Snow White and the Seven Cursed?!
Shadow Knight
Chapter 3: New. . . Friends?
Disclaimer: . . . . Yeah
~
Run Down:
Akane: Snow White
Soun: Good King---Dead
Kimiko: Good Queen---Dead
Hinako Hinomiya (Ranma's transforming teacher) (Thanks Dane17) From now on, the "Queen Misato" was this person. I got the names confused---- Evil Queen
~
"Where the heck am I?"
Although she knew that no one would answer her spoken question, Akane sighed with frustration and unconsciously pulled at the uneven ends hanging from the back of her head. It felt strange. . . . her once long, silky hair. . . now reduced to charred ends where that fool Kuno's sword had cropped her hair.
Wrinkles of irritation crinkled around her nose as her eyes slanted angrily. "Next time I see Kuno. . . . . . . Oh. . . .Just wait Kuno. . . ."
~
"Brrr," mumbled a man walking through the forest, a large sword swinging by his side, "I feel like someone just walked over my grave. Oh well! I must hurry so I can go get my beauteous and fierce tigress, Akane."
With a perverted grin, Kuno continued his way toward the Tendo castle, images floating in his head. (Bad Kuno. . . .^_^)
~
A-choo!
"Someone must be talking about me. . . .," Akane sniffled as she tromped through the woods. Suddenly, something caught on her shoe. And with an unladylike yelp, she fell flat on her face. She laid there for a moment amongst the leaves, still. Then, her frame began to quiver. Her body shifted sideways until she rolled onto her back.
Staring up at the high branches of the trees, she could see the smallest spot of blue of the sky, peeping out from amongst the tangle of tree limbs. For a moment, she felt something well up inside of her, and she let out a small sigh as a tear ran down past her temples. "Who am I kidding? Where am I going to go? I have no home. . . .not anymore."
Then, abruptly, she took a quick swipe at her face and scrubbed away the tears littering her face. No, she thought to herself, I mustn't cry. I will only be susceptible to that witch Hinako's wishes.
With a grunt, she pushed herself to her feet and brushed her ragged dress. No, I will get through this. But. . . . she looked around. . . . .how? Suddenly she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Stepping closer through the thicket, she pushed back a branch and peeked through carefully.
"What in the world. . . ."
There was a small little house in the distance. But the strangest part about what she saw was what lied before it. Seven emerald hills stretched out before her and on top of each of the hill were seven trees. Akane was sure there was probably other "sevens" she didn't bother to notice, but at the moment she didn't care.
Right now, she though that she might have a new home.
With a smile of relief, Akane felt her heart flutter a bit. Maybe. . . she ran a little faster. . . . maybe she had a chance for a new home. . . a new family. . .
~
Huffing from exertion, Akane climbed her way up the last hill, clawing her hands in the grass to haul her butt up. "That had to be more than seven freaking hills!"
Gasping, she dragged herself to her feet and pulled up toward the door of the small cottage. With a knock, she whispered a small, "Hello?"
Under her touch the door moaned and opened stiffly. With a shrug of her shoulders, she walked in. What else did she have to lose? It looked like no one had been living in the place for sometime. She nearly giggled when she noticed how everything was so. . . .small. Tiny cups littered the wooden sink and tiny chairs were pushed recklessly about the broad wooden table. She made her way to the stairs and quickly made her way up the stairs.
"Wow. . . .there must have been some small people living here."
She looked in amazement at the seven beds that were lined next to each other with the exception of one pushed aside a bit away from the others. With the sunlight pouring through the open window in the wall, she could make out engravings in the bed frame ends. Slowly, she read them out loud to herself.
"Hmm," she mumbled, tracing the letters with her fingers, "So this one away from the other beds belongs to. . . .Happy? What kind of name is that? Oh well. And this one is. . . Dopey? Who the heck named these poor fools? Then Doc, Bashful, Sleepy, Grumpy and Sneezy? Tsk, tsk, tsk. . . . Poor, poor, people."
Suddenly she felt a sleepy spell coming on. Rubbing at her face, she eyed the beds eagerly. "Well," she said to herself, stifling a bit of a yawn, "I can just rest my eyes a bit. . . ."
She slid on top of the beds and snatched a cover over herself. Soon, she was out like a light. Little did she hear of the people coming close.
~
"Oh whistle while you work. . .why are we singing this?"
A short stubby man turned toward the voice. "Because we. . . . .actually . . . .I don't know why. But. . . . . Darn it! Just sing the damn song!"
The other man simply nodded his head and began whistling along with the others. Five others followed behind the two. One was different from the other six though. One had feminine curves that clearly showed she was female. Yet, as the sun began to set, only the glow of their lanterns could be seen lighting across the night sky.
~
"Are we almost there yet?"
"Almost. . . but. . .do you see that?"
"Yeah. . . the doors slightly open."
"Let's go see what's up."
"Or let's just beat the crap out of anyone who's messing around in there."
"No like that. Too too violent."
"Either way boys. . .and girls. . . let's go see."
~
"Shit!"
Akane's eyes cracked open with an abrupt snap as she heard the loud curse. She wondered for a moment who was so rude to interrupt her wonderful sleep. Then she suddenly gasped. Her blood ran cold as she remembered where she was.
She was in someone else's house.
Slowly and quietly, she slipped from underneath the covers. Brushing off her dress, she crept off the bed and made her way to the door, opening it with a slight creek.
"Did you hear that?!" a voice shrieked downstairs.
Akane covered her mouth with her hand, trying to stifle her gasp. She heard scuffling and shushing from downstairs and quickly flicked her eyes back and forth across the room. She suddenly spotted a closet in the corner of the room. Darting across the floor, she slipped into the closet as she heard the many footsteps stomping up the stairs. Covering her mouth with her hands, she muffled her heavy and nervous breathing. She closed the door quietly and waited in the dark.
"Search the room and see if you find anything," came a gruff voice.
"I bet it was just one of those damn animals getting in the house again," one voice angrily muttered.
"No be so angry and mean," a soft, feminine voice chastised.
"I don't think it was the animals. . . there's something. . . someone in the room."
"It does seem that way. . . I guess."
"Well perhaps. . . wait. . .Oh no. Did that fool get lost again?"
Akane heard a shuffle near the door. She pressed her back as far as she could into the closet. Suddenly it creaked open. Akane clenched her eyes tightly, almost as if it would help her become invisible to the person opening the door. But of course she knew it wouldn't work.
"On no! Where the heck am I now?!"
As Akane heard the frustrated voice, she cracked her eyes open a bit and looked out. She was met with nothing. Yet, as she heard a gasp and realized that it was below her. Looking down slowly, her eyes widened at what she saw.
A small face was staring up at her, a bit of agitation on the face. Brown locks covered his head in a shaggy, mussed manner as a thick yellow bandanna, dotted with black splotches, reached around his head like a sweatband. The bandanna was too big for him though because it continued to slip down his face as he pushed it upward from over his eyes. He had on a simple yellow, sleeveless shirt accompanied with a pair of black slacks that were bound tightly with leather cords around his legs in a crisscross fashion.
Akane found that instead of feeling afraid, she had the sudden strong urge to hug and squeeze the cute kid in front of her.
"Ryoga, get away from her. And who are you?!"
As Akane heard the angry, demanding voice, she looked up from the one in front of her and found more little people crowding around her. No. . . they weren't really just little. . . they were. . . like kids. . . .but not.
"Are you deaf, girl?"
Akane shook herself from her questioning daze and stared down at the voice. A boy, arms crossed stared defiantly at her with a somewhat bored and irritated expression. His hair was raven black as it was cut short and two stray strands dangled by his ears. His chest was adorned with a vest, accompanied with a white pair of slacks. But the thing that Akane found most peculiar about the boy, besides his striking and mature eyes, was the long pair of pantyhose that was wrapped around his waist several times.
"No," Akane said slowly, still quite unsure what to make of the boy, "I'm not."
"Then answer me! What's your name?"
She already knew that she didn't like him. "Tendo. . . Akane Tendo."
"Tendo?!"
Akane was suddenly distracted when she heard the somewhat joyful/surprised yelp from another person. She looked and saw that unlike the other "children?" this one seemed to be a little older yet still the same height. He didn't seem to retain the child like innocence or appearance the other's did. In fact, he was bald.
Slowly, he made his way toward her, crawling on his knees as tears of joy streamed down his face, past his glasses. Akane noticed that along with his baldhead, it seemed that the boy was trying to cover up the baldness with a thin scarf wrapped around his head.
Finally when he was before her on his knees, he grasped one of her hands, tears still falling as a shaky yet, happy smile lit his face. Akane wanted to jerk back, but his grip was strong. "Yes," she responded, trying to pull away, "I'm a Tendo."
He took in a deep breath and kneeled there for a moment in quiet joy. Then he jumped to his feet and shook her hand merrily as his face was immersed in a jolly grin. "My name is Genma. Genma Saotome. And these are my-"
"Would you shut up old man? We don't need you telling a life story."
Genma looked back behind him with a frown on his face. He let go of Akane's hand, much to her relief, and threw a menacing look at the boy who dare interrupted him. Akane herself took a glance.
"Don't interrupt me you little-"
"Whatever."
Akane saw that as he said this, he stared at the ceiling dimly, as if it were more interest than Genma's threats. His head tilted back, A ebony colored braid snaked down his back and scratched at the red shirt he was wearing. She could tell that the shirt wasn't from around here due to the odd design. Chinese, she presumed silently. He wore the same basic slacks as the others, but they were black. Turning, the boy's eyes flicked toward Genma and Akane felt her breath catch in her throat.
She had never seen eyes so blue. Like the color of a calm sea, just before a storm was deciding to break.
"Ranma, you had better listen to me."
"Sure. . . ."
Hearing his flippant response, Genma's face grew with more angry lines. Yet, as his cheeks grew flushed with anger, he suddenly sighed and scratched his head in submission. Seeing this, Ranma smiled slightly with satisfaction and directed his attention to the boy with the pantyhose tied around his waist. "And you," he muttered, "Stop being so militant, Pantyhose Taro. It makes you more annoying than normal."
Taro's nose wrinkled angrily at the comment and crimson grew on his neck, "Shut up fem-boy. I'll do what I freaking please. After all. . . she's trespassing."
"But Pantyhose boy no be so mean," a small voice declared from beside her.
Akane turned and saw another little kid. This one was different though.
It was a girl.
When she saw the girl's lavender hair reaching far down her back, Akane felt a slight tightness in her throat as she remembered her own involuntary haircut. She could see that the girl's eye color matched her hair as she glared at Taro. Through her tiny pout, Akane saw the girl gripping her hip in a saucy manner. The fabric beneath her fingers had to be Chinese too as it formed a short dress around her figure. Watching the girl, she thought the little girl certainly was cute and childish like the others, but there was something a bit bizarre about her appearance. She was almost _too_ cute for her.
She felt glad that the little girl stood up for her but she also sensed an underlying reason why she had defended her. And by the way she was goggling Ranma, she got the impression that she might just like him a "little" bit.
"We need to find out what she's doing here though, Shampoo."
Akane turned once again and found another kid. This one was talking to the lavender haired one so she presumed the girl's name was Shampoo. Staring back at the boy, she saw that his body was dressed in a long, white robe that hung loosely around his form. Something that she distinctly noticed though was that he had very large sleeves and were a bit too long for him as they hung over his hands. As she saw his face, she nearly laughed out loud. Thick glasses covered his face. Yet, like the other parts of his clothing, they too were too big and continuously kept falling down his nose.
"Mousse is quite right. We _don't_ know who you really are and why you're here."
Normally she was pretty good with keeping up with her senses, but Akane jumped when she heard a voice creep from behind her. Whipping around, she had been indirectly dragged out of the cabin and now that there was free room behind her, someone had occupied it.
With arms crossed, the boy stared evenly at her. White locks flowed around his head and were pulled back into a ponytail. Although she knew he was a boy, he seemed to almost have an animalistic air about him. Like a fierce animal ready to jump at her. Or anyone for that matter. Yet, he held it back behind a cool exterior.
"So," he addressed her coolly, "why are you here?"
She turned and saw that all of them were staring at her, expecting an answer.
"I. . . ," she stuttered out slightly, "I don't have anywhere else to go."
"What do you mean," asked Ryoga from beside her, "Don't you have a family?"
Akane felt her heart clench. "No. They both died."
"What about a relative," the boy asked behind her.
"Herb," Mousse muttered at the boy, "don't pry."
"I don't mind," she mumbled as her eyes slanted at the thought of Hinako, "Yes, a step mother."
"What so bad about step mom," Shampoo mumbled.
"Frankly," Akane frowned, "she's a bitch."
"That's not something a proper young lady like yourself should say," Genma chastised.
"Don't even start you old geezer," Taro sneered, "You've got a sailor mouth on you."
Genma had the decency to blush and look down at the ground.
Akane thought the inquiry was over when suddenly she felt the burning stare upon her. Looking, she saw that Ranma was watching her with a calculated gaze. As she found herself staring at him, she felt herself being sucked into the deep azure of his eyes. She was slowly beginning to drown in his beautiful eyes when she was suddenly pulled away from his voice.
"But what was it that forced you to leave," he whispered, staring at her as if she was the only one in the room.
Akane felt a pleasurable shiver run down her spine. As she glanced sadly at him, her lips turned up in a small smile. Sighing, she mumbled quietly, as if he were the only one in the room with her. "She. . . .she tried to kill me."
Everyone was quite as they heard her. She closed her eyes and swallowed something hard in her throat. From their silence she guessed they were surprised, but that didn't mean they would let her stay. Sadness was beginning to well inside of her, but suddenly, she heard a voice.
"Well, that must suck. Why don't you stay with us?"
Akane's eyes flicked open in surprise. Ranma was staring at her calmly with his mature eyes.
She wasn't the only one surprised.
"What the heck are you talking about Ranma, you idiot?!" Obviously, Taro was surprised too. His face was flushed with fiery flames. He wasn't happy at all with Ranma's decision.
Just before he was about to object further, Ranma raised one of his hands to silence him. "Shut your hole Taro," he said with a frown, "You know as well as the others that we can't just let her go back to that kind of suffering. So shut your damn mouth and stop pouting."
Akane was a bit surprised hearing him curse. Especially since he was just a child. . .
Taro looked like he was going to retort for a moment before he simply bit angrily at his lip. Ranma looked at the others. "Anyone else have a problem with that?"
No one spoke.
He smiled childishly, "Good."
So, that's how Akane ended up living with the small children in the house over the seven hills.
~
UNTIL NEXT TIME!
~
AUTHOR NOTES: Well, that was interesting no? I know those descriptions of each character was killer, but I had to get through it. As for Herb, I couldn't describe him as much because I don't exactly remember what he looked like. Anywho, I suppose I have some questions to answer.
Ash Nite: I read your review. I did bring in Genma and hopefully as I bring in a new chapter, you'll see exactly where his panda form will come into place. Well as for Akane's hair color. No, it's not red. I've read both manga and seen anime, and there is nothing showing her hair color. I'm guessing that perhaps you've mistaken the red hair color for Ranma's feminine curse form: Ranma-chan or Ranko. She/he has red hair.
Dane17: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CORRECTING ME!!! ^_^ I mean it. I was looking through a name chart and got Mina Misato some how. . . . don't ask. As for the identity of this mystery female. . . no idea. Thank you for correcting my mistake. I appreciate it A LOT!
Well, I think that's about it for that. As for the next chapter, here's what's in store:
NEXT CHAPTER: Akane is shown the house and such. She discovers the reason of the weird names, and. . . well. . . something else that each member of the seven groupie is hiding.
PLEASE REVIEW!
Ciao. ^_~
Shadow Knight
Chapter 3: New. . . Friends?
Disclaimer: . . . . Yeah
~
Run Down:
Akane: Snow White
Soun: Good King---Dead
Kimiko: Good Queen---Dead
Hinako Hinomiya (Ranma's transforming teacher) (Thanks Dane17) From now on, the "Queen Misato" was this person. I got the names confused---- Evil Queen
~
"Where the heck am I?"
Although she knew that no one would answer her spoken question, Akane sighed with frustration and unconsciously pulled at the uneven ends hanging from the back of her head. It felt strange. . . . her once long, silky hair. . . now reduced to charred ends where that fool Kuno's sword had cropped her hair.
Wrinkles of irritation crinkled around her nose as her eyes slanted angrily. "Next time I see Kuno. . . . . . . Oh. . . .Just wait Kuno. . . ."
~
"Brrr," mumbled a man walking through the forest, a large sword swinging by his side, "I feel like someone just walked over my grave. Oh well! I must hurry so I can go get my beauteous and fierce tigress, Akane."
With a perverted grin, Kuno continued his way toward the Tendo castle, images floating in his head. (Bad Kuno. . . .^_^)
~
A-choo!
"Someone must be talking about me. . . .," Akane sniffled as she tromped through the woods. Suddenly, something caught on her shoe. And with an unladylike yelp, she fell flat on her face. She laid there for a moment amongst the leaves, still. Then, her frame began to quiver. Her body shifted sideways until she rolled onto her back.
Staring up at the high branches of the trees, she could see the smallest spot of blue of the sky, peeping out from amongst the tangle of tree limbs. For a moment, she felt something well up inside of her, and she let out a small sigh as a tear ran down past her temples. "Who am I kidding? Where am I going to go? I have no home. . . .not anymore."
Then, abruptly, she took a quick swipe at her face and scrubbed away the tears littering her face. No, she thought to herself, I mustn't cry. I will only be susceptible to that witch Hinako's wishes.
With a grunt, she pushed herself to her feet and brushed her ragged dress. No, I will get through this. But. . . . she looked around. . . . .how? Suddenly she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Stepping closer through the thicket, she pushed back a branch and peeked through carefully.
"What in the world. . . ."
There was a small little house in the distance. But the strangest part about what she saw was what lied before it. Seven emerald hills stretched out before her and on top of each of the hill were seven trees. Akane was sure there was probably other "sevens" she didn't bother to notice, but at the moment she didn't care.
Right now, she though that she might have a new home.
With a smile of relief, Akane felt her heart flutter a bit. Maybe. . . she ran a little faster. . . . maybe she had a chance for a new home. . . a new family. . .
~
Huffing from exertion, Akane climbed her way up the last hill, clawing her hands in the grass to haul her butt up. "That had to be more than seven freaking hills!"
Gasping, she dragged herself to her feet and pulled up toward the door of the small cottage. With a knock, she whispered a small, "Hello?"
Under her touch the door moaned and opened stiffly. With a shrug of her shoulders, she walked in. What else did she have to lose? It looked like no one had been living in the place for sometime. She nearly giggled when she noticed how everything was so. . . .small. Tiny cups littered the wooden sink and tiny chairs were pushed recklessly about the broad wooden table. She made her way to the stairs and quickly made her way up the stairs.
"Wow. . . .there must have been some small people living here."
She looked in amazement at the seven beds that were lined next to each other with the exception of one pushed aside a bit away from the others. With the sunlight pouring through the open window in the wall, she could make out engravings in the bed frame ends. Slowly, she read them out loud to herself.
"Hmm," she mumbled, tracing the letters with her fingers, "So this one away from the other beds belongs to. . . .Happy? What kind of name is that? Oh well. And this one is. . . Dopey? Who the heck named these poor fools? Then Doc, Bashful, Sleepy, Grumpy and Sneezy? Tsk, tsk, tsk. . . . Poor, poor, people."
Suddenly she felt a sleepy spell coming on. Rubbing at her face, she eyed the beds eagerly. "Well," she said to herself, stifling a bit of a yawn, "I can just rest my eyes a bit. . . ."
She slid on top of the beds and snatched a cover over herself. Soon, she was out like a light. Little did she hear of the people coming close.
~
"Oh whistle while you work. . .why are we singing this?"
A short stubby man turned toward the voice. "Because we. . . . .actually . . . .I don't know why. But. . . . . Darn it! Just sing the damn song!"
The other man simply nodded his head and began whistling along with the others. Five others followed behind the two. One was different from the other six though. One had feminine curves that clearly showed she was female. Yet, as the sun began to set, only the glow of their lanterns could be seen lighting across the night sky.
~
"Are we almost there yet?"
"Almost. . . but. . .do you see that?"
"Yeah. . . the doors slightly open."
"Let's go see what's up."
"Or let's just beat the crap out of anyone who's messing around in there."
"No like that. Too too violent."
"Either way boys. . .and girls. . . let's go see."
~
"Shit!"
Akane's eyes cracked open with an abrupt snap as she heard the loud curse. She wondered for a moment who was so rude to interrupt her wonderful sleep. Then she suddenly gasped. Her blood ran cold as she remembered where she was.
She was in someone else's house.
Slowly and quietly, she slipped from underneath the covers. Brushing off her dress, she crept off the bed and made her way to the door, opening it with a slight creek.
"Did you hear that?!" a voice shrieked downstairs.
Akane covered her mouth with her hand, trying to stifle her gasp. She heard scuffling and shushing from downstairs and quickly flicked her eyes back and forth across the room. She suddenly spotted a closet in the corner of the room. Darting across the floor, she slipped into the closet as she heard the many footsteps stomping up the stairs. Covering her mouth with her hands, she muffled her heavy and nervous breathing. She closed the door quietly and waited in the dark.
"Search the room and see if you find anything," came a gruff voice.
"I bet it was just one of those damn animals getting in the house again," one voice angrily muttered.
"No be so angry and mean," a soft, feminine voice chastised.
"I don't think it was the animals. . . there's something. . . someone in the room."
"It does seem that way. . . I guess."
"Well perhaps. . . wait. . .Oh no. Did that fool get lost again?"
Akane heard a shuffle near the door. She pressed her back as far as she could into the closet. Suddenly it creaked open. Akane clenched her eyes tightly, almost as if it would help her become invisible to the person opening the door. But of course she knew it wouldn't work.
"On no! Where the heck am I now?!"
As Akane heard the frustrated voice, she cracked her eyes open a bit and looked out. She was met with nothing. Yet, as she heard a gasp and realized that it was below her. Looking down slowly, her eyes widened at what she saw.
A small face was staring up at her, a bit of agitation on the face. Brown locks covered his head in a shaggy, mussed manner as a thick yellow bandanna, dotted with black splotches, reached around his head like a sweatband. The bandanna was too big for him though because it continued to slip down his face as he pushed it upward from over his eyes. He had on a simple yellow, sleeveless shirt accompanied with a pair of black slacks that were bound tightly with leather cords around his legs in a crisscross fashion.
Akane found that instead of feeling afraid, she had the sudden strong urge to hug and squeeze the cute kid in front of her.
"Ryoga, get away from her. And who are you?!"
As Akane heard the angry, demanding voice, she looked up from the one in front of her and found more little people crowding around her. No. . . they weren't really just little. . . they were. . . like kids. . . .but not.
"Are you deaf, girl?"
Akane shook herself from her questioning daze and stared down at the voice. A boy, arms crossed stared defiantly at her with a somewhat bored and irritated expression. His hair was raven black as it was cut short and two stray strands dangled by his ears. His chest was adorned with a vest, accompanied with a white pair of slacks. But the thing that Akane found most peculiar about the boy, besides his striking and mature eyes, was the long pair of pantyhose that was wrapped around his waist several times.
"No," Akane said slowly, still quite unsure what to make of the boy, "I'm not."
"Then answer me! What's your name?"
She already knew that she didn't like him. "Tendo. . . Akane Tendo."
"Tendo?!"
Akane was suddenly distracted when she heard the somewhat joyful/surprised yelp from another person. She looked and saw that unlike the other "children?" this one seemed to be a little older yet still the same height. He didn't seem to retain the child like innocence or appearance the other's did. In fact, he was bald.
Slowly, he made his way toward her, crawling on his knees as tears of joy streamed down his face, past his glasses. Akane noticed that along with his baldhead, it seemed that the boy was trying to cover up the baldness with a thin scarf wrapped around his head.
Finally when he was before her on his knees, he grasped one of her hands, tears still falling as a shaky yet, happy smile lit his face. Akane wanted to jerk back, but his grip was strong. "Yes," she responded, trying to pull away, "I'm a Tendo."
He took in a deep breath and kneeled there for a moment in quiet joy. Then he jumped to his feet and shook her hand merrily as his face was immersed in a jolly grin. "My name is Genma. Genma Saotome. And these are my-"
"Would you shut up old man? We don't need you telling a life story."
Genma looked back behind him with a frown on his face. He let go of Akane's hand, much to her relief, and threw a menacing look at the boy who dare interrupted him. Akane herself took a glance.
"Don't interrupt me you little-"
"Whatever."
Akane saw that as he said this, he stared at the ceiling dimly, as if it were more interest than Genma's threats. His head tilted back, A ebony colored braid snaked down his back and scratched at the red shirt he was wearing. She could tell that the shirt wasn't from around here due to the odd design. Chinese, she presumed silently. He wore the same basic slacks as the others, but they were black. Turning, the boy's eyes flicked toward Genma and Akane felt her breath catch in her throat.
She had never seen eyes so blue. Like the color of a calm sea, just before a storm was deciding to break.
"Ranma, you had better listen to me."
"Sure. . . ."
Hearing his flippant response, Genma's face grew with more angry lines. Yet, as his cheeks grew flushed with anger, he suddenly sighed and scratched his head in submission. Seeing this, Ranma smiled slightly with satisfaction and directed his attention to the boy with the pantyhose tied around his waist. "And you," he muttered, "Stop being so militant, Pantyhose Taro. It makes you more annoying than normal."
Taro's nose wrinkled angrily at the comment and crimson grew on his neck, "Shut up fem-boy. I'll do what I freaking please. After all. . . she's trespassing."
"But Pantyhose boy no be so mean," a small voice declared from beside her.
Akane turned and saw another little kid. This one was different though.
It was a girl.
When she saw the girl's lavender hair reaching far down her back, Akane felt a slight tightness in her throat as she remembered her own involuntary haircut. She could see that the girl's eye color matched her hair as she glared at Taro. Through her tiny pout, Akane saw the girl gripping her hip in a saucy manner. The fabric beneath her fingers had to be Chinese too as it formed a short dress around her figure. Watching the girl, she thought the little girl certainly was cute and childish like the others, but there was something a bit bizarre about her appearance. She was almost _too_ cute for her.
She felt glad that the little girl stood up for her but she also sensed an underlying reason why she had defended her. And by the way she was goggling Ranma, she got the impression that she might just like him a "little" bit.
"We need to find out what she's doing here though, Shampoo."
Akane turned once again and found another kid. This one was talking to the lavender haired one so she presumed the girl's name was Shampoo. Staring back at the boy, she saw that his body was dressed in a long, white robe that hung loosely around his form. Something that she distinctly noticed though was that he had very large sleeves and were a bit too long for him as they hung over his hands. As she saw his face, she nearly laughed out loud. Thick glasses covered his face. Yet, like the other parts of his clothing, they too were too big and continuously kept falling down his nose.
"Mousse is quite right. We _don't_ know who you really are and why you're here."
Normally she was pretty good with keeping up with her senses, but Akane jumped when she heard a voice creep from behind her. Whipping around, she had been indirectly dragged out of the cabin and now that there was free room behind her, someone had occupied it.
With arms crossed, the boy stared evenly at her. White locks flowed around his head and were pulled back into a ponytail. Although she knew he was a boy, he seemed to almost have an animalistic air about him. Like a fierce animal ready to jump at her. Or anyone for that matter. Yet, he held it back behind a cool exterior.
"So," he addressed her coolly, "why are you here?"
She turned and saw that all of them were staring at her, expecting an answer.
"I. . . ," she stuttered out slightly, "I don't have anywhere else to go."
"What do you mean," asked Ryoga from beside her, "Don't you have a family?"
Akane felt her heart clench. "No. They both died."
"What about a relative," the boy asked behind her.
"Herb," Mousse muttered at the boy, "don't pry."
"I don't mind," she mumbled as her eyes slanted at the thought of Hinako, "Yes, a step mother."
"What so bad about step mom," Shampoo mumbled.
"Frankly," Akane frowned, "she's a bitch."
"That's not something a proper young lady like yourself should say," Genma chastised.
"Don't even start you old geezer," Taro sneered, "You've got a sailor mouth on you."
Genma had the decency to blush and look down at the ground.
Akane thought the inquiry was over when suddenly she felt the burning stare upon her. Looking, she saw that Ranma was watching her with a calculated gaze. As she found herself staring at him, she felt herself being sucked into the deep azure of his eyes. She was slowly beginning to drown in his beautiful eyes when she was suddenly pulled away from his voice.
"But what was it that forced you to leave," he whispered, staring at her as if she was the only one in the room.
Akane felt a pleasurable shiver run down her spine. As she glanced sadly at him, her lips turned up in a small smile. Sighing, she mumbled quietly, as if he were the only one in the room with her. "She. . . .she tried to kill me."
Everyone was quite as they heard her. She closed her eyes and swallowed something hard in her throat. From their silence she guessed they were surprised, but that didn't mean they would let her stay. Sadness was beginning to well inside of her, but suddenly, she heard a voice.
"Well, that must suck. Why don't you stay with us?"
Akane's eyes flicked open in surprise. Ranma was staring at her calmly with his mature eyes.
She wasn't the only one surprised.
"What the heck are you talking about Ranma, you idiot?!" Obviously, Taro was surprised too. His face was flushed with fiery flames. He wasn't happy at all with Ranma's decision.
Just before he was about to object further, Ranma raised one of his hands to silence him. "Shut your hole Taro," he said with a frown, "You know as well as the others that we can't just let her go back to that kind of suffering. So shut your damn mouth and stop pouting."
Akane was a bit surprised hearing him curse. Especially since he was just a child. . .
Taro looked like he was going to retort for a moment before he simply bit angrily at his lip. Ranma looked at the others. "Anyone else have a problem with that?"
No one spoke.
He smiled childishly, "Good."
So, that's how Akane ended up living with the small children in the house over the seven hills.
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UNTIL NEXT TIME!
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AUTHOR NOTES: Well, that was interesting no? I know those descriptions of each character was killer, but I had to get through it. As for Herb, I couldn't describe him as much because I don't exactly remember what he looked like. Anywho, I suppose I have some questions to answer.
Ash Nite: I read your review. I did bring in Genma and hopefully as I bring in a new chapter, you'll see exactly where his panda form will come into place. Well as for Akane's hair color. No, it's not red. I've read both manga and seen anime, and there is nothing showing her hair color. I'm guessing that perhaps you've mistaken the red hair color for Ranma's feminine curse form: Ranma-chan or Ranko. She/he has red hair.
Dane17: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CORRECTING ME!!! ^_^ I mean it. I was looking through a name chart and got Mina Misato some how. . . . don't ask. As for the identity of this mystery female. . . no idea. Thank you for correcting my mistake. I appreciate it A LOT!
Well, I think that's about it for that. As for the next chapter, here's what's in store:
NEXT CHAPTER: Akane is shown the house and such. She discovers the reason of the weird names, and. . . well. . . something else that each member of the seven groupie is hiding.
PLEASE REVIEW!
Ciao. ^_~