[Ranma/Family Compo][FanFic] Family Ranma - Part 5

    Madame Takahashi owns Ranma, of course, and I beg her
indulgence in the matter of this fanfic and all the others I have
perpetrated over the millenia. Family Compo is Tsukasa Hojo's
property, and I similarly beg his indulgence (and wish he would
write and draw more of the story of the Wakanaes, but alas...)

    If you're not familiar with the Family Compo mangas, don't
worry about it. Everything will be revealed. If you *are*
familiar with them, enjoy watching Ranma dig himself deeper and
deeper into trouble with every passing day. Heh heh heh. Comments
to nojay (at) nojay (dot) fsnet (dot) co (dot) uk.

    What has gone before... Ranma has ended up at his mother's
family's home, the Wakanaes, after running away in panic from
Genma after he found out about the marriage plans. While out
shopping with Aunt Yukari an accident with a sprinkler causes
Ranko to appear. She is dragged off by Aunt Yukari to change
into dry clothes at a nearby coffee shop.

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    Family Ranma -- Day 2

    Part 5: Cafe washroom

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    Ranma checked the cubicle door for the fifth time to ensure
it was really truly locked, then gave into the inevitable and
opened the bag at her feet.

    Aunt Yukari had escorted an unwilling Ranma to a local
coffeeshop and chivvied her into the washroom to change into dry
clothes. The ladies washroom, of course. She heard voices outside
again and shivered. She didn't want to go out there, in front of
women, but...

    A Martial Artist faces all challenges! she thought fiercely,
then recalled all the times Pops had run off during their
training trip to avoid angry mobs or distraught parents clutching
marriage contracts. Riiight. Still, she was stuck here. She
rummaged around in the bag; how bad could it be? It was simply
clothes, for crying out loud!

    Ten minutes of mistakes and one nasty accident with some
overstretched elastic later, Ranma was dressed. Sort of. She had
surrendered her shorts with some reluctance but the skirt in the
bag was way shorter than the striped boxers and she had
reluctantly wriggled into a pair of, to her unaccustomed eyes,
scandalously brief tight panties from the bag. She took a deep
breath, or as deep a breath as she could manage given the
circumstances, unlocked the cubicle door and marched out into the
washroom's communal area with its sinks and the big mirrors on
the wall. She stared into the mirrors.

    Oh.

    Oh.

    Uh...

    Oh. Noooo. Ranma held her face in her hands. Luckily there
was no-one around to see her humiliation. Damn! She *knew* all
this stuff was way too small for her when she tried to put it on,
but it was all there was in the bag. The skirt was too short and
the shirt pulled up from the waist, exposing her navel to the
world. As for the bra... It must have been for a kid, a
twelve-year-old perhaps. She pulled at the straps over her
shoulder trying to release the deathgrip the bra had on several
lethal pressure points on her back and sides just as the door
opened.

    "Ranko? Are you..." It was Aunt Yukari.

    Ranma closed her eyes. *Right, world. Open up and swallow me.
I can't take any more. The gods hate me.* She stood shivering,
waiting for the devastation of Aunt Yukari's next words, which
were...

    "Why Ranko! You look wonderful! That's a lovely outfit!"

    *She wasn't supposed to say that.* Ranma opened her eyes
slowly, carefully, in case Aunt Yukari had been replaced by a
raving lunatic with her voice, but no, it was Aunt Yukari sure
enough. She grabbed Ranma's hand and pulled her towards the door.
"I've ordered some tea and cakes. Come on." Ranma followed
blindly until she realised she was going to be seen by other
people, out there, dressed like this, half-naked...

    Aunt Yukari looked back at the reluctant girl. "What's
wrong?"

    "Uh, I... I'm not used to wearing something like this." Aunt
Yukari raised an eyebrow. "Uh, I didn't choose this outfit. My...
my friend did."

    "Your friend? Was she at the store with you?"

    "No, no. She left earlier, went home. I was just wandering,
browsing, you know, when the fire alarm went off." She plucked at
the abbreviated shirt. "I don't normally wear things like this."

    "It's very stylish." Ranma was still hesitant. Aunt Yukari
pressed ahead. "My nephew's got the same problem, doesn't like
wearing modern clothes. I was buying some things for him for
school and he wasn't happy, but..." She shook her head. "You are
a very pretty girl and what you are wearing is also very pretty.
You'll turn heads wherever you go."

    That wasn't what Ranma wanted to hear, but Auntie was not to
be denied and suddenly they were out into the coffeeshop where a
laser-bright spotlight paralysed the unfortunate girl and the
entire population of Japan stood around her in judgement, staring
at her intently, pointing fingers, shouting out her dirty little
secret and condemning her for it and...

    Ranma blinked. It was a normal coffeeshop scene, with people
sitting at the tables drinking and talking. Occasionally a glance
would come their way but all they saw was a woman and her young
companion, her daughter perhaps, with striking red hair but that
was all, and their glances moved on. Ranma breathed a long sigh
of relief, able for once to ignore the tightness across her chest
as she followed Auntie to their table in the corner.

    Sitting down in that too-short skirt took a bit of quick
thinking but she accomplished it without disgracing herself.
*Gotta keep my knees together, ladylike.*

    Aunt Yukari pushed the plate of cakes over to Ranma then
filled two cups from the teapot. "Green tea all right for you
Ranma?"

    "Uh, yes." *Be polite.* "Thank you Auntie." She gazed at the
plate of sweet sticky pastries in front of her then sighed
internally. *Can't pig out, damn it.* She chose one and forced
herself to nibble at it slowly. Aunt Yukari took a sip of her tea
then launched into interrogation mode.

    "Tell me about yourself, Ranko. Where are you from? I don't
recognise your accent."

    Ranma took a matching sip of tea to gather her thoughts
before lying through her teeth.

    "Uh, we've moved around a lot, my family that is. Kyoto,
Osaka, some small towns and villages. Abroad too." Another sip.
"China, quite recently."

    "What does your father do?"

    "He's a removals man. He moves other peoples goods." *Steals,
more like.* she thought darkly. Being separated from Genma for
even a single day had allowed her to realise just how messed-up
his way of life, and hers too by association, had been for the
past few years. *Is that why I'm able to lie to my aunt so
easily?* That thought was depressing and her face fell. *Damn,
Aunt Yukari is so kind and...*

    "Why the sad face, Ranko?"

    "Oh, I was just remembering something that happened a little
while back. There was someone I knew..."

    Aunt Yukari smiled. "A boy, perhaps?"

    "Yes." Ranma sighed and paused, gathering her thoughts. "He
was brave and upright and truthful, and then..." The silence
lasted for ten heartbeats before she changed the subject. "What
about yourself, Auntie?" Ranma managed to get her talking about
her own family, safer ground, and then the cakes were gone and
the teapot empty.

    "Well, I'd better get back to the store." said Ranma. "My old
clothes are still in there and I'd better get them before I go
home." She stood up and then realised the green tea had had its
predictable effect on her bladder. *I hate this* she thought.
Aunt Yukari stood up as well.

    "I'll come with you, if I may. I've still got to locate my
nephew, and he'll be wondering where I am."

    Ranma glanced over at the washroom door. "Uh, I've got to..."

    Aunt Yukari smiled. "Same here. Let's go."

    Ranma followed her Aunt despondently into the washroom and
chose a cubicle. *How does this work again?* She hadn't had much
experience with feminine plumbing since the plunge into the pool
at Jusyenko; mostly she had been able to get to hot water before
the inevitable became necessary. She wriggled the panties down
and hiked up the short skirt around her hips then sat down on the
Western-style seat and waited for Nature to take its course.

    While staring blankly at the door and trying very hard not to
think about what was happening Down There she heard a faint
familiar noise, coming from the next cubicle. It was as if... as
if a *man* was in there, relieving himself! She turned her head,
listening intently; what was... She finished quickly, remembering
to wipe with some tissue before wrestling her clothing back into
some semblance of decency and hurried out the cubicle, just in
time to see... Aunt Yukari open the adjacent cubicle door and
step over towards the sinks.

    "Come on, Ranko. Let's hurry." she said as she started
washing her hands. Numbly, Ranma joined her at the sinks,
glancing in the mirror. Aunt Yukari's cubicle was empty *of
course, you idiot* but where had that familiar noise come from?
She finished washing her own hands, still puzzling over the
mystery and followed Aunt Yukari out the cafe. *Had she heard
what she... No, it must have been an illusion. A mistake. Some
trick of acoustics and...* She scratched her head. *Forget it.
I'm hearing things. Damned defective girl-type ears.* But...