[Ranma][FanFic] A Little Earlier 2/14
Stephen Ratliff
The next morning, Akane lingered in the school yard, waiting
for Ranma to arrive. Just a couple minutes before the bell,
Ranma appeared at the gate, dragging another guy along. The
newcomer appeared to be in the same grade as Akane and Ranma.
He was rather stocky, and wore a rather big backpack.
"Hurry up, Ryoga, I don't want to be late," Ranma said.
"And pay attention, you don't want to be lost again."
"Good morning, Ranma," Akane said, coming up beside him.
"Who is your friend?"
"Hi ya, Akane," Ranma said. "This is my friend Ryoga
Hibiki. He lives next door to me and has a real problem with
finding places."
"I do not!" Ryoga said.
"Then explain why you ended up in the closet when you were
trying to leave your house by the front door," Ranma said.
"The doors were too similar," Ryoga replied.
"A pine plywood sliding door verses a solid oak swinging one
.. . . really similar, Ryoga," Ranma said. Ryoga slumped. "We
better get to class."
"Right," Akane said. "Say, Ranma, do you have chocolate
pudding again today?"
"If you've got cherry pie, it's a trade," Ranma said.
Akane watched in awe as Ranma did a set of maneuvers on the
parallel bars. Sure she'd fought Ranma in the Dojo, but the
grace and difficulty he accomplished in Gym were amazing. She
hadn't been impressed with the balance beam, his walking on the
fences had shown that would be a breeze for him. The rings were
expected. They were an air-born kata. But something about the
splits turns and twists captivated Akane. Her attention was
centered on Ranma to the exclusion of all else as Ranma made his
finish, a double flip with a quarter twist, so he ended up facing
the teacher.
"Was that the demonstration you wanted, Sensei?" Ranma asked
with a smirk. The teacher had caught him talking to Ryoga and
suggested that if he believed he had no need to learn how to use
the equipment, perhaps he would demonstrate. So he had done
three excellent routines, to which his class had given him
spontaneous tens. This time was no different.
"I believe that will be enough for now, Saotome," the
teacher said. "You may return to your place. Mr. Hibiki, perhaps
you would like . . . "
The bell rung for class change, cutting off whatever the
teacher was going to say. There would not be much time for the
class to change and get to their next class, but they spent
almost all of it gathered around Ranma asking questions. As
Akane waited for him, making both late for lunch.
Akane was enjoying her chocolate pudding, but she really was
enjoying Nabiki's expression of desire. Akane had finally found
Nabiki's weakness, and it was chocolate. And thanks to Ranma,
she had a big bowl of chocolate pudding in front of her.
"Ranma, are you sure you don't have any more pudding?"
Nabiki asked for the fourth time.
"No, I gave Akane the last pudding," Ranma said, as he ate
Akane's cherry pie. "There won't be any more until Dad buys food
at the end of the week."
"Darn, can't I have even a taste, Akane?" Nabiki asked.
"Okay, you can have a taste, Nabiki, but I get to choose
what to watch on television tonight," Akane replied.
"It's a deal," Nabiki said. "So, Ranma I heard about Gym
today. How long have you been into gymnastics?"
"I just remembered what I saw on television once and
modified some of Dad's training methods," Ranma said, as he
finished the pie.
"You never have done the balance beam, rings or parallel
bars before today?" Nabiki said. "Pardon me, if I find that
unlikely. The descriptions I've been hearing have been most
impressive."
"Well, it's the truth," Ranma said. "The balance beam is
just like fighting on the fences or on logs. The rings . . .
well I've never fought in that type, but holding your body in set
positions is a foundation for several styles . . . not that I'd
get stuck in any one style. As for the parallel bars, I had to
fight in a tree once. The bars are a lot easier."
"I still think you shouldn't have shown up the Sensei,"
Akane said.
"Hey, she was asking for it," Ranma said. "With at least
three martial artists, and that champion gymnast, Kuno what's her
name . . . "
"Kodachi," Nabiki supplied.
"... In the class, she should know better than to say that
none of us would be considered good gymnasts at the end of the
month," Ranma said. "Give me that month, and I'd have most of
the class up to Kodachi's level, at least."
"And you'll get that chance, Mr. Saotome," the gym teacher
said, as she poked her head between Ranma and Akane. "We'll see
if you end up eating your words."
Akane relaxed in the furo. The sparring today had been on
balance. Akane had little trouble with matching Ranma on the
rings, in their after school practice session. The uneven bars
hadn't been that hard either . . . but for some reason, she
couldn't stay on that beam. So, Ranma had set up a two by six
over the pond in the garden, after the school closed. Akane had
spent the next half an hour falling into the shallow pond, until
finally she had sent Ranma into the pond. She really didn't
understand why her sisters looked so horrified every time she
fell into the pond.
Akane looked forward to gym the next three weeks. The
Sensei was giving Ranma nearly free reign in teaching the class,
and Ranma had said she would help with the girls. She was going
to have so much fun!
Akane noticed that her fingers were beginning to get a
little wrinkled, so she rose to exit the furo. Just as she
picked up her towel, the door opened to reveal Ranma, also naked.
"Sorry, Akane, Nabiki said you were done," Ranma said, as he
blushed and began to retreat.
"I am now," Akane said, blushing as she took in the view
Ranma was offering. "It's all yours." Ranma entered the bath, and
Akane exited, neither remembering to cover themselves. As Akane
dressed, she thought, "I've got stop Nabiki from doing this...
still, it does have it's advantages." Then blushing at the last
unbidden thought, she exited the changing room to find Nabiki.
--
Stephen Ratliff stephen...@crosswinds.net
http://www.crosswinds.net/~stephenratliff
"...three Captains who can not agree on the color of an orange."
- Captain Pellew, "Horatio Hornblower: The Duchess and the Devil"