Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma OneHalf: First steps ❯ Book One, Chapter Six ( Chapter 6 )

Ranma Onehalf: First steps Chapter six.

Ranma turned on the hot water tap in the kitchen and stuck her hand under the water. Turning off the water he walked into the living room and sat down at the table with Akane and poured himself some tea.

"Well, it's good to able to change back." he said as he poured.

As he put the pot back Ranma saw Akane trying to hold back a giggle.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

Finally Akane couldn't stand it any longer and she burst into a fit of giggles. Puzzled, Ranma watched as she rolled on the floor giggling like a hyena.

"Was it something I said?" he asked, which set Akane off into another set of giggles.

Eventually Akane calmed down and she sat up.

"It's your voice silly. You sound like a twelve year old." she explained as she wiped tears from her eyes.

"Huh? What are you talking about- ACK! You're right" Ranma said as he clutched his throat.

Akane burst into another fit of giggles as Ranma gave her an annoyed look. Calming down Akane spoke.

"Sorry Ranma, but its just so funny with your voice like that." she said.

Scowling Ranma picked up his tea cup. "But why is it doing this?" he asked.

Akane smiled at him. "That's easy. You were pregnant and stuck in your girl form for nine months Ranma. Your body's full of female hormones." she said.

"Arrg." Ranma said as his head hit the table.

Akane put her chin in her hand and looked at Ranma.

"Don't worry, you'll be big macho Ranma before you know it." she said.

"I know Akane, but still, arrg." he answered.

Sighing, he sat back up and sipped his tea.

"Well, at least we can begin Lias training." he said as he put his cup down.

Akanes jaw dropped. "Excuse me? But did you say training?" she asked.

"Yeah." Ranma said, nodding.

"Ranma, she's a newborn for crying out loud! What could you teach her?" Akane asked, voice rising as Ranma made a shushing motion.

"Quiet, you'll wake her!" he told her.

"Sorry." Akane said as she lowered the volume. "But still, what could you teach her? She's barely a week old." she continued.

Ranma drank from his tea before continuing. "Chi control." he said.

Akane blinked.

"Chi control? How?" she asked.

"By extending our auras around her whenever we hold her or we're around her. That way she'll be able to pick it up from us." Ranma explained.

"You think Lia will be able to pick up chi control techniques from us because we'd be doing them around her?" Akane asked.

Ranma nodded. "Yeah. Those books we read on child development said that children learn how to walk and talk from us, right? Well, if that's true why not chi techniques?" he replied.

"Okay, you have a point there." Akane answered. "But still, Lia is still a newborn." she countered.

Ranma drained his tea and set the cup down. As he poured a refill he glanced at Akane.

"We've got to start sometime Akane. This way she'll have a much better start when we start to teach her the Art." he answered.

"Okay." Akane sighed. Holding up her hand she continued "But if I don't like what's happening we stop it, agreed?"

Ranma nodded. "Agreed." he said.

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As Lia began to grow and mature it became obvious that Ranmas idea regarding chi was correct. That was confirmed by her visits to the pediatrician and how well she developed. Before they knew it, she was up and walking.

After she began to speak in complete sentences her parents began to teach Lia the Art. The first things she was taught was the Code that Ranma and Akane lived by and the beginning meditations of the Neko -ken Improved. Assisting Ranma was Thor, a two year old Siamese -tabby tom.

At four Lia began to learn the basic forms of the Anything Goes School and the Neko -ken training began to show with her sense of balance and speed. And after blocking a kick from her Ranma discovered that his daughter had already picked up Akanes strength enhancement techniques. Or to put it another way his forearm was numb.

When she was five and a half Lia summoned a mallet and used it to flatten the neighborhood's eight year old bully. Her parents were overjoyed that their daughter had managed to learn a fairly difficult technique just by watching her mother. Although Ranma was nervous about living in the same house with two females who knew how to use mallets. Akane however began to teach Lia the Tendo Mallet Techniques.

At age six Akane began to home school Lia, not trusting American schools to teach Lia what she needed to know. Lia showed the same appetite for knowledge that she had for martial arts.

And during this time Akane was working at the John Deere plant downtown in the foundry and Ranma had gotten a job at a local martial arts school where he taught part time. They had been pooling their resources and slowly building the supply of cash they felt they needed to return home.

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Ranma and Akane sat at the table piled with paper. Akane was running a calculator and Ranma was handing paper to Akane. Supervising them was Thor, who was sitting on a corner of the table.

"Hand me last months statement Ranma." Akane asked.

"Okay." Ranma said as he began to search the pile of paper.

A quick search had failed to produce the document in question. Scratching his head Ranma looked around the table wondering where it could have gotten to. Finally he spotted a corner of paper poking out from under the cat.

"Found it. The paperweight was sitting on it." he said as he pulled it free and handed it to Akane.

Akane took it and added to her notes. She then began to tabulate the figures. Sipping his tea Ranma ignored the glare he was getting from Thor as he waited for Akane to finish. When she was done Akane put her pencil down and blinked in surprise at the figures.

"Holy..." she breathed.

"What? Something wrong?" Ranma asked.

Akane shook her head. "No. Not at all." she said.

"Well, what is it then?" he asked.

Akane looked Ranma in the eye. "We've over $15,000 in the bank." she said.

Ranma blinked in surprise.

"Wow. We can go home now." he said.

Akane nodded. "And we can start the dojo." she said.

"Yeah." Ranma agreed as he glanced at Lia, who was engrossed in her English book. "One small problem though." he added.

"Whats that?" Akane asked.

"Lias an American citizen. We're gonna have to do immigration papers for her." he answered.

"Oh, crap." Akane said as her head hit the table.

"Red tape, here we come." Ranma said.

"We're going to have a whole mountain range of red tape." Akane groaned. Ranma winced.

Lifting her head up Akane continued. "And what about Nerima?" she asked.

"Huh? What about Nerima?" Ranma asked, puzzled.

"I don't know about you, but I'd like to know whats going on before we head back there." she explained.

"Yeah, so would I." Ranma said, nodding. "But how do we do that without alerting the whole town?" he asked.

"Hmmm..." Akane said as she thought.

As she thought Ranma began to put the papers back in order. As she went over the list of people she knew in Nerima she sipped her tea. When she finally decided on who to contact Akane mentally kicked herself for not thinking of them sooner. Putting her cup down Akane spoke.

"Kasumi." she said.

"Hmm?" Ranma looked up from the paper he was sorting through.

"We can contact Kasumi." she clarified.

"Yeah, Kasumi would be able to keep it secret." he said, nodding. He frowned. "But how we contact her? If we mailed her a letter it would be like putting up a bill board." he added.

"Oh, I think I have a way around that." Akane said with a smile.

Getting up Akane walked over to a bookcase and took down a book.

"You do?" Ranma asked.

"Uh-huh." Akane said as she sat back down at the table. "Take a look." she said, handing Ranma the book.

Ranma scowled as he read the title to the book and translated it into Japanese. Once he had translated it he looked up at Akane with an amused expression on his face.

"How to Spy and not get Caught: A Manual of Step -by -Step procedures for the Compleat Idiot

By Johann Moore*." he said. "Where did you get this?" he asked, eyebrow cocked.

Akane shrugged. "Oh, I picked it up at Waldenbooks in the mall." she said.

"Oh-kay. So how will this help us?" Ranma asked, hefting the book.

"Well, in there is a section on how to use dummy addresses and forwarding requests to cover your tracks." explained Akane.

"Ah." Ranma said as he put the book down. "So you mail Kasumi a letter." he added.

"Uh-huh. And we can type it up and print it out so they wont be able to tell its us from the handwriting." she said. " And we put our e -mail address in the letter too, so that way it'll harder to track." Akane added.

Ranma scratched his head. "You think Kasumi knows how to use a computer?" he asked.

"She's pretty smart Ranma. I wouldn't doubt it." Akane answered.

"Yeah. Though you do the letter writing. I suck at that." Ranma said as he handed the book back to Akane.

Getting up Ranma walked over to Lia and nudged her with his foot.

"Hey kitten, how about we make a run to the store for some dinner?" he asked her.

"Okay Daddy." she said as she scrambled to her feet.

Walking into the kitchen Ranma ran the tap and changed. Walking back out she headed to the door where Lia was pulling on her sandals.

"We'll back in an hour or so." Ranma called over her shoulder to Akane.

"Okay Ranma." Akane answered.

After they had left Akane finished gathering up the paperwork and put it away. Then she sat down at their computer and began to type a letter to Kasumi.

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The bang of the lid on the mailbox alerted Kasumi to the arrival of the days mail. Stepping out she walked out to the box and picked up the mail. Walking back in she sorted it by priority. Bill, bill, bill, another bill, flyer from the local merchants association, thank you card from a local sake merchant, death threat from the neighborhood association concerning their pet panda, and an international letter addressed to Ms. -Tendo Kasumi?

Stepping into the house Kasumi reread the address on the envelope. She hadn't misread it, it was addressed to her- but in her maiden name. Whoever had sent it didn't know that she had changed her name to Tofu over eleven years ago.

Handing the rest of the mail to her father who was engaged in a game of shogi** with Genma she headed into the kitchen to read her letter while dinner cooked. Slicing open the letter Kasumi was surprised to find the letter inside was printed in kanji*** from a printer, rather than handwritten. Noting the US return address Kasumi began to read.

Dear Kasumi

It's been a while, hasn't it? I would have wrote you but I didn't want the others finding out where I was and interrupting my training. Speaking of training, I'm at the same level as Ranma now and we're developing the combined school of Anything Goes. And yes, that means we got married. We also have a daughter too, Lia. She just turned seven and she has Ranma -chans red hair and my smile. Congratulations Kasumi, you're an auntie!

As you can tell by the postmark, I'm sending you this letter from the US. That's where we've been for the last twelve years. I can imagine the others have probably turned Asia upside down looking for us.

Right now we're getting ready to return home to Nerima and are currently slogging through a mountain of red tape. We should be returning by the middle of next summer, around June or so. I have included our e -mail address on the back so you mail us without having to pay a fortune in postage.

And how is everybody? Ranma and I would like to know. When we arrive we want to settle things when we get back once and for all and we want to know how things are before we arrive. We don't want have to try to run a dojo while fighting off a horde of suitors. That's why we left in the first place.

And Kasumi, please keep our return and this letter a secret. We don't want a reception when we get back. But if you need to talk to someone about this we trust your judgement.

PS: We can e- mail you some photos if you want too.

"Oh my." Kasumi breathed as she lowered the letter and leaned against the counter.

After twelve years of silence her youngest sister had written her. The worry that had been in the back of her mind began to ease at the knowledge that Akane was alright. Now Kasumi wondered what she was going to do.

One part of her wanted to shout and jump for joy at the news, another wanted to respect her sisters wishes and keep the news secret. Not knowing what to do, Kasumi folded the letter and put it back in its envelope. Slipping the envelope into a pocket of her dress Kasumi stepped up to the stove and checked up on dinner.

Checking the stew Kasumi wished that one of Ranmas friends would drop by and cause a ruckus. That way she could clean up the mess and meditate+ on the dilemma she faced. Noting that dinner was ready Kasumi turned off the stove and went over to the door the living room to check on her father.

Her father was still at the Shogi board with Genma and they were doing their best to cheat their way to a win. Noting that Genma was still there Kasumi deduced that he was playing hooky and Nodoka would soon be by to retrieve him. And when that happened it always made a mess. And with an accidental splash of water at the right time it made an especially big mess.

Kasumi smiled and began to lay out the food.

That evening, after everything had been cleaned up and put away and breakfast prepared for tomorrow morning the occupants of the Tendo household retired to bed. Kasumi and Onos++ two sons were in their rooms and Kasumi and Ono were in theirs.

As Kasumi shrugged her dress off she remembered the letter she had received earlier that day and retrieved it. Putting on her nightgown she got into bed and nudged her husband.

"Ono, I need to talk." she said to him.

"About what dear?" he asked as he marked his place.

"Today I received a letter." she said.

"Oh? From who?" he asked.

Kasumi leaned in close to him and breathed "Akane and Ranma." she whispered into his ear.

"Oh." he said, surprised.

"Here, read it." Kasumi said as she handed it to him.

Ono took the letter out of the envelope and opened it. Adjusting his glasses he began to read it. Kasumi waited patiently while he read it. When he was finished Ono put down the letter and sighed while he collected his thoughts.

" So that's where they've been and why we've never heard from them." he said finally.

Kasumi nodded. "And now their finally coming home." she said.

Flipping the paper over he noted the e -mail address printed on the back.

"And you want to e -mail them." he said.

"Yes." Kasumi answered.

" I sense a 'but' coming up." Ono continued.

"I don't want to use the house computer or our personal address." Kasumi said.

"You want to use the clinics computer and address." he stated. Kasumi nodded. Looking at her he continued. "Why? The home computer will work just as well." he asked.

Kasumi nodded. "True. But what if the boys check the account and see their reply? They could start asking questions and then the secret would get out." she replied.

"Ah, I see. That would not be a good thing." Ono agreed. Putting the letter away he handed it back to Kasumi and picked up his paperback. "So when do want to stop by the clinic?" he asked.

"Oh, I can do it tomorrow when I do the days shopping." she said as she put it on her night stand and lay down.

"Okay." Ono said as he found his place and picked up where he left off. Soon he was chuckling at the antics of the idiot samurai hero and band of fools who were his companions.

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"You've got mail."

Ranma, Akane, and Lia looked up at the computers announcement. They had been eating dinner and talking about their days when the computer had interupted. Now they sat there staring at each other, each daring the other to move.

Very slowly Ranma and Akane began to inch out of their spots while never taking their eyes off each other.

"You've got mail." the computer said again, sounding the starting gun.

Ranma was first out the starting blocks, zipping by Akane before she could block him. A quick ankle grab and Ranma kissed the floor. Akane leaped over him and made a beeline for the computer only to get tackled by Ranma who had turned his position on the floor in a launch pad.

Holding on to Akane Ranma tried to wrestle her to the ground but she charged on and continued towards the computer. They were almost to the computer and in a dead heat when they both got face planted into the carpet by Lia.

Sitting at the computer Lia called up the e -mail and opened it. Kneeling in front of the computer she began to translate the Kanji the e- mail was written in while her parents picked themselves off the floor.

"Hey kitten," Ranma said as he picked her up and sat down in front of the computer "You're not supposed to do that until you're a teenager." he said as he made space for Akane.

"Daddy, who's Ka- su -mi?" Lia asked as Akane sat down.

"Kasumi is your aunt kitten." he said, ruffling Lias hair.

Turning around Lia looked at Ranma. "I have an aunt?" she asked.

"Yep. Two of them. Your other aunt is named Nabiki. They're both your mothers sisters." Ranma told her.

"Do I have any uncles?" Lia asked.

"No, but does an uncle -in -law and to cousins count?" Akane answered her.

"Say what?" Ranma asked, leaning in to get a look at the screen.

"Kasumi married Dr. Tofu after we left." Akane said as she pulled up a photo attachment.

The attachment showed an older Kasumi and Dr Tofu, along with two energetic looking boys.

"Huh." Ranma said as he looked at the picture. "How did she manage that?" he asked.

"After we left Kasumi went down to the clinic, cornered him and gave him a quote, 'big wet one on the lips' unquote." Akane said as she read the e -mail.

"And it didn't kill him. Amazing." Ranma said as he scanned the letter.

"And they've been happily married ever since." Akane said as they continued to read.

Sitting there they read the e -mail and the goings on in Nerima it described. When they were done they finished dinner and then composed a reply and sent photos of their own. And over the course of the next year Ranma and Akane learned what had been going on in their absence and Lia learned about her new home.

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End.

* And if you guess which book I based the title off of you win a prize!

**shogi: Japanese chess. Don't ask me for a more detailed explanation, that's the best I have.

***Kanji: The name for Japanese writing.

+Kasumi of course is a master of Tendo school of Marital Arts, which she learned from her paternal grandmother.

++Dr Tofus first name, I think. If anybody knows, please tell me and I'll correct it