Disclaimer: All characters herein belong to Rumiko Takahasi, and I am making no profit from their use in this story.
Apartment Hunting
The couple stopped on the sidewalk in front of a nice-looking apartment building and gazed up at it for a moment silently. The young man, a well-built martial artist with large dark eyes and shaggy black hair held away from his face by an orange and black bandana, looked rather anxious and fidgeted restlessly. The young woman, a well-curved little beauty with striking red hair and dark blue eyes, seemed considerably calmer than her companion as she checked the address of the building against the ad in the newspaper she held.
"This is it, alright," she told the young man, folding the paper and tucking it under her arm. She eyed him dubiously. "I want you to stay here, Ryoga."
"Stay here?" Ryoga whined. "But Ranma . . . "
"Don’t argue with me," she interrupted, placing her hand on her hip. "I don’t want a repeat of what happened last time. You lose your temper so easily, and I am not paying any more damages. We’re on a tight budget, remember?"
"Y- yeah . . . " Ryoga agreed reluctantly, gazing around at the street with worry in his eyes. Seeing his distress, Ranma grabbed the material of Ryoga’s shirt sleeve and dragged him over to a nearby light post. She pushed him against it and held him there for a minute.
"Stay right here, next to this post," she ordered. "If you don’t move, you won’t get lost."
"But . . . "
"Ryoga! If I have to spend the rest of the day looking for you, you’re sleeping on the floor tonight, do you understand me?"
Ryoga nodded, obviously not finding that option appealing. He pressed himself back against the pole and gripped it with his hands. Determination crossed his face. There was no way he was letting go of that pole.
Ranma smiled, and the expression seemed to light up her small face. She laughed softly and leaned against Ryoga, bouncing up on tip-toe to plant a fond kiss on his lips. "You silly," Ranma teased. "I love you."
"I love you," Ryoga repeated with a bit of a squeak in his voice, seemly overwhelmed by the little kiss. "Hurry back. I don’t know how much good hanging onto this post is going to do."
Ranma chuckled, reached up to ruffle his hair, then quickly disappeared into the building.
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A short time later, she was smiling in delight. The apartment was perfect, simply perfect, for a young couple just starting out. It was small, cozy and within their means, but with an extra bedroom which would serve as a sweet little nursery should they decide . . . well, Ranma was thinking ahead considerably, but it never hurt to consider the future.
"What do you think, Hibiki-san?" the elderly and kindly landlady smiled sweetly at the bright faced young girl.
"Oh, I think its perfect!" Ranma beamed, gazing around the livingroom, already imagining how she would decorate it. As a bonus, there was only one door that led out, which reduced the chances of Ryoga wandering away accidently. She planned to hang a small sign on it, identifying it as the exit, just as she had placed signs all over the Hibiki house where they were currently staying. It seemed to help all of the directionally challenged members of Ryoga’s extended family.
"Well good," the landlady nodded. "We can go fill out the paperwork, unless you have anymore questions."
"Actually," Ranma turned towards her, eyes large and innocent. "I do have one more. You see, my husband and I . . . well, we have a small black pig . . . "
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Ryoga kept his eyes tightly shut, clinging so tightly to the light post that his clenched fingers threatened to puncture the metal of the pole. He repeated a mantra over and over in his head. I will not wander away. I will not wander away. I will not . . .
He heard the door of the apartment building open, and quickly opened his eyes to watch Ranma as she emerged. Ryoga wanted to hurry over and meet her, but didn’t dare let go of the post. Even a few feet could be a dangerously long distance. He stayed where he was until Ranma stopped beside him and forcibly removed one of his hands from the pole, securing it tightly in her own.
"Well?" Ryoga asked hopefully.
Ranma sighed and flashed a sad smile up at him. "No pets allowed."
"Arrrrrrrhhhhh!" Ryoga snarled in frustration and thunked his forehead firmly against the light post.
Ranma moved them quickly away from anything that her husband could use to damage himself. "Its alright, P-Chan," she assured in a teasing tone, snapping the fold out of her newspaper and scanning quickly over the ads she had circled in red. "The next one is only a few blocks away."
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