Chapter Text
Ranma stepped off the train, looking down at herself. T-shirt, jeans, jacket, a normal get up, with a dark hair dye. It was...odd wearing clothes like this, even after wearing them for so many times, yet it was needed, she needed to blend. The sunglasses over her blue eyes where the last piece of the current ensemble.
It was sad she had to resort to this...but it worked. For a while...but then...
She shook her head. Now was not the time to think of that. The whole reason she was here was because this was the least likely place she would've thought to come, so he would be even less likely to come.
Pulling out the paper, she looked at the address. The room she was going to rent was decently priced, and her current wad of cash could last a while.
She did also need to get a job to help, plus...there was the other stuff...ugh.
With a sigh, she started walking. It was a nice day out....so no need to feel to bad, after all, just...head out, and get to your new place.
Akane stood on the stone, breathing slow, trying to find her center, and align it with the smooth material beneath her...if only she could get her ki to flow down.
Knock-knock-knock.
Letting out a sigh, Akane walked off the stone by the pond and around the corner of the house, finding a lady her age there.
"Hey, you the new renter?"
The girl turned to look...and started to look her over. Akane was used to people looking at her, but it wasn't often they did it like that. Like a fighter accessing another fighter.
She then slowly nodded, "I am...Ranko. Are you Ms. Tendou?"
"One of them. I'm Akane, the youngest Tendou here. It's me and my two older sisters. The other two are out right now, but they'll be back later. Come on in and I'll give you the grand tour."
Opening the doors, Akane let Ranko in. Akane started downstairs.
"Here's the main room, we usually eat or relax here, though we usually eat at our own times. The kitchen is through there. There's an old mini-fridge in the room upstairs you'll be using, we ask that you try and keep your own foods in there to avoid confusion or conflict."
"That works for me."
"Great start then. Next, over here we have a small bathroom. The big one is upstairs and is the one mainly used by me and my sisters. Past renters have opted to just use this one for privacy and such."
"Perfect for me actually."
Akane nodded. She had sounded oddly chipper about the bathroom...well whatever, everyone has their own things they prefer.
Stepping out side, she gestured the structure across the sun bridge, "That is our family dojo. We don't teach anyone these days...so feel free to use it for exercise and whatnot, just don't interrupt me when I'm doing something in here."
"Alright."
Nodding, Akane led her upstairs.
"As you can see, our rooms have our names. Respect our spaces, and I won't have to toss you out on your ass."
"I...don't think that'll be a problem."
"Sounds good. Next over here, we have your room."
Akane opened the door and let her in. Ranko went in, and looked around. It was plain, a desk in the corner, with the earlier mentioned mini-fridge on the floor next to it. Opposite corner, a western style bed, though it was lacking any covers on the mattress.
She nodded and turned to Akane, "This will work, thank you."
"You're welcome. I'll let my sisters know you appreciate the room and stuff."
Ranko just nodded, turning back to the room, but stopped, eyes locking into the wall by the door.
Akane stick her head in to look, "Is something wrong?"
"No...just noticed the patch job here. It almost looks like someone knocked down most of the wall then put it back up."
Akane stepped all the way in, and looked, seeing the very slight discoloration of the old and newer plaster side by side. Most people didn't even noticed if they didn't already know. She waved her hand to her house guest, "Nothing quite that dramatic, this used to be a guest room with just a sliding door, but we added in the new door when we started to rent the room."
Ranko nodded slowly, her expression not really changing, but it wasn't disbelieving her at all.
Akane nodded back then turned, "I'll be around if you need anything, but I'll let you get settled in the meantime."
After getting her room situated, Ranma came down, about to check out the dojo, when she spotted Akane outside, standing on the rocks circling the pond.
"Your stance it to stiff and tense. Let your form sway like a tree in the wind, and feel the Ki in and around you in the motion."
The blue haired girl blinked, looking over at her, and tilted her head, "You know martial arts?"
"Yeah...traveled a lot with my...teacher for years. Though it ended badly us when they went too far...I still practice for myself though. Speaking of, I'm going to get some stretches down in the dojo. If I'm good to do so?"
"Sure. I'm just...trying to do this Ki exercise."
"Alright."
Ranma headed into the dojo, and took in the space. Pretty nice space, wide and good height. Taking to the center of the room, she started going through a kata.
Nabiki walked into the house, seeing Akane sitting at the table, deep in though.
"Hey sis, what's on your mind?"
"Oh, the new tenant arrived...but she's a martial artist apparently, and a really skilled one. She saw me trying to do a Ki concentration exercise and seemed to know exactly what it was after just a few seconds, and told me what I was going wrong, and surprisingly it worked a lot better."
"Don't tell me you're going back to old habbits now."
"Oh, no. I've learned my lesson...she just...didn't seem like a martial artist..."
"They come in all shapes and sizes you know, BIG and SMALL, remember?"
"Right...I remember..."
"So speaking of, where's out new house guest?"
"In her bathroom now. Washing up from their workout. Speaking of that, I actually peaked in on her while she was in the dojo, and she was up in the air like master...her toes and fingertips would just barely touch the floor before she was back up in the air."
"Wow...that is impressive. Maybe you can trade notes later."
"Maybe...but for some reason...something about her moves...they're...it's tickling something in the back of my head that I'm trying to recall..."
"Like you've seen it before?"
"Maybe...or something similar..."
"Well if you figure it out, let me know."
Nabiki grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, flipping through the channels a bit, with Akane shrugging lightly to herself before joining. For a little bit they sat there, before footsteps caught their attention, and turning to look, they saw their new tenant walking by, who stopped when she spotted Nabiki.
"Hi, you must be one of Akane's sisters."
"I am. Nabiki Tendou."
"Ranko. Thank you for the hospitality."
"No need, just pay rent on time and I'll have nothing to complain about."
Ranma shrugged, "Fair enough."
The girl walked past, baggy pajama pants and t-shirt hanging off her frame. Once the sound of her footsteps was out of earshot, Nabiki turned to her sister, "She's sexy."
"Don't you dare. I'm not looking to date anyone right now."
"Just trying to look out for my younger sister."
"Maybe. You might change your mind when you see her real hair color."
"...what?"
"If you looked closely at her roots, the color was starting to fade, she's not a natural black-haired girl. I'm betting she's got something more exotic to match those bright blue eyes of hers. Blonde...maybe red!"
"Nabiki...I know you're a "professional" model and photographer, but you're at home. Save that analytical stuff for your job."
"Fine..."
Kasumi looked down at the food she was wrapping up, smiling at the thought of the other's face's to enjoy the food...speaking of face...a new one was about to walk in. Turning to the door from the front of the house, a shorter girl stepped in, her bright blue eyes scanning the room and landed on the phone on the wall, before landing on Kasumi.
"Hi, you must be the last sister, Kasumi."
"Thanks me, and you must be Ranko. What can I do for you?"
"I was hoping to use the phone and see if I could order something from one of the local restaurants for myself, since I don't got anything for myself in my mini fridge upstairs yet."
"Oh I won't have that on your first night here. Come around and have a seat at the table with us, I have more then enough, and I would love to get to know out new house guest."
"I'm fine, I wouldn't want to be a bother-"
"Nothing to worry about Ranko, Akane was just being professional, we're not that stingy."
"I...alright. I can pay you back for the food-"
"Ranko, no need. Just help me take the food out and we'll call it even."
"...yes ma'am."
Smiling, Kasumi passed a few dishes to her before working on picking some up herself. In a few minutes they had the table and were seated, Nabiki smirking at Ranko, "I'm see Kasumi got you."
"...I guess?"
She snickered a bit, before they each had a plate loaded with food, Ranko's loaded a bit more than the others, before slowly digging in.
"Wow. You can eat that much and keep such a great figure? What's your secret?"
"Ah...no secret. Just inherited a good metabolism and plenty of working out with my own martial arts stuff."
"I see. Speaking of what kind of style do you do? Akane said she caught a glimpse and was impressed."
The blue haired girl glared to her sister, but Ranko just chuckled, though there was a tinge of tension in her face and voice, "Honestly...it's not something I'd rather not spread around. There's...a history between me and my teacher...one that didn't end well and I left on bad terms."
"Really? They didn't take you off the Style's register or something?"
"The...style wasn't an official one, no actual paperwork...just a man with unrealistic expectations and a lack of common sense. Couldn't take no for an answer and wouldn't ever admit he was wrong."
Akane murmured to herself, "That sounds familiar."
Ranko turned to her, "What was that?"
"Oh...sorry, it's just...your words was familiar to what we were...kind of familiar with?"
"Oh...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up a sore spot."
Nabiki waved her off, "No, I started it. I asked questions bring up a sore spot for you."
"Your questions didn't mean to bring it up...and I kind of rambled anyway."
The room kind of fell into an awkward silence, before Ranko spoke again, "So anyways...what do you guys like to do for fun in Nerima?"
Ranma leaned over the table, flipping through the newspaper at the job offerings in the town of Furikan...though options were slim...
"Need a job?"
She looked over her shoulder, finding Nabiki there in pajamas holding a mug of strong smelling coffee.
"Yeah, I should get one even if I'm set for a while, but I'm trying to..."
"Something that's flexible?"
"That's be a plus...but there's other things to consider."
"I know a guy. Our family doctor needs a new assistant since his old one retired. He's a nice guy, martial artist as well, plus he's dating Kasumi, so she can vouch if you need it."
"Oh that' fine, I wouldn't want to be of any trouble."
"Oh you'll be fine. Mostly he just needs someone to clean and help manage the front desk."
"Well...I guess it wouldn't hurt."
"Alright. I'll see if Akane can take you."
"That's not needed, just give me the address and I'll figure it out."
"Oh don't be like that. Besides, it'll give her a chance to get out of the house for something that isn't a martial arts tournament."
"...alright..."
Ranma watched her leave, then turned forward and glanced back down at the newspaper. She'd been there a week now, and things had been going smoothly, having gotten herself some stuff for her room, and she was now settled for the time being, now she needed to get herself a job, and it seemed like she was possibly getting one with a doctor of some kind.
Just then Kasumi walked in, holding a box, "Ranko, this arrived for you."
Eyes lighting up with a small smile, she took the box and tore it open, then let out a small chuckle to herself.
"Finally...it usually takes forever for these to arrive."
"It's...just soap."
Ranma gave a shrug, "I...have a thing that this specific soap helps me with. Nothing bad, but annoying if it's not treated. Usually, the delivery for these is slow so I buy them in bulk to last me a while."
"I guess that makes sense. Would you like me to put then in your bathroom so you can get ready to leave."
"Oh...ah...sure. Thank you."
Handing over the box, Ranma got up, as Akane and Nabiki walked in.
Kasumi carried the box into the smaller bathroom and set them with Ranko's other bath supplies, noticing the bar of soap already there seemed to match the ones in the box. As she set it down, she looked over that box. It was mandarin, and she knew a decent bit, though she was a little rusty. Curious what it was that Ranko needed, she read the label.
"Waterproof soap...oh my, how interesting."