[Ranma][Fanfic] Childhood of a Modern Dynasty - Chapter 1: Hit Me Hard, Kiss Me Hard
Jim Lazar
Kiss Me Hard
=======================================================================
Childhood of a Modern Dynasty - Chapter 1: Hit Me Hard, Kiss Me Hard
Ranma 1/2 characters and situations created by Rumiko Takahashi, used
without permission
Ranma 1/2 Copyright by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakan 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 10, 2057
I left my hotel room thinking that I should get an apartment. My
current assignment was likely to keep me in Tokyo for quite some time,
so it would be nice to have a place to call my own. My research for my
'Birth of a Modern Dynasty' book kept me here for over a year. The
research for it's sequel, 'Childhood of a Modern Dynasty', will take
even longer, since I'm going to cover a longer time span. My editor is
even thinking about multiple books, but my editor has a tendency to go
off on sudden tangents so this could end up as a thirty-eight volume
series or as a comic book for all I know.
I walked down the pleasant streets of Tokyo's Nerima ward and
reflected on some of the changes that Nerima had gone through over the
past sixty years. At least according to the pictures I've seen, being
only thirty-two myself I can't really have claimed to know for sure
what this part of Nerima looked like for sure back then. However, since
the last two years of my life have revolved around researching the
events that took place here starting in 1997, I think I can safely say
that the area had changed, but it still had a small town feel to it.
I walked by Furinkan High School, or should I say the NEW Furinkan
High School. It took them several years to rebuild it after the old
building was destroyed, but they did rebuild. It lacked the character
of the old building somehow, of course most of that character had to do
with the students who used to go there.
As I neared my destination, I walked by the headquarters of Tendo
Enterprises; for a large company, it sure had a modest headquarters. It
could have been a household for all the external appearance suggested,
but I knew it held some of the most brilliant minds in business today.
I'll have to see about getting a tour someday.
There was my destination, the Tendo Compound. It still amazed me
at how many blocks it covered, even after visiting it dozens of times
already. Originally it was just an average sized household, well maybe
it was a bit above average size. The original Tendo lot had grown quite
a bit in all directions, but the original house still stood at the
center of the Compound.
As I pressed the buzzer at the main gate. A beautiful young woman
immediately greeted me, almost as if she had been waiting for me. "Yes,
can I help you?" the woman asked, then adjusted her long hair. The
bright red highlight in her hair, which was new since my last visit,
caught my eye.
I said, "I'm here to see the Matriarch. My name is James
Davidson."
"Ah yes, you're expected. Please come in, Mr. Davidson."
"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, then gave me one of those smiles I
would die for. We exchanged cheek kisses and then she led me inside.
We have gone through this same routine since the first time I
visited the Tendo Compound; well, the cheek kisses had started after we
had known each other a couple months. Considering it was six months
since my last visit, I was grateful that we had fallen right back into
our little routine. "So how is the family?" I asked, as she led me to
the center of the Compound.
"Very well, Soun and Fuki have picked a date for their wedding."
"Finally got their act together, huh?" I said, laughing.
"Yes, it runs in the family I'm afraid. Fear of commitment and
all."
"Well, the book I'm writing would be pretty dull if not for that
trait of the Tendo and Saotome families," I said.
"Here we go," Hanaki said, when we reached the part of the
Compound that the Matriarch of the Tendo family spent most of her time
in. Hanaki called out, "Auntie, Mr. Davidson is here!"
The older woman, being a spry seventy-six years old, looked up
from the flowers she was tending and smiled at me. I smiled back, even
at her age she had a graceful beauty that time could not erase. She
brushed her white hair out of her eyes, got up, and came over to me.
"Long time no see, James," she said.
"Too long, Akane," I replied, then gave her a quick kiss on her
cheek and received one back. "Hanaki says the family is doing well."
"Yes, even little Soun has wised up and proposed to Fuki," Akane
said, with a smile. She led me over the porch in front of the large koi
pond. The wall behind the pond, which I remember from old photos, was
long gone to make room for the larger koi pond. Behind the pond lay a
gently slopping lawn and garden that connected to the new houses where
most of the current generations lived.
As we sat down on the porch chairs, I said, "Well, I'm sure they
will have a good life together. They seem to be made for each other."
"Sometimes that's not enough," Akane replied, wistfully. "So,
James, you want to write another book about my family?"
"Yes, the first one covering your first year with Ranma was quite
popular. A lot of people want to know more about what happened to you
and your family after that," I repeated, even though we had talked for
hours about this by holophone when I was back in the States.
"Nothing special about my life," Akane said straight-faced, but
suddenly lost her calm manner and burst out laughing.
I joined her in her laughter. When we both finished laughing,
right on cue, Hanaki came out with some lemonade. "Thank you, Hanaki,"
I said, earning a twinkle from her blue eyes.
After Hanaki had returned to the house, Akane asked me, "Not
trying to marry into my family, are you?"
Blushing, I stammered, "Of course not...uh...she's just such a
nice young woman." Truth be told, I was attracted to Hanaki, but I
couldn't act on my feelings. I needed to retain my objectivity for the
book, didn't I? I looked at the house and gardens. "The house hasn't
changed much in the last six months," I commented, awkwardly changing
the subject.
Thankfully, Akane let me change the subject. "Hasn't changed much
in the last eighty years actually. The house has been rebuilt numerous
times, but always back to the original style. The gardens have been
enlarged, of course. I've always felt at peace in this house, despite
some of the things that have happened in and around it."
"I can see why. It's beautiful," I said, looking around. The house
at the center of the Tendo Compound looked almost exactly like it did
in the old photos. The adjoining houses and buildings had changed, of
course, as various family members had built up the Tendo Compound with
their own houses. Japanese families tended to live in the same house
with all generations, but when you had as large of an extended family
as the Tendo family did, you had to accommodate them all with the
multiple residences that made up the Compound.
Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted when I was kicked in the
side of my head. I went flying into the koi pond. I spit out the water
that I had almost swallowed. I lifted myself out of the pond, only to
end up on my butt again when I slipped on the edge of the pond. More
carefully this time, I rose and stepped out of the koi pond.
"Daijiko!" Akane scolded, "How many times have I asked you not to
kick visitors? Family only!"
"Sorry, Great-grandmother," the little girl named Daijiko replied,
looking sadly at the ground. She had the same short dark blue hair that
I've seen in old pictures of Akane, who now had a dignified mop of
white hair.
I squeezed out my shirt, then mussed up Daijiko's hair. "That's
okay, Daijiko. A visit here wouldn't be complete without a tour of the
koi pond. That's quite a kick for a five year old girl," I said,
rubbing my head. Daijiko beamed at me, bowed quickly, then she ran back
around the house to spar in the main dojo. Then to Akane, I said,
"She's grown quite a bit in the past year."
"She's too young for you, James," Akane informed me.
"You really think so? Darn," I replied, earning a smile from
Akane. It wasn't often, but I did occasionally manage to get her back
for all the times she teased me.
Hanaki helped me dry off, remove my shirt, slip a kimono on, and
then slip my pants off. I blushed as she helped me with this last piece
of clothing, she didn't even hesitate. "Thank you, Hanaki."
"My pleasure," Hanaki replied. I hope she meant helping me in
general and not helping me get undressed. She fished my palmcard and a
fish from my pants. Handing me my palmcard, she said smiling, "You'll
need this, I believe." Then she took the fish back to the koi pond.
"Thanks," I replied, opening my palmcard. It was waterproof, but I
still checked it for damage. Its one-handed keyboard unfolded itself
correctly and the holographic display sprang to life. I took the
opportunity to open the interview file for today. Some people liked to
use the new wristtop systems that have become available over the past
few years. Me? I prefer my trusty old trusty palmcard that I've had for
almost seven years now.
Finally, I sat down on the porch again.
"I'm sorry about that. I try to keep the kids from following in my
footsteps, but it's hard," Akane said.
"Don't worry about it. A little water never hurt anyone," I said,
regretting it as soon as I said it.
Akane frowned, then said, "That's what most of us would have said,
until Ranma showed up at our doorstep."
"Sorry, didn't mean to bring up painful memories."
"They aren't all painful..." Akane said, then switched the
conversation like an expert, "Where do you want to start?"
"Well, the last book ended at the destroyed wedding. It's best to
start right after that," I said.
"Ok. Let's see...Ranma had managed to untie himself and then he
blasted the locked doors of the dojo open, just as me and-" Akane
began.
I interrupted her and said, "Sorry, not that wedding."
"Oh, sorry. Which destroyed wedding did you mean then?"
I had to grin; the woman in front of him has had more attempted
weddings that anyone else I knew of. It was a shame that one of the
earlier ones didn't happen. Akane's three weddings, that actually did
occur AND finish with actual marriages, were under very stressful
conditions. "It was the one at the end of your Freshman year in high
school," I reminded her.
"Oh yes, after the Saffron incident and before Shampoo died. I
scolded Nabiki about inviting everyone to that one for years
afterwards," Akane said, smiling.
"Let's start after that wedding then."
"Okay, well it was early in 1998 and Nabiki had invited a whole
list of people trying to get more presents and donations. Of course
inviting Ranma's fiancees and assorted admirers of both of us was not a
good idea. She did at least try make it up to us by trying to get them
off our backs for a while, plus collecting money for repairing the
dojo," Akane began to reflect.
"And charged you how much?"
"Please, Nabiki may have had a weakness for money, but she wasn't
heartless," Akane insisted. I raised an eyebrow. Then she added, "About
fifty thousand Yen, if I recall correctly." She suppressed a smile. I
didn't.
***********************************************************************
February-July, 1998 - Nerima, Japan; Hotaka Mountain, Japan
The dust had barely settled in the Tendo dojo before Nabiki
started to make calls about the event, which became known as 'just
another destroyed wedding' in the far future. As it had only been a
week since the event, everyone at the Tendo household still called it
'Ranma and Akane's wedding disaster'. Others called it salvation;
another chance for me; rescue of my fair maiden; the will of the
Amazons; destiny; a rip off (since Nabiki refused to return any gifts
or donations); or a blast. Ranma and Akane didn't call it anything,
they mostly tried to get on with their life as normal. Of course, their
definition of 'normal' was anybody's guess.
-C- -M- -D-
The first call went out to the Kuno family lawyers. The next day
five big, mean looking, hairy knuckled, barely human lawyers showed up
at the Tendo house. They all wore identical black business suits with
short skirts. After a quick tour of the damaged dojo, Nabiki sat the
women, to use the term loosely, down at the table. Kasumi brought out
tea for them, recoiled at their faces, but quickly regained her
composure and served the tea.
"Miss Tendo, we really don't have time to socialize. Please get to
the point of your request for us to come over here," the biggest lawyer
said, then scratched her stubble.
"As you can see from the state of the dojo, we had a wedding that
was interrupted," Nabiki said, in her most business-like tone of voice.
"Well, that is unfortunate, but what does that have to do with us
or the Kuno family?"
"The damage was done by Tatewaki Kuno and his sister, Kodachi
Kuno," Nabiki asserted.
"We have several witnesses that can place the Kuno siblings in the
United States during the wedding," another lawyer claimed. She handed a
pile of depositions to Nabiki and then scratched herself.
Examining the papers briefly, Nabiki then said, "Nice job. How do
you explain this then?" Nabiki turned on the television and hit the
play button on the remote control. The television sprang to life and
showed the two Kuno siblings rampaging through the Tendo dojo at the
wedding. No one else at the wedding was seen to be damaging anything.
Someone who was at the wedding would have asked what happened to
Shampoo, Ukyo, Happosai, and the others who had broken up the wedding.
The lawyers, of course, weren't at the wedding, as no one would have
asked such ugly women to go.
"A fake."
<Well duh! More of a careful edit really,> Nabiki thought, then
said aloud, "You can try and disprove it. Anyway, there is also the
fact that your proof of the Kuno's being in America is a lie. A well
crafted lie, but not well crafted enough to slip by me." Nabiki tossed
some papers down in front of the lawyers.
The lawyers studied the papers. Suddenly they all lost their smug
and superior attitude. "How?" one of the lawyers asked, gasping for
breath.
"Let's just say that I've known Kuno for a long time and know how
he thinks. I have a bill here for all the damage done to the dojo,
mental stress caused to my poor sister and future brother-in-law, -"
Nabiki explained, then paused to consider that Ranma and Akane seemed a
little relieved that the wedding didn't happen. She continued, "-my
legal services, and a sum of money to setup a trust fund for the next
wedding and college education for Ranma and Akane." She handed the bill
to the lawyers.
"This is absurd, we won't pay this! It's too much!"
"Well, in that case I'll have to release this-" Nabiki stated, and
handed the lawyers another video tape with a flourish, and finished,
"-video to the national media."
One of the lawyers put the tape into the VCR and hit the play
button. The screen showed a rather ugly young boy with a pig like nose
and a little girl with a big Barbara Streisand-like nose playing at the
Kuno mansion. They both had ears that would rival Prince Charles' sole
remaining claim to fame.
"Now, I know the public really doesn't care, but I'm sure Kodachi
and Tatewaki wouldn't like this to be seen," Nabiki implied, then
added, "I have nothing against plastic surgery myself, but..."
One of the lawyers pulled out a briefcase and started piling
bundles of Yen bills in front of Nabiki. Nabiki grinned in triumph,
then counted the bills and made sure they were not counterfeit. She
made them replace the bills that had Kuno's picture on them with real
Yen.
When Kasumi started to show the lawyers out, one of them gave
Nabiki her card and said, "Miss Tendo, when you get through with
college you have a job with our law firm. I'm sure you'll fit right
in."
Nabiki took the card and filled it under her 'firms to avoid'
section of her organizer. After all, she wouldn't want to have to grow
a mustache like the other women in that firm had. Besides, she hadn't
even decided what to major in yet.
-C- -M- -D-
The second call went out to the police. Nabiki informed them of
the identity of the bra and panty thief that has been terrorizing Tokyo
for the past year. She gave them some useful information on the thief,
how to catch him, and how to keep him incarcerated. Nabiki then sold
his bra and panty collection, although she kept the various pieces
belonging to the Tendo sisters. She may have ended up with a few extra
pieces, since she just couldn't part with the black leather bra and
thong, even if it didn't belong to one of the Tendo sisters, at least
she didn't think so.
-C- -M- -D-
The third call went out to the immigration department.
Unfortunately, Nabiki ran into a dead end, apparently the Chinese
Fiancee Front (CFF) were in Japan legally. Since Cologne kept a tight
ship, Nabiki didn't have any information to blackmail them with. About
the only thing Nabiki could do was to send them a bill for the damages
and cut off the flow of information that the CFF occasionally bought
from her. The bill was never paid, but Nabiki decided to keep a close
eye on the CFF to see if she could get their share of the damages some
other way.
-C- -M- -D-
The final call went out to Ucchan's. The owner wasn't there.
Konatsu promised Nabiki that he would call if she showed up. All Nabiki
could do is inform her various spies and contacts to be on the lookout
for Ukyo.
-C- -M- -D-
"Not bad for a couple days of work," Nabiki insisted, to no one in
particular.
Nabiki put on her long lost red teddie, along with a matching pair
of panties, then went to bed.
-C- -M- -D-
The first school bell of Ranma and Akane's Junior year at Furinkan
High rang. Akane and Ranma raced towards the front entrance. "Ranma!
How could you make us late for our first day as Juniors?" Akane scolded
him.
"You're the one who insisted that I eat your breakfast this
morning, which caused me to have to stop at Dr. Tofu's to get my
stomach pumped!" Ranma yelled back at her.
The young couple, although neither of them would refer to
themselves that way, suddenly screeched to a halt in front of the
school. Their jaws dropped as they saw the horde of boys massed in
front. They hadn't seen anything like this for almost a year.
"What the..." Akane sputtered.
"Hey! Clear the way! We're late!" Ranma yelled and started
menacingly towards the group.
A voice carried over the soft murmurs of the assembled boys, "At
the dawn of a new school year, the lowly new underclassmen must prove
themselves to the lovely Akane Tendo in battle."
"Kuno," Ranma cursed.
"Kuno," Akane cursed, but in a more lady-like manner since she
omitted Ranma's hand gesture.
"Akane Tendo, I love you!"; "Please be mine!"; "Date with me!";
and "Die, Ranma!" were some of the more coherent shouts heard from the
boys as they ran towards Ranma and Akane.
"Please don't hurt me!"; "I kind of like you, Akane!"; "Can you do
my homework?"; "I don't even know you, but Kuno made me do this!"; "I
don't want to die!"; and "Give me five thousand yen on me being beaten
to a pulp, Nabiki!" were some of the more pathetic shouts heard.
Although out of practice for fights like this, Ranma and Akane
jumped right in. They only got in each other's way three times while
they beat up the horde of Freshman boys. In the end, half of them ran
away in terror after they saw Ranma and Akane fight in person for the
first time.
"Kuno said they were wimps!"; "Kuno is a jerk!"; "Kuno said we
couldn't loose!"; "Kuno is cute!"; "Mommy!"; and "Give me my winnings,
Nabiki!" were the comments heard as the fight ended.
"Imagine goading the new Freshman boys into attacking us!" Akane
said, as she straightened her new school uniform. The clinically insane
Principal of Furinkan High had gotten the school board to agree to new
uniforms over the break, the fact that he paid for them himself helped
sway them in his favor. Although the students all hated the old
uniforms, no one wanted to replace them with THESE uniforms. Imagine
the rather standard sailor-style girls uniforms, but in Hawaiian
prints. Then throw up. The boys' uniforms were just as sickening, being
the same as the old ones, but with an even louder Hawaiian print on
them.
"Yeah, but it seems like old times," Ranma said, a big grin on his
face. He straightened his usual Chinese style shirt. It too had a
Hawaiian print on it, since Akane had insisted that he look as stupid
as she did. Somehow, Ranma made it look good.
"You don't really want to repeat everything that happened last
year, do you?" Akane questioned him.
"Well, not everything, but I wouldn't miss some of the experiences
we had for all the 'Spring of drowned man' water in the world," Ranma
insisted.
"Really?" Akane asked, amazed that he wouldn't want to rid himself
of his curse at all cost.
"Really. I still want to be cured, but with Jusenkyo gone I've
started to accept my curse. Sort of," Ranma said, but sounded wistful
at the end.
"That's amazing, you've really matured since I met you, Ranma,"
Akane said, looking at him in a new light. <I wouldn't pass up meeting
you either, Ranma.> A smile crossed her face for about a second,
before...
Ranma ruined it by saying, "And besides, if not for what I learned
last year, I couldn't do this..." Then he shouted, "Moko Takabisha!!!"
"Now that the lowly underclassmen have been tested in battle, I,
the Blue Thun..urk-" was all Tatewaki Kuno had time to say before the
chi blast hit him in the chest, enveloped him in flames, and sent him
flying backwards through the school building and into the girl's locker
room. He was beaten up by a mob of naked teenage girls, who were
changing for their first period gym class. There are worse ways to be
beaten up and Kuno has experienced most of them.
"I should have known..." Akane muttered and headed indoors.
"What did I do now?" Ranma inquired, as he followed her in.
-C- -M- -D-
Ranma and Akane started the first period of their Junior year
holding pails of water in the hallway.
Kuno spent the first day of his Senior year in the infirmary. A
cute Cheerleader named Mariko tended to him. He didn't notice her.
At lunchtime in the schoolyard, Ranma and Akane ate the lunches
that Mrs. Saotome made them until Akane's friends, Yuka and Sayuri,
walked up to them. Ranma's two friends, Daisuke and Hiroshi, were right
on their heels.
"Stop stepping on my shoes!" Yuka yelled at Daisuke and proceeded
to clobber him with her bag.
They all congratulated Ranma and Akane on their first fight of
their junior year. "Yes, thanks a lot guys! I won ten thousand Yen from
Nabiki!" Daisuke said, patting Ranma on the back.
"She gave better odds this time for the boys to beat you two!"
Yuka said, as she counted her winnings.
"Better odds? Why?" Ranma asked.
Hiroshi answered Ranma's question, "Well she said since you
weren't expecting it and because she made more money from the Freshman
students who've never heard of you, that she could give better odds."
"Ha! Like I could ever lose!" Ranma gloated, ignoring the times he
had lost fights in the past. <Just temporary setbacks, not loses,> he
tried to convince himself.
"So...when are you two going to try and get married again?" Sayuri
asked.
"How much do you have on the result?" Akane quipped.
Akane was only a little shocked when Sayuri replied, "Twenty
thousand."
Both Ranma and Akane shook their heads, sadly. Some things never
change.
The rest of the lunch conversation had to do with the new uniforms
and what to do about them. 'Burn them' was the most popular suggestion.
-C- -M- -D-
The next day a slightly smaller crowd of boys attacked again and
lost again. Kuno didn't make it in time for the morning fight, he
apparently had to go find a wig to replace his hair that was burned off
by the previous day's fight. That was the rumor at least. Other people
said that his father, the school's principal, had shaved his head.
Either or both could have been the truth.
The next few days were somewhat normal. The boys attacked, Kuno
spoke bad poetry, Ranma and/or Akane beat him up (they took turns).
Three weeks into the school year the group of boys had already
admitted defeat, but not Kuno. It was Ranma's turn to fight Kuno, but
since Ranma had decided it wasn't honorable for him to use his special
attacks on a weakling like Kuno this fight was actually close to five
minutes long already. Kuno didn't particularly like Ranma reminding him
of this fact every time they fought.
Ranma avoided another bokken swing and then swept Kuno's feet from
under him. As Ranma paused to let Kuno get up and put his hair back on,
Ranma asked Akane to marry him. Well somehow, that is what Ryoga
thought he heard from down the street. What Ranma actually said was,
"Akane, will you rub his bald head for me?"
Akane just signed, shook her head, and went on inside to class.
She missed Ryoga jumping between Ranma and Kuno's bokken. Ryoga took
the full force of the bokken swing and crumpled to the ground.
Ranma was getting bored, so he shredded Kuno's samurai clothing,
which also had the new school Hawaiian print on it. Kuno retreated,
while he desperately tried to hide the panda underwear he was wearing.
Nabiki managed to get several pictures of Kuno retreating. Ranma and
Akane both bought copies for when they needed a good laugh.
Meanwhile, Ryoga got up and yelled, "Bakusai Tenketsu!!" As Ryoga
hit the ground under Ranma with a finger, Ranma leaped on top of
Ryoga's head. Most of the bits of ground missed hitting Ranma, Ryoga
wasn't as lucky. Ryoga tried to hit Ranma off his head with his
umbrella. "Ranma! How dare you use my head as a stool!"
"Relax, Ryoga!" Ranma said. Since Ryoga failed to relax, Ranma
jumped straight up and landed on Ryoga's head again. Ryoga was pounded,
feet first, into the weakened ground. Ranma headed for class. Ryoga got
a good look at all of the girls panties as they walked by him and into
the school. He was still there when school let out, since even Ryoga
couldn't get lost if he was stuck in the ground. Not to mention the
fact that he had passed out from blood loss.
-C- -M- -D-
After wandering for a week or so, Ryoga sat on a tree limb with
Akari. The young teenage girl looked at Ryoga, then said, "Do you still
love Akane?"
Ryoga looked awkwardly at Akari. "Yes, but I love you," he said,
then added softly, "more."
"I wish I could believe that, you still wander off and end up
there more than here," Akari said, fighting back her tears. "I think
that's a good sign that you still long for her in your heart."
"It's just my families bad sense of direction," Ryoga insisted.
"Maybe, but I think deep down you want to be with her more.
Despite the fact that she's probably going to end up marrying Ranma."
"That's not for sure!!" Ryoga blurted.
"See what I mean? Ryoga," Akari said, paused and then continued,
"I love you and I hope you love me." She smiled when she saw him nod.
"But, I need you to get over Akane. Until you do, I can't sit around
waiting for you wander back to me."
"Akari, ever since I've known you I've felt close to you. I know
you hate the fact that I love Akane too, but-" Ryoga said, but then was
interrupted by Akari.
"You love her, but she doesn't love you! The only love she feels
for you is when you're a pig!" Akari exclaimed. She calmed down a bit,
then continued. "You should go now. Try to find out if you love her or
me more. You should tell her that you are P-Chan to start, that's the
only way you'll be able to decide for sure."
"It may be too late to tell her now."
"That's your choice. If you decide to come back to me and can tell
me that you only love me, or at least have given up on Akane, then I'll
welcome you with open arms."
"I wish I could tell you right now, but my heart is telling me two
different things," Ryoga said, then stood up. He fell and crashed into
the ground, since he forgot he was sitting on a tree limb about twenty
feet in the air.
"Ryoga, I love you, but I won't wait forever. If I find someone
else before you return..." Akari said, letting the rest of the threat
go unspoken.
"I understand, Akari. Thanks for giving me another shot to figure
my life out. I love you," Ryoga walked away. He just made the biggest
mistake of his life. Well...except for following Ranma to China, that
is.
"Tokyo is the other way, Ryoga," Akari instructed and pointed.
After he was gone, she muttered, "I love you. Please come back to me."
She cried for several hours on the tree branch.
-C- -M- -D-
After spending a month back in China on Amazon business, Cologne,
Mousse, and Shampoo all walked into the Cat Cafe. They were surprised
to find it open and people enjoying dinner. A young waitress walked up
to them and asked, "How many?"
Cologne looked at the waitress, then applied the end of her staff
to the girls forehead. The girl's eyes glazed over. "Why are you in my
restaurant?" Cologne asked.
"We were hired to run the restaurant while the owners were away on
vacation," the waitress explained, with a flat tone of voice.
"*I* am the owner!" Cologne shouted. Then the telephone rang.
Cologne jumped over and picked it up before the cook could get it. She
whacked him over the head with her staff, then said, "Hello?"
The voice on the other end said, "Quick! Close up shop and get out
of there, the owners are coming back."
"Is that you, Nabiki Tendo?" Cologne asked. The telephone suddenly
went dead.
"What's going on, Great-grandmother? Why these people running our
restaurant?" Shampoo asked.
"That money witch has been running our restaurant while we were in
China," Cologne explained.
"Oh, that very kind of her!" Shampoo exclaimed.
"I doubt she left the profits for us, Great-granddaughter,"
Cologne explained slowly.
"Oh, that not nice."
Cologne suddenly leapt up onto a table and shouted, "All right!
Everyone out! Including the help Nabiki Tendo hired, you're all fired!"
Everyone looked at Cologne, but didn't move until she suddenly
seemed to triple in size and catch on fire. There was a mass exodus,
even the paralyzed waitress screamed and ran out.
Mousse commented, "Well, at least they kept the place clean."
Cologne tossed a bucket of water onto Mousse and then crammed the duck
into it's cage. The duck sighed. He was home.
"What do we do now, Great-grandmother?" Shampoo asked.
"We get you your husband of course. Here's what I want you to
do..." Cologne explained.
-C- -M- -D-
Ranma hung by his feet and poked his head into Akane's window.
"Hey, Akane?" Ranma inquired.
"Ranma? What are you doing?" Akane asked, as she saw the boy
hanging upside down in her window.
"Just hanging around," Ranma said. Akane groaned. "Would you like
to join me on the roof?"
Akane shrugged, pulled on a robe and climbed out of the window.
Ranma helped her to the top of the roof. They both sat down and gazed
up at the night sky. "What's up, Ranma?" Akane looked at him, hoping
he'd finally say whatever had been on his mind all day.
"Um, well....I just wanted to say..." Ranma said, then trailed off
and started to twiddle his thumbs.
"Ranma! I know you've been trying to tell me something all day, so
just spit it out!" Akane insisted, with an angry tone.
"Well, I wanted to say Happy Anniversary and that I'm glad that I
know you," Ranma finally said.
Confused, Akane softened and asked, "Anniversary?"
"Yeah, it was one year ago today that I walked into the front door
of this house. Actually, I guess I was carried in by a panda."
Akane gasped and thought for a second. Then she said, "You're
right. I'd completely forgotten that."
"Gee, thanks."
"Oh! I remember the day vividly, just lost track of the date. Hard
to forget the day you were engaged to a hermaphrodite," Akane said.
"Hey!"
Akane looked downward and frowned, then said, "I'm sorry, Ranma.
That was mean of me. I'm really glad that you remembered this day."
"I also wanted to urk-" Ranma began, then stopped suddenly when
the bicycle tire landed on his face.
"Nihao, Ranma!!" Shampoo chimed.
"Shampoo? Where on Earth did you come from?" Akane gasped. "We
haven't seen you around for weeks!"
"We were in China on very important Amazon business. Un-cute girl,
go away now. Shampoo have to talk to husband," Shampoo insisted.
"Urk..." Was heard from under the bicycle.
"Shampoo, he's not your husband, fiancee, boyfriend, or anything.
You're mostly just an annoyance!"
"You lucky Great-grandmother told me to be extra nice, or Shampoo
have to kill you now!"
"You call this nice? Your bike is on Ranma's face!!"
"It only way he not run away," Shampoo explained, as if it was
obvious.
"I give up. Good luck, Ranma," Akane said and did an impressive
flip off the roof and into her window. At least from the roof it looked
impressive, if Ranma had seen her landing, he would have said something
to the tune of, "Nice landing, you klutzy tomboy."
"Urk..." was what Ranma actually said, since he still had a
bicycle tire on his face.
"Good, now that un-cute girl gone we can talk," Shampoo said and
backed her bicycle off his face.
Ranma spat out the piece of rubber he was chewing on, then
shouted, "Shampoo! Will you leave me alone already! I don't love you
and I'm not going to marry you!"
"Didn't Ranma miss Shampoo?" Shampoo asked, then picked up Ranma
and hugged him closely. Ranma didn't notice her pull several hairs out
of his head when she finally released him.
"Were you gone?" Ranma asked, then suddenly realized, "You're
right! I haven't been hit by a bicycle tire in over a month."
"Money girl steal from us and now you have to marry me!" Shampoo
insisted, peeved that he didn't miss her.
"Nabiki? Why should I marry you just because Nabiki did
something?" Ranma asked.
"Because otherwise we have Nabiki thrown in jail for stealing the
profits from our restaurant," Shampoo said, and grinned triumphantly.
Ranma went pale. Had Nabiki's shady doings finally caught up to
her? He opened his mouth to speak, but a female voice came out. He
looked up to see if it was raining, it wasn't. He looked around and saw
Nabiki behind him.
Nabiki stood on the top of the ladder that leaned against the
roof, a robe wrapped tightly around the red teddie she wore. She said,
"Shampoo, you tell your great-grandmother that she'll find that all
expenses have been paid for the Cat Cafe for the past month. That means
that nothing has been stolen from you and there is absolutely no way
that she can prove I had anything to do with the street gang that ran
the restaurant."
Shampoo glared at Nabiki, "Money girl better not make
Great-grandmother angry or you be sorry," Shampoo said. Then she
realized that the plan backfired and peddled her bicycle away. <Dang,
Great-grandmother seemed sure this plan would work. I wonder why she
insisted that I get Ranma's hair and a saliva sample on special tire as
part of plan?> Shampoo thought, as she left the roof.
"What on Earth did you do to them?" Ranma asked Nabiki.
"Just ran their restaurant while they were away in China," Nabiki
said.
"And kept the profits for yourself."
"True, but I paid all their expenses, so I really didn't steal
anything," Nabiki pleaded her case, then made her way down the ladder.
Ranma sighed, then went down to his room. Realizing that this
wasn't the right time anymore, he put the ring back into his dresser.
He just stared up at the ceiling before drifting off to sleep. He
thought about washing off the big reminder that was written on the
ceiling. In big red letters it read, 'May 13th: Anniversary of Ranma
meeting Akane'. He decided to leave it for next year. Then he decided
he should also leave all the other reminders up there as well,
especially the one about Akane's birthday, since he had really messed
up big time on her seventeenth birthday.
For some reason, he never thought about how all those reminders
got up there in the first place, he just took them for granted.
Before turning in for the night, Kasumi put the iron away in the
kitchen closet. She had to move her jar of red paint aside to make room
for the iron.
-C- -M- -D-
Shampoo returned to the Cat Cafe and handed the hair and saliva
samples to her great-grandmother. "Here you go, Great-grandmother, but
plan didn't work, Nabiki stopped Ranma from accepting," Shampoo said.
Cologne took the samples, then said, "Never mind, I knew he
wouldn't fall for that ruse. For now, we can't hurt any of the Tendos,
Ranma wouldn't like that. I just needed the samples."
"What for, Great-grandmother?"
"Oh, just a little magical item I am going to create to let you
have Ranma all to yourself. That Tendo girl won't even care after I do
this to my son-in-law," Cologne explained, then started to cackle.
It took her several days to prepare the hair and saliva samples,
perform the needed steps to create the magical chicken bone, and then
store it safely in her cabinet along with her notes. It would take
several months for the magic to bond with the samples and the chicken
bone. Cologne could wait to get Ranma to marry Shampoo.
Shampoo couldn't. Every day Shampoo asked, "Is it done yet?"
-C- -M- -D-
The day after their Anniversary, Ranma and Akane walked to school.
Akane asked, "Ranma, what was it you wanted to ask me last night?"
"Um, well...I'll tell you later," Ranma said. <I can't ask her
now, I don't have the ring.>
"Come on, just say it. I won't bite...or hit you."
Ranma knew he had to say something, or she WOULD hit him. Picking
the least objectionable thing he could think of, he said, "Well
then...I guess that's a NO then."
"What?"
"Well, I was going to ask you if you wanted to spar with me while
my father's leg mends, but without hitting, what's the point?" Ranma
said, then shrugged.
Genma had indeed broken his leg, but somehow Akane doubted that
that was what Ranma was trying to ask her last night. Of course, Akane
wasn't one to pass up a major concession on Ranma's part, so she
agreed, "Ranma, I'd love that! I've been wanting you to take me
seriously as an martial artist for the last year."
"Oh, good. Well, tomorrow morning then," Ranma said, looking
towards school.
Akane thought all day long about what Ranma really wanted to ask
her. Especially something so big that he'd finally agree to spar for
real with her. <No...it couldn't have been THAT!> Her mind insisted.
-C- -M- -D-
When Akane was preparing to go to bed that night, she found a
small piece of folded paper taped to her desk mirror. She opened it and
examined it. A couple of formulas were hand written on it: '1+1=2' and
'R+A=2'.
Akane looked at the formulas, gasped, then asked herself, "Ranma
plus Akane equals a couple? Could this be his way of saying he
considers us a couple finally?" Akane smiled and jumped into bed, still
holding the paper in her fingers.
Then a thought struck her, as she examined the paper again, <I
hope this isn't just some homework he needs help with?>
-C- -M- -D-
The next morning Akane and Ranma faced off in the dojo. Akane
charged at Ranma and tried to land a kick or hand on Ranma. She
couldn't. "Come on! You said you'd spar with me, so hit me already!"
Akane screamed.
Knowing he had agreed to it, Ranma reluctantly said, "Just try not
to die, okay?" He then lashed out with a left jab, followed by a right
kick. Akane took both hits and fell to the ground.
"Damn, you don't have to hold back you know!" Akane insisted, as
she rose back to her feet.
"I didn't!" Ranma insisted.
"Yeah, right. Well prepare to be hit!" Akane yelled, then jumped
at Ranma, throwing various punched and kicks. Ranma blocked them all,
until one got though and hit him on the chin. Ranma flew backwards and
crashed into the wall.
<Damn, her tactics and forms are weak, but she has brute strength.
I may have to be more careful.> Ranma thought.
"Giving up?"
"Nope, nice one. Maybe you should be a boxer, that's a nasty punch
you have there," Ranma said, meaning it as an insult.
Akane smiled, taking it as a compliment. She said, "Thank you,
Ranma."
Ranma got up, did a somersault over Akane, and pegged her in the
back of the head, again pulling his punch quite a bit. Akane spun
around and kicked Ranma in his side. Ranma did a back flip, then threw
a punch at her stomach.
Unfortunately, Akane had ducked to avoid what she thought was a
high punch, so she took the punch in her eye instead. She crumpled to
the ground.
-C- -M- -D-
At breakfast, Akane had an ice pack on her eye. Ranma looked
despondent. "I'm sorry, Akane," Ranma muttered as he saw the black eye.
"No, it's all a part of training," Akane insisted. <Damn, I know
he was pulling his punches, but it still packed a wallop,> Akane
thought.
"Ranma, I know Akane wants you to train with her, but try to be a
little more careful," Nodoka scolded her son. "After all, if you kill
her your honeymoon will be no fun."
"Mom!!!"
-C- -M- -D-
For the next month, Ranma and Akane would spar for an hour before
going to school. Ranma still held back too much for Akane's liking, but
they both still got a good workout. Ranma was amazed at how much better
she was getting, but being Ranma, he never bothered to tell Akane that.
In mid June, Ranma and Akane were seated in their homeroom when
Ukyo walked into the classroom. She was wearing one of the new Hawaiian
school uniforms, a boy's uniform. "Ukyo!!" Ranma and Akane both shouted
at the same time.
She averted her gaze and took a seat as far away from them as she
could. Ranma and Akane's efforts to talk to her were silenced by the
teacher. Akane and Ranma looked sadly at each other and spent the first
half of the day looking worriedly at Ukyo. All attempts to talk to her
were cut off quickly by an angry look from her.
At lunch, they finally cornered her in the schoolyard. "Ukyo!
Where have you've been? We've been worried sick about you!" Akane
asked, as she tried to get some eye contact with the girl in front of
her.
"Yeah, Ukyo, after the wedding we looked for you all over. Konatsu
even had to close the restaurant!" Ranma said, also trying to get Ukyo
to look him in the eyes.
"Can't you both just leave me alone? My father made me come back
and re-open the restaurant," Ukyo said, as she poked at her
okonomiyaki. Ranma and Akane both noticed that it had 'I'm sorry'
written on it.
"Ukyo, please talk to us. Of all the people who we thought might
try to stop the wedding, we never thought you'd take such direct
action. We were worried you might have done something rash after you
disappeared," Akane said.
"Ukyo, please talk to us. We're your friends," Ranma pleaded.
"I'm no friend. I'm a monster who ruined your beautiful wedding,"
Ukyo said, as she began to cry.
With a smile, Ranma joked, "Well yes...but you had help."
Despite herself, Ukyo grinned briefly. "Why are you two being so
nice?" she finally asked. She stared at a piece of dirt on the ground,
which she apparently found interesting.
"Because you're our friend and, despite the fact that you're after
my fiancee, I still like you," Akane admitted.
"Fiancee?" Ukyo gasped, then looked up at their eyes for the first
time. She looked closely at their hands, then mumbled hopefully, "You
didn't get married?"
"Nope. Mrs. Saotome said we had to deal with our assorted admirers
and fiancees first. Plus me and Ranma decided we should probably try to
stop insulting each other before we tie the knot," Akane explained.
"Yeah, but we haven't had much luck so far," Ranma insisted,
trying to be funny, but failing. "At either item." Last second save.
"I...I assumed that you two got married in a private ceremony
after the destroyed wedding...I couldn't face you knowing what I did to
you both," Ukyo said, between sobs. Then she thought, <I still have a
chance to get my Ran-chan!>
"Just don't get any ideas of starting to chase Ranma again...I'd
rather not have to fight you again," Akane said.
"Ukyo, we're friends...but I just can't return the love you feel
towards me. I just don't look at you like that," Ranma explained. Then
he glanced briefly at Akane.
When she noticed his glance, Akane grinned.
"How can you both keep calling me your friend after what I did?"
Akane said, "Because you are. I don't know if me and Ranma will
ever get married-" Ranma frowned at this point, neither of the girls
noticed. "-but I want to try and see if we have a relationship that
will last. Up to now we haven't had any uninterrupted time to find
out."
Ukyo looked up at them, then said, "Can you forgive me? I would
like to try and be your friend again."
"Of course," Ranma and Akane both agreed at the same time.
"All I ask, Ukyo, is that you back off on pursuing Ranma. I really
don't want to have to fight with you over him again," Akane asked,
reached out and took Ukyo's hands in hers.
"But...but I still love him," Ukyo said, looking down again. Ranma
looked very awkward at this point.
"I know, I can't make you not love him and if you said you didn't
love him I'd know you were lying to me. As long as you don't cross the
line between friend and crazed fiancee, I'll be glad to call you my
friend," Akane proclaimed, then hugged Ukyo closely.
"Oh, Akane...if only Ranma was twins," Ukyo sobbed, then kissed
Akane on the cheek, a slight smile coming back to her troubled face.
"You want his girl side?" Akane quipped.
"Hey! I'm not getting into a menage a trios with you two!" Ranma
yelled, loudly. He drew the sudden stares of most of the students in
the schoolyard. His shoulders slumped and he tried to disappear. It
didn't work.
"That's not exactly the kind of thing you shout out like that,
Ranma!" Akane scolded him, hoping Kuno didn't hear it.
"He hasn't changed, has he Akane?" Ukyo said, smiling broadly for
the first time in months.
"Nope, he's still my baka."
"Tomboy!"
"You should probably find different pet names, you know," Ukyo
asserted.
Ranma and Akane both blushed. Then they had to start denying
everything when the students surrounded them and asked about the
'menage a trios' that the three of them were having. Ranma even denied
that he was born at one point.
-C- -M- -D-
About a month after Ukyo made her reappearance, the final school
bell before summer break rang throughout Furinkan High. As in any other
school, the students rejoiced and ran screaming and yelling out of the
building. Unlike most other schools, a fight broke out in the front of
the school shortly after the bell rang.
"Give it up, Kuno!" Ranma yelled as he dodged a bokken swing. <Why
does he still do this? He knows he's no match for me, one 'Moko
Takabisha' and he's toast!>
"Ranma Saotome, I have but half of my senior year to vanquish you
before my glory days at university begin! Prepare to meet thy doom at
my noble hands!" Kuno exclaimed.
"Kuno, there is no way you'll ever beat me and I assure you that
Akane and your so called 'pig-tailed goddess' are forever out of your
reach!" Ranma recited for the millionth time, to no avail. Therefore,
he swept Kuno's feet, which caused Kuno to fall on his butt.
"How dare you make me take such an ignoble position!" Kuno yelled,
as he sat on his ass. He jumped to his feet and thrust his bokken at
Ranma's head.
Akane waited by the road, as the battle raged. Nabiki made her way
over to her. "This will be the last Kuno-Ranma battle for awhile, I
guess," Nabiki said, checking the bets entered in her palmtop.
"Yup, how'd you do?" Akane asked.
"Not bad, still can't believe that someone still bets on Kuno to
win these matches."
"Let me guess...Kuno?" Akane asked.
"Yup, that's the only reason I can even take bets on these Ranma
versus Kuno battles," Nabiki answered. "Everyone else bets on Ranma. Of
course the odds don't let them win too much, just enough to spread the
Kuno family's wealth a little."
"Ranma's not even using his special attacks, or this would be over
already," Akane insisted. "He decided, after he burned Kuno's hair off
at the start of the school year-" Akane snickered, then finished "-that
it wasn't honorable to blast a weaker martial artist like Kuno."
<I made a good deal of money off the bald Kuno pictures too,>
Nabiki thought. Nabiki laughed as well, then said, "His honor will get
him killed someday...or married."
"Nabiki!"
"Don't tell me this training trip you're going on with him this
summer is just to train?" Nabiki asked, with a wink.
"It is!"
"Whatever," Nabiki said. She glanced at a tall young man who
walked out of the school, avoided the fight, and made his way down the
street.
Noticing Nabiki's glance, more of a lingering look actually, Akane
asked, "How are you holding up?"
"I'm fine. *I* broke up with Kyosuke, remember?"
"I know, but it must have been tough," Akane said.
"I don't think you're in the best position to be giving consoling
on boyfriends, Akane," Nabiki insinuated, with a slight edge to her
voice.
"Probably not. I'm just concerned," Akane replied.
"I know...sorry if I snapped at you. I liked Kyosuke, but it
always seemed like more of a friendship. No sparks," Nabiki said, then
noticed the fight was over. "Here comes YOUR sweetheart, I'll go mop up
Kuno." Nabiki went to wake up Kuno, congratulating Ranma as she passed
him.
"I'll be glad when he's gone to college!" Ranma insisted as he
took his bag from Akane. The young couple turned and started to walk
home.
"Well, at least he won't be bugging us this summer," Akane said
with a big smile.
"Why is that?"
"Our training trip..." Akane reminded him.
"Oh, that. Are you sure you want to go with me? I'm sure I can get
Ryoga to go instead," Ranma said, trying to weasel out of the trip.
"We went over this already! I'm going with you!" Akane growled.
"Okay, okay..." Ranma calmed her down.
"I'll never understand why you have such a problem training with
me, Ryoga doesn't mind sparing for real with me!" Akane exclaimed.
"I've never seen Ryoga hit you," Ranma commented.
"Of course he..." Akane said, then trailed off. <You know...He's
right...Ryoga doesn't actually throw punches at me either,> she thought
and grew angry, then quickly scolded herself, <I'm supposed to be mad
at Ranma now, not Ryoga!>
"I've told you this before: I don't like to fight with girls! Even
tomboys like..." Ranma began to say, but was cut short with a mallet.
Short in the sense that he was hammered halfway into the ground.
"Baka," Akane muttered, then stormed off.
<Damn, first malleting since the aborted wedding, I had such a
good streak going,> Ranma thought, as he crawled out of the hole.
From down the street, Ukyo had watched this exchange with
interest. As she walked back to her restaurant, she thought, <Friend or
not, why do I just let her keep abusing Ranma like this? How often does
she hit him anyway? She says she loves him, but is this how she shows
it?> On the way back to her restaurant, Ukyo tried to remember when
she had ever heard Akane declare that she loved Ranma, but couldn't
remember a single time she had ever heard Akane announce her feelings
for Ranma.
-C- -M- -D-
Kasumi brought out the last of the dinner and knelt down at the
table and, with the help of Nodoka, began serving the hungry hordes.
"How was your day, Akane?" Kasumi inquired.
"Pretty good, except I had to use my mallet on Ranma," Akane
replied cheerfully.
Ranma rubbed his head, remembering the blow. The pain had stopped
long ago, but he liked to rub it in Akane's face.
"Akane, you might want to leave the mallet behind when you go on
your training trip. I'd like my son to come back alive," Nodoka
offered, just a glint of a smile on her face.
Akane looked down at her lap and nodded her agreement.
"Now, Ranma, remember that this is your first time teaching
martial arts to someone else. You are no longer the student. It is a
teacher's responsibility to help his student to become the best martial
artist he or she can be," Genma said, in his most authoritative voice.
"Yes, Pop," Ranma conceded.
Genma then leaned over to Ranma, then whispered, "Make sure not to
hit her too hard, Son. There is no need to cripple her before the
honeymoon."
"Pop! I'm not going to hit her hard at all!" Ranma insisted, a
little to loudly.
"Oh yes you will, Ranma!" Akane yelled, then added, "You'll hit me
hard or you really won't come back from this trip in one piece!"
"If you insist, but don't blame me if you end up with a broken leg
too," Ranma said, then shot a glance his father.
"Oh I'm so happy! My future son-in-law is finally going to beat up
my little Akane!" Soun cried, then pulled Akane and Ranma into a tight
embrace.
The others in the room just stared in disbelief at Soun.
"Interesting choice of words, Daddy," Nabiki quipped.
"If only I didn't break my leg I could at least go with you two
and make sure you didn't kill each other," Genma insisted, indicating
the cast on his leg.
"Actually, Pop, *I* broke your leg!" Ranma smirked, remembering
the sparring match in which the injury occurred.
"And we're not going to kill each other! It's just training!"
Akane insisted.
"Just take it easy on my little boy, Akane," Nodoka asked.
"Mom!!!"
"I will, Auntie," Akane agreed, with a grin.
After few minutes of other dinner conversation, Kasumi said
softly, "Um, I have an announcement."
"Yes, Kasumi, what is it?" Soun asked his oldest daughter.
"I've decided that with Nodoka here, I'm not really needed around
the house any more," Kasumi began to explain.
"Nonsense! You're the heart of this family!" Soun protested.
"Kasumi, I never meant to replace you. I just wanted to help out,"
Nodoka insisted.
The others all add their praise and support for the job Kasumi has
done as the head of the Tendo household.
"Please, let me finish," Kasumi said, with a slight rise in
volume. Everyone went silent. "I enjoy cooking for my family-" she
began her explanation. As she looked at the Saotomes, she continued
with a smile, "-ALL of my family and looking after the house, but it's
not what I intend to do for the rest of my life. I've seen my sisters
grow into fine young adults, but now I have to do something for myself.
I hope that's not too selfish of me." Soun chose this moment to start
crying. Trying to ignore the waterworks, Kasumi continued, "I've
decided to go to college. With a recommendation and help studying from
Dr. Tofu, I've been accepted mid-year at the Tokyo Women's Medical
College, in their pre-med program. Nabiki said there was enough money
for me to go and not affect her or Akane's college education."
After a few moments of silence the room exploded with
congratulations, praise, encouragement, hugs, and tears from everyone.
"It would make your father proud to one day call you DOCTOR Kasumi
Tendo," Soun said, between sobs.
"Just had to beat me into college, huh big sister?" Nabiki said.
<So that's what all those questions about our finances were all about.>
"Well hurry up, Kasumi! Ranma's going to need your help after this
trip!" Akane quipped.
"This family could use a marriage counselor if you ask me," Ranma
commented.
"You'd have to marry Akane first, before you could use one,"
Nabiki pointed out. <He makes it SO easy sometimes,> Nabiki thought to
herself.
Ranma blushed and looked away awkwardly.
-C- -M- -D-
Later that night, Akane was packing her backpack while P-Chan
looked on from the desk by the window and tried to see if he could
sneak into the backpack somehow.
As she came into the room, Nabiki asked, "So all set?"
"Almost, just packing the last of my clothes," Akane said, as she
put in a spare gi.
"So, what do you think of Kasumi's announcement?" Nabiki asked.
"I think it's great! She deserves to do something for herself
after taking care of us for so long," Akane said, then thought to
herself, <And I'll be able to cook more myself.>
Ignoring the smile that crossed Akane's face, Nabiki said, "I sort
of thought she was going to wait till you and Ranma got married before
she would do something like this, but I guess she couldn't wait that
long."
"What?"
"Well, she asked about the family finances just before your
destroyed wedding, so I assume she was thinking about it back then,"
Nabiki explained.
"She needn't worry about me and Ranma. We can handle our
relationship without anyone's help or interference," Akane insisted.
"Oh? What exactly is your relationship?"
"Um, well..."
"Don't forget these, just in case your 'relationship' requires
them," Nabiki said, tossing a small box to her.
Noticing what the box was, Akane stammered, "What??? What are
these..."
"Just in case," Nabiki answered, with a wink. She turned and left
the room.
Akane just stared at the box and was about to throw it in the
trash. Instead, she slipped it into a side pocket on her backpack. She
didn't notice when P-Chan fell out of the window, frozen with shock.
-C- -M- -D-
Ukyo slept peacefully, until someone started banging on her
restaurant's door. She awoke and looked around. "Who on Earth could
that be at this time of night?" Ukyo said, then wiped the sleep out of
her eyes. She slipped out of her bed and shivered as the cold night air
caressed her skin. She wrapped a big fluffy robe with little pink
spatulas embroidered on it around her body, then made her way down the
stairs.
Ukyo opened the door to see a worried Ryoga staring back at her.
"What's up, Pig-boy?" she asked.
"Don't call me that! Just because you found out about my curse
doesn't mean you have to taunt me with it!" Ryoga yelled back at her.
Ukyo shrugged her shoulders and then started to close the door. "Wait!
Ranma and Akane are going on a training trip, ALONE!" Ryoga quickly
explained.
"Yes, I know. Because Mr. Saotome broke his leg," Ukyo said and
again started to close the door.
"Yes, but I think they...may do more...than just train..." Ryoga
said, nervously.
"More?"
"Well, um...Nabiki gave Akane something," Ryoga muttered, then
wrung his hands.
"What?"
"Um, a box of co..." Ryoga began, then stopped suddenly when he
fainted from blood loss when an image of Ranma and Akane using the
contents of the aforementioned box popped into his mind.
"For someone who can blow holes in the sides of mountains, you
sure are prone to nosebleeds," Ukyo stated, while she dragged the
unconscious Ryoga into her restaurant and up the stairs.
-C- -M- -D-
Ryoga awoke on a soft bed and looked around. "Where on Earth am
I?" Ryoga screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Quiet down! Is that the only volume you can say that phrase at?"
Ukyo questioned.
"Ukyo?"
"You passed out, now very carefully tell me what Nabiki gave Akane
for her trip," Ukyo said slowly.
"A box of...you know...starts with 'C' ends with 'S'. For when a
man and a woman...you know," Ryoga managed to say without his nose
bleeding.
"Condoms?" Ukyo questioned. Ryoga just nodded. Ukyo thought for a
few seconds.
"I'd have thought you'd be more upset! They...they are going
to..." Ryoga stopped, as he had to hold back a nosebleed.
"Don't you dare bleed on my good sheets!" Ukyo scolded. Recalling
the fight Ranma and Akane had on the last day of school before the
break, Ukyo said, "I doubt they are that close, it's just one of
Nabiki's little jokes. Akane probably threw them away."
"No, she packed them," Ryoga explained.
Something inside Ukyo snapped. All the control she had managed to
build-up over the past month concerning Ranma and Akane's relationship
broke apart and crumbled to dust. "What? She can't even say that she
loves him and she's going to have sex with him?!?!" Ukyo screamed.
<She's using her body to toy with MY Ran-chan's heart. That tramp!> she
thought, then grabbed her spatula and started out the door. "Friend or
not, I can't let her do that!"
"They left two days ago!" Ryoga stopped her.
"What took you so long to tell me then!"
"Um, I couldn't find your restaurant."
Ukyo shook her head in disgust. "So what do you want me to do
about it now?" she asked, putting her spatula back down.
"Well, I overheard Akane say were they were going," Ryoga
explained.
"And you need me to help you find it," Ukyo finished. Ryoga
nodded. She thought for a few moments.
Impatient, Ryoga suggested, "This could be our last chance to save
them from a loveless marriage!"
"I know, Pig-boy! It's just that Akane knows I'm still in love
with Ranma, but she still treats me as a close friend. I'd miss that,"
Ukyo pondered, regaining some of her composure.
"I'm not saying we're going to hurt them...Just keep an eye on
them, and try to keep them from getting close enough to use...you
know..." Ryoga trailed off as the blood left his head, but somehow
remained conscious.
"Okay, but you try one of your stunts to get my Ran-chan hurt and
you're my next pork okonomiyaki special!" Ukyo threatened, as she made
a deal with the devil.
"Deal," Ryoga agreed. <Not my fault if a mountain accidentally
falls on him,> he added to himself.
Ukyo started to pull together some supplies, then looked at Ryoga.
"We'd better wait till morning. You can use the spare futon over in the
corner," Ukyo said, indicating the futon.
"Good idea," Ryoga said, and started to unfold the futon.
Ukyo started to remove her robe, then stopped. "Um, close your
eyes and look away for a bit," Ukyo asked, then added quickly, "But
don't leave the room! I don't want to wait another two days for you to
find your way back here." Ryoga did as Ukyo asked. Ukyo slipped her
robe off and then slipped a long T-shirt over her naked body, mostly to
keep Ryoga's head from exploding. She slipped into her bed. "Okay,
let's get some sleep."
"Okay, what was that about anyway?" Ryoga asked, as he slipped his
shoes off.
"I wasn't exactly 'dressed' for company," Ukyo explained. Ryoga
passed out again. "Damn, I'll have to wash that futon now."
-C- -M- -D-
The day before Ryoga showed up at Ucchan's, Akane and Ranma
trudged up the side of a mountain with their heavy backpacks strapped
to their backs. They finally reached a nice clearing. Looking around,
Ranma said, "This is it!"
Dropping her pack and wiping the sweat off her forehead, Akane
looked around. "Beautiful!" she exclaimed.
"I picked it for it's training potential, not it's beauty," Ranma
explained.
"I know, but it's still beautiful. You need to appreciate the
beauty around you more often," Akane said.
"I never said that I didn't appreciate you!" Ranma replied,
defensively.
Akane blushed, and then said, "Thank you, but I meant the beauty
of the world around us." She grinned, knowing Ranma had let his true
feelings slip. It didn't happen often and Akane had learned to enjoy
these moments to their fullest.
"Err..." Ranma began, but was interrupted by Akane's finger on his
lips.
"Shhhh, don't ruin it now," Akane said, then turned and started to
unpack her tent. Not having anything else to do, Ranma did the same.
The blush on his face slowly faded.
-C- -M- -D-
Nabiki was enjoying a sunny day in the park, soaking up the sun as
she read a book. Suddenly the sun disappeared and she looked up and saw
some profit. She corrected herself with a thought, <Nope, no
information for her.>
"Money girl, you tell Shampoo where Ranma is," Shampoo asked, well
it was more of a command. She held out a few bills.
"Sorry, Shampoo. I told you that I won't sell that kind of
information to you or your great-grandmother anymore. Not after what
you did at the wedding."
Shampoo held out some more Yen. Nabiki raised an eyebrow, but
shook her head again.
"You'll regret this, Money girl," Shampoo declared, turned around
and left.
Unfortunately, all the guys who Nabiki had been attracting
followed Shampoo out of the park. Nabiki sighed and adjusted her
bikini. She picked up her copy of '1001 Ways to Drive Your Competitors
Out of Business or Buy Them by Bill Gates' and began to read again.
-C- -M- -D-
"Are you sure this is where they said they were going to be
training?" Ukyo asked, as she looked around the busy street corner.
"Sure! Here look...I wrote it down," Ryoga informed her and handed
a piece of paper to Ukyo.
Looking at the paper, Ukyo asked, "I can't read this chicken
scratching. Where did you learn to write?"
"Actually, it's pig scratching. Do you know how hard it is hard to
write with a hoof?!" Ryoga explained and took the paper back. "It says
that they will be training at 'Mount and Hotaka Streets'." He pointed
at the street signs, they were indeed at the intersection of 'Mount'
and 'Hotaka' streets.
"Mount and Hotaka," Ukyo repeated several times. Then she hit
Ryoga on the back of his head. "Idiot! Could that be 'Hotaka
Mountain'?" she questioned.
"Err....yeah...that was it!"
"And Akane calls Ranma an idiot!" Ukyo yelled. <He can't even
write down names of places correctly, let alone find them.>
-C- -M- -D-
Akane stood on a tree branch and nervously scanned the surrounding
area. Suddenly she found herself on the ground looking up at the tree
branch, on which Ranma stood with a smirk on his face. "Where..." Akane
began to say, but stopped talking suddenly as she had to flip to her
feet to avoid Ranma from landing on her face. She followed with a side
flip to get away from his punches. She missed avoiding his leg sweep
and tumbled to the ground with a thud.
"Not bad reaction after the initial blow, but you're still
thinking in two dimensions. I didn't see you look up at the tops of the
trees once," Ranma explained, in a lecturing tone.
<Damn, he's right,> Akane scolded herself mentally. "Isn't that
'thinking in two dimensions' from an old Star Trek movie?" Akane
questioned. A smirk grew on her face.
"Probably, Pop got most of his 'divine wisdom' from the movies,"
Ranma said, smiling back. "You'd be surprised at how much of our
training involved swiping popcorn and soda." He held out his hand as if
to help Akane to her feet, but then proceeded to flip her over his
shoulder, sending her into a group of bushes. "You also have to be
alert all the time."
"Baka..." Akane began, then corrected herself quickly, "Yes,
teacher."
"You should have saw that one coming a mile away, how many times
did my pop try it on me while practicing in the garden?" Ranma asked.
"As I recall, you fell for it several times as well," Akane
replied and then stuck out her tongue at Ranma.
"Let's head back to camp and I'll make dinner," Ranma offered.
"Oh, no...I'm making dinner!" Akane insisted.
"I am the teacher here, so I decide who cooks! I also promised
neither of us would get killed, so that rules out you cooking," Ranma
said, then turned back towards their camp. He arrived back at the camp
faster than he expected, since Akane ended up kicking him back to camp
in a graceful arc over the treetops. "Well, at least she's learned some
directional control," Ranma muttered and rubbed his head.
When Akane arrived back at camp, Ranma already had dinner finished
and ready to eat. To forestall another orbit shot, he said quickly,
"Here you go, that was nice of you to send me ahead so I could have
dinner ready."
Akane just smiled weakly, she was too sore to fight with him now
anyway. She sat down next to Ranma, wiped her hands on a wet towel, and
dug into the rice and meat. "It's good."
"Thanks, sorry about the food crack," Ranma apologized.
"No you're right, you're the teacher and it's your choice what we
do during this trip-" Akane replied, then reluctantly added, "-and who
cooks."
Ranma looked at Akane and saw the look of disappointment on her
face. Despite an overwhelming urge to run screaming away into the
forest, he swallowed hard. Finally, he said, "Well...you can make
breakfast tomorrow if you want to." Then already knowing her answer, he
added, "Just promise me that you'll carefully follow the recipe and
taste the finished product...actually all the ingredients too." He
couldn't stop the shudder that went through his body as he remembered
where the nearest hospital was, but finally managed to hand some recipe
cards to Akane.
Taking the cards and smiling broadly, Akane said, "Thank you,
Ranma." Looking at the cards, she asked, "Where did you get these?"
"Um, I asked Kasumi and my Mom to prepare them," Ranma replied,
then sucked down some rice.
<Meaning he planned to let me cook...well at least planned to have
the recipes available if I forced the issue,> Akane thought to herself.
They ate their dinner silently as the sun started to set in the
distance. "What a glorious sunset," Akane said, after a few minutes.
"Yes. You know, Akane, you've really improved over the last few
days," Ranma admitted.
"Thank you. You're going to make a great teacher," Akane replied.
"Now that you're over this 'I won't hit girls' phase."
"I wouldn't say I'm completely over it, it still feels wrong, but
that's the only way to train so..." Akane snuggled up to his arm. Ranma
looked a little uncomfortable, but relaxed in short order. "And I guess
I'll probably have to train girls at the dojo too, so I have to get
used to it," Ranma conceded, then added as an afterthought, "Maybe I
should train the girls in my girl form?"
"You have plenty of time to decide. You still have to train your
first student first," Akane reminded him. <Not to mention marry me so
you can teach at that dojo.>
"True. Well...I'm going to go wash up in the waterfall," Ranma
said. He grabbed a wash tub and towel, then walked off into the sunset.
"Okay," Akane said, sadly watching him walk away. She had hoped to
spend more time watching the sunset with him.
-C- -M- -D-
"This is a pretty big mountain, how are we going to find them?"
Ukyo asked, as she climbed up the mountain.
"Well, they didn't say exactly were they were camping," Ryoga
explained. He then noticed something ahead of them and suggested,
"Let's ask that girl in the waterfall." Ryoga pointed towards the
young, naked, redheaded girl washing herself in the waterfall.
Ukyo ducked down quickly behind some bushes and then pulled Ryoga
down beside her. "Idiot! That's Ranma!" Ukyo whispered to him.
"Are you sure?" Ryoga asked, sneaking another look.
"Well, what are the chances of another redheaded girl with a
pig-tail being up on this mountain at the same time as Ranma and
Akane?" Ukyo questioned a perplexed Ryoga.
"Good point," Ryoga conceded.
"Now be quiet and we'll follow Ranma back to their camp after he's
done washing up," Ukyo said, then asked, "By the way, why isn't your
nose bleeding with a naked girl in sight?"
"You may be attracted to hermaphrodites, but I'm not," Ryoga
replied. Plus he didn't know she was naked when he first saw her, but
Ryoga decided not to mention that to Ukyo.
Ukyo kept watching Ranma, but she started to think of some way to
get back at Pig-boy for that comment.
-C- -M- -D-
On the other side of the mountain, a large camp was teaming with
young redheaded girls, some even had pig-tails. A couple of them
hoisted a banner into place, it read '5th Annual Redheaded Girls
Outing'.
-C- -M- -D-
The next morning, Akane was up early and was trying to cook
breakfast. The number of dirty pans and the growing pile of discarded
food, showed that she was not having much luck. The scowl on her face
confirmed this.
Then she started another omelet. This time she carefully tasted
the milk before adding it to the eggs. She spat the milk out quickly,
then discarded the bottle. She opened a new sealed bottle and tasted
it, she smiled and added the milk to the eggs. She did the same to the
rest of the ingredients, pausing over the sliced ham. It tasted funny
too. Discarding the ham into the pile, she dug out some turkey and
tasted it. Perfect.
Ranma awoke and stretched her arms and legs. She emerged from her
tent in her usual shorts and muscle T-shirt. She yawned and shook out
her arms and legs. "Morning, Akane."
"Good morning!" Akane chimed, as she finished making the omelet.
"Why did you sleep as a girl?"
Ranma did a forward flip over the fire and sat down by the fire,
after scratching her butt. She poured herself some tea. "Oh, didn't
seem much reason to heat up water just to turn back before going to
bed," Ranma explained, as she sipped the tea.
"You're getting pretty comfortable with your girl-side these
days," Akane remarked, as she put the omelet onto two plates and
carried them over to Ranma.
"Well, with Jusenkyo gone I don't have too many options. I'm a
guy, but I can live with this body if I have to," Ranma replied, but
deep down she still longed for a cure.
"That's okay, I'd miss your girl-side anyway," Akane said, as she
offered one of the omelets to Ranma.
Taking the plate from Akane, Ranma looked at the omelet, sniffed
it, and then used some chopsticks to pluck up a piece of it. After a
brief pause, which Akane noticed with a slight frown, Ranma ate it.
After Ranma swallowed it, she remarked, "It's good, but what happened
to the ham?"
"I don't know, must have gone bad, it didn't taste right," Akane
explained, a smile came to her face. "I'm glad you liked it."
"So, where did you find the take-out place?" Ranma quipped, with a
smile on her face.
"Baka! I cooked it!" Akane yelled, as her battle aura sparked to
life.
"Sorry, just a joke...calm down..." Ranma said, as she backed away
from Akane. "Please?"
Akane stopped and let her aura fade. "Sorry...I overreacted."
"No, I put my foot in my mouth again," Ranma apologized. "Your
omelet tasted much better than my foot."
"Thanks. I think..."
<It actually was edible, a little bland, but I've at least learned
that I don't say anything Akane makes that is non-toxic, is bland.
She'd just try to 'improve' the recipe,> Ranma thought, suppressing a
shudder.
-C- -M- -D-
As Ranma and Akane finished their breakfast, Ukyo and Ryoga looked
down at them from their hiding place. "Dang, looks like she managed to
make a good meal even after I messed up the ingredients," Ukyo said,
with a sigh. It had taken all her willpower to mess up the food, all
for nothing.
"What next?" Ryoga asked, chewing on a stick of beef jerky.
"Well, after they leave to train, we can go down and sabotage the
rest of their supplies so they have to head back early," Ukyo
explained, as she ate her bacon. She seemed to be savoring every bite.
"I really wish you wouldn't eat that in front of me," Ryoga said,
turning his head away from Ukyo.
"What?" Ukyo questioned, looked at her breakfast, then said,
"Oops, sorry wasn't thinking. Don't worry I'd never really cook you,
Piggy."
"Thanks."
"You're too tough with all your muscles anyway and not enough fat
for flavor," Ukyo explained, with a smile. <That's for the
hermaphrodite comment yesterday, Pig-boy!>
"Hey!"
-C- -M- -D-
Akane squared off with Ranma, who was currently male, in the
mountain stream. Each of them balanced on one of the many slick
boulders that impeded the waters flow, causing the river to be quite
choppy and unpredictable. Ranma leaped with a yell and managed to kick
Akane in the side, Akane tried to avoid the kick and throw her own
punches as he flew past her, but didn't connect. She barely managed to
stay on her boulder. "You're better off meeting me in mid air than in a
stationary position on that boulder," Ranma instructed. "The force of
my kick is increased with the momentum of my leap, so unless you have
some momentum too, you'll probably loose a confrontation like this if
you stay still and have no momentum at all."
"Understood."
Ranma leapt again, but instead of right at Akane, he leapt to a
bolder to one side of her. She quickly pivoted and leapt to another
boulder a little closer to him. He leapt over towards Akane. Akane saw
his muscles tense just a bit before the leap and did a side flip to her
original boulder, almost slipping off the boulder as she landed.
"Good, never stay still even if you can't attack directly or block
your opponent's attack safely. Now your turn to attack me," Ranma said,
then with an afterthought added, "First one to get soaked does NOT get
to cook tonight." Ranma smiled.
With a determined look on her face, Akane balanced on one foot.
Ranma studied her eyes. He was amazed when Akane attacked head on.
Amazement turned to pride as Akane didn't reach him, but instead
bounced sideways off a boulder in front of him. She bounced back off
another boulder and ended up landing a kick to his side as he leapt
forward trying to avoid the unexpected move. Ranma managed to land on
another boulder and balanced on his outstretched arm. He quickly did a
back flip from that position and regained his balance on another
boulder, this time balanced on his foot. Momentarily loosing sight of
where Akane was, he leapt straight up in the air to avoid any behind
the back attacks. He felt the wind of Akane pass below his legs as she
tried to hit him from behind.
Akane, who ended up in the dirt on the shore, quickly got to her
feet and located Ranma as he landed back on the rock he just leapt up
from. She jumped back to a boulder and appraised Ranma's position
again. <Damn, didn't expect him to escape by going straight up...two
dimensional thinking again. Spock, where are you when I need you?!>
Then seeing an opening, she leapt to Ranma's left side. He quickly
executed a side flip to his right and landed on a boulder. Akane leapt
to a boulder only a few feet away from him.
Ranma executed a perfect back flip and landed on a large flat
boulder. <Big mistake Akane, this boulder gives me a lot of options.>
Akane did a cartwheel using a boulder in front of her, she ended up on
another boulder with the smaller boulder she used for the cartwheel
grasped in her hands. Not sure what she was planning on doing with the
small boulder, Ranma leapt to the back of the large flat boulder he was
on. Akane took that opportunity and threw the boulder into the water in
front of the flat boulder. It hit another boulder under the flat one
and caused the flat boulder to tilt forwards. His footing already
unbalanced from his quick leap backwards, Ranma ended up in the stream,
sitting on his butt. Make that her butt, since the water was very cold.
"Tendo School of Anything Goes for Akane to Cook! Ha! You should
know by now that I'd do anything to cook!" Akane taunted, then held out
her hand to help Ranma out of the stream. Ranma took her hand, then
quickly flipped Akane over her shoulder and into the stream.
"Good tactics there, but you forgot not to let your guard down at
the end," Ranma said, flashing a smile at the soaking wet Akane. Akane
splashed Ranma with a sweep of her arm. Ranma returned the gesture and
soon both girls were caught up in a water fight.
Soon they both lay on the shore of the stream, both soaked from
head to toe. Ranma pulled off the top of her gi and wrung it out. "Hey,
what are you doing?" Akane asked suddenly.
"Trying to dry off, why?" Ranma replied, continuing to wring out
the top.
"Well, put your top back on, you're a girl!"
"Haven't we had this argument before?" Ranma replied, then added,
"Several dozen times in fact? You're a girl so what's the big deal?"
"Fine then," Akane said. She began undoing her gi.
"Ack! What are you doing, Akane!" Ranma recoiled.
"Well we're both girls, aren't we?" Akane asked.
"No, I'm a guy!" Ranma insisted, but ruined her statement when she
pointed at her naked female chest. Point to Akane. "Fine, but we have
to dry off or we'll get sick. Turn your back and we can wring out our
clothes without seeing each other."
"Okay, but if you peek you're going back to Nerima by 'Akane
Air'," Akane threatened. They both turned their backs to each other and
then slipped their tops and pants off.
-C- -M- -D-
As she looked down at the two wet girls, Ukyo scowled, "Looks like
Akane is trying to seduce Ranma all right. She's taking her clothes
off!"
"Akane would never do that! She doesn't even sleep naked!"
"I know you'd love it if she did, sugar."
"Well..." Ryoga muttered, a blush appearing on his face.
"Keep in mind, Ryoga, bare breasts in Tokyo are a magnet for
Happosai. Especially Akane and Ranma's."
"Oh," Ryoga realized. He raised his head to look, but Ukyo forced
his head back down. "You'd just faint, honey."
"Is what we're doing right? If they are happy together..." Ryoga
said suddenly.
"You're the one who came to me and now you're getting cold feet?"
Ukyo said. "They may like each other, but they are only going along
with the engagement for their family honor," she insisted, but a
nagging voice inside her told he she was deluding herself. She decided
to stop listening to her conscience.
"Right, it's our duty to make sure they don't end up in a loveless
marriage. If that means us marrying them, so be it!" Ryoga exclaimed.
"That's the spirit!"
-C- -M- -D-
As they walked back to their camp, Ranma noticed something wrong.
There was trash and pieces of fabric scattered all along the path.
"Damn, looks like something got into our camp." They quickly raced to
the campsite.
"Oh no," Akane gasped as she saw the devastation. The tents were
both down and looked shredded. Pots and pans were scattered all over.
"Looks like bears, but I didn't think they had bear problems up
here," Ranma said.
"Panda problems, maybe?" Akane suggested.
Ranma laughed, but shook his head. "Doubtful. We'd better clean it
up and see what we have left."
After they cleaned up and took inventory, Ranma spoke, "Well, one
tent may be usable with pieces of the other one and we may have enough
bedding to keep warm. We will have to sleep in the same tent." Then to
avoid the backlash from Akane, he added, "I'll sleep as a girl, don't
worry." This seemed to calm Akane, a little.
"Foods a big problem, almost everything is gone. A few canned
things and we have plenty of water from the stream. It looks like we'll
have to cut the trip short," Akane said, disappointed.
"Don't give up so fast. I can't count the number of times me and
Pop had to live off the land," Ranma recalled.
"I don't plan on stealing an okonomiyaki cart with you," Akane
quipped.
Smiling, Ranma replied, "I don't think that will be necessary,
even if there was one nearby."
-C- -M- -D-
"They'll probably head back in the morning. Let's go to our camp
and get some rest ourselves," Ukyo suggested, as she backed away from
the ledge overlooking Ranma and Akane's camp.
As they walked towards their own camp, Ryoga asked, "What if they
don't leave?"
"Well, then we have to get more direct in our efforts," Ukyo
explained.
"RANMA! Prepare to die!" Ryoga exclaimed. Ryoga had intended to
just think that statement, but the thought got lost on it's trip
through his brain and ended up coming out his lips.
Ukyo flattened Ryoga's face with the blade of her spatula. "I told
you that we're not going to hurt Ranma!" Ukyo snarled.
The forest was very dark by the time Ryoga and Ukyo neared their
camp. Not trusting Ryoga to lead, Ukyo was blazing the trail. Ryoga was
also a bit dazed from the spatula blow. Unfortunately, Ukyo didn't see
the steep cliff in front of her until she stumbled and teetered on it's
edge.
Ryoga saw her stumble. He jumped forward and yanked her quickly
back so that she wouldn't fall over the cliff. Unfortunately, the
momentum of his yank sent him over the cliff's edge instead. He ended
up falling down the steep cliff. He tried to catch hold of a tree or
outcropping on the way down, but couldn't. He tried to use his umbrella
to slow himself down, but it slipped out of his fingers. As he swore
about the loss of his umbrella, he hit the bottom with a loud crunch.
His leg lay twisted beneath his body. As he tried to get up, he winced
in pain. He pulled his leg in front of him and noticed that it was
bent, but not at the knee. That didn't look right to him. "Damn, can't
believe I broke my leg from a little fall like that!" Ryoga screamed.
It took Ukyo close to an hour to make her way carefully down the
'little' cliff that Ryoga managed to fall down in less than two
minutes. Finally, Ukyo arrived by Ryoga's side and asked, "You okay,
sugar?"
"Pretty much, but my leg is broken. I can't believe that I could
get hurt from such a small fall," Ryoga explained, he looked up again
at the steep cliff he fell down.
Ukyo followed his gaze, then said, "Anyone else would have died
from that fall, sugar. You're not indestructible. Well, no way I can
get you out of here tonight and I'd rather not climb back up to our
camp in the dark like this."
"We'll freeze if we stay here!" Ryoga said, suppressing a wince as
he moved his leg.
"Not much choice, sugar," Ukyo said, and looked around. Pulling
out her canteen, she poured it on Ryoga's head.
"What...bweeeee?" Ryoga began, but P-Chan finished the question
with a squeal.
"Bweeeee is the sound you make when you're a pig, sugar," Ukyo
answered, smirking. Then she explained her plan, "We'll go over into
that patch of trees and I'll wear your clothes. You can sleep under my
shirt, that should keep us both warm enough." P-Chan looked a bit
scared at the plan. Ukyo looked at the broken pig leg. She pulled out a
little medical kit from her small backpack, wishing that they had
carried their big packs with them today, and managed to make a little
pig-sized splint. P-Chan wriggled in pain as she did it, but knew it
had to be done.
"Bwee?" P-Chan squealed.
"Yes, with the splint on, it shouldn't hurt that much tonight,"
Ukyo replied. Then she did a double take and thought, <Did I understand
him? Or just assume I knew what he was wondering about.>
Ukyo slipped Ryoga's clothes over hers, then she lifted P-Chan
carefully, and placed him under both of the shirts she wore. "I don't
know what Akane lets you get away with, but I know that you are really
a guy, so don't get any ideas down there. I may be hungry in the
morning and forget my promise not to cook you. Got it?" Ukyo explained
the situation very carefully to the pig. P-Chan nodded.
As they settled down to sleep, Ukyo curled up a little and wrapped
her arms around P-Chan to stay warm.
"By the way...thanks for pulling me back from that cliff," Ukyo
said, as she fell asleep.
-C- -M- -D-
Akane slipped into the repaired tent and cautiously lay down
beside the other girl. Ranma shifted a little as Akane joined her on
the sleeping mat. "Goodnight Ranma," Akane said and drew the blanket
around her.
"Goodnight," Ranma replied. Both fell asleep looking very nervous.
-C- -M- -D-
As the sun came up over the mountain, Ukyo shifted to avoid the
light hitting her closed eyes. Her shifting caused P-Chan to be pressed
up against her breasts. When P-Chan awoke, he was greeted with a close
up view of the bound breasts. "Bweeeeee!" P-Chan squealed and the blood
started flowing.
Awakened by the squeal, Ukyo sat up. P-Chan squirmed out of her
shirt and, ignoring the pain of his leg, raced away to cower under a
bush. "What's the matter?" Ukyo asked calmly. Seeing that Ukyo wasn't
mad at his being between her breasts, or just didn't notice, P-Chan
hobbled out from his hiding place. Ukyo picked him up and patted him on
the head. "Nice piggy."
P-Chan just snorted.
"Now then, we can climb back up, but that's a long haul with you
in my hands. I think we should make our way down the mountain. I can
come back later for our gear," Ukyo suggested.
P-Chan made several small squealing sounds while nodding up
towards the cliff he fell down.
"What about Ranma and Akane?" Ukyo asked. P-Chan nodded. "Well,
they will probably head back today, but not much else we can do about
it now. Have to get you to a vet."
"Bweeeeee!!," P-Chan squealed angrily.
"Okay, okay, have to get some hot water and get you to a doctor,"
Ukyo laughed. With P-Chan in her arms, Ukyo made her way down the
mountainside.
-C- -M- -D-
Ranma awoke and tried to get up, but found she couldn't rise.
Looking down she noticed that Akane was draped over her chest. <She
looks so sweet,> Ranma thought to herself. Carefully Ranma tried to
slide out from under the sleeping Akane. Unfortunately, Akane opened
her eyes with the movement. She sprang away from Ranma.
"What? How dare you..." Akane blurted, then stopped. Before Ranma
could deny doing anything with a tomboy like her, Akane said, "Oh,
never mind...Guess that was innocent enough."
Just as she WAS going to blurt out that she'd never do anything
with a tomboy like Akane, Ranma stopped herself. "Yes, it was," Ranma
agreed.
<Guess I can trust him after all,> Akane thought, with a smile.
"What are you grinning at?" Ranma asked.
"Oh, just the look on your face. You were expecting a mallet blow,
weren't you?" Akane asked.
"Um, sort of," Ranma replied, nervously scratching her head. "I'll
go out and do some foraging for berries, mushrooms, and whatever else I
can find. Heat up some tea and hot water, will ya?"
"Okay," Akane answered, and started to build a fire.
-C- -M- -D-
After another day of vigorous training, Akane and Ranma ate the
food they foraged for during the course of the day. Ranma even managed
to snare a rabbit, which Akane reluctantly ate.
Over dinner, they discussed the rest of the trip. "Well, it'll be
rough, but if you're up to it we can last another week out here," Ranma
stated, and then ate some berries.
"Sure, these berries are great," Akane said, as she ate the
mixture that Ranma came up with. She ate some of the rabbit too, but
didn't really want to talk about it. She kept picturing the pet rabbit
she had when she was smaller.
"There is one other thing I wanted to ask you before we turned
in," Ranma said, awkwardly.
"Sure, what is it?" Akane asked.
"I was wondering why..." Ranma began, then reached behind him.
"Why..."
"Why...you brought these with you?" Ranma finally asked, he held
out the box of condoms he found while cleaning up the night before.
Akane went pale and then started to blush. Looking down at her
hands, she eventually said, "Um, Nabiki gave them to me as a joke. I
guess I just packed them by accident."
"Oh. I was just a little surprised when I found them. I mean, we
haven't even really kissed yet. Let alone..." Ranma blurted in relief.
"Yet?"
"Well, I mean, it's been a year and a half since we met. I can
think of worse things to do with you..." Ranma tried to compliment her,
but failed miserably.
Akane raised an eyebrow and then said, "Hate to think what you'd
consider 'worse'," Akane quipped.
"I didn't mean it like that!" Ranma insisted.
"I know," Akane said, then placed a finger on Ranma's lips.
Ranma's eyes grew wide. So did Akane's.
They just sat and looked into each other's eyes for what seemed an
eternity. In real time, it was less than a minute before Akane leaned
in and gave Ranma a short kiss on his quivering lips.
They broke the kiss, then Ranma slid alongside Akane. He pulled
her close, briefly glanced around for a panda with a video camera, and
then repeated the kiss, spending a little more time enjoying it since
the initial panic of the first kiss had passed.
They reluctantly broke the kiss and just held each other close as
the fire burned itself out.
***********************************************************************
>From the personal journal of James Davidson:
I could see the tears well up in Akane's eyes, it was obvious that
she loved Ranma. For it to take a year and a half to get a first kiss
with the man she loved, had taken a toll on her and on the rest of her
life. I took her hand, then said, "That can be all for today."
"Thank you, James. Sorry to get so weepy on you, but thinking
about that trip always makes me cry. I just wish we could have kissed
sooner, so many things would have turned out differently," Akane said,
and got up.
I closed my palmcard and the keyboard folded back into the
twelve-centimeter by six-centimeter card, then I followed Akane inside
to get my clothes back.
I removed my borrowed kimono, slipped my freshly laundered clothes
back on, and followed Hanaki back to the front gate, admiring the
garden as I went. "Your Aunt is quite a woman," I commented, as we
passed the dojo.
"Yes she is," Hanaki replied.
Before we reached the gate, I said, "Um, I like the red
highlight."
Hanaki fingered the streak of red that ran down her long hair and
smiled. "Thank you. I'm afraid my mother doesn't like it that much."
"Well, my parents didn't like it the first time I shaved my head."
Hanaki snickered at this comment. "I'm glad you stopped shaving
it, I like your hair."
Self-consciously, I ran my hand through my hair and said, "Thank
you. Um...I'll see you tomorrow." I left the Compound and walked back
to my hotel. The sun was already setting.
"Goodnight James."
[End Chapter 1]
[Coming soon: Chapter 2: Broken Hearts and Legs]
=======================================================================
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:
Okay, okay...I know the world doesn't need another Ranma fanfic series,
but that is where my passion for fanfiction lies right now. After all
fanfiction means 'fiction written by fans'.
This is the start of my first ongoing series. My first INTENTIONAL
ongoing series actually (my Ranma-ototo series has some additional
stories on their way). Don't worry about me leaving you hanging, it's
plotted up to chapter 12, with some ideas already in place beyond that.
The next six parts are already in draft form, so the first two initial
story arcs will be posted for sure. Since there is a future portion of
this story, I have made sure to plot out what happens to each Ranma
character in the 60 year span between the 'present' and the 'future'. I
hope that I'll avoid any continuity errors between the present and the
future portions, but the odds Nabiki is giving for no continuity errors
are pretty bad.
James Davidson is a character I created to interview Akane about her
life. 'Childhood of a Modern Dynasty' is the title of the book he is
writing based on his interviews and of course is the title of this
fanfiction series. 'Birth of a Modern Dynasty' refers to the book he
wrote detailing the events that occurred in the Ranma 1/2 manga and
anime, it's not something I wrote myself. Any references to 'Birth of a
Modern Dynasty' are references to the events that happened in the manga
and anime.
James Davidson's journal outtakes are based on his interviews and
interaction with Akane and Hanaki in the future (2057 to be exact). The
present day portions between the long asterisk lines are the event's
beginning back in 1998. Originally the 'present' segments were going to
be the actual chapter that James Davidson was writing for his book, but
it didn't sound anything like a biography so it became more of a
flashback from the future segments.
This is not a self-insertion fanfic. James Davidson shares my first
name maybe a few mannerisms. He isn't going to save the whole Tendo
family or become the central part of the story. He's there to provide a
framework for the future segments. Of course, the future segments are
told from his viewpoint.
If you haven't figured it out already, the main story (in 1998) begins
after the aborted wedding of the manga and into the middle of Ranma and
Akane's Junior year at High School. Since the anime and manga both
covered their Freshman year I decided to look into events of their
Junior year to begin this series (Japanese high school lasts for three
years). Although I skipped over some time in this chapter, the next
chapters take place over a shorter time span.
Japanese schools start in spring, they have a month and a half summer
break in the middle of their school year. That is why summer came in
the middle of their Junior year in this story.
I will be drawing characters and continuity from both the manga and
anime, but since I'm more familiar with the anime characters (which are
a little different from the manga characters) most of the character
personalities in this series will probably skew towards the anime
characters.
Don't worry if you don't know who Kyosuke is, I just wanted Nabiki to
have an ex-boyfriend and that is the name that I used (it's not the
same Kyosuke from Kimagrue Orange Road).
Hotaka Mountain really does exist in Japan, it's to the north of Tokyo.
The 'Tokyo Women's Medical College' exists for real, I didn't just use
a generic sounding name. I don't know if they'd let Kasumi in mid-year
for sure, but would YOU turn down Kasumi for anything?
Unlike the other characters in this fanfic, I created James Davidson,
Hanaki Ono, and Daijiko. 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.
I'd like to thank my pre-readers and various FFML members: David
Johnson, Anthony Pardilla, Peggy A. Stonnell, H-Packrat, Mark Doherty,
G. Falconar, Freemage, and Ryan Erik. Of course in the end, any
mistakes and botched characters are my fault.
Revision 1.0
July 7, 1998
Revision 0.3 - Pre-reader draft
Revision 0.4 - FFML draft
Revision 0.6 - Final Pre-reader/FFML draft
Revision 1.0 - First RAAC Posting