A Fanfic done by Saint. All Ranma ½ characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.
Chapter 1: Akane all fed up
"That's it! I've had enough!" Akane yelled. She glared darkly at the black haired Martial Artist grinning cheekily at her on top of a wire fence.
"What? Kawaii kune tomboy had enough?" he said, enjoying himself. Akane's face was growing red in anger, and in a few minutes she'll be whipping out her trusty mallet and chase after him. Oh yes, he knew the routine very well. He shifted his stance in readiness.
Akane fumed. "Yes!" she bit out. Suddenly, Akane seemed to blur from where she was standing. Ranma felt a gust of wind blow around him and then he was shoved off his feet. Dazedly, he saw Akane turn away in disgust and stalk off. …Wait… Akane blurring and shoving him off his feet without him seeing?!!!
What just happened?! Shaking his head in confusion, he decided to follow Akane first before piecing out what just happened. He must have pushed her too far, he thought guiltily. He hopped off the fence and hurried after her. When Ranma arrived at the house, he could hear Akane's and Soun's raised voices coming from the living room. Feeling curious, he followed the voices and found Kasumi and Nabiki standing in front of the closed door. Kasumi saw him and motioned for him to keep quiet. Nabiki just ignored him. She was listening intently at what was transpiring inside.
"…No, no, Akane you can't!" Soun was saying.
"I can't stand this charade anymore! I've done what you asked of me for 6 months, but Ranma still doesn't like me. He doesn't like me now, and he'll never ever like me, okay?!" Akane's voice grew louder until she was yelling the last statement.
"But, but…!"
"No buts!," Akane sighed and then continued in a gentler tone. "Daddy, I love you and I want to make you happy so I agreed to pull this act. But I've realized nothing good will come from this… look, my Martial Arts is suffering, the dojo is suffering, our finance is suffering…please understand. I…I'm not happy anymore".
"What Martial Arts?!" Ranma asked crossly. Kasumi bopped him on the head. Good thing Akane hadn't heard him, or he'd be getting a harder bop on the head.
Inside, Soun was silent.
"I have to be myself", Akane said softly.
"B..but what about Dishonor? Our name will be ruined. Please Akane, give it one more chance!" Soun pleaded.
The sight of her father's teary face must have moved Akane somewhat. Akane sighed. "Alright," she relented. "You don't have to break the engagement. But I'm not keeping this act anymore. He'll have to want me the way that I am!"
The three eavesdroppers heard Soun crying softly, and then the door suddenly opened. Akane stepped out, her head bowed. She quickly went to her room and shut herself in. Inside the room, Soun Tendo sat in the middle of the floor, crying softly.
Ranma was confused. He didn't have a clue in what had just transpired. He glanced at the two sisters. For once, Kasumi wore a neutral expression on her face and Nabiki looked troubled. This was bad.
"I don't know if I should feel elated or not", Nabiki said to Kasumi. Her sister merely sighed.
"I knew this peace wouldn't last that long", she commented, and then composed herself. "Well, I've got to calm Father down." She said as she walked into the room
"and I've got to call my contacts, and attend to some business before supper" Nabiki said, already drawing her palm pilot and heading to her room. Ranma glanced back and forth at the two retreating figures. 'What's happening?', he was mentally screaming. He hated to be put in the dark. Looking inside the room, he could see that Kasumi was too busy comforting her father. He hurried after Nabiki.
"Nabiki.." he called.
"Shhh! Not now, I'm busy" she said, motioning for him to go away. She was muttering under her breath about money rolling back in again. Ranma stopped following, he had never felt frustrated in all his life.
"Won't somebody tell me what's going on?", he said in frustration.
Nabiki paused and glanced back at him. "Do you really want to know?" she asked. Ranma just stared at her, waiting for her continue.
"Akane just gave up on you"
She turned and continued on her way. "Come to my room after supper if you want to know more. Of course, it'll cost you" she called back. She went to her room and closed the door.
Ranma was left feeling frustrated. What the hell did that mean? He hated cryptic answers. He decided to practice until supper instead to take his mind off things. That always worked. He headed for the dojo.
-- o – 0 – o –
As soon as Akane closed the door of her room, she collapsed on the floor. She hated making her father cry, but she'd reached the end of her patience. She sighed, and then smiled softly. Now that it was all over, she felt free again. She haven't felt so good in such a long time. Sure, there were times she felt good when Ranma smiled at her in a special way or he had done something nice to her for a change, but they were so few and short. Now, she had to forget all that since she'd given up on him. She's going back to her old life now. Slowly, she stood up and moved to her cabinet.
Opening the bottommost drawer, she rummaged through it for a moment until she found what she was looking for… a loose white shirt and worn-out, faded shorts. She hugged them to herself and smiled.
-- o – 0 – o –
Ranma wanted peace of mind, but he was sadly disappointed. He couldn't concentrate in his katas and always found himself gazing at Akane's open window. He tried emptying his mind but the confusing events that happened this afternoon kept intruding. He finally gave up. Fortunately, Kasumi finished making supper and called him in to eat. He didn't need to be called twice.
It was an unusually quiet supper in the Tendo Dojo. Akane didn't come down to join them. Soun Tendo looked subdued, Nabiki seemed happy, though and talked with Kasumi quietly Ranma's father was holed up in the zoo again, if the news about an enormous panda holding up signs in the petting zoo was true. Ranma was not in the mood to start any conversation, and concentrated on his food instead.
His thoughts wandered on Akane. Was she still mad at him? And what was all that about this afternoon? It frustrated the hell out of him not knowing. He had to talk to Nabiki about that.
Speaking of Nabiki, she finished eating and stood up. Ranma, eager to discuss matters with her, shoveled the rest of his food to his mouth as fast as he can.
"I'm finished eating! That was good, oneechan!" she said, as she rubbed her tummy. Kasumi smiled her appreciation. "I'm going up to my room now, okay?"
Ranma slammed his bowl on the table when he finished and took a big gulp with the water. He thumped at his chest to get the food down, and then stood up, too.
"I'm done, too! Thanks for the food, Kasumi. I'm going upstairs now!" he said hurriedly. Kasumi laughed at his rush.
"Thank you, Ranma. Don't you want any tea?" she said.
"No, thanks!" he answered as he hurried off. He heard Kasumi chuckling softly.
-- o – 0 – o –
Nabiki turned off her monitor as she heard Ranma's footsteps stop at her door. Boy, was he in a rush to hear her information. He must have downed his food without chewing.
"Hey, Nabiki! Can I come in?" he called from outside.
"Yeah, come in, Ranma" she said. She swiveled her chair so it faced her bed. Ranma entered cautiously. Entering Nabiki's room always made him nervous.
"Sit, sit," she gestured to her bed. Ranma obeyed silently. Nabiki held out her hand and Ranma fished out 500 yen from his pocket and gave it to her. She flashed him a business smile. Ranma silently prayed the information was worth his money, if not he's gonna regret it dearly. No lunch money for a week.
"Alright, you want to know what's going on, right? Hmm… where to start?" she muttered thoughtfully. "okay, get yourself comfortable, this'll take awhile."
"When you first came here, you've heard of some kinda Martial Arts Master living here in Nerima, right?," Nabiki asked.
"Yyyeah, I think so. Me and Pops heard about some guy living here in Nerima who used an unusual technique. I was excited to challenge him into a fight, but I've never found any Master here so I guess he was just made up… why'd you asked?" he said curiously.
"Because, it is true, there IS a Martial Arts Master living here, right under this very roof"
Ranma pondered this over for a minute. "Who, you're Father? I could beat him with my hands and feet tied together!" he scoffed. Nabiki bigsweated.
"No, you idiot! I'm talking about Akane!" she said. For a moment, Ranma stared at the Short haired girl without moving, and then he laughed.
"Akane? A Master? You're kidding, right?" he chuckled. Nabiki scowled at him, she didn't appreciate her information being taken lightly. "Maybe I should stop talking now" she said coldly and made a move away.
Ranma snapped back into attention quickly. "No, no, please continue!" he said, waving his hands placatingly at her. Nabiki nodded curtly.
"Let's start a different approach. What have you noticed about Akane's martial arts?"
"She sucks," he answered. Nabiki had an overwhelming urge to mallet him for her sister.
"No! … have you noticed that she sticks to the basics of Kempo? She also claimed once that she was the best here in Nerima, right? How could she be the best if she only fights with the basic knowledge of the Art?"
"Well, she's just arrogant?" Ranma hesitantly guessed. Nabiki glared at him.
"YOU are arrogant, Akane isn't. She's not a liar, either!" she said. Ranma cringed. "Okay, sorry! Jeez…" he muttered. Nabiki gave up and decided to continue her explanation and in a more straightforward manner. "Listen carefully, you idiot!" she said.
"Since Time immemorial, Tendo women have always been blessed… or cursed… however way you see it… with Tremendous Charisma. Look at Kasumi, she can charm any criminal to behave like a monk in front of her… and me, I guess you've noticed I can milk the hardest negotiator for the best deal. With Akane, it's sex appeal. You've met the majority of her suitors, right?", she said impudently.
Ranma just scowled at her. Nabiki grinned.
"Too much charisma can be a pain sometimes, especially when it comes to sex appeal. Some people can get a little too pushy. Fortunately, our ancestors have developed a Martial Arts Technique that harnesses Charisma, particularly sex appeal. Our mom taught it to Akane before she passed away." For a moment, Nabiki looked sad but she quickly hid it behind her business smile again. Ranma didn't see the fleeting change of emotion since he was busy piecing out what Nabiki had just told him.
"Do you know this technique, too? Waitaminute, your mother was a martial artist? And isn't your father the one who studied Anything Goes Martial Arts?" Ranma asked. Nabiki smirked.
"Yes, too hard for you to believe? Mom was already a Martial Artist before she even met Dad. When my Mom married Dad, she also learned Anything Goes. She fused the Tendo Technique with the Anything Goes School of Thought and it became a Discipline. She did that to help us cope with ourselves," Nabiki arched an eyebrow at him. Ranma merely shrugged.
"Initially, Mom taught all three of us. But Kasumi and I aren't really into Martial Arts, and it became increasingly clear that nobody would ever want to harm a hair on Kasumi's head, and I could easily talk myself out of any sticky situation, so that left only Akane. Fortunately, Akane took to our parents' love of Martial Arts and she gladly learned from Mom."
"Thank Buddha she did… because Mom always claimed she had the strongest charisma she'd ever encountered. When she was young, strangers always wanted to talk to her. One even offered to adopt her. And when we grew up, men would call on Akane and offer her marriage proposals… and she was just 11 yrs. Old then!" Nabiki paused for a moment to take a breath. Ranma looked like he was having difficulty assimilating all that she was saying. He didn't like the idea that a lot of people wanted Akane.
"I'm not lying, Ranma. I'm not kidding." she assured him. Nabiki could see he was beginning to understand the gravity of the information she was imparting to him. He nodded curtly.
"Anyway, to make a long story short, she learned everything from Mom and she became the Master of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts Dance of Death technique when Mom died."
"But what about…"
"I know, I know, I'm not finished yet!" Nabiki said, "Sheesh!"
Ranma looked sheepish.
"Now to the part that concerns you. When Father learned that you and your father were coming to claim one of us as your fiancée, he became anxious. He didn't know which one of us he will give in marriage. He didn't have the heart to force Kasumi. He couldn't persuade me. The most likely candidate was Akane. But Akane didn't want to be forced into a loveless relationship, too. Dad started crying up a storm and wailing about dishonoring the family."
"Well, Akane never liked to see Dad cry, and ever since we were kids Akane was told she would inherit the Dojo since she was the only next generation Martial Artist in the family, so she must have felt guilty that she would let the family down if she didn't marry you. She finally relented to be engaged. Dad also thought that since the Saotomes come from a noble lineage, you must be Traditionalists. He was afraid that you'd reject a girl who practices Martial Arts, fights challengers everyday as part of her daily routine and acts so boyishly, so he insisted that Akane start acting more demure and womanlike. That included stopping practicing Martial Arts."
"That's cruel!" Ranma exclaimed. He imagined his life without Martial Arts and shivered. Nabiki nodded in agreement. "Hey, wait a minute! She fights challengers everyday?" he asked in surprise.
"She's a Master. A lot of people want to test their mettle against a Master, right? And stop interrupting if you want me to finish. I don't have all night, ya know" said Nabiki in irritation. Ranma sulked and settled back down to listen.
"Anyway, Akane was outraged at what Dad wanted her to do. They quarreled about it for a long time, until they finally reached a compromise. Akane agreed to be more girly and wear skirts, and act like she barely knows Martial Arts so that you won't feel threatened. Dad agreed that he will not force the two of you to get married, you will only be married if you love each other. It was agreed she'd keep the act up until after the Wedding Day, and that's the only time she'll tell the truth. But it looks like you've gotten into Akane's nerves one too many times. She'd given up on making you fall in love with her."
Ranma didn't know how to react. There were too many questions in his head. "You were all fooling me all along? And Akane was trying to make me fall in love with her all this time? But she always acts like she doesn't want to do anything about me, how could you say she'd been trying to catch my attention all this time? What does it all mean?" he rattled out his questions.
Nabiki frowned. "Hmm… I guess… yeah. We were just doing what Dad asked us to do. About your second question… Akane didn't agree to Soun's suggestion to throw herself at you in complete adoration. So I suggested Reverse psychology. You do the opposite of what your quarry expects… ahh, you're too much of a jock to understand that!… Next question. Oh yeah, what does it all mean? It means you're gonna see a very different Akane tomorrow," Nabiki looked at her watch to signal the end of their transaction. She stood up and stretched as Ranma rose from the bed.
"I still have work to do before I go to bed. Nice doing business with you," she said in dismissal.
"Wait! One more question!" Ranma said hurriedly. "Is she.. is she alright? Is she still mad at me?" he asked hesitantly. Nabiki's lips quirked into a grin, and she examined his face more closely. Ranma reddened.
"Why, Ranma! You surprise me! Did the Reverse Psychology actually work on you?" she said. Ranma frowned in confusion. Nabiki drew away with a laugh.
"You've got to ask Akane that," she replied. Ranma looked disappointed. "You've taken too much of my time already, maybe I should start billing you for overtime?" Ranma shook his head vigorously.
"No, no! Hehehe! I'm on my way out, actually," he said hurriedly. Nabiki chuckled.
"As you say. Goodnight!!!" she called out as Ranma closed the door behind him as he stepped out.
End of Chapter 1
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