A Ranma ½ and Sailor Senshi crossover Fanfic
Written by: Konsaki
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This Fanfic was inspired by and uses source material from ‘Lines of Destiny’, a dead Fanfic created by Louis-Philippe Giroux. If you would like to read the story he created up till it drops off, there are copies on Ranmafics dot com.
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“Hmm…”, Akane hummed out, putting a finger to her lips. She continued by tapping her lips a couple of times before finally crossing her arms under her chest and asking out, “Well, what do you think?”
“I don’t know, Akane”, Ranma hedged, scratching the back of his head, “Looks okay to me…”
Knowing the tone he had used, wanting to say more but not, she pointedly turning her gaze towards him, “But?”
Flicking his gaze to her reflection then back towards the rental flier posted in the window, he just shook his head, “But it’s just too much to pay… I know I could live off the leftovers by myself, but that’s cause I had to while Pop ‘n me were on the road. No way we could do it with the two of us.”
Sighing with a frown, Akane made another scan over the fliers covering the huge window front of the rental office, hoping she had missed something the time before. Giving her head a frustrated shake, she wrapped her hand in his once more and leaned against his shoulder, “We’ve looked around for four days now and everything’s been too far away, too expensive or too…”
“Trashed and rundown”, Ranma finished with a grimace, unconsciously squeezing her hand with his.
“I was going to say, too small”, she corrected with a small grin.
Knowing which one she was talking about, Ranma just rolled his grey-blue eyes, “We already went over this; it wasn’t too small if we used futons.”
“I know that, but I want a real bed…”, Akane stated in a tone a few shades too determined to be a whine. “I know you grew up with futons but I’ve always had a bed and I’d like to find a place which had an actual bedroom…”
Sighing slightly, Ranma just nodded his head slightly, having gone through this already a few times, “Alright, alright… Let’s just go inside and see if there’s something not posted… Who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky...”
“Knowing your luck, maybe we shouldn’t”, the dark haired woman teased with a smirk while looking up to her husband. “We might find ourselves living next to someone who has a vendetta against you or your father.”
“Oh, hardy har har”, he deadpanned in return as he led her towards the door and opened it, causing the attached bells to jingle, “Just for that, you can’t complain if it actually happens.”
“Of course I can complain”, she said back as she entered the proffered door, “I’m your wife.”
“Not like it stopped you while you were a fiancée”, he countered back in mirth as he followed her through the door and closed it behind him. Once inside, the martial artist was able to get a good view of the rental office interior; a clean but used room with a couple of desks and a few office machines behind them alongside a water cooler. Fliers and rental books were stacked or displayed all around the room on any surface which would hold them, all the while keeping a mostly ordered look about it.
From behind one of orderly cluttered desks a suited middle aged man stood with a smile, “Welcome to Fushiama Rentals. I’m Hoshi Jinta. How may I help you today?”
“Hello, Hoshi-san”, Ranma replied with a grin before indicating the woman beside him, “This is my wife, Saotome Akane and I’m Ranma.”
“We are looking for an apartment to rent while we attend Mizuharo”, Akane supplied with a hopeful tint to her smile and voice.
“Ah”, Jinta intoned with a nod, as if her statement explained everything. “Well, I saw that you’ve already looked over our posted apartments”, he stated with a nod towards the large display window behind the couple, “so I’ll not waste your time by going over them again.” Motioning to the two seats before his desks, he offered, “Please, have a seat.”
“Thanks”, Ranma replied as Akane and he sat in the proffered seats.
“Now”, the slightly balding businessman stated in a ‘let’s do this’ tone as he pulled a large flip binder before him, “Could you tell me what exactly you were looking for along with how much you expect to spend?”
“It needs a bedroom, bathroom and a small kitchen”, Akane ticked off on her hand before looking more hopeful, “and we have around one hundred thousand yen budget…”
“Hmm…”, Jinta responded, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, “That’s going to be a hard find…”
“Don’t we know it”, Ranma agreed with a frown, “at least you haven’t pushed us out the door like the last guy.”
“Ah, you must have visited Yoshi then”, the rental agent responded as he started looking through his binder in search for their request.
Blinking slightly in surprise, Akane asked, “Actually, yes. How did you know?”
“Let’s just say that you aren’t the first customer we’ve received after his refusal”, Jinta said with a smile as he continued the search.
Time passed by as the balding man continued his search, Akane’s hope diminishing as he neared the back of his listings book. Finally, he reached the last page and closed the binder with a sigh. Clasping his hands before him over the closed green binder, he shook his head sadly, “My apologies, but I couldn’t find anything like you were looking for in your price range.” Tapping the binder, he continued to state, “The closest I could find was an unfurnished apartment for a hundred forty-nine thousand and that’s with a shower instead of a full bath.”
“The shower’s fine”, Ranma stated with a frown, “The price… not so much.”
Nodding in acceptance and understanding, Jinta replied, “Again, my apologies but as I said, what you’re looking for is a hard find, if it even exists without being in hard disrepair.” Tapping the binder once again, he looked from husband to wife, “I would seriously recommend looking for a single room apartment, as we have a couple within your price means.”
Before he could continue, the door to the rental office opened with a jingle, drawing his attention. Smiling, he nodded a quick greeting, “Welcome back, Chiharu. How was it?”
Turning her head, Akane saw a middle aged woman move between the desks, placing a coffee cup on Jinta’s desk before moving behind the other desk. “It wasn’t too bad. Short line today”, she replied, setting down her own cup before looking and bowing to the seated couple, “Oh, sorry. I’m Fuji Chiharu, nice to meet you.”
Akane just waved it away with a smile, “It’s no problem…”
“This is Saotome Ranma and his wife, Akane”, Jinta explained with a hand gesture, “Unfortunately, I just gave them the bad news that I couldn’t find what they were looking for.”
Eyes showing that she empathized with the couple, the pink and black suit-skirted woman’s smile faded, “I’m sorry to hear that… If you don’t mind, what were they looking for?”
“Bed, bath, kitchen for around a hundred thousand”, the charcoal grey suited man supplied before shrugging, “I’ve already looked through our economy listings but the closest I could find was the Gentoki one forty-nine listing and was explaining that their best bet was to look for a single room.”
Turning her gaze from her co-worker to the couple in question, she regretfully nodded in agreement, “I’m sorry, but he’s probably right. What you’re looking for is quite rare and usually taken immediately when it’s listed.”
“Yeah, so I’ve heard”, Ranma said, running a hand through his hair, “Just that the tomboy here is hard up for a bed even though we’re on a budget…”
Giving her husband a glare, Akane growled a warning, “Ranma…”
“What”, he asked defensively, “It’s the truth…”
Chuckling slightly, Jinta placed the green binder back in its place while stating, “Ah, young newly married life… I remember back when I married my Aiko. We had just this problem.” Sighing while looking into the past, he grinned, “She eventually got what she wanted but we both had to get part time jobs to make ends meet for a while.”
“We were looking into that”, Ranma put in, “but it wouldn’t work out with the workload we already have…”
“Ah, just a moment”, Chiharu broke in before the conversation could continue, “If you don’t mind, how long have you been married… it couldn’t have been long…”
Blushing slightly, Akane supplied, “Actually, Tuesday was the wedding.”
“You mean”, the woman asked, eyes widening with realization, “Oh, congratulations!”
“Thank you”, Akane beamed in response.
Nodding himself, Ranma added, “Yeah, thanks… but it doesn’t really help us with this.”
“Actually, “Chiharu responded with a raised finger, “It just might!”
Quirking his brow, Jinta stroked his chin, “Do tell…”
Sitting down at her desk and flipping through her phone number catalog, the woman tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Well, two weeks ago the manager of… here it is”, she interrupted herself, stopping at a particular index card, “the manager of ‘Residia Mita’ called while you were out.”
“You mean Kanaro-san”, Jinta inquired.
Nodding in the affirmative, Chiharu continued, “Right! Well, she told me she had an apartment open up but didn’t want it listed openly.” Seeing her co-worker’s questioning look, she supplied, “For some reason, the owner specifically stated it was to go to only a newly wedded couple.” Looking towards the two young adults sitting across from her co-worker, the brown haired woman smiled, “And it’s just what you two are looking for, if I remember right. I completely forgot about it until just now. If you don’t mind waiting, I’ll call and see if it’s still available.”
Quickly, Akane motioned for the rental agent to start calling, “We don’t mind at all! Please go ahead!”
Smiling, the woman picked up the phone on her desk and dialed. After a few moments, the three other occupants of the room heard a one sided conversation, “Hello, this is Fuji Chiharu from Fushiama… Yes, you called last week about an apartment the owner stated was for newlyweds only… right, that one. Is it still available?” Hearing this question, Akane reached over to grasp Ranma’s hand as she bit her lip slightly.
The smile on elder female’s lips grew wider as she said, “It is? That’s great! I have a couple here who were married just last week and this is just what they were looking for!” Listening to the other side for a moment, she nodded and put her hand over the receiver, “Would you like to view it today?”
“Please”, Akane excitedly replied, squeezing her husband’s hand with a wide smile. Ranma couldn’t help but smile himself as he saw Jinta nod to him sagely while Chiharu finalized the time of the viewing.
“Thank you very much for your help. I’ll let them know”, the rental agent said, writing down a list of information on a set of stationary before her. “Again, thank you and we hope to hear from you again”, she finished saying before setting the phone down back in its cradle. Ripping the page off her pad, she handed it over to Akane with a smile, “Here’s the directions and address to the apartment. It has a bedroom, water closet, shower room and a small kitchenette for one hundred five thousand per month. Kanaro Yuki is the manager and she’ll be ready to show you it when you arrive.”
“It’s around a fifteen minute walk from here”, Jinta supplied helpfully, pulling up his own knowledge of the apartments. “Hopefully it meets your needs”, he offered as he stood up, Ranma and Akane following suit.
“Well, it sounds good”, Ranma stated with a nod, “Thanks for helping us out.”
“Yes”, Akane agreed with a bow, “Thank you very much for your help!”
Chiharu just waved it off, “It’s nothing! I just hope everything turns out alright for you both and, again, congratulations on your marriage.”
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“It’s great”, Akane stated in slight awe, looking around the living room and through the open doorway to the attached bedroom.
“You got that right”, Ranma stated as he walked in from the attached balcony. Turning a skeptical gaze towards the manager of the apartment complex, he asked, “You sure this only costs one oh five?”
Smiling in amusement, the thirty something woman nodded, “That’s right, all this for just one hundred five thousand per month. Again, it’s unfurnished but all utilities barring television are included. Before you ask why, the owner is a bit eccentric and sometimes makes interesting deals like this one.” Tapping her chin with a finger she mused, “I think the last one was only for someone who was an orphan…”
Shrugging it off, Ranma looked towards Akane and asked, “What do you think?”
“What do you think I think”, she asked incredulously before turning her gaze towards the ponytailed apartment manager, “We’ll take it!”
Smiling, Yuki motioned towards the doorway, “Alright then, if you would just come to my office to fill out a few forms…”
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A/N - Forgot if what type of budget I gave them in one of the prior chapters but I'll look later and change it if needed. Used real world numbers to get the 149k Yen low end price for what type of apartment they wanted. Heres a pic of the apartment they did get:
Also, I set their wedding on Tuesday, which makes college registration Thursday and the big fight on Friday. The current day is Sunday of the next week, having skipped by Saturday for now, though I plan on referencing it in this chapter.
