Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Make Room for Daddy ❯ Chapter 4

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Make Room for Daddy

By Lord Raa

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Disclaim-me-do: The more it stays the same, the less it changes. And that's the Majesty of Rock.

Part 4

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Akane finished her telephone conversation with Doctor Tofu and turned to face her sisters.

“He'll be over shortly,” she smiled to her concerned siblings.

“That's good,” Kasumi said in a relieved tone. “I'll prepare some tea and snacks.”

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Back in her bedroom, Reiko comforted her obviously traumatised fiancé.

“No-one here will make you do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable,” the Tendo widow reassured. “I promise.”

Ranma nodded and slowly relaxed. “I'm sorry for being like this.”

“It's ok, Ranma-kun,” Reiko said as she hugged the young Saotome. Deciding that it would be good to take the pigtailed youth's mind off the subject of sex, the head of the Tendo household changed the subject to martial arts. “You seemed bothered about Akane's training earlier. Why was that?”

“Who told her that she's 4th Dan?” Ranma asked with a concerned tone.

“I don't know, why?”

Ranma took in a deep breath. “She's not bad, but she's not the 4th Dan she thinks she is. She's a 2nd, maybe a 3rd on a good day. Whoever told her she's 4th Dan lied to her.”

“I see,” Reiko frowned. “I'll talk to Akane about it later.”

The affianced pair was interrupted by the arrival of Nabiki telling them that Dr. Tofu was now here.

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Downstairs in the Tendo home, Nerima's friendly chiropractor was trying to talk to Kasumi.

“H-h-h-h-hi Kasumi, what are you doing here?”

“Oh Doctor Tofu, you're so silly,” the eldest Tendo daughter giggled.

The smitten doctor smiled behind his fogged up glasses until Reiko tugged on his left ear, snapping him out of his love induced haze.

“Good afternoon, Dr. Tofu. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.”

“Certainly, Tendo-san,” Tofu said in a business-like tone. “What seems to be the problem?”

“I want to ask you about something called the `French Flipper Trick', what do you know of it?” the Tendo widow asked in an equally business-like tone as she led him to the common room.

Tofu stopped dead in his tracks. “Did you say `French Flipper Trick'?”

“Yes, what do you know of it?”

The Doctor sighed sadly. “It's a legendary technique that's shrouded in mystery, rumour and bald faced lies.”

“What can you tell me?” Reiko pressed on. “I mean, do the trainees go through unspeakable horrors and mental trauma?”

“I can't say for sure, as I've never spoken to someone who's gone through the training. Why? What's brought this on?”

“I think my fiancé has been through it,” the Tendo homemaker answered.

“Your fiancé?” Tofu parroted.

“Yes, it's a long story,” Reiko winced before explaining the situation to her visitor.

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Ranma made his way down to see the doctor after freshening up. When he entered the room, the conversation died.

“How are you feeling, Ranma-kun?” Reiko asked with a sympathetic look.

“I'm much better now, sorry about earlier,” the pigtailed youth bowed his head.

“That's ok, Ranma-kun. Oh, this is Dr. Tofu,” the brunette smiled.

“Pleased to meet you,” the bespectacled man bowed.

Before they could discuss anything further, Kasumi opened the door.

“Sorry to bother you, but I've been called into work today.”

“Oh, ok, Kasumi. What time will you be back?” Reiko asked.

“After closing time,” the eldest Tendo girl answered.

“Won't it be dark then?” Ranma asked, concerned for his soon-to-be stepdaughter. “I'll walk you there and back.”

“Thank you, Ranma-kun,” Reiko smiled as her fiancé stood up.

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As Ranma walked with Kasumi to where she worked, the pigtailed youth asked about her job.

“I work at the Hana Shiro, it's only a little bit further up the road here,” the brunette answered.

“You work with flowers?” Ranma asked with an absent-minded tone.

“Yes, is that a problem? Do you have allergies?” Kasumi asked, not wanting to cause discomfort for the nice man.

“No, it's nothing like that,” the blue-eyed youth replied. “It's that I know the name `Hana Shiro' from somewhere…”

“Oh, ok.”

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Back at the Tendo Dojo, Reiko was talking with her guest. “So then, Dr. Tofu, what are your intentions towards Kasumi?”

“K-k-kasumi?” the bespectacled man stammered.

“I see, so you do like her? How is your relationship coming along? Are you likely to get engaged anytime soon?”

“E-e-engaged?” Tofu parroted before dancing a waltz around the room with a cushion in his arms.

“I'll take that as a positive answer. So then, Tofu, how long have you been dating my daughter?” Reiko asked.

“We haven't been on one yet,” the Doctor admitted.

“I see,” the Tendo matriarch drawled, making a mental note to interrogate her daughters.

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Outside the Hana Shiro, Ranma looked up to see a vaguely familiar face.

“It's you from yesterday!” a cute, buxom blonde in her late teens said as she pointed at the pigtailed youth.

“Yesterday? What are you talking about, Tsukiko?” Kasumi asked, confused at the scene unfolding before her.

“You know why Megumi called in sick today?” Tsukiko Tamura replied. After seeing her co-worker shake her head, she continued. “She's still shaken up about the attempted robbery yesterday when she went to the bank.”

“Oh my!”

“Yeah, and get this, he,” the blonde said excitedly as she pointed at Ranma, “he appeared from nowhere and saved the day by beating up the robber!”

“It's a martial artist's duty to protect those that need it,” Ranma shrugged.

“Why didn't you tell us about it, Ranma-kun?” asked the brunette.

“All in a day's work,” the raven haired man answered in a slightly boastful manner.

“Wait a minute, how do you know this VERY nice man, Kasumi?” Tsukiko asked, her hands on her hips.

“Well, it's an honour pled-” Ranma started to say, but was cut off by the eldest Tendo daughter.

“He's a friend of the family. Our fathers trained together.”

“Oh, I see. That explains the ass kicking he dealt out yesterday. So then, Ranma, is it?” the blonde flirted, her arms now drawing attention to her impressive cleavage. “Are you looking for something for your girlfriend?”

Kasumi was making frantic “don't say anything” gestures to the young Saotome in a bid to prevent the next few hours of her life being made a lot more difficult than normal.

“No,” Ranma replied was honest, but rather unnatural. “I've got to get going. Call home so I can walk with you when you're ready, ok, Kasumi?”

“Yes, Ranma-kun, I'll be fine.” The brunette smiled as she watched her mother's fiancé's well muscled back flex during his departure.

“Oh, I think somebody's smitten...” Tsukiko sing-songed.

Kasumi blushed as she tried to focus on her job as a sales assistant in the florists.

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Ranma arrived back at the Tendo Dojo to see Reiko in deep thought.

“Is something wrong, Reiko-san?”

“What? Oh, sorry, Ranma-kun, I was thinking about something else,” the woman with collar length hair smiled. “Actually, I'd like to talk to you about something.”

“Ok.”

“I think that my daughters have been lying to us,” Reiko said in the manner of a TV detective. “I asked Dr. Tofu how long he and Kasumi had been going out, but it seems that they haven't even been on a date yet.”

“I see,” Ranma frowned as he took a seat next to his fiancée. “So what do we do? Do you tell them that you know that they've been lying, or do you wait for them to come clean?”

“I'll speak with them all together when Kasumi comes back from work. There's something else, though, Ranma-kun.”

“Hmm?”

Reiko shifted in her place as she turned to face her fiancé. “I'm afraid that your father has enrolled you in the local high school. I know that you're not seeing eye-to-eye at the moment, but I have to agree with him on this.”

Ranma looked at his fiancée sceptically.

“But it does mean that you can keep an eye on Akane.”

“Ok,” the young Saotome nodded, “I'll do it so I can help Akane IF she needs it.”

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At the Hana Shiro, Kasumi was being questioned mercilessly by her co-worker about the young Saotome.

“So then, Kasumi-chan, what can you tell me about Ranma?”

“Not much, other than he's been training in his family style of martial arts for the last twelve years,” the brunette admitted as she rang up a sale for the customer in the shop.

Tsukiko wasn't convinced. “Really? Well, I'd have thought that since he's living with you, that he's taken a couple of baths in a crowded house…”

Kasumi's face turned scarlet as she recalled a certain manly appendage swinging freely.

The blonde accurately read her friend's expression. “Ah ha! So you have seen him shirtless!”

“Once or twice,” Kasumi replied. She tried to sound cool, but the fact that her cheeks were still filled with blood ruined the act.

“So does he have a nice body? Does he train with his shirt off?” Tsukiko asked as she leant in.

“Yes,” the eldest Tendo daughter nodded, the distribution of her blood slowly returning to normal.

“So you wouldn't mind if you walked in on him when he's getting out the furo?”

“TSUKIKO!”

“What? Are you trying to tell me that you'd complain if there was an `accident'?” Tsukiko asked with a smirk.

“That only happened once,” Kasumi blurted out, before she realised what she'd said.

The buxom blonde laughed loudly. Then a thought occurred to her. “The first time was an accident, but how many times since, Kasumi-chan?”

“I don't go around peeping on people! Even if they are handsome, studly young men. I'm not a pervert, Tsukiko-chan!”

“That might be more convincing if you weren't as red as the roses in the window, Kasumi-chan,” Tsukiko giggled.

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Akane was returning to her room with a glass of iced tea, when she heard her mother talking with Ranma. Stopping to change which hand was carrying her drink, she overheard the affianced pair discussing the suitors.

“So you really think that they were all lying about boyfriends?” Ranma asked, his voice slightly muffled by the door.

“Yes,” Reiko answered with a sigh. “I can understand why they didn't want to be engaged to a person they just met, but I would have thought that they would have been more receptive to their father's wishes.”

Akane felt a pang of guilt at her part in the deception. Realising that now would be a good time to be honest and explain why she took part in the subterfuge, she took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Oh, hi, Mom, can I talk to you for a few minutes?”

“Yes, of course, Akane-chan,” the woman with the collar length chestnut hair smiled.

“I'll give you some privacy,” Ranma said as he stood to leave.

“No, it's ok, Ranma-san,” Akane said. “This concerns you.”

“Oh, ok,” the pigtailed youth shrugged before sitting back down.

“Mom, Ranma-san, I've got a confession to make - I don't actually have a boyfriend right now,” the youngest Tendo said in a quiet voice as she took her seat.

“Oh? And why did you say that you had one?” the Tendo widow asked, stroking her chin.

“I was afraid that Ranma was a pervert like the boys at school. That he might force himself on me if he was my fiancé.”

Ranma frowned. “What's happening at school?”

Akane gulped nervously. “There's this boy at school, Kuno, he made this stupid declaration that any boy that wanted to date me had to beat in a fight.”

“And do you want to date any of the boys at school?” Reiko asked her daughter.

“No! They're all perverted jerks! I have to fight them in the morning before school starts.”

Ranma digested this piece of information. “What about the teachers? Why aren't they doing anything about it?”

“I heard that one of the teachers say that he's the Principal's son,” Akane answered sadly.

The two Tendos could see that Ranma was not happy about the situation - unsightly vein in his forehead and the twitching around his left eye were clear indication of this fact.

“D-do you want any h-help with this, Akane?” the blue-eyed youth asked in a strained voice.

Akane looked at her mother for help with the right answer.

“I think that it might be better to observe the situation first hand before acting, Ranma-kun,” Reiko offered. “That way we can see who we need to deal with.”

Ranma nodded. “Excuse me; I need to go to the dojo.”

After Ranma had left the room, Reiko turned to her youngest daughter. “Akane, I want you to know that I'll do anything I can to help you with this problem. That said; I'm not happy about being lied to.”

“I'm sorry, Mom,” the darker haired Tendo replied, her head bowed.

“But I am proud that you managed to admit that you did something wrong. Because of that and your problem with school, I'm not going to punish you like your sisters. That reminds me, why didn't you tell me about your problems at school?”

“I can fight my own battles, you know.”

“I know that, Akane-chan, but you can't fight all of them on your own. That said, if you want me or Ranma to help you, we will,” the Tendo matriarch said reassuringly.

“Thanks Mom,” Akane nodded in appreciation.

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Ranma angrily punched and kicked at invisible foes, intent on punishing them for the trouble that Akane was having at school.

He continued his work out until Akane entered the dojo to tell him that Kasumi had called and was ready to return home from work.

“Oh, sorry, Akane, I was thinking of something else,” the blue-eyed young man replied. “Are you going to be ok at school? I know you can handle yourself in a fight, but you made it sound like there's loads of perverts after you.”

“I'll manage, Ranma-san,” Akane smiled.

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Ranma walked briskly to the florist where Kasumi worked part time, hoping that he'd be able to calm down when he went to school in the morning. As he entered the shop, he was greeted by Tsukiko.

“Hi, Ranma,” the blonde said with a dazzling smile.

“Hi,” Ranma waved absently. “Kasumi, are you going to be long?”

“No, Ranma-kun,” the brunette smiled.

Tsukiko walked over to Ranma. “So then, Ranma-san, are you seeing anybody right now?”

“Yes,” the pigtailed Saotome nodded.

“Is it serious?”

“It's an arrange-” Ranma started but was cut off by Kasumi.

“Ranma-kun, what do you think of these flowers over here?”

“They're nice,” the blue-eyed youth answered.

“You keep interrupting, Kasumi-chan,” Tsukiko noted with a teasing grin. “I'm beginning to think that you're the one Ranma-san is seeing.”

“Err,” the brunette blushed heavily.

“I'm not engaged to Kasumi-san!” Ranma explained.

“Oh,” the blonde shrugged. She looked over her blushing, panicking co-worker and realised something was up. “But I bet Kasumi-chan knows who Ranma's seeing…”

“Ackk!” The eldest Tendo daughter started to look for something that would keep her mother's fiancé from spilling the beans. “Look, Ranma-kun, orchids!”

The pigtailed youth blinked in surprise as several exotic flowers were thrust into his face without warning. He pulled away and shook his head to clear the nose full of pollen he'd received.

“Ranma-kun/Ranma-san are you alright?” the girls asked as the martial artist's eyes glazed over.

“I,” Ranma started before clearing his throat. “I'm fine, ladies. Kasumi, when will you be done here?”

Kasumi whimpered when her mother's fiancé punctuated his question by tracing a finger along her jaw line, under her chin and finally brushing against her lips.

“Take me now!” the brunette demanded as she pounced on the young man in front of her.

Tsukiko intervened by throwing the contents of a watering can over the dry-humping pair, shaking Ranma out of his conditioned response.

“What? Kasumi, what's happening? Why are you trying to tear my shirt off?” the young Saotome asked as he tried to escape from under the Tendo daughter.

“Less talking, more porking!” Kasumi instructed as she straddled Ranma's hips.

“Stop! Kasumi, no!” Ranma's shouts were to no avail. When the brunette started to grind herself against his body, he sighed. “Not again. Help! Rape!”

“Kasumi, I'm shocked and appalled by your behaviour. Are you so desperate that you're molesting your houseguest?”

Kasumi shook her head and looked down to see her in a rather improper position on top of he mother's fiancé. “Oh my, I'm so sorry, Ranma-kun.”

“That's ok, Kasumi-san,” the distressed young man said as Tsukiko helped up off the floor. “Can we go now?”

“Yes, I think we're done here, don't you Kasumi-chan,” the blonde said in a teasing tone. The pair had a shift together the following day, so Tsukiko knew she would have ample opportunity to get answers then.

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A blushing Ranma and Kasumi walked home in silence, the pair having agreed never to mention the incident ever again.

As the entered the Tendo home, they were rather surprised to see a rather sheepish looking Nabiki being scolded by her mother.

“Ah, you're back. Kasumi, how many dates have you been on with Dr. Tofu?” the Tendo matriarch asked in a stern tone.

“Err...,” the long haired brunette fumbled for words.

“Is the answer `zero'? Could that be the case as you and your sister made up your boyfriends?” Reiko growled.

“Yes,” Kasumi admitted.

“Well then, seeing as you and Nabiki were trying to deceive me, I've decided that you need to be punished. You two are sharing a room with Genma. Don't worry; he'll be in his cursed form.”

Ranma smirked. “Oh, by the way, Pops snores even louder in his girl form. I don't know why, but he does.”

The two older Tendo daughters paled when they heard that their mother had another part to the punishment to add. “I'm having an engagement party here at the weekend, so I'll need your help in preparing for it. Invite all your friends and co-workers, after all, I want them to share in my happiness.”

“An engagement party?” Kasumi asked, aghast at the thought of Tsukiko's barrage of teasing she knew she'd suffer.

“Yes. And tomorrow, Ranma will be attending Furinkan with Nabiki and Akane,” Reiko smiled. “Be sure to help Ranma at school, Nabiki-chan, I've enrolled him into your class.”

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To be continued…

Well, this chapter was pre-read by Chi Vayne, like most of my stuff.

Do you have any questions/comments/suggestions/complaints/rants from reading this chapter?

If so, you know how to contact me.

In other fanfic news: I've managed to write about a thousand words for Project Mile Two, though I need to decide how brutal Ranma should be for his mission and if that's enough to end that one.

Sausages, It was a Tuesday is about half way through the final chapter, I just need to write the aftermath of a certain event and any omake I think you'd find amusing.

Dark Heart's Desires has stalled slightly as, again, I need to decide what to do with Kuno - here's a hint, he's about to experience the life of a samurai for real…

Nothing else to add at this time, so it's until laterer comes.