----- Original Message -----
From: "D.F. Roeder" <dfroeder@flash.net>
To: "FFML" <ffml@fanfic.com>; "KaraOhki" <karaohki@snet.net>
Sent: Sunday, April 09, 2000 3:53 AM
Subject: RE: [FFML] [Fanfic][Ranma] Travels, Training and Trials,
Chapter 5
Travels, Training and Trials
Wheee! ^_^
*curtseys*
Thank you, thank you
[snip]
Ranma took the hint. "Our fathers got this bright idea
that I need to
get to know Akane and her sisters better, so this
Saturday I've got to
take Kasumi on an overnight training trip." The words
had barely left
Ranma's mouth when he began backing away from the
doctor. The look in
Tofu's eyes was frightening, to say the least.
"You WHAT? You told me you had no interest in Kasumi!"
"I was telling the truth! Let me finish, and you'll understand."
There was a slight change in the doctor's expression,
and his hands
relaxed.
A stressed Tofu. Run away!! :P
*Imagines a pretzel-shaped Ranma*
[snip]
Within seconds the water gun lay shattered on the ground
and Kuno lay
on top of the pieces. Ranma stood over him, fists clenched.
"Watch out where you aim that thing!" she cried. "I
don't mind you
getting ME wet, but why did you have to get Akane?"
"I--I--wasn't aiming at her," whispered Kuno. Then he
passed out.
A ring of students formed around Ranma and Akane. A
couple of the
older boys got close enough to touch Ranma, and one of
them poked her
chest.
"Hey, those are rea...urk!" The unfortunate student
spat out a couple
of teeth before collapsing.
Heh.
Is that negative or positive?
"Great," muttered Akane. "Two down, how many more to go?"
Fortunately, the other students took Ranma's response to
being poked
as reason enough to get inside. They scrambled for the school
entrance, leaving behind the rest of the water guns and
teakettles.
Ranma nabbed a kettle and used it before heading inside
with Akane.
"How does our teacher feel about students showing up
soaking wet?"
Akane just shrugged. "He'll ignore it."
Nothing odd about that... comparatively speaking. :j
This IS Nerima
*****
They arrived in the classroom with a few minutes to
spare, even though
they were the last students there. Ranma was surprised
when all of
Akane's friends came over to talk to him. Evidently
Evidently,
thank you
they were not
allowing Kuno's opinion of him to influence them. Pretty soon
everyone had introduced themselves, and a few people got
up enough
courage to ask Ranma for details about why and how he was cursed.
Their responses to his story surprised him. One girl
patted his arm,
tears in her eyes.
I like this acceptance by the others. Ranma's had damn little of it
in canon. Then there were all those offers by the other masters for
him to come back anytime -- I'm still waiting to see the upshot of
that, but hey! I'm moderately patient. :P
In this story he'll have a better time with people outside of the
Tendo home than with the people in it (with the exception of Akane, of
course). As far as the other masters are concerned, please continue
being patient.
[snip]
The morning passed quickly for Ranma, who was thoroughly enjoying
himself. He was exactly where he wanted to be--in a
real classroom.
It didn't take him long to realize that he had a lot of
catching up to
do. He'd missed a great deal during his travels.
Hopefully
Hopefully,
he would
stay long enough to learn something.
thank you again
[snip]
Another boy shrugged. "He DID defeat her. Wasn't that the whole
idea? Whoever defeated Akane would get to date her. So
why are we
trying to change the rules now?"
"Easy. He's an outsider."
Hmmm. Prejudice, even in the smallest of things, rears its ugly
head.
Sure does. Hypocrisy too.
[snip]
Genma got to his feet and headed for the stairs.
"Definitely. I'm
going to get hold of my boy and find out." He put his
foot on the
first step and narrowly missed being hit by a flying book.
"Get out of my room, you pervert! What makes you think
I'm going to
do your homework for you?"
Ranma ran down the stairs, retrieved his history book,
and ran back
up. Genma and Soun listened in disappointment as the argument
escalated.
"Hey, I just asked for a little help! You know I'm
behind the rest of
the class! Why are you being so uncute?"
FAKE! FAKE! :)
Well yeah! But will Genma realize that???
[snip]
The pen fell onto the desk, and Akane stared out the
window. If she
and Ranma decided they didn't want to marry, he was
going to leave.
She'd only known him a couple of days, so that shouldn't
make a big
difference in her life. If that was true, why did the
prospect make
her feel so bad?
"Make up your mind, Akane," she whispered to herself.
"Do you want
him, or don't you?"
Akane jumped. Where had THAT come from?
Heh. A subconscious is a terrible thing to waste. :)
GRIN
*****
Ranma and Akane left Furinkan's grounds as quickly as they could.
Their day had begun badly, and continued that way.
Evidently, Kuno
felt that if he continued to "demonstrate" Ranma's curse
to everyone
eventually they would realize that Ranma was a monster.
Suggest: Evidently, Kuno felt that if he continued to "demonstrate"
Ranma's curse to everyone they would eventually realize... (a small
nitpick, but hey, you're not leaving me any juicy errors anymore. :)
I'm not???
He met them
at the gates with a water gun, and Ranma had to go into
the school
female.
Getting into the school hadn't been as simple as walking
in the door.
A few of the older boys had ambushed Ranma, saying that
his defeat of
Akane didn't count, since he was an outsider, and not
part of their
group.
...Akane didn't count, since he was an outsider and not part of
their group.
Akane's reaction had stopped Ranma before he could reply.
"What does THAT matter? I NEVER said I'd date anybody
who defeated
me! That goes for all of you, and that goes for Ranma!"
[snip]
"I can only work for an hour, Ranma. It's my turn to cook dinner
tonight."
"That's okay, Akane. It'll look better if we get home
separately."
"Yeah, you're right." Akane was quiet for a minute, and then she
decided to ask Ranma the question that had been nagging
at her all
day.
"Have you ever had a girlfriend?"
Oops! Dangerous ground, me boy.
Yup, very dangerous.
Ranma stopped dead in his tracks. "Where did THAT question come
from?"
[snip]
"You haven't left anything for Ranma, Mr. Saotome,"
remarked Kasumi.
"If the ungrateful boy is late for dinner then there's
more for the
rest of us."
"For you, you mean," Akane growled. She couldn't
believe that Genma
didn't care if there was nothing left for Ranma, and was
very glad
there was a meal set aside for him in the kitchen.
Gah. Genma's such a slime. *Sounds of DFR beating up a Panda-chan
plushie.* :P
Not completely. Look for more insight on Genma later.
[snip]
"Fat chance. Daddy tried to teach me that, and I
couldn't do it."
"I'm not your father."
Akane suppressed the desire to agree fervently with
Ranma's comment,
and quickly turned away to hide her blush. "Let me heat up your
dinner."
Hehehe. Cute little bit there.
thank you!
[snip]
"I-I'm sorry. I can't help it."
"It's okay. I understand. Do you want me to leave?"
Akane's eyes flew open. "No!" Ranma was stunned when
she reached out
and grabbed his arm. "I'm not afraid of you. Try again."
Once more, Ranma got behind Akane and massaged her
shoulders. After a
few minutes he felt her begin to relax.
After a few minutes, he felt...
I did it again...thank you
Ranma continued
massaging
until he felt the tension disappear, then he turned
Akane around to
face him.
[snip]
Ranma scooted a little closer to Akane, touched her
hand, and took it
in his. "Funny thing about that. I lived in the same house with
Midori for weeks. It took time for me to feel that way
about her.
I've only been here a few days, and--"
He stopped short. Akane was staring at him, eyes as wide as they
could get. Did she know what he was going to say?
"I feel more for you than I ever did for Midori."
Almost before he
was aware of what he was doing, Ranma had Akane in his
arms, and his
lips met hers in the gentlest of kisses. She made no
attempt to stop
him, nor did she respond. Ranma let go and backed away,
waving his
hands.
O_o!!! This is *definitely* not canon Ranma, heh. I keep having to
remind myself of that from time to time.
Ranma continues to kiss Akane and holds up a sign (DF: THIS IS AN
ALTERNATE UNIVERSE!)
Akane holds up her own sign: LEAVE US ALONE, WE'RE BUSY!!!
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean--"
He was silenced by Akane's look even before she put her
finger to his
lips.
"It's okay. I think--I think I feel the same way about
you." Akane
kissed Ranma's cheek, got to her feet, and ran from the dojo.
Ranma remained where he was.
"We are in DEEP trouble."
YUPYUPYUPYUP!!
Yeah, but it's fun trouble
*****
Nabiki opened her door and looked out into the hallway.
She had heard
running steps, and then the slam of a door. Nabiki saw
the little
duck on Akane's door vibrating, so it must have been her little
sister.
She crept out into the hallway and stood listening.
Akane's closet
door opened, and she heard something heavy being put down on the
floor. Akane must be working with her weights. She
went back into
her room and closed the door.
*****
Akane sat staring at her diary. How was she going to put down in
words what had just happened? Her first kiss.
Something to remember
always.
So what did she have to remember? A brief embrace, a very gentle
kiss, and a great deal of surprise. So much surprise
that she had no
time to respond until it was too late.
"Diary, Ranma kissed me, and I just sat there. I
didn't even
move! Why was I such a coward? Oh yes, I kissed him
before I ran away. On the cheek.
Could I really be falling in love with a boy I just met?
Could he really be falling in love with me? I think so.
But if we get found out, our fathers will want us to get
married. We're too young.
I wonder if Mom knew about this agreement. I wonder if
Auntie Nodoka knows about it. I don't think so. She never
even gave us a hint.
Worrying about it isn't going to make it better. I think
I'll just do my homework."
Akane put her diary away and replaced the weights. She
had the best
intentions as far as doing her homework was concerned,
but instead of
starting it
it,
she continued to worry about her situation
until a glance
at the clock told her to get started.
Yup, fixed the comma, and realized I have "starting" and "started" in
the same sentence. One of them has to go!
*****
Ranma sat on the dojo floor, chin in his hands. He had
nearly blown
it--big time. Impulse had caused him to put his arms
around Akane and
kiss her. He was damned lucky that she didn't freak
out. Then again,
what she had said was really scary.
She cared for him. He cared for her. Did he dare use the word
"love?" After only three days? No, this could only be physical
attraction? Right?
Ranma sighed, and gave up. He was asking himself
questions that were
too hard to answer. He left the dojo and went upstairs
to get his
homework done. When he passed his father and Mr. Tendo
on his way to
the stairs, they were still playing. It amazed him how
his father
could retain his skills when he spent so much time
sitting around.
Amazes a lot of us, actually. :j
*sends Genma to Jenny Craig*
As
Ranma climbed the stairs he found himself wondering how
much better
Genma would be if he practiced as much as he played, or
if he lost a
few pounds.
A scary thought.
See above
[snip]
"I think we need to avoid talking about ro-romantic
stuff. Let's just
get to know each other as people, not as boy-girl.
Think we can do
that?" Ranma looked at Akane's serious expression,
wondering what was
going through her mind.
"We can try, but isn't that sort of like trying to stuff
the genie
back into the lamp once you let him out?"
/me nods.
I see we agree
"Oh man, we ARE in trouble."
Teeheeeee!!!
Ranma got out of the chair
and started
pacing around the room. "Forget it. He's out, and we
can't get him
back in, can we?" When Akane shook her head, Ranma knew
he was right.
"Then forget the rules. We'll just try to take it slow,
and we have
to be REALLY careful not to let anybody know what's going on."
[snip]
Something in Kasumi's brain began to percolate. If her
father didn't
like it, maybe she could use it to her advantage.
"I don't like lying to Father."
"Don't you? How many classes have you cut to see Tofu?
If you tell
him that he was with us, I'll say it was YOUR idea. How
well will he
take that?"
Kasumi gulped. Ranma had her backed into a corner. He
was smarter
than he let people believe.
/me chants to self, "Not canon... Not canon..." :P
At least you're not spelling it cannon
Then they arrived at the house, and Kasumi saw something
that made her
believe she had an edge.
Akane was sitting at the table reading when they walked
in. Her eyes
met Ranma's and the look in them was very familiar. It
was the same
look she saw in Tofu's eyes when he looked at her. She
quickly turned
to look at Ranma, and saw the same expression as he
looked at Akane.
It was time to start watching the two of them.
This is a regular little Peyton Place you've constructed, June. Heh.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave and all that.
Very nice. TTT is moving along nicely, and the romance is budding.
Ah, to be young and in love. ^_^
I'm glad you like it! Thank you for the help.
June