Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Memoirs of being in the Saddle ❯ The key ( Chapter 8 )

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

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Sadly, Monday meant Ranma could take care of things at the school. And after a few days of tent life, Ranma was back living with the Tendo's, and that I figured would be that.

 

But it wasn't.

You see, I was keeping an eye on the Tendos, and Ranma. After that outing, something had changed. As time passed, Ranma was talking less and less. He seemed almost subdued, though the few times Akane asked him about it he covered it up with bravado and inevitably said something to piss her off and get launched into the sky.

I swear you'd think he was doing it on purpose.

 

And I found the relationship between us had also slightly changed. 

 

Firstly, he hadn't said a word about me to anyone at the Tendo house, almost like he was keeping me a secret from them. When pressed he said he camped out in a 'lot somewhere over there'. 

Indeed, I had expected that'd he'd slip something, anything, as I'd heard about his battler against the Gambling King, but no, I was wrong. That meant that unless he allowed himself to be followed, this could continue.

 

Second, and most importantly, whenever he wasn't sure of something, or if he wanted reassurance that he was on the right course, he'd ask me.

 

And just like that, I had become his verification on how things ought to be. All because I was unbiased and sided with him when he was in the right one time.

 

Despite his poor grades, he wasn't stupid, he knew we couldn't be seen chatting, though it was interesting as to why.

I think that he felt the questions that would arise from the others or Nabiki's little skulkers might "ruin" me somehow in his eyes, turn me against him.

Personally, I just didn't want my home to become another battleground or a smoking hole in the ground because of a battle.

 

Thus, subtlety was required. And subtlety was in very short supply in these parts. This is Nerima after all.

 

Now whenever he had a question, I'd find a small note by the thermos. And, if the answer was small enough or simple enough, I'd answer it with a similar note. 

We did a fair bit of communication that way.

If it wasn't simple, I'd tell him on the note or as he walked by that it'd have to wait till our next face to face, which couldn't be often, once every week at best.

 

This let me help reinforce the things I wanted and discard the rubbish.

 

=-=-=-=

 

Our first long conversation in my kitchen was about people keeping their word.

 

Ranma had been told, over and over in a myriad of ways, that his honor had to be above reproach. And yet...

 

Well, take Ryoga for example. The two had a sort of rivalry sort of attempted murder thing going on, depending on whose point of view you looked at. Ryoga had, if memory serves, protected Ranma once during the Weakness-Moxibustion thing that Happosai did, and yet... he took full advantage of his curse with Akane. Ranma, who hadn't promised anything, was still keeping his mouth shut, even if he teased the pig-boy about it.

 

He could have forced the issue with a kettle and a bat, but he didn't.

 

And there were so many others that took advantage of him in that household; Nabiki, Soun, Genma -even Kasumi had at one time. 

And among the fiancées, Ukyo and Shampoo had used it, making promises they didn't keep, and expecting him to keep his word despite that.

 

All of it boiled into a puzzle Ranma could not solve. And so he came to me for answers.

 

So I told him what worked for me.

- Rule One: Your Personal Word was the most important thing you had. If you ever give it you had better follow through, no matter the cost. Your reputation is a cornerstone of who you are in people's eyes. If you don't have your word, you don't have anything.

== Corollary to Rule One: Never ever give your word unless you really have to. It's not something you toss around lightly. It's important, it's valuable, and it should be treated as such. Favors are favors, whims are whims, but your word must never be questioned.

- Rule Two: Friends and Family. Yes, Ranma had heard the old phrase “Blood is thicker than water”, but he hadn't heard the full one. "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb."

They can make demands of you, but only up to a point. And they better expect it to go both ways. Make an internal debt. Set a limit. And if they go past that limit, cut them off. They charge you? You charge them. And so on.

- Rule Three: Your enemies. Having a reputation to maintain can be hard with people gossiping or spreading rumors. Find out who is saying what and punish and reward accordingly.

 

Of course, I'm paraphrasing a lot here, I spoke at length about each and gave examples. 

Ranma was paying dreadfully fierce attention to my words and brought up a bunch of "hypothetical" situations. I answered with what I would have done, which I knew was different than him, and let him ponder on it.

 

In the end, the first conversation paid dividends in the weeks to follow. I saw it both in his actions at school and heard it at the Tendo household on the tapes. 

 

Nabiki got cut off so fast it was startling, and Genma soon after. 

He even told them that there was supposed to be give and take -straight out told them- and they didn't get it.

 

It did make Nabiki more vicious with her camera and her debt tracking, which is what I wanted, more wedges. 

It also meant that Ranma felt in the right, justified, whenever he said no to them.

 

This paid off in ways I almost missed.

 

=-=-=-=

 

I was in my snooping spot on a Monday, listening to what I had missed over the weekend. It wasn't hard, you speed the tape up to about 6x and listened for squeaks.

When you hear some you stop, rewind a bit as it was tape, and listen to it normally.

With a bit of practice, and a few spliced wires, you can listen to the current household in one ear, and check for squeaks in the other.

Just something I picked up while confined to the chair.

 

So, in one ear, I was listening to them chew on whatever dinner Kasumi had made, all I as I ate the bento I had bought from the convenience store by the train station. 

 

I didn't cook too much, too much standing you see.

 

The usual small talk about this and that, fairly routine really, until Nabiki dropped a quiet bombshell on the dinner table.

 

"So Saotome, where were you this last weekend?"

 

Had Genma gone somewhere? Wait, that what she calls Ranma instead of his name, a little sign of how she keeps him at a distance so it's easier for her to justify what she did.

 

"Five-hundred yen for a single word answer, a thousand for a sentence." By treating her as an enemy he had been busy stealing every tactic she used on him. Anything Goes.

 

I could almost hear her face scowl, before she turned to her sister.

 

"Akane, I never did confirm that he wasn't with any of the other girls after all..." Excellent bitch tactic, make the sister her weapon in proxy.

 

There was a bit of silence that I can only construe as a glare.

 

"Well, Saotome? She's waiting." This time I could hear the smirk.

 

"Jeez 'kane, don't make me tell her for free." He reposted. "Charge her and split it with me, or wait and I can tell you later where she can't hear." 

 

More silence, broken finally by Akane's voice.

 

"Two thousand Yen." Attagirl! Rake your sister over the coals.

 

Listening to Nabiki growl almost made me want to have it in high definition. But, I wasn't going to spend money on long high-quality tapes, I wasn't collecting official evidence after all.

 

"Thank you, dear sister." Akane sounded smug. "Well, Ranma?"

 

"Nothing much to tell really." He sounded satisfied at getting one over his money-grubbing foe. "I took my school books and made a bento in the morning with Kasumi. Then I went out, found a quiet place, did my homework and then trained."

 

Now, where would he-

 

My blood ran cold. I wasn't at my house all weekend. Busy with both jobs.

 

"I came back late, went to bed, and did it again on Sunday."

 

I hadn't hidden anything. Hell, I still had her video in the machine when I watched it on Friday.

 

And I hadn't seen him at all today after school. 

 

Did he know? 

 

Paranoia gripped me, not dissimilar to when I would lay still with camouflage and record wild deer. A single ill noise and it would spook, and vanish forever.

 

I took a breath and thought hard. 

 

Don't panic, If he did see anything, it's far too late.

Besides, he didn't sound angry or disgusted.

He went back on Sunday so Saturday was in the clear. He kept his word and probably used nothing but the kitchen table, the bathroom, and maybe the couch.

 

I held fast and kept listening. Genma had butted in at that point and made some snide remarks about how he couldn't put his schoolwork over his Art, like the bastard had finished any education beyond the bare minimum. 

 

Ranma retorted as he usually did, there was a bit of a scuffle, but it was cut short as Nabiki finally put two and two together. 

 

"You knew?!?" To which Kasumi replied. "You didn't ask."

 

"You cost me two-thousand yen!"

 

"You could have asked."

 

Bitchiness comes in multiple forms for Tendo women it seems. Quite the snark on that Kasumi.

 

=-=-=-=

 

I made my way home at a brisk pace, never mind the pain in the prosthesis.

 

Inside, I barely wasted time and kicked my shoe off, popped and attached the slipper-foot, and Igor'ed towards the bathroom, stump be damned.

 

It's a famous character in a famous movie, even if it isn't Japanese. Look it up.

 

The mirror swung open and I flipped off the cloth to behold.

 

Four red dots.

 

And I just knew what they held.

 

=-=-=-=

 

I didn't bother to duplicate them, I just stuck them in and played. 

 

The camera flicked on to the sound of a window opening. A dry, male Ranma hopped in, shut the window, and made his way into my house. And then there was nothing for fifty-nine more minutes.

The camera flicked on to the sound of a window opening. A dry, male Ranma hopped out, shut the window. And then there was nothing for fifty-nine more minutes.

 

The same for the other two.

 

I was furious with myself.

 

I hadn't even considered the possibility that he'd be here. What's worse, I had no way to toggle the camera once he was inside the house. Hell, he could have walked around here naked and female all day and I couldn't record any of it with the setup right now.

 

Thankfully I can wire a door like I wired the window. That solved one problem. 

 

Now for the other...

 

I could use this.

 

=-=-=-=

 

"You came by my place last weekend?" Blunt worked best on Ranma.

 

"Y-yeah, I did." He looked startled. "How-"

 

"Barley tea."

 

He had had most of it from my fridge. Naturally, since I'd just bought it, I noticed the drop.

 

He was abashed at how easily I noticed. "S-sorry. I should'a asked ya."

 

"No worries." I nodded over my shoulder. "C'mere a sec."

 

I picked up my tea and newspaper and handed the half-empty box of cookies to Ranma. "Finish these as we walk."

We went into my yard, around the house, towards the back door, Ranma munching away. 

 

"You've kept your word." I made that as a statement of fact. "No damage, nothing stolen, my trust in you seems justified."

 

Oh, how he preened at those words. He didn't speak, a mouthful of cookies kept him silent, but anyone not blind could tell by posture alone.

 

"And I noticed how you cleaned up my yard like I asked." And he had, once on the Monday after school back when he'd been kicked out, and once again yesterday. I admit I let it slide a bit, but the damn foot makes everything so awkward at times.

 

"And since it's been justified, I'm going to go a bit further with you." I swept my arm at the door. "You're welcome in. Anytime."

 

He looked floored at my statement. "Anytime?"

 

I nodded. "Yep. If the back light's on, I'm home, just knock and come on in." I'd set up precautions, Kimura helped.

Okay, Kimura did most of it, the man's a genius with his hands.

Since I might be watching something with headphones on, like Ranma's soapy tits, it seemed wise to have a light that blinked red on top of the TV if either front or back door was opened. Should leave me with enough time to shut it off and tuck it in.

 

"And if not..." I marched over towards one of the two very large - and very fucking heavy - wide stone pots with some nearly unkillable spider plants in them. 

 

I grunted and tried to lift the pot. Full of dirt, it must have weighed more than a hundred-fifty pounds. My prosthetic squeaked in protest.

 

I turned to Ranma. "You mind lifting this?"

 

He lifted it as easily as if it were made of Styrofoam. Damn martial artists and their sneering at physics.

 

"Good n' heavy, so most people can't lift it." I began, and he nodded.

"Now, those who can lift it and want to get in can just kick the door down if they wanted to." He nodded again, that was obvious, and I doubted a reinforced steel door would have stood up much longer.

"The combination of people who can lift this easily and won't break my door down is but one..." I gestured at the key stuck to the magnet that had been epoxied to the stone basin, before plucking it free.

 

"And that's you Ranma." I handed the key to him.

 

I didn't use an honorific. In Japanese that implies things. He got that.

 

I think I saw him blink back a tear, but he was quick and there was no evidence of it by the time he put the pot down. "Thanks."

 

I waved for him to unlock the door and let us into my house.

 

=-=-=-=

 

Once inside, we made a quick tour of my place and what he had newly earned. 

 

First stop, the Kitchen.

 

"I don't mind you snacking on things here, so long as you chip in for it." No charity, just as the wanted. "Jot down a few snacks and leave a bit of coin for them and I'll stock up on them next time I shop."

 

His eyes gleamed. Snacks had to be consumed quickly at the Tendo household. If you didn't, well there was Genma, or Happosai, or even Nabiki. I'd seen her sneak into his room while he was gone.

 

Now he had a place to take his time with them.

 

"The TV and the couch you can use, as well as all the movies in the left cabinet." I gestured to the two cabinets, one with no lock. "The right ones are private."

 

They were my copies of my work, the originals. Not that I'd watched any of them anymore, I had a redhead on tape now.

 

He nodded and we moved on.

 

"Bathroom as always is usable, I know how wet you can get." We marched in and past the toilet. I leaned on the reinforced towel rack and slid the door open. "Sorry, this can be a bit slippery with this foot," I tapped the slightly exposed metal of my shin against the door frame. "So I have to be careful."

 

The lean on the towel rack let me press the new switch that kept the camera from turning on.

Kimura had taken one look at my perfectly adequate attempt to run the wire along the floor before clucking his tongue and getting his tools.

Now it ran under the floorboards, up alongside the door frame, and over to the towel rack inside a wood seam. 

 

Once inside the bathroom I didn't close the door, as that would reset the trigger on the tape, instead I marched over towards the little table I had moved to the window.

"Now I can finally have my foot table back where it belongs." I slid it back to the opposite side of the bath it had been on. The proper side. 

 

I had no idea how much I missed having this here, for my foot, and any books I wanted to read.

 

"Ya did that for me?" Ranma was once again startled by my seemingly endless generosity. 

 

I nodded. "Of course. A man decides to do something, it's worth doing well."

I also wasn't above taking credit for coincidences.

 

I marched over to the window. "This'll be unlocked still, but only use it if you're soaked. No sense making a wet mess all the way from the back door." And it let me keep using the switch without the risk of a dry male Ranma coming in. With his habit of getting soaked, it wasn't even a bet I'd get something eventually.

 

He nodded, that much was obvious.

 

We left the bathroom. "I'm afraid I've converted the only other bedroom into an office and workroom." I had, and most of my expensive equipment was in there, including the duplicator. "But you can crash on the couch if you need to, no sense sleeping in a tent when you don't have to."

 

And with that I lead him around to the back door, completing the tour and back out to the world at large.

 

"Sorry, but that's the best I can do at the moment." It was most of my first floor, all told.

 

He shook my hand vigorously and I hid my wince at his grip. If he ever got angry, he could crush every bone in my hand into mush.

 

"Ya don't know how much this means to me." He almost gushed. He wasn't used to being emotional as a man.

 

"Don't worry." I gruffed, trying to sound older than I was. "I'll get it out of you later. A man always pays what he owes."

 

And I'd be getting my payback sooner than you'd think.