Aftermath

Hana and Izumi fretted over Mei behind the bar, checking her over, hugging her, and trying to calm her down. She was obviously pretty shaken up over the ordeal in the alleyway. Ranma, however, leaned against the wall next to the front door, her mind racing through what repercussions could come from letting the genie that was her former life out of its bottle around them, even if only a little. She tried not to watch them huddle around Mei, as it only reminded her that she didn't have anyone left to care if she were hurt. The fact that Mei kept gesturing to her was making her nervous, too.She stood, walking to the back of the bar and dropping a coin in the Pac-Man machine. Perhaps it would calm her thoughts. Sure enough, the top ten slots for high scores all bore the initials MEI. Ranma doubted she'd dislodge any of them, but what the hell. The machine fired up with its little chime, and soon the waka-waka-waka noises began to drown out Ranma's thoughts. It didn't last long, though, because all three of her lives were lost in a matter of seconds. She sighed, turning away from the machine. When she did, Yui was standing behind her waiting to finish.Yui smiled tentatively. "It's a good thing you fight better than you eat ghosts."Defensively, Ranma snapped back. "I don't know what she told you, but it's no big deal. Some guys got a little sassy, I hit 'em with a stick, they took off."Hana came up quickly from behind Yui and rushed toward Ranma. Adrenaline still pumping, Ranma fought her instinct to drop into a defensive stance. She half-expected to be tossed out on the curb for being a fake girl or something. Hana reached her, wrapping her arms around Ranma's shoulders tightly. "Are you alright, Ranko? You're not hurt?" She remembered the teen's black eye from a few days before, concerned she might have sustained further injury.Before Ranma could react, Hana extended her arms and locked her elbows, still holding her by the shoulders but now with a foot or so between them. She began to look Ranma over, physically turning her body this way and that exactly as she had done with Mei. She brushed away some loose gravel that remained on the back of Ranma's shirt.Satisfied that her newest ward was undamaged, Hana pulled her into another hug. Ranma's muscles tightened again, instinctively preparing to break free. Most of the hugs she had experienced in the last few years had involved people trying to grope her. Hana spoke gently, still holding her. "Thank you so much for looking out for Mei."Not even her own father or had ever shown that much concern when she'd been in a fight. Of course, that might not have been because he didn't care, but because he knew how good she was. Well, before, anyway. Akane had sometimes freaked out, but usually only when she thought Ranma might be beaten enough to actually be dead. Even then, it was only in the handful of cases where Akane hadn't been the one who'd hit her in the first place.Hana held her until she felt Ranma's body begin to relax. At last, she spoke tentatively. "So… so I'm not in trouble, then?"Hana scoffed incredulously. "Ranko, honey, why would you think you were in trouble? You protected yourself and Mei from gods know what out there. I'm proud of you, and truth be told, pretty damn impressed. I've seen the guys you fought in here before, and the smallest of them is twice your size."Ranma gulped slowly. She knew that fighting those guys had been an injury risk given her condition, but she hadn't considered the other part of what Hana said. Ranma's only instinct in the alley was to protect Mei. She hadn't even considered that whatever they had planned to do to Mei, they probably would have done to her as well. The fight ended almost an hour ago, and only now did she realize that the threat to herself had been far greater than the pain the Cat's Tongue would have forced her to endure. She was just as vulnerable now, and just as likely to have guys thinking they had power over her."I…" Her mind scrambled for words, but there was too much confusion and too many mental alarms to focus. She looked up, making eye contact with Hana for the first time since the fight. "I'm good, ma'am, honest." She managed a small smile, even though honest was the last thing she felt as it pertained to her benefactor.Yui sighed. "I'm really sorry you had to deal with that. We don't get too much trouble around here, but the bar business does invite the occasional asshole, especially when the bar's run by all women."Ranma shook her head dismissively. "It's really okay."Yui smirked. "I guess we have a bouncer now, huh?"Ranma shook her head. "Oh. Come on, I'm not that good. Seriously, those guys were pushovers." The last thing she wanted was for martial arts to define her existence again.Yui looked down at her proudly. "Seriously, Ranko, where did you learn to fight like that? Taking on three guys at once? And at your age?"Ranma wondered whether she meant the age she had given in her interview, or if Hana had told her the truth. "I, ah… well, my pop, he was big into martial arts. I guess I picked up a few things." She could have beaten her father into next week while half-asleep and drunk, but that minor detail didn't seem particularly useful at the time.Yui smirked. "Well, if you ask me, you're a badass, kiddo."Ranma blushed. "Okay, maybe a little. So you guys don't have to worry about me, okay? Just make sure Mei's good. She didn't get hit, but she was pretty freaked out."Hana shushed her. "You are both worth looking after, Ranko. You deserve people caring about you, too."Yui grinned, giving the shorter girl a soft play-punch on her shoulder. "That's what family does, yeah?"Ranma looked up, incredulously. "F- family?" In her experience, the punching thing was more of the family pastime.It wasn't Yui's voice that answered, but Mei's, having collected herself and now standing in the entryway leading from the gaming alcove to the main bar. "You heard her, little sister."