"Breakfast of Champions"

A Ranma ½ Fanfiction by CompMan44

Disclaimer (CMA): The characters and settings used in this story are the property of their respective owners. They are used here without permission, but with no malicious or libelous intent. The author receives no compensation for this work aside from peer reviews.

Akane waited in the kitchen, watching her eldest sister lay out the ingredients for the next recipe she was trying. She looked on in curiosity as Kasumi pulled the sacks of sugar and flour down from the cupboard, then turned to the refrigerator to take out the butter, milk, and eggs.

"Kasumi-oneechan, watcha makin'?"

Kasumi turned and smiled gently at the younger girl. "It's an new recipe that I got from one of my friends, Akane-chan, called 'shortbread.'"

Akane's eyes sparkled, imagining how good this new food would taste. Of course, anything her sister Kasumi cooked was bound to be delicious, but one thing Akane enjoyed best of all was trying new kinds of food. And Kasumi could certainly identify, especially since she also enjoyed cooking these exotic new dishes.

"Oneechan, can I help?" Akane asked, grinning brightly at Kasumi.

"Oh… I don't see why not. Let me see; you could stir this batter while I heat water for the coffee." Kasumi handed Akane a whisk, then guided her through the motions of stirring the yellow goop, which Akane guessed must be the 'batter.'

The younger Tendo moved the whisk slowly at first, to get the rhythm of stirring, then began to go a little faster; but she did try to be careful not to spill any over the sides. As she stirred, the eggs, milk, and butter mixed together, getting thicker and harder to push around the bowl. When it finally became too thick to stir anymore, she dropped the whisk into the bowl and ran back to her sister.

"What can I do next?" she exclaimed, tugging at Kasumi's apron.

"I'm not sure… well, would you like to turn on the oven for me?"

"Yoshi! Demo… how do I do that?"

Kasumi giggled at the girl's enthusiasm. "Well, do you see the two dials on the top? One of them says 'Select,' and you turn that dial until it points to 'Bake'; then, you need to turn the 'Temperature' dial until it points to '450.' Okay?"

Akane nodded, and did as her sister said. It didn't faze her for an instant that she had mistaken 'Broil' for 'Bake.' After all, it wasn't her fault that the kanji looked so similar, nor that she didn't know them very well in the first place.

"Okay! What now, oneechan?"

"Well, there's really not much left to do except wait for it to cook," the elder Tendo replied. "When the red light on the oven turns off, I need to put the bread in. Why don't you go outside and play for a while until it's done?"

"All right, but, Kasumi-oneechan, can I come help some more when it's done cooking?"

"You've done such a wonderful job so far, so of course you can." Akane ran out the door into the yard, while Kasumi turned back to the counter and began slicing strawberries.

"Jeez, Dad! What is this stuff?" Ranma groaned, as Genma spooned some foul-smelling gunk into a pair of wooden bowls.

"It's stew, Ranma m'boy! Meat 'n' potatoes make a man strong! So eat up; no complaining allowed."

"'Stew'? Che, looks like dog cr—"

"That's beef."

"Oh yeah? Then what about these green chunks?"

"Um… well, I'm not sure myself. Just something I, ah, picked up, from the market the other day."

"Whatever. It tastes like crap, too."

"Now, now, boy! One must be grateful for what he has! The pauper can't purchase a wardrobe for each day of the year, you know."

"Whatever." If I ever get married, I sure hope my wife can cook better than this.

*ACHOO*

"Oh, my! Kami bless you, Akane."

"Thanks, oneechan. Maybe I added too much cinnamon."

"Akane-chan… that was pepper."

Author's Note: I'm so sorry; I couldn't resist! ^.^

Obviously, this story takes place before Ranma and Akane meet each other. It probably would make the most sense if placed about halfway through the Saotomes' training expedition, or maybe even before that. Anyway, figure Akane (and, it would follow, Ranma as well) to be around, say, eight to ten years old, about the time when they're pretty independent, but still learning about the world. Anyway, that would make Kasumi about twelve, but she's already had to take over their mother's position.