(saotome@micron.net)
,-----------,
| Ranma 1/2 |
| "Koi" |
`-----------'
Episode 1: "Jealousy and Love"
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"Ranma..."
Akane looked so cute when she smiled... just like she was doing right
now.
"Akane..." Ranma enfolded Akane in his arms, bringing her into a warm
and loving embrace. Her eyes caught and held his own and he thought he could
drown in their endless depths.
"Ranma... Why can't you? Why can't you say it?" Akane pouted, still
radiating beauty.
"Say what, Akane?" Ranma gave her a gentle squeeze.
"Say that you love me."
* * * * *
Ranma shot into a sitting position as the dream woke him. He sat
holding his head for a while just thinking about what had transpired in the
dream. 'Wh-why was I even thinking about that? I'd never wanna hold that
tomboy let alone tell her I even liked her!' He shook his head at his own
statement, the feelings he had for Akane violently making him feel guilty for
even thinking of her as a tomboy. 'But she can be so cute when she smiles...'
The more Ranma thought, the more his head ached... but on top of that
he realized that Akane saying that to him would not be unwelcomed. He tried
to clear his head of the thoughts and feelings he was so suddenly aware of,
but just couldn't... So he did the next best thing and went back to sleep. A
thought crossed his mind before he slipped into slumber, 'Nah, she'd never
say anything like that to me. I don't even know if she wants to.'
* * * * *
Akane awoke to the sounds of two people fighting outside her window.
She slowly stood out of bed, throwing the covers to the floor, and crossed to
the window to see who was waking her from her wonderful dreams. Her mind
wandered back to the dream she had had that night. Ranma had approached her
and told her that he loved her. Akane shook her head as she realized that she
was taking on a faraway expression and thought vehemently, 'No... Ranma, that
jerk, wouldn't ever do anything like that. He doesn't even like me.'
That thought firmly in mind, Akane walked to her window and looked
out to see none other than Genma Saotome and his son, Ranma, going through
their daily morning practice. Her cheeks turned red just thinking about Ranma
and she resolved to punch him the next chance she got.
'That jerk woke me up from the best sleep I've had in ages!' She
thought bitterly.
* * * * *
Nabiki looked upon the table with her usual disinterest. Ranma and
Akane. She sighed inwardly. If it wasn't one thing it was another but no
matter how you cut it the two were ALWAYS fighting. Akane slapped Ranma and
began shouting at him. He looked almost as mad as she was and began yelling
back.
Nabiki sighed, audibly this time. "Why don't you two just admit that
you care for each other, kiss and make up, eh?"
"WHAT?!" Ranma and Akane shouted in unison.
"Oh, Saotome," Soun began, "They get along almost as if they were
married! It must be love!"
Genma nudged his son with a sly grin, "That's right isn't it, boy?"
Genma chuckled, "You must really like her to act like you're married to her!"
"Whadaya MEAN?!" Ranma yelled, as if the statement had somehow
offended him. "ME... like a... a... TOMBOY like HER?!" That earned him
another slap... he hit the floor with a loud *THUMP*.
"Who could EVER like a pervert like YOU, Ranma?!" Akane shouted.
Nabiki sighed. It would obviously be a long day. Suddenly a sly grin
crossed her face as an idea presented itself to her. She quickly hid it, not
wanting Akane or Ranma to catch on to her plan. She chuckled evilly inside at
her own genius. 'We'll just see, Akane and Ranma... I'll prove to you two
that you like each other... maybe even more.'
She sat down quickly to try to get a morsel of food before Ranma and
Genma, the human vacuum cleaners, had a chance to eat all of breakfast. She
inwardly shook her head when Genma and Ranma began fighting over a pickle.
* * * * *
Ranma sat atop the roof of the dojo looking at the setting sun. What
a day! He never wanted to see one like this again. Other than the day he
obtained his curse, today had to have been one of the worst he'd seen.
'Why'd she have to get so mad?!' Ranma thought bitterly as he
recalled the afternoon. On the way home from school he had been walking on
the fence, minding his own business when a bundle of purple chinese energy
had glomped onto *him*. He had tried to extricate himself from Shampoo's arms
only to be met by Akane's fist... right in the face. "Why do you *always*
have to hug Shampoo like that, you pervert! It's not enough that you already
have two fiancees but you chase her around, too! I can't believe you!" Akane
had then stormed off to the Tendo home.
'Where does she get off?' Ranma thought to himself, 'It's not like
she should care...' Ranma stopped on that thought. Care, that's it. Akane was
jealous that Shampoo hugged him like she did. 'Got you now, Akane,' Ranma
thought to himself in triumph.
* * * * *
Nabiki grinned to herself. She had seen the hurt way Akane had looked
at Ranma when Shampoo had glomped him earlier today. Jealousy was an emotion
that could be easily used against (or for, in this case) someone. She smiled
an almost wicked smile as a plan started to form in her mind. She would make
Akane jealous beyond belief and in that jealousy she might just find her true
feelings for Ranma. Nabiki walked up the stairs and into her room, closing
her door to keep the sounds of angrily thrown projectiles shattering against
her sister, Akane's, wall.
* * * * *
"Ranma no BAKA!" Akane shouted in a rage as she launched yet another
standard room object at the wall. It thumped off of it, leaving only a small
dent. A stark contrast to some of the holes she'd put in her wall before. She
sighed. How did Ranma manage to drive her to such rages? Why should she care
if Shampoo glomps him, it's not like she actually cares about that half-man
pervert, anyway. She sighed, her heart clenching as feelings for him started
threatening to overtake her. She beat them back like she always did.
'That pervert just *has* to let her hug him like that! She isn't even
one of his *real* fiancees!' She humphed and sat down on her bed, determined
not to spend anymore time beating herself up over this... she'd have much
more fun beating Ranma up over it. An evil grin spread over her face. Yes,
she could take this out on Ranma. She picked up her bokken, prepared to hunt
him down when a knock sounded at her door. How convenient, she wouldn't even
have to find him this time.
* * * * *
Nabiki listened through her door for the sounds of crashing to stop.
She calmly walked through the hall to Akane's door, opened it, and walked in
to see Ranma about to be thrown out the window by Akane. She grinned. 'Just
perfect,' Nabiki thought to herself while snickering inwardly, 'this'll be
much funner if they're already mad.' She couldn't wait to see the look on
Akane's, not to mention Ranma's, face. She took in a breath and began to
talk.
* * * * *
"Well, well. The lovers don't seem to be getting along,' said Nabiki
with a sly grin. She had just walked into Akane's room unannounced during one
of Ranma's beatings. Akane had been ready to launch him out her window, but
instead dropped him upon the entrance of her sister.
"What do you mean by that?!" Akane shouted, "Me... and that pervert,
LOVERS?!" She acentuated the remark by soundly bopping Ranma on the head.
"Oh?!" Nabiki looked shocked, "You mean you aren't, yet?!"
It was Ranma's turn to be mad, "You mean you thought that me and that
TOMBOY were... YOU MUST BE MAD!"
"Oh... Does that mean I can have him, Sis?" She asked Akane as she
walked (walked is a little light... it was more of a sexy saunter) over to
Ranma and placed an arm on his shoulder, looking him in the eye.
"Have him?" Akane seemed to draw a blank, her face almost void of any
emotion, a little jealous flame starting to burn in her eyes. "What do you
mean 'have him'?"
"Well, as my fiancee of course," Nabiki scoffed, as if it was obvious
what she had been hinting to. Ranma bigsweated as Nabiki drew him into a hug
and then put her arm around his back and held his waist.
"Your... f-fiancee?" Akane's face of wide-eyed shock wanted to make
Nabiki laugh out loud, she had enough trouble keeping a straight face through
all of this. Akane thought she was serious.
"Of course, silly," Nabiki replied coolly as she began to trace a
flustered Ranma's cheek with her index finger. "What else would I want him
for?"
Ranma's mind was about to shut down from the multiple shocks he had
recieved over the day. The possibilty that Akane had feelings for him had
started it on it's way to neural overload and this latest predicament with
Nabiki (along with the multiple blows to the head he had recieved from Akane)
were making him run on overdrive as it was. He just stood, flustered and
silent as he tried, to no avail, to process what was going on. Nabiki keeping
her arm around him wasn't helping matters any.
Akane stood, open mouthed and ready to faint. "You want Ranma as your
fiancee? I thought all you needed him for was pictures, and he can't be a
guy for that."
"No, of course not, Sis. If all I wanted him for were pictures I'd
have brought a bucket of water and a bra for him to model." Nabiki smirked,
Akane was taking the bait. Now to reel her in for the catch. "Besides, it's
not like you should care, hating him like you do." Akane flinched and Nabiki
knew that that subject was like walking on thin ice. She had better bring in
plan b, now. She turned toward Ranma and looked him in the eye, a slint of
humor in her own.
Akane almost fainted when Nabiki leaned forward and pressed her lips
to Ranma's in what seemed to her as a VERY passionate kiss. Nabiki's arms
coiled around Ranma's back and after a few moments of initial struggle his
mind gave up with a final thought of, 'Ah what the hell... Akane doesn't like
me so why should I worry,' and he leaned into the kiss, too, closing his eyes
and pulling Nabiki close.
Akane's cheeks turned red at this and fire played in her eyes as she
walked up to Ranma and Nabiki and pushed them apart. "WHAT do you think
you're DOING, Nabiki! He's MY fiancee!"
Nabiki flipped a stray hair out of her eyes, that had been a powerful
kiss. Ranma was better than she thought. Clearing her throat she answered,
"So? That's never mattered before. Why should you care if you hate him so
much, eh Akane?"
Akane stood in stunned silence, thoughts randomly rampaging through
her head. She opened her mouth to argue that she didn't care but no words
came out. Ranma just fainted, his mind finally shutting down. Akane took a
slight notice of Ranma's loss of conciousness and wondered if she would join
him. She had never been so flustered, angry, or... or... jealous! She started
when she realized that she was jealous. She couldn't take it if Ranma was
with anyone else... that thought in mind, her heart clenched violently,
making her feel terribly depressed. The tears began to flow.
"Nabiki! He's... he's... he's my Ranma." Akane put her head in her
hands and cried. "Don't take him from me!"
Nabiki smiled her confident smile. Akane had fell for it. 'Now to
make sure that Ranma doesn't botch this up when he wakes up,' she thought.
"Don't worry Sis. I wouldn't want him for my fiancee if my life depended on
it. Besides, he already loves you."
Akane froze, "He what?"
"He loves you. It's obvious, Sis. The way he looks at you, the way he
protects you, won't let anyone take you from him. He's always there when you
need him and he always come to your rescue. Ever wonder why he becomes almost
insanely jealous when another guy tries to win you over?"
Unconciously, Ranma sneezed drawing Akane's attention to him.
Akane remembered all of the times Ranma had come to her rescue. He
had saved her whenever she had been kidnapped. When Kirin had taken her as
his fiancee Ranma had come to stop him. When Toma had kidnapped her and asked
her to be his bride Ranma had come to her rescue and had even given up a cure
when they had fallen toward the spring of Togenkyo. He had blown it up... to
save her. The tears began to flow again, tears not of sadness but of a new
realization and of happiness. She knew he had to love her. There was no other
explanation. She remembered how he had been when he thought that she and the
forgetful boy, Shinnosuke, had been in love, he had almost confessed how he
felt.
Akane bowled Nabiki over with a hug, crying into her shoulder. "I'm
sorry! Thank you so much, Nabiki. You're right! I never put it all together,
but you're right!" Nabiki smiled at her and walked out of the room, closing
the door behind her. Those two had a lot to talk about. Besides, she had to
wait for Ranma to regain conciousness to give him his bill. She grinned,
wondering what his face would look like when she handed it to him.
* * * * *
Ranma blinked. His brain took over again and he looked up to see...
Akane?! Ranma quickly backed into the wall farthest from her in a defensive
posture, "I didn't do it! I swear! It's not my fault!"
"I know." Akane seemed strangely peaceful, Ranma thought, and why was
she... smiling?!
"Uh... Er... I thought you were... y'know... mad at me," Ranma said
sheepishly trying to sind out what was worth smiling over.
"How could I be?"
Ranma bigsweated, something was definitely wrong here. Akane stood
and walked over to him, sitting down beside him. "Are you feeling ok, Akane?"
"Never felt better." She beamed a smile at him that could have made
his heart skip a beat. She really was cute when she smiled... His cheeks
reddened considerably as he thought about her. He looked down suddenly
feeling quite bad and guilty over all the times he had hurt her in the past.
Quietly he whispered, "I'm sorry, Akane... I'm sorry I let Shampoo
hang onto me like she did." Akane's smile widened.
"It's ok," she told him.
"Ya know," Ranma began, his cheeks reddening further, "you really are
cute when you smile." He finished by smiling at her. Akane blushed and looked
at the floor.
"Thanks, Ranma. You really aren't a pervert."
"You really aren't a tomboy." Ranma mentally berated himself. What am
I saying?! That tomboy was beating the hell out of me a few minutes ago! His
pounding heart wrenched him from those thoughts as a warm feeling he was not
accustomed to spread through his chest and face. He wondered if... no. He
wasn't ready to vocalize his feelings just yet. He had admitted them, though,
which he guessed, was a good first step.
Akane's heart pounded as she look him in the eyes and didn't see any
hint of him joking in them. God but he had beautiful eyes, grey-blue pools
you could just drown yourself in. Unconciously she began to lean foward.
Ranma seeing this turned beet red and unconciously began to follow.
An inch from her face, his mind shouted out a warning which he promptly
ignored. A half inch, a milimeter. He looked into her eyes just to see her
looking back. On a sudden impulse he leaned foward just a little, brushing
her lips with his own. What did I just DO?! He beat down that voice again.
Akane's mind reeled as she opened her eyes, her face still only a few
milimeters from his own. 'We kissed... we finally kissed,' she thought to
herself as she joined Ranma in turning beet red. She suddenly made up her
mind and leaned forward again, bringing her lips slowly and gently to Ranma's
lips. Instead of breaking away easily again, she deepened the kiss and
wrapped her arms around Ranma's neck. He replied in kind by coiling his arms
around her waist. 'He's not resisting! He's not resisting!'
'Why am I not resisting?! Why am I not resisting?!' Ranma knew as the
warm feeling intensified and spread. He breathed in her intoxicating scent
and marveled in her sweet taste. He gingerly broke the kiss and just held her
in his arms.
Akane, saddened at the end of the kiss, was content to lay her head
against his chest. They both looked up in surprise when Akane's door almost
exploded off it's hinges and there stood Soun, Genma, Kasumi, and Nabiki, all
beaming at them. They were up and apart faster than anything else they'd ever
done and were looking at the floor, their faces an interestingly deep shade
of red.
"Saotome! What a happy day this is!"
"Good show, Ranma m'boy. Way to show some initiative! We shall have
to start planning their wedding, Tendo!"
"Oh, Akane," Kasumi smiled at her, "it's so nice to see you and your
fiancee getting along so well!"
Nabiki walked over to Akane and nudged her with a sly grin on her
face. "Good luck with the oervert, Sis. Man I'm glad you're the one who was
stuck with him and not me."
Ranma stood open mouthed, "But..."
"But what, Ranma?" Nabiki asked, "You didn't think I was serious, did
you?" She eyed him evilly, a glint of humor shining in her eyes.
"Nah, course not." Then something occured to Ranma and he almost
burst, "HEY! YOU WERE SPYING ON US, WEREN'T YOU!"
Akane, immersing herself in the realization that it had happened and
that it was real, did the first thing that came naturally. She laughed.
Somewhat unsurely the rest of the family began to laugh, too, Ranma almost
reluctantly joining in. The fact that her family had seen it made it all the
more real. The words "love you" would be just a matter of time. She took
Ranma's hand under cover of the commotion and squeezed it gently. He squeezed
back.
'Well, no dodging the fact I like her, now,' Ranma thought to himself
in amusement, 'maybe we won't fight as much, now.'
Akane and Ranma realized that a new horizon had been crossed and that
they had crossed it together. They had never experienced this level of pure
happiness that they had this day. It would be interesting to see how things
happened from here.
Ranma amended, 'Maybe it has been a good day after all.'
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Well, this is my first fanfic and although I realize it is a little
shorter than others that are out there, I hope to lengthen it by adding more
parts here and there as I do them. As you can probably see, I enjoy the
romantic side of Ranma 1/2 and also love the comedy, although I'm still
trying to get writing comedy down. Comments and criticism welcome and wanted
so please send it to saotome@micron.net and please, don't be too harsh. I
hope to start expanding this series as much as possible. Who knows when I'll
be done with it and moved onto something else. I make a few referrences to
the anime series. You can find these at comic shops, video stores (I get mine
mainly at Hastings and SunCoast Video) that carry them. I also reccomend the
animes I mentioned in this episode, which are "Ranma 1/2 the Movie: Big
Trouble in Nekonron China", "Ranma 1/2 the Movie 2: Nihao my Concubine" and
"Ranma 1/2 OAV: An Akane to Remember". Buy them, see them, love them.
Well, until the next installment (that is if people seem to enjoy this
one), Ja ne! ^_^
Mark Eymer (GenmaPanda)
(saotome@micron.net)
Special Thanks to:
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John Walter Biles, Marisa Price, and Joseph Palmer for showing me that
fanfic could include romance, my prereader and editor, Jason Machacek
(machacek@micron.net), and of course, Rumiko Takahashi for creating a
playground for me to use my spare time in.
Of course I'm using these characters without permission but I still
would like to give credit where credit is due:
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Ranma 1/2 (C) Rumiko Takahashi - Shogakukan, Inc. - Kitty - Fuji TV.
Exclusively licensed throughout the United States and Canada by Viz
Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.