Chương 6: 1.06: Big Sisters
Ranma leaned over the round table, wiping the drink condensation from its lacquered cherry top with a towel and gathering the empty glasses from another table that had just been vacated. Izumi had to leave early to pick up her son from school with a mild fever, so Ranma had taken over waiting tables for her. It was tiring work, but Ranma was grateful for it. Anything to be putting some money in her pocket again. She didn't know how long she'd be allowed to stay in the little apartment above the bar, or where she would want to go instead, but she'd gotten a break from the street, a few decent meals and some friendly conversations, and all of that was worth enjoying for however long it lasted.
The bar's sound system was cranked nearly to maximum that night to cater to a college crowd, and Ranma was glad for it. Basically no one could hear themselves think, but the high-energy pop tracks put a bit of a bounce in her step when all she wanted to do was get off of her feet. She even caught herself singing along with the music from time to time, her voice being drowned out by the speakers.
Ranma tossed the empty glasses into the dishwasher, reaching down for the large green button to start it. The bar was running low on clean glassware and that had the potential to bring drink service to a halt. When she opened the cabinet for dish soap, she found that the container was empty, so she headed to the back for another one. She pushed through the swinging blue door into the back room, continuing to carry the tune she'd started singing along with in the main bar as she searched for a new bottle of detergent in the supply cabinet. Finding the last one at the very back of the cabinet, she closed the door to find Mei standing behind it. She was leaning on the wall, smiling broadly.
Ranma looked up, puzzled. What is this girl's deal?
"Wow, Ranko. You're really good. Like, really good!" Mei clapped her hands quietly, grinning down at the redhead.
Ranma blushed furiously. She was so lost in what she was doing that she'd forgotten that there weren't any speakers in the back room and her singing had been audible. It wasn't the first time she'd had that particular compliment, though. Akane had always said she had a good singing voice. Ranma smiled softly as she recalled getting badgered to take female form and sing with her and her sisters at the previous year's Tendo family Christmas party. Ranma wasn't sure she shared Akane's high opinion, but Soun seemed to really like it when the girls sang, and Akane really liked anything that made her dad proud, so Ranma had suffered through it and obliged for her sake. She might not have even minded so much, had Akane not insisted on dressing her up in that absurdly short red velvet dress like she was Santa's cutest elf. She'd even put ribbons in Ranma's hair, making her feel entirely ridiculous.
Mei smiled a bit disarmingly, playing with the end of one of her pigtails. "Don't be shy! It's okay! Honest!"
Being called shy only worsened the embarrassment for Ranma, though. Shy was a thing girls did, after all. "Seriously, it's not all that great! I just didn't think anyone could hear me. Sorry!"
Mei shook her head dismissively, still smiling brightly at the younger girl. "You don't need to apologize! I'm just glad to see you're having fun."
Ranma's face discovered a previously unknown shade of red. She was waiting tables, in an orange floral skater dress, singing, and… having fun? She wanted to talk herself out of it, but she honestly couldn't. She finally gave in and smiled, nodding slightly. "Yeah, I guess I am!"
Waving goodbye to Mei, Ranma returned to the front of the house with the container of dish soap in hand. Mei headed to the prep counter, where she resumed peeling potatoes for french fries. The redheaded girl poured the detergent into the dishwasher and pressed the start button, looking up from her task just as a new patron entered the bar. She was probably in her early-to-mid-thirties, with jet black hair pulled back in a tight ponytail, and wearing a lime-green business suit consisting of a pencil skirt and a blazer over a cream-colored satin blouse. Her eyes scanned the bar behind her horn-rimmed glasses as if she were expecting to meet someone there. She definitely wasn't dressed for a nightclub, though. Hana saw her as well, walking over to the woman and starting a conversation.
Ranma watched the two women curiously. Maybe she's Hana's lawyer, or landlord, or something?
Yui finished shaking a cocktail mixture vigorously over her right shoulder, pouring it into two Collins glasses and handing them to a young couple that was way overdressed for a dive bar. That done, she rounded the bar counter and made her way into the seating area. "Good evening, Mrs. Jirito. Welcome." Yui bowed formally.
The woman in the green suit looked Yui over in exaggerated contemplation before bursting out into laughter. "Oh, get over yourself. Get your scrawny ass over here, girl!" She reached out and grabbed Yui around the neck, pulling her into a hug. When she let go, she turned and hugged Hana as well.
Ranma watched from behind the bar, trying not to stare, but it was only a moment more before Hana turned to Ranma and motioned her to join them. Mei handed Ranma a cocktail to deliver, and she hustled over to the three women, expecting to seat the newcomer at a nearby table.
Hana motioned to the redhead with the neck of her open beer bottle. "Ranko, I'd like you to meet Ayako. She's the eldest of the girls here. Or, she was, anyway, before some fancy CEO asked her to marry him, and now she can't be bothered to come around and visit her family anymore."
Ayako waved her adoptive mother off, laughing loudly. There was the faintest hint of a snort in her laugh. "Hey now, Kage is just a director, not the CEO. And I do come around, when I can. We just don't get into the city much these days."
"Keeping busy at home, huh?" The bar's owner smirked at her eldest daughter. "Working on making me some grandbabies, are we?"
"Mama!" Ayako blushed deeply, hiding her face behind her hands. "You're so bad!"
Hana shook her head, smiling. "Anyway, Ayako, this is Ranko. It's her second night working with us."
Ranma handed the woman her margarita and bowed respectfully. "Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Jirito."
"Ayako, please." Ayako rolled her eyes gently at Hana. "You still doing your thing, Mama?"
The elder woman nodded. "Hey, it worked out pretty well for you, didn't it?"
Ayako shrugged her shoulders with a wry smile. "I guess I can't complain." She turned to Ranma. "I hope my sisters aren't giving you too much of a hard time, Ranko?"
Ranma shook her head. "No, ma'am. They've done nothing but make me feel welcome."
"Quit with the ma'am shit, wouldja? It's just Ayako!" The raven-haired woman smiled. "But I'm glad to hear it. It seems I taught the girls something after all. What do you think of it all? Mama got you staying upstairs?"
Ranma nodded as she shrugged. "Everything's still pretty new to me, but so far, it's been great. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to learn and help out." She directed her second sentence more to Hana than Ayako.
"She's a really good kid, Aya. Even when she lies about her age." Hana flashed Ranma a knowing smirk and a bit of a side eye.
Ranma gulped hard, her eyes darting around in panic. "You… caught that?"
Hana nodded sagely. "You think you're the first person to try and age themselves up to get into a bar? You didn't invent it, honey. But I understand why you did. Think I could get the truth now, though?"
Ranma frowned, bowing in shame. "Seventeen. Eighteen on Saturday. I am so, so sorry, Hana. I didn't have a choice. I panicked."
The bar's owner placed her hand on Ranma's shoulder comfortingly. "Sweetheart, it's okay. I forgive you. Most people would do a hell of a lot worse than lie about their birthday to get off the street or put some money in an empty pocket. Technically, you're not supposed to be working after ten at night until you're eighteen though, so let's just pretend I didn't hear that for the next couple of days, okay?"
Ranma nodded with a sigh of relief. Her voice was subdued, and she looked down at her hands in shame. "Yes, ma'am."
Ayako shook her head, grinning at Hana with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. "Kids these days, am I right?"
Ranma walked quietly from the table to check on her other guests, still feeling fairly ashamed of herself. She tried to put on a smile as she interacted with the revelers, but her mind raced with worry and embarrassment.
"Oh, come on now, Ayako. Don't act like I didn't find you running from the police after stealing from an anime shop when you were her age." Hana smirked, gently nudging her daughter's padded shoulder with her left fist.
Ayako blushed. "That was a lifetime ago, Mama. I'm not anywhere near the same person anymore."
Hana nodded sagely. "One day, it will be a lifetime ago for her, too. The point is to make sure she makes it there."
"Same old Mama," the younger woman said with a chuckle, saluting her mother with a tilt of her cocktail. "All these years, and still taking in strays."
The old barkeep looked across the bar at Mei and Yui, both smiling and laughing with the customers as they shook cocktails over their heads in their steel mixing glasses. "And all four of you are alive because of it." She turned her head slightly to Ranma, who was off in the corner clearing empty glasses from the edge of the pool table. It was clear from her slumping and slowed movement that all the joy she'd felt a few moments before had been replaced by her shame at having been caught lying. To Hana, all that did was prove that she was, just as she expected, a good kid who had done a desperate thing. "Maybe all five, now."
Ayako raised her glass. "To the fifth wayward sister, then."
Hana smiled proudly, clinking her beer bottle against Akayo's margarita before turning to gaze across the bar room at her charges again. "To all five of them."
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