The wisdom of pancakes
Akane shivered as she made her way quickly into the tall white building out of the cold night air. She sighed. She still could not believe she was doing this. However, she pulled her shoulders back and straightened her posture to create the illusion of confidence as she pushed open the door to 'cooking for beginners'.
Yes. The great Akane Tendo had admitted defeat and had sought outside help for her small… fault. Of course no one, not even Kasumi, knew of this. She didn't like to admit it as she had a pride which could almost rival that of Ranma's. She had just grown so sick and tired of the constant digs that her family and others had given her about her cooking. The other girls like Ukyo and Shampoo, they were fantastic cooks (if Ranma's stomach was any indication) and she was frustrated that they laughed at her poor attempts. However the battle was not over yet.
"Hello class" the teacher called from her station at the front of the room. She was a petite woman, with copper hair and dark green eyes. The class responded in unison to her welcome.
"Today class," she said cheerfully "we are going to be making traditional English pancakes!"
The class then set about the task, following the instructions carefully (especially Akane). Thankfully the teacher only provided the student with the ingredients needed for the food being made and so with flour, eggs and milk she couldn't go too far wrong. She had successfully put all the ingredients into the bowl (although she had dropped an egg or two in the process) and now had to whisk them together. She picked up the silver whisk and began to pulverise the unsuspecting mixture causing it to fly in several directions.
Suddenly Akane felt a hand upon her wrists, restricting her movements. She looked up to see her teacher who looked thoughtfully at the young girl covered in pancake batter before her. She had seen many girls studying cooking throughout her years, but none quite like her. She was intrigued at the challenge yet it made her chuckle inside as this hapless chief was the exact image of herself many years ago. She had learnt and so would this young woman.
"Akane dear," she began "the mixture is not your enemy in battle you know."
She chuckled lightly at this thought but after noting the disappointment Akane's eyes she spoke again "Okay Akane, I want you to think of each of the ingredients as people."
Think of them as people? Akane scoffed. What kind of weird cooking class was this!
"You see," the teacher continued "as with people, you can not force them to mix together. Therefore you can beat as hard as you like with that whisk but it will do no good. However if you move the whisk forward gently, causing a small stir with it you will see a change as the 'people' will begin to mix." The teacher finished with a smile, as if pleased by how she had phrased it.
The teacher walked away leaving behind a slightly baffled Akane. She looked down at the bowl, picking up the whisk again and thinking about the words her teacher had spoken. Her thoughts drifted inexplicably towards a certain martial artist who's cocky attitude and gorgeous blue eyes had piqued her interest from the very start. She thought of some of the sweet little gestures Ranma had made in the past. Like when he held her hand on the walk home, or when he had picked her a flower which caused her to smile.
Unknowingly, as she had been thinking, her hand had been moving all that time. Moving the whisk gently through the mixture and, just as her teacher had said, the ingredients had mixed. A wave of pride washed over Akane as she enjoyed her moment of victory. Then with some help from the teacher (as she was not fully trusted with heat and fire) she managed to cook her pancakes to almost perfection. They were not fluffy and light or beautifully golden like many of the other student's were. However they were still amazing. They were hers and she could not be more proud.
The lesson was over and so she wrapped up her treasure, thanked her teacher and began to walk home. She quietly let herself in as it was quite late. She went to the kitchen to place her pancakes on the counter and then went to change into her pyjamas.
As she came back past the kitchen, heading for the stairs, Akane noticed the light was on the kitchen. She huffed, annoyed that she had left it on and retraced her steps to turn it off. However, as she reached the doorway she saw a figure leaning against the counter with their back to her. She took in the jet black pigtail and the adorable green pyjamas he wore on cold nights and sighed inwardly. A feeling of warmth ran through her as she realised what was going on. He was eating her pancakes!! Mistakenly thinking they were Kasumi's creation most probably but he was eating them none the less! There was no choking, no discolouring of the face in fact at the rate he was eating them she dared to think they tasted…good!
The tingling sensation of happiness was close to overload at this thought! She tiptoed carefully up behind Ranma (too engrossed in food to notice) and placed a light kiss upon his cheek. She turned quickly with a smile and left the room, not looking back.
Ranma had frozen in shock and turned to see the inky blue haired girl bounce out of the kitchen. Slowly, he lifted his hand to his cheek as a smile crept across his features coupled with an astounding pink blush.
Akane giggled to herself as she fell into bed. Causing a small stir indeed!