Yay! This is chapter four! To be honest, I wasn't sure if I'd get this far, but apparently I have... I hope that I am not boring you stiff and that this is actually alright. sighs This is only my first fan-fiction after all...
Standard Disclaimer- I own no part of Ranma ½ except for this plot: all characters were created by Rumiko Takahashi herself. That is all.
Chapter Four:
Ranma sat in the garden by the koi pond thinking. Strange, but true. His day had been somewhat nightmarish, with Kuno of all people asking him to the ball. His terrible day was matched only by Akane's, who was asked to the ball by Happosai. Of course, Happosai was not only flat out rejected, but also kicked far, far away from the Tendo house.
"Hey." Ranma looked up at the blue haired girl. "What're you doing out here?" he asked curiously. "Well, Kasumi told me it's nearly time for dinner, but besides that, we have to figure out when we can start practising for the ball." Akane smiled and Ranma felt his heart skip a beat just like normal. Tracing his finger in little circles on the ground, Ranma tried to re-organise his thoughts and remove the whole "Ukyo" question from his mind.
"Did Nabiki say how she was going to help us?" he asked. Akane turned a shade of black.
"After we handed over our money, she told me that the best way to do it would be to buy a How-To-Dance video. Helpful, isn't she?"
"Well, for a little extra, I might just teach you myself." Came a cool voice from behind and the two teens jumped.
"Nabiki!"
"The one and only," she smirked. "look, sis, for a small fee I will help you out myself."
"Can you dance?" challenged Ranma. "Yes." Replied Nabiki with an eyebrow arched high "But if you don't believe me, I don't have to help you..."
"Who taught you?!" demanded the pig-tailed martial artist suspiciously. The look on Nabiki's face changed and looked almost... sorrowful.
"Our mother," she replied, smiling sadly. "She taught us all, but Akane was too young at the time, so only Kasumi and I were taught more than the basics and after mother... died, Kasumi and I started to go to a club to improve our dancing skills. Mother was a wonderful dancer... Anyway. There you go. I can dance. Take lessons with me, don't, it's your own decision." With that, the middle sister walked off back towards the house when a voice called out behind her.
"Wait... Nabiki. We'll take the lessons." Akane called to Nabiki's back. The middle Tendo sister allowed a small smile of victory to grace her face before spinning around to face the pair of them, clapping her hands together.
"Ok then. Akane, Ranma, you're going to have to follow me." She smiled before sweeping out into the busy Nerima streets. Akane and Ranma looked at each other, shrugged and quickly followed. Nabiki took them through the town centre and stopped outside a small shop. She then pulled out a little blue notebook from her pocket and checked something in it before smiling merrily and pushing the door open, stepping into the little room.
"Hello? I'm here about the advertisement?" she called out, running a critical eye over everything. Akane looked around the shop in complete bewilderment. There was barely enough space in here to paint a vase let alone dance. The shop also didn't sell any sort of dancing goods... what exactly was going on? Her suspicions were proved correct in mere minutes. A middle aged woman burst in from a back room, hair flying around and a large stack of papers in her arms.
"Yes? Helpers?" she asked briskly. Nabiki laughed cheerfully.
"Two of them. Strong as mules. I hear your wages are very good, as are the hours, Makoto-san."
"And I hear you are very good at making money. Tendo-san, I believe?" the woman stated disdainfully. "It wouldn't be you who threatened to put me out of business three years ago would it?"
"Let bygones be bygones." Nabiki drawled. "The helpers are here. Ranma, Akane, enjoy."
"Whoa, wait just a minute Nabiki! What the hell is going on?!" Ranma shouted as he placed himself in between the brunette and the door. Nabiki raised an eyebrow.
"You work here now. The wages will cover your lessons." She stated in a matter of fact tone. "Now excuse me. I have an appointment to keep. Ciao!" she waved as she pushed past Ranma, leaving two teenagers looking at the door with shock written all over their faces. The shop keeper shoved large boxes in their arms and propelled them towards the door.
"These boxes have to be with the Kunos within the hour. Move it!" she barked. Could their day possibly get any worse? Apparently it could.
"C'mon! Move! Again! Jeez, for martial artists you both have two left feet!!! Again!!!" Nabiki shouted as she whacked the remote control against Ranma's knees for emphasis. "Ranma, you go forwards first, step with the left, then the right and then bring the left foot to the right! It's not that hard!!!" Ranma scowled as he re-assumed the correct position, gingerly clasping onto Akane's hands as he put weight on his injured knee wincing as he did so. Maybe Nabiki should have taken up martial arts. She had a mean thump... Sighing, he counted the beats mentally and moved on three. One, two, three, one, two, thump!
"Ouch! Ranma, that was my foot!" cried the blue haired girl in frustration. "Ow... Nabiki, I need a break."
"Do as you please. I charge by the minute." Nabiki smirked as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot with the song. "Let me show you how it's done." The waltz playing at the moment was her favourite and she couldn't resist the beat any more. On three she stepped back on her left foot, then her right, dancing with an invisible stranger and twirling around, losing herself in the song completely, unaware of the two pairs of astounded eyes watching her. As the song drew to a close, the dancer cracked open an eye and was slightly disturbed by the look she was receiving. "What?!" she protested.
"That was great!" her spectators gushed. Nabiki had the decency to blush, if only for the briefest of moments.
"From now on, these dance steps are your katas, your forms. Get them right and you're set to go! Practise everyday. Lesson concluded. The steps have been written on that piece of paper over there by the steps. Have fun!" Ranma and Akane were left in the empty dojo staring at the piece of paper covered in writing.
"Don't tell me that was it. Don't tell me that we just spent 20,000 yen and that was IT!!!" Akane shouted, reaching for her mallet before suddenly deflating and grabbing the piece of paper, studying it intently. Then, with a barely audible sigh she walked over to the CD player and pressed rewind, dragging Ranma to his feet as she did so. "Alright then, let's start again from the top." The sound of the music could be heard floating out of the Tendo dojo and filling the Nerima streets with what seemed to be... peace.
Ah that was so hard to write! I think I'm losing my touch with this story. I'd got the whole plot worked out and then exams came along and made me forget it all!!! I've got to start form scratch now, sigh. Remember, I don't own any of this. Not, Ranma, not Akane, not Shampoo, not Nabiki, not Ukyo, not anyone. Except maybe the lousy character Makoto-san. Perhaps she'll feature more later on, perhaps not. We'll see.
Standard Disclaimer- I own no part of Ranma ½ except for this plot: all characters were created by Rumiko Takahashi herself. That is all.
Chapter Four:
Ranma sat in the garden by the koi pond thinking. Strange, but true. His day had been somewhat nightmarish, with Kuno of all people asking him to the ball. His terrible day was matched only by Akane's, who was asked to the ball by Happosai. Of course, Happosai was not only flat out rejected, but also kicked far, far away from the Tendo house.
"Hey." Ranma looked up at the blue haired girl. "What're you doing out here?" he asked curiously. "Well, Kasumi told me it's nearly time for dinner, but besides that, we have to figure out when we can start practising for the ball." Akane smiled and Ranma felt his heart skip a beat just like normal. Tracing his finger in little circles on the ground, Ranma tried to re-organise his thoughts and remove the whole "Ukyo" question from his mind.
"Did Nabiki say how she was going to help us?" he asked. Akane turned a shade of black.
"After we handed over our money, she told me that the best way to do it would be to buy a How-To-Dance video. Helpful, isn't she?"
"Well, for a little extra, I might just teach you myself." Came a cool voice from behind and the two teens jumped.
"Nabiki!"
"The one and only," she smirked. "look, sis, for a small fee I will help you out myself."
"Can you dance?" challenged Ranma. "Yes." Replied Nabiki with an eyebrow arched high "But if you don't believe me, I don't have to help you..."
"Who taught you?!" demanded the pig-tailed martial artist suspiciously. The look on Nabiki's face changed and looked almost... sorrowful.
"Our mother," she replied, smiling sadly. "She taught us all, but Akane was too young at the time, so only Kasumi and I were taught more than the basics and after mother... died, Kasumi and I started to go to a club to improve our dancing skills. Mother was a wonderful dancer... Anyway. There you go. I can dance. Take lessons with me, don't, it's your own decision." With that, the middle sister walked off back towards the house when a voice called out behind her.
"Wait... Nabiki. We'll take the lessons." Akane called to Nabiki's back. The middle Tendo sister allowed a small smile of victory to grace her face before spinning around to face the pair of them, clapping her hands together.
"Ok then. Akane, Ranma, you're going to have to follow me." She smiled before sweeping out into the busy Nerima streets. Akane and Ranma looked at each other, shrugged and quickly followed. Nabiki took them through the town centre and stopped outside a small shop. She then pulled out a little blue notebook from her pocket and checked something in it before smiling merrily and pushing the door open, stepping into the little room.
"Hello? I'm here about the advertisement?" she called out, running a critical eye over everything. Akane looked around the shop in complete bewilderment. There was barely enough space in here to paint a vase let alone dance. The shop also didn't sell any sort of dancing goods... what exactly was going on? Her suspicions were proved correct in mere minutes. A middle aged woman burst in from a back room, hair flying around and a large stack of papers in her arms.
"Yes? Helpers?" she asked briskly. Nabiki laughed cheerfully.
"Two of them. Strong as mules. I hear your wages are very good, as are the hours, Makoto-san."
"And I hear you are very good at making money. Tendo-san, I believe?" the woman stated disdainfully. "It wouldn't be you who threatened to put me out of business three years ago would it?"
"Let bygones be bygones." Nabiki drawled. "The helpers are here. Ranma, Akane, enjoy."
"Whoa, wait just a minute Nabiki! What the hell is going on?!" Ranma shouted as he placed himself in between the brunette and the door. Nabiki raised an eyebrow.
"You work here now. The wages will cover your lessons." She stated in a matter of fact tone. "Now excuse me. I have an appointment to keep. Ciao!" she waved as she pushed past Ranma, leaving two teenagers looking at the door with shock written all over their faces. The shop keeper shoved large boxes in their arms and propelled them towards the door.
"These boxes have to be with the Kunos within the hour. Move it!" she barked. Could their day possibly get any worse? Apparently it could.
"C'mon! Move! Again! Jeez, for martial artists you both have two left feet!!! Again!!!" Nabiki shouted as she whacked the remote control against Ranma's knees for emphasis. "Ranma, you go forwards first, step with the left, then the right and then bring the left foot to the right! It's not that hard!!!" Ranma scowled as he re-assumed the correct position, gingerly clasping onto Akane's hands as he put weight on his injured knee wincing as he did so. Maybe Nabiki should have taken up martial arts. She had a mean thump... Sighing, he counted the beats mentally and moved on three. One, two, three, one, two, thump!
"Ouch! Ranma, that was my foot!" cried the blue haired girl in frustration. "Ow... Nabiki, I need a break."
"Do as you please. I charge by the minute." Nabiki smirked as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot with the song. "Let me show you how it's done." The waltz playing at the moment was her favourite and she couldn't resist the beat any more. On three she stepped back on her left foot, then her right, dancing with an invisible stranger and twirling around, losing herself in the song completely, unaware of the two pairs of astounded eyes watching her. As the song drew to a close, the dancer cracked open an eye and was slightly disturbed by the look she was receiving. "What?!" she protested.
"That was great!" her spectators gushed. Nabiki had the decency to blush, if only for the briefest of moments.
"From now on, these dance steps are your katas, your forms. Get them right and you're set to go! Practise everyday. Lesson concluded. The steps have been written on that piece of paper over there by the steps. Have fun!" Ranma and Akane were left in the empty dojo staring at the piece of paper covered in writing.
"Don't tell me that was it. Don't tell me that we just spent 20,000 yen and that was IT!!!" Akane shouted, reaching for her mallet before suddenly deflating and grabbing the piece of paper, studying it intently. Then, with a barely audible sigh she walked over to the CD player and pressed rewind, dragging Ranma to his feet as she did so. "Alright then, let's start again from the top." The sound of the music could be heard floating out of the Tendo dojo and filling the Nerima streets with what seemed to be... peace.
Ah that was so hard to write! I think I'm losing my touch with this story. I'd got the whole plot worked out and then exams came along and made me forget it all!!! I've got to start form scratch now, sigh. Remember, I don't own any of this. Not, Ranma, not Akane, not Shampoo, not Nabiki, not Ukyo, not anyone. Except maybe the lousy character Makoto-san. Perhaps she'll feature more later on, perhaps not. We'll see.