[Ranma][FanFic] Ranma's Fiancees - Part 1
jstai...@earthlink.net
the black suit holding the gun to my head is figment of your imagination.
--------------------
Ranma 1/2: Ranma's Fiancees - Part 1
A Continuation of "Ranma's Secret"
By Lady Tesser and Jack Staik
--------------------
FROM THE AUTHORS: After we did "Ranma's Secret" we noticed that there were a
few dangling threads. So we started to write this tale to yank some more
threads out - uh, to tie up loose ends.
For you continuity buffs out there, this all began a couple of weeks after the
Wedding Fiasco at the end of the manga series.
----------------------
Akane was in a mixed mood.
She was walking on air, because she and her love had finally broken down. They
had poured out their hearts, discovering things that they hadn't known about
each other - or themselves. It was more glorious than she had dreamt. All her
past fantasies of love and romance were pallid, weak things compared to what
she and Ranma had shared.
She was in mortal terror. Ranma had gone to speak with Ranko. Ranko was closer
to him ... literally a part of him. True, she had arranged for the two to come
together, in a way. She was Akane's advocate to Ranma, even when Akane herself
had done so much to hurt him. But deep inside was the barely-remembered voice
of her mother, screaming at her, telling her how ugly and stupid she was, how
no one would ever love her. And part of her listened.
Would Ranko turn against her, make Ranma chase her away? Would Ranko take him
away from her? Would her tears drive Ranma into her non-existent arms?
Joy and fear warred inside her.
Ranma leapt through the window of the third story classroom, startling Sensei
Tanaka and the students.
Especially since the window wasn't open.
Ranma bounced across the room, swept Akane out of her desk and into his arms,
and kissed her.
"SAOTOME!" Tanaka-sensei yelled. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!?"
"Celebrating!" he exclaimed, whirling the smiling Akane around.
"Ranma-sama," Akane began, forgetting there were witnesses, "What happened?"
"Oh, only one of the GREATEST THINGS IN MY LIFE!! The perfect thing to follow
up last night!" And he kissed her again.
A loud thud resounded as the entire class facefaulted.
"What?" Akane asked, smiling now and embracing him back.
"<ahem> Are you two done, or is there going to be an impromptu ecchi
exhibition?" a familiar female voice asked.
Akane turned to the window and gasped. Those of her classmates who had
recovered from their facefault facefaulted again.
The female Ranma stood in the shattered window, gazing upon the male Ranma and
Akane with an amused grin on her face.
Akane did NOT keep her composure. "H-h-h-h-h-?" she asked intelligibly.
"How am I walking around?" Ranko replied. "Beats the hell out of us. I was
giving Ranma-kun my blessing for the two of you, and I just ... walked through
the mirror ... and here I am." She hopped down to the floor, hands on hips.
"Big as life and twice as pretty."
Ranma hugged Akane tight. "Isn't it GREAT?!?"
Akane just stared dumbly. "Yeah ... great ..."
While through her head, a dream she had a few nights ago went through her
mind; Ranko stepping out of the mirror and stealing Ranma away, leaving Akane
behind while they headed into the sunset, hand-in-hand...
<NO!!> Akane shoved that out of her mind. Ranma was *hers* now! Last night
proved that! She had seen his heart, and he had given it to *her*!
Ranko hugged the pair of them. "My best brother and my best girlfriend ... and
I get to be with you BOTH!"
<'Brother?!?> Ranma thought. <Sounds good. It's even true ... in a weird way.>
<'Brother'??> Akane thought. <Brother!! Not friend not boyfriend - BROTHER!!
As in 'someone you don't marry'!>
Akane returned the hug, happy.
The class, meanwhile, was wondering what the hell happened.
* * * * * * * * * *
Nabiki waited out front of the school for her sister and Ranma. Nearby was
Kuno, who had missed his morning thrashing (because Ranma and Akane had left
early), and was there to make up for it with an even more vigorous afternoon
thrashing.
"At last I shall have my day! Today I shall wreak the vengeance of heaven upon
the vile sorcerer Saotome! You shall witness History, Nabiki Tendo, for Titans
shall clash and -"
"Yeah yeah," Nabiki muttered, tuning out the rest of Kuno's monologue (Pompous
factor 8.8). She was still dwelling on what had happened last night. For that
matter, what *had* happened last night??
Akane came out of Ranma's room that morning, still wrapped in the sheet, and
they were both smiling. The obvious thought that crossed her mind was
immediately squashed; Ranma was too much of a Boy Scout to do *that* with
Akane - pre-maritally, anyhow. And they had raced ahead of her to school,
*holding hands*!
But Ranma didn't love Akane. He loved Ranko. Akane would get hurt by loving
Ranma.
Everyone had always seen Nabiki the Ice Queen, the Hard Bitch of Furnikan
High. But she had another, deeper side. All Nabiki cared about was her
family. Money and power were the means to an end; keeping her family secure.
She'd seen her sister collapse emotionally, and knew why. If Ranma broke
Akane's heart again, she'd send him through all Seven Rings of Hell.
"Hey, Oneechan!" Akane called out happily. Nabiki turned to see Akane with
Ranma, their arms around each other's waists...
And Ranma's other arm around Ranko.
<Eep! Not that damned mirror again!> After the mirror-clones had been returned
to their cursed mirror, Nabiki arranged to have the mirror stolen, then mailed
by express service, thus insuring it would never be seen by humans again.
But this one was different. She didn't walk with the exaggerated hip-rolls of
the mirror-slut, and her face had a calm intelligence, an impish humor...
<Oh god, she's out!!>
But Akane was smiling?
"SAOTOME!!" Kuno shouted. "How dare you flaunt your perverse control of these
helpless maidens before the world! Thou shalt know the invincible wrath of ...
THE BLUE THUNDER OF FURNIKAN HIGH!!" As his bokotu stabbed upwards, lightning
crashed, thunder pealed.
"How does he *do* that?" Ranma asked.
"Dunno." Ranko answered. "Neat trick, though."
"Helpless?!?" Akane snarled.
Ranma looked to either side of him, to the two most important girls in his
life, and sighed. "I'm not really in a Kuno mood today. You want him,
Ko-chan?"
"Hey!" Akane said sharply. "Why can't *I* beat on him?"
Ranma kissed her on the forehead.
"Okay!" she replied, smiling. "Ko-chan, go get him." And she squeezed Ranma
close.
"Hmph!" Ranko said with a smirk. "'Go beat on the moron so we can snuggle,
Ko-chan'. All that lovey-dovey stuff ... sickening, it is." Her face betrayed
her amusement and pleasure at Ranma and Akane's affection.
A crowd had gathered to watch the Pounding of the Kuno, but had been treated
to a real spectacle as well. Akane and Ranma being loving and romantic (with
various betting pools paying off); Girl-Type Ranma and Boy-Type Ranma as
separate people (no betting pools on that one, unfortunately); and Nabiki not
making a profit off of it!
As Ranko stepped up to the idiot Kuno, she felt a thrill. When she and Ranma
had shared, she almost *never* got to fight, because Ranma's idiotic chivalry
got in the way. Now, she got to pummel someone! (Granted, it was only Kuno,
but you must crawl before you walk.)
"Baka-Sempai," she greeted him, without a bow, or even a nod.
(In classical Japanese culture, the person of the lesser social caste must
execute a lower bow than the high-caste person. It is said that the Imperial
Family has special training to teach them to bow without actually moving.
Thus, refusing to bow at all could be considered a deliberate insult, implying
the person before you has no status)
Kuno gave an exaggerated sigh. "Alas, poor Pig-Tailed Girl, how the foul fiend
Saotome has used his evil magic to control you, compelling you to perform such
unladylike acts -"
<WHAP!!>
"Mrph," said Kuno, around the foot in his face.
"FIRST! I am NOT your 'Pig-Tailed Girl', you freak! I have a name! Ranko
Saotome, daughter of Genma Saotome, *sister* of Ranma Saotome! *GOT IT*?"
"But-" he began.
<THWAK!>
"Uuh," Kuno said from the ground where Ranko's piledriver put him.
"SECOND! My *brother* is *not* an evil sorcerer! Akane loves him of her own
free will! *UNDERSTAND*?!"
"I-" Kuno began again.
<PUNT!!>
"Third -" she said as he sailed into the sky, "you've got *great* hang-time,
Kuno-baby."
Akane and Ranma held up cards reading 9.9 (Akane) and 7.5 (Ranma). Ranko
looked hurt. "Hey!"
"A bit wordy," he explained, "and you should have had him in one second, not
eight."
"She deserved extra credit for style." Akane argued.
Nabiki looked at Ranko. "H-h-h-h-h-?"
"How am I walking around?" Ranko finished, smiling. "I'm beginning to see the
family resemblance. As I told Akane - I have no idea. It just happened."
"And to celebrate, I'm taking my two best girls out on the town!" Ranma said,
his good mood touching everyone around. He started walking with Akane toward
the Tendo home, Nabiki and Ranko trailing.
"Uh, Ranma?" asked Nabiki, "Are you sure that's wise? I mean, Akane isn't
quite healthy yet -"
"Nonsense!" Akane argued, hoping to forget about her little ... episode. "I'm
fine!"
"And what about the Fiancees?" Nabiki countered, "They find out about you two
getting all smoochy-smoochy and they'll go nuts! Not that it's a long trip for
them..."
"She's right about that." Ranko said, nodding. "We're just lucky that Ucchan
hasn't been in school lately."
Ranma sobered up. "You're right. We've gotta do something about this. It's
gone on too long."
"Finally he shows backbone." Nabiki said.
"Watch it, 'Biki." Ranko replied. "It's not his fault, y'know. Ucchan - and
the others - were Genma's doing. Kodachi was just an accident. And Shampoo was
- sorta my fault."
"Huh?" the Tendo girls asked.
Ranma shook his head. "Not really, Ko-chan. We were just out of Jusenkyo. How
were you supposed to know that I don't fight girls?"
"Because I have your memories, you dip! From a girl's point of view, but still
-"
Akane looked at Ranko, eyes wide. "YOU fought Shampoo?!"
"If I didn't, they were going to eat Genma!" she protested.
"What's your point?" Nabiki asked.
"Given the whole Amazon village the runs, most likely." Ranma muttered. Akane
elbowed him - gently.
"Don't change the subject!" Ranko protested. "The point is, the Fiancee Mess
isn't Ranma's fault! It didn't happen *because* of him, it happened *to* him!"
"Then why didn't he clear it up before now?" Nabiki kept arguing, hoping to
pin something on Ranma.
"Yes, Ranma-kun," Akane asked in a warm, cold voice, "why didn't you?"
Ranma stammered.
"Because he has the social skills of a brain-damaged dung-beetle!" Ranko
protested.
"Yeah! That's it!" he agreed. Then, "HEY!"
"Quiet, you. I'm defending you." Ranko continued. "Genma didn't teach him
politeness, he taught him how to be macho and arrogant! Every time Genma
thought he was being too nice, The Lecture began."
Ranko whipped a handkerchief and glasses from nowhere.
"'What are you, boy, some kind of sissy?'" she continued in a credible parody
of Genma. "'A *real* man stands up for himself! Stop being such a pansy!
Hmph!'"
The others couldn't help laughing at Ranko's performance. "Okay, you got a
point." Nabiki agreed, chortling despite herself. "Genma is not a great
etiquette teacher."
"But now, we can all work on it, you and me and Akane-oneechan." Ranko said,
slipping her arm into Ranma's, noticing that Akane drew Ranma tighter to
herself. "The three of us can figure this out, then we can start on that
'happily-ever-after' thing."
"Ha!" Nabiki commented cynically. "It'll blow up. It always does."
"C'mon, Nabiki! Ranma protested. "Akane and I are together - Ranko's free - no
curse - what could possibly go wrong?"
In accordance with Murphy's Principle of Universal Perversity, a light drizzle
began. Akane found herself with an arm around Ranko - er, Ranma-onna, who was
arm-in-arm with Ranma - uh, Ranko-kun.
The Saotomes looked down at themselves, then at each other, then up to the
cloudy skies.
As one, they voiced this thought to the heavens -
"THIS IS YOUR IDEA OF A JOKE, ISN'T IT??"