Heya, recent events inspired Steel and me to finish writing Chapter 11 of WR. Hope you like it. This is a special chapter because we're finally getting serious and wrapping things up.. The next few chapters will be the climax before we reach the end..Yes, an ending is in sight: )
"Without Ranma"
Part Eleven
By
Shikoku and Steel
Ranma was in the lowest slump of his life.. Completely by coincidence, so
were Ryoga and Mousse. I guess that's why the three of them were at a tavern
drinking their troubles away.
"Gimme a'other un'.." Ranma slurred, holding up his mug for a refill.
"Th' same fer me.." Ryoga concurred. Mousse was still nursing the drink
he already had.
All three looked horrible.
The bartender, who was a spiky-haired woman dressed in an old fashioned
bartender uniform, looked at them with concern on her face. Having spent
years as a bartender (though technically, she was barely even old enough
to drink herself), she could tell the difference between drinking for pleasure
and drinking to forget, and these three fellows REALLY wanted to forget
something.
"Are ya sure ya wanna do that?" She asked, with her Brooklyn accent. "Ya
already had four drinks. The rate yuir goin', ya'll will really regret it
in the mornin'"
Ranma snorted. "Fill're up!" he ordered in a drunken manner, slamming his
mug onto the bar. He then reached past Ryoga, grabbed up a handful of free
bar nuts, then stuffed a brunch into his mouth.
"Hey-hic-ey!" Ryoga protested. "Thossse're MY nuts!" He leaned over Ranma
and tried to get the nuts back from the pigtailed boy's grasp. Saotome gave
him a shove and he fell off his stool onto his back.
"Owe." said the Lost Boy, now laid out on his back. The other two boys didn't
respond. Ranma was already grabbing another handful of nuts, and Mousse
laid his head on the table.
The bartender shook her head and started cleaning a mug. She figured they'd
learn the hard way. But she was curious, what was so bad that three obviously
healthy, young men were driven to drinking like this? She decided to ask
them in the morning after they passed out on her floor.
She looked down at Ryoga. It seemed she might not have long to wait, he
was already out cold. And Mousse didn't look far behind.
"Hope whatever reason they're drinking's worth it." she said, leaving them
to fill another order.
Mousse finally passed out on the bar.
Ranma scoffed at the two boys. "Heh.. can't hold thur liq- hic- liq- hic-
beer." He then burped loudly and took what was left of Mousse's drink. He
took one sip and finally passed out.
The bartender came back to find all three unconscious. "Good grief." she
muttered. They'd only had one drink each.
"Amateurs," she sighed.
"BUUUUR-RRP!" said Ranma in his sleep.
The bartender stuck out her tongue in disgust, before she started dragging
the three passed out boys to the side of the bar where all her other unconscious
guests were lying. "I really need ta start charging extra for the sleeping
space." she muttered.
After she'd dropped Mousse down on the other two, she set about making a
sign that stated exactly that. She put it in the front window where it could
be easily seen.
And believe it or not, people actually paid for the extra benefit.
The bartender certainly enjoyed the bonus profits.
Ukyo pulled out the chocolate syrup and carefully poured it out, while Shampoo
handled the whipped creme, which was her specialty.
They piled the stuff high on top of the chocolate, strawberry and mint chocolate
chip ice cream they already had. A cherry on top completed it.
Akane grinned. "Are you quite finished now?" she asked the other two. "I'm
getting really cold and it's starting to melt."
"I think it's done," grinned Ukyo. "What do you think, Shamps?"
"Mmhmm" the purple haired amazon nodded. "Looks good enough to eat."
With a slightly evil glint her in her eyes, Ukyo said: "Well, let's dig
in then!" and she lowered her hot lips to the melting ice cream and the
cold skin beneath.
Under the chilly confection, Akane gasped at the feeling of Ukyo's lips
and tongue and shivered slightly. She smiled widely, this was gunna be fun.
Soon, Shampoo's lips joined Ukyo's.
Akane gasped again and arched upwards towards their hungry mouths. Her lips
parted as her breathing sped up.
"Mmmmmmmm is very good." said Shampoo licking her lips. "And the ice cream
isn't bad, either."
Ukyo laughed. "How right you are." She picked up the cherry with her teeth
and offered it to Shampoo. She grinned cutely at the amazon around the small
fruit.
Shampoo laughed and took the fruit from Ukyo's mouth, letting their lips
and tongues connect in the process.
Ukyo "MmmmMMmmM"ed low in her throat, enjoying the taste of the cherry AND
of Shampoo.
"Hey!" Akane complained. "What about me?" She was seriously pouting here.
"What are you complaining about?" Ukyo asked, grinning. "You're covered
with ice cream."
"I know! I'm cold and no one's warming me up!" Akane said, her lower lip
sticking out in a cute pout.
"Oooooh, poor baby," said Shampoo looking sympathetic. "We make it all better."
she reassured the girl, by licking some of the icecream off...
Akane snorted. "About time-" Her words were cut off when Ukyo's lips joined
Shampoo's in sloooooooooooowly licking away the ice cream. Another gasp
escaped her throat.
Suddenly the tape stopped and rewound, showing Ukyo and Shampoo licking
but the ice cream kept reappearing, until Akane was once again covered,
and Shampoo and Ukyo were giving her hungry looks.
"Hey!" Akane complained from the foot of the bed. "It was just getting to
the good part!"
"Yeah!" both Ukyo and Shampoo chimed in, glaring at Nabiki.
The eldest Tendo there was blushing badly. "Well excuse me, but I'm NOT
used to seeing my little sister doing.. well.. THAT." she said, waving at
the tv screen.
Akane rolled her eyes. "C'mon Nabiki, I'm not THAT little any more."
Ukyo piped up. "Yeah Nabs, she's a WOMAN now." The brunette grinned at her
short haired lover.
"A Very Good tasting one, at that." Shampoo couldn't help but add.
Akane burst out laughing. Nabiki looked shellshocked.
Nabiki cleared her throat, trying to regain control over herself. "Well,
I think that after some editing, this tape will do nicely to suit my purposes.."
"Do you really think no one will be able to tell that's us with those fake
wigs and cheesy masks?" Ukyo asked uncertainly.
Nabiki gave her a look. "Do you know what kind of morons actually buy these
things from me? They are all like Kuno.. Actually most of them are BOUGHT
by Kuno.."
Akane stuck out her tongue. "Eeww.." she stated.
Ukyo shook her head. "I still can't believe guys actually get off from watching
ftapes like this." She stuck out her tongue too.
"Well, what do you expect?" Nabiki shrugged. "They're guys."
They all had a good laugh at that one.
Nabiki smiled. "This tape will be worth quite a sum of yen." she said happily.
"How long do we have to do this before you stop blackmailing us?" Ukyo finally
asked.
The other girls looked uncomfortable as Nabiki considered her answer.
The phone rang before the elder Tendo sister could answer. Not showing how
happy she felt about being interrupted, Nabiki calmly answered the phone.
Boy was Ranma surprised to hear her voice. "Nabiki? What're you doing at
the Ucchan?" he asked, confused.
"I've joined her harem." Nabiki answered wryly, though she was just joking.
There was a loud 'THUD!' as Ranma hit the floor and the phone fell next
him. Nabiki could hear Kasumi saying: "Oh my! Ranma, what happened?" and
the pig-tailed boy's reply of "Uhhhh..."
The other girls just started laughing, while Nabiki said in the same dry
voice, but now with a hint of a smirk on her face. "Ranma? Still there?
That was a joke."
She heard Ranma groan again. "Uuhhh.. That was NOT funny Nabiki." he growled, clearly not amused by the elder teen's sense of humor.
"Come on Ranma, like Ukyo'd have a harem..." Nabiki replied giving an evil
grin towards said okonomiyaki chef.
The brunette grinned and hugged both Akane and Shampoo.
Rannma blinked on the other end. "Uhm.. right.." he said, not sounding convinced.
"Look, is Akane there? I gotta talk to her."
"Alright, Ranma. Here's your little fiancee." Nabiki then gave the phone
to said girl.
Akane blinked and took the receiver. "What do you want, Ranma?" she asked,
sounding just the slightest bit annoyed.
"We GOTTA talk Akane!" Ranma told her urgently. His voice was low, as if
he didn't want to be overheard. Whether it was by people on his end or hers,
Akane couldn't be sure.
"About what, Ranma?" Akane deadpanned.
"About.. about... well, about you 'n' Ucchan 'n' Shampoo." he answered uncomfortably.
"Why?"
Ranma blinked. "Whaddya mean WHY?" he asked, confused. This wasn't going
how he planned.
Akane sighed, but tried to be patient. "I thought we had already discussed
all that we need to, Ranma."
There was silence as Ranma fidgeted on the other end of the line. "Yeah..
well... I kinda... wanted to talk to ya... alone.. You know.. without Ucchan
and Shampoo..." he said.
Akane was finally taken by surprise. "You want to talk to me alone?"
The others blinked then gathered around to try to listen, as well. They
looked a bit worried, now.
"Well... yeah.." Ranma said, nodding a bit.
Akane wasn't sure what to do. What Ranma was asking wasn't that much, and
he was asking her nice.. But she was scared of what would happen if she
met with him alone..
Ukyo seemed to be reading her mind. "Sham-chan and I could go along and
just not let Ranma know." said the brunette.
Akane nodded. "Alright, Ranma." she finally said. "I'll meet with you."
Ranma grinned. "Meet me under the bridge by the canal in fifteen minutes."
he said, and abruptly hung up.
Akane was slower hanging up. She still looked apprehensive..
Ukyo hugged her from side and Shampoo from the other.
"Don't worry, we'll be right there Love." Ukyo whispered into Akane's ear. "We won't let anything happen." Shampoo nodded her agreement.
Akane nodded, but she still seemed a bit unsure..
Nabiki meanwhile, had a sly smile on her face. She wondered if Akane was
starting to falter from her sudden lesbianism.. She decided she wanted to
go see Ranma's confrontation with her, too.
Ranma sat under the bridge, waiting for Akane in his girl form. Damn sudden
down pours. Oh well, he mused to himself in soprano, maybe Akane would feel
more comfortable with him like this, considering her.. condition.
She snorted to herself, remembering how Akane had liked her better as a
girl, before finding out the hard way, that she was really a guy.
"No wonder she was always claiming she hated boys." Ranma-chan muttered,
hugging her knees.
It was weird, but Ranma-chan was starting to realize that Akane wanting
to be with Ukyo or Shampoo wasn't as weird anymore. She wondered if she
was getting used to the idea, or if she was just starting to remember all
the signs Akane had shown that she might have leaned that way..
Either way, the redhead thought bitterly, it was obvious Akane didn't want
HIM any more. Ranma-chan was surprised at how much that thought hurt. But
she was even more upset with herself, because she was starting to get used
to it.
With the dark cloud that hung over her head, Ranma-chan almost didn't notice
Akane walking down the bank toward her.
Akane stopped when she saw that it wasn't male Ranma that was waiting for
her, but female Ranma instead. She hadn't been expecting that. She wondered
if he was up to something..
Ranma-chan looked up at the dark-haired girl. "Hey, Akane." she said in greeting.
Up on the bridge, Ukyo and Shampoo were silently watching.
"I don't like this.." said Shampoo, looking worriedly down at Akane and
Ranma-chan.
"Don't worry, we'll rescue her if it gets bad." Ukyo said, giving the amazon
a reassuring nuzzle.
Shampoo nuzzled back. "Is not that I worried about.."
Ukyo blinked. "Then what?" she asked, confused.
Shampoo sighed. "I afraid Akane having second thoughts, and she wavering
back to Ranma.."
Ukyo looked at where she could see Akane's wary face as the girl carefully
regarded Saotome. "I dunno.." she said. "She doesn't seem to have that look
in her eyes.."
"Is just feeling I got.." replied Shampoo.
"We'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen." Ukyo told her.
Shampoo nodded. She hoped Ukyo was right..
Meanwhile, back under the bridge...
"So what do you want Ranma?" Akane asked.
Ranma-chan shrugged. "Just wanna talk." she said, looking out over the river.
"Okay, so talk then." Akane said, warily.
"At least sit down first." Ranma-chan said.
"Alright." Akane sighed and did as the red-head asked.
There was a long pause before Ranma-chan finally sighed. "Why?" she asked, looking at Akane.
Akane just looked back at her.
"Why did you choose them over me?"
Akane was about to make a smart-alec retort, but then she realized that Ranma actually looked hurt. She softened and decided to answer truthfully. "Because they're straightforward about their feelings and actually show me that they love me. They're nice to me ALL the time, and they respect me." She didn't have to add "unlike you".
"But Akane! Don't'cha know I was just tryin' ta make ya a better fighter?" Ranma-chan asked. Surely Akane had realized that.
Akane just blinked at him. "You were picking on me cause you wanted me to be a better fighter? Ranma! If you wanted me to be a better fighter you should have encouraged me and shown me how, not put me down or not fight back when we sparred. I wasn't learning anything from you. I thought you hated me..."
Ranma-chan looked down at her knees. "Was just doin' it like Pop taught me.."
Akane softened a bit. "Ranma, I hate to say this, but your father has the social skills of a rock."
Ranma-chan's grin was wry. "Tell me about it."
"So he isn't exactly the best role model of how to treat somebody you care about." Akane continued.
"Only one I know." Ranma-chan shrugged.
Akane didn't know what to say to that, so she didn't say anything at all. Blaming Gennma for everything was a cop out, anyway.
Ranma-chan sighed.
Akane glanced over at her. "What are you thinking?" she asked.
"We're never going to be together, are we?" Ranma-chan finally asked. She was actually being truly honest for once.
Akane blinked, again, and she felt her heart speed up a beat. "Are.. are you implying that you want us to be?" she hesitantly asked.
Ranma-chan shrugged. "Always kinda thought we would be." She that so quietly that Akane almost didn't hear her.
"You did?"
"Well, yeah."
Akane nodded, thoughtfully.
The redhead just shrugged again and hugged her knees tighter.
"So this's it then huh?" Ranma-chan asked unexpectedly. "Well I'm not giving up with out a fight!" She stood and looked down at Akane. "Akane Tendo, I won't rest until I make you mine!" she declared, her confidence swirling around her.
And with that, she turned and determinedly strode off to prepare for the battle that was love.
Akane just blinked. "Okay.."
After the redhead was out of sight, Shampoo and Ukyo dropped to the ground from where they'd been watching on the bridge. "What was THAT about?" Ukyo asked, looking as confused as Akane.
"He really thought that we were going to end up together.." Akane mumbled.
Ukyo blinked. "Really? Wow.."
Shampoo however looked concerned. "What you say to that, A-chan?" She sometimes reverted back to bad Japanese when she was nervous or upset.
Akane sighed. "I really don't know guys.." she said, hugging herself. "I honestly always thought he hated me.."
Ukyo hugged the short-haired girl. "Oh comeon, Akane. Even Shampoo and I knew that he never really hated you back then.."
Akane merely sighed.
"What you thinking, Akane?" Shampoo asked joining in the hug.
"I guess I'm just dumb then." Akane muttered, her head bent so her eyes were in shadows.
"Dumb? Where did ya get THAT idea?" Ukyo said, looking at Akane like she was crazy.
Akane shrugged. "Both you AND Sham-chan knew he really loved me, so I MUST be dumb."
"You not stupid, Akane. Sometimes the hardest things to see are those that are right in front of you."
The short haired girl merely nodded.
Ukyo and Shampoo passed a look over Akane's head. Both sets of eyes were worried.
Kasumi hummed to herself as she walked down the hallway. Today, she was dusting the house, while the laundry dried outside. Ah, yes, it was a good day.
The house was unusually quiet this afternoon, her father and Mr. Saotome being out with Grandfather Happosai, Nabiki with friends and both Ranma and Akane gone. So the eldest Tendo daughter was enjoying this rare moment of peace. Not that she didn't also enjoy the houses rowdy days when all of Akane and Ranma's friends came over, Kasumi did so enjoy having company to serve tea and her cookies. But she liked the quiet days too, when she could just relax and take care of the house without interruption.
"Hmmm.. which room to dust next" she thought. "I've already dusted Father's and the Saotome's."
Going on down the line, the next was Akane's room, and Kasumi had no qualms about entering when Akane wasn't home, since she sometimes had to to put her youngest sister's laundry away. So she turned the handle and stepped past the wooden duck sign on the door.
Kasumi noted that Akane's room was neat and clean as usual. The short-haired girl's older sister smiled, as Kasumi dusted her picture frames, much having pictures of their family and friends. She hummed softly to herself, a tune her mother had taught her as a child, as she glanced over the pictures and other knick-knacks Akane had accumulated. Her eyes then fell upon this weird long rubber thing. She looked at it curiously, but paid it no mind and kept dusting, until she accidentally knocked one of Akane's pictures onto the floor.
"Oops!" Bending down, she picked up the frame and checked to make sure it wasn't broken. But something else caught her eye instead. It was what the picture was of, that had caught her attention.
"Oh, my," Kasumi gasped softly as she recognized the three figures pictured in the..uncomprimising position on Akane's bed. Her legs gave out beneath her and dropped to sit on the edge of Akane's bed, one hand over her mouth.
There was no denying what the picture was about even though her mind was telling her that it just couldn't be. Akane loved Ranma!
Didn't she?
Kasumi stood up and openly began snooping, which she normally wouldn't do, but this was serious.
Finally, her search was fruitful. Kasumi found a video tape hidden in Akane's underwear drawer. Intuition told her that something interesting was going to be on this tape.
That and it was labled: 'Threesome' in Nabiki's handwritting.
Anyway, holding her breath, Kasumi slipped the tape into Akane's new TV/VCR. She then hit 'Play'.
She then watched the most sickest, dirtiest, and raunchiest video, which made Kasumi's pure clean little psyche curl up and die.
She couldn't believe her little sister was one of the main stars.
She also couldn't believe she was feeling turned on.
Quickly rewinding the tape, she put it back in Akane's drawer and hurried out of the room. She suddenly had an urge to see Tofu for a... checkup..Yeah, that's it..
Hurriedly, she left the Tendo residence and headed for the clinic, deciding she'll figure out what she was going to do about her new knowledge of Akane's after school antics later.
Right now she needed to.. deal, with her own problems..
To Be Continued...
Will Ranma keep his vow and win Akane back? Will Akane be won back? Where did Nabiki go during the talk at the bridge, and wonder what Kasumi has in mind for Dr. Tofu..? Find out next time in WIthout Ranma, Part 12.
Character belong to Rumiko Takahashi
A/N:
Steel: Well, we certainly have some psychotic readers, what do you think, Shiko-chan: D
Shikoku: Very true. I had no idea Ranma fans were so touchy. But I guess I missed the newsletter that said Ranma Saotome was a sacred god that can't be poked fun at.
Steel: They most definitely take their comedy VERY seriously, ne? Which is what Ranma 1/2 IS, by the way. A COMEDY! And THAT is Canon. G
Shikoku: I think we're dealing with the guys that sit around all day and have serious debates that basically nitpick the series to death... I bet Rumiko Takahashi has better things to do. When somebody once asked her if Ranma-chan ever gets a period, she said somebody out there is thinking too much.
Steel: nods sagely And do you think Soun would REALLY make his FAVORITE daughter commit seppuku? Soun! The man who CRIES when Akane goes to hot springs with her FRIENDS!
Shikoku: We could probably bring up lots of other examples, but there really isn't a point. The point is: You guys are all taking "Without Ranma" far more seriously, than we ever did writing it.
Steel: And the conclusions you come up with for it are completely RIDICULOUS! Not to mention things that were NEVER explained in the manga, i.e. Ukyo's past. Criticize if you want, but don't make things up just because you're mad.
Shikoku: But we do thank you guys. We've started this story about six years ago, and left it unfinished because we moved on to other things. This was basically the last chapter.
Steel: Thanks to all our detractors, we're determined to finish it now. If only to piss you off. Congrats:D