3

"Ōe-san? Is that you?"

"Hum?" I looked down from my place on top of one of the Nerima Park's tree to see Tenou Haruka, the girl whose death could mean the end of the world, looking up at me.

I'd send her a bright smile, but I frankly don't think she could see it from this distance. "Hello there, Tenou-san. Nice morning we're having."

"I suppose so." She says slowly. "Ōe-san, what are you doing up there?"

"Isn't that obvious?" I spoke while turning my attention back to the frightened kitten on the branch. There more I reached out, the more it yowled cutely and drew back. "I'm trying to get this little guy out of there."

"… Y-You're actually saving cats from trees." The girl started to circle around the base to better see the little critter; he was very well hidden among the foliage. "I thought that was only a metaphor!"

"Me too, until I heard him mewling for help." I stick the tip of my tongue out in the effort. Come here you little bundle of Exp. "He's not in a very cooperative mood, though." Christ, even when we're trying to save their lives, cats are assholes.

"Ah." Tenou-san made a sound of patient comprehension that you use when you see someone getting slightly unhinged. I actually resent that, Tenou-san. "But don't you think it might be better to call the authorities and let them handle this, Ōe-san?"

"Nonsense, I have everything under control!"

And I have no idea what Japan's emergency lines are, nor do I know where the nearest police station is. But fuck it; I'm pretty sure I can survive a fall from this height if it comes to that.

And because of cat's general assholeness, it did come to that. The little kitten decided it has enough of me risking my safety for it, and completely bypassed my hand to leap at my face claws first. Sending both of us towards the ground with a yelp and a victorious yowl.

I landed on my back in a crash so clear it would have sent me to the hospital one life ago; currently, it just gave me a whole lot of pain and decreased my HP a little bit. The cat landed safely on my chest, the little fucker.

"Ōe-san, are you ok!?" Tenou asked in a worried tone as she materialized into my vision.

Hehe, this is kind of an inversion of our first meeting.

"Fine!" I answered in a grunt, pushing through the pain to sit up, and gripping the struggling kitten in my hand to stop its efforts to eat my face.

"And that's why we leave that to the professionals." The tall girl complained as I rose to my feet. "I didn't think what you said yesterday was serious."

"Now I'm hurt, why would I lie to you?"

My eyes skimmed over the pop-up.

Quest completed.

+10 exp.

Yeah, I have yet to lie to her.

"Still, its good to see you again, Ōe-san. Do you live around here?" Tenou-san gave me a cool-looking smile.

"In the area, yeah. Right now, this is where I jog." In fact, I was wearing my Russian gangster's tracksuit like a proper Japanese jogger, and Tenou-san was...

"What." She asked, noticing my look.

…Eh, she seems like a girl who could handle honestly. "No offense, but the uniform doesn't fit you at all."

There was nothing wrong with the uniform per se, it was an average looking serafuku of tan and white colors, with a long skirt that reached well below her knees, and a neat bow on her chest area; a very conservative, very traditional outfit. I'm sure it would have looked good in any other girl, but on Tenou-san… something about her build… or the way she moves just clashes with the uniform's image.

Rather than being taken aback, she smiled. "Really? You think so?" She looked down herself and then shrugged. "I guess it can't be helped then."

Ah, that tone was too bright, maybe she agrees with me.

"Ouch." A slight scratch made me turn my attention to the kitten, which by now had declared a bloody vow of revenge to my entire family line.

"Do you know where I can take this little guy? Can't really afford pets right now."

Tenou-san blinked for a second but nodded. "There is a family-owned shelter just around the corner. Didn't you know it? It's pretty famous."

"I moved to the city just recently," I explained.

"Oh." Tenou-san casually moved her bag over her shoulder. It was amazing how easy the word 'cool' could be applied to her. "I could show you around if you want. After you're finished with the cat, that's it."

I considered that for a moment. It was still early enough, pretty of time to change and get to school.

"Eh, what's the harm?"

I wonder what Tenou-san is doing in her uniform so early, though.

-0-0-0-​

Nerima, or at least the area that I lived, was like a quaint little village in the middle of a Tokyo ward.

Of course, you could argue that's true for the Tokyo wards themselves, but in Nerima, this was even more pervasive. The ward was on the very edge of the mega-city, a fact that had stunted it's growth metropolitan-wise, but had allowed it to retain many values of Japan's rural life; including a close-bonded community of families and business that knew, protected, and gossiped about each other.

It didn't change the fact this was a Tokyo ward, which by its very nature is much bigger than a rural village, thus making it more difficult to uphold these values. The solution then was breaking Nerima further, into a jigsaw puzzle of neighborhoods and districts that essentially acted like tiny little villages in of itself, save for the rural part, presumably because they hadn't figured out how to grow rice in asphalt. Each of these 'villages' has their own communities with their own unofficial representative acting as 'counsel' for the municipal body of the ward, oh, and the mayor was also there.

Putting politics aside, it basically means that my neighborhood, the Kotakechō district apparently, had everything one could possibly need bundled together on several streets of charming little family shops and other business. Tenou-san seemed to know everyone by name, and while I was with her, they threw me some sharp, judging stares like I was an alien trying to integrate. It was amazing how they could still seem so polite while doing so.

We were wandering through a winding path on a lazy route to Tenou-san's school, just throwing casual conversation and killing time until I had to hurry back to my apartment to change and go to my own school.

"That's the silliest name I've ever heard," I told her with utmost sincerity. My flat delivery made her snort a burst of laughter that wasn't entirely feminine.

"Yes! Yes, it is! Finally!" She continued to laugh while holding her mouth; looks like I'm the first person who got it.

"I mean, St. Hebereke's school for girls? What even is that? There ain't no St Hebereke in the catholic…" Then, the Japanese part of my brain caught up. "Wait a minute. Is that a pun about drunk people!?"

"Yes!" She snorts louder; this time it was unabashedly pig-like no matter how much she tries to hide it. "And nobody realized it!"

Now it's was my turn to snigger, the thought of a, in Tenou-san's words, nationally renowned high school with a name that essentially meant Saint Drunkard was kinda funny.

If this were my old world, I'd call bullshit, there was no way they would let something like that pass, but here in anime land, everything was possible.

Still. "Nationally famous school for girl's eh, Tenou-san, someone is living the high life."

"It's just a school, not really a big deal." She blinked. "Ah, but I think you've misunderstood me…"

It might be somewhat cliché to say that Tenou-san trails off as soon as she took the next turn, but sometimes reality is stranger than fiction. So, steadying myself, I walked behind her to see what caused this abrupt pause.

"Oh, dear." I breathed out. "Tenou-san, is it normal for a trio of delinquents to be loitering around the way of your school, clearly waiting for someone to pass?"

"N-No." Her voice faltered into a high pitch for just a second before sharpening back into a cutting edge. "No, it most certainly is not."

The trio in question were some of the more generic-looking delinquents that I'd ever seen. Baggy school uniforms, Mohawks or shaved heads, piercing and chains, all very typical for the image they were trying to convey. The trio was improperly squatting in a circle, which made me narrow my eyes at their western spyness, in the middle of their loose circle was a pile of dirty cards, inappropriate magazines, and smoking cigarette butts. One of them noticed us, and the others were quick to follow, their gazes immediately fell on Tenou-san.

The biggest of them frowned, his beady eyes squinting dangerously. He rose to his full height, throwing a half-smoked cigarette to the side and curled his scarred lips into an ugly scrawl.

"Oi, bitch, you're from St. Hebeberetes' rhythmic gymnastics club?"

While he was speaking, I scanned their tags for their names and titles. Level 6 to 8, title… hold on Middle school delinquents? These guys look like they could be thirty!

Tenou-san met his glare with one of her own. "No. I'm not."

A few seconds of silence passed, and I turned my head towards her.

"Wait, you're not?"

"That's what I've been telling you. I'm a student of their sister school, sister school." Tenou-san enunciated as if to make sure I got it this time. "St. Bacchus Middle School for girls. I'll go to Hebereke next year."

I snorted loudly, another drunken pun, and what the hell was a catholic school doing with the name of a greek myth- "Hold on, middle school for girls?"

The blonde girl nodded, leaving her head a bit tilted. "Why yes, I'm a middle school student, after all."

"But you're so..." Well-horned instincts of a man who learned ways to get women into his bed despite being fat and relatively unattractive took over and screamed for me to not say 'tall' "Mature! I honestly thought we were the same age."

Tenou-san perked up, a smile on her lips. "Thank you; I get that a lot actually but it's usually-"

"KORA!!" The delinquent shouted, stomping his feet on the ground between us. "Don't ignore me, you cunts. I'm talking to you!"

And he got in Tenou-san's face. By that, I meant that weird Japanese bully thing of making an over-the-top grimace and loom over the one you're trying to intimidate.

"You think I'm dumb, bitch!? I know that uniform, you dare to lie on the great Touji-sama's face." He growled. His buddies rising to their feet behind him.

New Quest: White knighting before it was cool.

Defend M'lady against the vile delinquent threat; maybe she would kiss your boo hoos afterward, but I wouldn't count on it.

Reward:

+ 100 exp.

Accept/Refuse.

Urgh, did you really have to word it like that, gamer powers? I almost refused out of principle.

"Now then," I interjected, suddenly sliding to the middle of the pair, pushing Tenou-san behind me and taking her place under the taller, but ironically younger, boy's shadow. "I'm sure there is no need for violence. This is just a big misunderstand you see—"

The guy roughly grabbed the collar of my tracksuit. Leaning back to prepare an over-the-top head-butt. I sighed when I saw the obvious movement.

"It's none of your business!!!!" He shouted while springing his head towards mine, to which I simply tilted my forehead in a way there would do more damage to him than me.

Which was precisely what happened. Or contact resulted with the guy stumbling back with a loud yelp of pain while holding his forehead, and me letting out a grunt. Tenou-san stiffened behind me.

I brought my arms up, ignoring the thin line of warm blood dripping from my forehead. To business then.

I actually knew how to brawl; the Brazilian education system of the early 2000s had this as an unofficial and mandatory course, and this certainly wasn't the first time I've been cornered by high schoo- sorry middle school thugs, so I knew what to do next, mostly.

And with the bucket loads of information about martial arts I had absorbed, it was downright simple.

Before the leader could recover, I stomped my way inside his guard and used some basic principle of Bājíquán to bury an elbow carrying most of the weight of my body on his solar plexus, instantly bring him down.

The shock of seeing their leader dispatched so easily stunned the other two, something I used to rush in and swipe the legs of the one in the right from under him and kick his face when he was down.

"W-What?" The last one babbled, still recovering. Usually this would go in two ways: he would realize he was now alone and without back up against a guy who brought down two of his friends and decide to run. Or he would see he was the last one standing and feel like a cornered animal.

And seeing the way he balled his fist, screamed, and rushed at me rather than away from me, I'd say it's the second.

Before he could fully enter my range, I decided to test out something and summoned my inventory screen in his direction, when he got sufficiently close I fling my arm forward and activated the eject function of the screen. The delinquent saw the punch and was prepared to dodge it. However, he wasn't ready for the sudden appearance of an aluminum baseball bat that flew faster than the punch and promptly got his face flattened in the thrust.

Neat, I can use my inventory offensively. I considered that while swirling the bat around before putting it to rest on my shoulder.

I looked around the prone bodies. This was almost anti-climatic really, they were level 6 to 8 and I was barely a 3, but I still managed to wipe the floor with then. Granted, I had more experience than them in brawling and some martial art foundations to help put it to better use, but I was still expecting a bit more struggle; you know, cuz level difference and all of that.

But then again, that little monkey yokai was level 2 and managed to keep up with Ranma of all people. Maybe levels aren't everything.

"Y-You fucker!" The leader wheezed out, painfully rising to his feet. Looks like he wasn't fully out like I'd hoped. The other guy whom I didn't use the bat on also stirred. Clearly, this wasn't the end.

Still, I've capitalized on the initial opportunity, now they are injured and I had a weapon. I still held the advantage.

The leader stuck his hand in his pocket. I was expecting a knife or brass knuckles, but instead, before he could do anything, a pair of long, slender arm grabbed his abdomen from behind and gripped him so tightly I could hear him huffing.

"Hahhhhh!" Tenou-san shouted in effort as she lifted the larger teen over her head and brought him to the ground with an arch of her back.

His legs slumped over him as he folded in an awkward upside-down position; meanwhile, I was blinking profusely because holy shit Tenou just suplexed a guy!

"Ōe-san!" She came to me, her breaths slightly winded. "Are you ok?"

"That's my line," I told her, and then I smiled. "That was impressive… You know how to fight?"

"Ah, no, I'd never…" She lowered her gaze to the side, hand rubbing the back of her neck while the bridge of her nose lit up with a flush. "I've seen some movies…"

I couldn't help it; I snorted at the crazy girl's willingness to use moves she saw on television. And to pull it off too.

Well, the situation was under control now. The delinquent leader was down, one of his lackeys was unconscious, and the other was 'suspiciously' unconscious. So we gathered our things and prepared to move on.

That's when we heard a sniff.

And the nasal whine that followed.

"…Oh, Hitomi-chan, your big brother is a failure, *Sniff* forgiven me!"

It came from the delinquent leader.

…I sighed.

They got a sad backstory, don't they?"

-0-0-0-​

Hanna Millers is a comfy café located in a busy corner of one of Nerima's commercial streets, but not the main one. Tenou-san had declared it her favorite within the region, and the reason for that became very obvious very quickly.

"Here are your orders!" Said the waitress leaning in to distribute the smacks and drinks among the table, her splendid breasts swaying pendulously inside the white blouse that seems specially designed to allow them to do so.

"Please enjoy!" She spoke one last time to our petrified expressions and gave us a bow. There is no way she wasn't aware of how frisky her uniform was, and the way she suspiciously pushed her arms together so her breasts just so happen to mash together confirmed my suspicions. When she left, the eyes of more than our table was locked on the way her borderline illegal short skirt bounced against her sizable rump.

A-As expected of the closet lesbian.

"S-So!" The girl herself coughed, bringing the attention back to the matters at hand. "Your sister got attacked, is that what you're saying?"

Touji, the delinquent leader, clenched his fist. "Yes! Hitomi… Hitomi's in the hospital right now because of what those cunts did to her. I can't…" The big guys sniffed, then brought his arm to his face in an over-the-top crying. "As her brother, I can't let this go!"

"Touji -san!" His buddy Hito cried out in sympathy.

"That's right! That right!" His other buddy Sora agreed incessantly.

It was clear they were here for moral support.

Tenou-san coughed again, trying to put things back on track. "Can't you go back a little, give us some more details about what exactly happened?"

He snorted his tears back and started. "You see my sis was in the Rhythmic Gymnastics club— "

*Thud* was the sound of Tenou-san's head painfully coming in contact with the table.

We all cast an incredulous glaze at her prone for a second.

"Err, Tenou-san, are you alright—"

"Let me guess," Tenou-san said after suddenly rising back to her seat. She looked as cool and collected as before like she didn't have a ridiculous bruise on her forehead. "Your sister went to the Akiaki High School, which had a Rhythmic Gymnastics competition against St. Hebereke High a few weeks ago, but the team never showed up."

That inflamed the delinquent again. "Yes! But there is a reason for that—"

"They were attacked." Tenou-san finished for him.

The delinquent choked on what he wanted to say, and drop back on his seat. Nodding.

"You know about this?" I asked.

Tenou-san pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned. "St. Bacchus is the sister school of St. Hebereke, there is no secret of what is going on there." She turned to the guy. "The girl you're looking for is called Kuno Kodachi."

I choked at the name. And curiously, the three delinquents shivered.

"EH!? K-Kuno!?"

"Wait, Kuno!? That Kuno!? Is she related to…"

"Furinkan's proud lion…"

"One of Aniki's most powerful rivals…"

I… I don't know what surprises me the most; the fact that somehow Tenou Haruka is somewhat related to Ranma ½'s canon plot, or the fact that freaking Kuno had an honest to god fearful reputation among the delinquents.

Tenou-san seems to catch on what they were muttering.

"Do you understand? Not only her older brother is a beast, but she is from one of the oldest, wealthiest, and most influential clans in Nerima." She raises a finger to reprimand them. "Imagine what would have if you had attacked her instead of me."

They did so and shivered even more.

But the leader smacked his fists against the table, earning some confused looks from the other patrons.

"Even then!" He shouted, but his voice started to falter. "Even then…" Once more, he drops on his seat. "So you're saying my sister's assaulter will go unpunished? Is that it?"

Damn, when he says it all dejectedly like that makes it hard to now feel for the guy, even Tenou-san looked her gaze a bit.

'It can't be help it', was what the Japanese's spirit of these youth said, even the delinquents, which were supposed to be breaking from this spirit knew that. No… implying that this was exclusively for Japan would be incorrect. On anywhere in the world, if you had enough money and connections, you can do pretty much anything.

But.

"Well, there are some ways to go against her," I commented.

I was sure of that, Ranma managed to defeat her in a contest, or something. It didn't slow her down, but at least she was defeated, and there were no nasty consequences after the fact.

Yeah, this was anime japan, real-life logic only works until a certain point here, so if we do this quietly enough or weirdly enough…

Now, how should we go about this, maybe if— wait, what the hell am I thinking I can't possibly…

They were looking at me; on their eyes there was- Oi Oi, I was just throwing a suggestion there!

"You mean it, nii-san?" Touji asked, hope dripping on his tongue.

No, no way, it was just a slip of the tongue there is no way-

New Quest: The Black Rose's downfall

The crazy bitch of the Kuno's has been running rampantly for far too long! End her reign of terror over the Rhythmic Gymnastics' world by any means necessary!

Reward:

+1.000 exp Vastly increases closeness with the Viper's gang of middle school hooligans.

??????

??????

Accept/Refuse.

Why does every bloody quest have question marks now, and why the hell does this give so much exp!?

Goddamn it. I'm not Ranma! This is canon Ranma ½ bullshit. I should leave it alone and…

… Fuck! Fucking hell, the guy's sister is in the hospital, I know the perpetrator, and I have the fucking gamer so I can do at least something about it. And these fuckers are looking at me like lost little ugly puppies and don't even think I didn't catch you shining looks too Tenou-san!

"Y-Yeah."

Touji jumps from his seat, his lackeys following suit.

"OHHH! Nii-san, you're a good guy after all!"

"Nii-san!"

"Nii-san!"

"Alright stop" I raise my hand to stop them. "I didn't say I had a plan or anything. I was just saying that there are other ways to get back at her than just attacking her like that." And I doubt it would have worked too. If I can defeat them than Kodachi definitely can too.

"But how, Nii-san?"

After that, the conversation went on. I tried to work with what I knew of Kodachi while presenting what I should know of her, working with the information that Tenou-san kindly provide me.

Overall, it was actually fun. Scheming to get back at someone is actually a great conversation piece between teenagers, who would have thought? At some point, more snacks and drinks were ordered, and dozens of half-baked plans were designed. Only for us to conclude that we didn't have enough information about the target to plan anything that would stick… Well, Tenou-san and I reached that conclusion that is, but we led the conversation for the three dimwits to realize that too.

"Nii-san! Nee-san! Thank you!" Touji, the delinquent leader, said while standing beside the table and bowing at us, his lackeys doing the same. "I will remember your kindness from the bottom of my heart and rest assure that Aniki will be grateful as well!"

Yeah, yeah, this Aniki guy, he was mentioned a few times. Apparently, he's the leader of a big chunk of the delinquents in the area and is pretty strong. I'm somewhat glad I managed to make peace with these dudes before they rat me out to their grand leader, having a guy like that after me would be troublesome, even if he was good for exp.

After a few loud and tearful goodbyes, which almost got us in trouble with the sexy waitress and her middle-age manager, the trio left.

Quest completed:

+ 100 exp.

Bonus objective fulfilled: Hooligans with hearts of gold.

+ 100 exp

Your closeness with the Viper's gang of middle school hooligans has increased.

Hum, a bonus objective? And of course, it wasn't shown on the original text. I swear game powers just want to make things difficult sometimes.

Level up!

Oh-wait… Neat!

"Well, that was certainly interesting, wasn't it, Ōe-san?" Tenou-san asked with a good-naturedly laugh.

I forced the bright smile caused by the unexpected level up into an expression of annoyance.

"Troublesome was what it was! Ugh, why did I have to get involved again?"

Buttloads of exp, that's why.

Tenou-san chuckled with a knowing look, then gracefully stood from the table.

"Then, I'll be waiting for your call."

"Eh?" I send her a side look while I finished my neglected coffee.

"Well, scouting, of course." She enunciated like a teacher and smiled. "I can easily get you into St. Hebereke to gather information about Kuno Kodachi." She gave me a peace sign. The overly happy gesture contrasted with her cool persona. "And, if something interesting happens there I'll keep you updated. Leave that to me, nii-san."

I groaned, and she almost giggled.

"Thank you for the fun morning, Ōe-san." She said before walking away. I lazily waved behind her.

It's late, but I wasn't in a hurry, my uniform is in my inventory so I could just equip it on my way to school.

So for a while, I just sat alone in a café, my legs comfortably crossed together, calmly snipping the content of my cup.

+ 1 Cha.

What the…Why!?

"Here you go, sir." The appearance and the bounce of the waitress took my mind from the inexplicable gain of attribute. She placed something on the…

…

Those bastards left me with the bill!

-0-0-0-​

"I'M A MAN!"

"I KNOW! WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING AT MY FACE!?"

"I'M A MAN HIROSHI!"

"STOP SHAKING ME, GODDAMNIT!"

Ranma had cornered me up behind the main school building during the lunchtime. I had noticed he has been looking ragged and stressed the fuck out for most of the morning but didn't comment. But now he had an ear to listen to him, he was letting all out.

Wish the fucker would stop shaking me like I was a child, it was degrading.

After a few minutes and a few punches to the face, he finally set me down.

"What the fuck was that, Ranma?" I said, trying to catch my breath. If I'm remembering our conversation correctly, yesterday he said… "Was that something with Kuno?"

I'd never seen someone shivering so deeply before.

"So it was Kuno!"

"Enough! Enough about Kuno, I don't even want to hear about that damn lunatic ever again!" He said with his hand grasping his hair.

"Geez, what the hell did he do to get you so riled up?"

He told me. And then I laughed.

"SHUT UP!" Ranma shouted with a hilarious blush on his face. It only made me laugh more.

"Oh, come on!" I let out through the end of it. "He fell in love with your prettier side, what's the big deal." Ranma shivered at the mention of his female self.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" He shook his head to wipe the gross look and greening skin tone. "I'm a man you hear me!? A man!"

And at that moment, a torrent of water showered over him from above.

"Hey, watch it, there could be somebody down there you know." Came a voice from the windows.

"It's fine, it's fine." Was the answer.

Now, there is something the anime didn't show or at least didn't put emphasis on. Ranma is usually showered by his head, which means the water runs down through his body onto his Chinese silk shirt each time he transforms. Meaning that when Ranma-chan appears, she's usually with the mother of all wet shirt clinging to her very prodigious breasts. Quite the sight.

She trembled in anger, bringing her clenched fist up. Then she thrusts her fist up with a scream of defiance, fury, and frustration... For about a second before I jammed her mouth shut.

"Seriously, calm down. It's not a big deal." I smiled and brought forward a kettle with warm water that I had the foresight to put in my inventory this morning. "I'm not here for long, but even I can see that Kuno is crazy. So what if he fell in love with your woman body? Nobody takes him seriously anyway."

Ranma shivered again at the mention of his woman form, but sighed in the end, slumping her narrow shoulders.

"I can't have guys falling in love with me, Hiroshi. I'm a guy." She protested dejectedly.

"I'm afraid that alone can't keep guys from falling in love with you either. No homo."

She sent me a confused look. "What?"

"American expression, just raise your arm. I wanna see if I can trigger your transformation with just your hand."

Turn out Ranma could be transformed back and forward by just wetting his hand, which was a shame; big bouncing boobs were more fun to see in a wet shirt than boring, Adonis-like muscles. He did calm down after I turned him into a man and gave him bread, though.

So we move to sit on the steps of outside stairs nearby. Throwing conversation around.

"Hãh? Kuno Kodachi!?" Ranma remarked with his face full of melon bread pieces. "That thing has a sister!?"

"Yup, and she's apparently just as bad as her brother. Got asked by a bunch of middle school delinquents to take care of her."

Ranma sent me a weird sidelook at my odd statement. "Take care, like beat her up?"

"No… I'm not sure. I guess it's all very vague."

"And a bunch of delinquent ask you that. Man, the hell is going on during your morning run, Hiroshi."

I shrugged, wolfing down my delicious red-bean bread. I already knew it would be delicious even before I tried it because it was a funny tasting Japanese bread, and those things are impossible to taste bad apparently.

Then it was Ranma's turn to tell me about his day.

"What?" I said, surprised. "She is selling pictures of your female form!? Isn't that, like, illegal?"

Oh, my reaction was partially fake; I knew Tendo Nabiki would do that eventually, but I didn't know Ranma was aware of this. Or at least I didn't remember…

The martial artist shrugged. "'Dunno, probably doesn't matter even if it were." He swallowed the rest of his lunch. "I'm thinking of letting her do it, you know. They are letting me and my old man stay for free, so I figure this was the least I could do."

"Ehhhh, how considerate…"

"…Oi Oi, what is this look— Hiroshi! I forbid you from buying any of my pictures!"

"Oh, come on! Whyyy!?"

"It would be weird!"

With that, time flew, and the lunch tittered toward the end.

"Yosh!" Ranma picked himself off and stretched his back; I heard the popping's from my position. "Thank Hiroshi, it was fun. We should probably go back to class now, though."

Wait, had it been this long. "Shit almost forgot… Eh, fifteen minutes left, should be enough for an introduction."

"What you talkin 'bout?" Ranma asked with a confused tilt of his head.

"Remember what you asked me yesterday." At his confused look, I continued. "About if I had any new yokai?"

"Ooh, yeah- wait do you have it… But lunch will be over soon." He considered.

"Let me show you and you'll understand."

After saying that I pointed my hand at the sky, letting my magic react and twist around the limb almost automatically. An instant later, this energy took mysterious form and concentrated within my arm.

"Id creation," I said out loud for flair, and the energy concentrating in my arm burst forwards and condescended in the area around us.

"Here we are again," Ranma commented, looking at the grayed out world. It was slightly different this time; before, the weather was clear identical to the 'real' world, but now it was humid, chilly, and with a thick mist hanging over everything, his eyes darted around looking for an opponent all of the same.

"Yeah, I can do these on command now, they are full of critters for us to fight though they're definitely not as challenging as the first one." Unlocking an Illusion barrier with enemies wasn't a difficult task; I'd managed to level up Id creation before Tenou-san met me this morning.

"Uwa, Uwa." Come a strange sound close to us. If one plaid attention, they would notice that this sound was mirrored many times in the distance.

From the mist, stumbled a figure of child-like size; greenish wrinkled skin, elongated face with a broad beak on it. And a weird, bowl-shaped head.

"Holy crap, it's a Kappa!!" Ranma recognized immediately. True, there were few yokais more known than the kappas; they were the mascot of a lot of businesses and agencies over Japan and were present in a lot of TV shows recently. Even I didn't need to see the tag of Infant Kappa lvl 01, to recognize what it was.

"This place is full of them. They are pretty weak but I thought we could get a bit of exercise on our way to the class." The kappa let out a shrill scream and began running towards us, but it wasn't very fast. "What do you say?"

"Hell yeah, I'm always up to fight weird things." The kappa leaped the last distance towards him, but Ranma just stepped forward and kicked it like a football. The thing was already fading before it hit the walls when it did it popped into smoke, only leaving the clicking of coins behind. "… They are pretty lame, though."

I crossed my arm defensively. "Hey, give me time, I'll be able to get more powerful monsters soon," I complained, but Ranma wasn't listening, he was much more interested in the alluring sound he had heard before.

"Hiroshi, look!" He turned to me from his position crouching around the place where the Kappa died. "Cash again!" He showed me a couple of coins that amounted to 650 yen.

"So you noticed. Yeah, they usually leave something behind, most commonly is money." I walked close, "About that, I actually got a proposition for you."

"Hum?" He looked at me while he rose to his feet.

"These place, these monsters, I'm going to use them to get stronger. But, well, how do I put it… I'd like to have you around as an extra hand to help me handle things if it goes out of control or if I bit off more than I could chew, and well… maybe some tips about how to improve?" Teach me martial art, was want I wanted to say, but the more I thought about it… I like Ranma; I think he is a cool guy and fun to be around, I also know how his life is, and how it will become; everybody that knows him wants something from him, or use him to get something that benefits them… I kinda wanted to be different; I don't want him to think I'm only using him to learn martial arts. So, as an incentive and to give something back, I added at the end. "I'm also letting you keep half of the money we collect around here. So it wouldn't be for free either."

"Hold on!" Ranma was listing my words patiently until then, but he pushed his hand up at the last statement. "So you're saying we get to hang out, fight weird monsters, and I'll even get paid for doing it!?" He asked incredulously.

"Err, I wouldn't put it so simply, my main object still is— "

"Yes! Hell yes!" He agreed cheerfully. Then he quickly turned around to bather away another Kappa that had jumped at us from the ceiling. "Even if they are weak as hell, their movements and posture are odd and fun, and I could definitely use a live punch-bag from time to time." He began walking and gesture for me to follow. "Come on Hiroshi, let's see how many we can get before lunch ends!"

That… went better than I imagined, though I still don't know how he will react to someone directly asking to learn martial arts from him, but I can take things slow and yank some fighting advice first, then I'll use it in conjunction with the Gamer to get better results and the rest… is for the future.

One last thing I want to try, though, I don't know if distance matters, but it was easy to test.

"Form party, Saotome Ranma," I said in the first test-

Party system unavailable; this game is a single-player experience.

… Not even a 'The level of this person is too high to form a party with' like I was expecting, just a full blown 'Nope! You can't leech off from stronger people and extend your powers to someone else!'

That's kind of a bummer.

I heard crashes and cries of dying monsters inside the school building while Ranma went a little wild.

"Hey! Hold up Ranma, leave some for me!"

With that, I pulled my baseball bat and tried to catch up.

-0-0-0-​

Perhaps it's too early to call it a trend… No, I can definitely call it a trend; once again, I met homeless dressing Uehara Rin perched on my doorsteps.

This time, however, I got home early, late afternoon instead of night, so instead of finding her slumped, I found her fidgety and looking at me with teary swirly glasses. What came from that meeting was predictable, but this time I'm teaching a woman how to fish rather than give her a fish.

"Here you go, miss!" Said the well-built middle-aged man placing the last order of vegetables at the counter; he has done a pretty good job gathering what products he had left after a busy day into a semi satisfactory amount.

That's the beautiful thing about a market full of family-owned businesses, they are not required to close on a set time and if the owner and workers were kind enough, they can even stop in the middle of closing the store to sell something.

This was the case for the homely market of the Kotakechō district. It was very late afternoon with the lights fading and the shadows becoming the night, people were closing down shops for the day, but a few kind souls choose to stop and help the stuttering woman and the annoyed-looking boy.

And that boy is indeed very annoyed.

"G-Guh, T-Thank you sir, um, h-here." Uehara Rin said from her cocoon of clothes, handing out a couple of bills. She completely missed a great number of them slipping from her purse and falling to the ground.

Uehara Rin was apparently hopeless when it comes to any kind of domestic duty, including buying her groceries to properly cleaning her place. She tries, she honest-to-god tries, but its like fate herself seems to work against her when she does so.

Oh sure, you might think that sometimes accidents happen and people drop money around, but when it happens every single time with every single store we stop by, then it's a pattern.

"T-Thank you very much!" She says and walks away. Leaving the bag of products she just bought and the confused clerk behind.

I sighed and took the bag she had forgotten. The guy sends me a look of sympathy.

Honestly, I don't mind. I was not carrying that much and I was not the only one doing it, plus I could grind some extra strength bonuses while at it.

"I have so much now!" The taimanin spoke as we took to the rapidly emptying streets. "T-Thank you very much for doing this for me, Ōe-sama. T-This one's debt to you increases even further."

"It's fine, Uehara-san." I sighed. "But how did you even manage to survive this long if you don't mind me asking." Definitely a rude thing to ask no matter the culture, but don't judge me, you hadn't seen her apartment!

"Guhhh, s-sorry..." She slumped dejectedly. "This one had a roommate that took care of most things. B-But she isn't around anymore…"

I look over her. There really isn't any sign of the woman from our first meeting. She was covered by the usual bulk that hid any hint of how she really looked, complete with the addition of a puffy hat and swirly glasses. I knew for a fact that even all of that wouldn't be able to fully hide the curve of her breasts, but her horrible slouched posture took care of the rest. Frankly, the only thing that indicated that she was a woman at all was the tone of her voice… I refuse to believe this isn't intentional. Still, there is no reason to butt in the business of a demon-slaying ninja, especially when you know she is a demon-slaying ninja while you aren't supposed to.

"It's fine," I said, sighing again. "Now you have actual food at least, now it's only a matter of cooking… Do you know how to cook?"

The woman slumped some more. Misery painting her following moan.

"Right. I guess... I guess I can help you out for now, until you can do it on your own."

"Ōe-sama~" She moaned in a tearfully happy tone. "This one has no words..."

"Just doing the neighborly thing. It isn't free, though. You own me a few dinners after you learned."

"Yes! Yes!" She agreed immediately, tears still comically pouring down her face. "T-This one will make sure to prepare a worthy meal! May the heavens heed my words!"

For the third time, I sighed. Both for the Taimanin's weird way of speaking, and her presence in general.

One might think that being close to what is essentially a hentai ninja would be glorious, but that's the thing, she is from the Taimanin universe, which is a grimdark hentai verse. The taimanins and those involved with them usually don't have the nicest of fates. And what their presence implies for the creatures of night… what they might attract… I'm not ready to face that kind of danger yet.

Yet at the same time, I can't not help Uehara Rin, and not only because she is the hottest woman I'd ever met, something that's surprisingly forgettable due to all those clothes. The way she bumbled around looking pitiful just seems to inspire the desire to help and protecc.

I scratched my head; maybe all those goody-two-shoes actions my quests keep prompting me to do are getting to my head.

"-S-So beautiful!"

"You like it, miss? It's a highly effective good-luck charm! Only 10.000 yen!"

"Shining… I'll have one."

"Hum?" I looked back and saw Uehara exchanging an unreasonable amount of money with a tall guy in a dark trench coat.

Godfuckingdamnit! I take my eyes for one second!

"Hey!" I shouted, running towards them. The guy noticed and scurried off with surprising speed. "Hey, stop right there!"

No use, the guy disappeared behind an alley before I was halfway across from him. No one saw him either, as there was no person around, and it was dark enough for the street light lit up.

Fuck.

"W-What's the matter, Ōe-sama?" Uehara asked, coming over. There was worry in her tone, and she was cradling a balloon sized purple ball.

"Uehara…" I groaned in exasperation, rubbing one eye in my palm. "He'd swindled you."

"Eh?"

"That ball." I pointed at the thing. A freaking ball as a good luck charm, seriously? What the hell was she thinking!? "It's probably worthless. Definitely not worth 10.000."

"Ehh!? B-but he said it was a—"

"I know what he said." I interrupted, and then I vocalized the heart of the matter and the primary source of her problems. "You really have to take better care of your money, Uehara-san," I complained.

The woman lowered her head like I was the adult in this situation, "S-Sorry…"

"Just…" I deflated, "Let's try one step at the time. Clearly, someone needs to teach you common sense."

"H-Hai, Ōe-sama, this one will strike to learn diligently- Guh!" The squeaked as I patted her head through her puffy hat, I felt like it. "Guhhhh!" The following noise definitely leaned on the happier side.

I smiled at that. Cute.

Then the purple ball in her hands popped like a baboon, flooding the area in a cloud of purple smoke.

I took a step back, my mind trying to register what the fuck had happened. I open my mouth to explain. But only managed to let out a single syllable before everything went limp.

I tumbled in the purple haze, my body and face hitting the pavement. Pain flared, yet I was too limp to react to it. My body felt heavy, distant, like my nerves receptors have crawled down to a halt and are only managing to send a fraction of what they usually did. But my senses; my vision, hearing, and specially tact, were functioning as usual, hell, I'd even say they were enhanced.

I blinked, just about the only thing my body could still do. The purple mist dissipated unnaturally quickly, and from the position my head had tilted, I could see Uehara Rin slumped limply on the ground just like I was. Her hat and glasses had fallen from her.

Fuck! Shitfuck! Enemy attack, it must be, it can't be a fucking prank- that fucking vendor I swear I… footsteps heavy, ominous, deliberately slow.

I felt fear rising. There is nothing like the feeling of being utterly defenseless before someone who clearly didn't have your best interest in mind to ignite true fear. I can't even describe it, I just-

I could see Uehara Rin's eyes from here, the first time since we first met. They were hard and neutral, looking fixedly up ahead, her body wasn't even twitching in the unnecessary effort of trying to move, I frankly didn't know if it was because she was conserving her strength, or has resigned herself to whatever it would happen.

Her mouth moved, forming words but not sound

DO. NOT. MOVE.

The steps got closer; I could felt whomever it was walking around my body. The light of lamppost above caused a huge shadow to pass over me.

I. AM. SORRY.

Uehara managed to mouth it before a pair of massive, green-skinned feet blocked her vision. A dark trench coat fell around them soon after.

"The information was true." A rough, raspy voice commented from above. I tried to force my head to look up who, or what it was. "You really are defenseless under this condition."

For my limited vision, I saw him crouch down over Uehara. His voice lowering into a menacing murmur that reverberated in the air.

"I gonna make you pay for what you did to my brothers. Whore!"

The fallen kunoichi let out a noise like a wounded animal as she was roughly hoisted up. The feet then left my field of vision.

Before my brain could even finish processing what had happened, a window appeared in my vision.

New Quest: A Taimanin's Bad End.

Uehara Rin is being taken by an old enemy with a huge grudge and an even huger boner, do something about that.

Rewards:

+ 3.000 exp.

Vastly increase closeness with Uehara Rin.

??????????

Failure:

Uehara Rin becomes mind broken.

Uehara Rin becomes a sex slave.

Uehara Rin becomes a monster factory.

Death.

Accept/Refuse.

God.

God. Fucking. Damn it.

Fucking see!!! Bullshit like this was what I was talking about! No matter how badass the taimanin is build up to be, no matter how powerful or untouchable she seems, disaster always happens, they always end up raped and brutalized. It happened with freaking Asagi! The supposedly best taimanin ever, and now it's about to happen to Uehara Rin.

I'm lucky; I'm very fucking lucky this monster is ignoring me. I remember what usually happens to males related to the taimanins. Routinely getting cucked is the last of their problem; one got raped, then turned into a crazed tentacle monster, the other got turned into a meatball, yeah a freaking meatball, and stayed alive too.

This guy is completely ignoring me; he is walking away now and taking Uehara with him, so yeah, it looks like I'm getting out scot-free. Lucky.

Very lucky.

…

…Fuck

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

FUCKKKK!!!!

Skill created: Poison Resistance lvl 01.

Increase the body's natural resistance against all poisons.

WHY IN THE WORLD AM I DOING THIS!? Why am I putting everything I have in moving this damn sluggish body for a woman I only met three days ago!? She is hot, but she is not hot enough to risk my life over, so fucking why!

Poison Resistance leveled up!

Just lay down! Get some rest! Pretend this is all a bad dream! No need for me to desperately turn toward their direction. He is carrying over one shoulder her like a sack of potatoes. Oh look, he is injured; I could clearly tell by the way he limped, or the fact his whole body was covered with barely healed lighting burns, or his general lack of a fucking arm! Yep, he is injured all right, doesn't change the fact he is a level 30 Orc!

Poison Resistance leveled up!

I should really fucking stop raising a trembling arm in their direction like a freaking chuunibyou. Great, you can raise your arm now kid, congrats, now lower it down before you hurt yourself, and you will hurt yourself. I was not ready for taimanin's bullshit; the freaking level 30 mob was enough proof of that. Hell, I was barely ready for Ranma 1/2! I should stick with Ranma 1/2, getting my power up, play it safe. NOT CONCENTRATING MANA UP MY ARM WHILE HOPING FOR A MIRACLE!

Poison Resistance leveled up!

God, it was brilliant, it was wonderful, it felt warm and powerful, and it was sooo fucking energizing! My first example of outside magic; it was barely a spell, only a ball of mana with the vague command of fucking everything it touched. Ok, now fucking what!? Maybe tone down the brightness and concentrate it on a smaller point?

Poison Resistance leveled up!

Holy fuck, where did my day go!? From saving kittens from trees to holding a ball of mana in my hand while trying to aim with a shaky arm at sight at the retreating monster taking the pretty lady away. This is it, hum? The moment of truth: Can I shoot the devil in the back knowing I would most likely miss? Can I do that for a woman I barely know?

There is Death flashing over the consequences of failure.

The devil stomped into a stop, probably noticing the blue brightness on his back, or the low buzzing the raw mana was making. It turned to cast a look towards me.

The ball of magical fuck you hit him right on the side of his head.

There was light, a light so bright that cast away the night for a single moment. Then a pop echoed, similar to the baboon from earlier but louder and meatier. And then straps of meat, pieces of bones, and bits of brain matter began to rain. The headless body stood upward for an impossible second before it fell to the ground in a heavy thud. The still paralyzed form of Uehara Rin fell beside it with a squeak.

My arm dropped to the ground, and I just… panted, my body trembling, my heart pounding behind my ears.

I… I got him.

Quest completed!

+ 3.000 exp.

Your closeness with Uehara Rin has vastly increased.

??????????

Level up!

Level up!

Level up!

Level up!

I let out a struggling breath and forced my body to the side with a grunt. Placing me on my back while looking at the night sky and the glow of the lamppost.

Skill created through special action: Internal mana control lvl 01.

Helps you control the internal flow of your mana, decreases the change of spell failure, increases spell efficiency.

Skill created through special action: Arcane Mastery lvl 01.

Gives intuitive grasps over arcane subjects, decreases the change of spell failure, increases spell power.

Skill created through special action: Arcane sneak attack lvl 01

Increases the damage of spells over unaware targets.

Spell created: unnamed

A concentrated sphere of raw mana carrying a single intent.

I read the words but didn't get them; my mind was still riling from the stress. Above me, came the confused mumbling of Uehara Rin, probably trying to ask what had happened or if I was all right but failing due to a paralyzed tongue.

Finally, I placed my arm over my face and laughed in relief.

Thus ended my third day in Nerima. Hopefully, I'll make it to the end of the week.