Love is in the Air: A Christmas Story
Chapter 3: Afternoon Talks... a semi-calm interlude before the storm (Version 3.1)
By the Sneaky Chibi Otaku Geek (Um... that's me... Hotaru Kimiko Lai...^.^;; )
Disclaimer...
I don't own Ranma 1/2 or any of its awesome characters... *sniff, sniff* But I'll keep on trying. After all, the saying goes, "If at first you don't succeed, try and try and bake apple pies again!!!!" Wait... that's not how it goes... "If at first you don't succeed... fry the fly again..." "If at first you don't succeed, fly through the sky again..." Oh well... you get the point. Now, where was I???? Oh yeah!! Ms. Rumiko Takahashi, I'm writing to you again, since I think my past twenty five letters have not been received by you. I'm writing concerning one of your original creations, Ranma 1/2...
Notes before beginning...
Some of you wrote questions, and so here I am, trying to answer them... and thanks for your interest!!!!! The world is full of cool people, and you guys are part of the group!!! (OK,... I think I calmed down a bit... Any of you have tried Tobleron chocolate... ummm...yummy.... I want some....like...now!!!...)
01.) I'm Asian, but live in Ecuador. (South America, under Columbia, and above Peru.) So please excuse my grammar mistakes. I try hard to spot them all, but alas... one or two (or three, or four or five... or five million) always seem to escape... sigh... ^-^
02.) To Mana~Chan: Hotaru Kimiko is my pen name.... Lai is my last name, and I'm not Viet. It's so cool, we have the same last names!!!!!!!!!!!
03.) To Suya: Unfortunately, I had to stop there... cause I got an awful writer's block... but now... I'm back!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
04.) To Lord Specter: You gave me the most awesome idea!!!! Now to add it into the story... Thank you so much!!!! I'm feeling extremely excited... woohoo!!! (It'll come in later chapters...)
05.) To whoever is wondering... Hotaru means firefly... the name can be used for both guy or girl... but I'm a girl... just in case you wanted to know...
06.) And to all of you who reviewed and gave such wonderful notes of encouragement... this chapter goes to you guys!!!!!
07.) Interesting fact for the day... guess how long it took me to work on the first chapter???? Answer at the end of the story!!! ^.~ ;;
08.) I found a really cool smiley face!!!!! Here it is!!! Thanks, Rei for teaching it to me!!!! ¬.¬
09.) And to Rei* (the mummified otaku of death) and QD-chan and Sakura P- Chan for all your encouragement!!!
10.) And to Sakura P-Chan for giving me the nickname, the Sneaky Chibi Otaku Geek.. Isn't she so cute? ^^
11.) And finally, the last note!!!! Happy Early Chinese New Years!!!!!!!!!!! (It's celebrated, this year, on the 12th-14th. Welcome to the year of the horse!!!!!!!!! Here's a little present for all of you!!!!
_______________________________________
Begin.
_______________________________________
Ranma woke up. He opened his eyes. His head felt like exploding, so he quickly closed his eyes. Ouch... that had hurt.... where was he??? Last thing he remembered... oh yeah... Akane had hit him with her mallet... again... how could he care so much for such an uncute tomboy... OK, maybe not uncute... but tomboy none the less. He strained his ears as he heard some people talking quietly. Ranma concentrated as hard as he could with his throbbing headache. He couldn't recognize any of the voices, though... they were speaking too softly.
"Are you sure he's OK?"
"Yes, I'm very sure."
"And about what I asked you?"
"Nothing wrong with him that I could tell."
"Absolutely sure??"
"As sure as I can be under the circumstances."
"Oh...I'm sorry."
"Now, don't worry. Just be careful next time."
"And it's nice to see you so worried about him."
"..."
"Don't worry, everything will be fine. He's very lucky to have someone like you care for him."
"..."
"If it makes you feel better, you can come see him for a while. I'm almost positive he'll be OK."
"Almost positive?"
"He might have a concussion... but I don't think so... Ranma's tough."
"We hadn't noticed."
"But can I go see him?"
"Of course... come with me."
There were some footsteps coming his way, so he pretended to be sleeping. Stupid person inside his skull, stop smashing watermelons in there!!! Some people are trying to fall asleep... or at least pretend.
"Oh... Dr. Tofu." said one voice. He placed the name... Akane. "It was nice to now that she was worried about him. Now, if only he could sort some things out...
"Yes, Akane?" asked the kind doctor.
"Do you think he'll be able to go caroling with us?" asked Akane.
"Perhaps..." said Dr. Tofu. "I think he'll be fine."
"Yeah..." said Akane. "He usually gets healed very quickly. And I did just hit him on the head with my hammer. He should be up in no time."
"That's right," said Tofu. "After all, he is very strong. Why don't you wait for him at your place? I'll run a few tests on him and then let him out, as soon as he wakes up, of course, and then send him to the dojo."
"Thank you," said Akane. "Dr. Tofu, thank you so much for everything." With that, she left to wait outside with the mysterious third person Ranma had heard.
"You can wake up now, Ranma," said Dr. Tofu. "Akane was outside..."
"How did you know I was up?" asked Ranma as he got up slowly and owlishly blinked his eyes.
"I'm a doctor... I should know," said Dr. Tofu with a smile. "Here, I have to run a few tests on you." Ranma nodded as the doctor took out a clipboard.
"By the way, Dr. Tofu," started Ranma as he leaned forward to allow the doctor to check his head. "What happened after Akane hit me???"
"Apparently, she hit you a hard one on the head, so that she could drag you here to get you checked up. Nabiki ran across her and helped her drag you here." said Tofu as he made some marks in his clipboard. "By the way, Ranma, could you tell me what got Akane so worried? She was very disturbed."
"I don't understand her sometimes, Dr. Tofu," said Ranma. "Sometimes, she's really nice to me, and sometimes, she tortures me with her so called 'cooking', and sometimes, she gets really angry at me, usually because she thinks I'm cheating on her or something. I don't know what to expect from her. One moment, she's yelling at me because I call her names. Then there are times I try to be nice and try to please her, but she then thinks I'm sick, or something like that."
"So, what did you do this time?" asked the doctor as he checked Ranma's pulse.
"I... I don't know... I was nice to her... at least, I tried to." said Ranma. He explained. "I helped her clean up the place, tried her cooking, and then,... well, I said that I was... um... sorry for what happened at supper. And I don't understand it!!! All of a sudden... it was like if I didn't want her to think that I hated her or something... I wanted her to know that... that I... I do care for her. It's just hard for me to show her...."
"Have you told her this?" asked Tofu as he put his clipboard away and drew a chair to sit in front of Ranma.
"No, not really." said Ranma sadly as he looked out the window. The snow had stopped, but the air was still chilly. "She'd probably think I was sick. Today, she thought I had selective amnesia... or something like that."
"No wonder Akane wanted me to perform some tests on you." said Dr. Tofu. He studied Ranma carefully for a few seconds. Ranma fidgeted nervously. "Let me tell you something."
"What?" asked Ranma.
"From my point of view, you aren't the only one who has trouble expressing themselves. Akane has also had troubles with expression. But don't give up... after all... you'll be caroling with her in a few minutes..."
"Huh???" asked Ranma. He didn't understand Tofu... but oh well... "OK, I better get back to the dojo and change into something cleaner..." Dr. Tofu nodded and Ranma left.
Akane walked home slowly, thinking over what had happened that day. It had started out fine, or so it seemed. She had woken up early, practiced some martial arts, gone jogging and finished tying up Christmas presents... that afternoon, she had gotten the chance to cook, and she ended up cooking the salad... the same salad that caused Ranma's amnesia. In a way, she was sort of glad, after all, he was nicer to her... like, way nicer. But still, she could probably guess that he wouldn't want to get too friendly to her... after all, as soon as their parent's found out... it'd be time for rings to be exchanged. Now, how in the world was she going to give Ranma back his memory. Maybe she could hit him on the head... had worked before, when Ranma slipped into the pond... of course, he had thought that he was a girl... Maybe she could... do it the same way Ranma had done it to her when she had lost her memory. She could insult him like crazy till he remembered. Of course, she wasn't one to go around insulting people with out a cause.... but, she had to do something... and the beginnings of a plan appeared in her head. She smiled happily (or wickedly, depending on your point of view...) and ran to the kitchen. But first, to the bathroom to wash!
Kodachi came back from her home and waited at the Tendo's house till the rest of the people were ready. She was the first one, it seemed, and was quite proud of it... now, where in the world was her Ranma-sama??? She had to be close to him for the perfume to work... she walked around the house and finally decided to go out... perhaps he was in the dojo or something. After all, her Ranma-sama did enjoy to work out so much... While she was in the dojo, Ranma walked into the house, oblivious to Kodachi's whereabouts and thinking on what Dr. Tofu had told him.
A little time after Ranma had entered the house to go and think. While doing that, he decided to change clothes, since his were a bit dirty from all that had happened that afternoon.
Ukyo snuck into the house.
'Ranchan...' she thought. 'Where are you??? I have to get this over with as soon as I can, so that the other hussies won't have a chance. Now where are you???' She sneaked silently around the house before giving up... for a while. She checked to make sure no one was there and dug a perfume bottle out of her pocket. When she was sure no one was looking, she quickly sprayed some on.
From the shadows, a pair of eyes narrowed.
Shampoo crept into the house through the back. She had run home to tell her great grandmother that she'd go caroling with the Tendos. For some reason, she found Cologne muttering as she looked through old scrolls in an ancient and arcane language.
She had an extra huge smile as she looked for Ranma. She had to find him as quick as she could. Shampoo paused as she passed near the kitchen. There was a weird and curious sound emanating from the kitchen.... what could it be??? Curious, she peaked into the room, and her face turned into the color of fermented vanilla yogurt (OK, how about pale white???). Her mind stopped working as she tried to piece together how this could be happening. Ukyo just happened to come by and saw Shampoo staring into the kitchen. She too, tip toed quietly there to see what was happening. What she saw also made her speechless. A few minutes later, Kodachi bounded into the hallway and was about to laugh when something stopped her. There was a sound... very peculiar it was, for it sounded so familiar. And it was coming from the kitchen. So with quietness that she many times practiced, and on limber feet, flew across the hall to see what was in the kitchen and joined the other girls in a no-blink contest...
Ranma was the last one to get there. He passed by the hallway and saw them all looking inside the kitchen. He panicked and tried as best he could to walk slowly away from the volatile girls. Unfortunately, he stepped on one of the few creaky steps of the house. He froze and his eyes widened. He hopped no one had noticed him... unfortunately, they did. Ukyo looked up and mouthed "Ranchan!!!" to him. With quick gestures, she motioned for him to join them, but quietly. Ranma nodded and slowly tried to get there. It was a little hard, since there was a voice in the air, and that made it hard to concentrate. When he finally got there, he peaked into the kitchen with the rest. His mouth hung open as he stared at the scene inside the kitchen...
Author's Notes....
You know, I'm beginning to enjoy cliff hangers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, what did Ranma and Company see that got them so surprised????? Welllllllllllllll........ you'll have to wait a few weeks.... ^.^
Oh well, how do you guys like it so far? Yeah, this chapter is a tad bit short again.... gomen!!!!!!! ^.^;;
Anyway... oh yeah... the question up above.... here's the answer.... I took one, whole, entire, silly year to get the first chapter written!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unbelievable, huh??? But I did.... Well, it might not have been a year, but from the day I started it and to the day I put in the last word, it was about a year....hehe...really!!!
What else... suggestions??? Comments??? Criticisms??? Reviews??? (hint, hint, hint...) Thank you to all you who are reading this... you're all fantastic!!!!!!!!
Hotaru Kimiko
Quotes for the chapter...
"When you are real, you can never be ugly except to people who don't understand."
- The Old Skin Horse from the Velveteen Rabbit
"Life is too important to take seriously."
- Corky Siegel
(hhm.... so, guess where I get my 'sense of humor' from???? ^.^;; )
Chapter 3: Afternoon Talks... a semi-calm interlude before the storm (Version 3.1)
By the Sneaky Chibi Otaku Geek (Um... that's me... Hotaru Kimiko Lai...^.^;; )
Disclaimer...
I don't own Ranma 1/2 or any of its awesome characters... *sniff, sniff* But I'll keep on trying. After all, the saying goes, "If at first you don't succeed, try and try and bake apple pies again!!!!" Wait... that's not how it goes... "If at first you don't succeed... fry the fly again..." "If at first you don't succeed, fly through the sky again..." Oh well... you get the point. Now, where was I???? Oh yeah!! Ms. Rumiko Takahashi, I'm writing to you again, since I think my past twenty five letters have not been received by you. I'm writing concerning one of your original creations, Ranma 1/2...
Notes before beginning...
Some of you wrote questions, and so here I am, trying to answer them... and thanks for your interest!!!!! The world is full of cool people, and you guys are part of the group!!! (OK,... I think I calmed down a bit... Any of you have tried Tobleron chocolate... ummm...yummy.... I want some....like...now!!!...)
01.) I'm Asian, but live in Ecuador. (South America, under Columbia, and above Peru.) So please excuse my grammar mistakes. I try hard to spot them all, but alas... one or two (or three, or four or five... or five million) always seem to escape... sigh... ^-^
02.) To Mana~Chan: Hotaru Kimiko is my pen name.... Lai is my last name, and I'm not Viet. It's so cool, we have the same last names!!!!!!!!!!!
03.) To Suya: Unfortunately, I had to stop there... cause I got an awful writer's block... but now... I'm back!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
04.) To Lord Specter: You gave me the most awesome idea!!!! Now to add it into the story... Thank you so much!!!! I'm feeling extremely excited... woohoo!!! (It'll come in later chapters...)
05.) To whoever is wondering... Hotaru means firefly... the name can be used for both guy or girl... but I'm a girl... just in case you wanted to know...
06.) And to all of you who reviewed and gave such wonderful notes of encouragement... this chapter goes to you guys!!!!!
07.) Interesting fact for the day... guess how long it took me to work on the first chapter???? Answer at the end of the story!!! ^.~ ;;
08.) I found a really cool smiley face!!!!! Here it is!!! Thanks, Rei for teaching it to me!!!! ¬.¬
09.) And to Rei* (the mummified otaku of death) and QD-chan and Sakura P- Chan for all your encouragement!!!
10.) And to Sakura P-Chan for giving me the nickname, the Sneaky Chibi Otaku Geek.. Isn't she so cute? ^^
11.) And finally, the last note!!!! Happy Early Chinese New Years!!!!!!!!!!! (It's celebrated, this year, on the 12th-14th. Welcome to the year of the horse!!!!!!!!! Here's a little present for all of you!!!!
_______________________________________
Begin.
_______________________________________
Ranma woke up. He opened his eyes. His head felt like exploding, so he quickly closed his eyes. Ouch... that had hurt.... where was he??? Last thing he remembered... oh yeah... Akane had hit him with her mallet... again... how could he care so much for such an uncute tomboy... OK, maybe not uncute... but tomboy none the less. He strained his ears as he heard some people talking quietly. Ranma concentrated as hard as he could with his throbbing headache. He couldn't recognize any of the voices, though... they were speaking too softly.
"Are you sure he's OK?"
"Yes, I'm very sure."
"And about what I asked you?"
"Nothing wrong with him that I could tell."
"Absolutely sure??"
"As sure as I can be under the circumstances."
"Oh...I'm sorry."
"Now, don't worry. Just be careful next time."
"And it's nice to see you so worried about him."
"..."
"Don't worry, everything will be fine. He's very lucky to have someone like you care for him."
"..."
"If it makes you feel better, you can come see him for a while. I'm almost positive he'll be OK."
"Almost positive?"
"He might have a concussion... but I don't think so... Ranma's tough."
"We hadn't noticed."
"But can I go see him?"
"Of course... come with me."
There were some footsteps coming his way, so he pretended to be sleeping. Stupid person inside his skull, stop smashing watermelons in there!!! Some people are trying to fall asleep... or at least pretend.
"Oh... Dr. Tofu." said one voice. He placed the name... Akane. "It was nice to now that she was worried about him. Now, if only he could sort some things out...
"Yes, Akane?" asked the kind doctor.
"Do you think he'll be able to go caroling with us?" asked Akane.
"Perhaps..." said Dr. Tofu. "I think he'll be fine."
"Yeah..." said Akane. "He usually gets healed very quickly. And I did just hit him on the head with my hammer. He should be up in no time."
"That's right," said Tofu. "After all, he is very strong. Why don't you wait for him at your place? I'll run a few tests on him and then let him out, as soon as he wakes up, of course, and then send him to the dojo."
"Thank you," said Akane. "Dr. Tofu, thank you so much for everything." With that, she left to wait outside with the mysterious third person Ranma had heard.
"You can wake up now, Ranma," said Dr. Tofu. "Akane was outside..."
"How did you know I was up?" asked Ranma as he got up slowly and owlishly blinked his eyes.
"I'm a doctor... I should know," said Dr. Tofu with a smile. "Here, I have to run a few tests on you." Ranma nodded as the doctor took out a clipboard.
"By the way, Dr. Tofu," started Ranma as he leaned forward to allow the doctor to check his head. "What happened after Akane hit me???"
"Apparently, she hit you a hard one on the head, so that she could drag you here to get you checked up. Nabiki ran across her and helped her drag you here." said Tofu as he made some marks in his clipboard. "By the way, Ranma, could you tell me what got Akane so worried? She was very disturbed."
"I don't understand her sometimes, Dr. Tofu," said Ranma. "Sometimes, she's really nice to me, and sometimes, she tortures me with her so called 'cooking', and sometimes, she gets really angry at me, usually because she thinks I'm cheating on her or something. I don't know what to expect from her. One moment, she's yelling at me because I call her names. Then there are times I try to be nice and try to please her, but she then thinks I'm sick, or something like that."
"So, what did you do this time?" asked the doctor as he checked Ranma's pulse.
"I... I don't know... I was nice to her... at least, I tried to." said Ranma. He explained. "I helped her clean up the place, tried her cooking, and then,... well, I said that I was... um... sorry for what happened at supper. And I don't understand it!!! All of a sudden... it was like if I didn't want her to think that I hated her or something... I wanted her to know that... that I... I do care for her. It's just hard for me to show her...."
"Have you told her this?" asked Tofu as he put his clipboard away and drew a chair to sit in front of Ranma.
"No, not really." said Ranma sadly as he looked out the window. The snow had stopped, but the air was still chilly. "She'd probably think I was sick. Today, she thought I had selective amnesia... or something like that."
"No wonder Akane wanted me to perform some tests on you." said Dr. Tofu. He studied Ranma carefully for a few seconds. Ranma fidgeted nervously. "Let me tell you something."
"What?" asked Ranma.
"From my point of view, you aren't the only one who has trouble expressing themselves. Akane has also had troubles with expression. But don't give up... after all... you'll be caroling with her in a few minutes..."
"Huh???" asked Ranma. He didn't understand Tofu... but oh well... "OK, I better get back to the dojo and change into something cleaner..." Dr. Tofu nodded and Ranma left.
Akane walked home slowly, thinking over what had happened that day. It had started out fine, or so it seemed. She had woken up early, practiced some martial arts, gone jogging and finished tying up Christmas presents... that afternoon, she had gotten the chance to cook, and she ended up cooking the salad... the same salad that caused Ranma's amnesia. In a way, she was sort of glad, after all, he was nicer to her... like, way nicer. But still, she could probably guess that he wouldn't want to get too friendly to her... after all, as soon as their parent's found out... it'd be time for rings to be exchanged. Now, how in the world was she going to give Ranma back his memory. Maybe she could hit him on the head... had worked before, when Ranma slipped into the pond... of course, he had thought that he was a girl... Maybe she could... do it the same way Ranma had done it to her when she had lost her memory. She could insult him like crazy till he remembered. Of course, she wasn't one to go around insulting people with out a cause.... but, she had to do something... and the beginnings of a plan appeared in her head. She smiled happily (or wickedly, depending on your point of view...) and ran to the kitchen. But first, to the bathroom to wash!
Kodachi came back from her home and waited at the Tendo's house till the rest of the people were ready. She was the first one, it seemed, and was quite proud of it... now, where in the world was her Ranma-sama??? She had to be close to him for the perfume to work... she walked around the house and finally decided to go out... perhaps he was in the dojo or something. After all, her Ranma-sama did enjoy to work out so much... While she was in the dojo, Ranma walked into the house, oblivious to Kodachi's whereabouts and thinking on what Dr. Tofu had told him.
A little time after Ranma had entered the house to go and think. While doing that, he decided to change clothes, since his were a bit dirty from all that had happened that afternoon.
Ukyo snuck into the house.
'Ranchan...' she thought. 'Where are you??? I have to get this over with as soon as I can, so that the other hussies won't have a chance. Now where are you???' She sneaked silently around the house before giving up... for a while. She checked to make sure no one was there and dug a perfume bottle out of her pocket. When she was sure no one was looking, she quickly sprayed some on.
From the shadows, a pair of eyes narrowed.
Shampoo crept into the house through the back. She had run home to tell her great grandmother that she'd go caroling with the Tendos. For some reason, she found Cologne muttering as she looked through old scrolls in an ancient and arcane language.
She had an extra huge smile as she looked for Ranma. She had to find him as quick as she could. Shampoo paused as she passed near the kitchen. There was a weird and curious sound emanating from the kitchen.... what could it be??? Curious, she peaked into the room, and her face turned into the color of fermented vanilla yogurt (OK, how about pale white???). Her mind stopped working as she tried to piece together how this could be happening. Ukyo just happened to come by and saw Shampoo staring into the kitchen. She too, tip toed quietly there to see what was happening. What she saw also made her speechless. A few minutes later, Kodachi bounded into the hallway and was about to laugh when something stopped her. There was a sound... very peculiar it was, for it sounded so familiar. And it was coming from the kitchen. So with quietness that she many times practiced, and on limber feet, flew across the hall to see what was in the kitchen and joined the other girls in a no-blink contest...
Ranma was the last one to get there. He passed by the hallway and saw them all looking inside the kitchen. He panicked and tried as best he could to walk slowly away from the volatile girls. Unfortunately, he stepped on one of the few creaky steps of the house. He froze and his eyes widened. He hopped no one had noticed him... unfortunately, they did. Ukyo looked up and mouthed "Ranchan!!!" to him. With quick gestures, she motioned for him to join them, but quietly. Ranma nodded and slowly tried to get there. It was a little hard, since there was a voice in the air, and that made it hard to concentrate. When he finally got there, he peaked into the kitchen with the rest. His mouth hung open as he stared at the scene inside the kitchen...
Author's Notes....
You know, I'm beginning to enjoy cliff hangers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, what did Ranma and Company see that got them so surprised????? Welllllllllllllll........ you'll have to wait a few weeks.... ^.^
Oh well, how do you guys like it so far? Yeah, this chapter is a tad bit short again.... gomen!!!!!!! ^.^;;
Anyway... oh yeah... the question up above.... here's the answer.... I took one, whole, entire, silly year to get the first chapter written!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unbelievable, huh??? But I did.... Well, it might not have been a year, but from the day I started it and to the day I put in the last word, it was about a year....hehe...really!!!
What else... suggestions??? Comments??? Criticisms??? Reviews??? (hint, hint, hint...) Thank you to all you who are reading this... you're all fantastic!!!!!!!!
Hotaru Kimiko
Quotes for the chapter...
"When you are real, you can never be ugly except to people who don't understand."
- The Old Skin Horse from the Velveteen Rabbit
"Life is too important to take seriously."
- Corky Siegel
(hhm.... so, guess where I get my 'sense of humor' from???? ^.^;; )