Ranma 1/2
'The Art of War'
"Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush them"
"The rule is, not to besiege walled cities if it can possibly be avoided. The preparation of mantlets, moveable shelters, and various impleents of war, will take up three whole months, and the piling up of mounds over against the walls will take three months more."
____________________________
Nabiki checked her outfit; white tanktop with short jean shorts that were bordering on bloomers. Her original intention wasn't to participate in this little battle, but decided at the last minute that it may be within her best intrest to do so. She stood to win two ways, by default, if everyone failed to coerce Ranma for their victory, or by managing to gain his attention, herself. The middle Tendou sister was confident that she was safe with this bet; none of the other girls obviously knew how to capture the studly young man without force, and Ranma was easily stronger than any of them, possibly all of them put together.
She, on the other hand knew that Ranma would fight tooth and nail any affection shown to him. A different tact was in order to gain his attention. She just had the simple task of maintaining control of herself.
Nabiki rolled the vanilla popcicle around her mouth, as she walked into the bathroom. "Boy, it's getting hot out there," Nabiki commented, unheeding of the pigtailed boy staring at her, wide-eyed.
"NABIKI!" Ranma shouted, quickly covering his biddness with a washing pale, "I *know* I put the occupied sign out!"
Nabiki froze, before looking straight into Ranma's eyes, duly reminding herself that all would be ruined if she decided to look down, thus revealing her intentions. "Oh, sorry, Saotome, my mind must have been elsewhere..." She twisted the rocket shaped vanilla popcicle around in her mouth, slow enough to be sensual, but not obvious, and then pivoted on her heel. With a gasp, she slipped, losing her balance in the slight wet puddle that her foot had found.
Without hesitation, Ranma leapt to keep her from experiencing a nasty fall. Nabiki slumped into his arms, sighing at the save, "Whoa, I musta really been out of it, must be catching Akane's clumbsiness," Nabiki replied, idly smirking to herself at the slight sabotage to one of her opponents.
"Ah... as long as you're okay," Ranma stammered, "Um... could you get outta here so I can finish drying off now?"
"Oh, sorry Ranma, I had just come in here to pick something up, but I guess it could wait." Nabiki attempted to pick herself up from Ranma's arms and kneeling lap, but dang found it, her foot just kept finding those puddles!
Ranma sighed, as Nabiki's thirteenth slip commenced, and used his own balance to assist her up. Nabiki turned, and nodded greatfully to the pigtailed boy, before leaving the bathroom. Once she was out the door, the middle Tendou sister tsked at her wet shirt that lacked a bra under it, and glossied wet legs. She had ensured to rub her bottom against Ranma's lap in her struggles, but... well, she may not have been the most 'experienced' girl, but she was sure something should have... happened... with Ranma... down there. In fact, other than his usual nervousness, she got no reaction at all.
Nabiki had to think on that; if Ranma failed to respond to that, it looked like the contest was as good as forfeit, and she stood to win in the end. But... she couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of dejection.
Ranma blinked a couple of times, "I wonder what's gotten into her?"
____________________________
"The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage, and strictness."
"That the impact of your army be like a grindstone dashed against an egg; this is affected by the science of weak points and strong."
____________________________
Akane watched Ranma, ignoring her sister's pouts and mumbles. As he went though his weekend morning routine before breakfast, she thought about how she felt about Ranma, how she *really* felt about him. She had no intention of allowing the other hussies... and her sisters (she added as an afterthought) to gain an advantage over her fiance, and she knew that it would take some deep soul-searching to figure out how she was going to keep them at bay.
"Okay, Akane Tendou," she whispered to herself, "You know he cares for you, just come out, and let him know how you feel..."
Just as Ranma was winding down, Akane approached with a determined expression on her face. Ranma turned towards her, and baulked, "Wha-whaddido this time?"
Akane blinked at the question, before she felt her temper begin to rise, "Hey! I just want to..." Suddenly, her temper left, only to be replaced by a growing sudden nervousness, "to... um... well..."
Ranma studied Akane, as she began to twist her hands self conciously, "Well?"
"Ranma, do... um, I just wanted to... I mean I... that is..."
Ranma raised an eyebrow; Akane was even more tonguetied than Ryoga trying to ask her out on a date, "Well, spit it out! I don't have all morn'n, ya know?"
"SHUT UP, YOU JERK!" Akane shouted, part from the interruption and her own fustration. She took a deep breath, focusing all her dicipline, before continuing, "What I'm trying to say is... ah..."
"What? What's wrong?" Ranma seemed to be becoming unnerved at Akane's own lack of nerve, "Did someone die? Is there a demon on the loose? Did Timmy fall down a well? Come on, Lassie! You can do it!"
The familiar blinding white pain in his jaw, as he sailed across the Neriman sky informed him that he probably should not watch any more late night television, particularly old American shows...
The incident served to brighten Nabiki's mood after her own initial failure; at least her younger sister didn't have any particular advantage, "Really, Sis, how do you expect to land your man if you can't keep yourself from throwing a temper tantrum whenever Ranma harmlessly ribs you?"
"HE CALLED ME A BITCH!" Akane shouted, trying to rationalize her utter failure.
"Come on, Akane, just admit it, you're too immature to even consider yourself in this running," Nabiki retorted, polishing her nails against her shirt. The middle Tendou sister was quite proud of her ability to fuel her sister's temper. If she could keep Akane this hostile for a week, that was one less contestant to have to bother with.
"WHAT DO YOU..." Akane paused, and forcably calmed herself, "Like you have any right to be casting stones, Nabiki."
The girl in question didn't even bother to look up, "Whatever you say, my dear *little* sister..."
Akane fumed at Nabiki's final barb, and stormed upstairs, vowing silently to herself that she would prove to Nabiki, to Ranma, to everyone that she was just as mature... just as much a woman as the rest of them were! "Ranma, I swear before the end of the week, you'll be seeing me like the pervert you probably are!"
____________________________
"Oh divine art of subtlty and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible, and hence we can hold the enemie's fate in our hands."
"Ponder and deliberate before you move."
____________________________
"Just great, and it's not even noon, yet," Ranma griped, distangling himself out of a tree, "I still haven't even ate... hmm, I think Ucchan's is nearby. She should be done with the usual weekend morning crowd about now..."
A short trip over a few rooftops brought Ranma to his best friend's establishment. He entered the open door, finding Ukyo cleaning her grill, "Hey, Ucchan!"
"Lousymorningrushcan'tcomprehendthatI'mactuallysupposedtobeclos- RANCHAN!" Ukyo exclaimed, looking up at her pigtailed target. "What a surprise to see you here!"
"Yeah, kinda ticked Akane off this morning," Ranma replied chagrinned, and then blinked at Ukyo whooping and pumping her arms in celebration."
"Victory is as good as mine!" She thought to herself, before regaining her composure, "Sorry to hear that, Ran-chan. Give me a sec and I'll whip you up something..."
"Great, thanks!" Ranma replied, moving to sit at a stool at the grill. Before he was even seated, Ukyo was done.
"Here you go!" Ukyo thrust the plate at him, causing him to step back. "Ranma-honey, I'll tell ya what. I'm about to go on break here in a bit, wanna watch a movie with me? You can eat this upstairs while we're watching."
"Uh... sure..." Ranma replied in the face of Ukyo's eagerness, "if you're fine with it. But don't you have to keep the restaurant open?"
"Actually we're closed today," Ukyo replied in a slightly terse voice. A cowed movement from the corner of the restuarant drew Ranma's attention to a nervous and seemingly apologetic Konatsu.
"KONATSU!" The kunoichi in question snapped to attention, while emitting a small whimper. "Close the restaurant up for me! I'm going upstairs to... relax!"
"Ah... " Konatsu gulped, before speaking, "but what about your regulars? What do I tell them?"
Ukyo leapt over the counter, and dragged Ranma towards the stairs, " Tell them to go sabotage Shampoo's chances!!"
Ranma didn't even get a chance to enquire what the comment was all about, before he was hoisted up the stairs by a determined best friend.
____________________________
Ranma sat on the edge of Ukyo's western futon that folded into a couch, as the owner of the room walked in with a bowl of popcorn.
"So, what are we watching?" Ranma enquired, finishing the last bite of his okonomiyaki.
"Some American film I've been meaning to watch." she replied casually, sitting next to Ranma.
"Oh," the pigtailed boy wasn't all that partial to American films, and hoped it had some cool special effects, at least. "What's it about?"
Ukyo shrugged, "No idea. All I know is it has some popular actor, been in a whole bunch of films. I think his last name is Ron or something..."
The more Ukyo talked about the film, the less interested Ranma became in it. But, he decided that he would at least humor his childhood friend for a while, "Sounds cool."
"Great!" Ukyo beamed Ranma a smile, as she picked up the remote control, and turned on the DVD player. Ranma retrieved a handfull of popcorn before turning towards the television.
Ukyo munched on a few kernels of popcorn, as she watched the movie start. Ranma's tight fist oozed out bits of popcorn, as he stared wide-eyed at the television, frozen solid.
After ten minutes, Ukyo turned towards Ranma with an oblivious and guileless expression, "Ranma-honey, have you ever wondered what it would be like to touch each other like they are?"
'The Art of War'
"Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush them"
"The rule is, not to besiege walled cities if it can possibly be avoided. The preparation of mantlets, moveable shelters, and various impleents of war, will take up three whole months, and the piling up of mounds over against the walls will take three months more."
____________________________
Nabiki checked her outfit; white tanktop with short jean shorts that were bordering on bloomers. Her original intention wasn't to participate in this little battle, but decided at the last minute that it may be within her best intrest to do so. She stood to win two ways, by default, if everyone failed to coerce Ranma for their victory, or by managing to gain his attention, herself. The middle Tendou sister was confident that she was safe with this bet; none of the other girls obviously knew how to capture the studly young man without force, and Ranma was easily stronger than any of them, possibly all of them put together.
She, on the other hand knew that Ranma would fight tooth and nail any affection shown to him. A different tact was in order to gain his attention. She just had the simple task of maintaining control of herself.
Nabiki rolled the vanilla popcicle around her mouth, as she walked into the bathroom. "Boy, it's getting hot out there," Nabiki commented, unheeding of the pigtailed boy staring at her, wide-eyed.
"NABIKI!" Ranma shouted, quickly covering his biddness with a washing pale, "I *know* I put the occupied sign out!"
Nabiki froze, before looking straight into Ranma's eyes, duly reminding herself that all would be ruined if she decided to look down, thus revealing her intentions. "Oh, sorry, Saotome, my mind must have been elsewhere..." She twisted the rocket shaped vanilla popcicle around in her mouth, slow enough to be sensual, but not obvious, and then pivoted on her heel. With a gasp, she slipped, losing her balance in the slight wet puddle that her foot had found.
Without hesitation, Ranma leapt to keep her from experiencing a nasty fall. Nabiki slumped into his arms, sighing at the save, "Whoa, I musta really been out of it, must be catching Akane's clumbsiness," Nabiki replied, idly smirking to herself at the slight sabotage to one of her opponents.
"Ah... as long as you're okay," Ranma stammered, "Um... could you get outta here so I can finish drying off now?"
"Oh, sorry Ranma, I had just come in here to pick something up, but I guess it could wait." Nabiki attempted to pick herself up from Ranma's arms and kneeling lap, but dang found it, her foot just kept finding those puddles!
Ranma sighed, as Nabiki's thirteenth slip commenced, and used his own balance to assist her up. Nabiki turned, and nodded greatfully to the pigtailed boy, before leaving the bathroom. Once she was out the door, the middle Tendou sister tsked at her wet shirt that lacked a bra under it, and glossied wet legs. She had ensured to rub her bottom against Ranma's lap in her struggles, but... well, she may not have been the most 'experienced' girl, but she was sure something should have... happened... with Ranma... down there. In fact, other than his usual nervousness, she got no reaction at all.
Nabiki had to think on that; if Ranma failed to respond to that, it looked like the contest was as good as forfeit, and she stood to win in the end. But... she couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of dejection.
Ranma blinked a couple of times, "I wonder what's gotten into her?"
____________________________
"The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage, and strictness."
"That the impact of your army be like a grindstone dashed against an egg; this is affected by the science of weak points and strong."
____________________________
Akane watched Ranma, ignoring her sister's pouts and mumbles. As he went though his weekend morning routine before breakfast, she thought about how she felt about Ranma, how she *really* felt about him. She had no intention of allowing the other hussies... and her sisters (she added as an afterthought) to gain an advantage over her fiance, and she knew that it would take some deep soul-searching to figure out how she was going to keep them at bay.
"Okay, Akane Tendou," she whispered to herself, "You know he cares for you, just come out, and let him know how you feel..."
Just as Ranma was winding down, Akane approached with a determined expression on her face. Ranma turned towards her, and baulked, "Wha-whaddido this time?"
Akane blinked at the question, before she felt her temper begin to rise, "Hey! I just want to..." Suddenly, her temper left, only to be replaced by a growing sudden nervousness, "to... um... well..."
Ranma studied Akane, as she began to twist her hands self conciously, "Well?"
"Ranma, do... um, I just wanted to... I mean I... that is..."
Ranma raised an eyebrow; Akane was even more tonguetied than Ryoga trying to ask her out on a date, "Well, spit it out! I don't have all morn'n, ya know?"
"SHUT UP, YOU JERK!" Akane shouted, part from the interruption and her own fustration. She took a deep breath, focusing all her dicipline, before continuing, "What I'm trying to say is... ah..."
"What? What's wrong?" Ranma seemed to be becoming unnerved at Akane's own lack of nerve, "Did someone die? Is there a demon on the loose? Did Timmy fall down a well? Come on, Lassie! You can do it!"
The familiar blinding white pain in his jaw, as he sailed across the Neriman sky informed him that he probably should not watch any more late night television, particularly old American shows...
The incident served to brighten Nabiki's mood after her own initial failure; at least her younger sister didn't have any particular advantage, "Really, Sis, how do you expect to land your man if you can't keep yourself from throwing a temper tantrum whenever Ranma harmlessly ribs you?"
"HE CALLED ME A BITCH!" Akane shouted, trying to rationalize her utter failure.
"Come on, Akane, just admit it, you're too immature to even consider yourself in this running," Nabiki retorted, polishing her nails against her shirt. The middle Tendou sister was quite proud of her ability to fuel her sister's temper. If she could keep Akane this hostile for a week, that was one less contestant to have to bother with.
"WHAT DO YOU..." Akane paused, and forcably calmed herself, "Like you have any right to be casting stones, Nabiki."
The girl in question didn't even bother to look up, "Whatever you say, my dear *little* sister..."
Akane fumed at Nabiki's final barb, and stormed upstairs, vowing silently to herself that she would prove to Nabiki, to Ranma, to everyone that she was just as mature... just as much a woman as the rest of them were! "Ranma, I swear before the end of the week, you'll be seeing me like the pervert you probably are!"
____________________________
"Oh divine art of subtlty and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible, and hence we can hold the enemie's fate in our hands."
"Ponder and deliberate before you move."
____________________________
"Just great, and it's not even noon, yet," Ranma griped, distangling himself out of a tree, "I still haven't even ate... hmm, I think Ucchan's is nearby. She should be done with the usual weekend morning crowd about now..."
A short trip over a few rooftops brought Ranma to his best friend's establishment. He entered the open door, finding Ukyo cleaning her grill, "Hey, Ucchan!"
"Lousymorningrushcan'tcomprehendthatI'mactuallysupposedtobeclos- RANCHAN!" Ukyo exclaimed, looking up at her pigtailed target. "What a surprise to see you here!"
"Yeah, kinda ticked Akane off this morning," Ranma replied chagrinned, and then blinked at Ukyo whooping and pumping her arms in celebration."
"Victory is as good as mine!" She thought to herself, before regaining her composure, "Sorry to hear that, Ran-chan. Give me a sec and I'll whip you up something..."
"Great, thanks!" Ranma replied, moving to sit at a stool at the grill. Before he was even seated, Ukyo was done.
"Here you go!" Ukyo thrust the plate at him, causing him to step back. "Ranma-honey, I'll tell ya what. I'm about to go on break here in a bit, wanna watch a movie with me? You can eat this upstairs while we're watching."
"Uh... sure..." Ranma replied in the face of Ukyo's eagerness, "if you're fine with it. But don't you have to keep the restaurant open?"
"Actually we're closed today," Ukyo replied in a slightly terse voice. A cowed movement from the corner of the restuarant drew Ranma's attention to a nervous and seemingly apologetic Konatsu.
"KONATSU!" The kunoichi in question snapped to attention, while emitting a small whimper. "Close the restaurant up for me! I'm going upstairs to... relax!"
"Ah... " Konatsu gulped, before speaking, "but what about your regulars? What do I tell them?"
Ukyo leapt over the counter, and dragged Ranma towards the stairs, " Tell them to go sabotage Shampoo's chances!!"
Ranma didn't even get a chance to enquire what the comment was all about, before he was hoisted up the stairs by a determined best friend.
____________________________
Ranma sat on the edge of Ukyo's western futon that folded into a couch, as the owner of the room walked in with a bowl of popcorn.
"So, what are we watching?" Ranma enquired, finishing the last bite of his okonomiyaki.
"Some American film I've been meaning to watch." she replied casually, sitting next to Ranma.
"Oh," the pigtailed boy wasn't all that partial to American films, and hoped it had some cool special effects, at least. "What's it about?"
Ukyo shrugged, "No idea. All I know is it has some popular actor, been in a whole bunch of films. I think his last name is Ron or something..."
The more Ukyo talked about the film, the less interested Ranma became in it. But, he decided that he would at least humor his childhood friend for a while, "Sounds cool."
"Great!" Ukyo beamed Ranma a smile, as she picked up the remote control, and turned on the DVD player. Ranma retrieved a handfull of popcorn before turning towards the television.
Ukyo munched on a few kernels of popcorn, as she watched the movie start. Ranma's tight fist oozed out bits of popcorn, as he stared wide-eyed at the television, frozen solid.
After ten minutes, Ukyo turned towards Ranma with an oblivious and guileless expression, "Ranma-honey, have you ever wondered what it would be like to touch each other like they are?"