Disclaimer: I do not, and unfortunately will never own Ranma ½. The story, and characters all belong to a wonderful woman named Rumiko Takahashi. The only thing that I own would have to be myself, and hopefully some part of the plot used for this fan fiction.
...With the amount of fan fiction floating around the Internet these days, I highly doubt it.
By the way, panda-Genma's signs will look like this: (Hey, look! An example!!)
...Are you sure that there's no possibility of me owning Ranma ½?
...No?
Well, damn.
Ashley smiled as she helped Kasumi in the kitchen, trying her best to follow the sweet young woman's precise directions. Kasumi really was a master chef... Every single move that she made was done with perfect grace and confidence.
The elder girl's example of how to slice the vegetables was sitting on a small plate in front of the cutting board, perfectly cut into neat and even slices. The blond hummed a quiet tune to herself as she cut the vegetables in front of her into semi-neat slices.
Meanwhile, Kasumi was in bliss. 'She's such a polite girl... It's so nice of her to help me prepare dinner!' She didn't mind the slightly clumsy way that the pale girl held the knife, and was satisfied with the less than perfect way that she cut the vegetables.
At least Ashley's cooking wouldn't melt holes into her perfect little domain, and she seemed to be very happy to receive help. Two things that were always at the top of Kasumi's kitchen safety list.
"Kasumi, I think I'm finished!"
She turned to face the blond, a delighted smile instantly forming on her face. "Thank you, Ashley. Could you please put them over on the other counter?" The younger girl just nodded and did as she was told.
"I'm home!"
Kasumi blinked, and walked out of the kitchen to greet her sister. "Hello Akane, did you have fun with your friends?"
Akane nodded before noticing the usual delicious aroma wafting her way from the kitchen. "Yup! Hey, Kasumi? Will dinner be ready soon?"
"Yes, it should be ready in a few more minutes..."
Akane smiled, and then blinked when she noticed the extra pair of shoes by the doorway. Her eyes narrowed, "I'm gone for a few hours, and the other fiancées just decide to move in!"
Kasumi opened her mouth to protest, but was cut off by the sudden crash and muttered curse words from the kitchen. 'Oh my...'
The youngest Tendo daughter took this as a signal that the financee was trying to sneak up on her, and burst into the kitchen. She blinked before glaring at the unfamiliar girl in the kitchen, "Who the hell are you?"
The blond looked at her with wide eyes, while pressing a bloodied paper towel onto a small cut on her hand. "Um... Hello."
Kasumi looked over Akane's shoulder, "Ashley, are you alright? What was that noise?"
Ashley flushed slightly, "Ah... I was going to go wash the knife, and it slipped out of my hand..." She looked up hopefully at Kasumi. "Could you spare a band aid or something?"
Kasumi nodded, "Run that under the water, I'll be right back." She then hurried off to find the first aid kit.
Akane looked the other girl over, who had followed Kasumi's advice. 'Kasumi doesn't have any friends, so she must be another one of that idiot's fiancee's...' She nodded to herself, and went to go tell her father.
After helping the blond clean up and bandage the small cut on her hand, Kasumi and Ashley decided to start bringing dinner out. They couldn't help but stand in shock when they saw the utter chaos occurring right outside the kitchen.
Soun was crying waterfalls at an inhuman rate, while Genma and Ranma bounced around both inside and outside the house as curse words and various attacks flew through the air. Akane had summoned her mallet and was waving it around like a maniac as both Saotomes bounced just beyond her grasp.
'Holy crap on a stick!' Ashley blinked a few times, as it had been utterly silent in the kitchen. 'Maybe Nabiki decided to sound-proof the kitchen for Kasumi?'
Kasumi just hummed to herself and began setting the table, completely oblivious to the insanity around her. The blond stared at her for a moment before following her example. Soun finally seemed to notice the stranger, and suddenly grew to demonic proportions. Demon-Soun glared down at her, the usual fear aura surrounding him.
Ashley shivered for a moment before turning around to face him. She looked up at the fear aura and froze, her shoulders shaking. Not in fear, surprisingly. 'Oh dear god... That's just... too... much...'
Before she could burst out laughing at the 'fear' aura, she was suddenly scooped up and carried to the other side of the room. "Eh...?"
"Watch it Akane! She--" Ranma was cut off by a punch to the jaw from his father. Ashley looked over to where she had been, and saw Akane glaring at her while clutching her mallet.
"Boy! How dare you bring another woman into your finance's home! Have you no honor?!" Genma's little speech was cut short when he was thrown outside and directly into the koi pond. A rather angry and soaked panda emerged from the pond to attack Ranma, while pulling out a sign. (Show more respect to your elders!)
The blond raised her hand to try and get everyone's attention,"Um... Excuse me?"
The battle continued, her usual quiet voice going completely unheard.
"...Hello?"
After being ignored a few more times, she couldn't help developing a slight twitch in her left eye. Deciding that it was for the best, she took a deep breath and used the voice that she usually reserved for arguing with her siblings.
"MAY I PLEASE HAVE YOUR ATTENTION?"
She politely cleared her throat before smiling at the wide-eyed martial artists around her. "Thank you. Now, I'm sorry to press, but what the heck is this all about?"
Akane glared at her, "Like you don't know." When the blond did nothing but look at her curiously, she growled. "You're another one of this idiot's fiancées!"
She pointed over to the pigtailed martial artist, who blinked and tilted his head to the side.
"I have another fiancée?"
Ashley sighed and put her hands on her hips, "Who the heck said that I was engaged to someone?" She glanced over at Ranma, smiling. "No offense to you, Ranma. You're very handsome, but I wouldn't want to complicate your life anymore than it already is."
Soun and Genma turned to Ranma, "Of course, you'll have to marry Akane immediately to convince us." (Yes, at once!)
"I'm not marrying that violent tomboy/perverted jerk!" Was the almost instant response.
After a few traded blows and various insults, Ranma flew overhead. He managed to right himself in the air, and did a few flips before landing beside the koi pond. He grinned confidently,"Hah! Ya didn't get me this time, Pops!"
Unfortunately, the storm clouds overhead decided that now would be the perfect time to start thundering and dropping buckets.
'Damn.' A now female Ranma muttered to himself as he walked back into the dojo.
Ashley looked around at the tense and glaring people in the room, and then over to the delicious dinner that she and Kasumi had made. She then glanced over to Kasumi, who was watching everything with an oblivious smile on her face. '...Damn.'
She coughed lightly to get everyone's attention. "Well, it seems that my presence is causing a bit of a problem... I think that it might be for the best for me to leave."
Ranma opened his mouth a few times in shock before speaking, "W-wait... You don't have to go..."
Ashley shrugged, "I might as well, it's getting late..." She turned to Kasumi, smiling. "Thanks for letting me help with dinner, Kasumi." The elder girl just nodded, looking a little upset.
After quickly hugging Kasumi and waving to Ranma, she looked to the others. "Thank you for your hospitality." She put her shoes back on and smiled before walking out the door. "See you later Ranma, and Kasumi."
'Damn it... I should have known that something like that would happen!' Ashley grumbled to herself as she walked down the street, the rain sliding off of her new raincoat. She stomped through a particularly large puddle a few times in anger with her rubber boots. 'God, I can be such an idiot sometimes!'
'Though... I guess leaving was the better choice. Akane can be freaking evil-looking when she wants to be.' She shivered slightly, before deciding to wait a few weeks until their next meeting.
Ashley wasn't stupid enough to believe that she could stand up to the violent girl, as she knew that the results would be extremely painful. 'Maybe I could try to get on her good side, or something...?'
She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she tripped over something in front of her, landing hard on her side in a rather large puddle. The now soaked blond looked down at her feet to see her foot caught up in a strap, which was attached to a large pack. A rather annoyed oink made her look over to see a small black pig wearing a bandanna.
She winced as she slowly stood up, holding her side. "Why the hell do I keep tripping over cursed martial artists?!"
The pig looked up at her in shock, "Bwee?"
Ashley glanced down at him, and then the pack before sighing. "Hello there. Need some help?"
After an intense struggle and a few rest stops, Ashley, the pig, and the insanely heavy pack arrived at a small coffee shop. She grinned before dragging the pack in, the piglet following close behind. It was practically empty, so she went up to the counter and ordered two coffees and asked the girl at the register to save them a table.
She looked down at the pig, "Can you turn the faucets yourself?" At the pig's slow nod, she smiled and dragged the pack over to the bathrooms. She carefully opened the men's room door and waited for the pig to walk in before closing it.
She had to wait a few minutes before an embarrassed voice quietly whispered through the door, "Um... Could you please pass me my pack?" She pushed it closer to the door, "Sure, just stick your hand out and grab it. Don't worry, no one's looking." She turned her head away as a hand quickly pulled the pack through the door.
"...I'll go sit down, okay?" Hearing a muffled okay, she wandered over to the booth and made herself comfortable. Just as the waitress came up with the order, a young man walked out of the men's room carrying the pack as if it weighed as much as a feather. He nodded politely to the waitress before setting the pack down beside the booth and taking the seat across from Ashley.
He stared at her for a few moments, nervously twiddling his thumbs. "How did you know..?"
Ashley merely sorted through the various packages on the table before smiling and opening two packages of sweetener and pouring them into her coffee cup. "I've seen a few people in Nerima transform before, you obviously being one of them."
She looked up at his shocked look, "What? It's not like you guys are doing an amazing job of hiding it..." She poured a milk into the cup and stirred.
"...Why would you.."
The blond took a sip of her coffee, and raised an eyebrow at him. "Why would I what?" She gestured to the coffee with a small grin, "C'mon drink up. It's actually pretty good."
He blinked at her, before adding the sugar and a creamer to his own cup. After taking a sip, he seemed to relax a little. "...Why did you help me?"
"Well, why wouldn't I?"
The fanged boy looked at her oddly. "I mean... Not to be rude, but... I don't know you. So, why stop to help me?"
She laughed lightly, "It's not like I could just leave you out there!"
"...Why not?"
"I'm not that kind of person, I guess. If I can help someone, I'll help them. It's just the way I am."
He was silent for a while, drinking his coffee as he glanced over at her. After a few minutes, Ashley had drained her cup, and was sliding out of the booth. She fished her out her wallet and withdrew a few bills and placed them on the table.
The blond smiled at him, "I'm Ashley-marie... It was nice to meet you."
He looked up at her from his coffee cup, "...Ryoga Hibiki."
She nodded and zipped up her coat before turning to leave, pausing when she heard him speak.
"...Hey, Uh... Ashley?"
She looked over her shoulder, "Hmm?"
"...Thanks."
Holy crap, 970 hits!! Yay! Plus, 18 reviews! It's a new record! (for me at least, lol) Thanks for reading everything so far, guys! ...But more reviews will make me even more thankful! ((winkwinknugdenudge))
I'm sorry that I'm a little late with the update... But my birthday was on Saturday. (I'm 17 now, yay!) I've also been busy with my school registration, and being an idiot with my friends. ...Fun times.
What did you think of it, anyway?
Good?
Bad?
Holy-shit-learn-how-to-freaking-type?
Review and tell me!
Luv,
Shifta Shi-Chan(aka Ashley)
xoxoxo
(P.S. If anyone's confused about my appearance, I've posted a pic of myself on my profile.)