Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Shadows are Stirring ❯ Akane no Kukkingu ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter Eight: Akane's Cooking

Ranma-chan woke to a hot torrent of water, and spluttered through it as he sat up quickly. He saw Akane smiling to him, holding a now empty kettle of water. "Time to wake up, baka," she said with a grin. "Got to get something to eat so we can get back to the Dojo to train."

Ranma shook his head, spraying a bit of water all over the place as his black pigtail whipped his own face. He then stood slowly and stretched. "Time to change something, though, Acchan," he said with a grin.

"What's that?" Akane asked, not sure she wanted to know the answer. A grinning Ranma in the morning rarely meant good things.

"Morning duel. Before breakfast. Winner gets served by the loser," Ranma explained, waving his hand as thought to skip over any boring rules. She had seen him fighting with his father every morning, though with the two of them, breakfast just happened. There was no serving to each other.

Akane took a step back in shock. "Duels?" she asked. "Like you and your father?"

Ranma nodded, and was taken completely off guard when Akane threw herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around him in a full embrace. "You actually think I'm really for that? That I'm that good?" she asked, looking into his eyes.

He took a deep breath before answering, getting his emotions under control first. "Yer the only girl I know who'd hug me for promising to fight with ya. I will be pullin my punches a bit, though. Otherwise, yeah, I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Why would you do that?" she demanded, releasing him and stepping back. "I'm tough, and you know it!"

"Y'ain't made of stone. Y'ain't Ryoga, Acchan," he replied simply. He kicked himself for mentioning the lost boy, and saw the shadow pass through Akane's eyes.

She nodded after a moment, apparently pushing thoughts of the lost boy out of her mind. "I know, he's built like a brick. Twice as thick, too," she smiled, remembering - fondly - the insults that Ranma had thrown at her a long time ago to get her to remember him after Shampoo's memory trick. "No ki attacks, right?"

"Duh." He nodded, and then bowed to her. "Whenever yer ready, Acchan," he suggested.

"Let's get outside first. Don't want to wreck our house, now do we?" she replied. Ranma nodded, and ran outside the house.

When Akane got outside, she found him standing in a loose stance, waiting for her to come at him. That was just fine by her - she was used to having to start on the offensive. She leapt from the steps of the house at him, crying out as she attacked with as much speed as she could muster. Ranma took a step back and blocked with his arms, but never once retaliated with a strong attack. Instead, each opening he saw, he would poke her with one finger, to make sure she knew it was there.

He leapt back as she spun around to kick him, and he crouched low. When she landed, he sprung into action, attacking her from literally all sides. Each time he broke through her defenses, he only poked her, though. No serious hitting at all. Just that fact alone was enough to spur her onto greater strength and speed, to try and force him to do more.

She caught one of his hands as it came in and turned and threw with all her might. Ranma flew through the air and landed with a thud in front of the Dojo steps. He was on his feet again quickly enough, but noticed that they had quite a few spectators suddenly.

"The married couple is fighting!"

"The two newcomers are going at it!"

"Are they settling an argument?"

"Which one looks angrier?"

Ranma grinned as Akane stood in front on him. She was sweating lightly, but he could tell she was enjoying herself immensely. He ducked down as she attacked and threw out a foot, catching her in the ankle. Without the support and thanks to her previous actions, she lost her balance.

Rather than fall, though, she rolled as she hit the ground, and leapt into the air instead of just standing. With a mighty cry, she flung herself at Ranma foot first from high above him.

He waited until the last possible moment, and then stepped aside and kicked into the air to catch her descending foot. Rather than lose control, which Ranma thought she would have done, she spun with the new energy and kicked him with her other foot.

Ranma flipped in the air and landed hard on the ground - she had definitely caught him that time! The villagers all gasped. With the force that he was struck, he should have been seriously injured, if not dead. Before anyone could rush forward to make sure he was okay, he was on his feet again, circling around Akane slowly.

When she attacked again, Ranma leapt back and grabbed hold of the closest building, hanging off it with one hand on the roof and both feet on the wall, ready to push off again at any moment. Akane leapt up to the Dojo in a similar fashion, and held on for a moment. She knew midair attacks were Ranma's specialty. She only could hope that he trained her well in them.

She pushed off suddenly, and Ranma was a blur as he mimicked her. Though she thought she must have hit him, when she caught the building he had been on, he was already hanging off the Dojo. She had missed him entirely. Her ground speed had greatly improved, but she still needed a lot of work in the air. She grinned as she realized that the morning sessions were perfect for the training she needed.

"That's unreal!"

"How can they do that?"

"How did he get up after that last kick?"

"What is the meaning of all this?" Tzusu's voice rang through the crowd of people watching. Neither Ranma nor Akane paid him any attention. The spectators tried to answer, but they didn't know either.

Ranma leapt at Akane suddenly while she was trying to think. She tried to push away so she could either hit him in a counter or block, but he was simply too fast. He caught her hand that was holding onto the roof and she fell fast to the ground.

She stood quickly, for she hadn't fallen on her face, but landed roughly on her feet. Looking up, she found that Ranma was already following up the attack. She threw herself to the side to avoid his kick, and he spun around and pushed off the building to tackle her. The two rolled over several times before coming to a halt. Ranma had his arms fully around Akane, and she stopped struggling.

They stood quickly and dusted each other off. "How'd I do, Ran-chan?" Akane asked him quietly before the crowd could reach them.

"Quite well. We'll have to work some on the midair thing, but on the ground you have tightened things up a lot. Still leave yourself open when you come in for a left strike beneath my arm," he whispered. "I'll give more detail later. But you fought well. Didn't see that kick comin at all!" He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed. Akane smiled, pleased by the comments, and turned to face Tzusu's questioning stare.

No one had come too close to the pair, for it looked almost like they were about to kiss each other when they finished talking quietly. When Akane turned to face them, Tzusu was the only one who had the courage to step forward. "And just what was all that about?" he demanded.

Ranma broke out in a fit of laughter, and Akane glared at him, swatting at his hand as he pointed at the crowd. "Training," she explained. "Can never be too prepared."

"But..." Tzusu stammered, pointing to Ranma.

"What?" he asked as he stopped laughing. "What'd I do?"

"That kick should have killed you!" he managed.

"What kick?" he asked, thinking about the fight. He then remembered Akane's improvised roundhouse kick and grinned. "That? It was a good move, but I'm a lot tougher than I look," he explained.

"But you were barely touching her at all!" he retorted.

Ranma just pointed to Akane, who had pushed her sleeves up to examine her arms where she had been hit. There were large bruises forming already. Akane turned to Ranma in surprise, and he dipped his head. "Ya now how much I hated doin that, right?" he asked meekly.

Akane just hugged him. "Thanks for taking my training seriously, master." When she released him, she turned back to Tzusu. "Any chance of getting breakfast?" she asked. The shocked Tzusu could only nod, and pointed to the Dojo slowly. They had eaten all their breakfasts and lunches there, so they knew it would be there, but they still felt it best to ask each time.

As they made their way to the Dojo, the path of people split to let them through. Ranma leaned over to whisper into Akane's ear as they walked up the steps. "The Cream'll take away those bruises pretty quick, too." She smiled and opened the door for him. "Doesn't make it any easier for me, though."

As promised, Akane served the ready-made breakfast to Ranma, who then refused to eat until she had her own as well. As soon as she had sat down, though, he wolfed down every last bite he could reach. Akane rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything. Ranma looked at her. "What?" he asked.

"You eat like an animal."

"What?"

"You. Eat. Like..."

"I heard what you said, tomboy, I wanted to know what you meant."

"I meant that you have no table manners whatsoever," she sighed. "Not like you'd care about something like that," she muttered, standing once she had finished her own meal. Ranma said nothing in response.

The morning was spent with Akane practicing summoning and aiming small bits of ki energy. Ranma had her shape the energy into slivers this time, though, and asked her to shoot them through small rings he had set up around the Dojo. The hardest part was dissolving the energy before it struck anything else after going through the rings.

Akane took a deep breath partway through the morning and closed her eyes again. Before she could summon the ki, she felt two strong hands on her shoulders. She opened her eyes and looked up to Ranma as he gave her a quick massage.

"You were getting frustrated, Akane," he said softly. "I think that's all for today. We'll do more tomorrow, kay?" he suggested. She pushed his hands away and shook her head fiercely.

"Just a few more, Ranma," she insisted. "I can do this." Focussing again, she called into being two bright blue slits of energy. Holding out her hands, she looked up and concentrated on the small rings. The two bolts shot off in opposite directions of each other.

She dissolved one with a sigh and focussed on the other one as it shot through a ring. Rather than give it up right away, she sent it around quickly to hit three more rings before letting it go. She took a deep breath and looked up to Ranma. "I can get one to behave properly. Why can't I do both at once?" she asked.

Ranma sat down beside her and looked at her meaningfully. "I mean this in the best possible way, Acchan, but I think ya have too good a head on your shoulders. You've gotta think about the theory, but in practice, just do it!"

"And just what is that supposed to mean, exactly?" she asked.

"Ya're thinking far too much. Feel the energy, and use it. But don't think about it. That just messes ya up too much." He looked away from her. "That, and yer getting angry again."

"I am not," she insisted. She looked down when he grasped one of her hands and forced it open. She had small indents where her fingernails had been digging into her palm. Two of the indents were deep enough to have drawn blood. She stared in shock.

"Yer angry at yourself, Acchan. And ya don't have to be. This is extremely hard stuff to do at the best of times. And here we are, stuck in an area where ki is naturally difficult to use," he explained. "Given that, I think yer doing very well already."

"I'm sorry, Ran-chan," she sighed.

"For what? Ya know how I was when I was learnin this crap?" he asked. When she shook her head, he closed his eyes, remembering in the woods with his father. "I kept trying until I passed out. Always drained my energy just too much," he explained. "Didn't do any good, either. Should have taken it at a better pace. Would've learned faster that way. Took a couple of weeks before I could control my aura and ki… and I think it should've taken me less than that. Too damn stubborn for me own good, I guess."

She looked up to him. "Trying to tell me something, are you?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No need. You know how stubborn you are," he said with a grin.

"Baka," she said, closing her eyes again. This time, she tried not to think about things as much when she opened her eyes to look at the ki. The slits were a soft red this time, and she blushed as she realized just what emotion she was using. Ranma really was good to her, and she knew it. Flinging the darts outwards, she sent them spinning around the rings and through them, and then let the energy disappear.

Before he could get away, Akane turned and pushed him to the ground. She was on top of him in an instant, looking deep into his blue grey eyes - the eyes that she could, and did, get lost in whenever she looked into them. The emotion she had drawn on was burning brightly within her. "I love you, Ran-chan," she said quietly as she leaned down to kiss him.

"I love you too, Acchan," he replied just before their lips met. Both of their minds were blown by the sheer power of the kiss, and when Akane pulled away, she was breathless.

"Wow..." she said again.

"I think..." Ranma panted. "I know what increases it like that..."

"What?" Akane asked in a daze.

"Don't wanna say, in case I'm wrong. We'll test things later," he suggested, a glint in his eye as he looked into hers. She smiled and leaned down to kiss him again, but he stopped her by cupping her cheek in one hand. "They'll be coming in soon," he said sadly.

She gave him a quick kiss and then reluctantly got off him. Rather than simply stand, Ranma flipped onto his feet again as the doors opened to admit the other students. "Wow," he said softly. "For once my timing doesn't suck."

After leading the group through a few katas, Ranma left them to join up with Akane at their house again. As promised, he gave her another full massage with the Saotome School of Anything Goes Healing Cream, which cleared up the bruises he had given her on the arms. By the time he had finished, she was fast asleep again. He knew she had pushed herself with the ki training. Not that he blamed her, really. He had done the same thing, after all.

He knew she had bruising on her chest and stomach as well, but he didn't dare roll her over, or even wake her to suggest his helping there. Instead, he left the bottle next to her and went to take a bath. He felt like he needed a good long, cool soak.

As the afternoon passed slowly, Ranma-chan found herself almost asleep in the cool water of the bath. She also found herself thinking more and more of home. Not really of Pops, but of his mother. She knew about his curse now, which was a blessing in a way, but Ranma-chan had never taken advantage of it. He wanted to get to know his mother again, and vowed to himself that, when they made it home, he would live with her for a while. That way she could be sure to be included in the wedding plans, too. She smiled to herself. The perfect excuse, too. He had tried living there just before leaving for China the last trip... but hadn't left the Tendo's once getting back. With the wedding being planned (in secret for a while, anyway), he would need a safe haven that his other fiancées wouldn't attack again… not after having destroyed it once already and having to face down the Saotome matriarch.

She then sighed. She really didn't want to leave Akane, though. She was just as used to sleeping in the same bed as Akane was. Maybe she could sleep at the Tendo's - without their knowledge - and spend the rest of his time with his mother. He'd have to ask Akane to see what she thought.

Ranma-chan then stopped. Her mother was always after her to be more `manly.' If he wasn't manly enough, he could get that katana of hers in a very bad place... Seppeku. Of course, if she was to be forced, and for whatever reason agreed with it, she knew she wouldn't need a second to help silence her - she would never scream during such an ordeal. She sighed, and closed her eyes again. Even though her mother knew about the curse, it was still an issue.

In the living room, Akane awoke to find herself covered with the blanket again, and Ranma nowhere to be found. She listened carefully and heard water being splashed about. "I wonder if that's hot or cold..." she thought out loud, though quietly. She sat up slowly, and then reached down to grab her bra. Before she put it on, though, she saw the bruising. Her shoulders were pretty bad, and she had a few on her stomach, too. There was even a bruise under one of her breasts.

Looking around, she found the bottle of healing cream, and dipped her fingers in. As she applied it to her skin, she took a sharp intake of breath. It seemed much colder when she did it compared to when Ranma did. She found herself wishing partway through that Ranma had done her front too. And not just because the cream wouldn't have been as cold, either...

In the cool bath, Ranma-chan stood slowly and stretched. The afternoon was drawing on, and she knew it. Stepping out, she turned on a hot shower and stepped into it. He allowed the warm water to drip down his hair, and he just stood with his head under the spray for a few minutes, warming himself up a bit. Although sitting in the cold water had felt good, he didn't really want to get sick when he was away.

He then towelled himself off and pulled on his black pants again. He pulled his usual tank-top on, followed by his red Chinese shirt, and then tied the strings shut.

When Akane was done with the cream, she ran her fingers along the bruised areas, amazed at how she could actually watch the bruising fade and then vanish. She then pulled her ring off her finger and threaded one of the straps to her bra through it before putting it back on. She flexed her muscles, and found that, as usual, Ranma had done an excellent job of relieving tension. She pulled on her white blouse and went to the bedroom to find Ranma.

He entered at the same time through the bathroom door. "Find the cream alright?" he asked, looking out the door of the bedroom rather than at her.

Akane nodded. "So... hungry?" she asked.

"Yup. But not for their food. I want you ta cook again tonight," he suggested.

"You... want to eat my cooking?" she asked, confused.

"So long as you take yer time with it, then yeah. Why not?" he asked.

Akane turned quickly before he could see the tears in her eyes. She had never thought she would ever hear anyone ask for her cooking… ever. She nodded and left the room to go to the kitchen quickly. She would make the best damn meal he had ever eaten in his life!

After finding all the ingredients as Ranma had suggested as the best way to start any recipe, she flipped to the fifth page of the book and found directions on cooking rice. She put a large pot on the stove, covered it, and flipped further into the book. Ramen was all well and good, but she wanted to be able to cook other things, too.

Her eyes settled on gyoza (Japanese Dumplings). She gulped as she read down the list of directions. It didn't look easy. A part of her remembered Kasumi's first attempt at making them when she was around eight. They had turned out horrible. "What was it she had said about them?" Akane pondered aloud. "Something about too much noise..."

She went to the living room quickly and smiled at Ranma. "Ran-chan, would you mind not being in the house until I'm done?" she asked sweetly.

Ranma looked up from his kata, confused. "What's up, Acchan?"

"Well... I want supper to be a surprise," she settled on her answer. "So..."

Ranma nodded and gave her a quick hug. "Good luck Acchan. Don't let things get over yer head," he suggested. Akane wasn't sure whether to be mad at his lack of faith or happy that he cared. She settled on giving him a kiss on the cheek and then pushing him out the door with such force that he fell on his face. Undaunted, he stood, brushed himself off, and looked back to her. "Just let me know when!"

Akane laughed and closed the door. Her laughter died quickly as she returned to the kitchen. It was not going to be easy. Carefully, and at a painstakingly slow rate, she measured each ingredient of the dough and mixed them together the best she could. Flattening the dough out, she then sliced it into small squares and lined them up neatly. Looking around, she saw that she didn't have one thing the book suggested: a crimper. She really didn't know what that was, but it wasn't needed until after the fillings were added anyway.

She found the pork and sliced it into a large bowl. She mixed in a few spices for seasoning, as the book suggested with just a pinch of each, and then added some diced cabbage. She then looked back to the book to double check things. Hers looked close to the illustration, though in the book the vegetables were much smaller and more even.

Shrugging, she moved the bowl over to the squares and started loading half of each with a spoonful of filling mix. Once she ran out, she folded each in half as directed, and then reached the stage for the crimper. Reading carefully, she found that she could use a chopstick instead, and just roll it along the edge. Smiling at her ingenuity, she carefully rolled each edge and placed the finished creations on a pan to bake.

So what if they didn't look perfect? Overall, they didn't look too bad... No filling was popping out, anyway, so she was satisfied. Putting them in the oven, she turned it on to the right temperature and returned to the book. Rice? Pastries? Noodles of some kind?

She frowned. Should she make some noodles, too, just in case nothing else turned out? Ranma's words came back to her suddenly, from before their sparring match which sent them on their first and only real date. "With an attitude like that, you've already lost." She put the noodles away instantly. If things didn't work out, though, would Ranma be upset?

She shook her head. It was food she was dealing with. Of course he'd be upset. Akane found herself torn between making the noodles or not, but was forced to stop when the rice started to boil over. Making a deft grab at the lid, the water settled down again, and she stirred the rice, hoping it hadn't burned. It had always burned when she made it before. But the book said to leave it once it boiled. Turn the heat way down, and leave it.

Turn the heat down... Akane smiled to herself. She really should have been able to come up with that. Shrugging, she did as instructed and sat down to wait. She knew the gyoza would not rise properly if there was too much noise in the house. Looking over her shoulder, she looked out the window. Ranma was in the street, punching a log that had string tied around it at the right height. He was just outside the Dojo. She remembered that he used to do the same thing at home when he had built up energy and couldn't do anything about it.

"Wonder what's he's so worked up about..." Akane wondered out loud. The hissing behind her brought her attention back to the cooking. After a while, she decided to add a third dish to the meal.

When Akane called to Ranma, he was started to get tired. He had been going for a couple of hours, and was quite hungry, too. He knew he had an audience for most of the time. He could hear the people asking how he could do it like that. They assumed that the punches would have hurt. He grinned to himself as he jogged back to the house. They would have hurt normal people. He left the log set up, in case anyone else decided that they were going to try.

Akane opened the door for him, and he found the lights in the living room were turned off. There was a flickering of lights in the dinning room, and when he entered, he found that there were two places set, and a few candles set up in the room. "Impressive, Acchan," he said, catching her as she started to go into the kitchen and giving her a hug.

"Just don't wreck things, alright?" she said with a grin as she escaped his embrace and entered the kitchen. Ranma scratched the back of his head. What did she mean by that?

He sat down and waited for her. It wasn't long before she came back with two large trays of gyoza and a bowl of rice. She then left and returned with another bowl. When she set it down, he looked at all the food. It looked good... surprisingly good considering it was Akane who had cooked it all. The gyoza were a little rough around the edges, but no harm there. And the last bowl was filled with oden (Japanese hot dish - not quite soup, but close enough). There was a dish of karashi (really hot mustard) on the table as well to go with the oden.

Ranma knew that it must not have been easy to cook everything. "Looks good, Acchan," he whispered to her as he surveyed the scene before him. It took all his self-control not to start grabbing at the food right away.

"What's wrong, Ran-chan?" Akane asked after a moment of silence. "Why aren't you eating it yet?" She looked away. How could he not even try her food...

"I was waiting for you, Acchan," he said softly. "Thought I'd let you take some first."

Akane looked back to Ranma, startled. Table manners? Had he actually heard what she said earlier? "Thanks... Ran-chan," she managed as she served herself. She then picked up his plate and served him significantly more of the gyoza than she took herself. She also gave him more rice in his bowl than she took for herself. She knew he would eat more, anyway. She then poured the oden into two separate bowls and gave one to him while keeping one for herself. "Dig in," she suggested.

Ranma looked at the food in front of him, not sure where to begin. Finally, he settled on the rice, knowing that that would be simple. He'd save the dumplings for the end. They did smell pretty good... He picked up his bowl of rice and started shovelling it into his mouth. He stopped after a moment, seeing how delicately Akane was eating hers, and seeing that she was eyeing him disapprovingly. He swallowed what he had in his mouth and started taking smaller bits at a time. Akane blinked in surprise.

"You feeling alright, Ran-chan?" she asked. When he looked to her questioningly, she smiled. "I've just never seen you eat so slowly before. It's not the food, is it?" she demanded suddenly.

"N... no, Acchan," he stammered, swallowing his rice quickly and setting the now empty bowl down. "I was... trying to take your advice. Sorry." He bowed his head and waited for her to hit him.

"Ran... chan?" she called to him, making him look up to her. There were tears in her eyes. "You really do care, don't you?" she asked, her voice unsteady.

"Of course, tomboy," he said with a smile to take the sting out. "That's what I've been tryin ta tell ya for some time now," he explained, waving his hand as he picked up his chopsticks again.

"Baka," she said, swatting his hand. But she was smiling. "Thanks," she added softly, turning back to her food.

Ranma picked up his bowl of oden and took a helping of the karashi to put on the edge of the bowl. Each piece of food he took out, he wiped on the karashi. When all the food was gone, he wiped the remaining karashi off the edge with his chopstick and stuck it in his mouth. He always enjoyed the hot spices. Setting his sticks down, he downed the remains of the soup in one gulp.

"How is it?" Akane asked him as he started to pick up a pastry with his chopsticks. He set down the sticks and looked to her.

"I hadn't really thought about it..." he admitted. When he saw her crestfallen look, he continued quickly. "That's good, though, isn't it? Usually your cooking is almost toxic. This stuff doesn't taste different from when Kasumi makes it," he added in a rushed voice.

"Re... really?" she managed. "That good?"

Ranma nodded. "The best you've done so far, I think. Haven't tried the gyoza yet, though," he said, picking up his chopsticks again. After trying a few times to pick one up without crushing it, Akane giggled, making him look up. "What?"

"You've never done dumplings with sticks before, have you?" she asked.

"No."

"Neither have I," she admitted. "I usually just pick them up."

"Good enough for me," Ranma said, tossing his sticks to the side again and picking up a gyoza. It smelled quite good. Taking a bite into it, half of the filling spurted out the other end. Trying desperately to catch it before it dropped, he used both hands to stuff it into his mouth. After chewing and swallowing, he looked apologetically to Akane. "Sorry," he muttered through a half full mouth.

Akane just laughed.

After supper, the two returned to the Dojo, where various pairs were training. The two of them took places at the far end of the hall, and Ranma went over air combat with her again. To end things, they did several katas together. The eyes of all the students and masters in the Dojo were on them by the time they had finished the last kata. It was one they had developed together, and was a partnered kata. When done properly, as they had just done, it seems that they were really just one person with four arms, four legs, and two heads. They were working seamlessly together.

When they returned home, they were both too tired to do much. Akane changed and was in the bedroom before Ranma, and when he joined her, he had already changed into Ranma-chan. She laid down next to Akane, and when Akane wrapped her arms around Ranma-chan, they were both asleep before they knew anything else.

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