Legal Note: N/A *************************************************************************************
Chapter Nine: Ranma
"Oh, hey Ranma you're back. Did you and Akane make up?" Kasumi asked as she was cleaning up some things while I sat there watching.
"Uh, I guess so. She wants to make me dinner." I said with a shudder. Her food will be terrible and I have that feeling. I'm probably gonna be in a coma by midnight.
"Y'know Ranma. Akane is cooking to prove she's as good as Shampoo and the rest of your friends."
"She does? I never said she hadda." She has no reason to be better than them. I love her the way she is, and that includes here crappy cooking. It's not like I'll hafta live off her. I will have to eat her cooking every now and then though. So I better get her cooking right.
"Akane. Let me help you." I said entering the kitchen where she was preparing everything.
"Wh-what?"
"Lets start okay?" I went over to the counter looking at the food items. She was gonna try dim sum again. "So it's dim sum again? Okay I think I can help you out."
"I can do this alone and show you I'm a good cook." Kasumi was right. Akane's trying to prove something she doesn't have to.
"Akane. I don't want a good cook. I want a good meal. What is the reason you cook?"
"I cook to show you I can cook well."
"But I want you to cook for yourself and not to prove something to me. You don't really have to do that."
"Is that it?" This is perfect. She's actually listening to me for once. If I were a little braver this would be the moment I'd tell her. But I'm too scared to say I liked her. Besides she should tell me.
"No. Akane the best ingredient is love. At least that's what I've come to understand. When you cook with love you end up with better food it seems." I wonder where I'm going with this? It sounds corny. "So you have to cook because you want the person to feel special, not to make yourself feel that way. Anyone who tries to be better than another at cooking tend to mess up their meals because they get caught up in something else. Like that time I fought in that cheerleading battle. I was so hung up on saying I, er, well you know. Anyway I was so hung up on that I almost lost the fight." Why did I use that incident as an example? That was the most embarrassing one of the bunch, but I guess I said it because I was trying to get this conversation over with. I really hate saying stuff like this.
"Okay Ranma then can we start?" She's done a full 180 turn and is now acting happy again. Overjoyed that I'm helping her, or that she knows what she's doing. You know I never really got to know what Akane likes.
"Okay let's see what you can do tomboy." I said finally breaking from this mushy stuff only to be hit over the head. As expected.
"Pheh. Why should I show you what I can do?" She stuck out her tongue at me in a cute way and began making her meal. She looked like she was really doing it for once.
"Here you are Ranma." Akane placed down the food we made together in front of me as I sat at the dining table.
"Okay." I said grabbing a pair of chopsticks. I couldn't help but hesitate. What if this food was horrible too? Her face looked at me anxious and I started to sweat. "Here I go." I ate her food quickly and realized that it was harmless. "A-Akane? It's good." I said in disbelief and received a blow to my head.
"Of course it's good Ranma. I made it." She said this to me through clenched teeth. I let a nervous laugh and ate the rest of it.
"That was fantastic! You should be proud Akane. You made something I wouldn't mind having again." Good. Now she can't hate me. Nice work with the compliments Ranma. Of course I over exaggerated. Her food was okay, but it wasn't the greatest. She can do better I believe. Of course I'll give her credit since it was her first edible meal. It still didn't settle well in my stomach. She probably needed to cook it longer.