Strange Bedfellows
A Ranma Fanfiction
By Bob Lobster


Disclaimer:Why do we even bother with disclaimers anyway? Who would
sue a fanfiction writer?

Chapter One

    *Sigh* The girl sighed once more, for the innumerable time in the
past hour. She'd been in the same position for that entire time, and
loathing every moment of it. Reaching one delicate hand into the pail
at her side, she pulled a large potato out, at the same time picking
up a small paring knife with the other hand. Sighing again, she
brushed a few dark green strands of hair out of her face, pushing them
over her ear to meet up with the rest of the streak, which ran down
the side of her face. She smirked a bit, recalling the reaction her
mother had when she had originally dyed the green streaks into either
side of her face in her otherwise dark brown hair. Then she sighed
once more realizing that was probably part of the reason she was here
in the first place. Bringing the knife up to the vegetable in her
hand, she meticulously began removing it's skin. Once done she threw
the now-skinless potato into a water-filled pail to her right, before
reaching once again into the seeming bottomless pail of them on her
left.

    Glancing at the pile of unskinned potatoes on her left, she sighed
once again and threw a dirty look at the one in her hand. Putting down
both knife and potato she gave one last defeated sigh before letting
her head fall into her hands. After a few contemplative moments, she
allowed herself to express her feelings verbally. "It's not fair."

    The older woman standing a few feet from her turned a kindly eye
to the girl, shaking her head a bit at the girl's rather melodramatic
attitude, before speaking up. "I know you don't like it, Megumi dear,
but it's not that bad. You're making a little extra money, aren't
you?"

    "Yeah, I know that Mrs. Takani, and I appreciate the money, but do
I really need to be spending so much time doing something this
tedious. If they gave me a decent job to do, it wouldn't be so bad,
but I've been peeling vegetables every weekend for weeks now." Megumi
shook her head a bit before picking the potato and knife back up again
and continuing with her pealing. "It's not that I've ever done
anything bad, why the hell do I need to learn 'discipline'?"

    "I know, dear, but your parents don't see it that way. They see
you being 'rebellious' and think that they have to work it out of
you." The woman lays down the knife she was using on the fish before
her and walks the short distance to Megumi. Putting a hand on the
girl's shoulder, she smiles down on the younger girl and rubs her
shoulder in a comforting fashion. "You know they're just doing what
they think is best for you."

    Megumi looks up at the older woman with frustration clear on her
face. "But it's not like I'm doing drugs or something, it was just
some hair dye."

    "And the navel ring." Mrs. Takani reminded her with a bit of a
mischievous grin on her face. The younger woman gives her a baleful
glare before sighing melodramatically.

    "And the navel ring. Honestly, you'd think they'd never seen a
piercing before." She moved her shirt up slightly to see the small
dragon-shaped piercing in her belly button. A smile graced her
features as she flicked the ring lightly with her finger, making it
jump a bit. "And it really does look good on me."

    Mrs. Takani laughed lightly at the girl's attitude, walking back
over to where she had been working previously. As she began slicing
the fish up once more, she continued with her conversation with the
younger girl. "It does indeed look very good on you, dear, you won't
hear me say any different. Your parents, however, still see it as some
sort of rebellion, a sign that you're not the perfect, demure and
lady-like girl that we were all raised to be. You know they don't mean
to hurt you, just acting the way they were taught."

    "I know, and you're right, but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy
it any more. I mean, pealing potatoes? Isn't that, like, a punishment
in some places?" Megumi shook her head again, allowing her shirt to
fall back in place. She reached out to where she'd left the knife and
began her hated task once more. "It wouldn't be so bad if they hadn't
insisted that Grandpa give me the most menial job possible."

    "Look on the bright side, dear, it's not every girl who gets
constant access to an onsen." The older woman stated cheerily,
attempting to alleviate the heavy mood that her young co-worker seemed
determined to stay in.

    "Yeah, but I could do that anyway. I mean, Grandpa owns the place,
so I could come here anytime I want and not have to spend most of my
time pealing potatoes and carrots and anything else they can stick in
front of me." Megumi knew that the woman was trying to bring her mood
up, but was determined to wallow in self-pity for a while. Everyone
deserved to once in a while when they got a raw deal in life, and she
was determined to take it for as much sympathy as she could get. In
reality, she did appreciate the open-air baths, and she loved having
the extra money, but she would have much rather gone without and got
to spend the weekend hanging out with her friends then being here.
"Besides, I'm a teenage girl, I should be out at the mall, hanging out
with my friends and ogling boys not stuck here doing a kitchen's dirty
work. The best years of my life are slipping away from me."

    Mrs. Takani smiled again at the girl's antics, remembering how
melodramatic she was at that age. Although, the girl did have a point,
she should be able to spend some time with someone her own age as
opposed to the older women that worked in the kitchens. "How about
that new girl your Grandfather hired. Perhaps you could make friends
with her."

    "New girl? I don't remember anyone mentioning someone new." This
was somewhat odd to Megumi since she was usually in the know of all
gossip going around the place. One had to keep occupied where one
could, and that was the best source of amusement around. Although, she
had only gotten here a couple of hours ago, and had only really been
working with Mrs. Takani, who wasn't as interested in gossip as the
other girls, during that time. The girl must have been hired during
the week, while she was at her parents' house attending school.

    "Oh yes, I suppose you haven't had a chance to met her yet, have
you. She's quite the charming young lady. A little on the rough side
but she seems to have a good heart." She thought back to her only
meeting with the young lady who had begun work at the Inn a few nights
before. She had been a bit lacking in knowledge of manners, but seemed
to be trying to remain polite. She'd had such a sad look in her eyes
though; perhaps making friends with Megumi would do her some good.
"She's the same age as you, as well, and seemed a bit out of place.
Perhaps she could use a friend here as much as you could."

    "Hmmm, perhaps I'll meet her later. It'd be nice to have someone
to hang out with when I'm not being tortured." Megumi noticed that
Mrs. Takani let the slightly disgruntled comment go before continuing.
"What was the new girl's name, anyway?"

    "I believe it was Ranma. A bit of a strange name, especially for a
girl, but it seems to fit her rather well for some reason." Mrs.
Takani considered her own words for a few moments, wondering where the
observation had come from, before dismissing it from her mind. People
said she was a good judge of character, perhaps it was merely her
intuition getting the better of her. "She's a pretty young girl, with
bright red hair. You definitely can't miss her."

    Megumi merely mumbled off-handedly, lost in thought about this
newest development. *Ranma. I wonder what she's like.*

*******************************************************************

     Ranma sighed to herself, leaning back against the wall behind
her. She had just delivered another stack of dirty dishes from the
main dinning room of the inn to the kitchen in the back and needed a
moment to regain her mental focus before going back out on the floor.
She'd only been working here for a few days and it was already
beginning to grate on her nerves. It was bad enough that she had to be
travelling in the first place, on a desperate mission that she
couldn't afford to fail, but she had to have brought to moron twins
with her.

    Not that she didn't appreciate Mousse and Ryoga coming with her,
the idea of going on such a long trip by herself made even them a
welcomed addition. She was also grateful that the two of them had
actually offered their help in retrieving the Kaisuifu, the mysterious
kettle which had the power to unlock her curse, allowing her to be a
man again. The battle with Herb was going to be a difficult one, and
she was very happy to have backup on this one. Normally she would be
upset at the thought of anyone helping her in a fight, but the stakes
were far to high on this one for any such bravado to remain. If it
meant getting her manhood back, she would gladly use any advantage she
could get. No, the real reason she was upset at having brought the two
was that she had forgotten just how stupid the two of them could be.
Two days into their little trip, Mousse had mistaken his backpack for
a large Tanuki statue, something only Mousse could manage with his bad
eyesight, and lost all their money and the map they needed to find
their destination.

    Which, of course, was why she was here in the first place. With no
more money to travel and no real knowledge of where they were going,
the three of them had begged jobs out of the kindly, old couple who
ran the inn in order to make some money to continue their search.
Hopefully, once they had made some travelling money, they could pick
up the trail of Herb and his entourage before it was too late. The
only good thing, it seemed, was that Herb planned on getting to the
kettle on foot, whereas Ranma and company had taken a train right off
the bat. This, presumably, put them a fair bit ahead of their
adversaries, giving them ample time to replenish their cash supply
before needing to set out again.

    They were actually quite lucky that they were able to get the jobs
they did, and so quickly too. Although, at times, Ranma wondered if
she should curse that same luck. Not that the job was bad, or even
remotely difficult really - after working for the Old Ghoul Ranma was
fully convinced that she could work anywhere with relative ease - but
the constant stream of perverted old men trying to hit on her was
really beginning to fray her nerves. That wasn't accounting for the
ladies constantly complimenting her on what a lovely young lady she
was. Frankly, the last thing Ranma ever wanted to be considered was a
young lady, lovely or not, and having that fact constantly thrown back
at her, whether they meant harm or not, was only adding to her
melancholy mood.

    If she had anyone except Ryoga and Mousse to talk to it might have
made the time seem a lot less monotonous, but she couldn't seem to
hold a conversation with the two boys before one of them got into a
huff about something, sometimes managing to set the other off as well.
She knew, of course, that she could learn a bit of tact and had a
habit of insulting people without really realizing it, but one would
think that those two would have realized this by now. They should have
known her long enough to know not to take everything she said
seriously but they still managed to get upset when she stuck her foot
in her mouth. For the majority of their journey thus far, this had led
to Ranma more or less keeping to herself in an effort to curb her bad
habits and keep the peace. Unfortunately, the lack of conversation
only lent to Ranma's already heavy sense of loneliness and depression
at her situation.

    Shaking her head to clear it of such thoughts, Ranma looked up at
the clock and smiled a bit, realizing that her shift was essentially
over. A little clean up and she'd be able to take off back to the
campsite for the night. Not that the sparse conversation she'd get
back there would really help improve her mood much, but it was better
than having to laugh at stupid jokes and put up with old men and their
flirting. At least they seemed to be a lot less perverted than the
average male in Nerima, keeping their flirting to a verbal level and
not trying to feel her up at all. She didn't think she'd be able to
weather that without breaking a few heads, an act that would get them
fired pretty quickly.

    She shook her head once more, banishing all thoughts of perverts,
as she cleaned up the tables in her section of the restaurant. Perhaps
she'd get one of the boys to spar with her tonight, a bit of fighting
always seemed to clear her mind and lift her spirits. As long as they
managed to keep it at a light spar, that is.

    She cleared off the last of her tables before heading back into
the kitchen to tell the head cook that she was all done for the night.
Mrs. Okita was a kindly elderly lady who was probably one of the best
cooks Ranma had ever met. She also treated Ranma like a beloved
grandchild, something she seemed to do for everyone, and Ranma adored
the old lady immediately. She had never known her own grandparents but
she very much would have hoped they were like Mrs. Okita. Feeling
slightly better after her brief interaction with the lady, Ranma
changed out of her work cloths and headed in the direction of the
nearby store to grab a few snacks before she headed back to the
campsite. They were tight on money and she knew she should save
everything she made, but the day had been particularly long and Ranma
decided that she deserved a bit of chocolate for her efforts.

    She was just enjoying the cool night air as she made her way to
the small store a few blocks from the inn when the sound of a scuffle
in an ally off of the main road caught her attention. Curiousity
getting the better of her, Ranma made her way over to the entrance to
the ally only to meet up with a scene which caused her blood to boil
in anger. Partway down the ally four boys stood, local thugs it looked
like, well-dressed  enough for Ranma to tell that they weren't lacking
in money and obviously weren't here for any other reason than their
sick sense of fun. The object of their attention was a young woman,
about Ranma's own age, pushed up against the wall of the ally, one
thug's hand held over her mouth to kept her from screaming while two
of his buddies held her arms pinned. The girl herself was moderately
tall, taller than Ranma was as a girl but slightly shorter than he
would be as a guy, with long brown hair that seemed to have two dark
green streaks in it. She was thrashing wildly, trying to escape the
hold the men had on her and her eyes were wild with terror, something
that made Ranma even angrier than she already was. Quickly evaluating
the situation, Ranma moved rapidly towards the boys, yelling out a
challenge to take their attention away from the girl they held.

    "You bastards wanna pick on someone, try picking on me!"

*******************************************************************

    Well, against all odds, her day had gotten worse. Finally being
released from the hellhole she called work, Megumi had decided that
she had a serious need for caffeine. The only cure for a craving of
such power: Dr Pepper. Megumi absolutely lived for the stuff, having
trouble going through a day without a fix. She knew that this made her
sound like a junkie sometimes, god knows her friends had made fun of
her about it on more occasions than she could recall, but she couldn't
help it. The stuff was the manna of the gods.

    Unfortunately, despite her best efforts to convince them, her
grandparents had yet to start selling Dr Pepper at the inn itself and
she was forced to walk to the nearby convenience store to get her
supply. It was an annoyance to be sure, but one she was willing to
shoulder for the sake of her cravings.

    The walk to the store was only about 5 minutes at most, but it did
pass by several rather well shadowed alleys on the way, something that
had never really bothered her before today. On this occasion, however,
Megumi discovered the intrinsic danger to darkened alleys: street
thugs. Not being much of a problem in the smaller town setting, Megumi
had never bothered to watch for such annoyances before, but the four
boys residing within the alley quickly managed to grab her attention.

    When rough hands grabbed ahold of her, Megumi's first response was
to scream. This, however, was cut off before it could begin by a
stifling hand clamping down on her mouth, muffling the scream into a
loud mumble, something that would barely be heard ten feet from her.
As her attackers entered her line of vision and she realized the
predicament that she was in, Megumi's eyes widened in terror and she
began to struggle much harder than she had been, briefly managing to
loosen the grip of the man holding her arms behind her back. Her
struggles were halted quickly though when the one covering her mouth
shoved her harshly against the wall of the alley, momentarily causing
the other to loose his grip on her arms, before the were grabbed once
more by the last two, one holding each arm firmly. The man covering
her mouth, the tallest of the bunch, leaned in close to her and
whispered softly in her ear.

    "It's alright, girly, you don't struggle and we'll try not to hurt
you." He then raised his head away from her a bit and leered at her
body, before bringing his eyes up to meet hers. "After all, we're only
having a bit of fun. I'm sure you'll enjoy it too."

    The other three began chuckling at the man's words while Megumi's
eyes widened a bit more and her breath started increasing in tempo,
nearly to the point of hyperventilation in her terror. She began to
thrash wildly, attempting to get away from the men who held her fast
against the wall but to no avail. The men were quite a bit stronger
than she was and escaping their grasp would prove impossible to
someone in her position. She only hoped that someone would hear the
commotion and come to her aid, something that seemed less likely by
the moment. Just as she figured she was beaten though, she heard a
yell from behind the men, and felt their grips loosen as it startled
them.

    "You bastards wanna pick on someone, try picking on me!"

    All four of the boys looked in the direction the yell had
originated from, the tall one releasing his grip on her mouth and
which allowed her to see as well. What she saw wasn't exactly what she
had been expecting. While the yell had definitely been feminine, she
hadn't really expected to see such a tiny slip of a girl coming to
challenge the four guys who were harassing her. The girl was short,
for starters, a good four or five inches shorter than her and very
slight of build in all areas except her chest, which seemed out of
proportion with the rest of her. This seemed to be a fact that drew
the boy's attention as well, as only the tall one was looking at the
rest of her. She doubted the rest of them noticed anything else about
her, even her bright red hair, something that flared her mind but in
her current predicament she couldn't figure out why.

    At present the girl was walking rapidly towards them, seemingly
totally at ease, though angry, with the situation despite the
overwhelming odds against her. Megumi was about to shout for her to
run when the tallest man spoke up first.

    "What's this, boys? We don't even have to go looking for chicks,
they come to us." He chuckled lightly, followed by the other boys, as
they observed the girl where she had stopped only a few feet from the
closest of them.  He smiled cruelly as he waved the others towards
her. "Go bring her over with this one. But don't bruise her up too
much, she's too pretty for that."

    At that proclamation, Megumi finally found her voice and yelled
for the girl to run, but she only smirked a bit before cracking her
knuckles and then putting her hands casually behind her back. The
three boys moved towards her while the biggest turned back to Megumi
for a moment in order to shut her up. He slammed her up against the
wall, knocking the breath from her and causing her to fall to her
knees, before turning back to his group. As the others reached the
girl, though, his grin was replaced by a look of absolute shock.

*******************************************************************

    Ranma mentally smiled as all the boys all turned their attention
immediately to her, and consequently, her breasts. Disgusted as she
was by the action, she knew that their instant shift of attention to
her chest meant that they wouldn't take her seriously as an opponent,
making this all that much easier a fight. She was a little impressed
by the bigger one as he seemed able to drag his eyes from her
endowments long enough to actually view her as a possible opponent,
but then he opened his mouth and she was forced to stop herself from
shaking her head at his stupidity. While Ranma would admit that her
female form wasn't exactly intimidating, being more cute than anything
else, anyone with any training should be able to see her skill by the
way he moved, especially since she wasn't making any effort to hide
it. The only thing she could do to make it more apparent was flare her
aura, and she had no intention of scaring them off that quickly. They
had to pay for attacking a girl, afterall. They had a lesson to learn.

    As the three guys started heading towards her, Ranma made a show
of cracking her knuckles and putting her hands behind her back, making
herself look as confident and at ease as possible. It drove people
nuts, she loved it. The first one reached her and grabbed out at her,
apparently thinking she was giving up by her casual attitude. She
smirked a bit as she sidestepped him, driving her knee firmly in his
gut and knocking the wind out of him. As his midsection stopped, the
rest of the boy curled around Ranma's leg momentarily before she
removed it, causing him to collapse on the ground.  Stepping around
him, she observed as the other two slowed a bit in their approach,
obviously a little stunned by the ease with which she dispatched their
friend, though still intent on taking her. They were going to be more
cautious about it though.

    The second one came at her with a sloppy punch and Ranma almost
cried at all the holes she saw in his defense. Instead she decided to
make a point about maintaining a proper defense, and in a burst of
speed struck out at every single one of them. After striking out so
quickly that her hands blurred slightly, she stepped back a bit,
allowing the man to crumple at her feet, unconscious before she had
even stopped hitting him. This action brought the last of the three up
short and he stopped his reckless assault in favour of a more
organized approach. He dropped down into a stance and Ranma was almost
impressed. Not that he was anywhere near her level, of course, but for
a street thug he obviously had training.

    Still as impulsive as his friends, despite his newfound caution,
the third one quickly went on the assault, darting in for a quick jab
to the face, followed by a roundhouse kick for the midsection. The jab
was dodged by a flick of Ranma's head to one side, while the kick was
solidly blocked and caught in the crook of her arm. Stepping forward
quickly, she brought her right leg behind his left while still holding
his right leg up. Putting a hand on his face, Ranma shoved hard,
pushing him off of his feet and sending his head smashing brutally
into the pavement. Seeing he was unconscious, she released his leg,
standing back up and looking over her fallen opponents. Seeing the
first boy had recovered enough that he began to rise, she strolled
casually over to him before kicking him in the side of the head and
sending him after his friends into a forced slumber. She then turned
her attention towards the leader.

    The largest of the bunch, he also appeared to be the smartest as
he was quickly looking for a way to escape her wraith. Unfortunately
for him, he had chosen that particular alley for the specific purpose
of cutting off escape as it was a dead end. Seeing no other option, he
dropped into a stance, incidentally proving he was the best trained of
the bunch as well. Ranma just smiled a bit at him. As he was the
leader, she was planning to teach him the harshest lesson of the
bunch. Dropping into a stance of her own, Ranma motioned for him to
attack, gaining a frown from her opponent at her arrogance. She merely
waited patiently for her opponent to attack.

    The attack came much more quickly than that of the others, though
to Ranma it was painfully slow. A front snap kick was dodged to the
side, followed by a low sweep, which was easily jumped over, and a
spinning back kick that was ducked under. Having sufficiently
evaluated her opponent's skill, Ranma leapt back to buy a little room
before waiting for him to attack again. She didn't have long to wait.
He recovered from his kick and firmed his stance before lunging
forward again in a jab to the face which, to his surprise, was easily
caught. Holding his right hand in her left, Ranma stepped into his
defenses and sent a hard, upward punch into his armpit. A load popping
sound was heard and the man screamed in pain as his shoulder was
dislocated from the attack. Ranma, however, only shifted her stance,
lowering her body a little and sent her elbow straight into his groin.
His yell increased several octaves before cutting off as she brought
her fist up in a brutal uppercut to his chin, causing his teeth to
slam together, cracking two of them. Letting go of his arm, Ranma
allowed her opponent to fly backwards, before rushing after him and
slamming her fist in his face, speeding his decent to the ground and
breaking his nose in the process. The man's head hit the ground with a
sickening thud, allowing him to fall into a blissful unconsciousness.

    Breathing a sigh of both relief and disappointment, Ranma stood
back up from her crouch over the man's body and straightened her
cloths a bit before looking at the woman she had just saved. The girl
was staring at her in what seemed to be shocked amazement as she sat
on her knees, making no move to get up. Ranma walked over to the girl,
kneeling in front of her and looking her over to make sure she was
alright. She seemed physically unharmed though Ranma knew enough about
mental trauma to know that she was probably pretty shaken up by what
almost occurred. She laid a hand on the girl's shoulder and asked in a
soft voice whether she was alright or not. The girl stared at her for
a few more moments before she seemed to break from her reverie. Her
eyes focussed on Ranma for a few moments before she answered in a
shaky voice.

    "Wh...what?" She asked, obviously having missed what Ranma had
said. Ranma wasn't too surprised by this though, as she seemed to be
having a bit of difficulty focussing at the moment, though she was
getting better.

    "I asked if you were alright." Ranma answered her, still using a
soft voice, trying to keep her as calm as possible, knowing the girl
was likely to freak out when she fully realized what had happened.
It's not every day that one is nearly raped, afterall, and it was
bound to leave her pretty shaken up. "They didn't hurt you at all, did
they?"

     "No....no, they didn't hurt me. You stopped them before
they......before they..." She trailed off and Ranma could see the
comprehension dawn in her eyes as she fully came to realize what just
about occurred. Her eyes widened slightly, beginning to moisten and
before Ranma knew it, the girl was latched onto her, sobbing loudly.
Ranma sat there, decidedly uncomfortable as the girl held her in a
tight hug, bawling into her chest, before hesitantly putting her arms
around her and pulling her into a comforting, if somewhat unsure,
embrace. They stayed that way for a little while, she had no clue how
long, before the girl's choking sobs petered out, turning into
sniffling hiccups. A little while later, she simply sat there
comfortably in Ranma's arms, breathing deeply as she struggled to get
ahold of her emotions. Ranma simply allowed her all the time she
needed. After the initial period of discomfort, more from the
reflexive expectation of an attack than the actual embrace, Ranma
quickly began providing what comfort she could from holding the girl
and whispering words of encouragement. She knew the girl would be
feeling vulnerable and needed whatever comfort she could get, so tried
not to let her flee reflex show at all.

    After an indeterminent amount of time, the girl moved away from
Ranma a bit and looked into her eyes, blushing a bit at her emotional
breakdown. Ranma just smiled encouragingly at her, trying to show that
she wasn't upset or embarrassed by the girl's actions. After a moment,
Ranma decided that it would be best if they left the alley they were
sitting in and headed towards wherever the girl was staying. Since the
girl seemed inclined to allow her the lead, Ranma spoke up first.

    "Are you alright? Can you stand?" The girl answered with a quiet
yes to both questions and Ranma proceeded to her feet before offering
a helping hand to the girl, pulling her to her feet when she accepted.
Ranma then offered her arm in support, which was also accepted, before
leading her out of the alley and into the street. Turning towards her,
Ranma spoke once more. "Where do you live? I'll walk you back."

    "I'm...I'm staying at the Inn. The Kasahara one." She was still
shaken up by her ordeal and it showed when she spoke, but she was
actually recovering fairly quickly, which impressed Ranma. She didn't
seem like the type to have gone through anything like this before, so
she had to be fairly strong willed to recover so quickly. Ranma
decided that the best option was to keep making small talk to try to
calm her down and raise her spirits a bit. On the upside, she didn't
have to go far out of her way to drop the girl off at home, since she
was camped just off to the side of the Inn.

    "Oh yeah? Are you here with parents or friends?" Ranma tried to
keep her voice as pleasant as possible, keeping the girl as focussed
on the conversation as possible to keep her from thinking about the
incident in the alley.

    "Umm, neither." The girl answered, her voice already steadier than
it had been. "I work there on the weekends."

    Ranma smiled at that answer. She was pleasantly surprised to find
out that the girl she was escorting home worked in the same place she
did. She seemed like a nice person, though it was hard to tell under
the present circumstances, perhaps Ranma could befriend her and have
someone better to talk to than the moron twins. She responded brightly
to the girl, this time not even needing to put the cheer into it for
her sake. "Really? So do I. I just started up this week."

    The girl smiled as well, her first real smile since Ranma had come
across her, and answered brightly. "Cool! You must be Ranma, then.
Mrs. Takani told me that you just started."

    "Yup, that's me. Ranma Saotome of the Saotome School of Anything
Goes Martial Arts." Ranma stated proudly, chest puffing up slightly as
she put on her most heroic face. The girl giggled slightly at her
strange manner of introduction, but was still impressed by her title.
She'd seen what Ranma had done to the boys in the alley, afterall, so
she could attest that she was a rather good martial artist. "I never
caught your name."

    "Oh, I'm sorry. My name's Megumi, Megumi Kasahara." Ranma smiled
at her and Megumi couldn't help but smile in return. Then Ranma seemed
to come to a realization and Megumi knew that she had put her name
together with the name of the Inn. Before Ranma could ask, Megumi beat
her to it, answering the unvoiced question. "And yes, I am related to
the owners. They're my grandparents, that's why I work here."

    "Ahhh, I'd wondered." Ranma said, slightly surprised that her
question was answered before she could ask. She figured Megumi must be
asked that a lot. She then grinned as she recalled the kindly couple
that had taken her and her friends in as employees so easily. "They're
really nice people, your grandparents."

     "Yeah, yeah they are." They continued to chat amiably as they
made their way into the Inn and up to Megumi's room. She had let go of
Ranma's arm by this point and they stopped for a moment as she dug in
her pocket for her keys before unlocking the door. Ranma intended to
leave her at this point and head to her camp site, where Mousse and
Ryoga were no doubt starting to wonder where she was, but Megumi asked
her if she wanted to come in for a drink and she found herself unable
to refuse. A look in Megumi's eyes when she asked showed that she was
still shaken up by the whole ordeal and really needed some company.

    Stepping into the room, Ranma thought for a moment that Ryoga was
going to kick her ass for spending time in a girl's room before
deciding that even Ryoga wasn't that stupid. They were both girl's
right now, afterall, what could they possibly do together. She looked
around the room and found herself altogether impressed by the setup.
It wasn't overly large, but it looked comfortable for one person. It
had a fair-sized bed, a small table with two chairs, a lounge chair
and a small TV. It also had an attached bathroom, making Ranma wish
that they could have afforded to actually stay in a room rather than
camping in the forest beside the Inn. Frankly, having to walk to the
Inn every time she needed to use the washroom was annoying. She
supposed it could have been worse, they could have to go in the woods,
but that didn't make it any less annoying.

    Putting those thoughts aside, Ranma walked over to the chair
Megumi offered up to her and sat down as Megumi went about boiling
some water for tea. After boiling the water, she poured it into a
teapot and brought it over to the table along with two cups. She than
sat down with Ranma as they waited for it to steep and picked up the
conversation where they had left off.

    "So, Ranma, you said you were here cause you ran out of money.
What were you doing out this way in the first place?" She was really
curious about this as it was obvious Ranma was a fair distance from
home. If she wasn't, she would have just gone home when she ran out of
money, instead of finding work.

    Ranma thought about how to answer that for a few moments. She
didn't really want to give a lot away, especially the real reason for
her trip, as she didn't really know Megumi. Besides, it wasn't exactly
easy to prove the curse, considering she was stuck in her cursed form.
She couldn't just demonstrate it for proof, so if she started saying
things like, 'I'm journeying to find a way to turn myself back into a
man.' or 'I'm trying to find a cure for the curse that makes me a
woman.' Megumi was more than likely to think she was mad, and that
would certainly stop her from making friends with the girl. So,
instead of simply blurting out the truth as she usually did, Ranma
actually considered what to tell her before opening her mouth.

    "Well, you know I'm a martial artist. I've spent a lot of time on
the road, training in the Art. Ever since I was little really.
Recently, I was challenged by someone and they beat me pretty badly.
Now I have to train in order to get them in a rematch." Ranma thought
for a moment, trying to figure out a way to tell her what all was
going on without revealing the nature of her curse. Satisfied with
what she had come up with, Ranma continued. "You see, she took
something from me, something important, and I have to fight her again
to get it back. So, me and some buddies hit the road to try and track
her down for a rematch."

    "So, how'd you end up here then?" Megumi was curious about what
the other girl could have taken, but Ranma seemed to leave it vague on
purpose, so she decided not to push the issue. "Why aren't you still
tracking her down?"

    Ranma sighed a bit, remembering the reason for their little detour
and once again cursed her luck at being stuck with such morons for
friends. "Well, I guess that would have to do with my fellow
travelers: Tweedledee and Tweedledum. See, Tweedledee has the world's
worst sense of direction, the boy could get lost in a room with one
door, and Tweedledum couldn't see his hand in front of his face
without his glasses on, which he refuses to wear regularly." Ranma
sighed again as Megumi giggled at her description of her friends. She
was pretty sure Megumi thought she was exaggerating, which of course
she wasn't in the least, but she didn't get into that. "You see,
Mousse, the blind one, managed to confuse his backpack with a Tanuki
statue and didn't notice the difference until we were far enough that
finding it again would be impossible. Of course that didn't stop Ryoga
from trying to lead us back to it, getting us lost to the point where
there was no way in hell of us every finding it again."

    Ranma looked up at Megumi as she could practically feel her
incredulous stare. "How can anyone mistake a Tanuki statue for a
backpack? You've gotta be pulling my leg here." Ranma smiled at
Megumi's disbelieving stare, knowing that if she didn't know the two,
she wouldn't believe it either. Frankly, she still had trouble
believing what the two were capable of and she had known them for
quite some time.

    "Trust me, Mousse can. He's the same guy that mistakes things like
lamp posts and trees for the girl he's in love with." She chuckled a
bit at Megumi's look of utter disbelief. It was obvious nothing short
of an introduction was going to make her believe it, so Ranma just let
the matter drop, instead continuing with her story. "Anyway, believe
it or not, that's how he lost his pack. Unfortunately, he was the one
carrying our money and the map to where the girl we were tracking was
going, so we're now penniless and directionless. We know, generally,
where she was going, but we're gonna need to start tracking her if
we're ever gonna find her. Luckily, we came by train, while she was on
foot, so we should be a ways ahead. It's still gonna take some major
luck to find her though."

    Megumi gave her a sympathetic look as Ranma finished off her tea.
Even if some of the story was obviously exaggerated, nobody could be
that stupid, afterall, Ranma was bothered enough by the situation that
most of it was no doubt true. She'd just have to get herself
introduced to Ranma's friends sometime to find out if they really were
like they were described.

    Ranma put down her empty cup and began to get up, causing a fresh
wave of anxiety to go through Megumi. She'd been quite content to just
sit and talk to Ranma, allowing her mind to forget about what had
transpired earlier in the evening, but now that she seemed to be
leaving Megumi felt the fear of earlier start to creep up on her
again. She tried not to let it show, but was painfully aware that it
was probably written all over her face. Ranma didn't seem to notice
though as she stood up fully and looked at her for a moment before
speaking. "Well, it's been nice talking with you, but I really should
get going. It's getting kind of late, afterall."

    Megumi began to panic slightly. She knew it was unreasonable to
expect Ranma, who, despite spending the past while talking to her, was
still a complete stranger, to stay with her for the night but she
still felt uneasy at being left alone. The only other people she knew
here were her grandparents and Mrs. Takani and she really didn't want
to worry either of them with what had happened earlier. Besides, there
was something about Ranma that just made her feel safe. Perhaps it was
the way her face seemed to show every emotion she was feeling, giving
Megumi the impression that she was extremely truthful. Perhaps it was
the fact that, despite not knowing each other, they had opened up to
each other a good deal already. Perhaps it was the fact that she had
just beat the crap out of four guys, probably saving Megumi's life and
definitely saving her virginity. Actually, that last one was
definitely the most likely, but Megumi wasn't really dwelling on the
why of things so much as the fact that she just wanted Ranma to stay.
Unfortunately, coming up with a reasonable excuse was more difficult
than she would have thought.

    "Umm, well, it is pretty late. You could just, you know, stay here
if you wanted." She could see the reluctance in Ranma's eyes as soon
as she made the suggestion so she quickly started trying to come up
with good reasons. "I mean, your friends might already be asleep, you
wouldn't want to wake them. I could find some extra bedding or
something and I'm sure that it'd be more comfortable in here than it
would be outside. If, if you want to, of course." She finished in a
weak voice.

    Ranma considered the idea for a moment. When Megumi had first
spoken up, Ranma had almost panicked. Spending the night in a girl's
room was a quick way to get herself killed by multiple people under
normal circumstances. After a moment, she came to the realization,
however, that this was hardly normal circumstances. For starters, she
was stuck as a girl at the moment and with a girl who didn't know she
was normally a guy. Ranma figured that fact alone should be enough to
clue most people in that nothing was going to happen between them.
Besides which, she was right in at least one respect. Not the bit
about waking up Ryoga and Mousse, she couldn't care less about that,
but it would definitely be a lot more comfortable sleeping indoors for
a change. In the end, however, it was the look in Megumi's eyes that
once again made the decision for Ranma. She looked nervous, afraid
even, and it was obvious, even to one of Ranma's usually unobservant
nature, that she was asking her to stay for reasons other than being
generous. She wanted someone to stay with her, to keep her safe and
let her sleep easier.

    Considering these things, Ranma figured that even Ryoga couldn't
blame her for staying the night. Afterall, he had a tendency to sleep
with Akane in pig form to comfort her, so wasn't this a lot more
innocent? They'd only be in the same room together, afterall. Having
convinced herself, Ranma turned her attention back to Megumi to give
her an answer. "Sure, I'd love to stay. Wouldn't want to wake up the
guys, afterall."

    Megumi knew that Ranma didn't believe that that was a real reason,
but was grateful that she took the proffered excuse. Whatever excuse
Ranma used was fine, so long as she was sticking around. She quickly
set about finding bedding for her guest to use and set it up on the
Lazy Boy. She had offered Ranma a place on the bed, it was fairly big,
but she steadfastly refused, stating that it wouldn't be proper.
Megumi didn't quite understand that, they were both girls afterall,
and it wouldn't be the first time she had slept in the same bed with a
girl, but she left it alone, figuring that Ranma was just
uncomfortable with the idea of sharing a bed with someone who was
barely more than a stranger.

    Having set up the chair for Ranma to sleep on, Megumi headed into
the bathroom to change into her night cloths. When she returned,
wearing her favourite flannel pajamas, Ranma was wearing just boxers
and an undershirt, something that Megumi found odd, but it seemed to
fit her decidedly tomboyish attitude. She also noticed that Ranma
wasn't wearing a bra and that there didn't seem to be one in sight. In
retrospect, though, her guest did seem rather unencumbered in the
chest area, which was odd given how well endowed she was and
especially with how active she obviously was. Doing martial arts
without a bra couldn't be comfortable. She would definitely have to
ask Ranma how she managed it sometime. For now though, sleep called.

    Saying a quick good night to Ranma, Megumi shut off the lights and
got into bed herself. She lay there for a few minutes, thinking about
the girl sleeping on her chair. She was rather odd, but not in a bad
way. She was merely.....different. She was so different from everyone
else Megumi had ever met. She was so strong and powerful and yet she
was kind and gentle and seemed possessed of a certain innocence.
Whatever else happened, Megumi sincerely hoped they could be friends,
she just knew that Ranma would be a good friend to have, someone who
would be loyal for life. Glancing over at the shape that she knew to
be Ranma Megumi spoke up quietly. "Ranma?"

    It was a moment before a quiet response made it her way. "Yes,
Megumi?"

    A small smile made it onto Megumi's lips as she thought about all
that Ranma had done for her tonight. "Thanks. Thanks for everything."

It was a few moments before the answer came to her but when it did, it
made her smile a bit more.

    "Anytime."

To Be Continued.....


Author's Note: Yeah, I know, it's another new one. I've actually been
working at this one for a while though, ever since the idea came up in
delphi a couple months ago. The idea was originally begun by Bretthall
and I picked it up from there. I don't know where this story will sit
in priority with my other stories, but I guess we'll see how well
received it is. I also want to take a moment to thank PcSpud for
kicking my ass in gear on a near nightly basis when it comes to
writing. If not for him, I probably wouldn't be getting much of
anything done. As usual, any and all C&C is not only welcomed but
heavily encouraged. Send mail to ranikkoku@hotmail.com or drop
messages at the guestbook of my site www.geocities.com/ranikkoku and
I'll try to answer as promptly as possible.
Thanks for reading
Bob Lobster