Chapter 9

The advent of light

Ranma Saotome awoke alone and feeling quite refreshed. The first rays of light doing nothing but lending him strength necessary for getting through the morning ritual he so often led through. Looking about quite tensed in case of a sudden attack from his paranoid teacher he pretended to be still aslepp for a full five minutes...

"What the H... is going on!" No father around to mess up his awakening Ranma became even more than normally tensed up and well beyond borderline paranoid.

With his breath caught up in the kata designed for overoxygenation he gained a reddish tint to most of his face pulsing with violent intent.

Tossing the bedsheathes given him for the night he stood up without a sound and trotted still soundlessly over to the window open to the yard outside. Jumping out from its ledge he landed on the uncovered stonepath leading to the koipond. Walking still in the shadow lent too the house from the waking morning sun he made it as a shadow himself unseen and unwanted.

Ranma frowned at the im probability of the situation in itself. Never had chaos left him be when in the presence of others, others meaning humans and even more importantly female humans.

With his nose scrunched up he dipped on foot fully in to the cold water of the pond and awaited the transformation. Feeling the shift in both balance heat and shape she smiled upwards. Allowing the first ray of light bathe her still cold face she left the site vaulting backwards high and precisely landing on the upper floors roof.

This time the tiles nearly betrayed her yet the sliding of tiles made it only to the edge and no further. Herself hanging of its edge she peared into the window closed yet not sealed and made her move.

Balancing with both of her feet on each side of the window she worked the latching mechanism from the outside with skill not learnt from honest living. Smiling at one of the more pleasant experiences resulting from being sold of to a brothel of lesser evil she worked in the relative shade of the roof.

Clink!

And access granted. Ranma leaned through the drapes meant to hold unwanted eyes away. With the drapes slithering of her tautened neck slithering rays of light was now warming its back. "Good morning very soon Oyaji." No movement still registering she she gruntled somewhat louder.

"Oyaji I know you were HERE TEME!"

Kasumi awoke feeling the thumb she had been suckling on leave her palate and evoke a hiccuping intake of cooled of air. Feeling the clamminess leave she motioned in the direction of her sole source of heat beside sherself finding it gone. It wasn't panic that she felt. It was loss.

Seeing Ranma poke her cute little head through the drapes doing her best to look menacing she smiled even hearing the words and grasping the said content. Ranma shared some of her warmth to didn't she! "Come in husband dearest I need some company what with the morning sun up so early and all!"

Ranma did hear the words uttered and reacted accordingly. The grip she had onto the walls framing the window was weak from the beginning and the added momentary brainfreeze was enough to make it impossible to maintain.

That wasn't what made her fall to the ground though...

"Come her kitty little. Mommy wants another bath with her closest secret friend."

She just wasn't ready for that little tidbt coming from the quite haphazardly clothed Kasumi!

BOOM!

The heap formelry known as Ranma Saotome poofed out a few clouds of weakness before keeling over lost to the waking world...

Genma Saotome had been pressed beyond what should have been asked of a mere sensei. Or that was what he thought of it anyway. But oh those hands of hers they were getting more and more adept at every go!

With even that slight trickle of blood covered for by the Umi- senken he slid out of it after shrubbing it up in an elaborate gesture designed as to seem harmless. The weght added to his chest at his appearance was enough to make him stumble though.

"Genma- kun! Were have you been? I've been so worried! You mustn't hide from me like that! Now please get ready for breakfast dearest I'll make it speciallll!"

If Genma hadn't been so busy warding of her hands working regions he'd rather leave unworked for the moment that little ringer would have taken at least five seconds less to register. "Dear please wait a bit! Ooh oh! AH! Breakfast...!"

WOOOOOOM!

Blinking Kasumi was once more left to her own devices. Alone...

Nabiki wasn't a morning person yet there were certain things that she would arrange for awakening at all cost at full alert. The little motion detector she had set to start working after midnight in the room shared by the two Saotomes for example.

With a printout of the activities of the two leaving and entering said rooms there were a couple of glaring irregualrities yet she could not still puzzle out the full extent of these activities. There had been two exits and one extremely slow one... 'Hmm. I'll figure this one out eventually. Better fall back on the whole sleep charade for now.' Drawling down the stairs here face hidden to the world all Tendos knew better than to bother her.