DISCLAIMER: The characters of Ranma 1/2 are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, their creator. They are used here without permission.
This story was written for entertainment purposes only and may not be used for profit in any way.
We'll See
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Elin B
"No," she said, "no, I don't think so. Not now."
They were sitting on the back porch, eating watermelons in the lingering warmth of the summer evening. Akane wiped her mouth and spat out a few seeds.
This was in late August, more than a month after the big row that had taken place between Akane and Nabiki (the kind of fight that turns deep and nasty, causing bystanders to slink away and dive for cover). Kasumi had only just begun to attend evening classes in book-keeping and calligraphy two nights a week. And only last night Soun Tendo had made a big announcement which had nothing to do with marriage.
Ranma blinked and raised his eyebrows.
"You don't want to be taught? Well, suit yourself. Why not?"
Akane put down the empty watermelon shell, then leaned back. The crickets were chirping, occasionally drowned out by the distant sound of traffic.
They had been talking a little about her father's newest decision.
Apparently, his cousin, who lived over in Vancouver in Canada, was going to visit Tokyo for a week-long visit, the first time he'd been there in years. Naturally, he had asked if the Tendos could put him up. For some reason, this had made Soun decide to open the dojo up for classes again.
He wanted the Saotomes, especially his prospective son-in-law, to help out with the training. The cousin wasn't going to come until the end of September, so they would have several weeks to advertise and prepare themselves.
Ranma had just admitted to Akane that he was a little concerned that he might scare people away at first.
"I'm used to the way Pop's been training me," he had said. "And, you know, I am pretty damn good. But you can't use those training methods on beginners. Maybe people are just going to get discouraged, if they start off thinking think they can reach any real levels of martial arts without really applying themselves."
Akane had attempted to flick watermelon seeds at him, but he ducked them easily.
"Well, you've never really taught before, did you?" she said. "You know how to fight, but not teach."
"Well, neither do you," Ranma pointed out.
She nodded. "But Dad isn't leaning on me to help out," she said, "though he might later. You're the one who's supposed to take over the dojo, after all." She gave him a shy look from under her bangs.
Ranma reddened for just an instant, but did not respond directly to the last part. He looked down at the plate of watermelons and took another slice.
"All right, so I don't have any experience of that stuff," he said between mouthfuls. "But you've got to start somewhere."
A thoughtful look came into his eyes. He turned and looked at his fiancée, tilting his head.
"Say, do you want to become my first student?" he said, nonchalance mingled with hope in his voice.
Akane blinked, her eyes becoming very wide.
"I mean," Ranma continued , "you did say just the other day that you wanted to be better, so that you could handle people like that last loony by yourself if you had to..." He trailed off, aware of her stare.
"Do you feel well?" she said, frowning as she reached out to touch his forehead.
"Of course I do!" He moved his head an instant after she touched him. "Why?"
"It's just that you've never seemed to want me to get better," she said. "Look at what you did when I had the magical battle dogi, for instance."
"But that was different," he protested. "That wasn't earned! And that suit was perverted, anyway."
"Well, you wanted to wear it, too," she pointed out. "But anyway," she continued quickly, leaving the matter of the battle dogi behind in the dead past, "even so, you never seemed to think it was a good thing that I trained. You always made me feel rather clumsy and hopeless, actually." She shrugged, then bit her lip and looked away, a little red in the face.
Ranma blinked, then quickly spat out a few watermelon seeds and wiped his mouth in order to counter this.
"Hey," he said, "I gave you a workout like nobody else would have! If I hadn't teased you so much, you'd be a whole lot slower than you are now!"
"What?" said Akane, nonplussed. "Are you saying you did it on purpose?"
She looked bemused, and was silent for a few seconds.
"But- but I'm not fast!" she protested then. "I'm still pretty slow."
"You were slower when I first came here. A good deal so," said Ranma seriously. "But most everyone else have gotten better too, so you can't really tell," he added.
"Huh. Then I'm running to stay in place," she said pensively. She shifted uneasily. But do I want to be part of the race that badly? she wondered.
"So, whaddya say?" asked Ranma. "I do need to learn how to teach, after all," he added, rather more quietly.
And that was when Akane had said no. No, she didn't want to, not now.
In response to Ranma's 'Why not?', she sighed and turned her head to see him better.
"Because," she said slowly, "I think I need to do it alone. I mean, of course I'll need a sensei... But I think I'll look for someone who doesn't already know me. I need to find my own way of doing things."
"Oh," said Ranma. "So... you don't think I could hack it as a teacher, then?" He was not sure how he felt about this. Part of him did feel a little wounded at this lack of faith, though he supposed it made sense. Part of him felt somewhat relieved: for some reason, there was something a little unnerving about the thought of holding private training sessions with Akane. But he also felt a little disappointed, at the very same time.
"That's not it!" protested Akane. "When I do feel more sure of myself, then I'll let you teach me. Just not right away."
"Hm," said Ranma uneasily, struck by a new thought. "What if your teacher's some loony, though? Or a pervert?" He could picture the scene easily, with a wide-eyed, naive Akane stepping up in her yellow gi, saying: 'Please, sir, I want to learn martial arts, sir', and how the teacher, handsome yet lecherous, would smile and say, 'Very good. Let me just show you some useful pressure points'. Ranma clenched his fists.
A loud snort from Akane interrupted these musings.
"In that case, I'll just belt him and go look for a different teacher," she said drily. "Really, Ranma. Who do you take me for?"
"Someone who always gets caught up in trouble," he answered promptly.
She spluttered incredulously. "Like you're one to talk!"
"Well, I can get out of it easier!" he insisted.
"But that's just..." Akane stopped herself and exhaled slowly.
"Just what?" he wanted to know.
But she only said "Ah, never mind..." and leaned back, smiling wryly for a moment.
They were silent for a while.
Akane thought: but what if I don't find my own way? What if all a teacher can do is to tell me that I won't ever get much stronger than I am now? Then what will I do?
She probably had to be prepared for something like that. After all, she wasn't Ranma. When he grit his teeth stubbornly and fought on, he would find a way to succeed in the end. When she did the same, she still failed, more often than not.
Perhaps, she suddenly thought, because I never think of changing the rules, like he does.
It wasn't as if she could just give up martial arts completely and become a couch potato. Not that she wanted to, of course - but either way, as long as she was engaged to Ranma, it would be crazy not to at least keep in shape and keep up basic self-defence practice. But perhaps, if she chose to, she would no longer be a martial artist, merely someone who knew how to fight a little. She would no more issue challenges, nor accept them. Instead, she would be free to concentrate on other things. What those things might be, she did not know, but there must be something she could be good at.
She didn't like this new thought. It smacked of failure and hopelessness; but she couldn't unthink it now that it had arrived. To be sure, it would mean leaving all the responsibility for the honour of the school to Ranma alone. But after all, she thought with sudden bitterness, that was all Dad seemed to want. He hadn't asked her to try to teach at all.
This part of her father's announcement had not bothered her just now, as she talked to Ranma. But it came and went, how she felt about it. The worst part of it was, she didn't dare to confront Dad about it. If it was one thing she didn't think she could bear, it would be to hear her father say out loud that he just didn't think she was good enough.
She is being awfully quiet, thought Ranma. Was she waiting for him to say something? Somehow it didn't feel like she was. In fact, things felt pretty calm and peaceful, for a change.
He leaned back as well, listening to the sounds of the neighbourhood around them. Gates and doors opened up and shut as fathers finally returned from work, after hours of commute. The neighbourhood dogs were taking up the twilight bark, and teenagers like himself left their homes in clusters, talking and laughing down the street. The sun was setting out of sight, beyond the garden wall and the neighbouring houses. Only the very top of the house was still basking in reddish-golden light.
Akane seemed a little different these days, he thought, more grown up or something. Well, at least sometimes. He supposed that was a good thing. Only, did this mean he had to act more grown-up as well? And what if she was changing and growing too fast for him to keep up with her?
On the other hand, who could tell what was really grown up, and what was just becoming like everyone else? Maybe there was a different way of growing up from the ordinary one, though most people didn't know about it.
As long as no-one tried to make him into something he wasn't, he'd be fine, he thought. But he didn't know about Akane. Maybe she'd be happier if she were just like everyone else? How would he know?
I suppose I have changed, haven't I? thought Akane. I think I have grown - I feel different on the inside. I hope it's for real and not just some temporary mood.
That big row she'd had with Nabiki awhile ago had probably something to do with it, upsetting as it had been. She could not pretend that it had all ended for the better. The two of them rather avoided each other these days. But at least she had given as much as she had got - for once her sister had not managed to make her feel like an eight-year-old kid. Nabiki had called her some awful things, a few of which had more than a little truth to them. But Akane had withstood the blast without breaking down; and she was no longer afraid of her sister.
Boy, she's been quiet forever, thought Ranma, glancing at her. A few minutes ago, she had looked slumped and brooding; but now she looked more languid again, much like him. She was resting her chin in one hand and gazing upwards. He too looked up at the sky, growing darker by the minute. Night was coming fast. He felt as if he could capture this evening, this moment, to hold it cupped in his hand as if it were a firefly. But why would he do that?
Someone has to be like this, Ranma thought suddenly. Someone has to be the one to take things lightly, to balance on the edges and casually accept challenges. Otherwise, how would anything work? They would all develop ulcers and drown in their own seriousness.
It's not just that it's fun, he said to himself. It's something I have to do. He studied this new insight and decided to file it away for further consideration. Perhaps he could say this to Akane some other time.
He doesn't understand, she thought. But she didn't feel troubled. She felt easy and calm and warm.
It was not that she thought he would make a bad teacher. He would probably be quite good at it, once he'd had a few tries. It was just that she didn't want to be shaped like a lump of clay, without anything to offer by herself.
"All right, then," said Ranma suddenly.
He turned his head to look at her. "Fine. You go off and find some old geezer to teach you stuff. Then I'll take over and teach you something better and more useful. Deal?"
"OK," said Akane, nodding. "I'll let you be my teacher, then."
"Great!" said Ranma cheerfully.
"You know, I think it's about time I went to bed," said Akane, getting up and sliding the inner doors open.
Ranma frowned. "Now, wait a minute!" he called after her, as she entered the house. "You're not letting me teach you - I'm the one who's letting you be my student!"
"Isn't that nice of you," mumbled Akane sleepily. She let out a yawn as she started to mount the stairs. "Well, we'll see."
Outside, the moon was rising.
AUTHOR'S COMMENTS, UPDATED: This came about from a wish to write a contemplative piece, and to write more densely than I usually do. This is my first work of fanfiction in prose.
I would like to thank all those who sent me comments on the first draft. I have revised the text now, but I am not quite certain if this is the final version. If anyone wants to offer comments on this revised version, such feedback will be very welcome.