AN:
I already apologize for this chapter, I wrote it while extremely depressed.
Depressed about what you say? Well, my school decided to be cool and offer
a Japanese Exchange Program. They would pay for the airfare; provide meals
and a homestay family. The entire trip would only cost six hundred dollars.
(cheap) Well I applied, like any good anime freak would. Unfortunately,
because of recent events such as the new epidemic SARS and the war in Iraq,
and the fact that only two people applied when there were four places
available. They decided to cancel the entire trip. ::sigh:: Just isn't my
day. Then I AIMed my best friend, to get a little sympathy (I'm only human
I'm allowed to ask for sympathy, especially when someone just told you that
they are canceling your hopes for going to Japan this summer.), and HER
first words of sympathy were "My boyfriend is grabbing my ass." And I care?
I don't want to hear things like that, talk about TMI. I wouldn't want to
hear that on a good day. Here I am so utterly depressed about my life
falling down around me, and all she can talk about is her boyfriend. Would
it be so hard for her to say "That sucks" or "I'm sorry to hear that" or
"My condolences"? grr. Sorry for ranting, but my life sucks at the moment.
Sure, I'll go to Japan eventually, but it will cost a lot more, and it was
an opportunity of a life time. Please excuse me while the evil farting cow
walks all over me, and my spirits rise because I'm so depressed that I
can't feel it's evil hoofs clawing into my flesh.
Chapter 6
*recap*
Read chapter 5
*end recap*
Ranma just stared at the lock of hair. It was like a symbol, instead of hair sitting there it could have been a human, and the idea of it chilled Ranma to the bone.
It was really only a second or two in real time, but it felt like eternity for the young Martial Artist. He stepped over the hair and over to Akane.
"Akane, are you okay?"
'Why won't my eyes open? I've had worse. I've had broken/sprained/dislocated/split open many limbs over years of my training. I've mastered many years ago how to focus my chi over pain. If it isn't her physical pain that's bothering me then it must be.. Something else. Why won't they open? If it isn't the pain then..' As you know we are able to have complete brain conversations in seconds (though it takes longer on paper), and you've just experienced one of them.
"Akane, are you okay?"
Akane's eyes snapped open, but her brain was still working its way back to the world of the living.
"Kasumi?" Akane said rather quietly. In no time, she was sitting up and cradling Kasumi. "Kasumi!" Akane's mind went on overload. Here, her sister, the one thing that she had always hoped existed was lay unconscious in her arms. Akane felt Kasumi's limp form in her lap and her brain barely registered it.
"Akane?"
Ranma had just seen Akane magically come to life, and now she was staring blankly into space. He couldn't see her face. Even if he could, he would have seen her eyes her all the emotions her body were capable of flash before her eyes while remaining eerily emotionless. She was in a trance so- to-speak. Ranma knelt next to Akane, and whispered in her ear. "Akane, let me look at Kasumi." Ranma frowned slightly at Akane's response, she hugged her limp sister closer to her body.
"Akane, I'm sorry, I didn't even think about the projectiles after I dodged them. Is she hurt?"
Akane didn't answer for a second. She was starting to think again, she closed her eyes. Projecting her chi, she checked Kasumi's chi for possible damage. Akane shook her head.
"Will you forgive me?"
Akane paused before she gave a slight nod. Ranma let out a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding. She slowly, almost painstakingly, got to her feet while still carrying Kasumi. With out a word, she started home, apparently too distracted to know/care if Ranma had anything else to say. Akane Left a very disturbed Ranma in her tracks as she limped away, he was still staring at the spot she just vacated when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Ranma, I'm sorry. In case I can't find them will you tell her?" Ranma just nodded his stood up and started to walk away. Only stopping to pick Akane's fallen lock of hair.
. Moments after Ranma left. There was murmuring among the crowd, which was silenced by a girl still in a school uniform that sported a short hair cut. Even though the girl was standing behind him and to his left a little bit, he could feel her cold stare. First, she glared at the crowd, the crowd shivered and they never talked about the incident again. Her gaze landed on his back until he thought that his flesh was going to be burned off, just like what liquid nitrogen does to the body when it touches the flesh. Just when it became unbearable, he turned his head to say something and suddenly found himself in the middle of South Africa.
Meanwhile, Akane's ankle REALLY hurt. So Akane decided instead of walking the way home, she would roof hop. Not only was it faster, which meant less time she would be on her ankle, She was strong enough to use one leg to jump of and land. Don't ask me how it works, I don't know. I would imagine it's like when you stub your toe you can travel a great distance while hopping around in pain. It's strikingly similar, except for a long distance. They were inside the house and Kasumi was on a futon with a cold cloth on her head in record time. A few minutes later Kasumi woke up.
Kasumi, Jolted as up. "Oh my!" Kasumi noticed that she was on a futon, and that she was covered in a brown wool blanket that was rather old and had seen better days. Kasumi also notice the wet rag that had fallen from her forehead when she sat up. Finally though, she looked towards Akane.
"Akane, what happened to your hair?"
"Huh?" Akane first reached back for her hair, and realized something. Her hair, she was lacking it, a lot of it. Akane felt foolish. 'Geez Akane, you were so concerned about Kasumi that you didn't even notice something as BIG as that. If Sensei were her he would beat..' Akane realized that Kasumi was waiting for an answer.
"Oh, it's nothing Kasumi, I got into a little accident at school today. You wouldn't mind cutting for me would you?"
"Of course I will."
Akane left the room for about thirty seconds while she found scissors and brought them back with her.
"Hai, Dozo!" (here you go!) Akane handed Kasumi the scissors and knelt with her back towards her, and Kasumi sat up. Ten minutes later Akane had the cute cut that we have learned to know and love.
"Oh dear! I better start making dinner now!" Kasumi got up and headed towards the kitchen.
"Kasumi?"
"Yes?"
"I'm going to Doctor Tofu's. I should be back by dinner."
"Okay. Have a safe trip."
As the words were dieing on her lips Akane was already on her way out the door and well on her way to the clinic.
::sigh::
Everybody has there special place. Kasumi's happened to be the kitchen. The kitchen was the one place that she felt secure. She had total control over this area, it was her domain. She could always solve all her problems in the kitchen. So then why is Kasumi having so much trouble figuring out what to serve for dinner? 'Why can't I stop thinking about it? Those razors coming straight for my head, I was so scared. I've never been in a situation like that. I've lived in a dojo all of my life, but I. But I don't approve of violence. I abhor it. Why would people live such destructive lives? At least people like that keep Doctor Tofu in business." A quick smile ran across Kasumi's face. 'What about Akane? What about Akane indeed. Apparently she had jumped in front of the projectiles to save my life, and got her hair cut off. Serves her right. Now that's not nice. You shouldn't think things like that. She was only trying to save you. I forgive her, I don't even know what was going on. For all I know she was picking a fight with someone at school. Nobody got hurt so I should forgive all parties involved. Still, though I wish I knew what happened. Oh my, what diverse girls daddy has. Me, I'm going to Nursing school behind dad's back. Nabiki set me up with a local college it's only the next town. Dad's so dense, he hasn't noticed. It's been two years now. Then there's Nabiki, she's obviously the brains of the family. She'll be a great business woman when she graduates high school. I'm so proud of her. She's become quite some lady. Sometimes, though, I miss the times when we used to go out and have fun together. I guess we just got busy, we seem almost like strangers under the same roof. Lastly there's Akane. I don't know much about Akane. She's a martial artist, I HATE martial arts. Does that mean I should hate her? I don't think I can. She's trying to get to know me, to be family, but I don't know if I can. What do we even have in common? I bet we don't have one thing in common. I'm the quiet housewife, and she's the blood thirsty martial artist. No, there's no way that I'll ever be able to warm up to her. Still, though, she did seem concerned about me today. She didn't even notice that her hair was cut off.' Kasumi giggled at the thought of someone not realizing something like that. She would have DIED if her hair was cut THAT short. Kasumi's thoughts drifted from Nabiki, to Akane, then to Doctor Tofu as she finally started dinner, rice and chicken.
Ranma was lost. He had only been in this town for two days, and he had never been to this part. He had started following Akane, but she seemed to have disappeared.
"Great first date, my ass!" Ranma said to no one in particular. It more like a berating of himself ' Well. When I get back to the dojo, assuming that I haven't been kicked out, I'll just apologize. Then, I'll ask Akane out on another date. I feel awful that our FIRST date was canceled because one of my fanatical friends decided to show up! I'm going to beat Ryouga into the ground when I see him next.' Ranma's thoughts became more and more violent as he thought upon those lines. In fact he forgot where he was trying to go, and what direction he was supposed to be moving in. That was he saw something so pathetic, that he just HAD to give up thoughts of torture, and be helpful to the community. He saw a guy in his late seventies-early nineties trying to lift a box that weighed twice as much as his self. If it weren't so serious, it would be funny.
"Excuse me sir, mind if I help you with that?" Ranma didn't wait for a reply as he picked up the box. "Where do you want this?"
"Why thank you, sonny, would you mind just putting it in front of the door, Thank you, that's good enough. Thank you."
"You wouldn't happen to know where the Tendo Dojo would be, would you?"
"Of course, sonny, It's three blocks straight ahead turn right then go another block, and it'll be on the left hand corner. You can't miss it!"
"Thank you, sir." Ranma walked off at a more brisque pace.
The old man went inside the house to get a drink after all the hard work he did today. 'Funny, he's the second gentleman to ask me today. The first one had a bandanna on a looked a little rugged. I wonder if there's a party or something there today?'
Ranma arrived at the Tendo Dojo a few minutes later.
"I'm back!"
Ranma got no response, so he took off his shoes and wandered around the house trying to find out if people were home and just not answering him. Ranma passed the living room, which still had an empty futon out. So Ranma figured that Kasumi was either in the furo or the kitchen, but judging by the nice smell emanating through out the room, Ranma was pretty sure she was in the kitchen.
"Hi Kasumi."
Kasumi was deep in thought, and therefore didn't respond to Ranma.
"Kasumi?" Ranma said a little louder.
Kasumi whipped around fast, obviously startled, she didn't here anybody come into the house. "Ranma?"
"Um. Sorry about this afternoon." Ranma was about to explain himself but was cut short by Kasumi.
"Don't worry about it, the important thing is that nobody got hurt!" Kasumi turned around, and was once again focusing on cooking.
"Kasumi?"
"yes?"
"Where's Akane?"
"Oh, she went to Doctor Tofu's a couple of minutes ago, if you run I'm sure you can catch her. She didn't mention why she was going though." It was then that Kasumi glanced over her shoulder and realized that she was now talking to herself. ::shrug:: 'Martial artists.'
Akane was hobbling down the street. The reason she wasn't roof hopping, is because she only knew the landscape at the moment, and perspectives were changed when roof hopping. Besides, it was a wonderful opportunity to think about her life. At the moment, she is suffering from a rather long flash back.
*flashback*
Imagine a tall black hooded being that looks like Larva off of Vampire Princess Miyu, except without the mask and blacker. If you don't know who larva, just imagine a black cloak figure that takes the shape of a tall handsome man.
Then imagine a chibi Akane that is about five years old sitting on the cloaked one's (Sensei for short) lap.
Sensei talks in a low comforting tone. It was so smooth and melodious that chibi Akane was having trouble staying awake on her Sensei's lap.
"Akane, as you know, every martial artist has a weak point. Every human is naturally better at some things than at others, but martial artists overcome these obstacles. If you are good at strength, you must excel in speed. If you are good on the offense you must be better in defense. Everything in Martial arts has a yin and a yang. If you upset the balances, you will lose your title of a great martial artist. You want to be a great martial artist, don't you?"
"Hai! But sensei, if everything balances out, why do we only have one weakness, and not two?"
"Because your greatest strength offsets your greatest weakness, and most of the time it is connected through your weakness that you meet your biggest strength."
"Oh so, what's my weakness?"
"We'll find out through training, if you let it, it will surface on it's own eventually."
"But I want a weakness, now. So I can control it."
Sensei pats Akane's short hair. "Ok, if you insist. From this day forward you will grow your hair long, and that will your greatest weakness. You protect your hair at all cost, and so it hinders you in a fight. If you ever lose your hair, you must immediately find the other weakness that took the place of your hair. Promise me that you will do this?"
"I promise to find my weakness!"
**end flashback**
' I wonder if Sensei was right? Have I just acquired a new weakness? It seems hard to believe that I'm THAT out of shape after a week. Maybe this is an omen. I need to find my weakness, and fast.'
"Yo! Akane!" Ranma had seen the back of a girl in the school uniform hobbling down the street, but as he came closer he realized that this girl's hair was short, but not only was it short, it was cut clean. "Sorry wrong person."
Ranma ran past Akane.
"Ranma, who exactly were you looking for?"
"Akane?" Ranma turned around. Ranma was mesmerized. He had that she was cute with long hair, but now she was gorgeous. The hairstyle agreed with her face, and made it look like she was wearing some sort of halo. Ranma was so enraptured by the new Akane, she almost ran him over.
"err. What's wrong?"
"Nothing much, I just hurt my ankle a little this afternoon."
Ranma looked at her ankle, and it looked like it was starting to swell considerable and go black and blue.
"Here." Ranma knelt down so Akane could get a piggy back ride.
"Huh?"
"I'll give you a piggy back ride."
"Oh, no thank you. It's only another block till we get there."
They both had a very silent walk, each of them in deep thought.
Lucky for them, Doctor Tofu was sweeping the doorway when the two of them came up.
"Oh, good evening Akane and Ranma, how are you?"
"I'm good Doctor Tofu, would you mind looking at my ankle?"
"Sure come right on in."
The three people walked into the small clinic. Ranma sat in the lobby area, while Akane and Doctor Tofu went into the clinic room. Akane sat on the bed, and Doctor Tofu took a seat in his rolly chair.
"What seems to be your problem today, Akane."
"My Ankle.."
"Oh dear, that looks pretty bad, take off your shoe and let me take a look at that. Ah, yeah, you twisted your ankle pretty bad. How did you do this?"
Akane paused a little before answering. Doctor Tofu didn't wait for answer to start massaging the soreness out of her muscles/ curing her ankle twisting ness whatever the hell he does with the shiatsu points. The point is, is that she was going to be cured of her ankle pains in a few minutes.
"Oh, I just got into an accident after school today."
"Really, well try not to get injured often, all fixed!"
Akane tried out her ankle, and it felt like a whole new limb.
"Thank you, Doctor Tofu!" Akane smiled pleasantly. "Come on, Ranma, let's go home!"
Ranma, who had been sitting reading an old magazine, immediately put it down and followed Akane out of the door.
"Good night you two!"
Doctor Tofu watched the two walk down the sidewalk and around the corner, effectively disappearing. 'Hmm. I'm going to have to keep my eyes on those two. From the rumors I've heard today, that was a forced engagement. If Akane winds up braking up with him, Kasumi is the next in line. I better make sure I do everything I can to make sure the two of them get together. Oh, Kasumi.' and the rest of his thoughts caused him to dance around his office for a couple of hours with 'Betty-chan'
Ranma and Akane were walking home, it was a really nice day. The sun was out, the breeze was whispering in their ears, and the birds were singing. Ranma was walking on the fence, while Akane was on the ground. Ranma glanced at Akane, and took in a giant breath before starting a conversation.
"Akane, your hair really looks great you know."
Akane blushed and turned her head away from him attempt to hide it.
"Um, Akane?"
Akane had gotten her blush out of control and turned her face towards him. "What?"
"I was wondering if I could make up that date we were supposed to have today at some point?"
"Sure, you may date me at some point."
Ranma shut up for the rest of the walk home effectively avoiding foot-in- mouth syndrome, one of the many cases of silence is golden. He wasn't sure, but he was a little depressed by her answer. It wasn't really what she said, but how she worded it. He MAY date her, but sometime in the future aparantly. Apparently she wasn't too happy at him at the moment.
Dinner was exceptionally quiet. With the fathers gone off to the local bars to get drunk off their (let's just say against they're better judgment, which they realized the next morning) nobody felt up to petty conversations. Dinner was over in the matter of minutes for a couple of highly trained martial artists, anyway, their speed training paying off, neither wanted to sit through the unbearable silence. Akane went to take a bath, then immediately went to her/their room. There she sat down in a chair and took out a sheet of paper, and began to write:
Dear Auntie Nodoka:
Thank you SO much for those clothes, I really needed them. I felt bad borrowing from Nabiki. I should do something nice for her to say 'thank you.' I'm not sure if I like this whole family business. They've already 'sold' me again. This time it's an arranged marriage. I don't want to be forced into anything, I don't even know the guy for heaven sakes. His name it Ranma Saotome, he's the same age as me, and about five inches taller than me. He's an exceptional martial artist, but this is all I know about him. Two days ago we decided to not really look at this as we're engaged, but we'll be going out as boyfriend and girlfriend. Not that if it doesn't work out it will be easier to break off.
Today was certainly an eventful day, Ranma was supposed to take me out on our first date today, but one of his rivals showed up and they had a fight. Not only that, but while they were fighting, some of the projectiles almost hit Kasumi, my oldest sister if you remember. I safely got her out of the way before she got her, but my hair was sheared off. I didn't even notice, I was so concerned with her. I don't think she's to happy with me and Ranma. I hope everything works out for the better.
I promise to update you soon,
Akane
Ranma took his bath right after Akane was out, by the time he was out and went to bed, she was already asleep. He slipped under the covers, but he didn't fall asleep easily, it took him about a half an hour before he finally nodded off.
Nabiki was watching TV that night. Maybe that isn't a very accurate description, she was staring on the screen, but her mind was on other matters. 'How could HE. GRR. Damn you Saotome. Listen to me, I'm starting to sound like kuno, eww. Now get yourself together. Why are you mad at him? He almost hurt Kasumi, and nobody hurts my family and gets away with it. He didn't mean to hurt her, it was just an accident. Yeah, but he should have done something, like catch the stupid things. She almost got hurt because he didn't think about it. Wait a minute, is THAT why this whole thing has pissed me off so much? He DOESN'T think before he does stuff, especially when fighting. It pisses the bystander off. So, then maybe I should get him back. That's it, this is the Nabiki I know and love. I'll just make his life a living hell until he learns to think things through!' So now that Nabiki had a goal, she went up to her room to plan her revenge on Ranma and get some beauty sleep.
End Chapter.
AN:
OKAY I added chapter 6, but no reviews? I'm not going to beg, but not even one? That means that 1) nobody is bothering to read this story 2) you're all way too lazy. Please review. Even if it's only to say that you hate me and that I should hide in a rock and die. I mean seriously, would 1 more review for chapter six hurt? It doesn't have to be long or meaningful or encouraging. All I'm asking is for SOMEONE to review, so I know SOMEONE is reading. Two reviewers would be nice, three I would be ecstatic, four I would die of a heart attack from excitement (that would make it a total of 14 reviews). Not bad, and average of two review per chapter. I can live with that. More would be nice.
I'm sorry for this chapter once again, it's still building the foundation for the story. Let me explain something that I plan to do, but you didn't hear it from me ::wink:: ::wink::. The weakness and the whole flashback thingy alluded to one thing: Her new weakness is love for her family and Ranma. Now I either hear a lot of "OH.. now I get it!" or "Damn her for spoiling the story" but the second part isn't true, I already told you in the description of the story that Ranma and Akane love each other. I promise when Akane figures out her weakness it will be a lot more dramatic than this stupid Author's note.
I have a stupid question. I only need one person to answer. I was reading my own fanfic and noticed that the letters to/from Nodoka weren't italicized. I know it probably isn't a big deal, but I would like it to be italicized so it stands out to be a letter. How do you make it Italicized (it is italicized in the word Document, but not here.) Would anyone know how to do that? (I feel so stupid for asking, but I will be overly grateful if someone would be so kind as to tell me. I'm sure it's written in my account somewhere, I just skipped over/didn't read it) Anyway, I think next chapter is going to be a busy one. I've already introduced the Saotome boys, preluded to Nodoka, Introduced the Tendos, and Introducing Ryouga. Oh, and Kuno. Let's see. who's next? I think it's Kodachi and THEN Shampoo or maybe it's the other way around? I'll figure it out by the time I post the next chapter.
Ja ne
Chapter 6
*recap*
Read chapter 5
*end recap*
Ranma just stared at the lock of hair. It was like a symbol, instead of hair sitting there it could have been a human, and the idea of it chilled Ranma to the bone.
It was really only a second or two in real time, but it felt like eternity for the young Martial Artist. He stepped over the hair and over to Akane.
"Akane, are you okay?"
'Why won't my eyes open? I've had worse. I've had broken/sprained/dislocated/split open many limbs over years of my training. I've mastered many years ago how to focus my chi over pain. If it isn't her physical pain that's bothering me then it must be.. Something else. Why won't they open? If it isn't the pain then..' As you know we are able to have complete brain conversations in seconds (though it takes longer on paper), and you've just experienced one of them.
"Akane, are you okay?"
Akane's eyes snapped open, but her brain was still working its way back to the world of the living.
"Kasumi?" Akane said rather quietly. In no time, she was sitting up and cradling Kasumi. "Kasumi!" Akane's mind went on overload. Here, her sister, the one thing that she had always hoped existed was lay unconscious in her arms. Akane felt Kasumi's limp form in her lap and her brain barely registered it.
"Akane?"
Ranma had just seen Akane magically come to life, and now she was staring blankly into space. He couldn't see her face. Even if he could, he would have seen her eyes her all the emotions her body were capable of flash before her eyes while remaining eerily emotionless. She was in a trance so- to-speak. Ranma knelt next to Akane, and whispered in her ear. "Akane, let me look at Kasumi." Ranma frowned slightly at Akane's response, she hugged her limp sister closer to her body.
"Akane, I'm sorry, I didn't even think about the projectiles after I dodged them. Is she hurt?"
Akane didn't answer for a second. She was starting to think again, she closed her eyes. Projecting her chi, she checked Kasumi's chi for possible damage. Akane shook her head.
"Will you forgive me?"
Akane paused before she gave a slight nod. Ranma let out a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding. She slowly, almost painstakingly, got to her feet while still carrying Kasumi. With out a word, she started home, apparently too distracted to know/care if Ranma had anything else to say. Akane Left a very disturbed Ranma in her tracks as she limped away, he was still staring at the spot she just vacated when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Ranma, I'm sorry. In case I can't find them will you tell her?" Ranma just nodded his stood up and started to walk away. Only stopping to pick Akane's fallen lock of hair.
. Moments after Ranma left. There was murmuring among the crowd, which was silenced by a girl still in a school uniform that sported a short hair cut. Even though the girl was standing behind him and to his left a little bit, he could feel her cold stare. First, she glared at the crowd, the crowd shivered and they never talked about the incident again. Her gaze landed on his back until he thought that his flesh was going to be burned off, just like what liquid nitrogen does to the body when it touches the flesh. Just when it became unbearable, he turned his head to say something and suddenly found himself in the middle of South Africa.
Meanwhile, Akane's ankle REALLY hurt. So Akane decided instead of walking the way home, she would roof hop. Not only was it faster, which meant less time she would be on her ankle, She was strong enough to use one leg to jump of and land. Don't ask me how it works, I don't know. I would imagine it's like when you stub your toe you can travel a great distance while hopping around in pain. It's strikingly similar, except for a long distance. They were inside the house and Kasumi was on a futon with a cold cloth on her head in record time. A few minutes later Kasumi woke up.
Kasumi, Jolted as up. "Oh my!" Kasumi noticed that she was on a futon, and that she was covered in a brown wool blanket that was rather old and had seen better days. Kasumi also notice the wet rag that had fallen from her forehead when she sat up. Finally though, she looked towards Akane.
"Akane, what happened to your hair?"
"Huh?" Akane first reached back for her hair, and realized something. Her hair, she was lacking it, a lot of it. Akane felt foolish. 'Geez Akane, you were so concerned about Kasumi that you didn't even notice something as BIG as that. If Sensei were her he would beat..' Akane realized that Kasumi was waiting for an answer.
"Oh, it's nothing Kasumi, I got into a little accident at school today. You wouldn't mind cutting for me would you?"
"Of course I will."
Akane left the room for about thirty seconds while she found scissors and brought them back with her.
"Hai, Dozo!" (here you go!) Akane handed Kasumi the scissors and knelt with her back towards her, and Kasumi sat up. Ten minutes later Akane had the cute cut that we have learned to know and love.
"Oh dear! I better start making dinner now!" Kasumi got up and headed towards the kitchen.
"Kasumi?"
"Yes?"
"I'm going to Doctor Tofu's. I should be back by dinner."
"Okay. Have a safe trip."
As the words were dieing on her lips Akane was already on her way out the door and well on her way to the clinic.
::sigh::
Everybody has there special place. Kasumi's happened to be the kitchen. The kitchen was the one place that she felt secure. She had total control over this area, it was her domain. She could always solve all her problems in the kitchen. So then why is Kasumi having so much trouble figuring out what to serve for dinner? 'Why can't I stop thinking about it? Those razors coming straight for my head, I was so scared. I've never been in a situation like that. I've lived in a dojo all of my life, but I. But I don't approve of violence. I abhor it. Why would people live such destructive lives? At least people like that keep Doctor Tofu in business." A quick smile ran across Kasumi's face. 'What about Akane? What about Akane indeed. Apparently she had jumped in front of the projectiles to save my life, and got her hair cut off. Serves her right. Now that's not nice. You shouldn't think things like that. She was only trying to save you. I forgive her, I don't even know what was going on. For all I know she was picking a fight with someone at school. Nobody got hurt so I should forgive all parties involved. Still, though I wish I knew what happened. Oh my, what diverse girls daddy has. Me, I'm going to Nursing school behind dad's back. Nabiki set me up with a local college it's only the next town. Dad's so dense, he hasn't noticed. It's been two years now. Then there's Nabiki, she's obviously the brains of the family. She'll be a great business woman when she graduates high school. I'm so proud of her. She's become quite some lady. Sometimes, though, I miss the times when we used to go out and have fun together. I guess we just got busy, we seem almost like strangers under the same roof. Lastly there's Akane. I don't know much about Akane. She's a martial artist, I HATE martial arts. Does that mean I should hate her? I don't think I can. She's trying to get to know me, to be family, but I don't know if I can. What do we even have in common? I bet we don't have one thing in common. I'm the quiet housewife, and she's the blood thirsty martial artist. No, there's no way that I'll ever be able to warm up to her. Still, though, she did seem concerned about me today. She didn't even notice that her hair was cut off.' Kasumi giggled at the thought of someone not realizing something like that. She would have DIED if her hair was cut THAT short. Kasumi's thoughts drifted from Nabiki, to Akane, then to Doctor Tofu as she finally started dinner, rice and chicken.
Ranma was lost. He had only been in this town for two days, and he had never been to this part. He had started following Akane, but she seemed to have disappeared.
"Great first date, my ass!" Ranma said to no one in particular. It more like a berating of himself ' Well. When I get back to the dojo, assuming that I haven't been kicked out, I'll just apologize. Then, I'll ask Akane out on another date. I feel awful that our FIRST date was canceled because one of my fanatical friends decided to show up! I'm going to beat Ryouga into the ground when I see him next.' Ranma's thoughts became more and more violent as he thought upon those lines. In fact he forgot where he was trying to go, and what direction he was supposed to be moving in. That was he saw something so pathetic, that he just HAD to give up thoughts of torture, and be helpful to the community. He saw a guy in his late seventies-early nineties trying to lift a box that weighed twice as much as his self. If it weren't so serious, it would be funny.
"Excuse me sir, mind if I help you with that?" Ranma didn't wait for a reply as he picked up the box. "Where do you want this?"
"Why thank you, sonny, would you mind just putting it in front of the door, Thank you, that's good enough. Thank you."
"You wouldn't happen to know where the Tendo Dojo would be, would you?"
"Of course, sonny, It's three blocks straight ahead turn right then go another block, and it'll be on the left hand corner. You can't miss it!"
"Thank you, sir." Ranma walked off at a more brisque pace.
The old man went inside the house to get a drink after all the hard work he did today. 'Funny, he's the second gentleman to ask me today. The first one had a bandanna on a looked a little rugged. I wonder if there's a party or something there today?'
Ranma arrived at the Tendo Dojo a few minutes later.
"I'm back!"
Ranma got no response, so he took off his shoes and wandered around the house trying to find out if people were home and just not answering him. Ranma passed the living room, which still had an empty futon out. So Ranma figured that Kasumi was either in the furo or the kitchen, but judging by the nice smell emanating through out the room, Ranma was pretty sure she was in the kitchen.
"Hi Kasumi."
Kasumi was deep in thought, and therefore didn't respond to Ranma.
"Kasumi?" Ranma said a little louder.
Kasumi whipped around fast, obviously startled, she didn't here anybody come into the house. "Ranma?"
"Um. Sorry about this afternoon." Ranma was about to explain himself but was cut short by Kasumi.
"Don't worry about it, the important thing is that nobody got hurt!" Kasumi turned around, and was once again focusing on cooking.
"Kasumi?"
"yes?"
"Where's Akane?"
"Oh, she went to Doctor Tofu's a couple of minutes ago, if you run I'm sure you can catch her. She didn't mention why she was going though." It was then that Kasumi glanced over her shoulder and realized that she was now talking to herself. ::shrug:: 'Martial artists.'
Akane was hobbling down the street. The reason she wasn't roof hopping, is because she only knew the landscape at the moment, and perspectives were changed when roof hopping. Besides, it was a wonderful opportunity to think about her life. At the moment, she is suffering from a rather long flash back.
*flashback*
Imagine a tall black hooded being that looks like Larva off of Vampire Princess Miyu, except without the mask and blacker. If you don't know who larva, just imagine a black cloak figure that takes the shape of a tall handsome man.
Then imagine a chibi Akane that is about five years old sitting on the cloaked one's (Sensei for short) lap.
Sensei talks in a low comforting tone. It was so smooth and melodious that chibi Akane was having trouble staying awake on her Sensei's lap.
"Akane, as you know, every martial artist has a weak point. Every human is naturally better at some things than at others, but martial artists overcome these obstacles. If you are good at strength, you must excel in speed. If you are good on the offense you must be better in defense. Everything in Martial arts has a yin and a yang. If you upset the balances, you will lose your title of a great martial artist. You want to be a great martial artist, don't you?"
"Hai! But sensei, if everything balances out, why do we only have one weakness, and not two?"
"Because your greatest strength offsets your greatest weakness, and most of the time it is connected through your weakness that you meet your biggest strength."
"Oh so, what's my weakness?"
"We'll find out through training, if you let it, it will surface on it's own eventually."
"But I want a weakness, now. So I can control it."
Sensei pats Akane's short hair. "Ok, if you insist. From this day forward you will grow your hair long, and that will your greatest weakness. You protect your hair at all cost, and so it hinders you in a fight. If you ever lose your hair, you must immediately find the other weakness that took the place of your hair. Promise me that you will do this?"
"I promise to find my weakness!"
**end flashback**
' I wonder if Sensei was right? Have I just acquired a new weakness? It seems hard to believe that I'm THAT out of shape after a week. Maybe this is an omen. I need to find my weakness, and fast.'
"Yo! Akane!" Ranma had seen the back of a girl in the school uniform hobbling down the street, but as he came closer he realized that this girl's hair was short, but not only was it short, it was cut clean. "Sorry wrong person."
Ranma ran past Akane.
"Ranma, who exactly were you looking for?"
"Akane?" Ranma turned around. Ranma was mesmerized. He had that she was cute with long hair, but now she was gorgeous. The hairstyle agreed with her face, and made it look like she was wearing some sort of halo. Ranma was so enraptured by the new Akane, she almost ran him over.
"err. What's wrong?"
"Nothing much, I just hurt my ankle a little this afternoon."
Ranma looked at her ankle, and it looked like it was starting to swell considerable and go black and blue.
"Here." Ranma knelt down so Akane could get a piggy back ride.
"Huh?"
"I'll give you a piggy back ride."
"Oh, no thank you. It's only another block till we get there."
They both had a very silent walk, each of them in deep thought.
Lucky for them, Doctor Tofu was sweeping the doorway when the two of them came up.
"Oh, good evening Akane and Ranma, how are you?"
"I'm good Doctor Tofu, would you mind looking at my ankle?"
"Sure come right on in."
The three people walked into the small clinic. Ranma sat in the lobby area, while Akane and Doctor Tofu went into the clinic room. Akane sat on the bed, and Doctor Tofu took a seat in his rolly chair.
"What seems to be your problem today, Akane."
"My Ankle.."
"Oh dear, that looks pretty bad, take off your shoe and let me take a look at that. Ah, yeah, you twisted your ankle pretty bad. How did you do this?"
Akane paused a little before answering. Doctor Tofu didn't wait for answer to start massaging the soreness out of her muscles/ curing her ankle twisting ness whatever the hell he does with the shiatsu points. The point is, is that she was going to be cured of her ankle pains in a few minutes.
"Oh, I just got into an accident after school today."
"Really, well try not to get injured often, all fixed!"
Akane tried out her ankle, and it felt like a whole new limb.
"Thank you, Doctor Tofu!" Akane smiled pleasantly. "Come on, Ranma, let's go home!"
Ranma, who had been sitting reading an old magazine, immediately put it down and followed Akane out of the door.
"Good night you two!"
Doctor Tofu watched the two walk down the sidewalk and around the corner, effectively disappearing. 'Hmm. I'm going to have to keep my eyes on those two. From the rumors I've heard today, that was a forced engagement. If Akane winds up braking up with him, Kasumi is the next in line. I better make sure I do everything I can to make sure the two of them get together. Oh, Kasumi.' and the rest of his thoughts caused him to dance around his office for a couple of hours with 'Betty-chan'
Ranma and Akane were walking home, it was a really nice day. The sun was out, the breeze was whispering in their ears, and the birds were singing. Ranma was walking on the fence, while Akane was on the ground. Ranma glanced at Akane, and took in a giant breath before starting a conversation.
"Akane, your hair really looks great you know."
Akane blushed and turned her head away from him attempt to hide it.
"Um, Akane?"
Akane had gotten her blush out of control and turned her face towards him. "What?"
"I was wondering if I could make up that date we were supposed to have today at some point?"
"Sure, you may date me at some point."
Ranma shut up for the rest of the walk home effectively avoiding foot-in- mouth syndrome, one of the many cases of silence is golden. He wasn't sure, but he was a little depressed by her answer. It wasn't really what she said, but how she worded it. He MAY date her, but sometime in the future aparantly. Apparently she wasn't too happy at him at the moment.
Dinner was exceptionally quiet. With the fathers gone off to the local bars to get drunk off their (let's just say against they're better judgment, which they realized the next morning) nobody felt up to petty conversations. Dinner was over in the matter of minutes for a couple of highly trained martial artists, anyway, their speed training paying off, neither wanted to sit through the unbearable silence. Akane went to take a bath, then immediately went to her/their room. There she sat down in a chair and took out a sheet of paper, and began to write:
Dear Auntie Nodoka:
Thank you SO much for those clothes, I really needed them. I felt bad borrowing from Nabiki. I should do something nice for her to say 'thank you.' I'm not sure if I like this whole family business. They've already 'sold' me again. This time it's an arranged marriage. I don't want to be forced into anything, I don't even know the guy for heaven sakes. His name it Ranma Saotome, he's the same age as me, and about five inches taller than me. He's an exceptional martial artist, but this is all I know about him. Two days ago we decided to not really look at this as we're engaged, but we'll be going out as boyfriend and girlfriend. Not that if it doesn't work out it will be easier to break off.
Today was certainly an eventful day, Ranma was supposed to take me out on our first date today, but one of his rivals showed up and they had a fight. Not only that, but while they were fighting, some of the projectiles almost hit Kasumi, my oldest sister if you remember. I safely got her out of the way before she got her, but my hair was sheared off. I didn't even notice, I was so concerned with her. I don't think she's to happy with me and Ranma. I hope everything works out for the better.
I promise to update you soon,
Akane
Ranma took his bath right after Akane was out, by the time he was out and went to bed, she was already asleep. He slipped under the covers, but he didn't fall asleep easily, it took him about a half an hour before he finally nodded off.
Nabiki was watching TV that night. Maybe that isn't a very accurate description, she was staring on the screen, but her mind was on other matters. 'How could HE. GRR. Damn you Saotome. Listen to me, I'm starting to sound like kuno, eww. Now get yourself together. Why are you mad at him? He almost hurt Kasumi, and nobody hurts my family and gets away with it. He didn't mean to hurt her, it was just an accident. Yeah, but he should have done something, like catch the stupid things. She almost got hurt because he didn't think about it. Wait a minute, is THAT why this whole thing has pissed me off so much? He DOESN'T think before he does stuff, especially when fighting. It pisses the bystander off. So, then maybe I should get him back. That's it, this is the Nabiki I know and love. I'll just make his life a living hell until he learns to think things through!' So now that Nabiki had a goal, she went up to her room to plan her revenge on Ranma and get some beauty sleep.
End Chapter.
AN:
OKAY I added chapter 6, but no reviews? I'm not going to beg, but not even one? That means that 1) nobody is bothering to read this story 2) you're all way too lazy. Please review. Even if it's only to say that you hate me and that I should hide in a rock and die. I mean seriously, would 1 more review for chapter six hurt? It doesn't have to be long or meaningful or encouraging. All I'm asking is for SOMEONE to review, so I know SOMEONE is reading. Two reviewers would be nice, three I would be ecstatic, four I would die of a heart attack from excitement (that would make it a total of 14 reviews). Not bad, and average of two review per chapter. I can live with that. More would be nice.
I'm sorry for this chapter once again, it's still building the foundation for the story. Let me explain something that I plan to do, but you didn't hear it from me ::wink:: ::wink::. The weakness and the whole flashback thingy alluded to one thing: Her new weakness is love for her family and Ranma. Now I either hear a lot of "OH.. now I get it!" or "Damn her for spoiling the story" but the second part isn't true, I already told you in the description of the story that Ranma and Akane love each other. I promise when Akane figures out her weakness it will be a lot more dramatic than this stupid Author's note.
I have a stupid question. I only need one person to answer. I was reading my own fanfic and noticed that the letters to/from Nodoka weren't italicized. I know it probably isn't a big deal, but I would like it to be italicized so it stands out to be a letter. How do you make it Italicized (it is italicized in the word Document, but not here.) Would anyone know how to do that? (I feel so stupid for asking, but I will be overly grateful if someone would be so kind as to tell me. I'm sure it's written in my account somewhere, I just skipped over/didn't read it) Anyway, I think next chapter is going to be a busy one. I've already introduced the Saotome boys, preluded to Nodoka, Introduced the Tendos, and Introducing Ryouga. Oh, and Kuno. Let's see. who's next? I think it's Kodachi and THEN Shampoo or maybe it's the other way around? I'll figure it out by the time I post the next chapter.
Ja ne
