Disclaimer: I DO NOT in anyway own Ranma ½, though if I did, I would be
ridiculously famous and have huge amounts of money . . . but I don't . . .
although that would be so COOL!!!!!!!! ::ahem::
AN: okay, I have to say I really thought about it, and NO! I am NOT going to quit writing this story! So to all of you who were worried. . . you can rest your pretty little heads! I had this big idea a couple of days ago and I just had to write it, so this story is far from over! Haha!
Oh wait! Um . . . well . . . I'll just explain it later!
Chapter 7!
"What?"
Akane looked away and studied the wall. "I said I'm thinking about dropping out of the contest." Ranma took a step forward, trying to look into Akane's eyes for some thing. Was she joking? She had to be! If she wasn't, then . . . "why?" Akane sighed. "Ranma, I already told you . . . I don't feel like talking right now."
Akane breezed past him to the entrance of the kitchen and stopped. Ranma stared at her back, her summer pajamas showing how petite she really was. He blushed slightly when he realized he was indeed staring at her, thankful that she was turned around and wouldn't be able to see his face anyway in the darkness of the small hallway. "It's late Ranma . . . You should be going to bed."
He blinked, bringing himself back from la-la land, just in time to see Akane turn back around and disappear into the kitchen. Ranma growled quietly to himself as he felt his frustration grow inside of him. She was ignoring his question! She could at least give him an explanation as to why such a thought would come to mind. He was about to chase after her when something or rather someone stopped him. He was about to turn around and shout at whomever it was when he realized it was a female hand that was presently resting upon his shoulder.
He spun around slowly, all the while thinking about who it could possibly be. Nabiki or Kasumi? Most likely Kasumi, he thought as he focused his eyes on the person. The first thing he noticed was the color of the person's hair, which was definantly not Kasumi nor Nabiki's color. His eyes traveled down the person's face until he looked them in the eyes, and upon realizing who it was, he nearly leapt out of his skin.
"M-MOM?"
Nadoka smiled brightly at her son. "Hello Ranma dear, how are you?" Ranma took a step back. "How long have you been there? Wait, scratch that, what are you doing here?" Nadoka looked past him into the kitchen where Akane was currently pouring herself some apple juice. "Why don't we talk about this some where else?" Nodding, Ranma allowed his mom to lead him upstairs to the guest room, sitting down quietly as he watched his mother close the door behind her.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" Nadoka placed herself on the floor across from him. "I just came to see my son . . . what's wrong with that?" Ranma looked down at the floor, "nothing." Ranma cursed himself silently. He was still getting used to seeing his mom in his male form.
A couple of months ago when Nadoka had come to visit, everything came out in the open. Ranma was of course disguised as Ranko and Genma was the loveable "Mr. Panda". Everything was going fine when they were suddenly graced with an unexpected visit from Shampoo in cat form. Naturally Ranma freaked out and Akane had to grab a glass of hot water, as not to splash Ranma as well. Unfortunately for him, Akane wasn't that careful. Let's just say that the after math of all this was Nadoka passing out, Genma running off suddenly to "train", and an obscene amount of hours explaining to Nadoka about EVERYTHING that had happened to her son and husband. Fortunately for Ranma his mother understood, but still, at times that sword of hers would scare him a bit as he would always remember the promise. (AN: okay, I have no idea what happens when Nadoka finally finds out, so please, just bare with me ne?)
He looked up and saw that she was lighting a small candle in the corner of the room. "What was that all about?" "What?" he was lost, what was she talking about? "The scene back there with you and Akane. Sorry, I couldn't help but over hear the whole thing." Ranma's head followed his mother's graceful movements as she sat back down across from him. "What's going on between you two?" Ranma sighed, * this is going to be one long explanation*
"Well, you see . . ."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Akane placed the glass carefully down on her desk, golden color of the juice spreading it's color all over thanks to the lamp it was sitting under. Akane sighed as she folded her arms, placing her head down on the pillow that they created. She let her eyes wander across the desktop, eyeing the papers and notebooks that sat upon it.
A colorful piece of paper caught her eye and she picked it up, looking it over like she had so many times before. "Miss Japan huh? Not me . . ." she threw the ad in the trash beside her, picking up the glass and taking a sip as she did so.
She twirled around in her chair a bit, enjoying the way the world around her spun about. A knock at her door halted her spinning and slowly she, as not to make herself dizzier than she already was. "Who is it?" she asked cautiously . . . praying to any god that was out that night that it wasn't a male voice that answered. "Akane-chan?" Kasumi opened the door slowly. "Are you ok?"
Akane smiled. "Hai." Kasumi eyed Akane as she shut the door behind her. "What are you doing nee-chan?" Kasumi smiled slightly. "I heard that you were dropping out." Akane's eyes grew slightly as she slowly sat down on her bed. "Where . . . where did you hear that from?" Kasumi sat down beside her. "I heard Auntie Nadoka and Ranma talking in his room. So are you?" Akane looked down at her feet, which were moving slightly in circles. "Um . . . I don't know . . . nee-chan, I'm not really sure."
Kasumi placed a hand on her shoulder. "Why Akane? You seemed so happy about this whole thing, and you made a new friend too. What was her name . . . oh gosh you were always talking about her . . . oh yeah, Kana!" Akane slightly as the name rang in her ears. Kasumi noticed and immediately asked, "did something happen between you two?" Akane tucked a stray lock behind her ear but refused to meet her eldest sister's eyes. "Kana and I aren't friends anymore." Kasumi tilted her head, trying to see her eyes. "Why? The way you talked about you two it seemed as if you were the best of friends." Akane stiffened a bit at the comment. "We were . . . until I found out that Kana is really someone else." "Who would that be?"
"Ranma."
Kasumi searched Akane's eyes for some kind of sign that her little sister was joking. "What? What do you mean that Kana is really Ranma?" Akane sighed. "Nee-chan. Ranma entered the contest." Kasumi's eyebrows creased. "What? How? Why?" Akane plopped down backwards on her bed. "I don't know why he did it. I've been thinking of all the possible reasons why and I haven't really come up with one. It's driving me crazy!"
Kasumi leaned back a bit, crossing her legs. "Is that really the reason why you're dropping out?" Akane turned her head a bit. "What?" "Are you dropping out only because Ranma entered?" Akane thought long and hard for a minute, debating whether or not to tell her sister everything. "Well, you see nee-chan, Ukyo and Shampoo are in it too." Kasumi placed a hand on Akane's head. "Oh Akane-chan. You're worried about them aren't you?" Akane huffed a bit. "I'm not afraid of them or anything like that. It's just . . . well, with them in the picture, I really don't have a chance at all. Not to mention Ranma too, after all, we all know how he can get when he gets competitive." Kasumi suddenly stood. "Well, I think you should just hang in there and do your best! I know you, and you're not really one of those girls who give up."
Akane nodded. "Yeah I guess, but I don't know what to do about Ranma . . . for some reason I feel betrayed." Kasumi frowned slightly. "Well, I can't tell you what to do, but I think that you guys should talk it out. He has to have some kind of reason for this ne?" Akane nodded. "Good," Kasumi's smile returned again, "Dinner will be ready in a minute." And with that she left. Akane looked at the trash can where the ad laid.
"Yeah, maybe we should talk."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Oh my . . . you . . . entered the contest too?" Ranma looked at his mom's shocked face. "But I had a really good reason to!" Nadoka looked at her son. "Ranma, even if you had good reason to, you shouldn't have." He looked at her, confusion written all over his face. "Why not?" "Because Ranma, this whole thing has to do with Akane's pride as a woman." Ranma was now thoroughly confused. Nadoka noticed the look on her son's face and decided she'd better explain it to him.
"It's like a martial artist's reputation . . . I guess. But . . . oh how can I explain this? Ok. You see, you know when someone says you're weak and not strong? What do you do?" Ranma answered without thinking. "Show him how wrong he is by popping him a good one what else?" Nadoka eyed her son before continuing on. "I see. Well, basically, your reputation is at stake if you don't beat him right?" Ranma nodded slowly, having some kind of idea of where she was going with this. "Well, you see, that's what's going on with Akane. You called her ugly, Kami only knows why, but you did, and She took it as a challenge and entered the contest to show you how wrong you are. She was doing well and then you came along."
Ranma was still a bit confused. "What are you trying to say mom?" Nadoka sighed. "I guess I'm not very good at explaining things so I'll just say it. When you showed up, you crushed Akane's hopes at winning, and to top it all off you pretended to be her friend." Ranma looked down at his feet. "But mom, I wasn't pretending to be her friend, I really was." She smiled as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Does she know that?"
"Auntie? Ranma? Dinners ready!"
Nadoka smiled towards the door. "Thank you Kasumi dear, we'll be down in a minute." She turned back to Ranma. "Look Ranma, you have to straighten things out between you two. I know it's going to be hard to talk to her but you have to. Be a man, and don't run away." She smiled confidently at him. "I think if you do it, you'll find some order in your life ne?"
Ranma nodded in response. "Okay, well, you'd better hurry. I know your father has a habit of eating anything that's within arm's reach." Ranma's eye's widened. "POP! DON'T TOUCH MY FOOD!" Nadoka just shook her head as she followed her son's path.
"That's my son . . . unfortunately he can take after his father when it comes to food."
She smiled and finished her journey down the stairs.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
KTKG: wow, I know what you're thinking. Nadoka? Yeah, I had to put her in here. I just had the urge ya know? I apologize if she seems really OOC and I know the whole little how-she-found-out-about-his-curse story is like . . . 'why?' but, that's what I imagined would have happened. So if somebody could help me out with that I would be so grateful!
Also, I think I should take a vote now to determine how the next chapter goes. The next chapter will be all about Ranma and Akane's decisions. Akane: If she should drop out or stay, or tell Ranma everything
As for Ranma it's well: the same as Akane. :( Yeah OH! And one more thing! I will add you or a character that you created in my story as a contestant or a student at Furinkan High!! (school is going to start back up) When you review just tell me a bit about yourself and I'll add you in!!
Thankkies!
AN: okay, I have to say I really thought about it, and NO! I am NOT going to quit writing this story! So to all of you who were worried. . . you can rest your pretty little heads! I had this big idea a couple of days ago and I just had to write it, so this story is far from over! Haha!
Oh wait! Um . . . well . . . I'll just explain it later!
Chapter 7!
"What?"
Akane looked away and studied the wall. "I said I'm thinking about dropping out of the contest." Ranma took a step forward, trying to look into Akane's eyes for some thing. Was she joking? She had to be! If she wasn't, then . . . "why?" Akane sighed. "Ranma, I already told you . . . I don't feel like talking right now."
Akane breezed past him to the entrance of the kitchen and stopped. Ranma stared at her back, her summer pajamas showing how petite she really was. He blushed slightly when he realized he was indeed staring at her, thankful that she was turned around and wouldn't be able to see his face anyway in the darkness of the small hallway. "It's late Ranma . . . You should be going to bed."
He blinked, bringing himself back from la-la land, just in time to see Akane turn back around and disappear into the kitchen. Ranma growled quietly to himself as he felt his frustration grow inside of him. She was ignoring his question! She could at least give him an explanation as to why such a thought would come to mind. He was about to chase after her when something or rather someone stopped him. He was about to turn around and shout at whomever it was when he realized it was a female hand that was presently resting upon his shoulder.
He spun around slowly, all the while thinking about who it could possibly be. Nabiki or Kasumi? Most likely Kasumi, he thought as he focused his eyes on the person. The first thing he noticed was the color of the person's hair, which was definantly not Kasumi nor Nabiki's color. His eyes traveled down the person's face until he looked them in the eyes, and upon realizing who it was, he nearly leapt out of his skin.
"M-MOM?"
Nadoka smiled brightly at her son. "Hello Ranma dear, how are you?" Ranma took a step back. "How long have you been there? Wait, scratch that, what are you doing here?" Nadoka looked past him into the kitchen where Akane was currently pouring herself some apple juice. "Why don't we talk about this some where else?" Nodding, Ranma allowed his mom to lead him upstairs to the guest room, sitting down quietly as he watched his mother close the door behind her.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" Nadoka placed herself on the floor across from him. "I just came to see my son . . . what's wrong with that?" Ranma looked down at the floor, "nothing." Ranma cursed himself silently. He was still getting used to seeing his mom in his male form.
A couple of months ago when Nadoka had come to visit, everything came out in the open. Ranma was of course disguised as Ranko and Genma was the loveable "Mr. Panda". Everything was going fine when they were suddenly graced with an unexpected visit from Shampoo in cat form. Naturally Ranma freaked out and Akane had to grab a glass of hot water, as not to splash Ranma as well. Unfortunately for him, Akane wasn't that careful. Let's just say that the after math of all this was Nadoka passing out, Genma running off suddenly to "train", and an obscene amount of hours explaining to Nadoka about EVERYTHING that had happened to her son and husband. Fortunately for Ranma his mother understood, but still, at times that sword of hers would scare him a bit as he would always remember the promise. (AN: okay, I have no idea what happens when Nadoka finally finds out, so please, just bare with me ne?)
He looked up and saw that she was lighting a small candle in the corner of the room. "What was that all about?" "What?" he was lost, what was she talking about? "The scene back there with you and Akane. Sorry, I couldn't help but over hear the whole thing." Ranma's head followed his mother's graceful movements as she sat back down across from him. "What's going on between you two?" Ranma sighed, * this is going to be one long explanation*
"Well, you see . . ."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Akane placed the glass carefully down on her desk, golden color of the juice spreading it's color all over thanks to the lamp it was sitting under. Akane sighed as she folded her arms, placing her head down on the pillow that they created. She let her eyes wander across the desktop, eyeing the papers and notebooks that sat upon it.
A colorful piece of paper caught her eye and she picked it up, looking it over like she had so many times before. "Miss Japan huh? Not me . . ." she threw the ad in the trash beside her, picking up the glass and taking a sip as she did so.
She twirled around in her chair a bit, enjoying the way the world around her spun about. A knock at her door halted her spinning and slowly she, as not to make herself dizzier than she already was. "Who is it?" she asked cautiously . . . praying to any god that was out that night that it wasn't a male voice that answered. "Akane-chan?" Kasumi opened the door slowly. "Are you ok?"
Akane smiled. "Hai." Kasumi eyed Akane as she shut the door behind her. "What are you doing nee-chan?" Kasumi smiled slightly. "I heard that you were dropping out." Akane's eyes grew slightly as she slowly sat down on her bed. "Where . . . where did you hear that from?" Kasumi sat down beside her. "I heard Auntie Nadoka and Ranma talking in his room. So are you?" Akane looked down at her feet, which were moving slightly in circles. "Um . . . I don't know . . . nee-chan, I'm not really sure."
Kasumi placed a hand on her shoulder. "Why Akane? You seemed so happy about this whole thing, and you made a new friend too. What was her name . . . oh gosh you were always talking about her . . . oh yeah, Kana!" Akane slightly as the name rang in her ears. Kasumi noticed and immediately asked, "did something happen between you two?" Akane tucked a stray lock behind her ear but refused to meet her eldest sister's eyes. "Kana and I aren't friends anymore." Kasumi tilted her head, trying to see her eyes. "Why? The way you talked about you two it seemed as if you were the best of friends." Akane stiffened a bit at the comment. "We were . . . until I found out that Kana is really someone else." "Who would that be?"
"Ranma."
Kasumi searched Akane's eyes for some kind of sign that her little sister was joking. "What? What do you mean that Kana is really Ranma?" Akane sighed. "Nee-chan. Ranma entered the contest." Kasumi's eyebrows creased. "What? How? Why?" Akane plopped down backwards on her bed. "I don't know why he did it. I've been thinking of all the possible reasons why and I haven't really come up with one. It's driving me crazy!"
Kasumi leaned back a bit, crossing her legs. "Is that really the reason why you're dropping out?" Akane turned her head a bit. "What?" "Are you dropping out only because Ranma entered?" Akane thought long and hard for a minute, debating whether or not to tell her sister everything. "Well, you see nee-chan, Ukyo and Shampoo are in it too." Kasumi placed a hand on Akane's head. "Oh Akane-chan. You're worried about them aren't you?" Akane huffed a bit. "I'm not afraid of them or anything like that. It's just . . . well, with them in the picture, I really don't have a chance at all. Not to mention Ranma too, after all, we all know how he can get when he gets competitive." Kasumi suddenly stood. "Well, I think you should just hang in there and do your best! I know you, and you're not really one of those girls who give up."
Akane nodded. "Yeah I guess, but I don't know what to do about Ranma . . . for some reason I feel betrayed." Kasumi frowned slightly. "Well, I can't tell you what to do, but I think that you guys should talk it out. He has to have some kind of reason for this ne?" Akane nodded. "Good," Kasumi's smile returned again, "Dinner will be ready in a minute." And with that she left. Akane looked at the trash can where the ad laid.
"Yeah, maybe we should talk."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Oh my . . . you . . . entered the contest too?" Ranma looked at his mom's shocked face. "But I had a really good reason to!" Nadoka looked at her son. "Ranma, even if you had good reason to, you shouldn't have." He looked at her, confusion written all over his face. "Why not?" "Because Ranma, this whole thing has to do with Akane's pride as a woman." Ranma was now thoroughly confused. Nadoka noticed the look on her son's face and decided she'd better explain it to him.
"It's like a martial artist's reputation . . . I guess. But . . . oh how can I explain this? Ok. You see, you know when someone says you're weak and not strong? What do you do?" Ranma answered without thinking. "Show him how wrong he is by popping him a good one what else?" Nadoka eyed her son before continuing on. "I see. Well, basically, your reputation is at stake if you don't beat him right?" Ranma nodded slowly, having some kind of idea of where she was going with this. "Well, you see, that's what's going on with Akane. You called her ugly, Kami only knows why, but you did, and She took it as a challenge and entered the contest to show you how wrong you are. She was doing well and then you came along."
Ranma was still a bit confused. "What are you trying to say mom?" Nadoka sighed. "I guess I'm not very good at explaining things so I'll just say it. When you showed up, you crushed Akane's hopes at winning, and to top it all off you pretended to be her friend." Ranma looked down at his feet. "But mom, I wasn't pretending to be her friend, I really was." She smiled as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Does she know that?"
"Auntie? Ranma? Dinners ready!"
Nadoka smiled towards the door. "Thank you Kasumi dear, we'll be down in a minute." She turned back to Ranma. "Look Ranma, you have to straighten things out between you two. I know it's going to be hard to talk to her but you have to. Be a man, and don't run away." She smiled confidently at him. "I think if you do it, you'll find some order in your life ne?"
Ranma nodded in response. "Okay, well, you'd better hurry. I know your father has a habit of eating anything that's within arm's reach." Ranma's eye's widened. "POP! DON'T TOUCH MY FOOD!" Nadoka just shook her head as she followed her son's path.
"That's my son . . . unfortunately he can take after his father when it comes to food."
She smiled and finished her journey down the stairs.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
KTKG: wow, I know what you're thinking. Nadoka? Yeah, I had to put her in here. I just had the urge ya know? I apologize if she seems really OOC and I know the whole little how-she-found-out-about-his-curse story is like . . . 'why?' but, that's what I imagined would have happened. So if somebody could help me out with that I would be so grateful!
Also, I think I should take a vote now to determine how the next chapter goes. The next chapter will be all about Ranma and Akane's decisions. Akane: If she should drop out or stay, or tell Ranma everything
As for Ranma it's well: the same as Akane. :( Yeah OH! And one more thing! I will add you or a character that you created in my story as a contestant or a student at Furinkan High!! (school is going to start back up) When you review just tell me a bit about yourself and I'll add you in!!
Thankkies!