Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Memoirs of being in the Saddle ❯ Gathering Intel ( Chapter 3 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

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Now a bit of info for the inevitable questions some of you will ask if you are familiar with Nerima.

 

Yes, I'm fully aware of how sleazy it sounds to be lusting after a boy turned girl who's almost half your age, but remember that the age of consent is 13 in Japan, and the Youth Protection Law wasn't nearly the choking force smothering everything like it is today. Things were more relaxed back then, and initially, it was more to prevent teenagers from getting the good stuff.

 

No, I never bought photos of Ranma from Nabiki, which was way more illegal by the aforementioned law I just brought up.

Hell, who do you think the girl bought most of her equipment from?

What, You think she actually paid full price for anything?

I didn't like her, she was like many I'd seen before, small time, far too hungry for the profit now, and no vision of seizing something great later, no realization that getting money wasn't the point of money, that it was just a tool for getting what you really wanted.

 

No, the Tendo's weren't that hard up for money. Soun married into an old family. You didn't see him work now, did you?

And still they had bills paid, and food bought, even when the Saotome's showed up, and walls repaired when everyone else showed up.

Nabiki pimping out photos wasn't for some altruistic purpose other than it made her money and gave her power over someone.

They didn't have 'Fuck You' money like the Kunos, but few did I imagine.

 

Anyhoo, back to my story.

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I became very well acquainted with that tree branch from many angles.

After that first nap, Ranma disdained using her shirt as a blanket and alternated with hanging it out to dry or using it as a makeshift pillow. Either way, I collected a lot of good footage for my personal use, and learned a lot about Ranma, beyond the tits I mean.

 

The biggest thing was that when he wanted to mope, sulk, or do anything 'emotional' which in his mind was equated with 'girly', he did it in his girl body.

 

That was critically important.

 

That she found out that she had a sensitive chest when she was rubbing them because they were cold was a very close second. Very close. 

Especially with the five minutes she rubbed and squeezed them that one time. And that low faint moan she let out when she pinched her nipples once...

Hell, call it a tie of importance.

 

For two months Ranma and I shared bits of time on that tree, until Nerima happened, which should be a verb exclusive to this neighborhood.

Someone cut that tree down or blew it up in a fight or something, I wasn't there for it's felling, but I bitterly lamented it's passing.

Ranma's next school nap tree would be on the direct opposite side of the school from me, and from several different trees, making footage much more difficult to time and get. 

 

A lesser man might have given up in despair and moved on, but not me, I'm from stubborn stock.

If the mountain, pardon, mountains wouldn't come to me, as they say, I'd have to go to them.

 

But carefully of course. I didn't want to be smashed into paste by accident. Or on purpose.

 

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With much my work in the evenings and weekends, I had plenty of time to get to know the real rumor mill of Nerima. Especially when I had a reason to.

 

Fuck Nabiki's little intel-clique, I had housewives and old folks. They knew everything there was to know.

 

I helped out here and there, listened to them gossip, and, being a fair bit younger than most of them, I asked questions.

 

Man, did I learn.

- Everyone knew about Hibiki's curse, everyone. They also knew that Ranma knew, and yet, wasn't saying anything or telling Akane about it. When I asked why, the older men grunted something about a 'warrior's code' or some shit like that. And so, no one told her or the other Tendos. They were fairly certain that Soun knew at the very least, and if he was fine with a pig-boy sleeping with his daughter, who were they to say anything?

- Many weren't exactly thrilled with many of the stunts that Genma pulled, particularly selling his son off and engaging him more than once. They accepted Tendo's tolerance of the matter, so long as it didn't affect them, but there was a minimum of grumbling about the propriety nonetheless.

- They knew that Happosai was the underwear thief every single time, but they also knew just how damn dangerous he could really be, so they tolerated it with as much grace as they could muster and vented on whomever they could.

Often Ranma.

- They knew something bad had happened at the Kunos -really bad- long before my time here. Aside from the fact that the father up and went to Hawaii and the other two became... eccentric, well, they weren't talking about it, but they did pity them.

From a safe distance. 

- They knew about the Amazons not being here legally, but they also knew what happened to the one government official who tried to oust them. Cologne was at least as dangerous as Happosai, but there was quite a bit of debate amongst the menfolk on who would win if they really threw down.

It helped that the ramen was good and the granddaughter "Shampoo" wore a tight dress.

 

And so I grew to know it all too. If something new came up, a rival, a fiancée, a damn minotaur with wings, I'd be able to get the skivvy pretty quick. 

And that let me plan.