Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Dreams Of Sakura: Rewritten ❯ Princesses who rescue princesses ( Chapter 2 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: shinji_the_good_sharer 
Ranma now has a princess, be she's not HIS princess. Ranma takes it upon himself to help Utena save her princess while he searches for his own.
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Fantasy | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 05.25.2006 | Updated On: 05.25.2006 | Pages: 6 | Words: 11.7K | Visits: 1.1K | Status: Work In Progress
Ranma now has a princess, be she's not HIS princess. Ranma takes it upon himself to help Utena save her princess while he searches for his own.
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Fantasy | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 05.25.2006 | Updated On: 05.25.2006 | Pages: 6 | Words: 11.7K | Visits: 1.1K | Status: Work In Progress
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“Just because our writers are nutty doesn't mean we can't be corny!!!”
Dreams of Sakura
Ranma/MMACO (Massive Multi Anime Crossover)
by Shinji the Good Sharer
shinjithegoodsharer@gmail.com
http://shinjithegoodsharer.no- ip.info/
Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story. If you think I do then you're out of your mind. This is a free fanfic and will NOT in ANY WAY generate money for my personal use.
Dreams of Sakura
Ranma/MMACO (Massive Multi Anime Crossover)
by Shinji the Good Sharer
shinjithegoodsharer@gmail.com
http://shinjithegoodsharer.no- ip.info/
Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story. If you think I do then you're out of your mind. This is a free fanfic and will NOT in ANY WAY generate money for my personal use.
A.N.: Hi, I'm Shinji the Good Sharer, and my friend Valorphoenix has abandoned fanfic writing. So I asked for permission to take over this fic exclusively. I'll be rewriting this fic, making spelling corrections and all around continuing this story to the best of my ability. I hope you all enjoy it. I will continue using the same writing style, but I'm going to rewrite this entire thing word for word, while making corrections to hopefully fix some things. Thanks to Valorphoenix for letting me do this. I hope I make you proud buddy. This is still almost all Valorphoenix's story, just with my own modifications and corrections. The MMACO acronym is my own idea though. I hope it starts to catch on.
Chapter 2
Princesses who rescue princesses
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Quietly opening the door, Sakura gazed inside at the starlit couple lying in the bed. The pose was picturesque, even though that wasn't the intent, with the pinked haired girl perched on the young black haired man's chest as he reclined on the bed on his back.
A decade ago when they were little kids she had known they would be a perfect couple. She hadn't had the courage to take them and raise them herself though. Instead she had left them in what she knew were bad situations, but had held hope that that would improve and she could help them later on in life.
Turning to her quiet companion, the kimono clad woman murmured, "I should have been there for them. They would have had each other, and they would have grown up happy."
The slim European woman glanced sidelong at her mistress, her eyebrows crinkled slightly in amusement. "Perhaps, but then they wouldn't be who they are today. I don't think the pain they've suffered will be in vain at all."
Sakura kept her gaze on the couple in bed, regrets still weighing heavily upon her. "I should have been there for Ranma more. Two weeks ago he hardly believed we were real memories. If I had paid more attention to Utena as well, Ranma might have had his princess already."
Amusement spread further across Maria expression, causing her eyes to dance as she refrained from giggling at Sakura. "Except now Utena is going to save one more princess. Besides, Ranma's world is filled with princesses."
A small smile found its way to Sakura's stoic face as she considered that, "Yes, the magic is returning to his heart, and he has spread that magic to many a girl's heart in these short two weeks." By then the smile had grown into one filled with fondness.
The petite blond gazed sidelong at her long time friend and protector in this land that was sometimes hostile to foreign people. Idly she wondered if Sakura was listening to herself, or noticed she was one of those girls affected by Ranma, with the hope of love swelling in her heart.
Sakura's smile dropped for a moment, and she voiced the sad thought that caused it, "Still though, he needs his princess. No matter how many girls he looks after, he needs the one that will look after his heart."
Maria stared contemplatively at her old friend, wondering if she really didn't realize such things. Perhaps she was still caught up in old memories and past regrets. Knowing what to do to make her feel better for the moment, she stepped over and put a hand on Sakura's arm, pressing her gently away from the door. "You should go to bed. I'll watch over them."
For a moment, Sakura gave her one of those unreadable looks, before nodding faintly and quietly padding away to her room. Maria shook her head sadly, though she had faith that it would work out. Silently she made her way into the room, closing the door quietly before walking over the bed. Her lightweight hardly disturbing the bed at all, she sat down and ran her fingers lightly through the sleeping young man's bangs.
Admiring the sleeping young couple, she allowed herself to relax by listening to their breathing, as well as their heartbeats, taking solace in the warmth of their presence.
Ranma was precious to her, and one day Sakura might realize how important he was to herself as well.
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As the morning sun started to drift in, Maria gently brushed back Ranma's bangs. Despite how well furnished his room here was, it noticeably lacked an alarm clock. Instead of some blaring technological device Maria awoke him every morning. Usually he awoke to Maria gazing at him while stroking his hair. Sometimes Ayumi got impatient for her morning spar and came in to 'help' wake him up. Her ways were a lot more physical, usually involving straddling his waist bare-chested and riding him like a horse.
Despite the difference in their methods, they were giving Ranma a more pleasant experience with women when waking up. It had taken days before they had gotten over his old reactions and instincts concerning women. The first time Ayumi had woke him up and he had panicked all anew, Maria had been worried that Ayumi had thrown all their progress out the window. The busty ninja girl had handled it though, stopping her bouncing to sit still on Ranma while grinning at him until he understood nothing was wrong and calmed down.
They had worked over specific situations, including lots of physical contact. The contact was to counteract the negative association he had with such, mainly as a response to being grabbed onto by women in public, notably the Chinese girl Shampoo. In Japanese society, hugs were very intimate physical expressions, generally considered second base after kissing. Shampoo's and many other girl's enthusiastic hugs bordered on groping, causing them to be public spectacles.
Being raised on the road, Ranma wasn't quite aware of that, though it affected him in a more subtle way, meaning that without public affection, there was no way to observe it for him. Instead of knowing the significance of the act, he only knew it was really invading his personal space and not something he could deal with.
Then followed the reactions to these acts, the people observing became outraged for various reasons at Ranma for practically making out with a girl in public. Most girls would become outraged, though they generally focused their ire on the offending girl, Ranma would rather not be upsetting girls. Guys were more predictable, either being outraged at him for 'molesting' the girl they lusted after, or offended at his 'womanizing' ways.
Then there was Akane, the fiancée with whom Ranma had lived with. Akane had been a normal schoolgirl who was respected for her spunk and liveliness. Then Ranma came into her life, changing everything. Unlike the other fiancées, she led a relatively normal life and spent time with her gossiping schoolgirl friends just like any other girl, despite the times she was tangled up in Ranma's life. When Shampoo or some other girl jumped Ranma, usually in full view in public, she made her displeasure known with Ranma personally, often punting him into a neighboring park.
Where Akane's anger went, her family followed. Her father would demand he apologize for whatever he did and then lament the joining of the families. Ranma's own father often backed the Tendo elder up, usually with detrimental words and a sudden physical attack. Kasumi to be fair, would gently reprove both of them in her own way, but Akane having more experience with her sister would ignore it most of the time while it cut into Ranma to have a sweet girl like her dismayed with him. Nabiki didn't seem to actually care about these little altercations, but added her own brand of suffering by using it to blackmail and manipulate Ranma.
Ranma didn't have the social understanding to understand all of that, so he simply learned that most anything involving a girl was bad. Even without the bulk of his memories, he still retained that instinctual knowledge warning him of physical contact with girls.
Maria and the other women here had worked on dissipating much of that fear of contact. Having him attend classes at the college and get private tutoring from the female students had helped as well, showing him that normal girls existed. He still had that look of wonderment mixed into his happy smile when he met those girls as he continuously realized that he could have nice relations with girls. There had been one incident of a girl being to forward with him, flustering Ranma, but his new female friends had come to his rescue before anything came of it. After hearing a little of his past, the forward girl had lost the illusion that he was just a shy younger man and had become one of his closer new friends.
Maria hadn't been sure that Ranma was ready to deal with Utena last night all by himself, but apparently, he had handled the situation well. She was pretty sure he had an interesting story for why Utena was wearing so little, though they both seemed to be happy. Sakura probably had felt Ranma could handle it and had decided to put him on the spot like that after hearing that the people from Nerima had found him and would be showing up soon.
Maria's hand paused for to long upon his brow, as she was lost in thought, awakening Ranma. As she realized he was staring up at her, she continued stroking his bangs back and gave him a warm smile.
Belatedly he seemed to notice the girl in his arms, gazing down briefly at the peacefully sleeping pink haired girl as if to confirm she was actually there. After a moment, he returned his gaze to the blond sitting at his shoulder, his eyes now stormy with inner conflict.
Maria gave him an encouraging smile, before bending over him to kiss him on the forehead. Rising up she giggled lightly at the innocent surprise in his expression before stroking her fingers through his bangs again.
After a moment he relaxed, his eyes calming as he smiling lightly in return. Seeing that everything was alright, she gave him one final smile before removing her hand from his hair and standing up. Bowing her head to him in a silent respectful sign of parting, she quietly slipped out of the room.
Sighing deeply as he breathed out the morning air, Ranma brought his gaze down from the ceiling to look at Utena in the soft morning light. She had apparently wiggled around a little during the night, with the covers falling down enough to expose her shoulder blades, though her hair fanned out to cover most of her exposed back. She was now lying across his chest with her chin on his shoulder, her nose brushing his now loose hair on the pillows. Her right hand was tangled in his hair, having pulled it from his ponytail sometime during the night, while her left hand rested emptily upon the mattress.
Tracing body parts, he realized one of his hands had wandered down to rest on her rump. Feeling an urge to panic but noting intellectually that it wasn't that bad, he tried distancing himself instead to calm down.
Looking to the side at where the light was coming in through the window, he noted from the pale golden light that it seemed to be clear out today. Looking around his room, he acquainted himself with the furnishings. Though he had been here for a little over two weeks, he hadn't paid it that much attention.
The first thing he knew about the room was it was too richly done for his tastes. The height of his life had been a short stay in his own room at home, which had actually been as bare as the small room he had lived in at the Tendo's when he wasn't sleeping in the dojo.
Now he had a huge bedroom, some twenty by eighteen feet that was larger than the Tendo's family room. The furniture wasn't fancy, just the fact that he had furniture made it too richly appointed for him to be comfortable with. It was an odd mixture of European and Japanese as well.
The bed was a large four posted affair covered in silk sheets and half a dozen large pillows. The other furniture in the room included two night tables, a dresser, wardrobe, chest and even chairs, all of it well made from a richly stained wood. Why he had a wardrobe was beyond him, as one of the three doors away from his bedroom led to his walk in closet and dressing room. From the closet which was a few feet shy of being as large as his old room at the Tendo's, another door lead to the furo.
The bathing room was another perplexing thing about this house's layout. It lead to two other bedrooms similar to his, which belonged to Maria, Sakura and Ayumi, with another door going to the hall. Maria didn't sleep, so she kept her clothes in Ayumi's room. Supposedly, it was his bathing room, but those two girls shared it with him on purpose. The times he had demanded privacy he had gotten it, but he had found sharing a bath with either of them to be pleasant once he gave it a chance.
The other door in his room lead to a small room with toilet and sink for personal business, which was just another extravagance to worry about. Besides the rich reddish stained carved wood furniture, the room was decorated with traditional watercolor paintings, and a rice paper screen which separated one corner into a cozy meeting place with a small table and cushions to sit on.
He still felt weird about making a mess around the house and having so many people serving him. The cook he understood, as she seemed to genuinely enjoy cooking. She had hand fed him until he understood that and stopped protesting being waited on hand and foot. Ayumi he could understand, as it was her given duty as a ninja to serve him.
Sakura always seemed to sweep in and just make anything better, but didn't make an apparent physical effort. Her presence was always gentle and soft, but amazingly strong in a way he couldn't identify. The best he could describe it was she acted like an old fashioned Japanese woman, and treated him as the lord of the house since he had arrived, though he had always felt that way around her. She always held herself like a fine lady with dignity, but from the simple amount of attention he got from her, it made it obvious she was treating him like a lord. In a way she was the one most subservient to him in the house, but at the same time she was so self-assured and restrained that it never disturbed him like it had with the other girls.
Maria had been another odd case. She also held the grace of a refined lady, though in a European sense. Her expressions were at times more pronounced and sometimes just as reserved as her Lady, Sakura. In a real sense, she was his personal maid, and the girl he had the most physical contact with. The root of this treatment came more from her own desires than her Lady's orders to care for him. Years ago when he had helped her, it had apparently meant a great deal to her, and it was easy for even him to tell she adored him for it.
On a more realistic level, Maria actually had a need to serve him in a sense. Part of the curse that had threatened her life also kept her from sleeping. She had hobbies and things to do in the dead of night, such as reading, cleaning the house, or just going for a walk. Such things become boring with time however and lose their interest.
He had found out that he had become her new hobby. Sometimes it was keeping tabs on the people in Nerima; sometimes it was cleaning up the extra dust balls in the house. Mostly it was spending time with him, especially watching him while he slept. He had been unable to understand her desire to serve him, even though she explained it as what she enjoyed to do. She then asked him if anyone had tried to stop him from doing what he enjoyed, martial arts. That had brought to mind the girl named Akane, who he remembered had several times tried to stop him from protecting her. Seeing that he understood now, she had simply asked him if he would deny her such a simple pleasure. That was when he stopped objecting to being served by the various new people in his life.
A warm body shifting under his hands brought his attention back to the physical realm. The slim girl in his arms stretched her body, elongating her joints and tensing muscles under his hands, before settled down and burying her nose in his hair while rubbing her cheek against his chin. She then paused as she breathed in deeply the scent of his hair and skin, before letting out a deep contented sigh of pleasure. Dreamily she murmured into his ear, "I like this dream".
Grinning slightly as a restrained chuckle escaped him, Ranma paused to consider just how asleep she probably was. Eventually he decided his question would give him the answer. "Do you have this dream often?"
A teasing note to the question awoke some distant feeling in her being, but the softness it had been asked in matched her dreamy state, so she didn't realize she was awakening from sleep yet. Floating along in a warm cloud of comfort, she lazily considered her answer before murmuring, "This one is really nice".
Ranma gazed at her pink hair and exposed cheek with a wan smile as he contemplated his dreams. Softly he spoke his thoughts to her. "I always wondered about my princess. I didn't know enough about girls to even form a dream of her though. I just knew it would be worthwhile. After meeting you, I can say I'm not disappointed at all."
Gasping in shock, Utena rapidly blinked the last of the sleep from her eyes as she tried to see his face from her current position. Not having a good angle, she gathered her wits enough after a few seconds to pull her hands up to her shoulders, then thrust her hands into the bed, raising herself up on her arms to peer down at the young man she was sleeping on. Seeing the young muscular Japanese man with the long unruly black hair that had been on her thoughts caused her to gasp out in surprise, "You're real?!"
Ranma grinned up at the amazed young woman, amused at her reaction. He was however trying to stifle his first reaction, which would get him in trouble. With the same will power that had kept his hand on the forbidden area of her rump, he tried to control his foot-in-mouth affliction. This time however it was a losing battle. Grin widening a bit more as his eyes sparkled with humor, his voice took on a teasing tone, "and you're naked".
Looking down at herself, she realized this was true and blushed darkly, a warm reddish color tinting her cheeks and chest. Following the motion of her head, her hair fell off of her back to hang downwards and brush Ranma's chest. After a moment she forced her gaze back up to his face, finding it had settled into a gentle smile directed at her. The embarrassment she felt was swept away by the warmth in his eyes, and she tossed her hair to one side before laying her head on his chest.
For a while, they lay there, Utena in silence, while Ranma was puzzling over why she had been embarrassed but made no effort to cover herself up. Eventually Utena broke the silence by quietly asking him, "You undressed me for bed right? Nothing else happened?"
Ranma looked down at her curiously, finding her calm curious tone to be a surprise. He noted her eyes were unfocused and staring off into the room, showing that she was just lying there and relaxing. Cautiously he replied, "Well, I haven't met a girl yet who doesn't change before bed, and especially one who would wear a bra to bed cause they're uncomfortable, so I tried to get you ready for bed. I tried to dress you in my shirt, but you kinda grabbed me and." Ranma paused as he blushed bashfully, "you seemed happy, so I let it go".
Hearing the odd soft hesitance in his voice made her wonder, so Utena pulled herself up a bit to look Ranma in the face. She found his eyes clouded with confusion and hesitance. Lying down, her clear blue eyes softened as she considered how to confirm her suspicions. She considered asking him if he touched her more than he was now, but that sounded accusatory, and that wouldn't do if he were already uncomfortable. Finally, she decided on a safe course of action that was suited to confirming her suspicions. "You can touch me if you want you know."
Swallowed nervously, Ranma suddenly tensed and lost his nerve, moving his wandering hand from her rear to the side of her waist. Nervousness entered his voice as he evaded by saying, "Oh, that's alright" with only a slight waver to his voice.
Utena sighed gently, his reaction being a lot worse than she expected, almost bordering on rejection. She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt though and encourage him by admitting, "It's alright if you're shy. I'm a little shy too, and this is my first time doing anything like . . . this"
Ranma blushed again, though this time it was from awkwardness. Cautiously he started, "Well, actually I've just had some bad experiences with girls. I used to have a lot of girls trying to force me into marriage, and they would sneak naked into my bed, or drug me and kidnap me to their bed. No matter what though it was always considered my fault and I'm just trying not to upset you." Even with all of the encouragement he had gotten from the new girls in his life, he still didn't like admitting to stuff like that. It sounded like whining to his ears.
Startled Utena pushed herself up again to stare him in the eyes. His expression was openly hurt, letting her see his pain, though oddly enough she felt some of that was due to him thinking he was failing her. Pulling her lower body up, she straddled his stomach, letting her gaze into his eyes from a better distance. She could see he wasn't reacting to her nudity, but studiously keeping his hands on her waist and out of her way. She was a bit of a tomboy, so she wasn't as shy or ashamed of her body as most girls, so this position really didn't bother her since it was with him. His reaction confirmed that he was used to nude pretty girls, but didn't have good experiences with those girls. This didn't make a lot of sense to her, be she trusted what he said to be true.
Smiling down softly at him, she asked him, "Do you want me to leave you alone?"
Ranma stared at her, not quite understanding her right now. "Uh, you don't have too. Did I do something wrong?" Unsure of himself, he removed his hands completely from her waist, resting them uncomfortably on the mattress to his sides.
Utena smiled gently down at him, now finally understanding. Gently she took hold of his hands and placed them on the sides of her hips, the best place for them in this position. Slightly amused her smile twisted slightly into a teasing grin as she mock scolded him, "Didn't I tell you, that you could touch me? Anywhere you like, I trust you."
Suddenly Ranma's troubled expression disappeared as a small smile slowly bloomed on his face. For a few moments they stayed that way, gazing at each other and trading soft smiles. Eventually Utena noticed that despite the upswing in his mood, he was making no move to touch her anywhere, simply holding her by her hips. Curiously she looked down at her taut stomach and hips wondering if there was something displeasing about her body.
Seeing her curious gaze, Ranma ventured a guess at what was troubling her. "I like holding you." Embarrassed at how sappy that sounded, he blushed and looked away bashfully. Staring to the side incidentally brought his nightstand with the phone intercom on it in view, which gave him an idea. "How about breakfast in bed?"
Finding out he just wanted to hold her did explain earlier reactions, but right now Utena was just overcome with sweet emotion. Even her amusement at his bashfulness couldn't top the warm feelings he had invoked inside her. After a few minutes, though he managed to bring her back down to Earth by offering breakfast in bed. Deciding that fitted her current romantic mood just fine, she bent down and gave him a light kiss as an answer before blushing as she realized how forward she was being.
Blushing shyly, Ranma took a few moments before he became coherent enough to realize ordering breakfast would get his mind off of embarrassing thoughts. During that time however Utena still sat straddling his stomach and giggled at how adorable he looked with his blush as he shyly looked away. A bit worried that she had gone to far, she leaned down closer to his face but further away than kissing distance. "I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have done that. It just felt right."
Ranma turned his head to look Utena in the face, noting the worry in her eyes, which was mirrored by the emotions he felt from her. Concentrating on her emotions again helped calm him down a lot, and he didn't want to see her sad or worried.
Acting on instinct, he brought his hands up her sides with a feather light touch before cupping her face in his hands. Seeing her worried expression relax into a warm smile, he gazed down then up her body at the path his hands had traced, before returning to studying her face again. Her smile hadn't faltered a bit, and her emotions filled him in on the rest. He was feeling simple genuine warmth from her without any of the possessiveness, which would worry him.
Utena smiled down at the innocent young man tenderly holding her face. Something about her apology had sparked something in him, and his touch had felt wonderful. Ashamed at the guilty pleasure, she wanted more of his touch, but wasn't going to push him any more about it. She had also noticed how his eyes had retraced where he touched her, confirming that he had touched her and admiring her body at once, and that pleased her. His open admiration might have normally embarrassed her, but right now she was lost in the sparkling amazement in his eyes. He was staring at her, his hands and where he touched her as if he had seen something wonderful for the first time.
Utena was startled out of her thoughts as he gently pulled her face closer to his, until their lips met in a soft tender kiss. After a moment her brain realized she was asphyxiating and hiccupped, causing her to breath in through her nose. Eventually the kiss ended, leaving her so emotionally stunned that she was having trouble focusing her eyes, causing her eyes to brim with tears. The moment, motion and feeling had been just perfect, leaving her heart swimming around and doing acrobatics like a drunken butterfly.
Seeing her staring down at him with wide eyes from only a few inches away, Ranma gave her a wide smile, pleased that he had done the right thing. Despite the tears brimming in her eyes, he could feel the ocean of emotions pouring off of her and knew it had turned out alright. Deciding the break the stillness that had built up, he grinned at her and simply stated, "It felt right."
The pink haired beauty hovering over him seemed to recover herself somewhat at hearing him, but still made little motion other than staring at him with wonder and warmth spilling off of her in waves. Ranma cocked his head slightly to the side while looking at her and tried a different tactic. "A princess rewards her prince with a kiss right? I mean, you are my princess, for a little while, aren't you? So it's alright if we kiss." Ranma stopped and internally berated himself as he realized he was babbling and sounded like he was making an excuse.
Eventually Utena seemed to come fully alive, suddenly burying her face in his hair fanned out on the pillow while rubbing her cheek against his. Her slender arms wrapped around his torso as she pulled herself desperately against him.
Disturbed at the sudden turmoil of emotion from her, Ranma carefully put his arms around her, resting his hands on her opposing shoulder blades. After a few moments of holding her, he began to worry, as he couldn't tell if she was crying or not. "Did I say something wrong?"
After a bit of wiggling, Utena turned over onto her side, with Ranma turning to match her so they could lie together face to face. The slim girl offered him an embarrassed smile, before explaining with a small amount of trepidation. "Sorry about acting like that and worrying you." Shyly she glanced away as she continued. "I used to dream about you so much, and now you're here and more than I ever imagined. It's just a bit much for me, sorry."
Gently he reached a hand over and brushed her soft pink hair back from her face, while giving her a warm chiding grin. "Then just relax hime-chan, and stop apologizing. It's fine, and I understand now." Ranma paused for a second as he considered something then nodded to himself. "I trust you too."
Utena blinked in incomprehension at that last part, before finally remembering the hints that the past women in Ranma's life had been 'unpleasant' to him. Then what he said really struck her. He actually trusted her to not hurt him. Not only was that a wonderful feeling, but also it gave her an idea of something she could do for him. Smiling widely, she cuddled up to him while humming pleasantly with herself.
For a few moments they sat there, her gazing lovingly at him, while he gave her a curious examination as if trying to figure out her newest mood. His empathic senses told him her lingering trepidation and worry had dissipated, leaving her filled with a calm warmth. Ranma knew from recent experiences that the girls currently in his life emitted that kind of warmth sometimes, and they were very kind and understanding with him then.
The moment was interrupted somewhat though when Utena's stomach growled its displeasure to the world. She blushed darkly, embarrassed with herself for spoiling the moment.
Ranma would have none of her embarrassment though and rubbed her stomach then patted it while staring at her with an amused grin. Reaching over her for a moment, he grabbed the phone and dialed the short number to connect him to the kitchen phone. After two rings a familiar perky voice picked up, and he started placing his order. "Good Morning Nanako. Yeah, we would like breakfast in bed." He then took the phone away form his mouth and gave Utena his full attention. "What would you like for breakfast hime-chan?"
Utena bit her lip nervously, not wanting to embarrass herself before him. She wasn't a sophisticated girl by any stretch of the imagination. She didn't want to come off crude by ordering something beneath the cook or household. Ashamed she stammered out, "Ah, I don't know". She didn't want to admit she had no clue what would be nice food, nor could she think of a witty excuse that a more traditional girl would know.
Ranma alleviated her concerns though by flashing her a reassuring grin before returning his attention back to the phone. "Yeah Nanako, how about four variety courses for us. Yeah, that sounds good. Alright, I'll ask." Ranma paused again, turning his attention back to Utena. "Do you want to eat breakfast alone, or would you mind some company?"
Utena blinked at the question, wondering why Ranma would suggest eating alone. Maybe he thought she would want some privacy. Right now though, she didn't want him going anywhere. She smiled at him warmly, trying to put enough of her feeling into it that he'd want to stay with her longer. "I would love some company for breakfast."
Ranma stared at her for a moment, before nodding slightly and returning to the phone. "Yeah, some company would be fine. Twenty five minutes sounds good." With that, he hung up the phone. Then he sat up on the bed, picking Utena up easily with his strength and swinging himself to the edge of the bed. Utena's question of what he meant by company was washed aside by wondering what he was doing.
Ranma looked down at their pile of clothes for a few seconds before asking her, "What would you like to wear for breakfast? After breakfast we'll get a bath so it's just for the moment."
Utena blinked and looked at the pile of clothes, noticing the blue silk shirt that she had almost got to wear last night. Carefully she bent down to pick it up. Ranma assisted her by kneeling on the floor, not letting her out of his lap. Now in reach of the shirt, she felt it in her hands and held the ball of fabric to her chest, amazed at how smooth and light the fabric was.
Ranma gave her an amused grin and stood up. Carefully he made his way to the lavatory door, and was pleasantly surprised when Utena opened it before he could rebalance her to free up a hand to open it with. With the door open, he stepped into the bathroom and carefully set Utena down, making sure she could stand on her good leg without her crutches. "Can you keep off your bad ankle enough to get around in here?" Utena gave him a shy nod, realizing why he wanted her to have her privacy. Carefully he released her so she could stand on her own with the aid of the sink counter and backed out of the room. "Just call or knock when you're ready for me to come in for you." With that he shut the door, leaving her to her own devices.
A short while later Utena stood before the mirror, carefully balanced on her good leg. Quickly she finished giving her face a quick scrub with water before trying to comb some of her pink hair into place with her fingers. Her hair was long and thick enough to cover most of her back, and while it was straight, it had a slight curl to it. Most notably the two long bangs by the sides of her face curled inwards, hanging like crescents beneath her eyes.
Taking her attention from her hair, knowing there was little to do about it right now, she admired the shirt she was wearing. It hung very loosely on her slender frame and came well past mid thigh on her. With the sleeves unrolled, the hung down over her hands unless she pulled them up. Over all she thought it made her look cute. At least that was what she hoped. She knew some guys liked the nightshirt look, and she loved how the shirt felt on her and how comfortable it was. It even smelled pleasantly of its owner, which was a big plus to her.
A bit worried that she had spent to long in the bathroom, she hopped over to the door and knocked on it, letting Ranma know she was done. Only a few seconds later the door swung inwards, catching her by surprise and making her lose her precarious single legged balance. Before she could even start flailing her arms though, she was already in Ranma's arms. He frowned sadly at her while apologizing, "Sorry, I didn't mean to knock you over."
Utena didn't want him sad over something that wasn't his fault. She wouldn't have wanted him sad even if it had been his fault. "No, It was my fault. I was distracted and didn't realize I was in the way of the door. It didn't even touch me though."
Ranma didn't look convinced, but decided to let it drop as he carried her back to bed. Carefully he sat her down, worried about aggravating her injury. Seeing that she was alright he gave her a smile to try and cheer up the mood a bit. "I'll just be a minute okay?" Getting a hesitant nod from her, he stepped into the lavatory himself.
After a few minutes the hallway door opened, and three women entered the room. The green haired girl with the large bust in the abbreviated dark blue kimono she remembered from last night. The petite pale blond in the green dress she recognized as well as being with the other girl last night. The pale blue haired girl in the purple dress with apron that resembled a stylish and fancy maid's outfit was someone she didn't recognize at all.
All three of the girls entering carried a large silvery tray crammed with a variety of dishes.
The pale blond took the lead and gave a slight bow towards Utena in bed. "Breakfast is served Lady Utena." Looking towards the lavatory door where they could hear the sink running, Maria called out a bit louder than her normal conversational level, "Master Ranma, breakfast is here."
The door opened, and Ranma came out, still rubbing his face with a hand towel to dry it. "Sorry, had to wait a bit for the hot water."
Maria ducked her head in deference. "That is alright Master Ranma, we just arrived. Shall breakfast be served in bed, or at the table?"
Ranma smiled happily and threw his towel into the bathroom, knowing it would land on the counter by the sink. With that out of the way, he made his way to the bed and sat down, scooting over until he was beside Utena and leaning back against the pillows laid against the headboard.
The girls understood and sat on the bed. Ayumi sat on Utena's side, while Maria and Nanako sat on Ranma's side. Maria and Nanako immediately started taking turns feeding Ranma off of their platters, and he resigned himself to allowing himself to be hand fed this morning. Utena was a bit surprised that the girls were apparently staying with them, and even more surprised when they began feeding Ranma.
Thoughts on that were cut short however when the busty girl sitting on her side of the bed offered her a small bowl filled with slices of various fruits. "I can feed you too if you wish Lady Utena. Just tell me what you want and I'll get it." Ayumi's eyes slid sideways, glancing at Ranma sidelong and she turned back to the stunned young girl with a suggestive look. "Or if you're feeling a bit left out, you can feed Ranma too."
Utena blushed and looked away shyly, while nibbling on the tasty fruit. She was a bit unsure about some of the dishes on the trays, but fruit she could deal with. That was probably why the green haired girl had handed it to her. She was a bit jealous and upset at first of the girls commandeering Ranma for breakfast like that, but with Ayumi offering to treat her the same way made her feel better about it.
After finishing off a stack of pancakes with sausage, Ranma turned to Utena. "Have you been introduced to them yet?"
Utena finished chewing and swallowed the peach slice she was eating before answering. "No, though I remember seeing two of them last night."
Ranma nodded to her, and then turned to the pale blue haired young woman. She had a moderate tan and a somewhat plump figure with wide hips. "This is Nanako. She's the cook here, and she's very good." Nanako gave him a big grin at his compliment and stuffed his mouth with one of her rice balls. Ranma gave her an annoyed look but let it slide as he chewed the rice ball up and swallowed.
Rolling his eyes he turned his gaze over to the busty green haired girl by Utena's side, turning his expression back into a smile. "This is Ayumi. She is my personal ninja servant, and who I spar with. With her help I'm going to take a look at your ankle after breakfast and see what I can do." Ayumi gave Ranma a curious look at Ranma openly calling her a ninja, unaware of how much current culture had popularized ninja.
After a few seconds, Utena turned to the blond pale skinned girl sitting across the bed from her. Ranma followed her gaze and seemed to consider the blond girl for a moment before introducing her. "This is Maria. She's Sakura's handmaiden, but she's very nice to me." Ranma seemed a bit unsure about Maria's introduction, as he had never really been told Maria's position. Maria's gentle smile directed at him reassured him though, causing him to sigh in relief.
The pink haired girl smiled brightly, "Well, it's nice to meet you all". Utena looked around between the other girls and Ranma, her expression dropping slightly. "...But, isn't it kind of... odd to have so many girls being 'nice' to one guy?"
"Well it wouldn't do for a prince like Ranma to be unfamiliar with girls." stated an amused Maria, a small smile upon her lips.
Ayumi picked up the line, continuing on Maria's line of thought, "He needs to have good experiences with girls, and it wouldn't do for him to be lonely. Besides, he's just so cute when he's embarrassed about being waited on." She finished with a mischievous grin while glancing at Ranma.
Utena finished the line of thought herself, "...because he had bad experiences with girls before".
Ranma looked at her with a troubled expression, "Could we not talk about that?"
Blushing and ducking her head, Utena felt bad for bringing that up in front of him now. With sudden inspiration though, she grabbed a strawberry from her bowl and fed it to Ranma, suddenly smiling at him.
Ranma looked at her oddly for a moment, and then let it slide as he realized she was trying to drop the subject. Breakfast then continued with a much lighter tone.
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After breakfast was finished and put away, Ranma decided it was time to look at Utena's ankle. Carefully undoing the brace and the wrapping around Utena's ankle, Ranma began his examination of the injury. It apparently consisted of damaged ligaments, with some bruised flesh that had swollen. The swelling seemed to be the worst part, and from what he was learning from Ayumi, pressure points and some massage would help that a lot. Carefully he reached out and numbed the area with his ki before massaging gently into the flesh of her ankle.
The young girl in the blue silk shirt was very surprised when she only felt a strange tingling warmth around her ankle. Ranma seemed to be treating her ankle very carefully, but despite how gentle he was, she couldn't imagine why she wasn't feeling any pain from her swollen ankle joint. After a few moments though she could almost swear her ankle was returning to it's original shape, the soft tissue becoming less puffy as the swelling decreased.
After a moment, Ranma stopped to admire his work on her ankle. It was still bruised and slightly swollen, but now it would be healed in a few days, and she would be able to go around without the brace. Satisfied with what he could feel of her ki flows realigning, Ranma turned to Ayumi to see her opinion.
Ayumi nodded thoughtfully towards him, "Very good young master. You could have increased her blood flow a little more, but that could strain her veins".
The man with the tousled loose black hair smiled and patted Utena's leg. Looking at the clock, he frowned to himself. "I have to go to classes soon. I'll be back a little after lunch okay? Just stay off your feet and let them take care of you, okay Hime-chan?"
Utena gazed at Ranma for a moment, accepting that he had to go for a while, "Alright my prince". Giggling a little at that, she resolved to talk with the girls about Ranma's past after he was gone and find out what she could do to help.
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Nabiki stretched her arms, working out her early morning stiffness in her body. A bit thoughtfully, she picked her Mokona plushy off of her bed, staring at the rabbit like creature, a character from a fantastic story about magical princesses and princes.
Just like Ranma now apparently.
His life had always been more fantastic than the manga she read. Despite her dealings at school, she was still a young woman with romantic ideals. Ranma had been her hope, then disappointment when he wasn't like the guy she was expecting.
Now she was beginning to realize what she missed with him by having such expectations.
Now apparently he was reaching his potential, becoming refined to the point where he was the true essence of a heroic prince from the various stories she read.
Disgusted with herself, she tossed the plushy onto the bed. How foolish could she be to entertain thoughts of Ranma treating her well with their history? The prince always rescued the loving princess, not the cold-hearted villainess who had given up on love and taken advantage of the prince.
Internally upset with herself, she made her way down to breakfast, wondering how to deal with informing the locals about Ranma.
Of course, sometimes it's the cold girl who has given up on love who needs her prince the most.
Despite the difference in their methods, they were giving Ranma a more pleasant experience with women when waking up. It had taken days before they had gotten over his old reactions and instincts concerning women. The first time Ayumi had woke him up and he had panicked all anew, Maria had been worried that Ayumi had thrown all their progress out the window. The busty ninja girl had handled it though, stopping her bouncing to sit still on Ranma while grinning at him until he understood nothing was wrong and calmed down.
They had worked over specific situations, including lots of physical contact. The contact was to counteract the negative association he had with such, mainly as a response to being grabbed onto by women in public, notably the Chinese girl Shampoo. In Japanese society, hugs were very intimate physical expressions, generally considered second base after kissing. Shampoo's and many other girl's enthusiastic hugs bordered on groping, causing them to be public spectacles.
Being raised on the road, Ranma wasn't quite aware of that, though it affected him in a more subtle way, meaning that without public affection, there was no way to observe it for him. Instead of knowing the significance of the act, he only knew it was really invading his personal space and not something he could deal with.
Then followed the reactions to these acts, the people observing became outraged for various reasons at Ranma for practically making out with a girl in public. Most girls would become outraged, though they generally focused their ire on the offending girl, Ranma would rather not be upsetting girls. Guys were more predictable, either being outraged at him for 'molesting' the girl they lusted after, or offended at his 'womanizing' ways.
Then there was Akane, the fiancée with whom Ranma had lived with. Akane had been a normal schoolgirl who was respected for her spunk and liveliness. Then Ranma came into her life, changing everything. Unlike the other fiancées, she led a relatively normal life and spent time with her gossiping schoolgirl friends just like any other girl, despite the times she was tangled up in Ranma's life. When Shampoo or some other girl jumped Ranma, usually in full view in public, she made her displeasure known with Ranma personally, often punting him into a neighboring park.
Where Akane's anger went, her family followed. Her father would demand he apologize for whatever he did and then lament the joining of the families. Ranma's own father often backed the Tendo elder up, usually with detrimental words and a sudden physical attack. Kasumi to be fair, would gently reprove both of them in her own way, but Akane having more experience with her sister would ignore it most of the time while it cut into Ranma to have a sweet girl like her dismayed with him. Nabiki didn't seem to actually care about these little altercations, but added her own brand of suffering by using it to blackmail and manipulate Ranma.
Ranma didn't have the social understanding to understand all of that, so he simply learned that most anything involving a girl was bad. Even without the bulk of his memories, he still retained that instinctual knowledge warning him of physical contact with girls.
Maria and the other women here had worked on dissipating much of that fear of contact. Having him attend classes at the college and get private tutoring from the female students had helped as well, showing him that normal girls existed. He still had that look of wonderment mixed into his happy smile when he met those girls as he continuously realized that he could have nice relations with girls. There had been one incident of a girl being to forward with him, flustering Ranma, but his new female friends had come to his rescue before anything came of it. After hearing a little of his past, the forward girl had lost the illusion that he was just a shy younger man and had become one of his closer new friends.
Maria hadn't been sure that Ranma was ready to deal with Utena last night all by himself, but apparently, he had handled the situation well. She was pretty sure he had an interesting story for why Utena was wearing so little, though they both seemed to be happy. Sakura probably had felt Ranma could handle it and had decided to put him on the spot like that after hearing that the people from Nerima had found him and would be showing up soon.
Maria's hand paused for to long upon his brow, as she was lost in thought, awakening Ranma. As she realized he was staring up at her, she continued stroking his bangs back and gave him a warm smile.
Belatedly he seemed to notice the girl in his arms, gazing down briefly at the peacefully sleeping pink haired girl as if to confirm she was actually there. After a moment, he returned his gaze to the blond sitting at his shoulder, his eyes now stormy with inner conflict.
Maria gave him an encouraging smile, before bending over him to kiss him on the forehead. Rising up she giggled lightly at the innocent surprise in his expression before stroking her fingers through his bangs again.
After a moment he relaxed, his eyes calming as he smiling lightly in return. Seeing that everything was alright, she gave him one final smile before removing her hand from his hair and standing up. Bowing her head to him in a silent respectful sign of parting, she quietly slipped out of the room.
Sighing deeply as he breathed out the morning air, Ranma brought his gaze down from the ceiling to look at Utena in the soft morning light. She had apparently wiggled around a little during the night, with the covers falling down enough to expose her shoulder blades, though her hair fanned out to cover most of her exposed back. She was now lying across his chest with her chin on his shoulder, her nose brushing his now loose hair on the pillows. Her right hand was tangled in his hair, having pulled it from his ponytail sometime during the night, while her left hand rested emptily upon the mattress.
Tracing body parts, he realized one of his hands had wandered down to rest on her rump. Feeling an urge to panic but noting intellectually that it wasn't that bad, he tried distancing himself instead to calm down.
Looking to the side at where the light was coming in through the window, he noted from the pale golden light that it seemed to be clear out today. Looking around his room, he acquainted himself with the furnishings. Though he had been here for a little over two weeks, he hadn't paid it that much attention.
The first thing he knew about the room was it was too richly done for his tastes. The height of his life had been a short stay in his own room at home, which had actually been as bare as the small room he had lived in at the Tendo's when he wasn't sleeping in the dojo.
Now he had a huge bedroom, some twenty by eighteen feet that was larger than the Tendo's family room. The furniture wasn't fancy, just the fact that he had furniture made it too richly appointed for him to be comfortable with. It was an odd mixture of European and Japanese as well.
The bed was a large four posted affair covered in silk sheets and half a dozen large pillows. The other furniture in the room included two night tables, a dresser, wardrobe, chest and even chairs, all of it well made from a richly stained wood. Why he had a wardrobe was beyond him, as one of the three doors away from his bedroom led to his walk in closet and dressing room. From the closet which was a few feet shy of being as large as his old room at the Tendo's, another door lead to the furo.
The bathing room was another perplexing thing about this house's layout. It lead to two other bedrooms similar to his, which belonged to Maria, Sakura and Ayumi, with another door going to the hall. Maria didn't sleep, so she kept her clothes in Ayumi's room. Supposedly, it was his bathing room, but those two girls shared it with him on purpose. The times he had demanded privacy he had gotten it, but he had found sharing a bath with either of them to be pleasant once he gave it a chance.
The other door in his room lead to a small room with toilet and sink for personal business, which was just another extravagance to worry about. Besides the rich reddish stained carved wood furniture, the room was decorated with traditional watercolor paintings, and a rice paper screen which separated one corner into a cozy meeting place with a small table and cushions to sit on.
He still felt weird about making a mess around the house and having so many people serving him. The cook he understood, as she seemed to genuinely enjoy cooking. She had hand fed him until he understood that and stopped protesting being waited on hand and foot. Ayumi he could understand, as it was her given duty as a ninja to serve him.
Sakura always seemed to sweep in and just make anything better, but didn't make an apparent physical effort. Her presence was always gentle and soft, but amazingly strong in a way he couldn't identify. The best he could describe it was she acted like an old fashioned Japanese woman, and treated him as the lord of the house since he had arrived, though he had always felt that way around her. She always held herself like a fine lady with dignity, but from the simple amount of attention he got from her, it made it obvious she was treating him like a lord. In a way she was the one most subservient to him in the house, but at the same time she was so self-assured and restrained that it never disturbed him like it had with the other girls.
Maria had been another odd case. She also held the grace of a refined lady, though in a European sense. Her expressions were at times more pronounced and sometimes just as reserved as her Lady, Sakura. In a real sense, she was his personal maid, and the girl he had the most physical contact with. The root of this treatment came more from her own desires than her Lady's orders to care for him. Years ago when he had helped her, it had apparently meant a great deal to her, and it was easy for even him to tell she adored him for it.
On a more realistic level, Maria actually had a need to serve him in a sense. Part of the curse that had threatened her life also kept her from sleeping. She had hobbies and things to do in the dead of night, such as reading, cleaning the house, or just going for a walk. Such things become boring with time however and lose their interest.
He had found out that he had become her new hobby. Sometimes it was keeping tabs on the people in Nerima; sometimes it was cleaning up the extra dust balls in the house. Mostly it was spending time with him, especially watching him while he slept. He had been unable to understand her desire to serve him, even though she explained it as what she enjoyed to do. She then asked him if anyone had tried to stop him from doing what he enjoyed, martial arts. That had brought to mind the girl named Akane, who he remembered had several times tried to stop him from protecting her. Seeing that he understood now, she had simply asked him if he would deny her such a simple pleasure. That was when he stopped objecting to being served by the various new people in his life.
A warm body shifting under his hands brought his attention back to the physical realm. The slim girl in his arms stretched her body, elongating her joints and tensing muscles under his hands, before settled down and burying her nose in his hair while rubbing her cheek against his chin. She then paused as she breathed in deeply the scent of his hair and skin, before letting out a deep contented sigh of pleasure. Dreamily she murmured into his ear, "I like this dream".
Grinning slightly as a restrained chuckle escaped him, Ranma paused to consider just how asleep she probably was. Eventually he decided his question would give him the answer. "Do you have this dream often?"
A teasing note to the question awoke some distant feeling in her being, but the softness it had been asked in matched her dreamy state, so she didn't realize she was awakening from sleep yet. Floating along in a warm cloud of comfort, she lazily considered her answer before murmuring, "This one is really nice".
Ranma gazed at her pink hair and exposed cheek with a wan smile as he contemplated his dreams. Softly he spoke his thoughts to her. "I always wondered about my princess. I didn't know enough about girls to even form a dream of her though. I just knew it would be worthwhile. After meeting you, I can say I'm not disappointed at all."
Gasping in shock, Utena rapidly blinked the last of the sleep from her eyes as she tried to see his face from her current position. Not having a good angle, she gathered her wits enough after a few seconds to pull her hands up to her shoulders, then thrust her hands into the bed, raising herself up on her arms to peer down at the young man she was sleeping on. Seeing the young muscular Japanese man with the long unruly black hair that had been on her thoughts caused her to gasp out in surprise, "You're real?!"
Ranma grinned up at the amazed young woman, amused at her reaction. He was however trying to stifle his first reaction, which would get him in trouble. With the same will power that had kept his hand on the forbidden area of her rump, he tried to control his foot-in-mouth affliction. This time however it was a losing battle. Grin widening a bit more as his eyes sparkled with humor, his voice took on a teasing tone, "and you're naked".
Looking down at herself, she realized this was true and blushed darkly, a warm reddish color tinting her cheeks and chest. Following the motion of her head, her hair fell off of her back to hang downwards and brush Ranma's chest. After a moment she forced her gaze back up to his face, finding it had settled into a gentle smile directed at her. The embarrassment she felt was swept away by the warmth in his eyes, and she tossed her hair to one side before laying her head on his chest.
For a while, they lay there, Utena in silence, while Ranma was puzzling over why she had been embarrassed but made no effort to cover herself up. Eventually Utena broke the silence by quietly asking him, "You undressed me for bed right? Nothing else happened?"
Ranma looked down at her curiously, finding her calm curious tone to be a surprise. He noted her eyes were unfocused and staring off into the room, showing that she was just lying there and relaxing. Cautiously he replied, "Well, I haven't met a girl yet who doesn't change before bed, and especially one who would wear a bra to bed cause they're uncomfortable, so I tried to get you ready for bed. I tried to dress you in my shirt, but you kinda grabbed me and." Ranma paused as he blushed bashfully, "you seemed happy, so I let it go".
Hearing the odd soft hesitance in his voice made her wonder, so Utena pulled herself up a bit to look Ranma in the face. She found his eyes clouded with confusion and hesitance. Lying down, her clear blue eyes softened as she considered how to confirm her suspicions. She considered asking him if he touched her more than he was now, but that sounded accusatory, and that wouldn't do if he were already uncomfortable. Finally, she decided on a safe course of action that was suited to confirming her suspicions. "You can touch me if you want you know."
Swallowed nervously, Ranma suddenly tensed and lost his nerve, moving his wandering hand from her rear to the side of her waist. Nervousness entered his voice as he evaded by saying, "Oh, that's alright" with only a slight waver to his voice.
Utena sighed gently, his reaction being a lot worse than she expected, almost bordering on rejection. She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt though and encourage him by admitting, "It's alright if you're shy. I'm a little shy too, and this is my first time doing anything like . . . this"
Ranma blushed again, though this time it was from awkwardness. Cautiously he started, "Well, actually I've just had some bad experiences with girls. I used to have a lot of girls trying to force me into marriage, and they would sneak naked into my bed, or drug me and kidnap me to their bed. No matter what though it was always considered my fault and I'm just trying not to upset you." Even with all of the encouragement he had gotten from the new girls in his life, he still didn't like admitting to stuff like that. It sounded like whining to his ears.
Startled Utena pushed herself up again to stare him in the eyes. His expression was openly hurt, letting her see his pain, though oddly enough she felt some of that was due to him thinking he was failing her. Pulling her lower body up, she straddled his stomach, letting her gaze into his eyes from a better distance. She could see he wasn't reacting to her nudity, but studiously keeping his hands on her waist and out of her way. She was a bit of a tomboy, so she wasn't as shy or ashamed of her body as most girls, so this position really didn't bother her since it was with him. His reaction confirmed that he was used to nude pretty girls, but didn't have good experiences with those girls. This didn't make a lot of sense to her, be she trusted what he said to be true.
Smiling down softly at him, she asked him, "Do you want me to leave you alone?"
Ranma stared at her, not quite understanding her right now. "Uh, you don't have too. Did I do something wrong?" Unsure of himself, he removed his hands completely from her waist, resting them uncomfortably on the mattress to his sides.
Utena smiled gently down at him, now finally understanding. Gently she took hold of his hands and placed them on the sides of her hips, the best place for them in this position. Slightly amused her smile twisted slightly into a teasing grin as she mock scolded him, "Didn't I tell you, that you could touch me? Anywhere you like, I trust you."
Suddenly Ranma's troubled expression disappeared as a small smile slowly bloomed on his face. For a few moments they stayed that way, gazing at each other and trading soft smiles. Eventually Utena noticed that despite the upswing in his mood, he was making no move to touch her anywhere, simply holding her by her hips. Curiously she looked down at her taut stomach and hips wondering if there was something displeasing about her body.
Seeing her curious gaze, Ranma ventured a guess at what was troubling her. "I like holding you." Embarrassed at how sappy that sounded, he blushed and looked away bashfully. Staring to the side incidentally brought his nightstand with the phone intercom on it in view, which gave him an idea. "How about breakfast in bed?"
Finding out he just wanted to hold her did explain earlier reactions, but right now Utena was just overcome with sweet emotion. Even her amusement at his bashfulness couldn't top the warm feelings he had invoked inside her. After a few minutes, though he managed to bring her back down to Earth by offering breakfast in bed. Deciding that fitted her current romantic mood just fine, she bent down and gave him a light kiss as an answer before blushing as she realized how forward she was being.
Blushing shyly, Ranma took a few moments before he became coherent enough to realize ordering breakfast would get his mind off of embarrassing thoughts. During that time however Utena still sat straddling his stomach and giggled at how adorable he looked with his blush as he shyly looked away. A bit worried that she had gone to far, she leaned down closer to his face but further away than kissing distance. "I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have done that. It just felt right."
Ranma turned his head to look Utena in the face, noting the worry in her eyes, which was mirrored by the emotions he felt from her. Concentrating on her emotions again helped calm him down a lot, and he didn't want to see her sad or worried.
Acting on instinct, he brought his hands up her sides with a feather light touch before cupping her face in his hands. Seeing her worried expression relax into a warm smile, he gazed down then up her body at the path his hands had traced, before returning to studying her face again. Her smile hadn't faltered a bit, and her emotions filled him in on the rest. He was feeling simple genuine warmth from her without any of the possessiveness, which would worry him.
Utena smiled down at the innocent young man tenderly holding her face. Something about her apology had sparked something in him, and his touch had felt wonderful. Ashamed at the guilty pleasure, she wanted more of his touch, but wasn't going to push him any more about it. She had also noticed how his eyes had retraced where he touched her, confirming that he had touched her and admiring her body at once, and that pleased her. His open admiration might have normally embarrassed her, but right now she was lost in the sparkling amazement in his eyes. He was staring at her, his hands and where he touched her as if he had seen something wonderful for the first time.
Utena was startled out of her thoughts as he gently pulled her face closer to his, until their lips met in a soft tender kiss. After a moment her brain realized she was asphyxiating and hiccupped, causing her to breath in through her nose. Eventually the kiss ended, leaving her so emotionally stunned that she was having trouble focusing her eyes, causing her eyes to brim with tears. The moment, motion and feeling had been just perfect, leaving her heart swimming around and doing acrobatics like a drunken butterfly.
Seeing her staring down at him with wide eyes from only a few inches away, Ranma gave her a wide smile, pleased that he had done the right thing. Despite the tears brimming in her eyes, he could feel the ocean of emotions pouring off of her and knew it had turned out alright. Deciding the break the stillness that had built up, he grinned at her and simply stated, "It felt right."
The pink haired beauty hovering over him seemed to recover herself somewhat at hearing him, but still made little motion other than staring at him with wonder and warmth spilling off of her in waves. Ranma cocked his head slightly to the side while looking at her and tried a different tactic. "A princess rewards her prince with a kiss right? I mean, you are my princess, for a little while, aren't you? So it's alright if we kiss." Ranma stopped and internally berated himself as he realized he was babbling and sounded like he was making an excuse.
Eventually Utena seemed to come fully alive, suddenly burying her face in his hair fanned out on the pillow while rubbing her cheek against his. Her slender arms wrapped around his torso as she pulled herself desperately against him.
Disturbed at the sudden turmoil of emotion from her, Ranma carefully put his arms around her, resting his hands on her opposing shoulder blades. After a few moments of holding her, he began to worry, as he couldn't tell if she was crying or not. "Did I say something wrong?"
After a bit of wiggling, Utena turned over onto her side, with Ranma turning to match her so they could lie together face to face. The slim girl offered him an embarrassed smile, before explaining with a small amount of trepidation. "Sorry about acting like that and worrying you." Shyly she glanced away as she continued. "I used to dream about you so much, and now you're here and more than I ever imagined. It's just a bit much for me, sorry."
Gently he reached a hand over and brushed her soft pink hair back from her face, while giving her a warm chiding grin. "Then just relax hime-chan, and stop apologizing. It's fine, and I understand now." Ranma paused for a second as he considered something then nodded to himself. "I trust you too."
Utena blinked in incomprehension at that last part, before finally remembering the hints that the past women in Ranma's life had been 'unpleasant' to him. Then what he said really struck her. He actually trusted her to not hurt him. Not only was that a wonderful feeling, but also it gave her an idea of something she could do for him. Smiling widely, she cuddled up to him while humming pleasantly with herself.
For a few moments they sat there, her gazing lovingly at him, while he gave her a curious examination as if trying to figure out her newest mood. His empathic senses told him her lingering trepidation and worry had dissipated, leaving her filled with a calm warmth. Ranma knew from recent experiences that the girls currently in his life emitted that kind of warmth sometimes, and they were very kind and understanding with him then.
The moment was interrupted somewhat though when Utena's stomach growled its displeasure to the world. She blushed darkly, embarrassed with herself for spoiling the moment.
Ranma would have none of her embarrassment though and rubbed her stomach then patted it while staring at her with an amused grin. Reaching over her for a moment, he grabbed the phone and dialed the short number to connect him to the kitchen phone. After two rings a familiar perky voice picked up, and he started placing his order. "Good Morning Nanako. Yeah, we would like breakfast in bed." He then took the phone away form his mouth and gave Utena his full attention. "What would you like for breakfast hime-chan?"
Utena bit her lip nervously, not wanting to embarrass herself before him. She wasn't a sophisticated girl by any stretch of the imagination. She didn't want to come off crude by ordering something beneath the cook or household. Ashamed she stammered out, "Ah, I don't know". She didn't want to admit she had no clue what would be nice food, nor could she think of a witty excuse that a more traditional girl would know.
Ranma alleviated her concerns though by flashing her a reassuring grin before returning his attention back to the phone. "Yeah Nanako, how about four variety courses for us. Yeah, that sounds good. Alright, I'll ask." Ranma paused again, turning his attention back to Utena. "Do you want to eat breakfast alone, or would you mind some company?"
Utena blinked at the question, wondering why Ranma would suggest eating alone. Maybe he thought she would want some privacy. Right now though, she didn't want him going anywhere. She smiled at him warmly, trying to put enough of her feeling into it that he'd want to stay with her longer. "I would love some company for breakfast."
Ranma stared at her for a moment, before nodding slightly and returning to the phone. "Yeah, some company would be fine. Twenty five minutes sounds good." With that, he hung up the phone. Then he sat up on the bed, picking Utena up easily with his strength and swinging himself to the edge of the bed. Utena's question of what he meant by company was washed aside by wondering what he was doing.
Ranma looked down at their pile of clothes for a few seconds before asking her, "What would you like to wear for breakfast? After breakfast we'll get a bath so it's just for the moment."
Utena blinked and looked at the pile of clothes, noticing the blue silk shirt that she had almost got to wear last night. Carefully she bent down to pick it up. Ranma assisted her by kneeling on the floor, not letting her out of his lap. Now in reach of the shirt, she felt it in her hands and held the ball of fabric to her chest, amazed at how smooth and light the fabric was.
Ranma gave her an amused grin and stood up. Carefully he made his way to the lavatory door, and was pleasantly surprised when Utena opened it before he could rebalance her to free up a hand to open it with. With the door open, he stepped into the bathroom and carefully set Utena down, making sure she could stand on her good leg without her crutches. "Can you keep off your bad ankle enough to get around in here?" Utena gave him a shy nod, realizing why he wanted her to have her privacy. Carefully he released her so she could stand on her own with the aid of the sink counter and backed out of the room. "Just call or knock when you're ready for me to come in for you." With that he shut the door, leaving her to her own devices.
A short while later Utena stood before the mirror, carefully balanced on her good leg. Quickly she finished giving her face a quick scrub with water before trying to comb some of her pink hair into place with her fingers. Her hair was long and thick enough to cover most of her back, and while it was straight, it had a slight curl to it. Most notably the two long bangs by the sides of her face curled inwards, hanging like crescents beneath her eyes.
Taking her attention from her hair, knowing there was little to do about it right now, she admired the shirt she was wearing. It hung very loosely on her slender frame and came well past mid thigh on her. With the sleeves unrolled, the hung down over her hands unless she pulled them up. Over all she thought it made her look cute. At least that was what she hoped. She knew some guys liked the nightshirt look, and she loved how the shirt felt on her and how comfortable it was. It even smelled pleasantly of its owner, which was a big plus to her.
A bit worried that she had spent to long in the bathroom, she hopped over to the door and knocked on it, letting Ranma know she was done. Only a few seconds later the door swung inwards, catching her by surprise and making her lose her precarious single legged balance. Before she could even start flailing her arms though, she was already in Ranma's arms. He frowned sadly at her while apologizing, "Sorry, I didn't mean to knock you over."
Utena didn't want him sad over something that wasn't his fault. She wouldn't have wanted him sad even if it had been his fault. "No, It was my fault. I was distracted and didn't realize I was in the way of the door. It didn't even touch me though."
Ranma didn't look convinced, but decided to let it drop as he carried her back to bed. Carefully he sat her down, worried about aggravating her injury. Seeing that she was alright he gave her a smile to try and cheer up the mood a bit. "I'll just be a minute okay?" Getting a hesitant nod from her, he stepped into the lavatory himself.
After a few minutes the hallway door opened, and three women entered the room. The green haired girl with the large bust in the abbreviated dark blue kimono she remembered from last night. The petite pale blond in the green dress she recognized as well as being with the other girl last night. The pale blue haired girl in the purple dress with apron that resembled a stylish and fancy maid's outfit was someone she didn't recognize at all.
All three of the girls entering carried a large silvery tray crammed with a variety of dishes.
The pale blond took the lead and gave a slight bow towards Utena in bed. "Breakfast is served Lady Utena." Looking towards the lavatory door where they could hear the sink running, Maria called out a bit louder than her normal conversational level, "Master Ranma, breakfast is here."
The door opened, and Ranma came out, still rubbing his face with a hand towel to dry it. "Sorry, had to wait a bit for the hot water."
Maria ducked her head in deference. "That is alright Master Ranma, we just arrived. Shall breakfast be served in bed, or at the table?"
Ranma smiled happily and threw his towel into the bathroom, knowing it would land on the counter by the sink. With that out of the way, he made his way to the bed and sat down, scooting over until he was beside Utena and leaning back against the pillows laid against the headboard.
The girls understood and sat on the bed. Ayumi sat on Utena's side, while Maria and Nanako sat on Ranma's side. Maria and Nanako immediately started taking turns feeding Ranma off of their platters, and he resigned himself to allowing himself to be hand fed this morning. Utena was a bit surprised that the girls were apparently staying with them, and even more surprised when they began feeding Ranma.
Thoughts on that were cut short however when the busty girl sitting on her side of the bed offered her a small bowl filled with slices of various fruits. "I can feed you too if you wish Lady Utena. Just tell me what you want and I'll get it." Ayumi's eyes slid sideways, glancing at Ranma sidelong and she turned back to the stunned young girl with a suggestive look. "Or if you're feeling a bit left out, you can feed Ranma too."
Utena blushed and looked away shyly, while nibbling on the tasty fruit. She was a bit unsure about some of the dishes on the trays, but fruit she could deal with. That was probably why the green haired girl had handed it to her. She was a bit jealous and upset at first of the girls commandeering Ranma for breakfast like that, but with Ayumi offering to treat her the same way made her feel better about it.
After finishing off a stack of pancakes with sausage, Ranma turned to Utena. "Have you been introduced to them yet?"
Utena finished chewing and swallowed the peach slice she was eating before answering. "No, though I remember seeing two of them last night."
Ranma nodded to her, and then turned to the pale blue haired young woman. She had a moderate tan and a somewhat plump figure with wide hips. "This is Nanako. She's the cook here, and she's very good." Nanako gave him a big grin at his compliment and stuffed his mouth with one of her rice balls. Ranma gave her an annoyed look but let it slide as he chewed the rice ball up and swallowed.
Rolling his eyes he turned his gaze over to the busty green haired girl by Utena's side, turning his expression back into a smile. "This is Ayumi. She is my personal ninja servant, and who I spar with. With her help I'm going to take a look at your ankle after breakfast and see what I can do." Ayumi gave Ranma a curious look at Ranma openly calling her a ninja, unaware of how much current culture had popularized ninja.
After a few seconds, Utena turned to the blond pale skinned girl sitting across the bed from her. Ranma followed her gaze and seemed to consider the blond girl for a moment before introducing her. "This is Maria. She's Sakura's handmaiden, but she's very nice to me." Ranma seemed a bit unsure about Maria's introduction, as he had never really been told Maria's position. Maria's gentle smile directed at him reassured him though, causing him to sigh in relief.
The pink haired girl smiled brightly, "Well, it's nice to meet you all". Utena looked around between the other girls and Ranma, her expression dropping slightly. "...But, isn't it kind of... odd to have so many girls being 'nice' to one guy?"
"Well it wouldn't do for a prince like Ranma to be unfamiliar with girls." stated an amused Maria, a small smile upon her lips.
Ayumi picked up the line, continuing on Maria's line of thought, "He needs to have good experiences with girls, and it wouldn't do for him to be lonely. Besides, he's just so cute when he's embarrassed about being waited on." She finished with a mischievous grin while glancing at Ranma.
Utena finished the line of thought herself, "...because he had bad experiences with girls before".
Ranma looked at her with a troubled expression, "Could we not talk about that?"
Blushing and ducking her head, Utena felt bad for bringing that up in front of him now. With sudden inspiration though, she grabbed a strawberry from her bowl and fed it to Ranma, suddenly smiling at him.
Ranma looked at her oddly for a moment, and then let it slide as he realized she was trying to drop the subject. Breakfast then continued with a much lighter tone.
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After breakfast was finished and put away, Ranma decided it was time to look at Utena's ankle. Carefully undoing the brace and the wrapping around Utena's ankle, Ranma began his examination of the injury. It apparently consisted of damaged ligaments, with some bruised flesh that had swollen. The swelling seemed to be the worst part, and from what he was learning from Ayumi, pressure points and some massage would help that a lot. Carefully he reached out and numbed the area with his ki before massaging gently into the flesh of her ankle.
The young girl in the blue silk shirt was very surprised when she only felt a strange tingling warmth around her ankle. Ranma seemed to be treating her ankle very carefully, but despite how gentle he was, she couldn't imagine why she wasn't feeling any pain from her swollen ankle joint. After a few moments though she could almost swear her ankle was returning to it's original shape, the soft tissue becoming less puffy as the swelling decreased.
After a moment, Ranma stopped to admire his work on her ankle. It was still bruised and slightly swollen, but now it would be healed in a few days, and she would be able to go around without the brace. Satisfied with what he could feel of her ki flows realigning, Ranma turned to Ayumi to see her opinion.
Ayumi nodded thoughtfully towards him, "Very good young master. You could have increased her blood flow a little more, but that could strain her veins".
The man with the tousled loose black hair smiled and patted Utena's leg. Looking at the clock, he frowned to himself. "I have to go to classes soon. I'll be back a little after lunch okay? Just stay off your feet and let them take care of you, okay Hime-chan?"
Utena gazed at Ranma for a moment, accepting that he had to go for a while, "Alright my prince". Giggling a little at that, she resolved to talk with the girls about Ranma's past after he was gone and find out what she could do to help.
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Nabiki stretched her arms, working out her early morning stiffness in her body. A bit thoughtfully, she picked her Mokona plushy off of her bed, staring at the rabbit like creature, a character from a fantastic story about magical princesses and princes.
Just like Ranma now apparently.
His life had always been more fantastic than the manga she read. Despite her dealings at school, she was still a young woman with romantic ideals. Ranma had been her hope, then disappointment when he wasn't like the guy she was expecting.
Now she was beginning to realize what she missed with him by having such expectations.
Now apparently he was reaching his potential, becoming refined to the point where he was the true essence of a heroic prince from the various stories she read.
Disgusted with herself, she tossed the plushy onto the bed. How foolish could she be to entertain thoughts of Ranma treating her well with their history? The prince always rescued the loving princess, not the cold-hearted villainess who had given up on love and taken advantage of the prince.
Internally upset with herself, she made her way down to breakfast, wondering how to deal with informing the locals about Ranma.
Of course, sometimes it's the cold girl who has given up on love who needs her prince the most.
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That night in the Sakura manor's garden area, the Stargazers Club was having their meeting. The group outside consisted of about two-dozen young college women, and a few couples who were out watching the stars. Sakura herself sat beneath one of the many cherry trees, watching over her handful of household servants as they served the guests or more commonly watched the stars themselves.
The largest group was around one particular young man with long black hair held back into a ponytail. Besides watching the stars and the occasional shooting star, the people gathered also tended to talk, sometimes philosophically.
The young man at the center of so many young woman's attention turned to the pink haired girl at his side, "Utena, do you know what destiny is?"
She looked a little uncertain at first, "Well, I think so. It was my destiny to be your princess, right?"
Ranma looked over at her, giving her a smile, while the college girls grinned to each other at how sweet that was. They had already been told of the story between Ranma and Utena and gushed over how romantic it was. Ranma turned his gaze back to the stars, "You could say that. Fate is what life has in store for you. It's what happens to you when you don't try to rise above it. Destiny is the greatness you can reach for. I can't tell you what your destiny is, you just have to try your best and you'll find it."
The pink haired beauty smiled at him, "I never thought of it like that. I like the sound of that."
Michi, a young brown haired woman wearing wire-framed glasses spoke up beside them, gushing with excitement, "Awe, you two are so perfect together. I can't believe it, a prince and princess just like a story. It's so romantic!"
Miaji Tenou, a well-built woman with her blond hair in a high ponytail tapped Michi on the shoulder playfully. "Don't say things like that. I personally like being able to spend time with our dear sweet prince here. It may not be a date but it's a lot better than being alone." Seeing Utena look at her, she waved her hands in front of her in panic; "I didn't mean it like that. I mean you said you were leaving and couldn't be his girlfriend."
Utena smiled comfortingly at the flustered older girl. "It's alright. It is true I can't stay. I think it's sweet he spends time with all of you that don't have boyfriends."
Pulling back slightly in surprise, Miaji stared intently at Utena to see if she was being honest. "Well, you don't seem very surprised by that."
Utena's smile quirked into a warm conspiratorial grin, "Well, I spent today with Miss Sakura and Maria talking about Ranma. I think it's sweet what he's been doing with you girls. I'm also surprised you girls have managed to share him so well."
Seeing the younger girl's reaction, Miaji brightened considerably. "Well, since we have a girl's university here, we have a lot more girls in town. Ranma has only taken us out twice, but it's been really nice. To be truthful, it really is like having a boyfriend, you just have to share his attention and time a little, but Ranma pays a lot more attention to you than most guys, so it's still good."
Utena smiled and nodded to her, before glancing over to Ranma, who was blushing slightly while watching the sky. He seemed to be doing his best to ignore the girls talking around him. "Yeah, so I wouldn't want to ruin that. He's been wonderful to me so far as it is. It wouldn't be right for me to keep him to myself when I'm not going to stay here with him."
The athletic blond grinned at her, "Yeah, I get what you're aiming at. Those of us without boyfriends don't really have all the spare time needed for a relationship. We just want to spend some time with a sweet guy every once in a while, until we're done with college and ready to settle down in life. There's no real need to get jealous or anything just so a few other girls can't be happy." Miaji seemed to find something funny and chuckled to herself. "Oh if only my dear tomboy little sister Haruka heard me saying that. She's a bit of a feminist, so she would have a kittens hearing me defending the idea of sharing a guy with other girls."
Michi pushed her glasses up and glanced over at the confident blond, "You make it sound like we're Ranma's harem or something. He's just being nice and spending time with us. I'll remind you he's been a perfect gentleman."
Miaji waved her hands to placate the smaller girl while laughing, "I didn't mean it like that, it's just some people would paint it that way, you know?" glancing around conspiratorially, she leaned over to mock-whisper, "I'm sure if we tried hard enough though we could see just how well he treats a girl in bed." She took note of how Utena started blushing at the mention of getting Ranma in bed.
"I'm sitting right here you know?" rhetorically asked an annoyed Ranma.
Before a Miaji, distracted by Ranma, could start questioning Utena, Yukima the Stargazer's Secretary sat down near Ranma. A bit troubled, she hesitantly asked Ranma, "Ranma, who was that girl you were with two nights ago? She seemed like an ex-girlfriend, but she was so mean."
Ranma glanced over to where Yukima was sitting, suddenly taking interest in the conversation, as everyone else perked up, interested in the news. "Well, that was Nabiki Tendo. She was an arranged fiancée of mine for a couple of weeks, but all she really did was sell me out to other girls and sports clubs". Ranma shrugged, seemingly dropping the conversation.
The girls however stared at him a bit incredulously, rolling 'sell me out to other girls' through their minds.
Miaji broke the silence, voicing the general sentiment of everyone else. "So she's part of that mysterious past of yours. I can see why you would want it to stay in the past.
Utena expected Ranma to react badly to being reminded of his past, but he only grunted dismissively. "Knowing Nabiki, she's already sold the information on where I am, and knowing the people there, they'll come after me."
Miaji nodded thoughtfully, as the others did the same. Continuing the serious air, she asked, "So, Utena, why were you blushing so bad when I suggested getting Ranma in bed?" turning her question into teasing.
The pink haired girl blushed and hid her face in her hands, "It's not what you think! Honest!"
Ranma looked confused, "It's not about you sleeping with me last night?"
Utena stared at Ranma like a deer caught in headlights, while letting out a startled squeak.
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As the girls chatted, Ranma watched the stars, spotting a brief reddish streak that was probably orbital debris. Despite what it might really be, it was still a falling star, an ancient name for something small plummeting into the atmosphere and burning up in the charged ionosphere. His time in Astronomy had taught him that much, but the kid inside of him just told him to make a wish.
Listening to the girls filled him with a sense of surreal warmth. They were practically arguing the rights of free girls to date him without possessing him. At the time they weren't considered dates, but apparently the girls were reconsidering the issue.
With his limited knowledge of girls, he was fairly certain that they generally didn't discuss sharing some guy they liked in a friendly manner. Of course he didn't see anything wrong with walking them home, talking with them or escorting them for the night, but he also knew a lot of people would jump to conclusions.
What mattered to him was that he was making the girls fairly happy, and he quietly wished to keep it that way.
Because, right now he knew it wouldn't last. The girls from his past almost literally seemed to want to own him. He wasn't precisely sure what they wanted, except knowing that everyone from his past would want him to do precisely what they wanted. He wouldn't be surprised if they started showing up tomorrow with their demands or death threats for him.
Until then though, he would enjoy his new life as best he could.
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The next afternoon found Ranma and Utena outside. The young girl had healed enough that she could stand on her injured foot and walk some, though she wasn't up for anything more strenuous. At the moment she was watching Ranma as he curiously swung a bokken about. Curious herself, she asked him, "Ah, Ranma? You do know how to use a sword, right?"
Ranma smiled brightly at her, feeling completely self-assured, "Nope, but I've been in enough fights against them. Just give me a bit to figure it out."
Utena paused, wanting to voice her serious concern about someone with no sword fighting experience teaching her to sword fight, but managed to hold herself in check. She didn't want to upset him just yet, so she would let him try at least. "Ah, so what are you going to teach me?" She had to admit, his casual fluid slashes with the katana shaped stick looked pretty effective.
Ranma didn't pause in getting a feel for how various thrusts, blocks, dodges and sword thrusts flowed together, continuing his motion as he answered her. "Ah well, some physical conditioning for speed and power while getting down the basic motions. Then we work on your ability to chain movements together smoothly and break your opponents pace." Ranma shrugged, dismissing it as a serious concern. "Its not that hard really, just practice."
Ayumi stepped away from the tree she was leaning against, smiling mysteriously at Ranma. "Indeed. Later on you merely continue keeping yourself fit, learning new techniques and new counters. A style is merely a limited set of motions." Smirking a bit she threw a half dozen slim throwing knives at Ranma.
The young silk clad man casually stepped aside from the entire salvo instead of deflecting each knife, seemingly ignoring the lethal attack on his person. "Yeah, that's the gist of it. Although learning a style is good for is competition purposes and having the honor of a school to defend."
Utena nodded thoughtfully while in a bit of shock over seeing the green haired girl casually attack Ranma like that. Ayumi frowned at Ranma before reprimanding him, "You were supposed to deflect them, not dodge them all. Now I have to hunt them all down."
Ranma blinked cluelessly at Ayumi, "Why didn't you just say so? I could have just caught them for you."
Ayumi frowned at the point, never quite able to tell if he was really ignorant of his mortality or just making fun of her. Deciding to get her point across, she drew her short sword from the back of her obi and charged Ranma. "It was supposed to be for your sword training."
Ranma dodged her initial to slashes without any visible concern and continued at a conversational tone, starting to deflect her quick slashes with his bokken. "Oh, sorry, guess I wasn't thinking. I don't really need deflection techniques since I'm training Utena for a duel though."
Spinning into a low sweep, that caused Ranma to hop up, she continued into a highly angled spinning kick at the airborne young man. He swiped her ankle with his bokken, adding more energy to her motion and causing her to spend a few precious moments rebalancing to correct for the added motion lest she throw herself off balance. Her conversational tone belied the fact they were just playing though. "Still, it's something you could learn."
Ranma spun through the air with the reactive motion of his blow against his sparring partner, landing easily on his feet. Before Ayumi could engage him with a few more slashes, he easily leapt backwards. "Heh, speaking of that, there is something I want to try." Continuing his backwards motion, he leapt back against one of the surrounding trees. In the moment of stillness where his motion against the tree was stronger than gravity, he prepared for his next move.
As Ayumi recovered, she let out a small gasp at seeing the position he went into as Ranma crouched against the side of a tree. It wasn't just the fact that he fell into an advanced Battoujutsu stance in a difficult position, but the ki flows he was using. The ki flow in his sword arm indicated he was going to make an extremely fast Battoujutsu draw, but it was the ki flow in his other arm that worried her.
Ranma leapt horizontally from his sideways perch on the tree, drawing the wooden blade so fast from his side where he held it like a sheathed katana that the slash was invisible to the eye. The ki from the hand that acted like it was holding a sheath flowed out after the ki put into the blade, creating a fierce wave of rippling air that surged towards Ayumi. Acting instinctually on her training, the busty ninja girl rolled to the side as soon as he started his motion, the ripple of air traveling beneath her then horizontal legs to tear a gash into the soft ground.
Ranma made no motion to continue his attack, examining the gash in the ground instead. Ayumi stood in a guard stance and carefully made her way over to examine Ranma and the miniature trench. "How did you know that Battoujutsu technique?"
Ranma looked at her curiously, cocking his head to one side. "Never heard of that. I just modified an Iaijutsu strike I've seen with what I know of focusing ki through a bokken. The important part was dulling the vacuum blade created so it wasn't lethal."
The ninja girl snorted in amusement and shook her head, "You're quite amazing at times young Master."
Ranma glanced at her, making a noncommittal sound before gazing at his bokken. Gradually the stick began to glow blue, before smoldering and breaking as parts of it turned to ash. "Huh, as I thought. I'm not focusing the ki into it just right yet."
Shrugging, he went to where the supplies were and picked up two new bokkens. Then he walked over to Utena and handed the startled girl one of the sword shaped sticks. Looking at her curiously, he cocked his head to the side, "You okay Hime-chan?"
Utena blinked at him for a moment, before trying to calm herself, "Ah, sorry, I didn't realize you would be so good, or that that was even possible."
Ranma looked at her, lips pursed, considering how to handle her. "Well, how about we start practice?" Suiting words to action, he slid into a wide stance and made an easy diagonal downward slash, then turned it into a horizontal slash.
Nodding to herself, Utena slipped into a wide legged stance herself and tried the double slash motion. When she looked at Ranma, he coached her to not copy him exactly but just try it naturally. Practice proceeded like that, with Ranma starting her out with natural motions, and then refining them.
That night in the Sakura manor's garden area, the Stargazers Club was having their meeting. The group outside consisted of about two-dozen young college women, and a few couples who were out watching the stars. Sakura herself sat beneath one of the many cherry trees, watching over her handful of household servants as they served the guests or more commonly watched the stars themselves.
The largest group was around one particular young man with long black hair held back into a ponytail. Besides watching the stars and the occasional shooting star, the people gathered also tended to talk, sometimes philosophically.
The young man at the center of so many young woman's attention turned to the pink haired girl at his side, "Utena, do you know what destiny is?"
She looked a little uncertain at first, "Well, I think so. It was my destiny to be your princess, right?"
Ranma looked over at her, giving her a smile, while the college girls grinned to each other at how sweet that was. They had already been told of the story between Ranma and Utena and gushed over how romantic it was. Ranma turned his gaze back to the stars, "You could say that. Fate is what life has in store for you. It's what happens to you when you don't try to rise above it. Destiny is the greatness you can reach for. I can't tell you what your destiny is, you just have to try your best and you'll find it."
The pink haired beauty smiled at him, "I never thought of it like that. I like the sound of that."
Michi, a young brown haired woman wearing wire-framed glasses spoke up beside them, gushing with excitement, "Awe, you two are so perfect together. I can't believe it, a prince and princess just like a story. It's so romantic!"
Miaji Tenou, a well-built woman with her blond hair in a high ponytail tapped Michi on the shoulder playfully. "Don't say things like that. I personally like being able to spend time with our dear sweet prince here. It may not be a date but it's a lot better than being alone." Seeing Utena look at her, she waved her hands in front of her in panic; "I didn't mean it like that. I mean you said you were leaving and couldn't be his girlfriend."
Utena smiled comfortingly at the flustered older girl. "It's alright. It is true I can't stay. I think it's sweet he spends time with all of you that don't have boyfriends."
Pulling back slightly in surprise, Miaji stared intently at Utena to see if she was being honest. "Well, you don't seem very surprised by that."
Utena's smile quirked into a warm conspiratorial grin, "Well, I spent today with Miss Sakura and Maria talking about Ranma. I think it's sweet what he's been doing with you girls. I'm also surprised you girls have managed to share him so well."
Seeing the younger girl's reaction, Miaji brightened considerably. "Well, since we have a girl's university here, we have a lot more girls in town. Ranma has only taken us out twice, but it's been really nice. To be truthful, it really is like having a boyfriend, you just have to share his attention and time a little, but Ranma pays a lot more attention to you than most guys, so it's still good."
Utena smiled and nodded to her, before glancing over to Ranma, who was blushing slightly while watching the sky. He seemed to be doing his best to ignore the girls talking around him. "Yeah, so I wouldn't want to ruin that. He's been wonderful to me so far as it is. It wouldn't be right for me to keep him to myself when I'm not going to stay here with him."
The athletic blond grinned at her, "Yeah, I get what you're aiming at. Those of us without boyfriends don't really have all the spare time needed for a relationship. We just want to spend some time with a sweet guy every once in a while, until we're done with college and ready to settle down in life. There's no real need to get jealous or anything just so a few other girls can't be happy." Miaji seemed to find something funny and chuckled to herself. "Oh if only my dear tomboy little sister Haruka heard me saying that. She's a bit of a feminist, so she would have a kittens hearing me defending the idea of sharing a guy with other girls."
Michi pushed her glasses up and glanced over at the confident blond, "You make it sound like we're Ranma's harem or something. He's just being nice and spending time with us. I'll remind you he's been a perfect gentleman."
Miaji waved her hands to placate the smaller girl while laughing, "I didn't mean it like that, it's just some people would paint it that way, you know?" glancing around conspiratorially, she leaned over to mock-whisper, "I'm sure if we tried hard enough though we could see just how well he treats a girl in bed." She took note of how Utena started blushing at the mention of getting Ranma in bed.
"I'm sitting right here you know?" rhetorically asked an annoyed Ranma.
Before a Miaji, distracted by Ranma, could start questioning Utena, Yukima the Stargazer's Secretary sat down near Ranma. A bit troubled, she hesitantly asked Ranma, "Ranma, who was that girl you were with two nights ago? She seemed like an ex-girlfriend, but she was so mean."
Ranma glanced over to where Yukima was sitting, suddenly taking interest in the conversation, as everyone else perked up, interested in the news. "Well, that was Nabiki Tendo. She was an arranged fiancée of mine for a couple of weeks, but all she really did was sell me out to other girls and sports clubs". Ranma shrugged, seemingly dropping the conversation.
The girls however stared at him a bit incredulously, rolling 'sell me out to other girls' through their minds.
Miaji broke the silence, voicing the general sentiment of everyone else. "So she's part of that mysterious past of yours. I can see why you would want it to stay in the past.
Utena expected Ranma to react badly to being reminded of his past, but he only grunted dismissively. "Knowing Nabiki, she's already sold the information on where I am, and knowing the people there, they'll come after me."
Miaji nodded thoughtfully, as the others did the same. Continuing the serious air, she asked, "So, Utena, why were you blushing so bad when I suggested getting Ranma in bed?" turning her question into teasing.
The pink haired girl blushed and hid her face in her hands, "It's not what you think! Honest!"
Ranma looked confused, "It's not about you sleeping with me last night?"
Utena stared at Ranma like a deer caught in headlights, while letting out a startled squeak.
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As the girls chatted, Ranma watched the stars, spotting a brief reddish streak that was probably orbital debris. Despite what it might really be, it was still a falling star, an ancient name for something small plummeting into the atmosphere and burning up in the charged ionosphere. His time in Astronomy had taught him that much, but the kid inside of him just told him to make a wish.
Listening to the girls filled him with a sense of surreal warmth. They were practically arguing the rights of free girls to date him without possessing him. At the time they weren't considered dates, but apparently the girls were reconsidering the issue.
With his limited knowledge of girls, he was fairly certain that they generally didn't discuss sharing some guy they liked in a friendly manner. Of course he didn't see anything wrong with walking them home, talking with them or escorting them for the night, but he also knew a lot of people would jump to conclusions.
What mattered to him was that he was making the girls fairly happy, and he quietly wished to keep it that way.
Because, right now he knew it wouldn't last. The girls from his past almost literally seemed to want to own him. He wasn't precisely sure what they wanted, except knowing that everyone from his past would want him to do precisely what they wanted. He wouldn't be surprised if they started showing up tomorrow with their demands or death threats for him.
Until then though, he would enjoy his new life as best he could.
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The next afternoon found Ranma and Utena outside. The young girl had healed enough that she could stand on her injured foot and walk some, though she wasn't up for anything more strenuous. At the moment she was watching Ranma as he curiously swung a bokken about. Curious herself, she asked him, "Ah, Ranma? You do know how to use a sword, right?"
Ranma smiled brightly at her, feeling completely self-assured, "Nope, but I've been in enough fights against them. Just give me a bit to figure it out."
Utena paused, wanting to voice her serious concern about someone with no sword fighting experience teaching her to sword fight, but managed to hold herself in check. She didn't want to upset him just yet, so she would let him try at least. "Ah, so what are you going to teach me?" She had to admit, his casual fluid slashes with the katana shaped stick looked pretty effective.
Ranma didn't pause in getting a feel for how various thrusts, blocks, dodges and sword thrusts flowed together, continuing his motion as he answered her. "Ah well, some physical conditioning for speed and power while getting down the basic motions. Then we work on your ability to chain movements together smoothly and break your opponents pace." Ranma shrugged, dismissing it as a serious concern. "Its not that hard really, just practice."
Ayumi stepped away from the tree she was leaning against, smiling mysteriously at Ranma. "Indeed. Later on you merely continue keeping yourself fit, learning new techniques and new counters. A style is merely a limited set of motions." Smirking a bit she threw a half dozen slim throwing knives at Ranma.
The young silk clad man casually stepped aside from the entire salvo instead of deflecting each knife, seemingly ignoring the lethal attack on his person. "Yeah, that's the gist of it. Although learning a style is good for is competition purposes and having the honor of a school to defend."
Utena nodded thoughtfully while in a bit of shock over seeing the green haired girl casually attack Ranma like that. Ayumi frowned at Ranma before reprimanding him, "You were supposed to deflect them, not dodge them all. Now I have to hunt them all down."
Ranma blinked cluelessly at Ayumi, "Why didn't you just say so? I could have just caught them for you."
Ayumi frowned at the point, never quite able to tell if he was really ignorant of his mortality or just making fun of her. Deciding to get her point across, she drew her short sword from the back of her obi and charged Ranma. "It was supposed to be for your sword training."
Ranma dodged her initial to slashes without any visible concern and continued at a conversational tone, starting to deflect her quick slashes with his bokken. "Oh, sorry, guess I wasn't thinking. I don't really need deflection techniques since I'm training Utena for a duel though."
Spinning into a low sweep, that caused Ranma to hop up, she continued into a highly angled spinning kick at the airborne young man. He swiped her ankle with his bokken, adding more energy to her motion and causing her to spend a few precious moments rebalancing to correct for the added motion lest she throw herself off balance. Her conversational tone belied the fact they were just playing though. "Still, it's something you could learn."
Ranma spun through the air with the reactive motion of his blow against his sparring partner, landing easily on his feet. Before Ayumi could engage him with a few more slashes, he easily leapt backwards. "Heh, speaking of that, there is something I want to try." Continuing his backwards motion, he leapt back against one of the surrounding trees. In the moment of stillness where his motion against the tree was stronger than gravity, he prepared for his next move.
As Ayumi recovered, she let out a small gasp at seeing the position he went into as Ranma crouched against the side of a tree. It wasn't just the fact that he fell into an advanced Battoujutsu stance in a difficult position, but the ki flows he was using. The ki flow in his sword arm indicated he was going to make an extremely fast Battoujutsu draw, but it was the ki flow in his other arm that worried her.
Ranma leapt horizontally from his sideways perch on the tree, drawing the wooden blade so fast from his side where he held it like a sheathed katana that the slash was invisible to the eye. The ki from the hand that acted like it was holding a sheath flowed out after the ki put into the blade, creating a fierce wave of rippling air that surged towards Ayumi. Acting instinctually on her training, the busty ninja girl rolled to the side as soon as he started his motion, the ripple of air traveling beneath her then horizontal legs to tear a gash into the soft ground.
Ranma made no motion to continue his attack, examining the gash in the ground instead. Ayumi stood in a guard stance and carefully made her way over to examine Ranma and the miniature trench. "How did you know that Battoujutsu technique?"
Ranma looked at her curiously, cocking his head to one side. "Never heard of that. I just modified an Iaijutsu strike I've seen with what I know of focusing ki through a bokken. The important part was dulling the vacuum blade created so it wasn't lethal."
The ninja girl snorted in amusement and shook her head, "You're quite amazing at times young Master."
Ranma glanced at her, making a noncommittal sound before gazing at his bokken. Gradually the stick began to glow blue, before smoldering and breaking as parts of it turned to ash. "Huh, as I thought. I'm not focusing the ki into it just right yet."
Shrugging, he went to where the supplies were and picked up two new bokkens. Then he walked over to Utena and handed the startled girl one of the sword shaped sticks. Looking at her curiously, he cocked his head to the side, "You okay Hime-chan?"
Utena blinked at him for a moment, before trying to calm herself, "Ah, sorry, I didn't realize you would be so good, or that that was even possible."
Ranma looked at her, lips pursed, considering how to handle her. "Well, how about we start practice?" Suiting words to action, he slid into a wide stance and made an easy diagonal downward slash, then turned it into a horizontal slash.
Nodding to herself, Utena slipped into a wide legged stance herself and tried the double slash motion. When she looked at Ranma, he coached her to not copy him exactly but just try it naturally. Practice proceeded like that, with Ranma starting her out with natural motions, and then refining them.
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As Utena practiced her slashes on Ayumi, who was deflecting with her own bokken and making the occasional reprisal attack, Sakura stepped up beside Ranma.
Feeling her quiet presence, he managed to keep his eyes on the sparring while feeling out her presence.
Sakura smiled slightly, most of the warmth in her eyes instead of upon her lips. Her gaze flickered between Ranma and the dueling girls, as she quietly voiced her opinion. "She is doing well already Ranma. Is she as good as you expected?"
Ranma nodded slightly, not taking his eyes off of the pair. "She's coming along well, but there's only so much I can do in less than a week."
The statuesque woman nodded slightly in response. "Indeed. Know this Ranma, her Ohtori Academy exists partially within the dream world. The more she believes in herself and her own potential, the stronger she will be there."
Glancing sidelong at the kimono clad woman, Ranma then turned his gaze back to the dueling pair, keeping his thoughts to himself.
As Utena practiced her slashes on Ayumi, who was deflecting with her own bokken and making the occasional reprisal attack, Sakura stepped up beside Ranma.
Feeling her quiet presence, he managed to keep his eyes on the sparring while feeling out her presence.
Sakura smiled slightly, most of the warmth in her eyes instead of upon her lips. Her gaze flickered between Ranma and the dueling girls, as she quietly voiced her opinion. "She is doing well already Ranma. Is she as good as you expected?"
Ranma nodded slightly, not taking his eyes off of the pair. "She's coming along well, but there's only so much I can do in less than a week."
The statuesque woman nodded slightly in response. "Indeed. Know this Ranma, her Ohtori Academy exists partially within the dream world. The more she believes in herself and her own potential, the stronger she will be there."
Glancing sidelong at the kimono clad woman, Ranma then turned his gaze back to the dueling pair, keeping his thoughts to himself.
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Nabiki went over her figures one more time, and noted that everyone was scheduled to meet tomorrow after school let out at noon. Saturday would probably be the best day to tell them about Ranma. They would find him sooner or later, but if she stuck to her normal operations, she should be able to control them a bit and perhaps not get Ranma upset with her.
Of course, that plan had the added benefit of getting her the usual amount of money from the locals. It also happened to be the best bet for getting in good with Ranma short of cutting ties between her family and everyone else and going to Ranma for aid, something she wasn't going to do.
Nabiki went over her figures one more time, and noted that everyone was scheduled to meet tomorrow after school let out at noon. Saturday would probably be the best day to tell them about Ranma. They would find him sooner or later, but if she stuck to her normal operations, she should be able to control them a bit and perhaps not get Ranma upset with her.
Of course, that plan had the added benefit of getting her the usual amount of money from the locals. It also happened to be the best bet for getting in good with Ranma short of cutting ties between her family and everyone else and going to Ranma for aid, something she wasn't going to do.
Tomorrow she would see how Ranma and his new friends dealt with his past. She was sure it would be interesting.
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End Chapter 2
Translations:
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End Chapter 2
Translations:
Hime-chan - Little/Cute Princess
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Author's Notes:
I hope I'm making Valorphoenix proud with my work. I'll be working on “Burning Eyes” next. This is one of the hardest fics to rewrite due to its size and detail. I hope to be able to keep this type of writing going as I write. To give thoughts, ideas, or simply get help with your own fics. Please feel free to visit my website and my forums. I hope everyone enjoys my stories and please R&R so I know what you like and what you hate.
Author's Notes:
I hope I'm making Valorphoenix proud with my work. I'll be working on “Burning Eyes” next. This is one of the hardest fics to rewrite due to its size and detail. I hope to be able to keep this type of writing going as I write. To give thoughts, ideas, or simply get help with your own fics. Please feel free to visit my website and my forums. I hope everyone enjoys my stories and please R&R so I know what you like and what you hate.
Pages: 17
Words: 10,943
Characters: (without spaces) 50,988
Characters: (with spaces) 62,278
Paragraphs: 130
Lines: 975
Partial Inspiration from the song Butterfly by smile.dk.
"Where's my samurai?!
I've been searching for a man, all across Japan; just to find, to find my samurai.
Someone who is strong, but still a little shy. Yes I need, I need my samurai.
Someone who won't regret to keep me in his net. Yes I need, I need my samurai
Ai yai yai, I'm your little butterfly."
Lyrics rearranged since it's the words that partially inspired the Prince idea.
Utena inspiration comes from the Utena Music Video: Gravity of Love, which can be found at www.animemusicvideos.org
Contact info: Found on homepage or you can Email Valorphoenix at Valorphoenix(at)yahoo(dot)com.
Partial Inspiration from the song Butterfly by smile.dk.
"Where's my samurai?!
I've been searching for a man, all across Japan; just to find, to find my samurai.
Someone who is strong, but still a little shy. Yes I need, I need my samurai.
Someone who won't regret to keep me in his net. Yes I need, I need my samurai
Ai yai yai, I'm your little butterfly."
Lyrics rearranged since it's the words that partially inspired the Prince idea.
Utena inspiration comes from the Utena Music Video: Gravity of Love, which can be found at www.animemusicvideos.org
Contact info: Found on homepage or you can Email Valorphoenix at Valorphoenix(at)yahoo(dot)com.