Slipping through the apartment window, even one that was as high up as Setsuna's, was child's play for Ranma. Silently crossing her new quarters, Ranma gently turned on a small desk light and nervously looked around. She breathed a sigh of relief when she discovered that she was alone and her room appeared to have been undisturbed. Ranma then placed the dirty-brown bag on the desk and examined her 'take' for the night.
The first thing was the water-proof soap. She had found two and a half boxes in Shampoo's room. "I wonder where the other bars of soap were?" Ranma silently mused as she pulled out the second, larger box from the bag. It was a small, wooden box that resembled a miniature crate. Ranma fingered the Chinese lettering on the top with apprehension. "Instant Curse Spring of Drowned Girl," Ranma read to herself and sighed. "Either one will keep me safe from hot water and I have enough to last me a while. Damn. I wished that... damn that Nabiki."
Controlling her anger at the situation she found herself in, Ranma carefully placed the boxes of soap and instant spring water safely in the bottom of her pack, then set the pack in her closet. "They should be safe there," she thought as she settled into her futon and looked at the clock. "Better get to bed if I'm gonna beat everyone to the bath tomorrow- after that, I won't have to worry about hot water anymore."
Rising before the morning sun, Ranma crept into the apartment's large bath. Unlike many apartments that Ranma had seen, where the bath and furo were tiny - only big enough for one, this one was large. While not as large as the one at the Tendos', it was still large enough to accommodate at least two - maybe three people. Lathering herself up using cold water and the waterproof soap, Ranma effectively locked herself in her girl form - at least temporarily.
"There, that should do it," Ranma thought. "If I ration it enough, I should be able to stay a girl and hide more than long enough for things settle down. Once everything returns to normal, I'll deal with Nabiki - somehow."
After rinsing the last of the waterproof soap off and stowing it away in a small soapbox, Ranma eased herself into the warm water of the furo. Though she expected not to change, the fact that she was still a she, soaking in warm water lent an air of alienness to her already new surroundings. In spite of this, Ranma was intent on relaxing before starting her first full day as a nanny.
Unfortunately, life had other plans for Ranma.
"Miss Saotome!" chimed Hotaru as she slid the door to the bath open. "Good morning!"
"ACK!" Ranma squealed in surprise, almost submerging herself.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you," Hotaru said sincerely. Thankfully, she was wearing a bathrobe.
"N-no... I'm fine," Ranma stammered. "I wasn't expecting anyone to be up this early."
"Okay," Hotaru said softly as she slipped out of her bathrobe and onto a washing stool. Ranma panicked, averted her eyes and watched the ripples in the bath water as a distraction - which was a good plan until Hotaru asked, "Miss Saotome, would you please wash my back for me?"
"H-huh?" Ranma asked dumbly, panic gripping her heart.
"Could you wash my back? Aunty usually does it, but she isn't up yet,"
Hotaru explained as she sat patently waiting, her back to Ranma.
"Oh crap," Ranma thought. "Oh crappity, crappity, crap."
"Miss Saotome?" Hotaru said. "Is everything all right? I... I'm sorry. Did I offend you or anything?"
The hurt in the young teen's voice snapped Ranma out of her self-crappity thoughts and forced her to refocus on the needs of Hotaru. "Um... No! Of course not! I was... surprised, yeah, like you said. I'm just, er... used to bathing alone - yeah, that's it, and I wasn't expecting anyone. Yeah, right, uh-huh. That's all."
"Oh," Hotaru said plainly, the hurt in her tone still there. "If you want me to, I'll leave."
"No!" Ranma exclaimed while rapidly shaking her head. "Er, don't do that. It's my problem. Besides, I'm supposed to help take care of you... and we're all, ahh... girls here - er, right?" Ranma stammered.
"Okay," Hotaru replied. "But I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable."
"It's okay," Ranma said with determination. She wasn't going to let some stupid fear of nudity stand in the way of doing the right thing. Stepping from the furo with water sheeting off her body, she knelt down behind Hotaru and soaped up a wash rag. "Let me get your back for you - I want to help you."
"Thank you," Hotaru said while looking over her shoulder, gracing Ranma with a wide smile. Soon Ranma was soaping up the smaller girl's back and making some observations about the girl who she was charged with taking care of.
"Good lord, she is so pale - does this kid get outside any at all?" Ranma wondered as she rinsed the smaller girl off. She went from being freaked out about being around a naked girl to analyzing her physical development. "I know a lot of girls like to have pale skin, but this is almost pasty. Hmmm... She does have some muscles, but their tone is very soft... almost like a baby's." She peeked at Hotaru's ribs. "She's getting enough to eat, so she ain't starvin' or nothin', but she doesn't seem to have the layer of fat that a lot of girls her age should be gettin'."
Ranma frowned in her assessment. "Gotta talk to Setsuna and see if Hotaru has some weird disease or if she was a 'runt of the litter'. If she is just a runt, then gettin' her outside and some exercise will definitely help."
"All done," Ranma said as she helped Hotaru into the furo and followed her in to continue her soak. It was easier to be in the same room as Hotaru now that all of the naughty bits were safely submerged underwater.
Having calmed and gotten used to Hotaru's presence, Ranma relaxed a bit. But this was soon undone when the door to the bath slide open once again and Setsuna glided into the room. "Good morning Hotaru, Miss Saotome," she said as she let her bathrobe fall to the ground. "Did everyone sleep all right?"
While Ranma could ignore Hotaru's nudity because she was a child and mostly had her back to Ranma, it was impossible for Ranma not to see all of Setsuna in all her naked glory. To say that Setsuna was, to say the least, one of the most beautiful women that Ranma had seen would be a vast understatement. Then it dawned on Ranma that Setsuna's hair was her natural color and she clamped a hand over her nose to keep any blood from seeping out.
"I slept well, Aunty," Hotaru replied with a happy tone. "Miss Saotome already washed my back for me."
"That's good. How are you this morning?" Setsuna asked directly at Ranma, who was trying hard not to notice the many interesting jiggles that the green-haired woman had as she moved.
"Er... er... er... I gotta go get breakfast started!" Ranma announced and almost literally teleported herself from the furo, out the door, and into the hallway.
"Wow, she's so fast," commented Hotaru as Setsuna merely snickered.
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While escorting Hotaru to where she attended school, Ranma took in her surroundings carefully since street signs were hard to come by in
It made Ranma dread what kind of school uniform was waiting for her at Juban high. When Setsuna found out that she was not planning on attending school, Ranma was quickly admonished and pretty much ordered to attend. Setsuna made it a point to let it be known that a 'proper education' was part of the job.
"Well, she is the boss," Ranma thought forlornly as they came upon a grouping of buildings surrounded by a low wall with a wrought iron gate. The words "Mugen Gakuen" were cast into a plaque that was mounted into the brick wall next to the gate.
"We're here," Hotaru announced in a small voice.
"It looks... nice," Ranma commented as she looked at the grounds of the private school.
"It's okay," Hotaru said thinly. "See you after school?"
"I'll be here," Ranma said in a surprisingly reassuringly way. "Er, can you point me in the direction of Juban high?"
"It's just down the street," Hotaru replied with some amusement. "It's just a few blocks away."
"Right, I'll see you later then," Ranma said awkwardly as they parted ways, Hotaru heading into the building and Ranma in the direction of Juban high. Less than five minutes later, Ranma found herself in front of a building that, except for the details, could have passed for Furinkan. Shrugging, Ranma entered the main building and located the office within.
The principal was not exactly what Ranma was expecting. The Schoolmaster was actually helpful, but did reaffirm what Setsuna had told Ranma earlier, that a uniform was required. Internally, Ranma balked at the thought of wearing a school - or any other type of uniform - but in the end concluded that it would help with her disguise. Then, of course, there was an unexpected twist that Ranma had not counted on which come up and resolved itself without any effort on her part.
"Oh yes," the Principal said as he was showing Ranma to the door, "Your employer, Ms. Meioh, called in and arranged for your records to be brought over from your old high school."
"S-she did?" Ranma said in surprise.
"Yes, and I already took care of the corrections," the Principal of Juban said. "I can't believe they had you down as a male... but knowing Principal Kuno like I do, he probably did that to you because you didn't cut off your pigtail."
"Er, right!" Ranma readily agreed. "He always had it out for my pigtail," she said as she absently twirled her hair.
"Rest assured we don't have any nonsense like that here," the Principal said with a smile. "I look forward to seeing you tomorrow; dressed and ready for school."
"Yes sir, I'll see you tomorrow."
At the uniform store, Ranma fingered the Juban high uniform as it hung from its hanger, and pushed back the idle thought that this might be the beginning of something bigger. "Whoa," she thought. "I never seen a uniform look so... girly." Then Ranma thought somewhat smugly to herself, "Heh, Nabiki would never suspect that I'd wear something like this,"
Unlike the uniforms of Furinkan, the Juban uniforms were similar to what Hotaru wore except in color. The blouse was white, and unlike Hotaru's, long sleeved with dark blue and red striped trim. The sailor-type kerchief was the same dark blue color as was the knee-length skirt that went along with the whole ensemble. Ranma was not particularly thrilled with the bow in the front, but justified it to herself as all being part of the disguise.
"Oh well, Setsuna did say I had to attend school as part of the job," Ranma thought somewhat forlornly as she half-sneered at the collar and bow. "And she did give me the money for it."
After leaving the uniform store, Ranma spent the next few hours getting acquainted with her new surroundings. You could never tell when you would need an escape route and Ranma was determined not to be entrapped by her 'master' or Nabiki. Pushing those unpleasant thoughts aside with a disgusted snort, Ranma noted the time and headed toward Hotaru's school to pick her up.
Nearing the gates, where students of various ages moved through and scattered, Ranma spied Hotaru, but something was obviously amiss. She was by one of the brick posts for the gates and she was not alone. Ranma noted a taller, slightly older boy standing over Hotaru in a menacing way. She might not have know exactly what was going on, but she knew it wasn't good. Ranma crossed the last few dozen yards almost instantaneously and came up behind the boy.
"I hope for your sake that there isn't a problem," Ranma half-growled to the boy, making him jump.
"What's it to- AHH!" the boy cried out as Ranma took his hand in hers, twisted it slightly and applied pressure.
"Yay okay squirt?" Ranma asked Hotaru.
"Yes, Miss Saotome," Hotaru replied with relief filling her voice.
"What's going on?"
"Hiro doesn't like me," Hotaru explained plainly.
"Is that so?" Ranma said to Hiro.
"It's none of you busin- AHHH!" the boy tried to answer in a defiant-laced voice, but was cut down as Ranma applied pressure.
"Well, I'm Hotaru's nanny and it is my business," Ranma sharply said.
"How are you doing that?" Hotaru asked as she watched Ranma easily subdue Hiro.
"This? It's easy," Ranma answered. "It's all about proper leverage."
"AHH!" the boy cried as Ranma applied a small amount of pressure to his hand.
"See?" Ranma said as she pointed with her free hand at the way she held the boy's hand. "It doesn't take much pressure and strength for this hold."
Hotaru nodded at the lesson as the trapped bully tried to wiggle free.
"And if you think they're gettin' too lively, you just push a bit with your thumb-"
"AHHH!"
" - and it reminds them that you have'em by the bal-, er hand,' Ranma explained. "Do you want to try now?" Ranma asked Hotaru.
"Um, I don't think I should, Miss Saotome," Hotaru replied softly.
"Think of it as a taste of stuff I'll be teaching you later," Ranma said, forgetting that this was supposed to be only a temporary hiding place until things blew over.
"Well... only if it's all right with him," Hotaru said.
"That I'm sure of," Ranma said cheerfully before looking at the boy dead in the eye; the tone of her voice dropping to sub-zero. "I'm sure he'd think of it as an apology for pickin' on you, right?"
The boy tried to free his hand again and was rewarded with a jolt of pain.
"Right?" Ranma said somewhat forcefully.
"Right! Right!" the boy agreed readily.
"Good. Now Hotaru, take what's-his-name's other hand and hold it like I'm doing," Ranma said as Hotaru tried to mimic the hold.
"Like this?"
"Almost squirt,' Ranma said, ignoring the boy who had turned sheet-white. "You need to bend his wrist back a little more."
"Like this?"
"Yeah," Ranma replied. "Not bad. Now take your thumb and press the spot between his middle and ring finger..."
"Okay."
"Press a bit harder."
"Okay," Hotaru repeated as she obeyed Ranma's direction.
"AHHH!" the boy cried out.
"See? That wasn't so hard was it?" Ranma said while releasing her grip on the boy. The boy tried to take advantage of this and make his escape, but was stopped when Hotaru applied pressure to his hand.
"AHHH!"
"You're right Miss Saotome," Hotaru said with a thin smile. "This is easy."
"Just practice that everyday and you'll have it down in no time," Ranma said, she then added dangerously to the captive boy, "I'm sure he wouldn't mind helping you with this - would you?"
"Hell yes I min- AHHH!"
"Wrong answer, idiot," Ranma admonished. "Wanna try again?"
"Okay! Okay!" the boy gave in. "Just let me go!"
"Okay Hotaru, let'im loose," Ranma said. As Hotaru obeyed, Ranma snatched the boy up, leaving him dangling in her grip. "Remember, you said you'd help. If I find that you went back on your word..." Ranma let the threat hang as she set the boy down.
Escorting Hotaru home, Ranma felt smugly satisfied with the lesson she had just dished out. Hotaru, who seemed to enjoy the turnabout, was quiet and wore a slightly thoughtful look on her face.
"Ya okay, Hotaru?" Ranma asked, picking up on the change in Hotaru's mood.
"Just wondering... did we do the right thing?"
"What'ya... I mean, what do you mean? He's a bully, I just taught him a lesson," Ranma replied.
"I know, but...," Hotaru paused in thought, soon she stopped in their walk and looked up at Ranma who had also stopped. "I admit it felt... good to do that to Hiro, but it seemed wrong at the same time."
"Whatta mean wrong?" Ranma asked perplexed. "All we did was teach him a lesson. He should know better than to bully people weaker than him."
"I know, but it seemed to me that... in order to stop others from bullying the weak, you have to be a bigger bully?" Hotaru asked.
Ranma's brain tried to process that concept, but it seemed just out of reach. "What da ya mean?"
"I mean, in order to keep Hiro from picking on me, you threatened him with worse," Hotaru explained. "Isn't that bullying? Even if you are bullying a bully?"
For some reason that made Ranma's brain jump a sprocket. She had not really looked at things that way. She had been so busy stopping the little punk from picking on Hotaru and dispensing her vision of justice that she had not even questioned her way of doing it. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time and Hotaru did seem to enjoy getting in some payback. Now Ranma wondered if what she did was right. "What should I have done then?" Ranma asked.
"Well, maybe you should have held him while I went and got the principal," Hotaru suggested. "He is a student there and they do frown on that type of behavior."
Ranma thought about that with a sinking feeling in her gut. Then she vocalized a thought.
"But the principal wasn't around," Ranma said. "We handled it the best way we could."
"I guess so, "Hotaru said in a not quite convinced manner. "Stopping a bully is one thing, but it seems wrong to... take the law into your own hands."
Stumbling - physically and mentally - at that, Ranma tried to come up with something, anything to justify what she did. It was slightly disheartening to have the wind taken out of her sails like that, but Ranma couldn't see any way of excusing her behavior. "Okay squirt," Ranma said. "Next time I catch anyone picking on you, we'll do what you just said, get the principal or whoever involved."
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"I'll be right back," Ranma told Hotaru as they entered the apartment. It had taken the better part of two weeks but Ranma had started to settle into her new duties. Part of her had not expected this job to take this much time. "Let me change and we'll grab a snack and start to work."
After receiving an enthusiastic reply from the young girl, Ranma made her way to the back of the large apartment to where her room was. There, she tiredly set her schoolbooks on her desk, sighed, and prepared for work. She removed her school uniform and hung it neatly on a clothes hanger for tomorrow's classes and took down her 'nanny uniform' and slipped it on over herself.
It roughly resembled the maid's uniform that Akane and Mr. Tendo wore during the martial arts eating thing. It was black, mid thigh-length dress that was well tailored to fit Ranma's form. It had a narrow white collar that circled the neck and, since the weather was still warm outside, was thankfully short sleeved. Over the dress, Ranma donned a plain, white apron that she wore around the apartment, but didn't have to wear when she was outside. The interesting thing about the apron was that it too was tailored to fit her form.
Next, she rolled on the white, knee-length stockings and slipped into her house slippers.
Last, Ranma secured a pendant-like broach to the front of her collar. It was a small, emerald-green jewel that was unassuming. Setsuna had insisted that she wear it because it was supposed to be a family badge that employees of Setsuna's family used to wear. Of course as old as it was, it supposedly acquired some magical protections, brought luck, had a demon trapped with it, or some such thing that old family heirlooms are supposed to acquire as they aged.
To Ranma it was just a pretty rock - not that she'd ever admit to using the word "pretty". Ranma just shrugged her shoulders and figured that it would help with her disguise since a proper nanny probably should wear one piece of jewelry. Checking her reflection in the mirror, Ranma double-checked to make sure everything was in place and was satisfied with what she saw.
Overall the uniform a blend of sophisticated and traditional styles that reflected the tastes of her employer.
Pausing just long enough to check and see if Hotaru was doing her homework, Ranma headed immediately to the kitchen to prepare some snacks. After she placed the tray of tea and rice cakes on the table, Ranma retrieved her own homework from her room and sat beside Hotaru and worked on it. Finding today's homework easy, Ranma's mind started to reflect on what her life had become over the last few weeks that she'd been here.
Usually her day started with a bath for both her and Hotaru, then she dropped Hotaru off at her school in the morning, headed to Juban High, after school she would pick up Hotaru and attend any after school activity she may have - which wasn't often, come home, have a snack, do homework, teach Hotaru Tai-chi, check Setsuna's schedule and prepare dinner if needed, then there was 'down time' where Ranma would - depending on how Hotaru was feeling - play games with her or take her out to the park to meet with friends, and all of this was followed by an evening bath and bedtime.
Truly a full time job and then some.
Most nights after Hotaru was in bed, Ranma swung up to the roof and practiced her martial arts. Though she felt she was well concealed, Ranma knew it would only be a matter of time before she was discovered and recognized - most likely by Ryoga - and all hell would break out. She was determined not to let her other skills slip while she was practicing the 'Saotome Secret Technique'.
Ranma found her life had gained a new routine. It was a routine that unexpectedly had a sense of accomplishment to it, one that Ranma found more fulfilling than, say, beating Ryoga, Kuno or Mousse. Ranma smiled as Hotaru's tongue peeked between her lips and out of the side of her mouth as she concentrated on a math problem and marveled at the young girls determination to 'get stronger'. Though Ranma had learned martial arts as a means of combat, which usually meant beating up bad guys, she was pleased that she could take what she learned and apply it to helping this one girl.
"Miss Saotome?" Hotaru asked, breaking Ranma from her musings. "What are you thinking?"
Blinking as she came back to the here and now, Ranma gave Hotaru a slight smile. "Nothing, are you through with your homework?"
"Almost," Hotaru replied. "So, who is he?"
"Who's who?"
"The boy you were thinking about," Hotaru said with mischievous eyes.
Ranma's hands spasmed a bit, making the pen in Ranma's hand fly up into the air and land on the open book in front of her. This caused Hotaru to let a dainty giggle escape through her lips.
"I knew it!" Hotaru said triumphantly. "You found a boyfriend? Who is he?"
"I-it's no one!" Ranma replied in a half-panic. Boyfriend? Gah! No way! "I was just thinkin' about what I gotta do next, that's all."
"Really?" Hotaru asked with doubt and disappointment in her tone.
"Really," Ranma said accompanied by vigorous nodding of her head. "I ain't got no- I do not have time for a boyfriend," Ranma explained. "Gotta remember to speak proper," she admonished herself. "Setsuna wouldn't like it if Hotaru ended up talkin' like me."
"But you want one, right?"
"Gah!" Ranma thought. "What's this interest in my sex life? Oh yeah, I forgot, girls are like that - and they call guys perverts." Looking down on the smaller girl, Ranma smiled and formulated a response. "Nah, not really. Besides, if I got a boyfriend that would mean less time for you and we wouldn't want that, would we?"
"I guess not... but you want a boyfriend someday, right?"
"Er, yeah - um - Yes! Of course I do, but not right now," Ranma quickly replied while not trying to gag on the thought of her having a boyfriend. She was a guy! She just didn't swing that way. "Maybe after high school or something."
"Okay," Hotaru said, disappointed that her new nanny wasn't doing anything interesting boy-wise.
Ranma leaned down on the table and rested her chin in her hand, and looked at Hotaru in the eye. "Ready to learn more Tai-chi?" she asked with a lilt in her voice.
"Oh yes," came the enthusiastic reply. "And then the park?"
"Okay squirt, the park it is."
"Yay!"
