Ranma 1/2: Video Reminder
(I guess it's here to stay!)

Written by: Xason Nexus (Xasonnex)

Disclaimer: Ranma ain't mine. Akane ain't mine. Ukyou ain't mine (much as I wish she were). Get the picture? Oh, OK, I don't own the Ranma Universe, and I am not making any profit. PLEASE don't sue me Takahashi-sama, Viz, Kitty, or anyone else.

Though I like the manga better, an element in this fic is derived from the anime series, so I guess this story takes place after the end of the anime series. Eh, can't win 'em all. Enjoy!

Chapter 3

It was a beautiful morning in the Nerima district. The birds flew free, the air was crisp, and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. People went about their daily routines like the day was like any other.
Everyone, except two teenagers running towards Furinkin High school. Something had happened the night before that had changed their lives, and today the repercussions would begin. Such an important day, and they had slept in.

Ranma hadn't had so much trouble staying balanced on a fence in years. His body had all the coordination it needed, but his mind was not on the same wavelength. Every time he looked down at his fiancée Akane, he almost stumbled. "I can't believe what we did last night," he thought. "Our first kiss. First several, actually." As he thought this, he almost fell into a canal, and thought it best to either stop
thinking about the previous night, or get off the fence. He choose the latter.

Akane had a smile on her face the moment she woke up, and it hadn't left since. She'd done her best to disguise it during breakfast, but it got harder and harder with the glances she and Ranma had been giving each other, so she started talking about a report she'd worked on yesterday, and claimed she was so happy that she knew she was getting an "A". When she and Ranma set off for school, though, the disguise fell. The smile grew as she felt her fiancé's presence next to her.
"Hey," she asked, "what are you doing down here? Don't you like feeling higher than everybody else?" she jabbed.
"That ain't nice. And for your information, I just felt like staying male for a while, that's all," Ranma responded. "Darn she's cute this morning," he thought, sneaking a glance at her smile.
"What do you mean?"
"Ah, nothing." They ran a while before Ranma pressed forward with conversation. "So, uh, get any good sleep in?"
"What little I got. Honestly Ranma, did you have to stay in my room so late last night?"
"Hey, as I recall, you didn't seem to mind." Ranma glanced over and saw her blush. "Say, I thought you said you were going to hit me if we slept in."
Akane's smile got a little devious as she raised her bookbag to a ready position. "I was going to let it slide, but if you really want it..."
"Hey, just 'cause I'm in love don't mean I'm stupid." Ranma jumped back onto the fence. "Let a violent tomboy like you hit me? Nah, I got better things to do*..." Ranma was interrupted as he was run over by a bicycle with a purple-haired rider.
Shampoo glanced behind her, just realizing she'd run over her "airen". "Aiya, Ranma!" she cried, jumping off her bike.
Akane's smile finally left as she saw Ranma fall to the ground. "Shampoo," she thought, "I knew this was going too good to last."
Shampoo helped Ranma pick himself up. "Shampoo so sorry, Ranma. I no mean to knock you off fence. I know! Let Shampoo make it up to you by taking you out on date!" With that, the buxom Amazon glomped onto Ranma.
"Oof," Ranma gasped as he felt Shampoo's arms nearly squeeze the life out of him. He glanced over at Akane, who was now approaching them. "Uh oh," he thought. "I better try to get out of this as fast
as I can." Trying to pry her arms from around his neck, he replied to Shampoo. "Uh, no thanks Shampoo, that's ok. Look, I got school, so why don't..."
"No worry about school, go on date with Shampoo!" The Amazon paid no mind to Ranma's attempts to dislodge her, and she didn't notice Akane approach her, until Akane pinched her arm and pulled Ranma from her grip (by his pig tail, of course).
"Ouch! What violent girl do that for?"
Akane was glowing (with chi). "Look Shampoo, we don't have time for this. Flirt with him some other time. Come on Cassonova," Akane took off, dragging Ranma behind her.
Shampoo looked puzzled. "Akane always such a violent girl. She no make sense." With that, the amazon reclaimed her bike and resumed her morning route.

Several hours later, in the Tendo Dojo, we find that the school day didn't go perfectly either. Ranma is still in his normal clothes, wearing a light green sleeveless Chinese shirt, while Akane had changed into her gi. They were arguing like usual, only they both knew that after the previous night's events, this fight would have a greater effect on their relationship than normal. Akane was going through a series of power moves, while Ranma sat on the floor. Akane was also yelling.
"First Shampoo, then Ukyo! Did you have to let her feed you that okonomiyaki by hand?!"
"Hey, I was hungry! And I was doing homework, so my hands were busy!"
"You're unbelieveable!" Akane stopped her exercises to stare down Ranma. "You're always hungry, and that homework was due yesterday!"
"So I had to do it as soon as possible!" Ranma stood up. "Jeeze Akane, what's eating you? You don't normally go this ballistic when this stuff happens."
"Why do you think, you..." Akane was cut off by Ranma's hand covering her mouth. Her temper was flaring, and was about to nail Ranma, when she noticed the look in his eyes as he whispered.
"Look, try to keep it down if you're gonna act different than normal. You weren't acting too different yet, but I don't want our Dads to think anything's changed between us." He removed his hand.
Akane nodded, then responded softly. "Right. Though I think they're nursing too big a hangover to notice much besides the fact that our voices are raised." Finishing that comment, Akane gave a slight grin. She almost blushed when she saw Ranma grin and nod as well.

Ryoga was a happy wandering martial artist. "The gods must be smiling down on me for sure," he thought, "for them to lead me here to the Tendo Dojo only three days after I last saw it!" He was, indeed, standing in front of the Tendo residence, right outside the gate. "Oh, Akane, how every day without you is torture for me, and to finally be here once again to be in your presence, I must be blessed!" The "blessed" one was then squirted with a water pistol by a couple of little kids playing in the street. The litte black piglet that remained had only one thing to say about that. Yep, you guessed it. "Bwee!"

"Say, Ranma," Akane was standing with her back to her fiance as she spoke, as she still felt uncomfortable about what she was asking and didn't want her blush to be seen.
"Hm?" Ranma had just started doing a handstand, pushed himself up, and adopted a sitting position facing Akane.
Akane spoke softer. "After last night, since now you know how I feel about you, I was wondering why, I mean, I want to know why you," Akane had difficulty getting the question out and closed her eyes. Emotions gathered, she yelled, "Why do you always let Shampoo glomp you EVERY MORNING? IT'S ANNOYING!"
"Aaah! Not so loud!"
"Huh?" Akane opened her eyes to see that Ranma had gotten up and was standing right in front of her. Apparently, just in time to get an earful from her. He wasn't the only one who heard, as voices resounded from the house.
"Akane, Ranma, keep it down! Some of us have headaches!" came Soun's voice.
"Bwa warf ba bwa rar rarf" Genma's sign was thrown in through an unrepaired hole from one fight or another. "Son, apologize to Akane so I can sleep!"
"Can't you two keep it down? I'm on the phone!" Nabiki added.

Kasumi didn't yell a reply, she just sighed while working on dinner.

As he heard Akane's voice P-chan/Ryoga thought, "Ranma! For making Akane unhappy you will pay!" This, however, also came out as "Bwee." Ryoga then promptly ran into a closet.

"Sorry!" Came both Ranma and Akane's replies.
Ranma turned his attention to Akane. "I don't LET her do it. And it's not EVERY morning."
Akane "humph"ed and looked away. "OK, I'll give you that. But why didn't you push her off this morning? Or just about every time she does it?"
"Akane," Ranma spoke softly and put his hand on her shoulder. His heart rate increased as he did so. "It's a little hard to just explain. I tell you what, YOU glomp onto me just like Shampoo did this morning."
Akane turned back to face him, a question on her face. "Why?" she asked.
"Just, ah," Ranma blinked as he tried to keep his face from flushing, "just do it. Please?" Ranma's irregular heartbeat skipped. "Did I just ask her to.." he thought.
The battle to stop from blushing was lost by Akane. "Uh, OK," she replied as she tried to remember exactly how Shampoo had acted that morning. Despite what had happened the night before, exploring physical contact with Ranma was still new to her, so she took some time. Hesitantly, she stood on her tiptoes and snaked her arms around his neck, pulling herself close to him. She still felt uncomfortable as she pressed her chest against his. "Is, uh, this about right?"
"Uh, she had me tighter than that," Ranma replied after a few awkward seconds. He could feel a big sweatdrop on the back of his head.
Akane tightened her grip. "Now? Mph*..." She was cut off by a short kiss to her lips.
Ranma had to catch his breath before he replied. "In my defense, ever see me do THAT to Shampoo, or Ukyou?"
"Jerk." Akane freed one of her hands just long enough to rap him on the back of the head. "You're just taking advantage of this situation," she joked, a little too loud.

"What?!" Ryoga thought to himself as he could just make out Akane's last line. "Ranma is taking advantage of Akane? I'll send him to Hell myself!" The pig was just outside the dojo. "As soon as I
find the door. How many sides does this thing have, anyway?"

"Sorry," Ranma gulped, "couldn't help myself. Yea, this is about right," he said, referring to Akane's glomp.
"And?"
"Well, I don't push Shampoo off because I can't."
"Yea right, you're only one of the strongest men in Japan."
"Well, yea," Ranma's ego swelled momentarily. "But what I'm talkin' about is this." Ranma placed both hands on Akane's shoulders and started squeezing and pushing. "I can't push her off like this without hurting her. I mean, she puts a lot into these things, I'd have to use a lot of power to get out, and she'd only let go once it started hurting." He took his hands off Akane's shoulders.
"So far, you make sense," Akane narrowed her eyes a little as she spoke. Her shoulders tingled a little, she knew Ranma had barley put any effort into dislodging her, but his point came across.
"And if I do this," Ranma placed his hands on her hips and started pushing, "she'll keep her grip on my neck and all I'm doing is lifting her feet off the ground, and I know that ain't what you want to see." To illustrate his point, Ranma did just that. With Akane maintaining her grip, the scene did look pretty romantic.
Akane's heart was going the extra mile. Ranma was lifting her off the ground, but she was still hugging him, and she liked it! Still, this was a bit new. "Point made. You can, uh, put me down now." He did.
"And we all know she won't listen to me when I tell her to get off, so there's only two things for me to do. I could just ride it out and wait for you to break us up, or..." Ranma placed his hands between their chests, "I could push her off like this, but that would look even worse..." He cut himself off as he realized what he was doing. They both stood still, Akane still embracing, Ranma's hands on her breasts.

As fate would have it, P-chan found his way to the door just intime to see this. Ryoga was too shocked to even "bwee."

Akane stood in shock. So many things were running through her head: her love for Ranma, understanding why all this made sense, the fact that his hands were where they shouldn't be, ect. She wanted to act like she finally understood, but mental defense mechanisms are hard to break. In a split second, without realizing what she was doing, she malleted Ranma faster than ever before and yelled, "Fiance or not, you DO NOT touch me THERE without my permission!"

Ryoga ran like never before towards the bathroom. "Ranma, even for you that is going TOO FAR!" He thought. He saw the open bathroom door. "I will make you pay! Nobody does that to Akane! NOBODY!"

"It hurts..." Ranma mumbled from under the king-sized mallet.
Akane regained her senses. "Ranma! Oh, I'm sorry..." She lifted the mallet and disposed of it, then helped Ranma up. "I'm sorry, Ranma, I just, just, acted. I didn't mean..."
"'S OK, Akane." Ranma placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her chest a wide berth on the way up. "I deserved that. I'm the one that should be sorry, I just wanted you to know."
"I know, and I understand now. It makes perfect sense. I don't know why I didn't see it before..."
"Ah, you were too bust being the jealous, uncute, tomboy fiancée I know so well."
Akane balled up a fist. "Keep it up, Romeo..."
Ranma waved her off with both hands. "OK, OK, sorry." He put one hand behind his head and tried to lighten the mood by laughing a little. "Well now you know."
Akane couldn't help but giggle. "Yea, that's one mystery explained. Now, how about.."

Akane didn't get to finish, as Ryoga made his grand entrance to the Tendo Dojo. "Ranma Saotome! I saw what just happened! How dare you do such a thing to Akane? I'd thought you to be better," Ryoga started stepping inside. "I thought you had SOME decency. But now I know!" Ryoga stood three feet from the couple. "You have no honor, Ranma Saotome, no honor AT ALL! Today I make you pay for all your crimes!"

This outburst brought about another group of responses from the house, but this time all the same. "Keep it down in there!"

Akane replied, "Ryoga, it's OK. He didn't mean to, and he apologized. I apologized too, it's just as much my fault as it was his." Akane clasped her hands together in front of her. "Please don't get mad, it was all a misunderstanding."
"Oh Akane," the bandana clad boy replied, "so innocent. Such a kind, sweet, forgiving person." Ryoga closed his eyes and turned his head to his side. "It is one of your most admirable qualities. But also, one of your weaknesses."

He returned his head to stare at Ranma as he spoke. "For this man deserves no pity! How he convinced you that this was your fault at all I don't know, but all the blame is his! He did something that no one should ever do." Ryoga reduced his voice to a growl (which was good, so no one in the house heard what came next). "He violated you Akane. He violated your privacy and trust. No man should do those things, at least no man with honor."
Ranma snapped. It was bad enough a private moment was interrupted. It was bad enough that Ryoga was insulting him, and calling him honorless. But the fact that HE was telling Ranma about what wasn't decent about violating Akane's privacy... "Hey, shut up! This don't concern you at all, it's a private matter! And who are you to call me honorless, after what you've done around here?!"
"Ranma, it's OK," Akane tried to soothe her fiancé, "Ryoga's just being a friend to me. You'd do the same thing if you saw him, or anyone else, invading my privacy."
"I already have, but it ain't made a difference," Ranma growled a reply, staring Ryoga right in the eyes as he did. "Not with him."
Akane had a puzzled look on her face. "What are you.."
"Shut up, Saotome!" Ryoga yelled. "You try to change the subject, like the coward you are! First you did what you did, then try to shift blame! You have no honor!"
Ranma was boiling, but at the same time thinking. He simmered for a while, then an idea struck him. Before he could think it all the way out, he put a plan into motion. "I have no honor?" he asked in a
strained voice.
"No honor at all." Ryoga sneered as he replied.
"None whatsoever?"
"None."
"Ranma," Akane turned to fully face her fiance.
Ranma placed a hand on Akane's shoulder but looked into Ryoga's eyes as he spoke. "Ryoga. You say I have no honor. But if you do, and you value it, you will do something. You will stand right here," Ranma pointed to the floor with his other hand, "while I go get something. If you really are a man, you will."
"Ha! Running away, coward?"
"Will you stay?!" Ranma forcefully inquired.
Ryoga looked at Ranma, then Akane, and back to Ranma. "Fine. Unlike you, I do have honor, and I will stand by it."
"Good, be right back." With that, Ranma broke into a sprint into the house.

Ryoga and Akane stood in silence and listened to the sounds in the house. Ranma ran upstairs, had a conversation of some sort with Nabiki, ran back downstairs, and made some sort of clattering noise as he seemed to gather objects. When Ranma returned, he was carrying the Tendo entertainment center, TV and all. He moved to a corner of the dojo that had an electrical outlet and started plugging things in.

Akane was the first to speak, while Ryoga continued sneering. "Ranma, what are you doing?"
Ranma responded without looking up. "Akane, yesterday I realized that I felt the way I do about you because I saw myself on a videotape. That tape didn't lie. Now it's time to see if that's true of all home videos." With that, Ranma turned and pulled out a tape from inside his shirt.
Ryoga sounded quite disrespectful. "A video? What do you plan on showing us, you womanizing your other fiancées?"
"Ranma.." Akane didn't know what was going on.
"I plan on showing Akane what kind of person you really are." Ranma held out the tape long enough for the label to be read.
"Ranma VS Kodachi at St Hebereke" it was written, in Nabiki's handwriting.

Authors notes: AAaaaarrrrggghhhhh!... again. This was supposed to be chapter three, and it is, but only about half of what I planned. It's getting too long as is, so Chapter 4 becomes what WAS to be the
rest of Chapter 3, and the original Chapter 4 becomes Chapter 5. Sorry for such a bad ending point, but I had to do it. Also, Thanks a LOT for the great responses to chapter 2! Sorry I kind of had to move away from the romance aspect in this one, but I had to. Romance, or any other mood, doesn't last forever in Ranma 1/2. Let me know what you think of this chapter, and I'll try to hurry with Chapter 4!

November 2023 notes: I have edited this into something easier to read. There may be some disjointing I didn't catch. If so, please forgive me. I left the story alone.