Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Poems under Stars ❯ Poems under the Stars ( Chapter 1 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

“Ow . . . ”
“Ow . . . ”
“Ow . . . ”
“Dammit!” The young girl finally tossed down the undistinguishable mass of cloth and sucked on her fingers.
“It’s hopeless.” She muttered, stinging her free hand through her dark blue hair. “I guess I’ll never get the hang of these stupid needles.” She finally sighed and sat down at her small wooden desk. The fact that it was a desk was hardly distinguishable, due to a large mass of paper that covered it.
“At least I’ve been able to write poems lately.” She sighed as she lifted one of the parchments. She barely looked at it before setting it down.
“Ranma . . . Why have I been thinking about him so much lately.”

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In the next room, the thought about guy was pacing slowly.
“Damn it Akane.” He muttered to himself, then looked out at the sky. His black hair was tied back into a long pigtail, and his pale skin shown in their light. Even his white tie up shirt gave him a look of calm and beauty. “Why does this stuff happen to me?” He sighed, looking through the amassing stars. “Ever since I fought Saffron . . . ” He shivered and pulled his mind away from unpleasant events. A star shot across the sky, light illuminating the ground below.
“Maybe . . . ” He pondered a second.
“Nah. That wish crap is fer girls and stuff.” He turned around to look away from the window. Yet his head unwillingly turned back. He sighed, accepting defeat.
“I might as well. What’ll it hurt?” He drew in air and courage with a deep breath, yet his wish still came out as barely a whisper.
“Give me the courage to tell her how I feel.” He watched as the star grew brighter, then blared as it erupted into the ground.
“Dammit! Why does shit always happen to me?” He sighed and decided to see what happened.

The pigtailed youth wasn’t surprised to see that the locals hadn’t paid much attention to the crash. He smirked.
“After all the crap me and Ryoga have done to this town . . . Why should I be surprised?” HE leapt from a wall and landed gracefully in the crater.
“Looks like nothing was hurt.” He muttered, looking around. He stared up, trying to see the path of the fallen star. There was a dust in the air, glowing slightly, illuminating a path. He sighed.
“I guess I won’t be getting that wish then.”
The sky began to darken then. “Great. Rain.” He muttered and began running home. Despite the inhuman speed of the boy, the water was faster still. He returned home as a red-haired girl.

“Oh there you are Ranma.” A girl with shoulder length brown hair, and a white apron over a pink dress said.
“Hi Kasumi.”
“Ranma. Could you go help Father and Mr. Saotome find a piece of bamboo for the Festival?” Ranma sighed and turned around to go out again.
“Oh, and find Grandpa Happosai. He may want to get his collection out of the rain.” Ranma sighed and leapt easily onto the roof.

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There was a low thump on the roof. Akane sat up.
“There he goes again.” She looked out to watch Ranma jump off onto another building and slowly fade out of sight.
“Running off again.” She muttered and sat in her chair. The jumbled mess of paper fluttered slightly as a small gust entered the room. She slid the window closed and began to gather up the paper.
“I guess I should decide which poems to put on the bamboo.” She said to the empty room.

A few minutes later she spotted a small man outside, tugging at a clothesline. His wails of panic were audible even at her height.
“Well, I hope that teaches him.” She scowled as the old man went about tending to his collection. She heard the door open downstairs, sighed and got up.

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Ranma snagged a towel and headed off for the bathroom. She wrung out her shirt and slumped it into a laundry basket. Her shorts and pants soon followed. She shook out the remaining water in her hair. As the bath filled with hot water, Ranma dumped a bucket of cold water over her head, shivering slightly, she slipped into the bath.

The change was nearly instantaneous. Ranma laid back a bit, letting the warmth of the water seep into him. A few seconds later he got up and slipped on a fresh set of clothes. The scent of fresh bamboo hit him as he entered the dining room. The shaft had been erected on the small table, forcing the inhabitants to eat around it.

Ranma settled himself next to Akane. He shifted uncomfortably as she smirked at him.
“Where did you go Ranma?”
“To get our dads and the perv.” His voice seemed to tighten as he spoke. “Damn! Ever since she . . . She was killed by Saffron, I can’t control myself around her.” He berated himself mentally for a few seconds, before noticing a small stack of papers next to her.
“What are those?”
“Nothing.” Akane said, sliding them under the table. Despite her turning her face, Ranma still caught the light blush on her cheeks.
“Lemmie see!” He said, swiftly reaching under the table and feeling around for the papers. His finger lightly slid along her leg, causing both to shiver. Akane was the first to regain control over her body. Of course, control is all in the eyes of the beholder.
“Ranma! I said it was nothing!” She yelled, smacking her hand across his face.

A few minutes later the stars had cleared from Ranma’s eyes and he continued to focus on the meal at hand. Yet his eyes remained on the spot hiding the papers. His curiosity had gotten the better of him, he was determined to see at least one of those sheets.

The plan began as soon as Akane slipped upstairs. She had placed a few sheets on the bamboo as was custom, but none of them were of any interest to Ranma. He was after the two pages he had seen her hide.

“Operation, Ninja stealth.” She thought as she slid along the roof. Ranma wasn’t about to care about the rain, she was more stealthy as a girl anyway. With the utmost caution she slid open Akane’s window. The curtains blew back, revealing a scowling Akane.
“I thought you’d try something stupid tonight. Well it isn’t happening. Now get to bed, we gotta help out the parade tomorrow.”

Ranma slid to the ground, stunned. “That’s the first time she hasn’t hit me for sneaking into her room . . . ” She muttered to herself. Looking up, she saw Akane’s light turn off. She grinned, her eyes focusing on her target.
“This game isn’t over yet.” She said to herself, and scurried into the house.

Once again a guy, he slid along the wall, creeping slowly. He placed his hand next to Akane’s door. Footsteps. He leapt, grabbing onto the ceiling, and watched as Akane walked downstairs.
“Bingo.” Ranma said, slipping into the room.

Ranma moved first to the desk. There were a few pages, but obviously no poems. Next he opened her closet, shaking a few clothes. Nothing. He growled in frustration. He went to the dresser, cautiously looked through. Nothing. Scowling he moved to the bed. Feeling the pillow, and the mattress, he found nothing. He reached his hand under the bed.

“Ranma!” He looked up in time to get the full blast of a water gun in his, now her face. “I thought I told you to go to bed!”
“Akane! What’d you do that for?”
“Stupid. Just go to bed.” Ranma scowled, but left all the same.

Once in her room, she scanned the ceiling. She looked down for a second, her eyes looking over the panda that was sleeping there. Once she felt assured, she leapt onto the ceiling, and removed a panel. Once in, she scrambled along until she could hear Akane’s breathing below. She grinned as she slid the panel carefully away. She landed softly, looking over Akane’s sleeping form. “Where would she hide it?”

Ranma’s eyes spotted her bag. She leapt at it, flipping silently through the pages. Nothing. She looked under the dresser. Nothing. “Damn.” She cursed under her breath. She felt a cold plastic against her head. She turned to get another face full of water.
“We could keep at this all night.” Akane said softly.
“We could . . . Or you could give me those papers . . . ”
“Nope.”
“Then I’ll find them.”
“You won’t.”
“How’d you know?”
“Because I hid them.” Ranma scowled, but left.

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The next morning passed slowly. It was a long grueling task of staying cool. More than once cold buckets came into play. Iced tea, watermelons, and various ice creams abounded. Yet, under it all they were preparing for the festival. Repairing a branch of the bamboo, returning a parchment to its place, making sure the clothes were ready.

An hour before dark Ranma and Akane headed a small group that were en route to a large fair ground. Food stands had already been set up.
“Okonomiyaki!” A brunette girl called from a stand, she had a blue chief’s uniform, and a large spatula strapped to her back.
“Ukyo.” Akane scowled.
“One ramen delivery. Please buy at the Cat again.” A young man wearing white robes said. His thick glasses sending a gleam in the afternoon sun. He quickly returned to a stand where a light blue haired girl was working at another bowl of ramen.
“New Delivery Mousse.” She said as she put down another tin box for the boy to carry. He sighed and grabbed it.
“Alright Shampoo.” He said, then went off into the crowd. Ranma could even make out a young man sitting in the shadows. He had a yellow shirt and a matching bandanna. He was leaning on a large red umbrella.
“Ryoga.” Ranma muttered. “Looks like today will be fun after all.”

The parade started, bamboo shafts waving around in the winds, in a pattern around the ground. Ranma was watching from a rooftop. He saw the spiral forming, and saw where it would be ending. A platform, suspended over water. He grinned. There was a reason this year was different from any others. That platform was the reason. Six water guns lay on the edges, tubes running into the nearby pools. Ranma already knew his target.

“The goal is to hit your opponent into the water. However, you must soak him or her once before actually fighting back.” The announcer said, standing in the center of the platform. Ranma began his short journey to the platform.
“Now the best six fighters in this town will now fight in this arena.”

A small gunshot rang out as the six stood in the arena, armed with guns. Ryoga began by immediately firing at Ranma. He ducked the initial stream, however, the water fell on him and soaked her. Ryoga wasted no time in launching an assault when he spotted Akane level her gun. He instinctively ducked, and opened his umbrella. It was then he noticed that he wasn’t the only one that had charged. A small duck landed behind him, and soon flew off with an indignant quack.

Ukyo and Shampoo held each other in a deadlock. Both were focused on the trigger finger. Waiting for the moment to spring. In a blur the two jets hit each other. In a second shot, Ukyo hefted her spatula, and deflected the fluid. With a clean movement Shampoo shifted away from the shot, and fired. The spray missed Ukyo, but hit Akane. Or would have, if Ranma hadn’t been in the way. The pigtailed girl was fighting furiously with Ryoga, attempting to get the water past the kid’s suddenly iron defenses. He wasn’t however, opposed to revenge, and skillfully returned fire. Shampoo fell to the ground as a small pink cat. She quickly leapt off stage as well. Ukyo turned her focus on Akane. Firing a whip like stream, she attempted to soak the other girl. Akane leapt over the spray and aimed her own at Ukyo from above. Ukyo deflected the shot with her spatula, and swung down. Akane stepped back, and fired. The aim was true, and hit Ukyo in the back. The chief scowled and got up.

Ranma ducked another wild swing. One could potentially send him flying, and that was not something he wanted to do at the moment. He ducked another and preformed a rapid fire with the water gun.

Akane jumped away from another shot. A third shot managed to hit her in the eyes. Thus as a shot found Ryoga’s face, she was incapable of seeing a small black pig run off.

“Ranma Honey!” Ukyo called over to him. “Help me finish Akane off!” Ranma scowled.
“What if I side with Akane?”
“You wouldn’t.” Ukyo said. Ranma grinned. He fired a blast from his gun, sending Ukyo to the ground. Akane finished clearing the water away in time to see the opening. With a swift kick she sent Ukyo tumbling out of the arena. Ranma grinned and nodded at her.
“Not bad. You’re getting better.” Ranma said, trying to put as much sugar into his voice as possible.
“Thanks Ranma.” She responded. Ranma scowled as she walked away. Yet, for a second she turned around to him, and with a wave of her hand drew her along.

*********************************************************** *********************

The stars began lighting up in the sky as the two walked.
“Ranma.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you know what this festival’s about?” Ranma shrugged. “It’s a romantic festival. Which is why I decided to help out this year.” Ranma brought her into focus. The light wood of the bridge blurred away as she stood.
“You decided?”
“I have . . . Romantic problems . . . At least this year I do.”
“Just this year?”
“I’m hoping my wish will come true.” Ranma sighed, looking up at the star ridden sky. One glimmered and shot away from the crowd.
“Please. Let me do this.” Ranma reached out, touching the Akane’s smooth skin. Her breath came in hard. Her face turned red.
“R-Ranma? What are you?” Ranma shook violently.
“I... I... I...” She sighed. Akane watched her writhing. She looked at the wooden boards, and lifted a small scroll of parchment.
“Here.” She said, face glowing. Ranma lifted the small piece of paper.
“What is this?”
“One of the papers you wanted last night.” She looked at the paper.

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Like the wind he comes and goes.
His grace as he traverses the roofway.
His Baby blue eyes seem to shine when they see me.
I can’t be sure.
Other girls want this wind.

Like water, he flows across the battle field.
Fists hitting only air.
He was never there.
My heart throbs whenever he is hit.
But still others want his wind.

In fury he will attack.
Fists like rain, berating every inch of his foe.
Whenever I fall, he comes.
Whenever I’m hurt he fights.
Yet, I still don’t know.
Has the wind already chosen?

I don’t know any of what he feels.
However I do know, I love him.

************************************************************* *******************

Ranma’s blush became more and more obvious as she read.
“Th-This is . . . ”
“About you.” Akane finished, she had turned away in an attempt to hide the blush.
“Akane.” Ranma looked down at the paper in her hand. An idea came to her. She scrounged in her pockets, and luckily found a small pen. She laid the paper out on the rail and scribbled down three words. “Here. I... I can’t find the courage to say them out loud.” She handed the other girl the paper. Akane’s blush broadened as she looked at the words: I love you.

Akane pulled the other girl into a hug.
“Ack! Akane!”
“What?”
“We’re both girls! I thought . . . ” Akane grinned.
“I don’t care. You’re still Ranma.” Ranma as still blushing when Akane drew her in. Their lips met, and the outside world ceased to exist. Nothing mattered to the couple except the other. To the minutes became days, and years were seconds. For an instant, they shared a total bliss. Just the two of them.

They finally pulled away, gasping for breath, matching smiles.
“What should we do about our dads?” Ranma said as soon as she could regain her breath.
“I think we should let them figure it out themselves.” Akane said, a hint of mischief in her tone. Ranma looked up at the sky, another shooting star flew passed. “Make a wish.” Akane said behind her. Ranma looked back grinning.
“Nah. I already got my wish. Let’s go home.” At that the two walked back to their home.

************************************************************ ********************

What happened over the next couple of days, was unexplainable. Ranma and Akane would still fight, the house would still be destroyed, and Ranma would get in even more trouble. However, the fights were fewer, which may be attributed to Akane’s almost constant good mood, and Ranma’s sudden reluctance to upset her. Eventually Nabiki caught the two kissing in Akane’s room. From there a large war was waged between the children and parents. That story, not being its own tale, could be told here, but won’t. For reasons unknown.