Disclaimer: There once was a man from Nantucket. I am not that man. Oh, and I don't own Ranma, either. Poor me! *sob*
Letting the Truth Out
Contemplation, Motion, Opposition
Ranma sat by the koi pond, meditating. Which is to say, he was moping. How could he have not realized that the water would cool off overnight? Sheesh, talk about overlooking the obvious. Now how could he expose Ryoga, without breaking his oath? As he sat, he heard a knock at the door. A few moments passed, and the door opened. He heard Kasumi greet the visitor, and a familiar voice say, "Greetings, o beateous flower. Alas, I am not here to date with thee. I am here for my loves, Tendo Akane, and the pig-tailed girl." "Oh my, well, why don't you come in, and I'll go get Ranma and Akane." "Very well. I enter!"
Inwardly, Ranma groaned. What stupidity was Kuno up to today? Oh well, he'd just have to get Kuno outside, and knock the jerk across town. After all, the Tendos wouldn't be too happy to have yet another hole put in the roof. As he pondered this, the shogi doors opened, and Kasumi leaned out.
"Ranma, that nice Kuno boy is here again. He says he would like 'to date with you'. Would you like to come inside and speak with him?" Ranma thought for a moment, and replied, "Nah, Kasumi, that's all right, just tell him I'm out in tha yard." "All right. I'm sure he'll be out in a minute." She leaned back inside, and the door closed. A moment passed. Then another. '3...2...1...' Ranma mumbled to himself, counting down to... the shogi door flew open, and Kuno was standing there, his arms spread. "Pigtailed girl! Fly into mine arms!" he cried, and then looked around. "Saotome. Where have you hidden my pig-tailed girl?" He paused dramatically a moment, during which time Ranma thought 'He's seen WAY too many samaurai movies.' "No matter! I shall destroy thee, and then the pig-tailed girl shall be free from thine clutches, so that she may date with me!" He drew his everpresent bokken, and lunged.
Ranma continued sitting on the rock until the last moment, at which time he pushed himself up on his hands, and twisted his body so that he was in an inverted 'L' shape, which he used to launch an upside-down round kick, which passed under Kuno's raised arms, to catch him squarely in the chest, sending him sailing over the house, and off into the distance. Ranma then lowered himself back to a sitting position, and continued to think.
'Stupid Kuno, trying to fight me when he can't even hit me. At least Ryoga can usually hit me a couple... hmmm...' he thought, his thoughts becoming unknown to the readers just in time to keep them from learning his next stupid plan, and so forcing them to keep reading to find out.
Almost an hour later, Ranma was still sitting on the rock by the koi pond, lost in thought. He had a plan, but it required an appearance by Ryoga. But, how could he possibly ensure the arrival of the Eternal Lost Boy? Just then, he heard the call to battle: "Everyone, Dinner is ready!" He paused a moment, wondering why Kasumi just yelled it out, instead of going and telling everyone individually, like usual. Then he shrugged, got up, and went inside. After all, he was a growing boy.
After dinner, Akane reminded him that he had agreed to study for their upcoming math test that night. He shrugged, and told her he had to get his books. She told him to meet her in her room, then left the table. As she left, Akane tried to stifle a laugh. Of course, Ranma hadn't paid enough attention in class to know that there was a test coming up, much less agreed to study with her for it. However, as soon as she "reminded" him, he'd assumed he'd done so, and simply forgotten. It was really too easy to get to spend time with him. If only he were more romantic, and not such a jerk. She shook her head, and headed up to her room, to await her fiancee.
A few minutes later, she heard a knock on her door, and said, "Come in!". She heard the door open, and, a moment later, close again. Of course, it was Ranma; who ELSE was that quiet, without thinking about it? She turned to ask him if he was ready to study, only to accidentally push too hard on the back of her chair. A weak section of wood in one of the back legs splintered, and the entire chair collapsed. As she started to fall, Ranma's eyes widened, and he lept forward. He managed to catch her, but, in the process, got hit by the heavy back of the chair as it fell. Instead of rebounding off the desk as he had intended, he hit the desk with his shoulder, and landed heavily on the floor, still safely nestling Akane in his arms.
Akane realized that she had not hit the floor, right about the time Ranma hit the desk. She then realized that she was on top of him, one of his arms under her knees, the other under her back, her head nestled between the shoulder that hadn't hit the desk, and his neck. Just then, he asked, "You okay, Akane?" she nodded, and started to sit up. However, before she could, the wall on the other side of the window burst inward. As the dust started to clear, Shampoo stepped in, and cried, "Ayiaa! What violent girl doing to Airen?" For a moment, both Ranma and Akane were speechless, wondering the same thing: how had Shampoo known to enter the house through Akane's room, and, more importantly, how had she made her usual entrance from the SECOND FLOOR? Then, they both remembered the occasion where Shampoo had brought Ranma p-chan for lunch, and how she'd done it to the 3rd floor of the school, and finally realized what Shampoo had just said.
A moment later, Akane was sitting on her desk, and Ranma was standing by the door. "Nothin', Shampoo. Her chair jus' broke, an' I caught her to break her fall!" Shampoo looked suspicious a moment, but then returned to her usual bubbly self, and glomped Ranma. "Airen take Shampoo on date?" she asked, as she molded herself to Ranma's body. "Uh, I can't. I have to...study... for my math test." he replied, grasping for an excuse. "Math test later. Date now." she replied,still pressing herself to him.
"I can't!" he protested, and paused a moment, then continued, "Hey, Shampoo, how did you know where I was?" Shampoo looked uncomfortable a moment, then replied, "Was on walk, and decide to visit Airen!" He looked suspicious, or as suspicious as one can look while trying to pry the subject of said suspicion off of one. "yes, but how did you know where I was?" he asked again. "Um, Shampoo see airen through window?" she responded nervously. "But, how did you know which window to look in?" he further questioned. "Shampoo guess lucky" the aforementioned amazon weaseled, and further did her best to worm under his clothing through sheer force of glomp. Finally, he broke free from her embrace, and said, "you weren't spying on Akane in preparation of attacking her AGAIN, were you?"
Attempting to reattach herself much like a leech, she replied, "Nooooo... Shampoo not do such thing.", and tried to look innocent. Just then, a glass of cold water was dumped on her. "Then why don't you go back to the Nekohanten, Shampoo? It's getting late, and we need to study." "C-C-C-C-CAAAT!!!" Ranma cried, leaping just below the ceiling, to land on the desk behind the now standing (and quaking with anger) Akane. The purple feline launched herself at her love, only to be intercepted by a large textbook wielded by Akane, which redirected her out the hole in the wall. The furious Akane then turned to the cowering martial artist. "This is your fault, you know! If you hadn't grabbed me when I fell, she wouldn't have broken in, and bothered me! What on earth possessed you to do that, anyhow?" He regained enough wits to reply, "You were falling backwards." She replied, "So?" her eyes promising great pain.
In response, he merely pointed. Her gaze following where he was pointing, she looked again at the wreckage of the chair. Right behind the collapsed seat was the splintered rear leg, it's jagged edge still pointing almost straight up. Seeing that, all of her anger suddenly drained, as did the strength in her legs. She dropped to her knees, nearly in shock at realizing how close she had been to a serious injury.
Almost instantly, Ranma was squatting beside her, his hand on her shoulder. "Akane, are you okay?" he asked. She turned to look at him, only to realize that their faces were only a few inches apart. Their eyes met, and each seemed hypnotized by the other. Slowly, they drew closer. 'Is he going to kiss me?', Akane wondered, already knowing the answer. Unconsiously, their lips began to pucker in anticipation. Closer, and closer they drew, until...
Suddenly, the door burst open, and Tendo Soun was standing there. Quickly taking in the broken chair, crumbled wall, and kneeling Akane, he turned to Ranma, who had lept over near the hole as soon as he'd heard the door open. He cried, "What did you do to my little girl?!" Ranma and Akane both facefaulted.
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Author's Notes: Feh. I wanted to make this more of a cliffhanger, but it didn't turn out this way. By the way, the title of this chapter comes from book 6, during the Breaking Point storyline, when Ranma uses the Saotome Secret Technique. The explanation of the Saotome Secret Technique says, "...is founded upon the tenets of "motion", "contemplation", and "opposition"." I rearranged 'em 'cause it starts out with Ranma contemplating, then moves to motion, then moves to opposition near the end. I couldn't come up with a name for this chapter, since, although Ranma comes up with his next "bright" idea in this chapter, it didn't get implemented yet. For some reason, I thought of the Saotome Secret Technique, but, somehow, that didn't seem an appropriate chapter title for this, so I looked at that part of the manga, instead.
Oh, and you thought they would kiss? Never! Bwa ha ha ha ha! Well... maybe eventually. But definitely not now. After the next chapter, I'm gonna be stuck again. Then again, this last time I was stuck lasted less than 24 hours, so I could still have chapter...6 (!) up tomorrow. Wow. 5 chapters. Yeah, it doesn't seem like much, but, for me, this is quite long. Ah, well, 'till next time!
Oh, and review this story. You know you want to.
Letting the Truth Out
Contemplation, Motion, Opposition
Ranma sat by the koi pond, meditating. Which is to say, he was moping. How could he have not realized that the water would cool off overnight? Sheesh, talk about overlooking the obvious. Now how could he expose Ryoga, without breaking his oath? As he sat, he heard a knock at the door. A few moments passed, and the door opened. He heard Kasumi greet the visitor, and a familiar voice say, "Greetings, o beateous flower. Alas, I am not here to date with thee. I am here for my loves, Tendo Akane, and the pig-tailed girl." "Oh my, well, why don't you come in, and I'll go get Ranma and Akane." "Very well. I enter!"
Inwardly, Ranma groaned. What stupidity was Kuno up to today? Oh well, he'd just have to get Kuno outside, and knock the jerk across town. After all, the Tendos wouldn't be too happy to have yet another hole put in the roof. As he pondered this, the shogi doors opened, and Kasumi leaned out.
"Ranma, that nice Kuno boy is here again. He says he would like 'to date with you'. Would you like to come inside and speak with him?" Ranma thought for a moment, and replied, "Nah, Kasumi, that's all right, just tell him I'm out in tha yard." "All right. I'm sure he'll be out in a minute." She leaned back inside, and the door closed. A moment passed. Then another. '3...2...1...' Ranma mumbled to himself, counting down to... the shogi door flew open, and Kuno was standing there, his arms spread. "Pigtailed girl! Fly into mine arms!" he cried, and then looked around. "Saotome. Where have you hidden my pig-tailed girl?" He paused dramatically a moment, during which time Ranma thought 'He's seen WAY too many samaurai movies.' "No matter! I shall destroy thee, and then the pig-tailed girl shall be free from thine clutches, so that she may date with me!" He drew his everpresent bokken, and lunged.
Ranma continued sitting on the rock until the last moment, at which time he pushed himself up on his hands, and twisted his body so that he was in an inverted 'L' shape, which he used to launch an upside-down round kick, which passed under Kuno's raised arms, to catch him squarely in the chest, sending him sailing over the house, and off into the distance. Ranma then lowered himself back to a sitting position, and continued to think.
'Stupid Kuno, trying to fight me when he can't even hit me. At least Ryoga can usually hit me a couple... hmmm...' he thought, his thoughts becoming unknown to the readers just in time to keep them from learning his next stupid plan, and so forcing them to keep reading to find out.
Almost an hour later, Ranma was still sitting on the rock by the koi pond, lost in thought. He had a plan, but it required an appearance by Ryoga. But, how could he possibly ensure the arrival of the Eternal Lost Boy? Just then, he heard the call to battle: "Everyone, Dinner is ready!" He paused a moment, wondering why Kasumi just yelled it out, instead of going and telling everyone individually, like usual. Then he shrugged, got up, and went inside. After all, he was a growing boy.
After dinner, Akane reminded him that he had agreed to study for their upcoming math test that night. He shrugged, and told her he had to get his books. She told him to meet her in her room, then left the table. As she left, Akane tried to stifle a laugh. Of course, Ranma hadn't paid enough attention in class to know that there was a test coming up, much less agreed to study with her for it. However, as soon as she "reminded" him, he'd assumed he'd done so, and simply forgotten. It was really too easy to get to spend time with him. If only he were more romantic, and not such a jerk. She shook her head, and headed up to her room, to await her fiancee.
A few minutes later, she heard a knock on her door, and said, "Come in!". She heard the door open, and, a moment later, close again. Of course, it was Ranma; who ELSE was that quiet, without thinking about it? She turned to ask him if he was ready to study, only to accidentally push too hard on the back of her chair. A weak section of wood in one of the back legs splintered, and the entire chair collapsed. As she started to fall, Ranma's eyes widened, and he lept forward. He managed to catch her, but, in the process, got hit by the heavy back of the chair as it fell. Instead of rebounding off the desk as he had intended, he hit the desk with his shoulder, and landed heavily on the floor, still safely nestling Akane in his arms.
Akane realized that she had not hit the floor, right about the time Ranma hit the desk. She then realized that she was on top of him, one of his arms under her knees, the other under her back, her head nestled between the shoulder that hadn't hit the desk, and his neck. Just then, he asked, "You okay, Akane?" she nodded, and started to sit up. However, before she could, the wall on the other side of the window burst inward. As the dust started to clear, Shampoo stepped in, and cried, "Ayiaa! What violent girl doing to Airen?" For a moment, both Ranma and Akane were speechless, wondering the same thing: how had Shampoo known to enter the house through Akane's room, and, more importantly, how had she made her usual entrance from the SECOND FLOOR? Then, they both remembered the occasion where Shampoo had brought Ranma p-chan for lunch, and how she'd done it to the 3rd floor of the school, and finally realized what Shampoo had just said.
A moment later, Akane was sitting on her desk, and Ranma was standing by the door. "Nothin', Shampoo. Her chair jus' broke, an' I caught her to break her fall!" Shampoo looked suspicious a moment, but then returned to her usual bubbly self, and glomped Ranma. "Airen take Shampoo on date?" she asked, as she molded herself to Ranma's body. "Uh, I can't. I have to...study... for my math test." he replied, grasping for an excuse. "Math test later. Date now." she replied,still pressing herself to him.
"I can't!" he protested, and paused a moment, then continued, "Hey, Shampoo, how did you know where I was?" Shampoo looked uncomfortable a moment, then replied, "Was on walk, and decide to visit Airen!" He looked suspicious, or as suspicious as one can look while trying to pry the subject of said suspicion off of one. "yes, but how did you know where I was?" he asked again. "Um, Shampoo see airen through window?" she responded nervously. "But, how did you know which window to look in?" he further questioned. "Shampoo guess lucky" the aforementioned amazon weaseled, and further did her best to worm under his clothing through sheer force of glomp. Finally, he broke free from her embrace, and said, "you weren't spying on Akane in preparation of attacking her AGAIN, were you?"
Attempting to reattach herself much like a leech, she replied, "Nooooo... Shampoo not do such thing.", and tried to look innocent. Just then, a glass of cold water was dumped on her. "Then why don't you go back to the Nekohanten, Shampoo? It's getting late, and we need to study." "C-C-C-C-CAAAT!!!" Ranma cried, leaping just below the ceiling, to land on the desk behind the now standing (and quaking with anger) Akane. The purple feline launched herself at her love, only to be intercepted by a large textbook wielded by Akane, which redirected her out the hole in the wall. The furious Akane then turned to the cowering martial artist. "This is your fault, you know! If you hadn't grabbed me when I fell, she wouldn't have broken in, and bothered me! What on earth possessed you to do that, anyhow?" He regained enough wits to reply, "You were falling backwards." She replied, "So?" her eyes promising great pain.
In response, he merely pointed. Her gaze following where he was pointing, she looked again at the wreckage of the chair. Right behind the collapsed seat was the splintered rear leg, it's jagged edge still pointing almost straight up. Seeing that, all of her anger suddenly drained, as did the strength in her legs. She dropped to her knees, nearly in shock at realizing how close she had been to a serious injury.
Almost instantly, Ranma was squatting beside her, his hand on her shoulder. "Akane, are you okay?" he asked. She turned to look at him, only to realize that their faces were only a few inches apart. Their eyes met, and each seemed hypnotized by the other. Slowly, they drew closer. 'Is he going to kiss me?', Akane wondered, already knowing the answer. Unconsiously, their lips began to pucker in anticipation. Closer, and closer they drew, until...
Suddenly, the door burst open, and Tendo Soun was standing there. Quickly taking in the broken chair, crumbled wall, and kneeling Akane, he turned to Ranma, who had lept over near the hole as soon as he'd heard the door open. He cried, "What did you do to my little girl?!" Ranma and Akane both facefaulted.
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Author's Notes: Feh. I wanted to make this more of a cliffhanger, but it didn't turn out this way. By the way, the title of this chapter comes from book 6, during the Breaking Point storyline, when Ranma uses the Saotome Secret Technique. The explanation of the Saotome Secret Technique says, "...is founded upon the tenets of "motion", "contemplation", and "opposition"." I rearranged 'em 'cause it starts out with Ranma contemplating, then moves to motion, then moves to opposition near the end. I couldn't come up with a name for this chapter, since, although Ranma comes up with his next "bright" idea in this chapter, it didn't get implemented yet. For some reason, I thought of the Saotome Secret Technique, but, somehow, that didn't seem an appropriate chapter title for this, so I looked at that part of the manga, instead.
Oh, and you thought they would kiss? Never! Bwa ha ha ha ha! Well... maybe eventually. But definitely not now. After the next chapter, I'm gonna be stuck again. Then again, this last time I was stuck lasted less than 24 hours, so I could still have chapter...6 (!) up tomorrow. Wow. 5 chapters. Yeah, it doesn't seem like much, but, for me, this is quite long. Ah, well, 'till next time!
Oh, and review this story. You know you want to.