Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma Gets A Clue ❯ The tickle wars ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Ranma 1/2 Fanfic "Ranma Gets a clue"
Written by Asayogure
First Draft (8/10/1999)
Last modified (1/14/2000)

Chapter 3, "The tickle wars."

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Begin.
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From a distance any casual onlooker who saw the two
figures standing on a nearby rooftop would simply dismiss
them as city workers. However if you lived in Tokyo's
Nerima district and recognized the two, you would probably
turn down the first street going in the opposite direction.
One does not cross by the site of a soon to be battle. At
least that was what usually was happening whenever one of
these two figures was spotted in public.
The figure in red seemed to be listening to the white
robed figure nodding his head from time to time as he did
so... then he nodded his head a final time and shouted
something unintelligible like, "thanks", and turned and
leapt to a nearby roof, breaking into a run as he did so.
A casual onlooker would simply shrug and go about their
business. This was Nerima after all.
Ranma hopped down off of the rooftop and sprinted his
way to school. Now that he had a plan in mind, Ranma meant
to act on it. He just managed to get into the gates of
Furinkan before they closed. Well not really in the gates;
sort of over actually.
Pausing, Ranma stood on the right side pillar of the
gates. The early morning breeze was blowing his hair and
clothing around. The wind started low and ran funnel-like
currents up his body, whipping his shirt tails around and
blowing his hair into his face. Looking up Ranma noticed
that the sky was getting darker and, when he sniffed the
air, it didn't smell right.
The air smelt like the misty interior of a wet cave, an
ill omen indeed. The hairs on his arms prickled like an
electric current was running through the air.
Running like he did, Ranma had actually managed to make
it to school right behind Akane. His breath caught in his
throat as he watched her making her way towards the schools
entrance.
Tatewaki Kunou was not known to be a reasonable person.
At the moment he held himself with a bearing that cast the
illusion that he had just stepped out of ancient Japan.
Hardly an era ruled by reason. He stood on the steps
leading into the high school with his arms crossed,
leaning against one of the pillars for the archway with an
imperious expression on his face. His bokken was tucked
into the proper position for a real sword in the sash he
was wearing.
The wind was playing with his hair and clothing as
well. Whipping it into a frenzy for a time only to let it
go moments later. The effect was chilling in that it
appeared Kunou could call the winds to help him punctuate
his own self important words.
Glancing up again Ranma saw clouds gathering seemingly
trying to choke away the sun. Deprived of the suns rays
the Earth started to grow colder. An icy blast of wind
lanced through Ranma's clothes and made his spine tingle.
Ranma started to chant silently to himself, 'rain rain go
away, come again another day...'
Kunou started his self important monologue as soon as
Akane came within ear shot, watching him warily. Drawing
himself into what he thought was a noble pose, Kunou tossed
his head back and dragged his fingers through his unruly
hair. The effect of which was immediately lost to the
wind. Directing his gaze to a point off into the horizon
only he could see he began.
"The noble scion of the house of Kunou has a mission this
day." Lightning struck behind him, so close that the
thunder clap seemed immediate. Kunou unfazed, continued to
speak.
"Akane Tendou thy honor hast been defiled and 'tis my
duty to set matters straight." Glancing up to Ranma's
perch Kunou pointed to him with his bokken and sneered.
"This cur hast stole into our stead, defiled the honor of
numerous young maidens, and hast proven himself unworthy of
asking for your hand in marriage!" Lightning struck again
and the thunderclap was again immediate.
Ranma, already tired of this little speech, and REALLY
wanting to get indoors before it started to rain, made a
move as if to jump kick the annoying kendoist in the head.
However Akane glancing in his direction caught his intended
actions, cleared her throat to draw his attention and froze
him in his place with THAT look. Her message was clear, do
NOT interfere. Ranma studied his proud fiancee for a
second, clenching and unclenching his fists, causing his
knotted muscles to strain all up and down his arms, but he
nodded and held his ground.
Akane was standing facing Kunou. Her feet planted
firmly a shoulders width apart. Her grip around her
satchel was white knuckled and, with the wind and cold
playing over her, she looked like any warrior princess
out to do battle on a field destined for legend. Ranma
almost felt sorry for Kunou. Almost. Shifting his gaze
back to where Kunou stood, Ranma got a little worried.
Young men were coming out from behind gates and doors,
stepping out from behind the bushes and trees, it was an
ambush! Most carried some piece of sports equipment. The
smarter ones wore protective padding as well. Kunou
continued to speak.
"Whilst I admit the cur Saotome hast bested me in combat
before, due to his use of the black arts, I hereby decree
this day that I will stand for it no more. I say let
Saotome prove his worth and fight for her hand.
Akane's steady gaze narrowed into a glare. Ranma's
hands clenched into frozen fists as he grit his teeth. If
you listened quiet enough you could almost hear him growl.
This was NOT what Ranma had expected this morning. But
fine, if Kunou wanted a fight, he would get one. He had
thought Kunou and all these other idiots had stopped this
foolish behavior long ago.
Again he moved as if to jump on Kunou, and again Akane
sensed it and shifted her glare to him. He stopped only
because he knew he would never hear the end of it if he
insulted THIS young woman's pride. Kunou finished his
speech. "So it shall come to pass, that I shall bring
about your downfall this glorious day Saotome!"
With that the rest of the young men sprinted forward
into battle. Akane with a silent thought of, 'oh no you
don't!' Was not about to let Ranma fight for her, and she
moved to stand between the oncoming horde and Ranma's
perch. Ranma tensed as he watched. Silently he begged her
to move. 'Oh please, oh please, oh please, they really
need a head kicking. Oh please, oh...' If it wasn't so
potentially dangerous Ranma would have laughed out loud
with how bizarre the whole situation was. Somewhere up
there, he just knew a god or two was just laaaaaaaaughing
his ass off. Akane simply stood and eyed them as they
charged with cold disdain.
As the first of their numbers leapt to try to get past
her she nimbly side stepped them and lashed out twin back
knuckles catching them in their noses. She dropped her
satchel and spun away from them. She then leapt into the
midst of the surging crowd, and punched and kicked herself
a path out of the press of idiotic bodies. The crowd was
forced to turn and fight her, or chance getting struck from
behind.
Ranma stood and watched crankily as his fiancee struck
down another two would-be attackers. 'I could handle this
juuust fine. But will she let me take care of my business,
nooo. But just watch and let me try to interfere in her
business and . . .WOMEN!' He muttered angrily to himself.
His hands still clenched into fists at his sides, he
grumpily watched Akane use a good portion of Furinkan's
male student body as target practice. 'At least she
hasn't managed to get hurt. Yet. Soun'll rip my leg off
and beat me to death with it, if I let his "little girl"
get hurt. "Little girl" my ass.' Ranma thought unhappily.
'Story of my life I suppose.'
So, silently, he watched her from his perch and
grudgingly admitted that she was getting better. Much
better than when he had first met her. Grinning slightly
as he noticed that her footwork was almost exactly in sync
with the kata that he had showed her this morning. His
worry decreased as the number of attackers dwindled
steadily. He even laughed out loud when about twenty of
the attackers turned and hightailed it out of the
courtyard. Realizing that she was no easier to beat now
then she had been the long time ago that they had been
foolish enough to do this.
Ranma was amazed with how well she had picked up the
kata he had been showing her earlier and how quickly she
had learned to apply it. It gave him a warm feeling to
know that he had been the one to teach her.
Two minutes later the courtyard was littered with the
slightly broken bodies of a good portion of the male
student body of Furinkan High. Ranma was about to leap
down and join Akane when he noticed that Kunou was still
standing. Standing by the gates he leveled his bokken at
her as he spoke.
"Truly this boorish lot deserved their fate. To attack
one as lithe and dangerous as thyself, quickly and
unthinking, hath brought about their own pitiful downfalls,
now, these fools may see what their folly hath wrought. I,
however, hath waited and watched thee Akane Tendou. En
sooth I doth believe thou art now quite spent. Shalt the
serpent dance with the mongoose this morn moi cheri?" Kunou
then grinned the grin of a serpent. Ranma tensed up again.
He sprinted towards her with his bokken held high.
Shouting battle cries for the honor of days and ideals long
since past. Akane, for her part, didn't even pause as she
executed the finishing move to the kata. A jump spinning
outside crescent kick that she viciously whirled into
Kunou's temple with the knife edge of her foot, the kick
carried her past Kunou and Akane landed gracefully in a low
crouch, her back to her
vanquished foe. To Kunou's credit, he did manage to stay
standing a few seconds before he fell, the bokken
skittering across the ground in a clattering testament of
his defeat.
Pausing a second, Akane surveyed the damage. Then,
throwing a quick thumbs up to Ranma she retrieved her
satchel and headed off to class. Late for class, but with
an obviously happy gait to her step.
Sighing to himself, Ranma hopped down from the post and
waded through the wreckage. The schools massive janitorial
staff was already carting off the broken shrubbery and
destroyed sports equipment. They also had a routine to
follow every day, and it usually started with garbage duty.
Frequently the destruction was caused by Ranma these days.
But either way it didn't matter to them. Ranma grinned
a little as he stood and watched some of the first guys
stagger to their feet. Most of them muttering curses and
favoring certain limbs. Passing by Kunou, Ranma bent down
and grabbed his bokken for a trophy.
The wind died down a little just then. Looking up Ranma
caught sight of a single bird in a nearby tree branch, and
as he watched that bird broke into a cautious song. A good
omen indeed. Maybe today wasn't going to be another trip
to hell.
Laughing now, Ranma was a picture of grace and speed as
he slipped past the comatose Kunou and jumped up into a
tree and then ricocheted off a few benches and buildings
and jumped-flew right into his homeroom window. Landing
with a forward somersault and a plop only rubber soled
Chinese shoes can make, he quickly hid the bokken and his
gear under his desk.
He grinned at those who were openly gawking at him, as
he took his seat. Those that were staring were apparently
still not used to having someone jump INTO a third story
window. Akane, who was sitting across the aisle from him,
muttered, "Show off."
Ranma was just thankful that the teacher hadn't arrived
yet. He really did not feel like another session of "water
bucket sentry duty". Akane took that moment to look up
from her book and give him "the look", the look that only
women close to you can give and which men to this day
do not know what it is supposed to mean.
Homeroom flew by for Ranma seeing as he slept through
it. Akane, on the other hand, was busily scribbling notes
and shooting exasperated looks at her fiancee. 'Honestly',
she thought, 'it's not like he doesn't get enough sleep at
home as it is.'
At the end of class the bell rang and Ranma shot out of
his desk already running for the door, completely
forgetting his book bag and the prize bokken . . . he had
to throw his weight onto his heels in order to stop short
of running into Akane though, who was waiting for him in
the doorway. Puzzled, Ranma stepped out of her range and
looked at her quizzically. She was looking at him
thoughtfully.
"Yo Akane, whatcha want . . .?" He asked.
"Ranma..." she began. Ranma eyed her warily. If this
was about him taking the first bath today he would have
none of it, it had been his turn and . . .
"Ranma, I . . . want to thank you for not interfering
today. That meant a lot to me." Akane seemed to literally
stumble on the words. Ranma looked at her funny and then
shrugged.
"Yeah well Akane, I was pretty surprised you beat them
so quick, but I figured you could handle Kunou, you are at
about his skill level. Look I gotta go, ok? I'm gonna
miss gym..." He trailed off. He turned to leave but
Akane's hand was suddenly resting on his shoulder. "Ranma,
why do you sleep through class? Don't you care if you get
a good education?" She had assumed her best _Kasumi
stance_, and was trying hard to look scolding, but
understanding.
"Hey look Akane just cuz you are good at school and like
to play the "perfect" student, don't mean I gotta, I hate
school." He protested. Ranma left that last statement
hanging in the air. She watched him set his jaw firmly in
his 'don't mess with me' expression. Then he crossed
his arms in front of his chest as he leaned against the
door frame. Akane caught his body language message loud
and clear.
'Back off,' he was saying in the best way he knew how.
However Akane was not one to back away from a fight.
Looking away from him for a second she put her arguments
and her fighting spirit in check with a deep breath...and
turned back to him.
"Yes but Ranma if you only applied yourself, I'm sure
you could..." As she looked back to where Ranma had been
she found she was only speaking to a Ranma-less door frame.
"How in the HELL does he DO that?!!" She practically
screamed as her self control left her, drawing stares from
some of those in the hall, and sympathetic looks from
others.
As she started to walk away to her next class she
muttered to herself. "I swear it's like trying to talk
with a damn puppy, he won't hold STILL!" She continued to
grumble to herself as she made her way through the crowds.
Ranma let go of the ceiling and plopped back down to
where he had been standing. Grinning to himself, he
chuckled and silently thanked Kodachi for showing him
indirectly how to do that. With that, he turned and hopped
out the nearest window. Hitting the ground, he sprinted
across the school grounds trying to make his favorite
class, PE, in time.
So intent was he on reaching his class that Ranma failed
to notice that the wind had died down, and the cool air was
now still and quiet, his little bird was nowhere to be seen
either. Definitely a bad omen.
Back in the classroom, the girl who sat behind Ranma
bent over and picked up his satchel and the bokken.
'I should probably give this to Akane or someone, or
maybe I can find Ranma ...' her thoughts trailed off as
she blushed mightily at the thought of Ranma thanking her
for her trouble and giving her one of those smiles that
were known across campus to make women swoon... ' Yes I
think I'll go look for Ranma...' she thought as she
shouldered the pack after placing the bokken through the
straps so she could carry it all at once. Taking a step
she promptly fell over backwards.
'Good lord what does he have in here? Bricks?'
Grimacing with a determined scowl the girl set about
dragging the pack out the door, drawing a few curious
stares of her own.
Jogging into the schools athletics area, Ranma noticed
that the Kendo club was already out and stretching. The
girls track team was out and jogging and the general area
was crowded with students geared up for PE. In other
words...Ranma was in his element, and he was also LATE!
Jogging towards the boys locker room. He suddenly heard
scuffling sounds coming from the roof of a nearby
equipment building.
With barely half a second to brace himself, Ranma threw
his arms up crossed in front of his face, just blocking the
kick sailing towards his head. Quickly Ranma leapt back
and letting all the air out of his lungs with a *whoosh* of
surprise. Sizing up his unexpected opponent as he did so.
And so Ranma came to be gazing rather crankily at Ryouga.
Ryouga just smirked and clenched both of his hands into
fists as he slowly walked through the early morning fog
that was still drifting in from the wet athletics' fields.
The cloud vapors swirled and streamed out of his way,
almost as if he were wading through an intangible river.
His stride towards Ranma was causing his traveling cloak to
twirl and weave behind him so as to make him look like
some caped lord from ancient times traveling with a deadly
purpose to his journey. Ranma's mind didn't even pause to
wonder where the fog was coming from.
In silence Ryouga started to circle and size up his
greatest foe in the early morning mist. Ranma, wearing a
smirk of his own, took the time to look Ryouga over. His
shirt was torn and obviously well worn, almost threadbare.
The leg bindings that usually wrapped around his calves
to taper in the cloth, were shorter than usual, looking
like the cords had been cut for some reason or another.
His hair was longer as well. Granted, it had always been
somewhat shaggy, but now it was almost touching his
shoulders giving him a dangerous unruly air. Silently
Ranma ticked off the months in his mind that Ryouga had
been missing...the total came to about 3 and a half.
"So Ryouga...what did I do to you this time? Did I pick
an apple that you wanted from some tree? Did I beat you up
in a dream? Did my great grandfather look at your great
grandfather funny? Did I eat bacon this morning?" He said
that last comment with a barely contained smirk.
Ryouga did pause for a second, looking slightly
confused. You needed a REASON for attacking Ranma? Yeah
right. It was a simple fact. Ranma was there, and
therefore Ranma was the enemy and to be attacked and beaten
at all costs.
But to Ranma's surprise his normal verbal baiting of
Ryouga wasn't working. Ryouga just kept walking and
stopped about 3 meters from Ranma. It was then that he
made eye contact with Ranma. Ryouga's eyes were of a man
with a grudge to settle. Well fine if Ryouga wanted to
fight, then Ranma could use a good workout, it had been
awhile since he had one anyway. Normally he would just
fight with him here and now, but there were a lot of people
around, and if there was one thing he was learning from
living in Nerima, it was that people tended to stop to
watch a fight, and the last thing he needed was for some
kid to get hurt at school because he was fighting. Akane
definitely would never let him hear the end of that.
Besides he was LATE!
Ranma suddenly snapped his fingers saying, "ah ha," you
could tell Ranma had just gotten an idea. You could almost
see the little cartoon light bulb going off above his head.
As Ryouga pulled his battle umbrella out from his back
pack, Ranma did the exact same thing that had stopped him
back when he had first shown up at Furinkan. Holding out
his hand he said,
"Yo Ryouga, long time no see...wah cha been up to?"
Ranma asked. Ryouga simply swatted the hand away and swung
his umbrella. Ranma caught the weapon in mid air and held
on. Ryouga simply swung Ranma with the umbrella, which
caused Ranma to slide back about a meter in the dirt, he
had forgotten just how strong Ryouga was.
"Say Ryouga I can see you are kind of angry, how would
you like to work out your aggressions?" That one got
through to Ryouga a little.
"What are you talking about?!"
"Yeah well, here's the thing, I'm already late for my
favorite class. And while I would love to kick your bacon
butt up and down the school I would rather not miss this
class. So maybe we could postpone our little match here.
If you'd like you can come with me. I will just tell
everyone that you are a transfer student." Ryouga,
however, looked doubtful.
"You want me to come to gym class with you? Whatever the
hell for?" He said looking at Ranma like he had just
sprouted pink and purple elephant ears on his head.
"Well, um ... yeah sure why not. This week is American
Sports week, and it is rather interesting. Besides, you
are the strongest person in this school next to me and it
would be kind of fun to try some of those sports with
someone I don't have to worry 'bout breaking. That is if
you aren't afraid that I am better than you."
With that said, Ranma turned on his heel and continued
on his way to the boys locker room. He knew that for
pride's sake Ryouga would be right behind him. As he
entered the boys locker room though Ranma got a sinking
feeling in his stomach. Water was flying everywhere and
high school boys were running all over the place apparently
having some kind of a water war. Ryouga simply shouldered
his way past him, popping open his umbrella as he went.
One poor guy made the mistake of running into Ryouga. As he
bounced off of his chest, Ryouga simply picked the kid up
by his shirt with his left hand and placed him out of
his way.
Ranma caught the kid before he stumbled into a wall and
let him go. The kid kind of went skidding off towards the
bathrooms as though he needed to go really bad all of the
sudden. Ranma just continued on, muttering under his
breath,
"Jeez isn't he cranky today."
Ranma started to walk behind the other guys that were
heading out the back door which led to the schools outdoor
fields. Ryouga followed, his fists were still clenched and
he was walking like a soldier on his way to war. Ranma
with Ryouga in tow joined the rest of the guys congregated
on the field and Ryouga became the instant center of
attention. Which considering the state of mind he was in,
probably wasn't the best of ideas.
The kids started to crowd around Ryouga, at first he
just ignored them and started to stretch and perform a
modified version of Tai Chi. But Ranma could tell that the
guys were starting to get on Ryouga's nerves with their
insipid questions.
"Hey aren't you that guy that got hit in the head with
a soccer ball?"
"No stupid he's the guy that sells umbrellas out
front!"
"Hey are you listening to me man?! I'm talking to you
here! Sheesh, maybe that soccer ball to the head knocked
the sense right out of him."
Ryouga grabbed a nearby fist sized rock while he was
stretching. Without breaking his pattern, he casually
crushed it and dropped the rock fragments and powder by the
kids feet. The students warming up fell silent as they
crowded around the site of the expected fight. Ranma was
trying to decide if letting Ryouga beat up the entire PE
class could in ANY way be blamed on him, knowing Akane
. . . most likely. Even though it would probably be a
great way to let Ryouga work out his anger . . . naaaah.
With a sigh Ranma turned to face the assembled crowd as he
stepped in front of Ryouga, Ranma spoke so most of them
could hear him.
"Okay guys listen up, this is Ryouga and he's a transfer
student, he is kind of cranky right now so why dontcha
leave him alone okay?"
There was a general stirring in the crowd, but before
any more trouble could be started a shrill whistle blow cut
through the air. Striding into their midst came their
coach, obviously oblivious to anything out of the ordinary.
"Okay men line up for roll call!", he trumpeted into the
now still air. There was a crazy scramble as all assembled
tried to form up into the rows and spaces that had been
designated as their own at the start of the semester.
Ryouga simply stood where he was with his arms crossed and
a glare in his eye daring anyone to annoy him.
However, the coach didn't even seem to notice him. He
just took him as the student that was supposed to be there
and continued down the line taking roll. Then with another
of those annoyingly shrill whistle blasts he bellowed out,
"Okay men take a knee." With that he started to get into
the rules of the American sport known as "futtobooru" as it
was pronounced in Japanese. Ranma paid attention with half
an ear as he watched Ryouga making sure he didn't kill
anyone. Yet.
When the coach had almost finished speaking, he
summarized the rules once again. "So basically what you do
is take a team and try to get the ball down the field and
into the scoring zone, following the rules that I just
mentioned. Now, let's have our two students with the best
grades in this course be the first team captains, they will
get to pick their teams first, after they are done the rest
of you can form into teams for our little elimination match
. . . Ranma and Nakajima stand up please. Okay you two
start picking your teams." Nakajima spoke first.
"I choose Ryouga."
"I choose Daisuke." Ranma chose second. And so it went
until all the teams had been made.
What followed next was one for the history books.
Ranma, acting the as the defensive line for his team would
hold Ryouga back until the quarterback could toss the ball.
Flags got thrown on almost every play, as it was explained
to Ryouga that no he could not do drop kicks, and no,
uppercuts were also not allowed. All the teams soon gained
a healthy respect for Ryouga, if you want to call cringing
terror respect. When Ryouga got the ball he would just run
over any of the people that got in his way, like a run away
freight train, working out his anger and depression. It
sometimes took up to six guys to tackle him. But as he
worked off some of his anger and depression, he started
having so much fun, that he got into the game despite of
himself.
Ranma would make plays with his quarterback and have
great fun faking Ryouga out and catching the ball over his
shoulder as he ran, only to be tackled by Ryouga with
enough force to carry him the rest of the way down the
field.
The look on the coaches face as he watched the two was
priceless. You could practically see the yen signs in his
eyes as he imagined being their manager and negotiating
contracts for them back in the USA. One by one Ranma's and
Ryouga's teams took on all the other teams. Until only
their two teams had the least amount of loses, one each to
the other. Lining up to see which team was better, Ryouga
stared at Ranma and grinned an evil grin, Ranma grinned
back.
Suddenly the bell rang signaling the end of class, every
single student on the field except for Ranma and Ryouga
sprinted for the locker rooms, wanting to be free from the
humiliation as soon as possible. Ranma and Ryouga trotted
back in from the now soggy and torn field in tremendously
finer spirits.
"So Ryouga, you feel better now? Or would you still
like for me to kick your butt up and down the school like I
promised?" Ryouga took the joke for what it was and
laughed quietly.
"Yeah sure Saotome, be sure to invite lots of people,
we'll sell tickets..." Ryouga failed to notice Ranma's
sudden cringe, Ranma could just see Nabiki in a ticket
booth shouting,
"Come one come all, see the battle of the century...",
quickly he looked around, his eyes darting frantically to
see if Nabiki or one of her minions were within earshot.
Satisfied Ranma followed Ryouga back into the locker room,
a small part of his mind wondering how Ryouga had managed
not to get lost yet. Since neither one of them had
actually broken a sweat, they didn't need to shower so they
headed out of the locker room.
"So Ryouga . . . see ya after school or something man?"
"No thanks Saotome, I have things to do...don't worry
though I'll be back to kick ya around a bit later...see
ya!" And with that he leapt up onto a nearby roof and then
another, and soon he was gone.
"Oh well," Ranma thought, he never sticks around much
anyway and besides I am sure we would have ended up
fighting eventually. The rest of the day passed without
many incidents to speak of.
As he was walking Akane home that day, Ranma broke his
attention from the fence he was walking along to look at
her. She was maybe half a step ahead of him and seemed to
be lost in her own thoughts. The early evening wind was
swirling her glossy black hair around. The setting sun
catching and highlighting it as though she were a painting.
Her hands were held loosely in front of her, clasping her
satchel. Ranma couldn't help but notice how the cut of her
school uniform made her very feminine curves stand out.
The slender slope of the nape of her neck, the firmness
of her calves and legs in general and the way the jacket
top accentuated her tiny waist, which in turn highlighted
her very curvaceous hips. All in all Ranma in the most
private corner of his mind thought, Akane was the most
attractive girl he had ever met. He would love to tell her
that actually, but he had no idea how to. At least not
without insulting her or sticking his stupid foot in his
mouth as he always did. The only way he knew how to
approach a problem was physically.
Which is why he took such great pains to tease her, he
knew she would become riled, and he knew she would try to
fight him, which meant he could touch her. A fair price to
pay he thought. But now was not a time to fight so he
contented himself with admiring her from afar, for the time
being.
Akane chose that particular moment in time to look back
at Ranma, and caught his lingering stare. Embarrassed,
Ranma looked away. Turning his gaze heaven ward he let the
filtering sunlight play along his face and basked in it's
warmth. Akane simply brushed his look off as a
coincidence, and kept up her gait. Soon they had reached
the Tendou home. Ranma headed up the stairs after shucking
off his outdoor shoes at the entryway and exchanging them
for his indoor slippers. Entering his room, Ranma changed
into his training gi, then headed back downstairs to look
for Genma and start his afternoon training session.
Heading over to the porch, Ranma found Genma and Soun
doing what they usually did in the afternoons- playing
shogi on the porch. The wind picked up for a second and the
wind chime rang, at that moment a fish in the koi pond
jumped. The sunlight glittering off of it's iridescent
scales. That fish still lived in that pond was in and of
itself amazing, since either Ranma or Genma were somehow or
another always doing headers into it.
Genma looked up from the board to Ranma and groaned.
Soun took the opportunity to rearrange several of the game
pieces while he was distracted.
"Sorry boy but I'm not feeling too well today...I think I
ate a bad mushroom or something, you'll have to go practice
by yourself today." And with that said he turned back to
the game and immediately grasped his head with both hands
as he sucked his breath in sharply. As Ranma headed away,
he could hear Genma saying...
"Do over, come on Tendou, do over..."
Ranma headed over to the dojo in somewhat more muted
spirits. As he entered the training hall though, he could
see Akane in her trademark yellow gi cinched up with her
red belt. She was practicing the kata he had shown her
this morning. Ranma just leaned up against the west wall in
the doorway letting the sun warm his back, and watched her.
Well, actually he was watching her more than her form per
say. He did, however, notice that she had actually managed
to remember most of the kata's steps as well as the
intended rhythm to it. She ran through it eight times
before she finally noticed that Ranma was in the dojo with
her.
Blushing, she turned away from him. "How long have you
been standing there Ranma?" She asked with a sense of
dread. She just knew an insult was coming. He would
always make fun of her and belittle her skills. Or he
would seem to be being nice to her and she would lower her
guard. Then he would shoot an insult her way and knock her
self-esteem down a notch or two. However she gave her
thoughts pause here. 'That was not how Ranma had acted
this morning was it? No. She allowed herself to dare
to hope, was he changing?'
However, Ranma either didn't hear her or chose not to
respond. Either way Akane breathed a sigh of relief.
Ranma was still standing there looking at her, staring
actually. Not only was he staring at her, but she could
see his gaze was traveling all over her. Suddenly feeling
a mental draft, Akane decided to break the mood and go over
to a side wall and stretch.
Out of the corner of her eye Akane watched as Ranma
walked out into the center of the room and assumed a black
belt, high crane stance. Maintaining his silence and
commanding a certain sense of dignity, he began to
practice. As Akane watched, Ranma proceeded to get into
HIS workout.
He was totally focused and in his center. He was so
seriously into his training, that he was oblivious to his
surroundings. The sharp plant of his feet on the hardwood
floor, counter set perfectly the sounds of his measured
breathing. His motions continued to shift from that of
what looked like a half air born, half ground speed
training kata to what looked like single partner sparring.
'Of course.', Akane realized. Ranma usually sparred
with his father about this time. He was running through
the routine he usually ran through with his father. 'Where
was Genma anyway?'
Akane watched from the wall as Ranma ran through his
routine, going faster and faster. His hands were going so
damn fast she couldn't even see them, making her all the
more jealous of his skill and speed. And it only got
worse! He kept going faster and faster, and his movements
got smoother and better. It made her so mad that he could
do that and she couldn't! He was bouncing around the room
like some kind of insane grasshopper! And she wanted to as
well!
When he finally stopped. Akane was standing in front
of him holding out a package. Wiping the sheen of sweat
from his brow Ranma took the package from her with a
quizzical look on his face.
"And what do we have here Akane?", he asked, unwrapping
the package that said on the outer wrapping "Wild Stallion
Professional Martial Arts Supplies." Akane had her hands
clasped behind her back and was sucking her bottom lip in
nervously, waiting for him to finish unwrapping. Looking
surprised, Ranma held up a pair of heavily padded hand pads
and a pair of equally padded foot pads.
"Okay Akane I give up what is this for?"
"So we can spar silly!"
"Why do I have to wear pads huh? I'm not afraid of
getting hurt."
"They're not for YOU idiot. They're for me. You say
you don't like to hit girls right? Well this way you can
hit me and I'll hardly feel it. You can use your full
speed and actually spar with me, and I'll be able to learn
from where and how you hit me!" She beamed at him. Ranma
actually started to open his mouth to argue with her but
she silenced him with 'the look.' So, shrugging his
shoulders, he put the pads on. Akane took up a ready
stance before him and they both bowed.
"All right then, here I come!" With that shouted
challenge Akane charged at Ranma full speed, throwing the
best she could at him. Ranma wove back and forth through
her attacks but he still had yet to lay a finger on her.
He was falling back on his old pattern of evasion, and
Akane would have none of it, so she decided that injuring
his pride was the way to go. Backing off, she put her
hands on her hips and taunted.
"What's the matter Ranma! Can't seem to lay a finger
on me today?!"
"Hah, you wish Akane, I could beat you with one arm
behind my back!"
"Oh really?! Well why don't you shut up, stick your
arm behind your back... and come over here and try me for
real?!"
Ranma did shut up. He looked at his fiancee and
thought, 'what the hell. . .might as well give her what she
wants, she is asking for it anyway . . .' And with that
thought he crossed the space between them rather quickly
and threw a round kick at her torso which Akane easily
blocked. She countered by dropping to a knee and attempted
to sweep Ranma as he landed. Ranma barely had time to back
flip to safety. Rebounding off his hands Ranma re-
evaluated his opponent with new respect. Very rarely did
Ranma have to make those kind of evasions.
Openly grinning now, Akane and Ranma both met each other
in their mock combat as they did everything else together,
full of pride, passion, and barely contained emotion. This
was actually fun for both of them. It was probably one of
the only things they could do together that allowed them to
touch each other, not have to say anything, and both of
them knew what they were doing, and didn't have to look
awkward or clumsy. Or to bare any feelings that might get
hurt. In effect, they were playing with each other.
When they had both had enough, they stopped and bowed to
each other. Then Ranma went back to the west wall where he
had left a towel and Akane wandered off to her gear. As
Ranma slumped down against the wall and began to take the
pads off, he saw a pair of legs enter his field of vision.
Ignoring her for the moment so he could take off the sweaty
pads was a grave mistake in judgment. He heard her say
just before she did it,
"Ya know I have always wondered if you were ticklish."
With that said, Akane began to mercilessly search for
Ranma's ticklish spot. Unfortunately for him, he had lots!
He began to laugh and tried to fight her off. But, as he
found out, and as any ordinary person who has ever been the
victim of a rogue tickler can tell you. Once you start
laughing, and especially if you are tired, you are
basically helpless.
Unfortunately for Akane, Ranma was no ordinary person.
With great strength Ranma brought his own hands into play.
Pinning both of her slender wrists together, he began to
tickle her tummy and used his body weight to force her
down. Akane squirmed like some kind of deranged fish,
squealing with delight. She managed to get her hands free
and shot a sucker punch to his stomach muscles.
Stumbling out of the dojo and into the crisper evening
air, they shrieked across the Tendou's lawn. Letting the
wind carry their dreams, and the soft grass caress their
feet. Akane in the lead as Ranma would occasionally catch
her and tickle. She would in turn tickle him and get a kick
or a punch in and he would let her go, so he could chase
her again... until she would let him catch her again.
Their commotion caused everyone in the household to come
outside to watch Akane kill Ranma again. Soun was hell-
bent on killing Ranma. Again. For whatever grievance he
had caused with his baby this time. What the family saw
stopped them all in their tracks. Nabiki rounded the
corner and all she could think to say was, "What in the . .
." As Kasumi came outside she clasped her hands next to her
cheek and sighed, "Oh how sweet they're playing with each
other!"
Genma and Soun looked overjoyed and hightailed it over
to a corner of the house so they could watch and not
disturb. Nabiki shrugged and chalked it up to the absurd,
and Kasumi, humming to herself, went back to her kitchen.
Dinner came and went with the whole household walking on
eggshells around the two. While they had since calmed down
and changed into their evening wear, they were neither
hanging on each other like lovers, nor were they fighting.
All in all not a bad arrangement. They looked like they
had a wall up between them again as usual though. The rest
of the family could see them sneaking embarrassed looks at
each other, but they had yet to speak to each other since
the early evening, as if afraid to break the spell.
Kasumi was clearing the dishes from the table and most of
the people had left the room, the TV in the background
could be heard announcing that the nightly movie would be a
ghost story. Soun and Genma scooted out of the room as
neither of them liked that sort of thing, seeing as neither
of them had an actual backbone. Nabiki had already retired
to her room to see to her ledgers for the day, and Kasumi
was in the kitchen cleaning up for the day. That left
. . . just the two of them.
Akane gulped, mostly because she hated horror movies,
but watched them out of morbid fascination anyway. Also
because she knew Ranma was still in the same room with her.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him leaning on
his side propping his head up with his hand. He was
reading a manga, she couldn't make out the title, but she
knew it was probably something dirty . . . 'the pervert',
she thought.
Getting up, she went and turned the lights off. Then,
returning to the table, she grabbed a blanket from beneath
it and propped herself up against a few pillows. Settling
in to watch a movie she knew would scare her to death.
Sighing, she reached up across her body to her shoulder
with her hand and tried to ineffectually rub the kinks out
of her already sore muscles. Although she would never
admit it to Ranma, she had gone all out today, and now she
was paying the price. She suddenly realized that Ranma
had not left the room to find another source of light, when
she felt his warm strong hands tenderly brush her shoulders
as if seeking permission to touch her.
Smiling to herself, Akane responded by reaching back and
removing the pillows, then scooting back until her head was
resting on his chest. Ranma also smiled at her response
and with great care started to caress her shoulders. Going
not too fast but not too slow, and paying equal amounts of
attention to her back and shoulders, he used all sorts of
pressure techniques to work the kinks out of her muscles.
He also managed to find a few knots as well. Those hurt
like hell, but Akane bit her lip and said not a word.
Ranma knew he must be hurting her though, so he did those
areas the fastest and using the most efficient techniques
to soothe the muscles as soon as possible.
They sat like that for the duration of the movie, with
Ranma rubbing and caressing her shoulders and back. Every
now and then, Ranma would get bored and would run a finger
lazily from the base of her ear along the edge of her jaw.
He had no idea how erotic that was to Akane, and Akane had
to fight herself to keep from turning into his arms and
kissing him until morning. He did however think to himself,
'God her hair smells great... she smells just like a
flower.'
Eventually, his tender ministrations slowed to a stop as
he noticed that the movie was over. She was slumped
against him with all her weight, while her head lolled to
the side. Grinning Ranma took his left arm and shifted her
weight so that her shoulders lay across that arm. Then,
sweeping her legs up in his other arm and cradling her body
he stood up, he headed toward the stairs.
The house was already pitch black, and he heard no
noise. Realizing that everyone was already asleep he
quietly carried Akane up the stairs and towards her room.
Using his foot, he opened her door and carried her to her
bed. Grinning, he noticed it was bacon free. Absently he
wondered if anyone sold pig traps. Using his foot, Ranma
slid the covers aside and lay his fiancee on her bed. She
usually slept in pajamas, but Ranma really did not feel
like getting the beating he knew he would get if she woke
up and caught him undressing her.
So he just lay her down and smoothed her hair out from
beneath her head. Leaning in one last time to smell her
hair, Ranma started to stand up to leave but found he was
caught in a vise-like grip. Smiling beautifully with her
eyes still closed, Akane pulled him down and kissed him on
the lips quickly and then holding him so his lips were
still millimeters apart from her own, she whispered in a
voice so small that only he could have possibly heard her,
"Thank you . . . my fiancee. . ."
Then, laying her head back down, she turned over in the
bed, hugged the blankets close to her, and promptly fell
asleep. Ranma left the room, his head spinning with her
last words 'fiancee...the word had been used so often, with
so many different meanings since he had shown up at the
Tendou dojo, that he hardly ever gave it a second thought.
Now it echoed in his mind over and over being repeated in
her voice . . .' Slowly, he plodded to his room and his
futon.
That night he didn't sleep all that much, but he did
have a warm vibrating feeling centered in his chest,
spreading out and tingling even to his toes. His hands
were shaking with either delight or raw fear, he couldn't
decide which, causing him to clasp them over his chest to
still them. He could still smell her scent all over him as
he lay on his futon in thought . . . 'I wonder . . .' he
thought, 'is this what love feels like?'

_______________________________________________________
End.

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Asayogure.
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~ I am the epitome of audacity.
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~ Don't believe everything you're told, especially if it
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