Chapter 11
Ranma breathed in slowly and closed his eyes. "Here we go," he said, cracking his knuckles. "3..2..1..go!"
His hands blazed in front of him at the speed of light. Each movement made was done with precision and care. "Done! Stop the clock!" he shouted, panting and wiping his brow. "Co how was that?"
Kaori looked at the stopwatch and grinned. "2.3 seconds." she said showing her father the time. "Not bad."
"Hmm, I'm usually quicker than that." Ranma said looking down at the freshly changed twins and smiling. "But then again, I got the two of you to change this time, didn't I?" Chihiro smiled at her father and giggled. Hideo sneezed and then yawned. "Well, you can't please everyone."
"Ranma!" Akane shouted from downstairs, "Are you done? The bus is here now!"
"Coming down now, Akane." Ranma called back, picking up Hideo. "Kaori, can you bring your sister downstairs?" Nodding her head, Kaori picked up Chihiro and followed her father in carrying her down the stairs.
"You ready to go?" Akane asked, picking up her bag and placing it on her shoulder. "Ryoga and Akari are outside now."
"Yeah we're ready." Ranma answered "Hey why's Ryoga driving us anyway? He's just gonna get us lost again."
"I HEARD THAT, ASSHOLE!" Ryoga shouted from the driver's seat
"LIKE I CARE!" Ranma shouted back, flipping his friend off at the same time. "Anyway, I'm surprised that van of yours still runs after going to Russia an' back!"
"There's not a thing wrong with my van!" Ryoga answered, just as the driver's side wing mirror fell off and smashed onto the ground. "... It's supposed to do that."
Ranma was about to laugh, but a quick elbow to the ribs from Akane put a swift stop to that.
"Don't worry guys," Akari said getting out of the van and giving Kaori and Hideo a hug. "I'll be navigating. Besides we've been to this beach plenty of times so we know where we're going."
Ranma smiled to himself remind me to tell you about the time your husband got lost in his own house, Akari. He thought to himself as he took Chihiro to the car and placed her gently in her car seat. He then reached over to check on Hideo's seat and smiled as he watched Kaori get in by herself. "Won't be long till you two are doing that." he said smiling at the twins.
"Don't try to make them grow up too fast, Ranma." Akane said getting into her seat behind the kids. "I like them just the way they are."
"Yeah me too." Ranma said sitting next to his wife.
"OK, is everyone ready?" Ryoga asked
"All set!" Akari said getting back into her seat and putting on her seat belt
"Then off we go!" Ryoga answered, starting the van and beginning the long (but hopefully not too long) trip to the beach.
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No!"
"Are we there yet?"
"NO!"
"Are we there yet?"
"NO!"
"Are we there yet?"
"Ranma!" Ryoga finally snapped turning around to face Ranma "If you don't stop that, I'll break your teeth!"
"I aint doing nothin'!" Ranma said trying to look innocent. "I'm just staring out the window and enjoying the view on this LONG trip! Pretty sure we saw that tree about an hour ago."
"Ranma!" Akane scolded "Stop teasing Ryoga, he's doing just fine!"
"Yeah daddy, you're just being mean, now." Kaori chimed in.
"Oh fine!" Ranma huffed, crossing his arms. "I was just tryin' to have a little fun."
Eventually, the van arrived at the beach and Ryoga parked up, letting everyone get out and unpack.
"Ranma, did you remember to pack the sun screen for the kids?" Akane asked
"Yeah it's in the bag." Ranma said patting the satchel on his side.
"What about Kaori's sunglasses?" She asked
"They're on her head." Ranma answered pointing to his daughter's crimson hair.
"I'm sure we forgot something." Akane said stroking her chin.
"Akane, will you relax?" Ranma said, trying to reassure his wife. "I brought the sun screen. Kaori's got her sunglasses on. I got the towels, the spare clothes, the diapers, the money, the food and the drinks. I even made sure the front and the back doors were locked at the house AND the dojo. Trust me tomboy, I didn't forget anything."
Just then, Ranma was splashed in the face by a child running past with a water pistol, triggering his change from a young man wearing a T-shirt and shorts to a shorter buxom redheaded woman wearing only her dragon's coil bracelet.
"Um, Ranma?" Akane said beginning to blush as she stared at her wife's naked body. "I think you might have forgotten to get dressed after you were in the shower."
*click*
Everyone turned as they heard the sound of Nabiki's camera flashing. "You know Ranma, it's been a long time since I've had the opportunity to take snaps like these." She said grinning as she took more photos "I wonder if these will still fetch a good price!"
As Ranma looked into Nabiki's direction, she saw that her sister-in-law wasn't alone. In fact, Mrs. Kuno had brought along her husband, their two sons and the entire extended family with them.
"Oh my, Ranma." Nodoka gasping as she looked at her daughter in both shock and slight pride. "You might want to cover yourself up a bit dear, before you attract too much attention."
I didn't think it was that kind of beach! Genma signed.
"MOM!" Ranma screamed, hands blurring in an attempt to block her mother's (and everyone else's) view. "POP!"
Ryoga chuckled as Akari covered Jiro's eyes. I love karma. He thought to himself, watching Ranma squirm and trying to frantically cover herself.