Nope, I still don't own Ranma 1/2. Nor do I own Sailor Moon.
Dammit.
--
The next morning
The next morning. Peaceful. Quiet.
"RANMA NO BAKA!"
Never mind.
"And this morning started out so well", thought Ranma as he dodged furious mallet strikes.
"You pervert, looking at me in the bath! Hentai!"
"No insults Ranma, no insults". "I said I was sorry!" duck under a horizontal smash, "the sign wasn't out" sidestep a descending blow "and I knocked twice!" grab the hammer's heft, shift the weight and…
The ki-forged hammer evaporated from his hands.
Leaving Akane essentially bent over his knee.
Oh. Shit.
"HeeeeeennnnnnTTTTTTTTAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIII!"
Backtrack about half an hour.
Ranma was awoken by the first glimmerings of sunlight. Accustomed to rising at dawn as he was (Genma no baka), being able to wake up WITHOUT the sensation of flying into the koi pond was pleasant.
"Still," he thought, "better get some practice in".
Dancing through the kata, he smiled. Here in the dojo, practicing his Art, he could be at peace. Here, moving through the flickering steps of a kata, he didn't need to watch his actions, didn't need to worry about the future or regret the past. Losing himself in punch, kick and leap, he could be free.
Winding down, chest rising and falling smoothly, he returned to himself.
"Ok, time enough for a bath before breakfast" he thought, wandering to the furo.
Noting the absence of the 'Occupied' sign, conditioning took over.
He knocked. No response.
"Better safe than sorry" he mused, knocking again.
Akane sat upright in the bath where she had been dozing after a longer than usual jog.
"Did I hear something?" Dismissing the thought, she stood up and stepped from the tub…
…Just as Ranma entered the supposedly-empty bathroom.
In a thought that would be echoed a few moments later, Ranma summed up his feelings quite succinctly.
"Oh shit".
Which brings us, dear readers, back to the present.
Pure instinct led Ranma to clamp Akane into a restraint hold as her battle aura flared. Not a moment too soon, either.
"Let me go you filthy hentai!"
"No, you'll mallet me!"
"Let me GO! Die, you bastard!"
"Ok, Soul of Ice". "Look Akane" he addressed the near-berserk girl in his arms. "I'm sorry I walked in on you, but the sign was not out and I knocked twice. If I let you go I want your promise that you won't hit me".
The struggling faded somewhat.
"Humph! Fine, just let me go!"
Gingerly releasing the lock, Ranma walked gingerly to the kitchen.
"Ohayo Ranma-kun" said Kasumi, her usual smile in place.
"Mornin' Kasumi. Would ya mind if I help with breakfast?"
"Ara, Ranma-kun, I couldn't ask you to do that!" Kasumi gasped.
"Nah Kasumi, it's as thanks for keepin' Oyaji off my back this morning. Please?"
"Secret Technique: Saotome Smile!"
Taking in the roguish grin, Kasumi felt a sense of fond exasperation.
"He can charm this well and wonders why he has so many women chasing him"
"Alright then Ranma-kun. Could you set the ta-"
"Stop flirting with my sister, hentai!"
Quickly facing the approaching threat, Ranma instinctively used the most infamous Saotome secret technique:
Foot-In-Mouth-Fu.
"'Sa matter, Akane? Jealous?" "Oh shit."
Kasumi frowned as Ranma took to the air. She was going to have to address this situation as soon as possible.
"That is enough Akane! I am very tired of you hurting Ranma all the time".
"Humph! That pervert deserved it. He was flirting with you!" snapped Akane, hammer fading. "And he peeked on me in the bath, too!"
Kasumi shook her head at her little sister's stubbornness.
"Ranma was simply asking to help with breakfast. That is all", she sighed. "I asked you last night to work on controlling your temper. Just now you promised Ranma that you wouldn't hit him. Now I see that you haven't listened to either of us. You've disappointed me again, Akane."
Akane glared. "How can you defend that pervert, Onee-chan? He's nothing but a creep!"
"To whom you made a promise that you broke not two minutes later" said Kasumi sadly.
The youngest Tendo growled in disbelief. How could her big sister not only defend that creep, but scold her?
"He's just a jerk! That doesn't count!" Akane stomped, fuming, toward the door. "I'm going out!" she snapped, the door slamming behind her.
Staring at the closed door, Kasumi fought the tears prickling at her eyes.
"Why can't it be peaceful here? Why can't I be the big sister and daughter again, instead of the substitute mother and housewife? Why can't I have someone? Someone like…"
The image of a confident grin and blue eyes flickered in her mind's eye.
--
"Damn it, another one-way flight with Mallet Airlines. It was such a nice start to the day, too".
Ranma was currently at the top of his arc over Nerima at about three hundred meters altitude.
"Stupid tomboy" he grumbled.
"Wait, that was partly my own fault. Gotta learn to stop mouthing off at her."
Ranma flew on for another few moments. Once the sting from then initial impact wore off, the flights were actually kinda nice. Soothing even, at least until the sudden stop.
Boring, though.
This conclusion reached, Ranma (being who and what he is) began to ponder.
"How can I make this into training. Impact, falling, landing training are out, mastered them ages ago. Can't do a worthwhile kata without something to push off…"
A few more moments of thought, two and a half kilometres and about fifty meters of altitude later, he decided.
"Ok, let's try that Martial Arts Magic again. "I will know when to shut up". I'll use the landing for the gnosis".
Accelerating toward the earth, Ranma prepared himself.
"The things I do for training…"
--
"Glad it's a weekend" thought Ranma as he staggered back from his landing site (in Juuban, of all places). He'd managed to kill two birds with one stone, actually. Not only had his landing been forceful enough to serve as the trigger for his 'shut up now' spell, he'd also landed on some weird claw-tentacle-rubbish bin monster with enough force to knock it out. The three cheerleader girls it had been fighting had been quite grateful, though the hungry looks the blond one in the orange-themed outfit kept shooting him creeped him out a little.
Ok, so some good came from the malletings occasionally. Still didn't change the fact that Akane needed to calm the hell down.
"Heh! Like that'll happen any time soon!"
So engrossed was Ranma in his thoughts that he completely missed the cracked asphalt in his path, leading to a sight unprecedented in Nerima:
Saotome Ranma tripping and falling flat on his face.
"Grr. Stupid road, makin' me fall. Ite! Dammi-"
Splash.
Ranma's monologue of irritation paused. That sound usually heralded the appearance of a certain busty redhead, but seeing as Ranma was still flat on his face, another act unprecedented had occurred.
Cold water had missed.
Not just cold water. The Ladle Lady had missed!
Grumbling forgotten and bad mood gone, Ranma stood and thoughtfully dusted himself off.
"The water missed me. For once, the Ladle Lady missed me. First time that's happened since I got cursed."
The realisation took some time to arrive, but when it did Ranma's slight grin went nova.
"The spell worked. It worked! Martial Arts Magic! I can do thi-"
Splash
"Right, still standing in front of the Ladle Lady's gate. Looks like the spell was a one-shot deal. Have to remember that…"
Setting off on the last leg of her jaunt, Ranma-chan actually giggled. This had the potential to be so much fun!
--
The sound of feet thudding on pavement heralded Akane's arrival home. Her day had been rather less than satisfactory, on the whole. First that pervert Ranma this morning and Kasumi scolding her (ooh, she'd mallet him for that…), then her favourite café had been closed for renovations, and then to cap it all off, Kuno had made an appearance. Sure, pounding him flat for being stupid had helped her mood a little, but it was far from being enough.
No, the only thing that would improve her mood right now would be to introduce the head of her mallet to the head of a certain pigtailed hentai.
"Oh, h-hi Akane!"
What luck! One of them was already here!
"Come on, say something I can use. Give me a reason to punish you".
"Where were you, Baka? Off with your floosies, I bet!"
"Nah, I landed in Juuban. Took me a while to get back".
Akane growled. The Baka wasn't responding. Time to scale it up…
"Oh?" she sneered. "Maybe you were out with some guy instead, Ranma-chan".
That struck a nerve.
"You-!" stop
Blinking, Ranma bit off his comeback.
"Huh. Didn't expect the spell to work like that. Ah well…"
Looking back at the growling girl, he sighed.
"Look Akane, I've walked a ling way, I'm tired and I'm gonna go lie down. Later".
Staring after the departing Martial Artist, Akane's hands shook with thwarted rage.
"B-B-BAKAAAAA!"
The crunch of Akane burying her fist in the wall echoed around the neighbourhood.
Lying on his futon, the individual thus mentioned winced.
"Well, she didn't hit me but she's still mad. Partial success, I suppose."
Still, it seemed Martial Arts Magic worked as advertised. He'd missed being splashed (once, at least) and he'd known when to shut up. A good start so far.
According to the printouts it was best to start small. Magic was a function of belief, they said, so one should start with minor spells to convince the mind that magic was real.
This prompted an amused grunt. "Like I need convincin' magic's real".
The question was, how far could he go with this?
"Well, the spells so far've both been aimed at me. Maybe I should branch out? Lessee what else's in these."
--
Author's comments:
Wow, twelve reviews from my first chapter! I feel special!
Beartooth: thanks mate, i hope you like the wy it goes.
Boilingseas: aww, you'll make me blush. seriously, i've been a fan for a while, so i'm glad i've got the characters worked out. Sailor Moon? Maaaayyyybe. and as for Cologne, just wait and see. heh.
Moritynz: Thank you, good sir. i hope to entertain.
Janzo the Ashbringer: thanks for the comments, that's what i'm after in reviews. Yeah, i see Ranma the same way, what with all the odd styles in the show. Yeah, there may well be a crossover at some point. As for Akane, i don't really hate her as such, I just find her attitude to be extremely immature and spoilt. I intend for her to have some character development in future chapters.
Dumbledork: Thanks! i hope you like the further chapters.
Hiryo: thanks.
escudo-blade: thanks.
Tiger Timberwolf: Nice to hear, my friend. thanks for the kind comments.
Nim Maj: looks nonchalant crossovers? what crossovers? heh. at the moment i'm only really aiming at one, though i might have some other series making cameo appearances.
RanmaChaos: Glad you like it. Will do!
Rose1948: thank you. your comments are very much appreciated.
ThreadWeaver: Thanks the the comments and the correction. just the sort of review i need to help me improve. cheers!
everyone, thanks the the reviews. they help a great deal.
Smylingsnake