Noting that Hotaru was looking tired, Ranma suggested that they rest at an open park bench.

"But I'm fine, really I am," Hotaru half protested in a small voice.

"Well, I'm tired," Ranma said as she plunked herself onto the bench. She really wasn't, but it was the best excuse that Ranma could come up with to get her young charge to rest. "Man, Setsuna wasn't kidding when she said that Hotaru wasn't strong," Ranma thought as she watched the young girl sag on the bench next to her. "We haven't even walked five miles and I can tell she's exhausted - but... I gotta hand it to her, she is determined to get stronger."

"We'll rest here a bit and head home, okay?" Ranma said as she leaned against the back of the bench.

"Miss Saotome?" Hotaru asked lowly. "Can we stop for some ice cream on the way home?"

Still leaning back against the bench, Ranma tilted her head toward Hotaru. "That sounds like a wonderful idea," Ranma said in 'Ranko mode'. "And please stop calling me Miss Saotome, just call me Ranma. Okay?"

Hotaru smiled at her nanny before she too leaned back against the bench, "Okay, Ranma."

Ranma raised her head to better view the resting twelve year old. She realized that there was only about a four and a half year difference in age between them, but Ranma hadn't really met anyone who was in such poor physical condition as Hotaru. "She's as frail as a seven year old," mused Ranma. "No wonder Setsuna worries about her."

Popping her neck, Ranma felt her hair catch on something and pull. Absently, she reached back behind her to free her pigtail and felt something squishy between her fingers. Probing around a bit, Ranma drew her hand in front of her face to see what was the matter. With a confused look, Ranma noted sticky, thin, spider web-like filaments dance in the sunlight.

"What the hell is this?" she wondered as she reached back again to explore what was caught up in her hair. She continued to pull and prod and it only seemed to make matters worse. Something was definitely sticking to her hair near the base of her pigtail and it wasn't coming out.

"Miss Saotome!" Hotaru exclaimed. "Stop! You're making it worse!"

"What?" Ranma asked worriedly. "What's in my hair?"

"You somehow got gum in your hair," Hotaru explained. "Stop touching it, you're only working it into your hair more."

"Gum? Gah! How'd I get gum in my hair?" Ranma exclaimed as she continued to mess with her hair, heedless of Hotaru's advice.

"It looks like it came from the back of the bench," Hotaru softly said. "Someone was pretty careless with their gum."

"Great, just great," Ranma said irritably as she examined her sticky hand. "Now what I'm I gonna do?"

Thinking only for a half second, Hotaru piped up, "We can go over to Kikuko's Salon. They would know what to do."

Ranma was about to object about going to a hairdresser - it was so girly. But she did see the reasoning behind it. If anyone knew how to get gum out of hair, it would be a master of hair. Sighing, Ranma agreed. "Lead the way."

Soon the Ranma and a much reenergized Hotaru entered a small salon that was wedged in between a small grocery and a manga store. The salon was definitely geared toward the younger set with posters of idol singers on the walls and other 'teenage girly' stuff decorating the shelves and, as luck would have it, there were not many customers in the shop. Ranma's senses were assaulted by the smell of hair gel, spray, and perfume.

"Hotaru! What a pleasant surprise," a woman of twenty something called out as she swept up hair clippings from the floor. "You're a few days early for your trim - and who's this you have with you?"

"Mrs. Ayanami, this is Miss- er, I mean Ranma; she's my new nanny," Hotaru explained quickly in one breath. "Can you help her? She got gum in her hair."

"Oh no," Kikuko Ayanami said dramatically as she waved Ranma over to a chair. "We'll have a look and see what... we..." there was a long, pause. "Oh dear."

"What? What?" Ranma asked.

"I'm afraid that it is worked in rather deep," Kikuko said as she addressed Ranma's reflection. "I hate to say this... but we'll have to cut it."

"Oh," Ranma said. "So, you have to cut it. What's the big deal?"

"Ranma, that's your name, right?" she received a positive nod. "I'll have to take as much as this," she held up the pigtail for Ranma to see in the mirror, "to get the gum out."

Ranma's eyes widened when she saw how much would have to be trimmed off and scowled. It had taken a long time for him - well - her, to grow her pigtail and it had become her trademark; a trademark she kept despite the other changes she made recently. Her eyes then narrowed when she realized that she was probably thinking like a girl and hair length shouldn't matter to a guy. "Do it," she said evenly.

On that the hairdresser went into action, unbraiding Ranma's pigtail and trying to minimize the damage that the gum had done. "Good lord, how many sticks of gum are in here?" she muttered as she worked.

As Kikuko continued to untangle the gummy knots that Ranma's hair had become, Hotaru started flipping through several books that had pictures of various hairstyles in them. After digging through a few, she paused on a page and cocked her head. "Ranma? What do you think about this style?" she asked as she held the book open for Ranma to see.

It took all of Ranma's control that she had learned on her training trip not to openly retch at what Hotaru showed her. True, it was a simple cut, not too girly, and would work with the amount of hair that Ranma would have left. The big problem was that it was the same hairstyle as someone who had made her life hell and she'd rather not think about.

"Ooo... That would be prefect," Kikuko commented as she snipped a few gummy strands of Ranma's hair. "It would frame your face so nicely. The boys would definitely notice you."

"You don't like it?" Hotaru asked plainly, having caught Ranma's reaction. She could not have known that the reaction was from the hairdresser's words and not anything that Hotaru did. Though Hotaru did want her nanny to have hair that the boys would notice.

"I don't want to look like Nabiki," Ranma replied evenly at the photo of a model sporting a pageboy cut.

"Who's Nabiki?" Hotaru asked.

"Someone who made my life hel-, er... she made my life difficult," Ranma explained. "She has that kinda hair; I don't want to look anything like her."

"I'm afraid that with as much as I had to cut, we can't do much more than that," Kikuko as she studied the photo and Ranma's hair. "But we can put some mousse in it to give it more body. It would change how it looks so it wouldn't be the same."

"I don't want no Chinese Amazon stuff in my hair either," Ranma said while staring at her reflection and fingering her shortened locks. "I had enough problems with them as it is."

Hotaru and Kikuko stared at the seated girl in incomprehension.

"Miss Saot- I mean, Ranma, mousse is stuff that adds body," Hotaru said, standing next to Ranma's chair. "I think it'll make you look good."

"What's wrong with my body?" Ranma asked. "I've been told I have a great body."

"It adds body to your hair," Kikuko explained as she looked at Ranma dubiously.

"Oh."

Cocking her head to one side, Kikuko ran her fingers through Ranma's hair, making Ranma shudder as it tickled the back of her head. "You know," Kikuko said as she continued to comb Ranma's hair with her fingers, "I could give you a permanent. That would definitely be different. How long ago did you dye your hair?" she asked, having noticed the red roots in the nanny's auburn locks.

"A what?"

"A perm, dear," Kikuko said patiently. "But I need to know when you dyed your hair. If it is too soon, it'll mess up the perm."

"Oh, about a couple weeks ago, I guess. It was just some dye I put in to darken it." Ranma said.

"Oh! A perm! That would look really good on you, Ranma!" Hotaru excitedly interjected. "You'd look so pretty!"

Ranma tried not to wince at Hotaru's choice of words. He was - that is, she was a guy. Pretty is not something she wanted to be! "Um, that's a thought," Ranma stumbled out. "But I don't want anything done that would be permanent to my hair."

Hotaru and Kikuko looked at the former redhead, at each other, then back at the seated girl. "Ranma," Hotaru said, "You can get a perm undone if you don't like it. But I know you'll like it! You'll look so cute!"

"Well...," Ranma began, only to be undone be Hotaru's puppy-dog eyes of persuasion. "Umm... er... that is..."

"She is right, Ranma," Kikuko chimed in. "It would look softer and nice. It would be very feminine."

"I'm a guy-, er, I mean," Ranma sighed - and caved in. "Oh, go ahead."

"Yah!" Hotaru cheered. Ranma had the feeling that she was doomed.

Gripping the armrests of the salon chair like a condemned man awaiting execution, Ranma tried not to lose her nerve and bolt from the small establishment right then. She watched with forced detachment as Kikuko opened counters and pulled out bottles of evil smelling liquids that remind her of the smell of a certain tomboy's cooking. Once she made that connection, Ranma found herself feeling unexpectedly homesick and cursed Nabiki for making a bigger mess of her life.

With some flare, Kikuko started to work.

It was a process Ranma would not fully recall later. She remembered the odd chemical smells and the painful ways her hair was contorted, but for some reason the manipulation of her hair was also relaxing. The sensation was unlike getting your head scratched and Ranma found herself in a cozy, half sleep state. It wasn't until Kikuko announced that she was finished that Ranma came around and saw the results.

There in the mirror, a complete stranger stared back at her. Behind the stranger in the mirror, Hotaru and Kikuko both cooed in delight.

"That... that's not me..." Ranma asked in thinly controlled panic.

"You look great Miss Saotome!" Hotaru said.

"Now don't wash it for three days or the curls will come out." Kikuko advised as she put the finishing touches here and there.

"Right," Ranma dumbly said as she put a hand to her hair... the one consolation was that the style was nothing like Nabiki's. Nabiki would never have something this... girly.

"You look so pretty, Ranma! I bet all the boys will think so too," Hotaru exclaimed. She somehow hoped that this new style would help her nanny get over her apparent boy-shyness.

Ranma tried not to gag as her hand pulled away from her hair as if it were on fire.

"I may have gone a bit overboard on the curl and body, but a Nanny should have a nice style," Kikuko said.

"It's all puffy! What did you do to my bangs?" Ranma asked as she reached up again and flicked the curled ends to her hair. Ranma looked at her reflection and couldn't believe that the little springs attached to her head was her hair... or what was left of it.

Kikuko removed the cape covering Ranma and helped the nanny to her feet. Hotaru handed Ranma her glasses and as she donned them caught a glimpse of her full self in the large mirror. A young woman with adorably feminine hair and a black dress with a white collar and matching white stockings. Ranma was not wearing her apron but she could easily envision it on her feminine frame.

Being too stunned by her appearance was all that kept Ranma from looking ill.

"Oh man," Ranma thought. "As if the curse isn't bad enough, now I really look like a girly-girl. Man, I'm glad pop ain't here to see this."

"You look wonderful Nanny Ranma!" Hotaru repeated.

"Just... Ranma," Ranma said, half dazed at the fix she found herself in. How in the hell did her life come to this?

"Okay!" Hotaru happily chirped. She was thoroughly enjoying helping her nanny like this - a girl's hair was important, after all. "Ranma it is!"

"I can set you up for a monthly appointment," Kikuko said as she touched up Ranma's hair with a brush. "Same day as Hotaru comes in? That way you only need one trip?"

Still dazed and not quite all there, Ranma simply nodded her head.

"Great. Should I add your bill to Miss Meioh's tab? Or will you pay yourself?"

"Just put it on the tab," Hotaru chimed. "C'mon Ranma, let go home and show Aunty!"

Chapter 1 The Shape of Things to Come

 

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Crossing the nearly empty street, Ranma marked off another job opportunity listed in the want ads. The warehouse job just didn't pay enough.

 

"It ain't enough to live on even if I live out of my tent," he groused to himself. Safely on the other side of the street, Ranma set down his oversized pack and folded the newspaper over to the next page. "Maybe I could get a job in construction or something."

 

Leaning against the brick wall, Ranma read the folded newspaper and scanned the listings. His face turned sour the more he read. "They all pay better than waitressing, but damn, most of these ads are looking for experienced people or someone that's twenty or older."

 

Sighing in disappointment, but not willing to admit defeat, Ranma continued to read the ads in hopes of finding something to his liking. Nothing presented itself; it was either not enough money or the employers wanted experience or he was too young. This left Ranma with his only option.

 

"Maybe I can get a waitressin' job at one of those fancy restaurants... but that might make me be too visible... maybe a shrine maiden?" he thought as he skimmed that particular ad. "Damn that Nabiki."

 

He was about to move on to the next page, when one caught his eye near the bottom. There was nothing especially outstanding about it, but for some reason he couldn't help but feel drawn to it.

 

"Hmmm... Housekeeper/Nanny needed," Ranma paused in his reading and checked the listing heading. "Construction? Man, talk about being in the wrong section,"he thought before resumed reading. "Looking for a responsible female that is willing to do light housework and care for the needs of a young child of delicate health. No experience necessary and will train. Room and board provided with a monthly allowance. Those interested please come to..."

 

"Damn," he swore to himself. "Sounds like just what I need. Room, food and some spending money. The only problem is I gotta be a girl..." he paused in thought, "but it'll only be for a few months or until Akane gives me the all clear."

 

He looked at the ad closer, feeling a mixture of amusement that it was in the wrong section and eeriness for no rational reason. Shaking off those feelings, Ranma looked around. "If I gotta be a girl, I better go in disguise. The last thing I need is to be spotted by Nabiki or Huang."

 

Twenty minutes later, Ranma emerged from a stall of a public restroom, female and dressed appropriately for her gender. Looking in the mirror, she double-checked the dye job she had given her hair - one she knew she botched the instant she washed the excess dye out. Instead of the jet black hair she was trying for, she had ended up with a more natural looking dark auburn color that matched her complexion better than the planned black hair would have done. Ranma studied herself in the mirror.

 

"Hmmm... I need something more... something that would make it even harder to recognize me," she thought as she leaned forward, examining her reflection for a moment before exclaiming, "Ah!"

 

Ranma knelt over her backpack at her feet and proceeded to dig through it. After a bit of rummaging, she pulled out a small case and withdrew a pair of dark-rimed glasses from them. "I knew these would come in handy again," she thought with a touch of mirth.

 

In the mirror, Ranma adjusted the fit of the fake glasses, the same ones she had used as a disguise when fooling Ryoga, then took in the newest addition to her look. "I look like a... bookworm... or one of those geeks from the science club," she regarded her reflection with a cock of the head and a critical eye. "Perfect! Not even my own father would recognize me."

 

On her way to the address given, Ranma waffled back and forth between applying or trying to find another job more suited to her tastes. It was not that she minded being a girl for a stretch of time - in fact she had already half expected it - the problem was that she was hiding as a girl. For some twisted reason of logic that only Ranma could fathom, hiding out as a man would have been less... unmanly. In the end, standing outside her destination, the decision was made for her when the dark clouds overhead whispered of thunder.

 

"What the heck," she concluded as she looked up at the modern and expensive looking apartment building. "At least it'll get me out of the rain."

 

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Slightly nervous, Ranma carefully placed her heavy pack by the doorway off to one side where it wouldn't be stepped on, and knocked on the nicely varnished wooden door. Shifting from one foot to the other, trying to calm her nerves, she idly noted how expensive the interior of the building was. It was while waiting for the door to be answered, she realized that she needed to think of how she was going to present herself.

 

"I can't go in speaking like I do - if I do that, I'll never get the job," she thought as she took in her surroundings more. "And by the looks of this place, they're either looking for someone with class - a lotta class - or a sensitive girly-girl type."

 

Ranma considered knocking again, but got side tracked by trying to decide how to act. "Heh, maybe I should act like Kasumi or ask Akane to knock me on the head... Hey! That's it! I'll just act like I did when I got knocked in the head and thought I was a girl! Perfect!"

 

Before she could cackle at her cleverness, the door opened unexpectedly, causing Ranma to slightly jump. There, on the other side, was a tall woman with long green hair and magenta eyes. She looked Ranma in the eye before looking her up and down, then she returned her gaze to match Ranma's. The green-haired woman was dressed rather sharply and sported a slight smirk on her face - the type that one has after hearing a secret joke or something.

 

"May I help you?" the woman asked in an odd mixture of authoritativeness and gentleness in her tone.

 

Blinking, Ranma tore her eyes from the woman and came back to herself. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said in her best 'Ranko' voice as she bowed. "I didn't mean to stare."

 

"That's all right," the woman said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Are you here about the position of Nanny?"

 

"Er.. yes ma am," Ranma replied. "I saw your ad and came right over."

 

"Please come in."

 

Following her host, Ranma couldn't help but be captivated by how this person moved, causing the knee-length hair to sway with each step. Asserting some self-control, Ranma looked past the woman and took in her surroundings. She noted that the apartment was richly furnished as she half-expected it to be and concluded that whoever this woman was, she was loaded.

 

All too soon, Ranma was sitting across the table from her host, with a tea service between them. The green-haired woman now took on a business-like air, which was why Ranma was caught off guard when the green-haired woman introduced herself so casually. "My name is Meioh Setsuna, and you are?"

 

"Er, I'm..." Ranma paused as another problem presented itself: To give her real name or not? Better to play it safe and stick to something she was already familiar with; it was less confusing that way. "My name is Saotome Ranma. I'm very pleased to meet you and I thank you for asking me in."

 

"Quite all right," Setsuna said as she offered Ranma a cup of tea. "You are kind of young to be looking for a full time job like this. Aren't you still in school and does your family know?"

 

"Oh crap!" Ranma thought loudly to herself. Using the natural break that is involved when sipping tea, her mind raced for an acceptable excuse. During Ranma's mental grasping, she missed the bemused expression on her host's face. Finally, after a short wait, Ranma came up with something that was essentially the truth. "Um, I've been having... problems at home...," she said lamely.

 

"I see," Setsuna said with that secret-type smirk on her face. "What are your qualifications?"

 

"My what?"

 

"Your qualifications. What can you do?" she clarified as she sipped her own tea.

 

"Oh. Well, I can cook, clean and..." Ranma paused as she thought of the lazy, bedridden boy that she tried to get to go outside and the various other 'problem children' she had dealt with in the past. "I've had some experience with kids," she said with some confidence.

 

"What experi- oops," Setsuna said as she expectedly spilled some hot tea in Ranma's direction. "Did I get you wet?" she asked her guest as she took several napkins and wiped up the mess.

 

"N-n-no, I'm fine," Ranma said from her new spot, perched atop the back of the chair.

 

"My apologizes for being so clumsy," Setsuna said as she wiped the last of the spill. "Now, where was I? Oh yes. What experiences have you had with children of... weakened health?"

 

"Er... I ain't- that is, I'm not a nurse or anything" Ranma replied while reclaiming her seat. "What's wrong with him?"

 

"Her," Setsuna corrected. "She has a weak constitution-" she stopped when she noted the blank stare of her guest. "She is physically weak and gets tired easily."

 

"Oh. Well that can be helped with some exercise," Ranma said offhandedly. "I know some things that will build her up real quick and-"

 

"You don't understand," Setsuna interrupted. "She isn't that strong to begin with."

 

Ranma pondered that. She switched from being in a 'interview mode' to a 'martial arts mode' without being aware of it. Her speech reflected that as she spoke her thoughts. "Well... there's some of the softer arts... like tai-chi and stuff... that might help build her up without tiring her." She puzzled over the problem a bit more. "I'm sure that there ain't nothing that can't be helped with a little work and a lot of time."

 

Setsuna smiled at the auburn-haired girl. "Would you like to hear me outline some of the duties of the job to see if you are interested?"

 

"Um, yes please," Ranma said, this time with her 'Ranko' lilt.

 

"As nanny, your job will be basic housekeeping, some cooking, and errand running," Setsuna explained. "But those are only your minor duties. Your most important duty will be attending to the wellbeing of my ward, Hotaru. This means escorting her to and from school, assisting her in school work and any extra-curricular activities."

 

Ranma felt a slight sinking feeling in her stomach, the kind one gets when they find themselves in over their heads.

 

"Most important to me," Setsuna said firmly while locking eyes with Ranma; Ranma was captured and captivated by those magenta eyes. "I looking for someone who can help Hotaru get stronger and healthier. As I said earlier, her constitution is weak and I worry about her health."

 

Thinking a moment, Ranma unexpectedly came up with a reasonable response. "Er, Miss Setsuna, it seems that you are looking for a professional. I don't think that I'm what you're looking for."

 

"That may seem true," Setsuna said smoothly. "But the problems that I have been encountering with professional help is that they either don't want to deal with someone as frail as Hotaru, or they don't understand and fear Hotaru's - gift."

 

"Gift?"

 

"Yes... Hotaru is a special child - and because of that people are leery of her," Setsuna explained with a note of sadness in her voice. "It has made her all but an outcast."

 

"What is her, er, gift?"

 

"She can heal a person's wounds by touching them."

 

Ranma waited for that other shoe to drop. After a long moment of staring at her host, it was now obvious that nothing more was coming. "That's it?" Ranma finally asked.

 

"Well... occasionally, she seems to have visions of the future, but I haven't had time to really explore that claim."

 

Ranma mentally sighed. Why was it that the rich ones were always the weirdest. Part of her wanted to leave and find something else, but... if she could put up with Picolet and Madame St. Paul and their martial arts eating, then she could put up with one little girl. A bizarre little girl maybe, but a little girl none the less.

 

"I don't have a problem with that," Ranma said. "I've seen some pretty weird stuff."

 

Setsuna smiled at the younger girl. "Would you like to meet her?"

 

Blinking a few times, Ranma answered with a nod.

 

"Hotaru, would you please come in here?" Setsuna called out.

 

Soon they were joined by what looked to be a ten year old girl with neat, shoulder-length dark purple, almost black, hair. She was thin and willowy, and she looked as delicate as Setsuna had described. She had an air of indescribable sadness about her, as if she was trying to fade into the background as not to be noticed. Though the young girl avoided eye contact, Ranma managed to catch a glimpse of the dark purple color of Hotaru's eyes.

 

"Hello, I'm Ranma," the currently auburn-haired girl greeted.. "You must be Hotaru."

 

"Yes ma'am," the small, short-haired girl said.

 

Without batting an eye, Ranma smiled at the smaller girl. "Don't worry, I don't think you're a freak or anything."

 

Hotaru gave Ranma a thin, guarded smile as she looked up. "R-really?" she asked in a voice filled with hope.

 

"Nah. I've seen some real strange stuff," Ranma said candidly. "What you've got, er - what you have is nothing compared to some of the things I've seen."

 

"Like what?" Hotaru asked with curiosity.

 

"Er, well... I know someone who keeps an alligator as a pet."

 

"What so strange about that?"

 

"She named it Mr. Turtle and keeps it in the koi pond."

 

"That doesn't seem very strange," Hotaru pointed out.

 

Not one to back down from a challenge, even one that wasn't really given, Ranma continued. "Okay, how about this: I fought the Eight Headed Orochi in Ryugenzawa - almost got eaten by him too."

 

"You lie," Hotaru said softly as she smiled at what she thought was a playful tease.

 

"No, I ain't," Ranma gently insisted. "There was also a cursed bathing suit that I had ta... well, never mind that one. I did have to fight this goofy lookin' bird called a Phoenix that nested on top of some idiot's head." Then Ranma muttered, "Darn beak, hurt like heck too."

 

Hotaru let out a small giggle.

 

"The toughest one so far has been Pantyhose," Ranma said offhandedly as she fell into bragging. "He fell into the Spring of the 'Yeti Riding a Bull, Holding an Eel and a Crane' now he looks like a winged bull when he gets splashed with cold water. You want to talk about someone with a bad attitude... we darn near beat the tar outta one another, but I put his lights out..."

 

Hotaru blinked at Ranma. "Huh?'

 

Ranma blinked in return and stared at Hotaru for a moment. "Never mind," Ranma said with a wave of the hand. "You see, compared to the things I've been through, your gift is pretty neat because it doesn't blow stuff up."

 

"O-kay," Hotaru carefully responded. "You blow things up?" she curiously asked.

 

"Not that I mean to," Ranma found herself replying without thought. "I just happen to get caught up in stuff that always seems to explode in my face."

 

"Like Family problems?" Setsuna asked with just a hint of sarcasm.

 

"Er... yeah. That's one way of looking at it," Ranma admitted. "It seems all my problems come from my family. Er... like my problems with cats and stuff," Ranma muttered the last while mentally adding, "stupid Pops."

 

"What's this about cats?" Setsuna asked.

 

"Um... I'm... ummm... I'm allergic to c-c-cats! Yeah, that's it," Ranma said unconvincingly. "I get sick just thinking about them."

 

I see," Setsuna said in a tone that hinted at something more. "It does seem to be a common allergy."

 

"You're allergic to cats?" Hotaru asked. "My friends have cats, does that mean I can't play with them?"

 

"No. No, not at all," Ranma responded. "Er, my allergy is... um... different. It's kinda like, er, a... ahhh... I get sick when I see them sorta thing."

 

"How can looking at a cat make you sick?" Hotaru asked with the innocence of the twelve year old she was. Setsuna sat and quietly watched the exchange with a bemused look on her face, one she had been wearing for most of the conversation.

 

"Er... it's not quite sick," Ranma bumbled out. "It's kinda like... I get... er, a little... um, scared."

 

Hotaru looked up at the teen and blinked at the admission. "You're scared of cats?"

 

"Um... yeah."

 

"But why? They're so cute," Hotaru said in a voice just filled with curiosity.

 

"Um... would ja, er, I mean, would you believe a training accident as a child?"

 

Hotaru gave her prospective nanny a doubtful look.

 

"I'm serious," Ranma insisted. "I got... er, mauled by a bunch of hungry c-cats when I was a kid and... I've been... scared of them ever since." For some reason, the obvious admission seemed hard for Ranma to make.

 

"How horrible," Hotaru said with sympathy.

 

"Mauled by hungry cats?" Setsuna piped in with a smirk. "What happened? Were you covered in fish cakes and thrown into a pit with them or something?"

 

"How'd ja-kno-, er, I mean," Ranma's brain slipped out of gear for a moment before re-engaging. "Something like that," she finally said, feeling a little creeped out about the green-haired woman. She slipped into 'Ranko' mode and spoke, "Let's just say it was an... unpleasant experience that I never recovered from."

 

"You poor girl," Hotaru said with the same sympathy as before, she surprised Ranma by giving her a hug as if to make it all better.

 

"Er, thanks Hotaru," Ranma said with a mixture of unease and genuinely being touched by Hotaru's gesture.

 

"Very well," Setsuna said business-like. "You don't have to worry, we have no pets here. Is there anything else we should know?"

 

"Umm..." Ranma's mind stalled as she considered saying that she was allergic to hot water, but dismissed it as pushing her luck. "No ma'am, I think that covers most everything." Ranma mentally added with some bitterness, "Everything that doesn't involve curses, multiple fiancees, and a freaky rich guy that's 'bought' you as a slave. Stupid Nabiki."

 

Setsuna turned to Hotaru. "What do you think about Miss Saotome?" She asked.

 

"I like her," Hotaru replied. She then gave Ranma a warm smile. "She's nice."

 

"I agree. I think you will do," Setsuna announced to Ranma. "You seem to have a certain way about you. You are not frightened by Hotaru's gifts, and you seem like someone that I can trust with her well being. Would you be interested in accepting the position of Hotaru's nanny?""

 

Being surprised at being offered the job, especially one she felt like she was over her head in. Ranma had to blink a few times before answering. "Oh yes I would," she replied in her 'Ranko' voice. "When do you need me to start?'

 

"Tomorrow would be fine," Ranma's new boss replied. "Here," she said as she rose from her chair, "let me show you around."

 

For the next fifteen minutes Setsuna showed Ranma around the large apartment. Hotaru tagged along and added a few comments on where everything was as enthusiastically as only a child can do. Soon Ranma was escorted to the back of the apartment to what would be her room. It wasn't as big as the room she had at the Tendos', but she didn't have to share it with a part-time panda either. After a few more minutes of small talk, Setsuna excused herself and ushered Hotaru to her own room since it was starting to get late.

 

Ranma was alone in her new home.

 

Breathing a sigh of relief, Ranma sagged against the wall of her room and relaxed. The relief she felt over getting a job, that also doubled as a good hideout, was tempered by the fact that, during the interview, she was almost hit by hot water no less than three times. "I'm gonna have to do something about that," she thought with an edge. "I can't be turnin' into a guy - especially with Hotaru around."

 

Ranma pondered the problem. She knew of one way of temporally locking the curse, but the ladle and kettle were in China with Herb and she had neither the time nor the inclination to go there and get them. Besides, the chances of Herb lending them to her were practically nil. "There's gotta be a way... dammit, it's like once I solve one problem, another takes i's place."

 

Ranma ran through other options and didn't like where those led either. They had the advantage of being closer to her new home, but that meant running the risk of running into certain people she'd rather avoid at the moment. "It can't be helped," she concluded. "I can't spend my time between doing my job and watching for hot water. Whether I like it or not, I gotta go get some of that waterproof soap or something to keep me a girl. I don't like it, but I gotta be sneaky about it."

 

With that course of action firmly in mind, Ranma mentally began her plan of attack in acquiring what she needed.

 

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In the deep shadows on the buildings and alleyways, a shadow slinked in the darkness of a moonless night. Slipping out of Setsuna's apartment was no problem and making her way back to Nerima was a cinch, it was the coming raid on the Cat-Cafe that had Ranma's nerves on edge. Although she did not know it, all her elaborate planning for breaking and entering without alerting the inhabitants of said cafe were for nothing; the Amazons had left the day before searching for her, so there was no one home when Ranma entered through a second-floor window.

 

Exiting the building a few moments later with a bag filled with plunder, Ranma decided to take a minor detour on her way back to her hideout.

 

Leaving the bag of ill-gotten goods on the roof, Ranma swung down and hung from the overhang outside of a certain tomboy's bedroom window and tapped softly on the glass. She repeated the process a few times before the curtain was shoved aside and a sleepy short-haired girl peered out the window, almost looking at her eye to eye. Blinking a few times, Akane cracked open the window and addressed the upside down girl.

 

"Yes?" Akane asked not quite awake enough to realized what was truly going on.

 

"Akane, it's me," Ranma said lowly.

 

The short-haired girl blinked a few times before narrowing her eyes. "Are you a fiancee of Ranma's?" she asked sharply. "Well he isn't here and I don't know where he is."

 

"Akane, it's me," Ranma repeated a bit louder and firmer than the last.

 

Akane's sleepy eyes widened when she finally realized who was hanging outside her bedroom window. "Ranma!" she hissed lowly under her breath. "What are you doing here? What happened to laying low for a while?"

 

"I was in the neighborhood getting some things," Ranma explained in a whisper while dangling from the roof. "And I wanted to see... how things were going."

 

Looking left and right conspiratorially needlessly, Akane leaned toward Ranma and lowered her voice. "It's still the same as it was four days ago when you left," she said. "Huang is still here, and still wants you for his personal slave."

 

"I didn't think that showing him my guy side would backfire like that," Ranma said sourly. "Who would have thought that he had a thing for girls and guys?"

 

"Ssshhh," Akane admonished. "Keep it down. Anyway, he has even hired some private investigators to look for you."

 

"Great," Ranma whispered bitterly. "What about Nabiki? She started this mess."

 

Akane bit her lip in thought before answering. "Well... she said she was sorry and didn't think that things would have gotten out of hand like they did... but you know Nabiki."

 

"Yeah, and I wished I didn't."

 

"Well she really didn't expect that the guy who bought you in Hong Kong to be rich enough to bother us here," Akane said, somewhat feeling the need to defend her sister. "But... I think she is looking for you too, so she can collect the reward."

 

"Well, tell her the next time she gets in a ten yen battle with someone, she's on her own," Ranma hissed out. "What about my pop and yours?"

 

"Well, daddy is worried about the schools being joined - your dad keeps going back and forth between 'being proud that you mastered the Saotome Secret Technique' and trying to negotiate a higher price for you with Huang."

 

Ranma stared at her fiancee for a moment and seemed to sag in the direction of gravity. "Great. Just great."

 

A silent moment fell between the two that told Ranma that there was something more.

 

"What?" she asked, having the feeling that the other shoe was about to drop.

 

"Um... it's about Nabiki," Akane said lowly. "She's... she's also been trying to move the engagement over to her."

 

"WH-" Ranma loudly began, only to have Akane's hand pressed against her mouth, silencing her.

 

"Do you want to wake the house and have her find you here?" Akane hissed.

 

Ranma exhaled, causing her cheeks to poof out; she then shook her head slightly and Akane removed her hand. "Why?" Ranma asked.

 

"It's not so hard to figure out," Akane said." You're an 'asset' and a 'money making investment' now," she explained with a certain amount of contempt. "She's probably planning on buying and selling you... or at least renting you out."

 

Ranma shook her head. "She has some nerve - well, it's not like she hadn't done that before. Don't tell me pops is going along with this?"

 

With sagging shoulders, Akane nodded sadly. "I think Nabiki promised him a percentage of the profits."

 

In an effort to rein in her anger, Ranma counted to ten. Then twenty. She was almost calm enough not to hunt down her father and kill him by the time she got to forty. By fifty she was much calmer and only seeing red. Seventy-five rolled around and Ranma was just fuming enough to be able to hear what Akane was saying.

 

".. you all right?"

 

"Just... dandy..." Ranma replied through tightly pursed lips. This bit of news was highly unwelcomed, it meant that it was likely that Ranma wouldn't be able to return home to the Tendos' as soon as she hoped. She exhaled. "Thanks for the warning... now I gotta watch out for pops and well as Nabiki and Huang."

 

An uncomfortable silence followed.

 

"So... where are you staying?" Akane asked.

 

"I ain't telling."

 

"What!" Akane whispered loudly. "You come here, wanting my help, and you don't trust me?"

 

"It's not that!" Ranma replied in an equally loud whisper. "I've been thinking."

 

Akane gave Ranma a doubtful look.

 

"Look, if I tell you where I am, chances are that the Amazons would try and get it out of you," Ranma explained.

 

"I'd never tell them anything," Akane said firmly.

 

"I know you wouldn't... willingly. But what if they try something like that memory stuff? Mess with your head? Make you tell them without knowing it?"

 

Akane blinked a few times. She hadn't thought of that. "I... see. I can't tell them what I don't know." She then looked at Ranma for a moment. "Well, how am I supposed to get in touch with you then?"

 

"I dunno right at the moment," Ranma confessed, then an idea struck her.

 

"Say, is the class trip to Tokyo Tower still on in a few weeks?"

 

Akane replied with a nod.

 

"Well, I'll meet you there... say the top observation deck. I should have something figured out by then."

 

"Okay. I'll see you then, but be careful."

 

"I will," Ranma said with a smile. "Er, say Akane?"

 

"Yes?"

 

"Thanks for, ya know, helping me and everything... and stuff," Ranma awkwardly stammered out.

 

Akane smiled broadly. "You're welcome."

 

Soon Ranma was gone to parts unknown, leaving behind Akane, who was snuggled back down in her bed. A warm feeling of contentment flowed through her at the thought of actually helping Ranma for once without making matters worse. Hugging her pillow as she drifted back to sleep, she basked in the feeling. It was nice.