranma joined the two sisters by his futon, sitting on his pop's instead. "I'm sorry, big sister. I should have known better." Ranma wondered if her fiancee was saying she should have known better than to think she could eavesdrop on Kasumi or was talking about being impolite. When the younger Tendo glared at her, she realized she had said that out loud and gave her a sheepish grin.
"Ahh, anyway. What I was saying was that the reason I, umm, misled my Pop--"
"About what?" Akane asked, curious.
Kasumi answered for the boy turned girl, saying, "Uncle Saotome walked in on Ranma and I cleaning the family room and seemed a bit upset with Ranma. Then Ranma tried to mislead him, they got into a fight, and she was knocked unconscious." This caused raised eyebrows by Akane and a glance over at Ranma.
"Like I said, it wasn't anything too serious. I just got this thing that Pops helped me get under control when I was younger," Ranma explained. She shrugged and glanced around the room helplessly, questioning whether she should go ahead since this was a little embarrassing. "It's an oppressive compulsion, see. About, uhh, tidying up. Pops says it ain't something a guy should be doing, so he makes sure to point out when I start, well, straightening things up."
Akane gave her a flat stare. "You mean your Dad actually wants you to be a slob?"
"Something like that, he says I shouldn't do that kinda stuff 'cause it'll make girls feel useless if they can't clean up after their--" Watching the slowly darkening expression on Akane's face suddenly clued her in on exactly what she was saying and to whom. She immediately waved her hands in a panic, trying to distract her fiancee from her own words. "Uhh... forget I said that! I mean, it's not that _I_ think-- that is, my Pops--"
Luckily, Kasumi interrupted and Akane turned her attention away from her with a scowl. Ranma let out a sigh of relief. Even if that hadn't gone horribly wrong and made Akane believe Ranma thought those kind of things, she suspected that without a viable target her fiancee's anger would have turned towards her. That statement probably hit a bit too close to the mark given Akane's little...
Oh. Huh. She wondered for a minute if her stupid pops wasn't onto something after all. In his dumb way, he might have latched onto something that actually made sense, even if he said it in a way guaranteed to get him a beating from any woman he so much as mentioned it to. There were a lot of expectations for women. With Akane's problem or curse or whatever, she couldn't do a lot of them and that might not do great things for her self-confidence.
It was possible, just a bit, that she might not have helped her fiancee with her jabs during their fights either. As she caught her name, she decided to shelve all that and think about it later though.
"...so you see, Ranma, I don't think that you have obsessive compulsive disorder."
"Right, cause my pops said it was an oppressive compulsion." Ranma interrupted. "That's some kind of curse or something, right?" This was obviously the wrong thing to say because Akane jumped all over it.
Gesturing towards her big sister, the tomboy said, "Weren't you listening at all, Ranma? Kasumi just got done explaining how your Dad probably meant obsessive compulsive disorder, which is a psychological condition that results in, well, obsessive and compulsive behavior. She should know, since she suffers from--"
"Oh, I don't have it either, Akane."
"Wait, what? What do you have then? You go to see your psychologist all the time." Akane looked confused. "It was the only thing that fit even a little. Nabiki and I were sure..." She trailed off, looking embarrassed again.
Ranma could understand that, since she had effectively just accused her big sister of being a crazy person. Kasumi didn't seem to take it amiss though and gave Akane a gentle, reassuring smile. "It's okay, Akane. I probably should have explained at some point. I did see Dr. Tanaka when I was younger in a professional capacity, but he is mostly just a friend at this point.
"We meet periodically to keep each other up to date after I ran into him again a few years ago. I am assured I have a clean bill of mental health."
Akane looked like she wanted to sink through the floorboards. "I... I have to go. I am so sorry, Kasumi. Really, really, sorry." She popped to her feet, bowed low enough that her nose was almost touching her knees, then just about ran out of the room. Ranma started to get up to follow her, but Kasumi laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Give her a little bit, Ranma." She looked thoughtful and stared towards the rooms of Akane and Nabiki without really seeing anything. "I will talk to her and Nabiki later."
Ranma let the gentle woman keep her seated and said, "If you're sure. Umm... are you gonna be able to explain without getting into, well, everything?" Obsessive and compulsive sounded just a bit on the nose to Ranma, but maybe it was a matter of degree or there was something else to it. After all, Kasumi wasn't any more obsessed with panties than she was with martial arts. Probably.
"I think so." Kasumi nodded, more to herself than her she thought, and she wondered how the accusation was sitting with her. She seemed to take everything in stride, but Ranma had seen the glimpses of insecurity when she first found out about all of this.
Despite her claims about Dr. Tanaka being a friend and his status as a doctor, she thought maybe his opinion didn't matter quite as much as her family's. And she had now found out that just like her mother, both of her sisters and possibly her father had thought there was something wrong with her. Without even knowing the truth. That had to hurt a little at least.
She reached out himself and put a hand on Kasumi's shoulder, resulting in a startled glance. "I think you're just fine the way you are, Kasumi. Don't worry too much about this-- they were just tryin' to find an explanation for the psychologist visits. That's all there is to it."
Kasumi gave her a brilliant smile and she was left a little stunned as the homemaker actually leaned over and hugged her. The redhead squirmed a little as it stretched out, then Kasumi finally pulled away, her cheeks red and a suspicious glimmer in her eyes. Ranma gave her a hesitant smile in return, then decided it was time to lighten things up again-- and she knew exactly how.
"Now, before we get distracted or interrupted again, we were discussing something earlier." Kasumi looked confused until Ranma stood up and made her way over to the dresser, where she reached in and pulled out the offending purple negligee again. She grinned as the brunette's cheeks pinked again, this time for a different reason.
"So you told me why you thought you could get away with this, but not why you did it. Any last defense before I render my verdict?"
Kasumi opened her mouth, but then shut it again, looking resolute. She finally continued in a voice not unlike the tone she had used with Akane, one expressing gentle understanding and regret that her actions had caused disharmony in the household. "I don't. I am sorry that I didn't wait for you to give me permission and I could have handled this better."
Ranma smiled at Kasumi to let her know she appreciated that. "Hear then my verdict in the case of Kasumi Tendo vs the manly sensibilities of Ranma Saotome. For the crime of ignoring Ranma's wishes in the matter of the purple nightgown, Kasumi loses access to it--"
Kasumi sighed as Ranma paused, her disappointment almost palpable. "--for a full month." She perked back up again, eyes widening as she realized that she would actually get it back. "Furthermore, I judge that Ranma Saotome's manly sensibilities are strong enough to stand a little modeling for a friend and I will consider said friend's requests to wear certain garments in the future. That isn't a promise though!"
She had already done it once, after all, and it hadn't turned her into a girly girl. If she could pop into a dress to fool Ryoga just 'cause he was being an idiot, she could stand a little embarrassment for a friend. Kasumi did a lot for the Tendo household and if anyone deserved a reward, it was her. Thought not as like... a regular thing. For special stuff maybe. Really special, like the equivalent of saving Akane from some nut job, whatever that would be in terms of household maintenance.
Eh, he's done wackier for far less reason. At least this is his choice. Though at this rate if the two of them don't end up together there is going to be some very awkward questions down the road...
I'm pretty sure there will be awkward questions even if they do end up together.
Might have to tweak the last bit of dialogue in this section a bit-- not really full satisfied with how it plays out. I might switch to something simpler like, "And I will give the whole..." Gestures at the night gown. "...thing you want some consideration, not dismiss it out of hand. " Gives Kasumi a crooked smile. "That's not a hard and fast promise though! No deadlines!"
Not much to it and I got distracted by Transfiguration Trouble before I could get more written on it, but I figure I'll post the next scene for Anything Goes Laundry Service as well. Hopefully I'll be able to get more of this written tomorrow. Work's been busy, so I haven't been writing much during the week. (Though far more than I used to before I started posting my stuff, so that's something.)
I'd like to get this next chapter out relatively soon though since I was hoping to post once a week until Chapter 5 originally and I'm way behind on that. We're at least getting closer to the end of the chapter now. Probably only two more Ranma scenes left, then bookend, and maybe a quick delve into finishing off the story of Kasumi and her bullies in the middle somewhere.
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Anything Goes Laundry Service
Chapter 4, Part 5
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Kasumi sighed as Ranma paused, her disappointment almost palpable. "--for a full month." She perked back up again, eyes widening as she realized that she would actually get it back. "And--" She was a little hesitant to take this step, but she thought the brunette had gotten the point. "I will give the whole..." Pausing again, the redhead tried to decide on a word and finally just kind of gestured towards the nightgown. "...thing, that you want some consideration, not just dismiss it out of hand."
Ranma gave Kasumi a crooked grin, wagging a finger at her. "That's not a hard and fast promise though. No deadlines!"
She had already done it once, after all, and it hadn't turned her into a girly girl. If she could pop into a dress to fool Ryoga just 'cause he was being an idiot, she could stand a little embarrassment for a friend. Kasumi did a lot for the Tendo household and if anyone deserved a reward, it was her. Though not as like... a regular thing. For special stuff maybe. Really special, like the equivalent of saving Akane from some nut job, whatever that would be in terms of household maintenance.
...
Standing in the dojo, Ranma took a deep breath and settled into a horse stance. Letting his hands rest on his knees, he concentrated upon his battle aura and slowly stoked it to a peak. It was hard when you weren't actually in a fight, or harder anyway.
Your battle aura was largely an involuntary reflex, which was part of the reason that even Akane pulled one up on a regular basis. In many ways, it was a lot simpler to maintain and utilize than accessing your chi directly. Half the work was done for you simply by being in a strong emotional state or having a bunch of adrenaline coursing through your body.
Of course, those strengths also made it a lot more difficult to practice or do things with it that were precise and measured. His old man had been moving with very exacting motions though and Ranma wanted to see whether he had really been completely suckered or if Genma had been about to pull out something he hadn't seen before. The martial artist had shown he was proficient at manipulating his battle aura in the past when he went toe to toe with Happosai after all.
Even if he had petered out like a damp candle in less than a minute.
Ranma had more than his fair share of experience with manipulating his own battle aura, most recently with the Hiryuu Shoten Ha training, but he had yet to pull off that giant trick that the old goat and his dad pulled out. Maybe this would actually give him a clue as to how they did it.
His battle aura finally in the visible spectrum, Ranma gradually pulled at it, trying to focus it around his hands like he had seen in the fight. All he was really doing was suppressing it everywhere but his hands though, the Soul of Ice almost reflex with this after his week in the mountains. Taking a deep breath, he let it out and released his control. Calm, but not complete--
"Trying to steal my techniques, boy?"
"Gaaah!" Ranma jumped up, seizing his chest and staring at his father with wide eyes. His old man just grinned at him, his glasses gleaming as he stepped forward out of the shadows. The young martial artist hated when he did that. He was such a putz most of the time when it came to sneaking around, but then every once in awhile he'd pull out all the stops and come out of nowhere.
Kasumi on the other hand just smiled and pulled her legs up under her as she bowed forward slightly from where she had been watching him against one of the dojo walls. "Hello, Uncle Saotome."
Ranma shot Kasumi a betrayed look. "You coulda warned me you know."
"You seemed very focused, I didn't want to interupt," she said serenely. Pushing herself to her feet, Kasumi added, "I'm going to go start dinner. I'll leave you to talk with your father."
Ranma nodded and waved her away, Genma nodding as she walked past him. As soon as she was out of the room, the pair leaped backwards to take their normal starting positions for sparring without needing to say a word.
Settling into one of the relaxed stances that were typical of the Saotome school, Ranma waited all of three seconds before surging forward towards his father. "Well, you were the one who wanted to talk, Pops. What did you want?"
"You know perfectly well, boy." A flurry of blows forced Ranma back across the polished wood floor of the dojo until he swept a leg out, forcing Genma to jump back. Neither combatant was really giving it their all, but they were providing their bodies something to do while their mouths worked. "You're falling into bad habits again. I've sacrificed too much towards preventing these destructive patterns of behavior to see you succumb to them now."
Ranma jabbed his father in the stomach. "Sacrificed? What did you sacrifice? A clean floor? You haven't missed nothin' you'd miss but a few meals you could afford. And a good bit less than myself."
"You wound me, Ranma. How often have I put my own stomach on the line to prevent you from suffering the worst effects of your own cooking?" Genma scowled at his son and swiped at the repeated attacks against his mid-section a bit more vigorously than they'd been bothering with so far. Taking the hint, the black haired boy jumped backwards and gave both of them some distance.
"Yeah, bout that, Pops." Ranma cracked his knuckles, his own expression getting a bit more grim. "Turns out Kasumi says I ain't half bad in the kitchen. And given how good her cooking is..."
"Ahh... no doubt a minor improvement now that you've had a good example to follow and the protection and guidance that I offered through your formative years." Genma sweated profusely. "A minor miracle given where you started!"
The sad thing was that Ranma couldn't even say for sure whether that was true or not. He could count on one hand the times he had ended up cooking only for himself and his father was always suspiciously attentive during the process when he was around. Something always seemed to go wrong. He thought it was a safe assumption his dad was up to something sneaky though. No one got that nervous when they had been up to anything good.
He finally decided to let it go. Kind of. "Yeah, you're a saint, Pops. Maybe we should see about having you apply your amazing talents to help Akane get over her little cookin' problems."
Genma blanched and Ranma grinned evilly. Their experiences with her cooking during the training trip to counter the Breaking Point had been born out a few times since. No need for insider knowledge on weird Shinto rituals to make that threat credible. His father finally stammered out, "No need for that boy-- ahh, perhaps we can overlook the cooking thing in the future. No need to get your wife up to par if you're a demon in the kitchen, ey? None of this constant cleaning though! You'll undo all the work we did on those ridiculous compulsions of yours."
"It ain't like that! I'm not doing this 'cause I want to or need to, so that stuff don't apply." Ranma flipped over his father, a quick kick sending the older man skidding across the room. He smirked briefly. That wasn't entirely accurate, but it was close enough to how it started. "'Sides, Kasumi says I don't have any oppressive compulsions anyway. And she'd know if anyone would, she's studied with tons of priests and monks and stuff." No point in mentioning the psych doctors, Genma didn't have much respect for them.
Genma charged, his blow bearing Ranma to the ground and initiating a grapple. "Aha! I knew it! The witch is forcing you into this and it's worse than I expected. Say the word, son, and I'll find a way to get you free of her clutches. Akane's the one for you!"
"Seriously, Pops? It's Kasumi! What the hell goes on in that head of yours?" Ranma tested his father's hold, then resorted to placing his feet on the man's chest and using main force to throw him up into the air. "Besides, if you're looking for a witch here, it's Nabiki. She's the reason I started this in the first place."
Genma frowned after he had landed, then moved back in for a few more blows. "What do you mean?"
"It's not like I started this out of the blue. I got a deal with Nabiki. I help Kasumi, she stops bugging me about money for rent and stuff or taking pictures to sell."
Genma paused, looking vaguely impressed. "And she actually bought into that? I didn't think you had it in you, boy. How long do you suppose you'll need to keep up the charade before she just assumes you're helping?"
Ranma didn't bother with a serious attack, he just smacked his father on the top of his head with a closed fist. "As long as we're here. No one really helps Kasumi out, Pops, and it ain't right. I ain't going to leave her high and dry now that I realized that. Not that she can't handle it, but it doesn't hurt nothing to help."
His father scowled, though he obviously wasn't phased by the actual attack. "That's where you're wrong, boy. And I'll prove it to you, just you wait." Genma stepped back towards the wall and pulled something from his gi, a second later it whipped towards Ranma and he inadvertantly turned his head to watch the ball fly past. When he turned back, Genma was gone.
This whole fic is so very Ranma-esque. There's this weird little zone between silly and serious that's hard to get down just right and I think you nailed it!
Thanks. I imagine the feel has something to do with the fact that my first exposure to fanfic was during the golden age of Ranma 1/2 fanfics as well. It's always been one of my favorite concepts in anime-- there are those that were executed better, but there was just something about the anime and manga that provided almost endless options.
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Anything Goes Laundry Service
Chapter 4, Part 6
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Flicking one last sheet over the laundry line, Ranma grinned to himself. He was really getting a better handle on the whole iron cloth deal, though he wasn't honestly sure what he would do with it. Wasn't like he really needed a weapon most times and even Ryoga didn't bother with it a lot since that whole thing with Akane's hair. Maybe armor or something?
He shrugged. It was worth knowing and that was about enough for today anyway. Walking inside, he poured himself and Kasumi a glass of lemonade, then walked back outside to get the basket for the eldest Tendo sister. Pausing, the plastic cup he was using flexed as his fist clenched and he looked over the work he had spent the past half hour or so on. Every single sheet that he had worked on rather than Kasumi was scrawled upon with what looked like mud. In a rather crude approximation of his own handwriting. What was "Red Sake" even supposed to mean?
...
Grabbing the dishes after lunch, Ranma quickly tossed them into a tall wavering pile reminscent of his work at the cat cafe. Leaving only the containers with minute amounts of leftovers. An artifact of the fact that Genma hadn't been at lunch for some reason. Probably because Ranma still wanted to have a little "talk" with him about the sheets this morning.
Quickly divying up the stack of dishes into neat organized piles that would be easier for Kasumi to wash later, Ranma turned back to grab the food and his lips thinned. In the approximately thirty seconds he had his back turned a set of the same dishes he had just brought in had turned up, covered with a thin veneer of the food that had been left over. Though not enough to cover the fact that there were no longer any leftovers remaining.
Stalking over to the new dishes, he looked down at a partially completed kanji for "No work" in sauce. There was the start of another kanji beside it, but it wasn't far enough along to identify. Still... Ranma cracked his knuckles. He really needed to have that talk with his dad.
...
Ranma's left eye twitched as he stared at the little figurine lying on its side on the a shelf. He carefully righted it, stared at it for perhaps a full minute to ensure it wasn't wobbly, then turned away. He immediately spun around again, only to find the figurine on its side again. Similar to the way the pillows returned to the floor and the chairs pulled themselves away from the desk and the... He paused, took a deep breath and closed his eyes to stop the persistent twitching. He was determined to actually accomplish something he didn't need to turn over to Kasumi today. It just... apparently was not going to be this.
...
Staring at the Dojo, Ranma nodded to himself. Even at the peak of Genma's obsession about his oppressive compulsions he had been allowed to clean the dojos of the various schools they stayed at to learn. It was just one of those things that was expected of any student of the art. It had been a little while since the Tendo dojo had received a thorough cleaning, so no reason he couldn't do that today.
He had Kasumi watching from the other side of the dojo, a bucket of hot soapy water, a wash cloth, and what should be a generally inoffensive activity. Taking no chances, he reached in and wrung out the wash cloth, then tested it on the floor. Spotless. Assuming the standard position he dashed across the floor with his hands firmly spread out to catch the dirt.
Having moved fairly quickly across the length of the room, he was just standing when he heard Kasumi gasp and as he turned around he saw that the entire line that he had just cleaned was smeared with dust and dirt. Worse than when he had started in fact. Hearing a tearing noise, he looked down at his hands and noted that the rag he had been using was now in four pieces.
Perhaps it was time to break. Time for a break rather. His eye twitched.
...
Ranma stalked through the Tendo dojo like a tig-- like a wolf on the prowl. The past day had been... let's just call it challenging. His mind flicked through the events that had set him to hunting his father in rapid succession.
While his Pops hadn't actually touched anything but his son's work, this needed to be settled now. If he saw one more teacup replace itself on a table or pile of dirt mysteriously reappear after he'd thrown it in the garbage he was going to pull from his dad's own playbook and lock the old fraud in a cave with a stack of dynamite. He might even show enough filial piety to use a small bundle, rather than the amount the two Masters of Anything Goes should have used on Happosai.
He could be the bigger man. He could, maybe, admit that this was getting to him and the oppressive compulsions Genma harped on about when he was a kid might still be a problem. He could. But he wouldn't. No, he would take pleasure in showing his Pops exactly what he thought about his little demonstrations the old fashioned way.
After all, it wasn't like anyone else who was seeing their own hard work destroyed wouldn't feel exactly the same way. Even if it had taken only a single day for his old man to break him, which probably wasn't normal with something like this. It hadn't exactly been subtle, but he couldn't deny the effects. To himself. His dad was going to get nothing out of this. There was no way he was rewarding him for this kind of behavior. Two could play that game.
It took him another hour, including no less than five checks with Kasumi on whether the old man was really still in the house and where, before he finally cornered him. In the broom closet no less, though with the nonchalant way he simply coughed and stepped out brushing off his gi you would have thought he had been lounging in front of the television.
Ranma pondered whether to bother with accusations or not. If his old man was playing innocent, there was no way he would get him to admit his guilt, so why even bother. For the moment, he just crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the panda in front of him. He would get his anger under control and ignore any provocation. Soul of Ice. And then he would beat his father black and blue.
"Well, boy? What do you say now?" Genma asked, adjusting his glasses conspicuously and apparently taking up their conversation exactly where they had left it earlier.
Screw it, the Soul of Ice was for battles and this was an argument. "Stop being an ass?" he asked sarcastically.
"You wound me, Ranma! Do you not see now why you should avoid all this cleaning and woman's frippery? The curse that hounds your very steps--"
"You mean you?" Ranma glared at Genma.
His father switched abruptly from indignant righteous patriarch to complete innocent. If he wasn't trying to win an argument, Ranma was pretty sure he would be a panda right about now. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"It's so obviously you. You've even been signing them, you idiot!"
"That wasn't me, I saw those sheets, it was your handwriting, boy." Ranma sighed, exasperated again rather than simply angry. Genma couldn't possibly expect Ranma to believe that had been a magical curse, right?
"I've seen you fake my handwriting before, old man."
"Perhaps you think you have, but what if it was just your own mind playing--" No, he did. Of course, he did. What else should he have expected. The elaborate constructions he had created in his head where his father showed exactly why helping Kasumi would lead into more dangerous activity that could influence his behavior in the future and prevent him from accomplishing his goal of being the best evaporated.
Ranma pointed at him, interupting some made up story about his childhood and weird memory lapses or something. "You were hiding from me for over an hour! I found you in the broom closet!"
"Not you boy, I wasn't hiding from you. It was the effects of the curse I was avoiding! I couldn't stand to see it take hold in you once more-- not knowing who or what you are at any moment, the degenerate behavior, the destruction you would wreak upon your environment!" Genma wept, tears streaming from his eyes as he stared into the distance with a stoic expression upon his face. It might have almost been moving if Ranma hadn't seen it for something as simple as his managing to steal the last pickle.
"That would be the other curse you inflicted on me, old man. A certain c-c-feline fist? Ring a--" He stopped, eyeing his father and going back to his original plan. This wasn't getting him anywhere. "Ok, you know what, it isn't worth it, I've had enough of this. I challenge you."
The tears dried up instantly and Genma rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Do you now? And what are the stakes?"
"You stop or I do, simple as that." Ranma wasn't going to give his father any loopholes to wriggle out of in this. He had learned that a long time ago. Keep it short and simple.
"And the rules?"
Ranma scoffed. "The usual. We meet tomorrow afternoon by the canal so we have some room to really let loose. No walls or dojo to constrain us. Just me, you, and a couple witnesses."
"Assuming I can put a stop to this devilish curse if you somehow win, you agree that you will abandon all these attempts at cleaning and such in the future if you don't. No going back on your word now?" Genma appeared calculating, no doubt trying to decide whether it was worth it or not. Maybe whether it was worth revealing what in the hell he had been using for his tricks today.
Glowering at his father, the younger martial artist bit out, "I'm not you. My word is good. You better keep yours too."
"Very well. Your challenge is accepted."
...
Ranma sighed as he looked around. Him, the old man, and a couple witnesses. Right. So, of course, half of Nerima got word and showed up in response. His fiancees in the vanguard selling food. Well, most of his fiancees. If Akane had been in the mix Nabiki would have been making a killing on stomach pumps.
He was pretty damn good, one of the best in fact. He had secret techniques, was strong and fast, and had been trained by some of the best of the best. He and his father fought on a regular basis and he won as often as he lost. Maybe more lately. But he was sure the old man had been holding something back. After all, one of the "best of the best" who had trained him _was_ his pops. Genma had been by his side when he learned almost every single one of his techniques and there was no one who knew his style better.
Just based on his actions yesterday, Ranma knew his dad was serious about this. He didn't put that kind of effort into just anything and keeping himself hidden from Ranma and Kasumi throughout all of it, not to mention moving as fast as he must have... he couldn't say when he had seen Genma work harder. There was something about this that made Genma determined to shut down this little deal with Nabiki, even if he wouldn't come out and say it.
Still, he had a plan, possibly a good one. It might not play out like he expected, but if it failed, it just meant they were back to an even fight. If it did... Ranma grinned. It would be beautiful. The perfect revenge for the other day.
He had calmed down a bit since yesterday, particularly since he had composed his plan, but in order for it to be really effective he had to look like he had a good head of steam still. Enough that he would be willing to do almost anything to win the fight. He figured with the training he had for the Soul of Ice, he should be able to fake it well enough.
As Soun stepped forward, calling out the rules of the match, though not the forfeits, Ranma readied himself and watched his father do the same. When the "Begin!" rang out, both he and Genma rushed each other, meeting in mid-air in a flurry of feet, fists, and blows with any part of the body they could manage.
Regardless of how good his peers became, he suspected they would never really reach this level in the air. It was one of the things he liked best about fighting his dad. The Saotome school was heavily rooted in mid-air combat and only he could provide a challenge that wasn't completely one sided when both combatants met there-- one way or the other. The old ghoul and the pervert could manage too obviously, but the balance of power went the other way there.
After Genma and he had spent a few minutes testing each other, Ranma decided it was time to see how well his strategy would work. Ducking low, he plastered a fierce scowl on his lips and flew forward at just above waist level on his father. Reaching back, he called out, "Happo Happy Touch!" and swung his fist forward.
The results were all he could have hoped for and more. His father went absolutely white, his guard dropped almost completely, and he covered his privates with both hands as he started to curl into a fetal position. Ranma's punch took his father in the face rather than the low blow his body was instinctively reading itself for and the rest of the fight was all but over.
Admittedly, Genma was a tough bastard and it still took several minutes before he fell unconscious, but he never recovered from that initial scare. The time he had spent today visibly buttering up the old pervert had definitely been worth it to sell the move to his Dad, but it had been the end of Kasumi's story that had really given him the idea.
=========================
Not entirely sure about the challenge-- not so much the idea, which I do like for the symmetry (a win by Makken Dokuku Ha from Ranma to balance the earlier one by Genma), but the execution. Feels like it needs some work, but I'm going to try and get the rest of the fic done before I go back to it at this point. The same applies to the little montage of cleaning sabotage, in particular the "The Shining" references which were largely thrown in because I didn't want to spend the time to go look up an appropriate movie or anime in Japan.
Next segment will be a quick flashback to Ranma's discussion with Kasumi (which I intend to keep pretty short), then we'll move into the bookend with Genma just waking up to the following:
=========================
As Genma slipped back into a conscious state, he opened one bleary eye and saw Happosai pop up out of the crowd crowing in victory. "I knew it, I knew it! Bwahahaha."
"You! You're the one that's been watching me and Kasumi!" Ranma pointed accusingly at the Grandmaster of Anything Goes and the old man leered at the younger practitioner. Kasumi blushed as the entire crowd's attention swiveled to her and just about everyone outside of Ranma, Happosai, and the demure brunette blanched and rushed to conclusions.
Ranma smacked his face with one hand as the attention turned to him again and battle auras sprung up around fiancees, suitors, and half the other martial artists and non-martial artists in the crowd. "God damn it. Not again."
Unable to move, Genma watched his son dive under the first barrage of weapons thrown his way and then jump onto the fence and over as the the side of the canal emptied of everyone save himself, Happosai, and Kasumi.
Ranma smacked his face with one hand as the attention turned to him again and battle auras sprung up around fiancees, suitors, and half the other martial artists and non-martial artists in the crowd. "God damn it. Not again."
===================================
Anything Goes Laundry Service
Chapter 4, Part 7
===================================
Early that morning, Ranma had been lounging on the floor while Kasumi cleaned, his father off preparing for the battle while he thought through it himself. Training wasn't going to do anything here-- he couldn't pull off anything significant in a single day. He needed a distraction, something to let his subconscious work on the problem.
Genma and he had an armistice at the moment, so he couldn't help out Kasumi directly, but he had gotten used to spending an hour or two each day with her.
Sitting up, he turned towards the homemaker, who was humming to herself. "So, Kasumi, you never did give me the end of that story, how'd your training work out?"
"My training?" Kasumi stopped her song and looked confused, then brightened in recollection. "Oh, yes. The Happo Happy Touch."
Ranma asked, "And something from your Pops, right? What'd he give you?"
"To be honest, I don't recall exactly what Father taught me, though I think it was a punch of some kind. He didn't take me quite as seriously as Grandfather." She smiled in recollection. "It was still useful, but I don't think it quite stood out like I had been hoping. I did manage to get both down before I was cornered again perhaps a month or so later though."
___===--- ( \/ ) ---===___
Facing off against the boys who had cornered her when she tried to run for the school building, Kasumi took a deep breath and let it out just like Daddy taught her. The boys snickered as she settled into her stance and she focused upon the feel of the cheek power in herself and then in the underwear that the bullies around her were wearing.
As she heard two of them start moving towards her, Kasumi opened her eyes and fought to keep that instinctive feel for her opponent's silky friends. Though it was apparently a rougher cotton than her own or-- eyes widening, the little girl just barely ducked under a punch that she had been too distracted to see coming. Her hand lashed out in the straight punch that Daddy had taught her, guided by the Happo Happi Touch and the boy crumpled, his eyes crossing and his hands dropping between his legs.
The next boy was still gaping when the same thing happened to him and then Kasumi was running towards the other bullies. Outside of a few "No Fairs!" and "That's cheating!" the remainder of the bullies save one went down in a single punch each or ran away. The last one jumped backwards and assumed a martial arts stance of his own instead.
"You're not gonna get me with that! I know martial arts too _and_ I've got a bratty little sister like you who likes to hit me there! I've been defending against that kind of crap for years!" Moving more cautiously towards her, the boy took a swing at Kasumi that she was a little too slow to block and she was forced backwards. Eyes tearing up, she felt at her tender cheek, then firmed her resolve.
She would show them. Jumping at the boy, she attacked with kicks and punches, but each one was blocked cleanly by the black-haired child before he attacked again and pushed her back. He was sneering now and she felt tears of frustration join the ones the punch had elicited earlier.
"I told you. I'm super good at that-- you might get through a punch somewhere else if you're lucky, but I'm going to teach you a lesson before you do."
Kasumi took another deep breath, realizing she had lost track of her cheek power when he hit her and closed her eyes again, feeling for it. This boy was a bad person, so his lovelies certainly couldn't be very well treated.
"Giving up? Too bad, you shoulda done that before you started hitting my friends!" Not bothering to open her eyes this time, the little girl just waited for the moment when her opponents cheek power got close enough and then lashed out in that same straight-forward punch she had used on the first boy.
She heard a squeak and opened her eyes. Her opponent fell over and she heard him whimper, "Mommy."
"Yay! I win!" Kasumi jumped up and down happily. Right up until a teacher finally investigated the ruckus and she remembered that regardless of what her Mommy said about protecting herself, she had still been on a warning for the last fight.
___===--- ( \/ ) ---===___
Ranma stared at Kasumi, his legs crossed slightly in an almost subconscious protective gesture. "You know, I take back what I said earlier. You are a _really_ scary chick."
Kasumi blushed. "I am a bit more aware of what it was actually intended for now then I was when I was 6. Plus, I have seen Grandfather use it quite frequently since he returned.
At the time though, I was quite proud of myself. While I kept the name secret, I was able to use it on father to win several times in a row and I had never managed that before."
Ranma blinked. Was Kasumi still not actually aware that punching a guy in the nuts was just something you absolutely did not do in anything short of a real fight? It was one thing on the bullies, but doing that to old man Tendo, that was just mean and she just sounded faintly embarrassed about the perverted stuff it was used for by Happosai.
Pausing, the martial artist said, "So the old goat taught you a secret technique to punch people... there." For some reason, he couldn't quite bring himself to actually name it in front of Kasumi. He wondered off hand if that was the reason she had managed to land it several times on her father. You would think he would have warned her off after the first time at least.
"Wait, I thought it just let you kind of... touch things through clothes?"
Kasumi nodded at that, then explained further. "It lets you avoid, well... obstructions I suppose is the best way of putting it. I mentioned that it was kind of like a magnet? Well, it sort of guides you around any defenses, even if they are active. It's really quite wonderful, though Mother, of course, explained that it wasn't appropriate to use in public."
"Man, I bet my Pops hated that one. The old goat's fire crackers are one thing, but that's just..." Trailing off, Ranma let an evil grin cross his features and popped up from the floor in one smooth motion. Kasumi jumped a bit at the sudden motion and Ranma waved to her. "I got to go get ready for the match, Kasumi. If you could, make sure you make Happosai's favorite for lunch."
He definitely had to sell this to his pops, and lunch was the only time he could be guaranteed to see him today before the match.
___===--- ( \/ ) ---===___
As Genma slipped back into a conscious state, he opened one bleary eye and saw Happosai pop up out of the crowd crowing in victory. "I knew it, I knew it! Bwahahaha." The old man was practically dancing in excitement, his gaze rapidly switching between Ranma and Kasumi as he made some kind of calculation.
"You! You're the one that's been watching me and Kasumi!" Ranma pointed accusingly at the Grandmaster of Anything Goes and the old man leered at the younger practitioner. Kasumi blushed as the entire crowd's attention swiveled to her and just about everyone outside of Ranma, Happosai, and the demure brunette blanched white in disbelief.
Ranma smacked his hand over his eyes as the attention turned to him again and battle auras sprung up around fiancees, suitors, and half the other martial artists and non-martial artists in the crowd. "Damn it. Not again."
Unable to move, Genma watched his son dive under the first barrage of weapons thrown his way and then jump onto the fence and over as the the side of the canal emptied of everyone save himself, Happosai, and Kasumi.
Kasumi smiled hesitantly, seeming at a loss and Genma wondered exactly what the old man had actually seen that sent him into such a tizzy. The man was a voyeur, but he wasn't sure why he would have popped up and outed his son and Soun's daughter just after the fight like that.
"The boys wouldn't have mentioned that you know," Happosai said after a minute. He grinned at Kasumi widely and started walking around her, seeming to measure her up.
Still looking confused, Kasumi asked, "Pardon? Wouldn't have mentioned what?"
"The Happo Happy Touch, of course." Happosai spun his pipe absently and added, "Hell, I'd forgotten about that little break through of yours in that little nap they forced on me in the first place." Genma grew more than a bit confused himself. He certainly hadn't mentioned it to the boy. If Happosai had forgotten it, then he couldn't have taught Ranma in time for the fight. Well, pretended to teach Ranma, so if that was--
He felt a shiver run up his spine as he re-parsed the second half of the Master's statement. Happosai couldn't have just said what he thought he'd heard.
"What break through is that, Grandfather?" Damn it, he had heard that right. It couldn't be though. The final straw that broke the camel's back. The Demon's most dreaded technique. An attack so horrible that even he wouldn't use it unless he was so angry and drunk he could barely see straight. (A more common occurrence than one might expect, unfortunately.)
Happosai cackled and said, "Using the Happo Happy Touch as an attack, of course. Never thought of it in better than two centuries and you adapted it in a month." He finished his circuits around Kasumi and stood in front of her. His grin was still positively maddening.
"So... it wasn't? But you were teaching me a special technique to deal with bullies, weren't you?" Kasumi still seemed at a bit of a loss, younger than he had seen her appear before this, though she was rapidly regaining the calm, steady presence Genma had grown to know over the past six months. In light of that time this conversation actually took on an almost surreal tone, but it was accompanied by mounting horror.
Shaking his head, Happosai said, "Not at all. You never mentioned them. Didn't find out till I saw you training with your Dad afterwards, demonstrating your achievement and telling the story. That was just the next step in your training." Genma's eyes widened and he desperately clamped down on the moan that tried to escape. It wasn't just a one off thing.
"And speaking of training, what say you start up again? Had no idea you'd kept up with it. You've got a fine touch, certainly. I thought one of my old rivals was in the neighborhood. You're not quite the rambunctious little brat who took so well to my teachings."
At this, Kasumi gave Happosai a pleasant smile that it took Genma a moment to identify as fond. Fond! Of Happosai! "I would love to study under you again, Grandfather Happosai."
"Bwahhahaha! Finally, an acknowledged and official heir to--"
Kasumi interrupted in a daring act that Genma knew he and Soun would be hard pressed to match. He hadn't thought her as foolish as Ranma under that steady exterior. "Oh, but we can't actually tell anyone you see. I promised."
"What? How are you going to train the next generation if no one knows to seek you out?" Happosai appeared more than a bit put out and Genma felt a moment of hope. If this fell through and nothing came of it he could attempt to drink himself to the point where the entire day was erased from his memory. He would never have to tell Tendo that he had raised the next Happosai as his own daughter.
"My, that is a problem, but I'm afraid I did promise," Kasumi said regretfully. "Mother was very firm."
From his position a bit closer to the Master, Genma heard him mutter, "Interfering biddy. Nice rack on her though." The stocky martial artist thought it was probably just as well it was low enough that Kasumi didn't hear it. Kimiko had been a frightening woman at times. Almost as scary as his own wife. When Happosai next spoke it was louder though, the same boisterous tones that most of this discussion had taken.
"I'll tell you what, Kasumi dear. How about we have a bit of a challenge to decide it then? A test like the old days. Your panty collecting skills versus mine. Mano a man--err womano?" Happosai cajoled, his expression calculating and as sly as anything Genma had ever seen on him.
Kasumi wavered, her expression fretful, but she finally said, "That would be fun, but... I just--"
"And I'll throw in this." Happosai pulled out a box. A fancy box, admittedly. Possibly a puzzle box of some kind based on the etching and something that would have made Genma's hands itch if it wasn't in the Master's possession. That didn't explain Kasumi's reaction though.
"Yes!" Kasumi reached for the box with wide, surprised eyes, then apparently realized what she had said. "Wait! I didn't mean..."
Happosai let loose another cackling laugh, tossing the box to Kasumi, who caught it and hugged it to her chest, her eyes still wide. "Too late, dear. It's a challenge-- one week from today, we begin. If you lose, you assume your role as a true heir to the Anything Goes School. If you win, I keep quiet about the whole thing."
Genma felt faint as the visions he had of Kasumi domesticating Ranma were replaced with the boy in female form, bound with lingerie and calling her mistress. As everything went black, he heard only two words to cap off the day.
There are a few changes based on the last proof reading I gave it just before publishing, but nothing too significant that I haven't already posted here. Mainly just cleaning up wording here and there or rearranging a few sections a little.
Not sure if it was an intentional in character mistake on your part or not, so to clarify just in case mano a mano means hand to hand, not man to man...
Took me awhile to get into this for some reason and I'm not completely satisfied with the start, but I'm leaving it as is for now to get moving on other parts of the chapter. I can always come back to it later if needed.
==========================================
Anything Goes Laundry Service
Chapter 5, Part 1
==========================================
Humming happily to himself, Happosai jotted down another note on the sheet that he was slowly filling. After that disaster with the Happo Fire Burst, he was taking the writing a bit more slowly. It was high time that the School actually had a proper heir, everything on the up and up as it were.
The problem with that was that it had been long enough since he had actually tried to do something fully legitimate-like that he couldn't quite recall how it went. So he was brainstorming. It couldn't be that hard after all, there were plenty of people who got by every day without lying, cheating, or stealing.
Admittedly, the only one he knew of was Kasumi, but it still happened. Twirling the pen he was using absently, the wind from the motion causing the panties hanging on lines in the room to flap lightly, he paused, then jotted down another few words.
Pausing to examine the list, he considered the first bullet point:
"Handicap. Skill different. Time?"
That seemed safe enough. Give the girl a bit more time than himself for collecting. He'd still win, of course, but that should make it seem, no, it would make it more fair. He nodded to himself and moved on to the next item:
"No count current collection?"
This was a bit harder to bear, but it would probably not be fair to count the hundred years or so of panties he had gathered since the great fire of 1898. The memory made him pause and he sniffled for a moment, then bowed his head and said a little prayer. Clapping his hands once, he put that tragedy out of his mind and returned to the task at hand.
Besides, if he knew those lousy ingrates he called apprentices and the rest of the family, they'd be trying to sabotage his little contest here. No need to give them more innocents to target.
The third and fourth bullet points were mainly about limiting the battle:
"Nerima only?" and "Collecting only during contest"
This seemed fair, if Happosai was going to give little Kasumi a head start, it wouldn't really do for him to be collecting during that time and getting in her way. Even if they didn't count towards his own totals.
At least, it wouldn't do for him to be collecting in the same area. If he set Nerima as the boundary for their little game, why, then for the week or whatever he ended up giving the girl before hand he would simply have to operate a little outside his normal hunting grounds.
That left only the last point:
"No help."
He stared at this for a moment longer than the others. He was pretty sure that line would probably disqualify Kasumi outright, even if she herself didn't countenance it. There was no way her family was going to leave things as it were and besides, he wanted to make this sporting and really test little Kasumi and her skills. No need to let the kids automatically break the rules.
Scrawling two more words next to the original sentence, he re-examined the line:
"No help.-- liberating lingerie."
That should work. Someone else touches a silky darling first, then it didn't count. Simple, easy to monitor, and it should mean that little Kasumi was at least involved in gathering up her silky darlings even if Ranma or someone else helped her really get into the spirit of things. It was also a great test of her senses, and, of course, his own were without question. Both of them should be able to identify if someone else had interfered.
He thought she'd appreciate the testing alone anyway and it might do the job by itself. There was nothing quite like going through a collection with each other to really bond a master and apprentice. It would be a beautiful moment, like seeing one's own grand daughter grow up. He wiped a tear away from his eye and sighed happily.
He wasn't quite sure if it would be sufficient to keep Genma out of things though. That boy had picked up some tricks while he was out that could throw things a bit. He'd simply have to have a word with his wayward apprentice to ensure he behaved. Or maybe keep him busy keeping Soun distracted.
Cackling to himself, Happosai drew a box around the five bullets, scribbled "Fair Contest" next to it, then went back to plotting out the rest of what he would need for his plans. He thought he might go call on little Yasuda Michi. The cutie still owed him a few favors for rescuing her from that beast she had been married to and she worked in that Dai Ichi place her father ran. Surely she could write up something suitably impressive looking and indecipherable that would hold up better than a contract scrawled on a paper napkin.
After all, the contest needed to be fair. What came after was for the good of the school and little Kasumi herself.
