I'm back again.
Well, I don't really have a whole lot to say this time around, so I'll just get around to it.
~~~~~~*** SUNDAY MORNING ***~~~~~~
I had an idea. I didn't know exactly what it was, or where I had gotten it from. But in the middle of the night I had a dream that was so... interesting, I suppose that my mind had decided to remember it for some reason.
It involved both Ranma and Akane.
Sneaking into Ranma's room, I nudged the martial artist awake, so as to not disturb his father. "Ranma, wake up!"
Grunting and rolling over, he turned a groggy eye to me. For some reason he shot awake and began backing away. "Aah!! Where is she!?"
I frowned, I was sure he was talking about Akane. "Ranma, be quiet or you'll wake your father!"
"Huh?" Looking down he noticed that his father wasn't awake yet. "What time is it?"
"It's about four in the morning." I looked at him and motioned for him to follow me out of the room. "And to answer your question, I believe she's still in bed."
Obviously relieved that Akane wasn't going to mallet him, he sighed then turned around. "Well, let me get my clothes on first."
I looked at him, he was in boxers and a tank-top. "Good plan. I'll be up on the roof when you're done." Going slowly, I made my way out of the room, not even listening to his mumblings about it being early even for him.
I waited outside for him, and sure enough, he jumped up on the roof within the next five minutes. "So what's up to get me up so early?"
I waited for him to sit down next to me, then I started in the most intelligent way I could. "Ranma, you want to be the strongest, right?"
Nodding, he answered. "Yeah, wouldn't anyone?"
"Yeah, I guess. But I mean... going to great lengths to get as strong as you possibly can?" Again, he nodded. He didn't say another word, but was urging me to go on. "Well..." I found myself fighting to find the words I wanted to express. "Well... what if... What if you weren't so strong?"
"Well, I'd try to get stronger." He said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
I sighed, deciding that train of though wasn't getting me anywhere fast. "Okay... what about Akane?"
"What about her?" He turned away and scowled at the ground. "Stupid tomboy never gives me a moment of peace."
"Well... why do you think she's always so angry at you?" I was trying to hit a hook.
"I don't know. She never let's me say my part before hitting me."
"Your part in what?"
"Well, she's always callin me a pervert and then not givin me a chance to explain."
I then but an idea into action. "Well, what if she DID give you the chance to explain?"
"Well, she does sometimes. But then she somehow twists what I say so that she gets mad and does the same thing anyway." He sighed dejectedly. "Or I start on the wrong foot and she gets mad because of that." Grumping slightly, he finished. "Either way she never lets me finish and never listens to the whole thing."
I looked at him. "Well, if she DID listen to the whole thing, do you think she would react the same way?"
"Heck if I know!"
I sighed, not exactly sure how to say what I wanted to say. "Look, Ranma. I want to ask you something."
"What's that?"
"I'm going to try and get Akane to hold her anger in check. To not act so quickly when things look bad and listen actively to your explanation." He looked at me interested. "But!"
His look of interest turned to a frown. "But what?"
"But, in exchange, I want your promise that there WILL be an explanation. Even if it's as absurd as 'Shampoo came and latched on.' Which, by the way, I've noticed happens a lot." I looked him in the eye, he seemed a bit relieved.
"Deal."
"Good. But here's how it'll work, okay? If you explain it to her and she still freaks out, I wanna hear the story. And then if I don't like it either, we will both chase you down and give you the beating of your life." I noticed a sweatdrop on the side of his head.
"Oh! Well, um, not that I'm doubting that you could, but what makes you think you could give me the beating of my LIFE? I've had some pretty severe beatings in my time!" I think the only thing that kept him from laughing nervously was the fact that everyone was still sleeping just below him.
I smiled maliciously. "Torture, both mental and physical, is something that I'm rather well read on."
He smiled, wide eyed with his teeth clenched and a sweatdrop climbing down the back of his head. Just the reaction I was looking for. "Oh! Okay! Hehehehe!!" After a few seconds, he calmed down. "Is there anything else, or is that it?"
I turned to him, and shook my head. "Uh uh. There's one more thing."
"And what's that?"
"Trust."
"Huh?"
"I think it would help her to trust you if you were to help her with something."
"Oh? And what's that?"
Smiling, I turned to him. "Train her, Ranma. Help her get stronger. It seems that you just dance around her and never really help her get any stronger or better. The very fact that you don't take her seriously makes her resent you."
He frowned. "But I don't want to hurt her."
"I didn't say you didn't have to hold back. I said take her seriously." His puzzled expression told me he had no idea where I was coming from. "Look, here's some suggestions. Try blocking a hit or two, rather than dodging every one. Actively try to find those things that she could use to improve. Take her with you when you go to train. And maybe you could give her a hit from time to time?" As he noted these in his head (hopefully), I thought up some other things. I tried to come up with as many suggestions as I could. "Look, the point is, don't be so condescending."
He looked at me with a puzzled expression. "Con... dee...?"
"It means don't just put her down, it'll just make her resent you more. Like instead of just telling her she's doing it wrong. Actually point out what she's doing right, then move on to exactly what she's doing wrong and how she can fix it. Get it?"
He nodded. "Everything except that word." He laid back on the roof. "I can try, but I'm not exactly a good teacher."
I smiled. "Like father like son?"
He scowled a bit. "Yeah. Except he never held back. He went into it swinging."
"Yeah, it seems like it. Especially with your morning spars. He never seems to let off the gas where you're concerned."
"Uh huh." He stayed silent for a little while, then spoke up again while staring at the starry sky. "I'm not so sure."
"About what?"
"Taking her on a training trip. I mean, my mother never wanted pops to take me on our trip. I don't think her dad would let her go."
I smiled. "Ranma, I think Suon would be so happy you're taking her out together that he'll be more than ready to agree. I think her sisters will be harder to convince than either of your fathers."
His eyes took on a shocked look. "Uhh, I guess you're right about that."
I smiled and stood. "Okay, I'm gonna go now."
"Go where?"
"To bed! I mean, come on! It's way too early to be awake on a Sunday. Even for you."
"Which reminds me... Why DID you get me up so early?"
"To talk. I wanted to be absolutely sure Akane wouldn't find us talking or she would have gotten the wrong idea and probably have blown the whole thing out of the sky before it got off the ground. And besides that, I couldn't get back touickly when things look bad and listen actively to your explanation." He looked at me interested. "But!"
His look of interest turned to a frown. "But what?"
"But, in exchange, I want your promise that there WILL be an explanation. Even if it's as absurd as 'Shampoo came and latched on.' Which, by the way, I've noticed happens a lot." I looked him in the eye, he seemed a bit relieved.
"Deal."
"Good. But here's how it'll work, okay? If you explain it to her and she still freaks out, I wanna hear the story. And then if I don't like it either, we will both chase you down and give you the beating of your life." I noticed a sweatdrop on the side of his head.
"Oh! Well, um, not that I'm doubting that you could, but what makes you think you could gort-term plan.
~~ Later that Morning ~~
"Where are you boy!?!?!" Genma was looking for his son, at least that was the feeling I got when he knocked down our door shouting. "Are you in here with your fiancee?"
At the moment I wanted to pull an Akane and freak out on him, but I was a bit too tired to really do much so I just sat up in bed and looked at the noisy intrusion. "Mr. Saotome, isn't it a bit early?"
"Have either of you seen my son?" Akane shook her head no and I just played dumb, which wasn't too hard in my groggy stupor.
Akane did choose to say something, however, upon noticing that her door was on the floor. "Excuse me, but why are you standing on my door?"
Giving Akane a look that almost suggested that he just then noticed where he was, he looked down. "Ah! Sorry about that. I'll leave you two alone, it's obvious Ranma isn't in here." For a moment there he reminded me of Ranma when caught in a corner.
On his way out he managed to put the door in a position where it would work again. "BOY!! WHERE ARE YOU!?!?"
I sighed, by now the entire house was awake.
Turning to Akane I decided to ask the only question I could really think of at the moment. "So Akane, what do you think?"
She looked at me tiredly. "I'm too tired to be angry, ask me later." Grumpily, she re-spread her blanket and rolled on her side. Within a couple of minutes I could tell she was already asleep again, despite all the commotion.
~~
Ranma was running around the town, he needed to put his plan into action. And to do that, he needed to find a certain someone.
But it was too early. The high pitched shrieks that normally alerted people to his presence were not yet being made.
~~
Having gotten dressed earlier (and not bothering to change again) I decided to go to the kitchen to get something to eat.
When I got there I found Kasumi making tea and Nabiki pouring over some books. Suon was conspicuously absent.
Of course, it always seemed as if he was absent anyway.
Accepting the offered glass of tea I made myself a little something with what I found in the kitchen.
Kasumi was sipping her own glass of tea. "I wonder where Ranma may have gone?" I only shrugged. After all, the last time I had seen him he was still on the roof. But I couldn't feel his presence there so that couldn't be it.
After a little while I had finished my breakfast and decided to check up on Akane.
Walking up to the room I noticed passingly that Genma was in his shared room meditating, having given up on searching for his son.
Upon arriving at the door to Akane's room I noticed a yellow slip of paper taped to the front at about head level.
"Pops. I'm not in here so don't even bother looking. I've gone out to think
for a little while so don't look for me. I shouldn't be gone too long.
Ranma
I'm sure a vein in my forehead popped upon reading the note, which had a rather well defined footprint on the print. "Was this here the whole time?!?!" Fighting myself to keep from crumpling the note I knocked lightly on Akane's door. "Akane? You awake yet?"
On the other side I heard a little shuffling and then Akane's voice rang up. "Yeah, you can come in."
Opening the door with note in hand I noticed Akane fighting with a pair of pants that went to her gi.
I stood quietly for a few seconds before commenting on the first thing I noticed. I smiled slyly to increase the effect of the teasing. "Hey, I love the bed-head look!"
She looked up at me, distracted for a moment, then leaned back to get a reflection from the mirror on the back of her desk. "... Okay, I guess I could use a bath."
"You and me both." I smiled cheerfully, then switched to a serious mood. "But first, I need to show this to everyone."
Looking at the note, Akane finally managed to get her pants up. "What is it?"
"A note Ranma left... to his father... on your door."
"Why on my door?"
"I think because he knew he'd look here, for some reason." Tying a belt around her waist, Akane walked out of the room.
"Well, I just don't want any part of it. Ranma can go off and do whatever any time he wants." As she walked away I decided to go downstairs and into the living room. Once there I gave the note to Nabiki, told her where I found it, and went back upstairs.
Judging by Akane's good mood and the fact that she had changed into her gi, I surmised that she was in the dojo beating the tar out of some dummies with pig-tails while yelling "RANMA YOU JERK!!" over and over by now.
Grabbing some clips and stuff for my hair, and another set of clothes, I walked off to the bathroom.
~~
"So where do you think he went?" Nabiki was trying to find any clues to his whereabouts from what was on the note. But the only thing she could come up with was that it was written rather early in the morning, even before Ranma had done any Katas. This was evident in the blocky straight-line way it was written. It was still his handwriting, but he was obviously tired when he wrote it. Or at least not fully awake.
"I don't know. Really, he could be anywhere." Kasumi was washing some dishes that had been dirtied during the course of the morning. Most of the residents tried to clean their dishes when they were done, but Kasumi could always find dirt on the dishes even after they were done with them. She was beginning to think it might just be her imagination.
Suon had finally awoken, being startled from bed by the sound of dishes clanking together. His first words were rather interesting. "Do you have to do that so loudly? I'm a really light sleeper you know..."
Kasumi looked at Suon, and then at Nabiki, who did the same as her sister. After only a couple seconds looking at eachother, they both began laughing.
Suon was totally baffled. "What?"
~~
Slowly, I sank into the hot water.
For once, I felt relaxed. For a rare moment since I came here I felt... at peace? Nah, I got that while I meditated. But whatever it was, it did feel better. I swore I could literally feel the tension flowing out of my joints.
As I sat there, I made a conscious effort to tune out all the noise that surrounded me.
'How am I going to talk to Akane about this? I said I would... But Ranma better keep his part of the deal.'
CLICK.
The sound of the door clicking shut got my attention. I hadn't even noticed someone approaching, but there stood Akane, carrying a change of clothes and a towel, having just then closed the door.
I was so shocked that I couldn't think well enough to form any words. So, instead, I simply managed to choke out a few syllables. "Er, eh, uh."
When she heard me speak she turned around quickly, probably expecting Ranma or something. "Oh, hi Lila! I'm sorry, I didn't know anyone was in here."
She was just about to leave when I stopped her. "No... wait." As she turned around, she saw me fighting to get the words out. "Stay here, I wanna talk with you anyway." I was sweating rather hard, and it wasn't because of the heat.
"Are you sure?"
I nodded, doing my best to calm down. "Yeah." I looked at her, doing my best so smile. "Hey, I gotta get used to it sometime, don't I?"
"I guess so." She nodded, putting her stuff down on the counter. She then walked over to the side of the tub, and sat down. "So?"
I looked her over and raised one eyebrow. "You gonna get in?"
She also raised one eyebrow. "Do you want me to?"
I leaned back, putting my hands behind my head and closing my eyes. "If you want to. And if you like, I can keep my eyes closed."
She sighed. "Do whatever." Mostly out of... respect? Well, maybe that and a little bit of boredom mixed with embarrasment, I kept my eyes closed as she shuffled around a bit.
After a little while I heard a splash and the water level rose, signifying that Akane had gotten in. "You can open your eyes now."
I sighed, but kept my eyes closed for a bit longer. "You know... I feel like I could fall asleep right here."
I could hear a bit of a tone in her voice. "Are you going to open your eyes?"
"I don't know. Do you want me to open them?" I smiled and opened one eye to look across at her.
"I don't really care." She mimicked my pose, putting her hands behind her head and leaning back.
For a moment, I sat there quietly. Then I asked a question that had been bugging me. "I have a question. Why are you so comfortable with me?"
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean is... You do know I was a boy right?" I avoided using the present 'am' since it was rather clear that I wasn't.
She sighed. "Well you sure don't act like it."
That got my interest. "What do you mean?" I looked her in the eye.
"Well, for one thing, unlike most boys, you look me in the face," she pointed to her face, "rather than down here." she then pointed at her breast.
I smiled despite myself. "You know, that reminds me of something..." I looked up at the ceiling.
I couldn't even see her face, but I could tell she was trying to blink away some confusion. "Of what?"
Still smiling that smile you get when you're only slightly amused, I looked at her and gave my reply. "Of a shirt, believe it or not!" I could tell immediately that she was even now more confused. "Yeah. It's a girl's shirt and right over the breasts it says 'Hey! My face is up here!' and then it has an arrow pointing up."
Then it was her turn to smile. "I think I gotta get me one of those!"
We both got a little chuckle out of that, my embarrasment forgotten.
Then she spoke up again. "Now I have a question for you."
"Hmm?"
"Why are you so shy? About this I mean? Do you have problems being around girls?"
I shook my head no. "No. I've been around girls a lot. I've even been within close proximity of nearly-naked girls." I looked down embarrasedly. "The difference is that none of those times was I either naked OR a girl."
"Oh!" Within seconds her attitude soured just a little. "Are you saying there's something WRONG with being a girl?"
"WHAT? NO! Different? Yes. Wrong? No."
"Oh! I get it! So you're embarrased for yourself! Not because you can see me, but because I can see you!"
My already red face reddened a bit more as I nodded. "Yea. That's the up and down of it."
"The what?"
"The up and down. You know, like the in and out? Inside and outside? Backward and forward?" Seeing no comprehension on her face I went a little farther. "It means that's all of it. That's the subject when looked at both up and down. Like knowing something from top to bottom, inside and outside. Knowing it backward and forward." That got a little more out of her.
"Oh, okay, I get it." Then she decided to change the subject. "So what did you want to talk to me about anyway?"
'Shoot, I almost forgot about that.' "Well, it has to do with Ranma..."
~~
Akari got out of bed, not really ready to do anything, but not quite feeling like staying in bed any longer.
'I wonder if they leave today or tomorrow?' As she looked over her limited supply of clothes, her mind began to wander.
'Well, I wonder if there's anyone out there who could give me a workout?' She entertained this thought for only a moment. 'No... my focus is to be Ranma. Besides, I can't go around beating on people because I'm bored.' "That's what I need, a good bath. Maybe that'll wake me up."
~~
Ranma stood in an alley, across from him stood the one he had been searching for. "Well, old man. We have to talk."
Happosai tightened his hold on his bag of 'Silky Darlings', being so used to having them taken from him.
"Don't worry, pervert. I'm not here for any kind of revenge, even if you deserve it."
Happosai narrowed his eyes. "Then what are you here for?" He was proceeding with caution. He would never admit it, but Ranma held all the cards in a one-on-one. Even Happosai knew he would never stand a chance agains Ranma after all the training he had done.
Ranma smiled. "Well, sit down so I can tell you!"
~~~~~~*** That's it for now! ***~~~~~~
Whoa. That's interesting. Didn't really see that one coming. O.o And darnit! I didn't get as far as I wanted to!
Oh well. I guess that will have to come next chapter. For now, let me know what you think!
Alex: I know how you feel, Li. I can sympathize.
Lila: Um... okay?
Alex Ultra: O.o Okay... right.
Alex: That reminds me. AU, when are you going to work on MY fic!?!?
Alex Ultra: Uh... soon? Does that work?
Alex: -_-+
Lila: I'm... gonna go now.
Bringer of Hope and Creator of Worlds
Alex and Alex Ultra
LATER