Magical Interludes:  December's End
Fanfic by J.K. Hayashi

Chapter 3:  Family Time - Part III

Akane exits her room, catching the tail end of what happened to 
Ranma.  Ranma asks Akane to check on the three girls for him, 
especially Ayuki.  The three girls call out that they'll see Ranma 
downstairs and he leaves.  Akane knocks on the door and enters the 
room.  To one side are put away the futons the girls used the 
previous night.  The three girls finish dressing (none are wearing 
the Furinkan school uniform).  Ayuki is wearing a spare set of 
Ranma's chinese clothes, Keiko wears one of Kasumi's dresses, and 
Midori wears one of Ukyou's spare outfits (though not the traditional 
blue).
  
Midori:  "Have you made up with father, yet?"
Akane:  "I suppose.  Ayuki, why did Ranma... your father want me 
	to check up on you?"
Ayuki:  (blushes)  "It's nothing."
Keiko:  "Nothing?  You wouldn't stop crying for at least an hour!"
Ayuki:  "I know..."
  
Akane thinks back to dinner the night before.  P-chan walking in... 
Ranma starting to pick on him... getting mad at Ranma... Ayuki 
throwing cups of tea until one hits P-chan, turning him into Ryoga... 
kicking Ryoga into the wall... fighting with Ranma and running out 
on him.
  
Akane:  "It's not because of Ranma and me fighting, is it?  It wasn't 
	that bad."
Ayuki:  "It's not that..."
Keiko:   "She admitted she had a crush on the pig."
Midori:  "Keiko!  You didn't have to say that!"
Keiko:  "It's not like everybody doesn't know!"
Akane:  (taking Ayuki's hand)  "Do you still have a crush on 
	Ryoga?"
Ayuki:  "I don't know... I mean, he was one of the few in the village 
	that were nice to me and now to find out that he was so 
	dishonorable..."
Akane:  "I understand..."
Kasumi:  (from downstairs)  "Everyone!  Breakfast!"
  
Keiko and Midori rush downstairs.
  
Ayuki:  "I'll be OK, Akane... I'll work this out on my own..."
Akane:  "Are you sure, Ayuki?"
  
Ayuki nods and hugs Akane.  The two of them go downstairs and 
finds everyone else around the breakfast table.  Ayuki sits down and 
Akane notices the only spot left for her is next to Ranma.  She 
frowns at everyone else's presumption, but shyly sits down next to 
him.  Breakfast goes quietly, a rarity in the Tendo household.  
Kasumi mentions that she should be back by mid-afternoon, while 
Nodoka says she'll be taking her three 'granddaughters' shopping for 
clothes and supplies after school.  Nodoka also says Genma should 
be prepared to pay off all the credit card bills and everyone laughs 
(except for Genma, who sweats).
  
*********************
  
Everyone walks to school (early for once) and Ukyou meets them on 
the way.  They reach Furinkan High with ten minutes to spare.  In 
the schoolyard a group of students is crowded around Gosunkugi.
  
Ranma:  "What's going on?"
Student:  "Gosunkugi's doing tricks."
  
Gosunkugi is sitting on the ground, happy to be the center of 
attention.  He seems to be causing a toad to disappear from his right 
hand and reappear in his left hand (and vice versa).
  
Gosunkugi:  "Look what I can do!"
Ranma:  (not very interested)  "Interesting."
Voice:  "What else can you do?"
Gosunkugi:  "Watch this!"
  
Gosunkugi picks up a small rock off the ground and teleports it.  
The rock reappears and falls apart into dust sized grains.  Kuno 
suddenly grabs Gosunkugi by the shoulders.
  
Kuno:  "You will teleport Saotome far away!  Then Akane Tendo 
	and the pig-tailed goddess will be free of his clutches!"
Gosunkugi:  "I don't have the power to do that!"
Ranma:  "You never change, do you, Kuno!"
Kuno:  "Ranma Saotome, I chall...."
  
Kuno is knocked back by a kick from Akane.  Ranma looks at her.
  
Ranma:  "Why'd you do that?"
Akane:  "I'm sick of him attacking you all the time!"
Ranma:  "Akane... I just don't want to see you get hurt..."
Akane:  "Don't worry, Ranma."
  
Akane slips an arm around Ranma's waist, and Ranma does to same 
to Akane.  Everyone is surprised, to say the least.
  
Kuno:  "Dastard!  Take your wretched hands off the fair Akane 
	Tendo!"
  
Kuno attacks Ranma again (some of his brain cells having been 
knocked loose).  Ranma punches Kuno in the face, knocking him 
backward.  Kuno flies toward Ayuki, who yells 'yipes!', spins and 
roundhouse kicks him away from her.  Keiko sees Kuno coming , 
yells "Happosai Hurricane", and flings him toward Midori, who also 
yells "Happosai Hurricane" and hurls Kuno through the schoolyard 
wall.
  
Keiko:  "Who was that weird person, da... cousin?"
Ranma:  "Are you three all right?"
Midori:  (shrugs)  "Of course."
Everyone:  "Cousin?"
  
The schoolbell rings and everyone heads for class.  The sophomore 
teacher introduces the three new girls to the class, and the boys 
nearly have a collective heart attack (to no small annoyance of the 
girls).  The appearance of Ranma's 'cousins' is the main topic of 
conversation throughout the school for the rest of the day.  In the 
Senior classroom, Nabiki is finishing a deal with the now recovered 
(but still bandaged) Kuno.
  
Nabiki:  "So, that was a set of five of the pig-tailed girl for three 
	thousand yen?"
Kuno:  "Nabiki Tendo, this is robbery!"
Nabiki:  "Is it a deal?"
Kuno:  (defeated)  "Deal."
Nabiki:  "By the way Kuno, I've decided to discontinue the Akane 
	line of photos."
Kuno:  "Oh, never to know the flower that is Akane Tendo..."
Nabiki:  "No profit." (deciding not to drive home the point that 
	Ranma and Akane admitted their love, which would 
	probably cause him to go crazy)  "However, there's this new 
	line of photos..."
  
Nabiki plunks down three new photos, one each of Ayuki, Keiko, 
and Midori.  The photos are about as revealing as the photos of 
Akane's had been (as opposed to the Ranma line).  She feels a 
momentary twinge of guilt over selling a photo of her 'daughter', but 
shrugs it off as this is business (Nabiki had taken the photos the day 
before, anticipating the opening market).
  
Nabiki:  "Set of three of five thousand yen."
Kuno:  "What?"
Nabiki:  "Look, Kuno.  I could easily get two thousand each for 
	these, but I'm offering it to you at a discount because you're 
	a preferred customer."
Kuno:  "But there is only one photo each..."
Nabiki:  "Supply and demand, Kuno, supply and demand.  The pig-
	tailed girl is yesterday's news.  The 'Saotome Cousins' are 
	the new hot item.  This is your chance to be on the ground 
	floor of a valuable commodity, but if you're not interested... 
	well, I can always find a willing buyer..."
Kuno:  (defeated again)  "Argh!  Hand them over."
  
Nabiki quickly counts the eight thousand yen and puts it away.  The 
lunch bell rings and Nabiki heads out of the room.
  
Nabiki:  "I'll miss you when we go to college, Kuno.  I don't think I 
	could find a source of income as steady as you."
Teacher:  "Tendo, where are you going?"
Nabiki:  "To eat lunch with my soon to be in-laws.  Bye."
  
Nabiki leaves before the teacher can protest.  From inside, Kuno yell 
of frustration can be heard.
  
Kuno:  "Saotome!  What hold do you have on these fair women?  
	Argh!"
Teacher:  (sound of garbage can hitting Kuno's head)  "Kuno!  
	Stand in the hall!  And I'm going to watch you work this 
	time!"
Kuno:  "Yes, sir."
  
*********************  
  
The lunch bell rings and Ranma is suddenly besieged by all the boys 
in his class, asking him about his 'cousins'.  Ranma tries to get them 
to leave him alone, but they won't.
  
Akane:  (angrily)  "Ranma...."
  
Everyone backs away in fear as it looks that Akane is about to pound 
Ranma into the floor again.  Akane suddenly kisses Ranma and 
everyone faints in shock.  There is a sudden knock at the door and 
Nabiki sticks her head in, asking if they're ready for lunch.  Akane, 
Ranma, Ukyou, and the three girls leave the room to join Nabiki 
outside.  Ranma spreads a blanket on the floor and Akane starts 
spreading out food from a picnic basket that Kasumi gave them that 
morning, and everyone settles down to lunch.
  
*******************************************finis Chapter 3
  
[Author's note #1:  I'm not sure about whether or not there is 
actually school at this time; I know that the japanese public school 
year consists of three terms:  April-July, September-December, and 
January-March.  I'll just assume that there is school at this time with 
a holiday off for New Years.  Actually (and this is my private 
opinion) this makes a little more sense than the american system 
where you have that summer and winter vacations, because you then 
go off into a work force where you only get a month's vacation (if 
you're lucky) off.  Of course, this doesn't apply to college where you 
typically have to work during the summer to pay your bills.]
  
[Author's note #2:  Originally, I had the three daughters be a year 
younger than Ranma, but due to the placement in the school year, it 
turned out that they were the same age.  I only realized this when I 
was proofreading this episode, so I don't know exactly what effect 
it'll have on the storyline.  It could be that Ranma is seventeen, but I 
don't believe Takahashi has assigned birthdays to any of the Ranma 
1/2 cast, so its problematical.  I'll just assume that Ranma's birthday 
is between January and April and will just assign a date to the others 
when necessary.]
 
[Author's note #3:  How does Keiko not know Kuno when Kodachi 
is supposed to have killed her parents?  To her, Kodachi was just a 
terrorist who poisoned a whole luxury cruiser for cash; she didn't 
care about Kodachi's history, or any previous connection with her 
parents.  Of course, since I'm defining character histories, there is 
no definite need to have Kuno exist in that particular alternate 
universe, just Kodachi.]
 
[Author's note #4:  The 'picnic' above is somewhat conjectural; 
while I have read reports of students and teachers cooking for the 
classroom in Japan, I am not sure for what age/grade that occurs.  
The manga makes it appear that Furinkan students bring their own 
lunch, so I decided to have them eat together with the rationale 
being that Kasumi doesn't have enough containers, so she packed a 
big lunch to be shared by everyone.]
  
  
Next:
Chapter 4:  New Starts
  
Keiko and Nabiki start a money-making venture!  Happosai returns!  
Kodachi returns!  The author displays his lack of any sort of fashion 
sense!  And Ranma asks Akane to marry him.