[Ranma][FanFic] Childhood of a Modern Dynasty - Chapter 2: Broken Hearts and Legs
Jim Lazar
Childhood of a Modern Dynasty - Chapter 2: Broken Hearts and Legs
Ranma 1/2 characters and situations created by Rumiko Takahashi, used
without permission
Ranma 1/2 Copyright by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan Inc., Kitty, Fuji,
Viz Communications, etc...
Childhood of a Modern Dynasty series created, written, and Copyright
1998 by Jim Lazar
An ongoing series set after the end of the Ranma 1/2 manga and anime.
Any references to 'Birth of a Modern Dynasty' refer to the fictional
book that the fictional author James Davidson wrote detailing the
events that happened in the manga and anime. It is not an actual fanfic
or book. 'Childhood of a Modern Dynasty' is the title of this fanfic
series written by me (Jim Lazar) and the fictional book that James
Davidson is currently writing.
<Speech text in angle brackets are thought by character.>
All other speech is in Japanese, although written in English in this
story of course.
=======================================================================
>From the personal journal of James Davidson:
April 13, 2057
I walked along the canal on my way to the Tendo compound, hoping
today that Akane would be able to talk about the summer of 1998 again.
My first interview for this period had been three days ago. Since then
she had trouble talking to me about the rest of the summer, I knew some
of the details so I didn't blame her. Her Junior year of high school
had started out rather well actually, if you ignored the awful Hawaiian
school uniforms the students had to wear. A few fights, but that was
nothing new to them or to Nerima. Ukyo had finally reappeared after
being missing since the destroyed wedding and made up with Ranma and
Akane. Ranma and Akane started getting along better, even doing some
training together when Ranma's father broke his leg.
Their summer training trip was going well too, even if Ukyo and
Ryoga followed them and sabotaged their food and equipment. Looking
back, they did Ranma and Akane a favor by forcing them to live off the
land and share a tent. Ryoga ended up with a broken leg before the two
jealous teenagers could do any harm to Ranma and Akane's delicate
relationship.
I reached the Tendo Compound just as I was pondering Ranma and
Akane's first kiss. Away from their interfering parents, they had
finally shared the first of many kisses. A year and a half of waiting
for it was too long in my opinion. I was shaken out of my thoughts when
Hanaki answered the gate. We launched into our typical exchange. I
said, "I'm here to see the Matriarch. My name is James Davidson."
"Ah yes, you're expected. Please come in, Mr. Davidson," Hanaki
said.
"Thank you, Ms. Ono," I replied as I was let in.
"Please, call me Hanaki."
"Only if you call me James."
"If you insist," she said and smiled.
We exchanged our customary cheek kisses, then I asked, "So, have
any boyfriends yet?"
"Just you," Hanaki replied, teasing the red highlight in her long
hair with her fingers.
I chuckled, then said, "If only I was that lucky."
"You are, you just won't accept your luck."
I stopped and looked at her. Normally she kidded like this with me
all the time, but she seemed more serious this time. Since she had not
stopped, I started walking again and caught up to her.
She led me past the Matriarch's house to the large dojo. The dojo
was the only part of the old Tendo house, besides the gardens of
course, to have been radically altered over the past sixty years. It
was probably twenty times bigger than the original and had several
smaller training rooms inside of it. Hanaki led me into the main
training room on the first floor, then excused herself. I could only
describe what I saw next as a goddess in action.
Akane was going through a series of exercises. Doing back-flips,
kicks, and cartwheels that no seventy-six year old woman should be able
to do. I just stood and watched the Matriarch of the Tendo family until
she finished. She stopped suddenly and then looked at me, "Good
morning, James. Here early today, I see," she said and wiped the sweat
off her forehead. She straightened her gi and we exchanged cheek
kisses.
"Yup, I got an apartment close to the compound," I informed her.
"An apartment, huh? Just ask before you show it to Hanaki," Akane
said, then winked.
"Akane, I would never think of..." I started to insist.
"Right...just do me a favor, James?" Akane asked. I nodded. "Don't
put it off too much longer. 'Later' sometimes never comes," she said.
I just nodded, then changed the subject, "That was quite a
workout."
"You should have seen me in my prime," she said. Suddenly she did
a cartwheel to the side and held up her arms to block a kick from a
small girl. She spun around and blocked another kick from a little boy.
Soon, she had them both in a bear hug. "Nice try children, but you have
to be faster."
"Kay," Akane's five-year-old Great-granddaughter Daijiko replied.
"Hiya, Daijiko, who's your friend?" I asked, ruffling the little
girl's dark blue hair.
"This is my fiancee, Takma," Daijiko replied to my question.
I blanched, then looked at Akane and asked, "Fiancee? I'd have
thought your family had learned it's lesson?"
Akane just smiled, then said, "It's not an arranged marriage or
even official. Just two kids playing around. They know our family
history so they try to shock us with stuff like that. Takma is just one
of our dojo's best young students."
"Oh, good."
"But I could arrange one for you and Hanaki if you like?" Akane
teased me.
"Akane..."
"Okay...okay...you're less fun in the mornings you know," Akane
said, then smiled.
I just shrugged and followed Akane out to the main house. I sat
down in front of the table while Akane went to her room behind the
family room and changed. A few minutes later, Akane stepped out of the
room and asked, "Now where were we?"
I looked up at her and blushed, since she hadn't finished
buttoning her blouse yet. "You and Ranma had just had your first real
kisses," I explained.
Akane knelt down and said, "Ah, yes." She smiled at the memory.
Hanaki brought some tea for us. "Thank you, Hanaki," I said. "Did
you two, well you know, that night?" I asked Akane.
"My, my, what kind of book are you writing, James?"
"Well, I'm not going to give details about that sort of stuff, but
the readers will be curious."
"Perverts! All of them!" Akane exclaimed, straight-faced. Then she
cracked a smile, "No, we didn't...not on that trip. The morning after
the kisses, we got up and foraged for breakfast, and did some more
training..."
I listened intently and made notes on my palmcard. Technically, it
would transcribe everything me and Akane said, but I always added some
of my own thoughts and notes to the interview files. It helped when I
reviewed them.
***********************************************************************
July, 1998 - Hotaka Mountain, Japan; Numata, Japan; Nerima, Japan
Akane awoke in Ranma's arms, for the second morning in a row. She
looked up into the sleeping eyes of Ranma, smiled to herself and
extricated herself from the other girl's arms. <I could get used to
waking up in his arms, err...her arms...whatever,> Akane thought to
herself, smiling.
She got out of the tent and looked around their campsite, then she
walked out into the woods to collect some berries and mushrooms.
When Ranma awoke, she stretched her arms and looked around for
Akane. Not seeing her, Ranma got up and went outside the tent. The
sight of Akane cooking greeted her. Ranma choked down her usual
reaction to Akane's cooking, mostly because Akane looked quite
beautiful in the morning light, and smiled. "Good morning, Akane," she
said.
"Morning, Ranma!" Akane chirped. Ranma joined her next to the fire
and poured herself some tea. "I collected some more berries and
mushrooms this morning. With the last of our eggs I managed to make a
pretty good scramble."
Ranma sipped the tea, bit back a spasm as it hit her taste buds,
then swallowed. <How could she get tea wrong?> she thought, then
noticed the mushrooms. Ranma picked up one of the mushrooms Akane had
collected and examined it in her fingers. "Have you used any of these
mushrooms yet?" Ranma asked.
"No, I was just about to add them," Akane stated. Then with a
little anger in her voice, she added, "Why? Not going to eat my cooking
again?"
"Oh. I'll eat it, but these mushrooms are poisonous. I'm willing
to take my chances on your cooking, but not these mushrooms," Ranma
said, as a smile crossed her face.
Detecting a compliment in there somewhere, but not sure where,
Akane smiled. "Oh. I guess I can't make you eat poisonous mushrooms,
that's Kodachi's job."
Ranma smiled at that and then leaned in for a kiss, she stopped
when Akane's eyes went wide. "Oops, sorry...forgot I was a girl," she
said, then helped herself awkwardly to some more tea.
Despite her initial fright at the thought, Akane found herself
disappointed. <Does it really matter if Ranma is a boy or a girl when
we kiss? Oh well, no need to push ourselves too fast,> Akane pondered,
as they ate breakfast.
-C- -M- -D-
It took Ukyo more than a day to make her way down the mountain
with the hurt P-Chan in her arms. The terrain she had to go over was
much rougher than the terrain they hiked up, plus the pig was heavier
than he looked. Ukyo sat outside the room where they had just moved
Ryoga. Then a nurse and doctor walked out. The nurse looked down to
Ukyo and said, "We're all done with your boyfriend, we want to keep him
for a few days and keep him immobile. The X-rays showed some possible
bone spurs. Don't worry, it's just a precaution. You can see him now."
"Thanks, but he's not actually my boyfriend," Ukyo said. The nurse
either didn't hear her or didn't really care, because she just walked
down the hallway to her next patient. Ukyo entered the room and looked
at Ryoga. "How are you doing, sugar?"
"Oh, nothing a few weeks won't mend. Thanks for taking care of me
up there," Ryoga said.
"No problem," Ukyo said and smiled. Then, noticing the cast on his
shoulder, she asked, "Why is there a cast on your shoulder?"
"Turns out I broke my collarbone too, didn't even notice it. Guess
the pain of my leg or sleeping under your shirt made me miss it," Ryoga
explained, then blushed.
"What are friends for, sugar?" Ukyo said, with a smirk.
"Guess I'll be here for a few days, are you going back up the
mountain for our equipment?"
"Tomorrow morning I will, it's getting late. Mind if I crash here
for the night?"
"I guess not, just be careful of the nurses, they look mean. Ukyo,
could you do one favor for me?"
"Sure, sugar. What is it?"
A couple minutes latter, a sign appeared on the door of Ryoga's
room. It read, "Absolutely no COLD water allowed in this room!!" The
sign was only partially successful; no one spilled cold water on Ryoga,
but the same couldn't be said for the cold soda that got spilled by the
nurses-aid that came in to give Ryoga a sponge bath.
Ukyo frantically grabbed P-Chan before the nurses-aid noticed the
change. She found some hot water and changed him back. The hospital
staff were surprised to find that Ryoga needed new casts put on. Ryoga
and Ukyo just shrugged at all of the "How did the old casts fall off?"
questions.
-C- -M- -D-
After another day of training, Akane and Ranma sat by the fire.
"Are you okay, Ranma? You seemed a little distracted during training
today," Akane asked. <I think I know why, but I want to talk about it.>
After a brief pause, Ranma spoke, "Just wondering where we go from
here, after the kiss last night and all."
Akane looked into his eyes, and said, "KISSES actually. Well, I'd
like to see those continue." Akane smiled, then continued, "As for the
'other' issues, lets just go slow. I took us over a year to kiss, doubt
it's in our best interest to jump into anything else too fast."
"Sounds like you've thought about this today as well," Ranma
commented.
"Yeah, a little."
Ranma slid in beside Akane and put his arm around her. She
snuggled into his side. "We'll handle the 'other' issues after we're
done with this training trip," Ranma suggested, earning a nod from
Akane. Then he bent his head down and gave Akane one of those 'kisses'
that he'd wanted to give her all day long.
They spent a good part of the evening enjoying the night air, the
burning fire, and more kisses.
When they were ready for bed, Ranma went to splash himself with
cold water. Akane stopped him and said, "Don't bother, I trust you."
-C- -M- -D-
The next day, Ranma stood in a tree looking around carefully. He
glanced all around, especially at the treetops. Then, when he heard a
tree branch creak behind him, he leaped up to a higher tree branch. He
followed the leap with a backward somersault to land on a tree behind
him.
This was fortunate, since Akane broke the branch he somersaulted
from with an upward punch as soon as she landed on the branch below it.
Akane swung around and glared at Ranma. <Damn! Thought I had him,> she
swore to herself. Akane calculated the chances of taking him while he
knew exactly where she was, then conceded the match. Even Nabiki
wouldn't take those odds. "You win this one," she said, then leapt down
to the ground.
Ranma joined her, then asked, "Ready for lunch?"
Akane nodded and walked over to where they left their daypack. She
pulled out some bottles of water and the berry sandwiches they made
that morning with the last of their bread.
"You did pretty good this morning," Ranma congratulated her. He
stuffed a sandwich into his mouth, the whole sandwich.
"Huh? I didn't even hit you once," Akane said, then rubbed the
sore spot where Ranma had kicked her earlier.
"Training isn't about the number of hits you get in, it's about
learning to avoid your enemies hits and to anticipate your enemies
moves," Ranma instructed.
"What movie is that from?"
"That one's mine," Ranma insisted, then added, "You've been
getting better at tactics."
"Thanks," Akane said, then leaned over and gave Ranma a long
passionate kiss.
Neither of them noticed when the bottle of water Ranma was holding
slipped from his fingers and spilled over his chest. After several
moments, Akane finally realized that she was now kissing a girl. Akane
broke the kiss and looked at Ranma, a little shocked.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Ranma said, "I'm sorry,
Akane. That was clumsy of me."
"No, it's okay. Just like you have had to get used to your girl
body...I guess I'll have to get used to it too," Akane said.
"I'm glad, I've always figured you'd dump me because of this
stupid curse," Ranma admitted.
"Ranma, there are much better reasons for me to dump you than your
curse," Akane reassured Ranma.
This did not exactly reassure Ranma.
-C- -M- -D-
During a particularly vigorous training session that afternoon,
Akane dodged a series of open hand punches from Ranma. She avoided most
of them, but caught one against her chest. She winced in pain as she
backed away. Ranma charged her again and yelled, "Chestnuts roasting on
an open gi!"
"Whaa..." Akane stammered, then looked down at her open gi.
Quickly she closed the front of her gi over her bound breasts. Ranma
ended up poking a finger against her forehead.
"Shouldn't let yourself be distracted like that," Ranma
instructed, with a grin.
"Dirty trick, HAPPOSAI!!" Akane growled.
"No. Happosai would have removed the gi and bindings entirely,"
Ranma grinned.
"Pretty confident...for a pervert!" Akane screamed, then launched
an all out attack against Ranma. Ranma had to give ground to the
determined attack by Akane. He managed to avoid all the blows, until
one of Akane's fists caught his side. He instinctively spun to his side
and landed a kick to Akane's back as her momentum propelled her past
him. She ended up crumpled against a tree.
"Akane, you okay? Sorry if I kicked you too hard," Ranma said, and
offered his hand to Akane.
Akane accepted it and rose in front of him. Looking at his eyes,
she stood on tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss. He smiled. She then
flipped him over her back and against the same tree that she had hit.
She grinned and then said, "Shouldn't let down your guard like that."
"Okay, guess that evens the dirty trick score," Ranma conceded,
then added, "I think that when we're training we should probably not do
any kissing."
"Or gi opening..."
"Agreed."
"I hope you mean no kissing during our actual training sessions
and not during the whole trip?" Akane asked.
"Yes, of course," Ranma said, flashing what he considered his most
charming smile. It actually made him look goofy, but Akane blushed
anyway and then gave him another kiss. This time without flipping him.
-C- -M- -D-
Akane was talking a little walk after dinner to clear her
thoughts. <I'm glad we had this time alone. We seem to finally be able
to express ourselves without a fiancee or nutcase interrupting us. Our
next wedding probably should be smaller. Well...that's one of the
'other' things we still have to figure out,> she ended her thoughts
with a sigh. Finding herself by the waterfall, she decided to wash up.
She removed her gi and set it down on a rock.
Ranma finished cleaning the dishes and then looked around. "I
guess I might as well clean up while Akane's out on her walk," he
muttered, then got his towel and bath stuff.
Approaching the waterfall from the camp side, he stopped to remove
his training gi, and then splashed some cold water over his head. She
shook her head and then made her way around the rock outcropping that
hid the waterfall. She stopped suddenly as she saw Akane under the
waterfall. She gulped, then started to back away slowly.
Akane turned around and saw Ranma's red hair out of the corner of
her eye. She covered herself quickly with her hands. Like a pair of
deer caught in headlights, the two girls stopped and stared into each
other's eyes. Well, mostly at each other's eyes.
Finally, Ranma spoke, "Sorry, didn't know you were here." She
turned and began to walk away.
Akane thought for a second then stopped Ranma. "Wait...this is
silly. We've already seen each other naked, an untold number of times,
and you're a girl now anyway." Ranma turned her head around to face
Akane. "Come on, I won't bite...or hit you. Just don't stare."
Suppressing her urge to claim she wouldn't stare at an un-cute
tomboy like Akane, mostly because she was just staring at Akane's
beautiful body a few seconds ago, Ranma shyly joined Akane under the
waterfall. She shared her soap and shampoo with Akane. Ranma really
hoped 'Shampoo' wouldn't show up right now. Ranma should have hoped
that none of her fiancees showed up instead.
-C- -M- -D-
Ukyo made her way up the mountain towards the camp she and Ryoga
setup. She stopped to get a drink from a stream and spotted two figures
bathing in a waterfall. She was about to leave when she realized that
it was Akane and Ranma. Quickly, she ducked down behind some bushes.
She peered out from behind her bush to make sure she hadn't been seen.
This was the moment that Akane chose to playfully kiss Ranma. Ukyo's
heart shattered.
-C- -M- -D-
Ranma enjoyed the kiss, but then said, "I'm a girl you know."
"I know, but it's still you. Tastes the same," Akane said, with a
wink. "I was just curious after our 'accident' this morning." Both
girls smiled.
"Just don't get too 'curious'. I don't think either of us are
ready to use Nabiki's 'joke'," Ranma insisted.
"Agreed. Besides we couldn't use them right now anyway," Akane
winked again. Ranma blushed, although it was hard to tell as the cold
water flowed over her back. They leaned into each other and kissed,
more passionately this time.
They both enjoyed the feel of the other's skin on theirs as they
made out. Ranma decided it was probably a good thing she was female at
that moment.
-C- -M- -D-
Something inside Ukyo snapped. All her thoughts about Akane not
loving Ranma vanished. All her thoughts about Ranma just marrying Akane
for the dojo vanished. All her thoughts that Ranma would eventually
find a way to love her vanished.
Up until that point she could rationalize almost anything about
Ranma and Akane's relationship, all in her favor of course. Seeing
Ranma and Akane making out passionately under the waterfall made her
come out of her fantasy world and she realized that Ranma and Akane
loved each other, no matter what they did or didn't say.
Ukyo ran away from the waterfall, tears streaming out of her eyes.
She barely remembered to go to her camp, instead of running blindly
through the forest. She spent the whole night crying and sobbing into
her bedding.
-C- -M- -D-
The next morning, Ranma and Akane awoke and kissed each other
without any awkwardness. When they opened their tent, they were
surprised to find a stack of equipment in front of their damaged tent.
"What's this?" Akane asked, then started to examine the equipment.
Ranma looked around the campsite to make sure nothing of theirs was
missing. Nothing was. Akane listed off her discoveries, "Spare
blankets, bedding, a ton of food-" she paused, mentally determining
what kind of food and what she could make with it, "-even some panties.
Well that's good, even washing my only remaining pair isn't doing me
that much good."
"No need to wear them on my account," Ranma said, and flashed a
big grin.
"Pervert."
"Tomboy."
They kissed. <May have to work on our pet names,> Ranma thought to
himself, then got lost in the kiss.
-C- -M- -D-
Ukyo made her way down the mountain after dropping off the
supplies for Ranma and Akane, mostly as an apology. She was still
crying and muttering aloud, "I guess that's it then. He's made his
choice. I guess I've known it since I messed up their wedding. What a
fool am I to waste my life chasing him!" In her sorrow, she missed
seeing the edge of the cliff that Ryoga had fallen down two days
before. Fortunately for her, she only fell part way and ended up
crashing into a small ledge about a third of the way down.
Unfortunately, she broke her leg just like Ryoga did during his tumble
off the cliff.
"Damn," Ukyo swore, when she tried to get up. She examined her
leg, then swore again, "Damn, what are the chances of me breaking my
leg just like Ryoga did!" She quickly put a splint around her leg,
packed some food and extra clothing into her small backpack and
discarded the larger pack. Then she used her large spatula to hobble
down the cliff, very carefully. This was going to be a lot harder by
herself.
-C- -M- -D-
On the other side of the mountain, a group of red headed girls
were taking a hike. To keep from getting lost they were all tied
together with ropes. The girl in the lead looked up when she saw a bird
fly overhead. She didn't notice the edge of the cliff that she walked
off of. The other girls did notice the edge as they were pulled past
it.
The hospital Ryoga was in had to set around twenty more broken
legs and arms, plus replace Ryoga's casts when an orderly spilled cold
water on him when watering a plant by his bed. Turns out the orderly
couldn't read kanji.
-C- -M- -D-
The next three days went by too quickly for Ranma and Akane, but
they finally decided they both needed hot baths and a real bed or futon
to sleep on. Besides, they were already a day over their original plan.
They packed and gathered the trash, burying what was biodegradable and
packed out the rest.
Almost to the city of Numata, which was at the base of Hotaka
Mountain, Akane saw a figure lying face down in a ditch by the path.
Dropping their packs, they both approached the figure. His clothes
looked very torn up. Ranma reached down to turn him over. "Careful, it
looks like his leg is hurt," Akane mentioned, indicating the figure's
splinted leg.
Ranma carefully turned the figure over and then recoiled in shock
as he saw Ukyo's dirty face. "Ukyo? What the heck is she doing up
here?" Ranma asked, although he had a good idea what she might be up
here for.
Akane checked Ukyo's wrist for a pulse. "She's alive, but pretty
weak," Akane stated, then put her canteen to Ukyo's mouth and poured a
little water down the dehydrated girl's throat.
"Akane, if you can handle both our packs, I'll take her to the
nearest clinic or hospital," Ranma said.
"Sure, go fast. She looks like she has been dragging herself
through the forest for days.
Ranma lifted Ukyo carefully into his arms, then bounded off in
search of a clinic or hospital.
Akane went back and picked up their discarded packs. <Bet she had
something to do with our equipment being destroyed. Damn, I thought she
was my friend,> Akane thought to herself, as she followed the leaping
Ranma into the city.
-C- -M- -D-
Ukyo was running. She chased Ranma through the woods. She could
see him look back at her every now and then, but he didn't slow down.
"Ranma! Come back! I love you!" she screamed. She stopped dead in her
tracks when she saw that Ranma had run into Akane's arms. They looked
back at Ukyo and smiled, then they began to kiss passionately. Before
Ukyo's startled eyes their clothes disappeared. Ukyo looked sadly
downward, as the tears started to flow from her eyes. That was when she
noticed she was standing in midair. She screamed as she plummeted off
the side of the mountain.
Ukyo screamed and sat upright in her bed. Disoriented, she looked
around.
"Oh, good! You're awake!" Ryoga said, as Ukyo looked his way. "I
was pretty worried when they brought you in yesterday. You looked
pretty bad."
Ukyo looked around and realized that she was in the same room that
she had left Ryoga in. "How did I get here?" she finally asked.
"They said some guy found you on the mountain and brought you
here," Ryoga explained, and then asked, "How'd you break YOUR leg?"
"I was upset and crying...I sort of fell down the same cliff you
did. Not all the way, fortunately," Ukyo replied.
"Why were you upset?" Ryoga asked, suppressing a smile at the
thought of Ukyo following in his footsteps. <And people call me
clumsy,> he thought.
"Well, let's just say that Ranma and Akane are forever out of our
reach. They have something together that I doubt either of us could
match. I saw them kissing," Ukyo informed Ryoga.
"Just kissing? That doesn't mean..." Ryoga began.
"Well, they were going at it pretty heavily under a waterfall,"
Ukyo sighed. "And they weren't exactly overdressed."
"Oh," Ryoga muttered, then started to grow depressed. More
depressed than usual, that is.
They both laid back and looked at the ceiling for awhile. They
talked some more until the nurse came in and saw that Ukyo was awake.
"Good, you're awake. You really didn't need to break your leg just to
spend more time with your boyfriend," the nurse said, with a smile.
Ukyo smiled back, but didn't bother to correct her this time.
<Boyfriend? Did Ukyo tell them I was her boyfriend?> Ryoga
questioned himself. Of course, Ryoga had no answer.
"You'll be out of here in a couple days. Your break wasn't that
bad, but you were badly dehydrated when you arrived," the Nurse said.
"Thank you," Ukyo replied.
"Bath time, Mr. Hibiki!" a cute young nurses-aid said, as she came
in the door. "Don't worry, the bath water is nice and hot like you like
it." She drew the curtain and put down the bunch of gauze she had
learned was needed whenever he got his sponge baths.
Ukyo tried not to think about the sponge bath that was going on
behind the curtain.
-C- -M- -D-
A couple hours later, after Ryoga's depression over Akane overcame
his willpower to stop it, a huge Shishi Houkou Dan blast roared out of
Ryoga's hands and blasted away several walls and ceilings of the
hospital. The blast was strong enough, since Ryoga was EXTREMELY
depressed, to leave the Earth's atmosphere. It impacted against the
surface of the Moon, totally destroying a large rectangular black
monolith that had just started to channel power down to the Earth's
surface.
When the monolith exploded it sent a shock wave across the Moon's
surface, blackening everything that it hit. Suddenly the shock wave
reversed direction and collapsed back towards the monolith's original
position. The shock wave and the remains of the monolith disappeared
with what could only be called a flash of black light. All that
remained was a circular blast pattern around two kilometers in
diameter, which was as black as the space the moon hung in.
Back in the hospital, Ukyo had to squirm to avoid the bits of the
ceiling that were raining down on her. "Cheer up, Ryoga! Or you're
going to kill us!!!" Ukyo shouted. Then when Ryoga's blast did not
stop, she shouted, "What about Akari! She loves you!"
This snapped Ryoga out of his depression and the blast subsided.
"Akari?"
They moved Ryoga and Ukyo to a new room in an undamaged wing of
the hospital. Fortunately, no serious injuries were suffered by anyone
in the hospital. Although, several red headed girls were found
wandering around naked after their hospital gowns were burned off by
the blast. The cause of the explosion was never determined and Ryoga
wasn't about to confess.
-C- -M- -D-
Later that day, Ukyo and Ryoga were having a discussion of their
lost loves when the nurse came in. "You have visitors," she said, then
let in Ranma and Akane. Both had obviously cleaned up since the dirt of
the training trip was nowhere to be seen.
"Are you both okay?" Akane asked, genuinely concerned since they
had seen the destroyed wing of the hospital. Both of the patients
nodded, trying to figure out how Ranma and Akane knew they were here.
"Ukyo, you shouldn't be hiking in the mountains alone, you were a
mess when we found you," Ranma said.
"YOU found me?" Ukyo asked, then looked away.
Ranma nodded. "On our way down the mountain. What were you doing
up there anyway?"
"I think you know. We were trying to keep you and Akane from
getting closer," Ukyo admitted, looking ashamed.
"I guessed as much, but I hoped you meant it when you told me that
you still wanted to be my friend," Akane said, then added sincerely, "I
was really enjoying your friendship."
"I was enjoying our friendship too...and I didn't want to
interfere with your relationship...but, I guess I sort of snapped when
I found out about your trip alone. Pi...Ryoga and me just couldn't
stand the thought of you two alone in the woods," Ukyo explained,
between sobs. "I'm sorry."
"Let's call this strike two, Ukyo. You're forgiven this one last
time, but try something like this again and I'll never talk to you
again," Akane said, then added, "I think you probably should give our
families a formal apology too, call it penance for your misdeeds." She
cracked a smile.
"Thank you, Akane. I promise that was the last time. I know now
that I just can't compete with what you two have," Ukyo said softly and
the two girls hugged. Ukyo held her friend in her hands and swore to
herself that she would keep this promise.
After several minutes of working up his courage, Ryoga apologized
as well, "I'm sorry too, Akane!!" He then switched to his most noble
and proud tone of voice and declared, "I'll love you forever, but I
know now that Ranma holds your heart. I can't break up what fate has
determined." Then he started to think of Akari again to control his
depression.
"You...you were in love with me?" Akane asked, shocked.
"Yes...haven't I mentioned that before?" Ryoga replied. Akane
shook her head slowly. Ukyo and Ranma slapped their heads at the
blunder. "Well...err...I guess I have for almost as long as I've known
you," he stammered, twiddling his fingers and looking out the window.
"That's sweet, Ryoga, but I love Ranma," Akane said. She then
hugged Ryoga.
"I know that now...Good luck, Akane," Ryoga said, barely audible.
"You know...it's about time one of us said that," Ranma said, then
pulled Akane into his arms and kissed her. They completely forgot about
the other two people in the room. Although the words were never spoken
before, the feelings were there, almost from the start. They both knew
that now.
"I would really love some cold water right now," Ukyo muttered.
Ryoga nodded his agreement, then changed his mind. He still didn't
want Akane to find out about his curse, that could be painful for both
of the; physically for him and mentally for her. <Akari loves
me...Akari loves me...> Ryoga kept repeating to himself until the two
lovers took it outside.
-C- -M- -D-
When Ranma and Akane finally arrived back at the Tendo household,
they were greeted with hugs, kisses, and requests for souvenirs. Ranma
and Akane obliged all of them. Nabiki wasn't too excited about the pine
cone that they gave her. Kasumi loved hers and added to the collection
in her room. She put it right next to the 24-karat gold tiara that they
brought her from one of their trips to China. It's the thought that
counts, after all.
Leaving Akane to eat some lunch, Ranma went into the bathroom.
After Ranma washed herself on the stool, she sunk her sore body into
the hot bath. "Ahhhhh..." He exhaled deeply.
Ranma stared at the ceiling and thought about Akane. Then the girl
of his dreams walked into the bathroom and it wasn't Shampoo, she's
more the girl of his nightmares. Well, Kodachi is actually the girl of
his nightmares, Shampoo is just the girl of his bad dreams. Recently,
all of his good dreams had included the goddess who stood before him.
Akane paused briefly, but then shrugged, dropped the towel that
covered her, sat down on a stool, and began to wash herself. Ranma
looked up and saw her. "Akane? Err...maybe I should leave," Ranma
offered.
"Think we've gotten past this stage in our relationship, haven't
we?" Akane replied with a grin.
"Yeah, but I'm a guy now," Ranma pointed out. Pointed out verbally
that is, he wasn't about to move his hands at the moment, especially to
point THAT out.
Akane glanced into the water. She said, "Yup, looks like it."
Ranma blushed and adjusted the position of his hands. Akane finished
rinsing herself off, stepped into the tub, and sat down by Ranma's
side. She curled up to his side and held onto his arm. "What do you
think we should tell our families?"
Still a bit embarrassed by Akane's closeness to his male body,
Ranma said, "Lets not say anything or they'll have us married before
the end of the day." He moved his arm and wrapped it around her
shoulder. A fleeting thought about why that was a bad thing flashed
through his mind.
Akane smiled. "Good point," Akane agreed. The same fleeting
thought flashed through her mind.
"Tell you what, I'll take you out to dinner tomorrow and we can
get a good start to our new relationship," Ranma suggested. <Where the
heck am I going to find the money for that?> Ranma realized, after his
lips made a promise before his brain figured out the details. Nothing
unusual there.
"That's sounds great. It'd be nice to finally do something normal
couples do," Akane replied, then kissed Ranma.
After their lips parted, Ranma quipped, "You mean normal couples
don't have nutcases, Amazons, and other assorted fiancees chasing them
all the time?"
"No, I think that is unique to us."
-C- -M- -D-
In another part of Tokyo, a young brown haired boy ran from a
beautiful green haired girl. The girl was flying behind him and
shooting lightning from her fingers. "Dhar...ling!" the girl called
out. Another burst of lightning flashed out and hit the boy. The boy
crumpled to the ground.
A man in a white suit jumped out of nowhere and thrust his sword
at the boy's head. "Die!" the man cried.
The sword missed the boy's head, because the boy had jumped to his
feet and ran down the street to get the name and phone number of a cute
girl he had spotted.
And the chase was on again.
-C- -M- -D-
As Akane prepared to go to bed that night, Nabiki came in and
asked, "So...use any of them?" She winked.
"What?" Akane wondered. Then she realized what Nabiki was
referring to, so she said, "Of course not!" Then to prove her point she
dug the unopened box of condoms out of her backpack and showed them to
Nabiki.
"Interesting that you took them with you," Nabiki said, winking
again. She walked out of the room.
Not wanting to risk saying anything, Akane just stared at Nabiki's
back as she departed.
-C- -M- -D-
The next morning, Ranma awoke. Out of habit he leaned over and
almost kissed the sleeping panda. "Ack..." he gasped. "Every time Mom
and Pop fight, he ends up here instead of downstairs with Mom," Ranma
muttered.
He stood up, stretched, and walked over to his dresser. He opened
a drawer, then reached to the back and pulled out a number of small
boxes. Opening one, he examined the ring inside. <Maybe I'll end up
using these after all. It's a good thing I didn't sell them to pay off
my debt with Nabiki,> Ranma pondered. He put all the rings back, except
the ugliest one, then pulled on his red Chinese shirt and pants.
He left his room and went to see if Akane was up for sparring this
morning. If he happened to get some kisses in too, so be it.
-C- -M- -D-
Akane and Ranma worked out vigorously in the garden.
"Wow, they are really getting into it! Looks like Akane learned a
lot," Nabiki commented, as she watched the sparring from the breakfast
table.
"Yes, looks like my son has gotten over his fear of hitting
girls," Genma said proudly.
"It wasn't fear!" Ranma yelled from the garden, as he ducked a
kick from Akane.
"I'm still not convinced that it was right to get him over his
reluctance to fight with girls," Nodoka scolded her husband.
Genma splashed himself with water to avoid the fight with his wife
that he was sure was coming. The specially designed cast on his leg
expanded to fit the larger panda leg it now surrounded.
"Nabiki, do you still have the number of the zoo handy?" Nodoka
asked. Everyone else at the table smiled.
The panda grew very worried and held up a sign that read "Pandas
are endangered and zoos don't keep them anymore".
"I know one panda who will be VERY endangered if he doesn't start
taking responsibility," Nodoka informed the panda.
The panda was saved from Nodoka's wrath by the sounds of a loud
splash from the garden. Ranma wrung out her top as she stepped out of
the koi pond. Akane was beaming.
"Akane won? Oh my little girl has finally beaten her fiancee in a
fight!" Soun blubbered.
Akane came into the house, wiped the sweat from her face, and
knelt down at the table. "Not really, he still won't go all out with
me. I wouldn't last more than a few minutes if he did," Akane conceded.
Knowing glances went around the table.
"You have improved remarkably in the past two weeks, even more
than the two months we trained here at home. You should be proud of
yourself," Ranma said, as she came in the house and put her shirt back
on.
Akane smiled broadly. "Thank you, Ranma." Most everyone at the
table smirked.
"What are you all smirking at!" Ranma and Akane yelled in unison.
"Nothing," they all replied. Even the panda held up a sign that
said "Nothing".
-C- -M- -D-
After ducking out of the house carefully to avoid being seen,
Ranma and Akane walked down the street hand in hand. They were dressed
very smartly. Ranma had a suit and tie on, although he looked very
uncomfortable and kept tugging on the collar. Akane had a black
strapless dress on, topped by a cute shawl. Akane was also wearing
light makeup, just enough to bring out her natural beauty. Because of
the dress, Ranma had a hard time concentrating on where he was headed
and twice he walked into telephone poles.
From an upstairs window in the Tendo house, everyone looked at the
retreating couple. "Looks like they did get closer on their training
trip," Nodoka remarked. Everyone nodded.
The young couple, which they finally considered themselves, walked
into the small French restaurant they had picked out together, very
carefully. The planning session for this date was more like the
military planning session for the invasion of Normandy, than like a
casual discussion about where a young couple should go on their first
real date. They hoped that they had chosen a restaurant where Ranma's
fiancees or any of their assorted admirers wouldn't interrupt them.
Halfway though dinner they realized their big mistake, Kodachi
Kuno was a gourmet French cook and had dropped by to steal some recipes
from the famous chef of Ma Maison. Unfortunately, by the time when they
realized that, Kodachi had already attacked them,
Akane dodged the first ribbon strike purely by chance, she had
leaned over to kiss Ranma. Perhaps they needed to bring a lookout on
their dates. When the booth seat behind her exploded from the ribbon's
impact, she knew something wasn't right. Ranma and Akane jumped to
opposite sides of Kodachi to split her attention.
Then Ranma yelled out, "Kodachi attack number three!"
Going into one of the battle plans they had practiced in the
mountains, Akane allowed the ribbon to wrap itself around her arm the
next time it shot out at her, grabbed it, then yanked hard on it.
Kodachi, amazed at Akane grabbing her ribbon, didn't see Ranma jump at
her and send a kick into her back. Since Akane's yank on her ribbon
already had Kodachi off-balance, she couldn't resist the kick. The long
flowing dress Kodachi was wearing didn't help her balance either. Akane
ducked as Kodachi went flying over her head and through the window.
Kodachi landed in a lake down the block.
"Not bad...but we may not be as lucky next time. She wasn't
expecting me to kick her," Ranma said, as he analyzed the fight.
"Where were we?" Akane said and smiled. They finished the
interrupted kiss. Then the manager came over and tried to find out what
happened. The couple ignored him, until a soaking wet Kodachi, now
dressed only in her green leotard, landed a kick into Akane's side.
Both Ranma and Akane went crashing through a brick wall and into the
kitchen. Ranma ended up in a huge pot of soup. Since soup in normally
served hot he wouldn't have cared (except for not really wanting to be
in a big vat of soup of course), but this was Gazpacho Soup and was
served cold. Ranma started to drag her body out of the watery tomato
soup and swore. Something to do with Kodachi's parentage and her
resemblance to a dog.
While Ranma got herself out of the soup, Akane was trying to get
out of the big vat of noodles she had fallen into. The cook who was
still stirring the noodles, despite the 'Akane Alfredo' that was being
made, didn't help her any. The cook didn't even seem to care that this
was a French restaurant and 'Alfredo' dishes were Italian, for some
reason this made Akane the maddest.
Kodachi came into the kitchen as both of her hated 'impediments to
the love of her darling Ranma' tried to get out of their respective
vats. "Where are you hiding my darling Ranma! You twisted girls! Taste
my ribbons of love!" Kodachi screeched. She pulled out two more ribbons
from her tight green leotard. She quickly wrapped the ribbons around
the throats of Ranma and Akane. Both girls started to choke and tug at
the ribbons. "Where is my Ranma!" Kodachi screamed and yanked on the
ribbons.
Ranma pointed behind Kodachi. Kodachi took the bait and looked
behind her. Ranma took this opportunity to jump out of the soup and
kick a set of knives off a nearby table. As they passed her face, she
held her head up so that the ribbon around her neck was cut. Catching
her breath, Ranma tossed a cantaloupe at Akane's head.
Akane was a little surprised to see Ranma throw a cantaloupe at
her head. Even more surprised when it hit her hard on the side of her
head. "What did you do that for!" Akane screamed, then realized that
she could breathe again. She looked down and saw the rather large knife
that had imbedded itself in the cantaloupe just before hitting her. The
cut ribbon slipped off her neck. <Damn, he's good,> she thought, then
yelled out loud, "Thanks, Ranma!" She leapt out of the noodles, lifted
up the vat, and then tossed it at Kodachi. Kodachi ended up covered in
noodles and pinned beneath the vat.
"'Kodachi con Carnie', not a good dish," Ranma said, as she helped
Akane remove noodles from various places on her body.
"For a French restaurant they sure have a lot of Italian food,"
Akane said, as she tried to knock a noodle out of her noggin. It slid
out of her ear and she looked at Ranma. "You sure are a fun date."
"I try," Ranma said. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Akane.
The manager of the Italian restaurant, which was next door to the
French restaurant, started yelling at the Ma Maison's manager. The two
managers soon had an all out brawl going about the hole in the wall
between the two restaurants and who was going to pay for it.
Ranma paid the bill using some of the money he got from selling
the ugly ring earlier in the day. Then as Ranma and Akane made their
exit, Akane yelled back loudly, "Gee, isn't that Kodachi Kuno? Isn't
her family rich?"
The two managers suddenly knew who was going to pay for the
damage. They called the Kuno lawyers the next day. Soon five big, mean
looking, hairy knuckled, barely human lawyers showed up at the
restaurants. The managers had to keep from puking as they negotiated
with the 'ladies'. They only managed to get about half what they needed
to repair the damage. They should have hired Nabiki Tendo to represent
them.
And that is how Ranma and Akane's first real date ended. Well,
they did spend some time in the park making out. They managed to avoid
being attacked while they kissed. It was just luck, since Shampoo rode
right by them on her bicycle and never thought for a second that the
two kissing girls could be Ranma and Akane.
-C- -M- -D-
A couple of days later, Konatsu greeted Ukyo and Ryoga at the
train station and helped them back to Ucchan's. As the two hobbled up
the stairs, Konatsu made up the spare futon in Ukyo's bedroom. Ukyo
appeared at the door. "Ryoga, you can have the bed, with your shoulder
you need a real bed. The futon will be fine for me," she insisted.
"Oh no, Ukyo! I couldn't, It's already too kind of you to let me
stay here while my injuries heal," Ryoga insisted back.
"Sit, Pig-boy!" Ukyo commanded and pointed at the bed. Ryoga
obeyed. "Good. Now you injured yourself saving me, so consider this my
repayment to you." Ryoga nodded his head.
"Konatsu, we'll have to close the restaurant until I can cook,"
Ukyo told the female ninja, who was really a guy. It's a long story.
"Ukyo, I'll keep the restaurant open, at least during the lunch
and dinner rushes. I think you've taught me enough that I can make the
okonomiyaki if you can just whip up the batter for me each morning."
"Thank you, Konatsu. Remind me to give you a raise."
"I only get room and board now."
"I'll make bigger okonomiyaki for you to eat?" Ukyo said, smiling.
"But seriously, I will start you on an hourly wage. You've earned it."
"You honor me, mistress," Konatsu said, with a bow.
"Konatsu, please don't call me mistress."
"Yes of course, Ucchan."
"Try Ukyo...or Ms. Kuonji if you must be so formal."
"Of course, Ms. Kuonji," Konatsu said. Ukyo sighed. "I'll bring up
some food and tea later, but is there anything else I can get you two?"
"Konatsu, there is one special thing I need. After you get it,
I'll need you to help me deliver it," Ryoga said. <This is it, the last
tie that binds me,> Ryoga thought.
"Of course," Konatsu agreed, then got the details from Ryoga.
-C- -M- -D-
The next afternoon, Ranma was having a snack in the dinning room
and paging through a martial arts magazine, when he saw a familiar
black pig with a yellow and black bandana walk by. Ranma's eyes went
wide and he grabbed P-Chan. "Ryoga! You honorless pork byproduct!"
Ranma yelled, then grabbed the pig and ran down to the bathroom, trying
not to be seen by anyone.
In the bathroom, Ranma held P-Chan in his hands, and scolded the
pig, "Ryoga, you liar!! You said you would stop chasing Akane! I took
that to mean no more 'P-Chan'!" He was about to toss P-Chan into the
hot water, when he heard a voice behind him.
"I never said anything about P-Chan, only that *I* wouldn't chase
her anymore," the voice said.
"Still, you know that I can't allow you...to...to..." Ranma began
to explain to the pig, then stopped and turned around to see Ryoga
standing in the doorway on one crutch. Ranma looked back at the pig in
his hands and then back at Ryoga. He tossed the pig into the hot bath.
The angry pig clawed his way out of the tub. "He didn't change," Ranma
stated the obvious and picked up the pig again. It bit him hard. Ranma
tried to shake off the pig, but it just kept chewing on his hand.
"Of course not! That's just a regular pig, dummy!" Ryoga said.
"You're lucky you have the cast on or I'd make sure you're telling
the truth," Ranma implied, with an evil smile. "So where did you get
the pig?" He said, looking closely at the pig, who was still trying to
make a meal of his hand.
"I bought him at a pet store, added a bandana, and there you have
the new 'P-Chan'!"
"You think of this yourself?"
"Yup, I knew that I couldn't be her P-Chan anymore, that you
wouldn't let me be her P-Chan anymore, and that I didn't want her to be
hurt by the loss of her pet," Ryoga explained. <It's also the last tie
that binds me to Akane. Snip,> Ryoga thought, then sighed.
"And you didn't want her finding out about your curse," Ranma
added.
"Well, that too..."
"Okay, that's a good plan, as long as it works I'll continue to
keep your curse a secret," Ranma said.
"I guess I just enjoyed being loved by someone, even if it was
just as a pet. Thank you, Ranma."
"I guess that's what friends are for," Ranma said. He offered his
free hand to Ryoga, that being the one without the pig attached to it.
Ryoga considered this for a moment then accepted it internally.
Shaking Ranma's offered hand, he said, "Friends. I'll be staying at
Ukyo's until my casts are off."
"Oh, already shacking up with someone else?" a voice behind Ryoga
asked.
Ryoga turned around to see Akane in the outer doorway. "Akane!
What did you hear?" Ryoga blurted.
"Just that you're staying at Ukyo's...Don't worry I was only
kidding, she told me that she was letting you stay with her until your
leg and shoulder healed," Akane said, smiling.
Ryoga visibly relaxed. Ranma walked forward and held out 'P-Chan'.
"Look who showed up..." Ranma said, then pried the pseudo P-Chan off
his hand and handed it to Akane.
"P-Chan! I was so worried when you weren't here when I returned
from our trip!" Akane exclaimed. She hugged the pig to her chest. She
missed Ryoga's look of longing and when he wiped the drool from his
mouth.
"Down boy," Ranma whispered to Ryoga.
Akane looked up, then said, "You know I never noticed before, but
P-Chan's collar looks a lot like your bandana, Ryoga!"
Ryoga went white with fear. Ranma just said, "Imagine that."
Akane hugged her P-Chan again and walked out. Ranma wanted to hold
Akane in his arms. Ryoga wiped away another piece of drool.
Ranma whispered a question to Ryoga, "So how did you find a pig
that would attack me like that?"
"I think you did that when you tossed it into the hot water,"
Ryoga said, grinning. Then he hobbled out of the bathroom and said,
"Good luck with him."
Ranma just cursed silently.
-C- -M- -D-
At dinner that night, Ryoga and Ukyo were present to apologize to
all of the family members. They had both been asked by Ranma and Akane
not to discuss the events that happened in the mountains, they had
agreed.
Ryoga apologized first, just bowing his head, since his two casts
prevented a more formal bow. "Mr. Tendo, Mr. and Mrs. Saotome, I
sincerely apologize for anything I did to cause your two families any
harm. I promise not to interfere with Ranma and Akane's relationship
again," Ryoga recited very fast, without stopping for a breath of air.
Nodoka nodded, then said, "Very well, Ryoga. My son says you are
man of honor, so I will take you at your word. Please don't break my
trust in you."
"I won't, Mrs. Saotome," Ryoga said.
Ukyo knelt down and crossed her hands. Her head was as far to the
floor as possible without creating a hole. Considering that her leg was
in a cast, this was an incredibly hard position for her to bow in. "Mr.
Tendo, Mr. and Mrs. Saotome," Ukyo began to speak. "I sincerely
apologize for my actions at the wedding and at various other times. I
know now that my actions were shameful and that I have brought dishonor
upon me and my family. I beg your forgiveness and will make any
monetary reparations that you deem necessary." Ukyo remained in her
head down position, waiting for a response. A few tears dripped out of
her eyes.
"Ukyo, dear. I know you love my son. I can understand that,"
Nodoka began, looking at Ukyo's prostrate figure. "The engagement to
Akane was agreed upon first and thus it is the one I must have my son
honor. If Akane decides to negate that engagement, I'd be glad to call
you my daughter-in-law. I accept your apology on one condition: You
must never again interfere with Ranma or Akane's relationship or their
next marriage." Then glaring at everyone, she added, "Which will be
their last wedding, it will either occur or I will nullify the
engagement myself. I assure you, should that happen, that my husband
would not like the events that followed.
Suddenly a panda with a broken leg started to play with a tire in
the yard. Everyone ignored it.
"I understand, Mrs. Saotome. You have my word that I won't
interfere with their relationship. I value them as friends too much to
ever repeat my shameful acts," Ukyo apologized again, still prostrate.
"Great! Lets eat!" Nodoka said, cheerfully. Her cheerfulness took
everyone by surprise, since she had been so somber up until then.
Kasumi started serving the food and everyone started to chat.
Genma returned to the table after discarding an empty teakettle.
He sat down and reached for some food.
Nodoka slapped his hand and said, "Nope, none for you." She hefted
out a basket of bamboo and gave it to him. "If you're going to go panda
on me to avoid your responsibilities, then you can eat as a panda,"
Nodoka explained, then splashed Genma with cold water. The panda sighed
and started to chew on the bamboo.
About five minutes later, Akane said, "You can get up now, Ukyo."
Ukyo rose from her bowed position and stretched her sore legs. In
the process, she spilled the bamboo over the floor, since the panda had
been using her back as a table. The panda started to cry.
"You didn't need to stay down there that long, dear," Nodoka
insisted.
"I know. I just wanted to let the tears stop," Ukyo sniffled.
"So where did you go after the wedding, anyway?" Ranma asked.
"Oh, I went home for a bit, then did some wandering trying to
collect my thoughts and escape the shame of what I did to you two. Even
got over to China and did some exploring," Ukyo told the assembled
people.
Akane said, "Well since Jusenkyo is gone-" Ranma frowned. "-I know
you didn't come back cursed." She noticed Ranma's reaction, "Oops.
Sorry, Ranma, I forgot."
"That's okay, I'll find a cure someday. Until I do, I'll live with
it," Ranma said, somewhat honestly.
"That's my brave son, despite my husband's failings as a teacher,"
Nodoka said and shot a glare at the panda.
"Actually, I did find one interesting place in China. It's filled
with hundreds of caves, each one holds a different curse. If you sneeze
in one of them, then you get turned into the last animal that sneezed
in it," Ukyo told them.
"Really? Any 'cave of sneezing handsome young man'?" Ranma asked,
hopefully.
"I think she's kidding Ranma," Nabiki said, as she looked up from
her dinner.
"Oh," Ranma said, sadly. Everyone had a good laugh at his expense.
-C- -M- -D-
The next morning Ukyo awoke, stretched her arms and tried to rise
to go to the bathroom. She couldn't seem to get up, her legs felt very
heavy. Finally, she managed to get up on her crutches. "Damn, all this
laying around is making me weak," Ukyo chastised herself, promised to
start doing some exercises to keep in shape while her leg mended, and
made her way slowly to the bathroom. She slipped off her robe and
pulled her large T-shirt off, then she sat down on a stool and filled a
bucket with water. She grabbed a sponge and began to wash herself.
Ukyo stopped suddenly, when she felt her cast start to rub against
her leg. She looked down at her cast and noticed for the first time
that it seemed to have grown in size overnight. "Damn," she cursed,
then grabbed the bucket and started hitting her cast repeatedly. A
piece of the plaster cracked off and a girl's face poked out, well it
was a boy's face that just looked like a girl. Another long story
there.
Tsubasa spat out a piece of plaster, then exclaimed, "Oh, Ukyo!
Let me comfort you in your time of pain!"
"Tsubasa! How dare you impersonate my cast!" Ukyo screamed. A few
carefully placed hits and Tsubasa went flying out of the window with
most of the fake cast. Ukyo wiped her hands off then examined her real
cast for damage. There didn't appear to be any, so Ukyo returned to
washing up. She probably should have covered up instead, because
Konatsu and Ryoga burst into the bathroom to see what the noise was all
about. They both beat a hasty retreat when they saw Ukyo washing
herself and when assorted pieces of the bathroom's decor started
hitting them.
-C- -M- -D-
A few days after 'P-Chan' returned, Akane and Ranma made another
attempt at a nice quiet dinner. Carefully picking out an Italian bistro
in the next ward over from Nerima, they settled down for a calm
evening, they hoped. Ranma did look a little more nervous than normal,
but Akane put it off as his being worried about another attack.
A cute waitress took their order. Ranma ordered 'Akane Alfredo',
earning a laugh from Akane. Informed that they didn't serve that dish,
Ranma ordered a nice seafood pasta instead.
"Do you think the waitress is cute?" Akane asked, after the
waitress left.
Ranma smelled a trap, unfortunately his lips spoke before his nose
warned his brain and his brain could stop the lips. He said, "Yeah, but
you're cuter." His brain recoiled, <When did the lips get so smart?>
His brain decided to look into this.
"Thank you, Ranma," Akane said and leaned in for a kiss. Ranma
obliged her.
After their meals were served, they enjoyed a pleasant dinner and
good conversation, even with the occasional foot tasting Ranma gave
himself. His lips still had something to learn after all. No Amazons
broke down the walls, no women in leotards attacked, no perverted
freaks splashed Ranma, and no poetry spewing jerks stuck a bokken in
Ranma's face. In short, it was a perfect dinner. This did not bode well
for the rest of the night.
-C- -M- -D-
Nabiki approached the shadowy figure in the alley. "I'm here, but
I really don't like to meet like this," Nabiki insisted, as she tried
to make out the figure in the dark.
"Never mind that. Ranma and Akane have been sneaking out of the
Tendo house many times over the past week," a deep male voice said,
obviously trying to disguise itself. Well obvious to Nabiki at least.
"Maybe."
"Do you know where they are tonight?"
"Maybe."
"How much to turn that 'maybe' into some details."
"One million Yen," Nabiki answered, knowing that no one would be
stupid enough to pay that much just to find where Ranma and Akane were
tonight.
"Sold!" the figure exclaimed and threw some bills at Nabiki.
Counting the bills, Nabiki said, "They were seen at 'Umberto's
Italian Bistro' over in Shinjuku, I can't guarantee that they'll still
be there." She turned and walked away. <I guess Ranma and Akane can
handle Kuno easily enough. Who did he think he was fooling anyway? Just
because he didn't recite poetry doesn't mean I can't tell it was him,>
Nabiki thought, as she walked away.
After Nabiki had left, the figure stepped out into the light and
removed it's cloak. Shampoo grinned, then said in a voice that sounded
like Kuno's, "That too easy, magic-" she reached up and removed the
little amulet that was stuck to her throat, her voice returned to
normal as she finished, "-amulet made money girl give info she wouldn't
give Shampoo."
Shampoo walked down the street and got on her bicycle. She rode
off, headed for Shinjuku.
-C- -M- -D-
After dinner, Ranma and Akane walked through a pleasant little
park, found a quiet corner, and sat down on a bench. "This evening has
been great, Ranma," Akane said, looking into his eyes.
Ranma leaned in and kissed Akane. They spent several minutes
making out before coming up for air. "Akane, I'd like to settle one of
the 'other' issues we talked about on our trip," Ranma mentioned after
a few minutes.
"Well, I don't think this is the best time to get rid of any of
our assorted fiancees and admirers," Akane replied.
"That's not what I'm talking about. Um..."
Akane placed her finger on his lips and whispered, "Just say
whatever you want. It won't change my love for you."
"Well, I'm talking about our...engagement. We never really
accepted it officially," Ranma said. Akane's eyes went wide. Ranma
reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring, actually a handful of
rings. "Akane, I love you, will you marry me?" he asked, without
hesitation.
"Ranma? I...this is so sudden," Akane said, shocked. Then she
thought a moment, then said, "Well, sort of sudden....two years or two
weeks, depending on how you look at it, but then we have been heading
in that direction for so long, even almost getting married, several
times I guess, I didn't even think of the engagement as being an issue,
I guess I've just been taking it as a given, then there's..."
It was Ranma's turn to silence Akane's ramblings with his finger.
After a brief pause, he removed it and looked lovingly into her eyes.
He only waited a few seconds for her answer.
"Yes."
They pulled together and kissed deeply for quite some time. When
their lips finally parted, Akane blinked, then asked, "What's with all
the rings?"
Ranma grinned and then answered, "Well, our fathers have been
forcing them on me ever since I arrived at your house. They seem to
forget that they've given me so many. I almost picked one to give you
tonight, but thought you should choose two yourself."
"Two?"
"One for an engagement ring and one for a wedding ring," Ranma
replied, smiling.
Akane grinned and looked at the rings in his hand, then jokingly
suggested, "Maybe we should get them appraised first?"
"Are you Nabiki in disguise?" Ranma asked back.
Akane stuck her tongue out at him. She examined the rings
carefully, and then picked up one of the rings. "This one for the
engagement ring, I'll choose the wedding ring later," Akane declared.
<I hope this is real, hard to tell with our fathers.>
Ranma pocketed the other rings and slipped the selected ring on
the finger Akane offered. They leaned in for another kiss, but their
lips never met. Instead, their lips kissed rubber.
"Nihao, Ranma!" Shampoo sang, as her bicycle tire landed on
Ranma's face. Looking around she noticed the ring on Akane's finger.
"Where ring for Shampoo?"
"Urk," replied Ranma, as it was hard to talk with a bicycle tire
on your face.
"Shampoo, you're not wanted here!" Akane yelled.
"Un-cute fiancee go home now. Shampoo's turn now," Shampoo
insisted.
As he freed himself from the tire, Ranma stood up and said,
"Shampoo, please go home! I don't feel like dealing with you tonight."
"No! You give Akane pretty ring, Shampoo get one too! Only fair!"
Shampoo said.
<She doesn't understand the significance of the ring...good,>
Akane thought, relieved.
"Shampoo, that's an engagement ring!" Ranma explained, without
thinking first.
Akane malleted Ranma mentally. <Dummy.>
"It means I'm going to marry Akane. ONLY Akane!" Ranma declared.
Akane smiled at Ranma's declaration.
"Why Ranma sound like scratched CD? Shampoo only real fiancee for
Ranma," Shampoo said confidently, although internally she was worried
that Ranma might actually like Akane. <Forget Great-grandmother's
plan...I have to get that ring for myself.>
"Shampoo, I should have done this a long time ago, but..." Ranma
began, then pulled Shampoo off her bicycle. "I DON'T LOVE YOU! I NEVER
WILL!" Ranma yelled then threw the bicycle over the horizon. "And I'm
sick of getting run over by that damn bicycle!"
"Guess Shampoo have to get ring off Akane's finger after beating
her up!" Shampoo declared, then pulled out her bon-bori.
Both Ranma and Akane flipped backward from Shampoo and took up
ready positions. "Shampoo, stop! I won't let you touch Akane!" Ranma
yelled.
"Ranma, let me deal with her! She's in for a surprise," Akane
pleaded. Ranma moved to step in front of her, but he met her eyes and
backed off. <Thank you, Ranma,> she thought, as she appraised her
opponent. "Shampoo, I'm Ranma's ONLY real fiancee and I always have
been! Give it up now or I'll have to hurt you!" Akane declared. She
punctuated the statement by putting the fist with her new engagement
ring out in front.
"Akane should realize by now, that stupid tomboy no match for
Shampoo!" Shampoo replied and thrust one of her bon-bori at Akane's
head. Akane easily avoided the thrust, and flipped to one side and
kicked out at her opponent. Shampoo managed to avoid the kick and
knocked Akane in the side with one of her bon-bori.
Akane leapt away as the blow hit her and avoided any major damage.
She dodged in between bon-bori blows to land a few fist blows into
Shampoo's stomach. Shampoo back peddled and swung out at Akane's head.
The bon-bori connected with a loud crack and Akane was thrown to the
ground. Ranma started forward, but Akane got back to her feet before
Shampoo reached her again. A few more blows to Akane's legs by the
bon-bori caused Akane to leap away to the top of a nearby building. She
may not have the reach of Ranma's leaps, but she was getting better at
roof hopping.
<Damn, have to get those bon-bori away from her,> Akane thought as
she leapt up to a taller building. This was the first time she had ever
used the 'Saotome Anything Goes Martial Arts Final Attack-Ready, Set,
Run Away!', but since she was officially engaged to Ranma now she felt
she was entitled to use the Saotome family techniques. She wasn't about
to shout out the name of this particular attack though, she still had
some dignity.
"Running? Good choice, but Shampoo beat you no matter where you
go!" Shampoo yelled, as she followed Akane.
Ranma followed them both, still fighting his urge to step in and
finish the fight before anyone got hurt, but he trusted Akane's
abilities. Akane would ask for help if she realized she couldn't win.
He hopped.
Akane finally found the rooftop she wanted. Of course, she only
knew that she wanted it when she found it by accident. It was a
building of about thirty stories high with a big water tank on the top.
She turned around and got ready for Shampoo's attack. She didn't have
to wait long for one of the bon-bori to strike at her head. Quickly
side-stepping it, Akane grabbed Shampoo by the wrist and twisted, hard.
Determined not to let go of her weapon Shampoo ignored her other hand
for a split second and then realized her mistake when Akane broke the
top of the bon-bori off with a well placed kick. Akane followed this by
flipping Shampoo up and over her back. Shampoo landed hard against one
of the wooden support legs of the water tank.
"When Akane get so good?" Shampoo asked, amazed. Getting back to
her feet, she transferred her remaining bon-bori to her other hand. She
winced as she performed the move since her wrist was badly sprained by
Akane's twist. She advanced back to Akane.
"Give it up, Shampoo!" Akane shouted. She did some quick flips to
avoid Shampoo's attacks with her only remaining bon-bori. Akane landed
a few kicks on Shampoo through the holes in her defense caused by the
missing bon-bori. Even though, Shampoo managed to force Akane back to
the edge of the roof. Akane started to worry since she couldn't see any
nearby rooftops on this side of the building. Then as Shampoo thrust
her bon-bori at her, Akane saw an opening and did a high flip over
Shampoo's head. Shampoo quickly spun and used the force of the spin to
drive the bon-bori into Akane's back. Akane went flying and slammed
hard into the support leg.
Ranma winced in pain as he saw Akane hit the support. <I know she
want's to do this herself, but even with our recent training they are
about an even match. Shampoo has more experience too, either of them
could still win,> Ranma worried internally.
Akane shook her head and wiped the trickle of blood that flowed
from her lip. Akane had just gotten to her feet in time to block a
bon-bori blow with her arm. A loud crack was heard. Akane hoped it was
just the sound from the bon-bori hitting the support leg behind her,
but suspected her arm was broken. She didn't have time to check. With a
savage yell, Akane put the last of her strength into one last kick that
connected with Shampoo's stomach. Shampoo flew away from Akane and
ended up falling over the edge of the building. Akane gasped and then
ran over to the edge, not hearing the wooden support behind her crack
loudly.
Ranma started towards the edge as well, but Akane reached it first
and managed to grab one of Shampoo's arms, just as Shampoo lost her
grip on the edge of the roof. Unfortunately, the momentum of Shampoo's
fall caused Akane to start to slide over the edge as well. Akane tried
to grab the edge of the roof with her free arm, but found that it was
indeed broken and growing numb. Akane slid closer to the edge, she had
nothing left to stop her from falling over the edge.
"Akane, let go. Shampoo loose. No need to save me now, I must meet
my death honorably," Shampoo declared, with tears in her eyes.
Akane just barely registered Shampoo's sudden use of 'ME' and 'I'
before she slid completely off the roof along with the Amazon. She shut
her eyes tight. Expecting the ground to smash her skull open, she was
surprised to find she was still alive and looking down at Shampoo when
she opened her eyes again. "What?" she gasped.
"Hang on, Akane!" Ranma screamed. His legs were wrapped around
Akane's waist and he gripped a round vent pipe in desperation.
Apparently, Akane had one more resource available to her than she
had thought. <No, I have had that resource for over a year now,> she
realized.
Ranma looked like he would be able to hang on long enough for
Shampoo and Akane to climb up, but then he heard a loud crack of wood
and looked up in horror. "Damn! Hang on tight both of you! This is not
going to be good! The wat-" Ranma screamed in panic, just before the
wave of water hit him, cutting off his warning and turning him in to a
girl.
The wooden support leg had broken, causing the water tank to tip
over and send a huge wave of water towards the three martial artists
who were already fighting for their lives. Akane suddenly found her
hand empty as the cat's paw slipped from between the human wrist sized
grip she previously had on Shampoo.
With a quick lunge, Shampoo-cat managed to dig her claws into
Akane's hand. Akane winced in pain, but still tried to get a good hold
on the cat. Shampoo-cat looked up and saw that Akane's attempts to grab
her was causing her to slip from between Ranma's legs, the fact that
those legs were now female didn't help Akane's situation any. With a
last painful, "Meow," Shampoo-cat retracted her claws and fell to her
death.
"NO!!!!!!!! Shampoo!!!!" Akane screamed, helplessly.
Up on the top of the roof Ranma was having trouble hanging onto
the vent pipe. Her hands were smaller now and the water rushing over
them caused her previously tight grip to slip. She made one last grab
at the edge of the roof, but could not gain a purchase. The water
pushed her over the edge with Akane.
Quickly, Ranma flipped her body over and came face to face with
Akane. He held her tight and they looked into each other's eyes. No
words were spoken. None were needed. They already knew they loved each
other. They both knew they wouldn't survive the impact.
***********************************************************************
>From the personal journal of James Davidson:
Akane collapsed into tears, I wrapped my arms around her and
comforted her. "I'm sorry, Akane, maybe I should just get this
information from other sources," I said, holding out a tissue for her.
"No..." Akane said, wiping her nose and eyes. "It's okay. Guess
I'm just an old lady stuck in the past."
"Nonsense, you're the most active and lively seventy-six year old
I've ever met."
"It's not nice to remind women of their ages," Akane said, with a
slight smile.
"Sorry," I said, then dropped my head.
"It's okay, I know I could still kick your ass if I wanted to, so
I'll forgive ya," Akane said.
"You're an amazing woman, Akane."
"Yeah, I know...been told that too many times in my life. Just
don't fall in love with me, it's dangerous to your health," Akane said,
trying to smile, but I could see the pain in her heart.
"Too late, but I'll just have to settle for the love of a friend,"
I replied and kissed her on her cheek.
"That you are," Akane said.
I helped her back to her room, then Hanaki showed me out. As we
reached the gate, I asked, "Hanaki, would you like to have dinner with
me tonight?" I had finally decided that it was best not to put off such
things until later, because later sometimes never comes.
"Yes, James, I'd love to," Hanaki said, giving me one of her
beautiful smiles.
"I can pick you up around seven then. I have to visit a couple
other people and get some background information for the book, but that
should only take a couple more hours this afternoon," I said, gazing
into her eyes.
"That would be fine. See you then," Hanaki said, smiling broadly.
I returned her smile, then walked down towards the Kuno mansion. I
wasn't looking forward to this meeting, but I needed the background
information.
[End Chapter 2]
Coming soon: Chapter 3: The Amazon Way
=======================================================================
Email me at: mailto:jiml...@earthlink.net with comments, criticisms,
or if you would like to join my pre-reader list. If you like this
series, let me know.
Make sure to check out my Childhood of a Modern Dynasty website for the
latest CMD stories, graphics files, and other information:
http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlazar/anime/childhood.html
My other fanfiction can be found at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlazar/anime
The real author's (Jim Lazar) notes/ramblings:
I saw the idea of using a real pig to replace P-Chan in another fanfic,
but I'm not sure what the name of it was. I used it here out of
necessity for the rest of the series to work correctly (I hope). In
addition, I didn't want Akane to spend the rest of her life in jail for
killing Ryoga. My apologies to that author for borrowing his or her
idea.
While chapter 1 covered several months, this part only covered a couple
weeks since the events were more tightly packed and more central to the
ongoing story.
BTW, one million yen is about seven thousand dollars. A substantial
sum.
Unlike the other characters in this fanfic, I created James Davidson,
Hanaki Ono, Daijiko, and Takma. I claim full ownership for them. They
are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons (living or dead) or
other fictional characters (animated, written, or live-action) is
unintentional. Of course, for descendents of the original Ranma
characters there is likely to be some similarity to Rumiko Takahashi's
characters.
R.I.P. Shampoo - You deserved better from me.
I'd like to thank my pre-readers and assorted FFML members: Ryan Erik,
David Johnson, Anthony Pardilla, Johnathan Ng, The RAMS, and Sean
Conner. Of course in the end, any mistakes and botched characters are
my fault.
Revision 1.0
July 22, 1998
Revision 0.3 - Pre-reader draft
Revision 0.4 - FFML draft
Revision 1.0 - First RAAC posting