Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Curiosity of the Cat ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

"Speaking"

'Thinking'

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Prologue Ranma uses his head?

One year, it's been one whole year since me and Pop came to the Tendo Dojo… since she has come into my life. We have gone through countless battles with super-powered practitioners of the Art, half dragons, and even demi-Gods. I've fought for her, protected her, and even killed for her, yet after all of that I'm still not sure what she really, really thinks of me, whether she loves me or not.

One minute, she's screaming out to everyone that's near that 'there's no way she'll ever marry a pervert like him.' Then the next minute, she's malleting me over the head for 'flirting' with the other alleged fiancés of mine. Does this mean she really does care for me? Or does she just enjoy giving me minor concussions regularly.

She's always cooking things for me, yet somehow manages to mix up the simplest of ingredients such as salt and sugar, or vinegar and water. One would think she's trying to get rid of me and wants to make it look like an accident. She knows her cooking isn't too good, hell, she even knows better then to taste it herself! Yet, every other morning I wake up to a terrible stench wafting in from the kitchen. When I peer in through the curtain, I'll see her with a wooden spoon, beating some… 'thing' that's trying to get out of the cooking pot on the stove. Thing reminds me of an old horror flick I saw when I was on the road. Yet she's bright and cheerful as she carries the concoction into the dining room and drops it in front of me. No matter what I do, the results are always the same. Either I end up sick, or I get a free ride on Akane-Air. I swear I commute more through the air then any business man world wide, for free.

Then there's the constant bickering between us. Names are thrown at each other, insults come next, and usually the discussion is closed very effectively with the appearance of Mallet-sama. I really don't like calling her 'tomboy' and 'uncute.' Lord knows while the first might be partially true, the second is way off. I think of Akane as one of the most beautiful people I know. Her smile…lordy, that smile. Its one of those things that just kinda lights up the room and promises today is gonna be a great day. Too bad she rarely shows it though, a frown doesn't suite her at all.

But those times when we find ourselves alone…away from the bothersome fathers, and meddling fiancés. When there are no jealous rivals or deadly enemies after us. A side of her shows that made me fall in love with her in the first place. When my ego goes out the window and her pride is nowhere in sight, God she's the sweetest person in the world. That's my motivation for every one of my fights now a days, my only reason I live. So I can have a chance at another one of those moments. To see her smile. But no matter how remote the location, or secret the place, someone is always… ALWAYS there to mess it up for us.

But today is the anniversary of my arrival. Today I have devised a perfect plan to truly discover what she feels about me. This will determine whether I remain in Nerima for the rest of my life with her, or if I leave forever…and leave my heart in shattered pieces at her feet.

You see I had discovered a very convenient way to vent my stress on my father when I was young. I could do this and not worry about the repercussions afterwards since, accentually, it was my pops fault. You see I learned a little technique called the Cat-fist when I was six. The manual had stated that if, and I do mean IF the trainee survived the technique, he or she would act as thou they were a cat themselves, and would have no recollection of their actions when they woke up…IF they woke up. So pop, being the smart man he is, forgot to read past the basic learning method in the manual, and went ahead and threw me into the pit of starving cats over and over. I eventually 'snapped', and went 'cat' as they call it, and discovered a very useful piece of information. Somehow, when I go into the cat-fist, I have limited control over my actions and FULL control over my mind. So the basic instincts of a cat will still surface and I won't be able to stop myself from reacting to them, but other then that, I have free reign. So being the grand little student I was, a very pissed student mind you (my father just betrayed me and fed me to cats, come on people of course I'm pissed) I decided to indulge him and GIVE him the Cat-fist. Ah yes I did enjoy paying him back for what he did to me. The new strength, the speed, the agility, the chi claws…of yea and the alleged 'temporary insanity' actually paid off. So whenever he did something stupid to me, I would 'accidentally' find a cat in an alley, and show him the error of his ways.

Using a loved one to break me out of the cat-fist was just a convenient aspect I used to keep the old man in check. Since he knew I didn't consider him in the category of beloved father, he actually started thinking before he acted; knowing the closest person that could bring me out of the 'trance' was back in Hokkaido. But then, when we got to the Tendo Dojo, my reason for going 'cat' changed dramatically.

When I started having feelings for the tomboy, I didn't know how to express them since whenever I was nice she would give me a pitying look and ask if 'I needed to lie down.' So, my "loved one breaks Cat-fist trance" idea gained its second purpose. The first was of course to teach my pop the stupidity of his actions, and the second was to show everyone how I truly felt about the engagement ordeal. Everyone knew that my 'true' feeling came out when I was 'cat,' since all aspects of pride are thrown out the window.

It seemed to work, too. Everyone believed I had no idea what went on during the Cat-fist, and even Akane treated me better when I was in that state. One time I even got a little over confident with my beliefs of her feelings for me and kissed her right in front of everyone in the school yard. That promptly ended with me taking a swim in the pool 75 yards away. But even though she denied it when I 'woke' up, I had felt her return the kiss ever so slightly. That was when I knew she might have feelings for me, but what kind and how strong, I still didn't know for sure.

So now here is my plan. Next time I go 'cat,' for some strange reason, I'm not going to come out of it. If my acting is good enough (oh yes people, ever since the "Romeo and Juliet" thing, I've gotten pretty good at acting) then my guess is that the old ghoul, Kasumi, or Nabiki will believe that the 'cat' in me has matured and has started staking its territory, and courting its mate. Heh, won't P'chan be surprised when he shows up and finds a hungry Ranma-neko pouncing on him. And since no 'rival' male will be able to enter my territory without angering me and feeling my wrath, that takes care of pop and Mr. Tendo, along with all the other rivals. Then for the other fiancés, ignoring them should be enough, maybe an annoyed glance ever so often. Hopefully they will get the picture and give up on me.

Anyway, I'm not gonna leave Akane's side for nothing. Hopefully after a few days she'll get worried and pour her heart out to me asking me to come back. And then, well we'll just have to see.

So project Neko-Ramna is underway. Now to find a convenient cat…

The author Eternal Flame Presents:

"Curiosity of the Cat"

The fight for Ranma's heart comes to an end…