Subject: [FFML][Fic][Ranma/SM]PB #8 (part 2)
From: Shade
Date: 5/31/1999, 6:07 AM
To: Fan Fiction List

Private Bet #8
by Shade
Chapter 1: Love and other dirty four letter words.

If you want previous parts and the other Private Bets 
go here -> http://members.xoom.com/Ranma_Tenchi/main.html

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and Sailor Moon are the series 
of other people. Skysaber came up with the original 
"Emotional Checking account", it was too good to pass up.
~~~~~~~~~~
Part 2: Of Minako and Men.....
~~~~~~~~

Ranma smiled as he walked back 
toward the Tendo household. Today 
had been the best day of his life. He 
hadn�t felt this good since.....
since...
.....since Ucchan.

A friend.
He�d finally found a new friend at last.
And maybe someday......something more.

Nothing could spoil his mood at the moment.

*Splash*

Well......almost nothing.

The pigtailed red-head shot a dirty look at the old lady, 
she was STILL cleaning the sidewalk at this hour?!

She (formerly he) started to walk away, then paused 
in midstride as an idea hit her. This Horse was 
through with letting people ride him into the dirt and just 
letting them get away with it. It was payback time....
~~~~~

Ranma pressed herself against the wall surrounding the house
to avoid detection. Grinning mischieviously she hefted a bucket 
of cold water she�d gotten from a garden hose, listening carefully for 
the sounds of her target on the other side of the stone wall. 

Heave-ho!

*Splash*

An old woman screamed in utter 
outrage as she was drenched
by an icy downpour.

The pigtailed girl clapped a hand over 
her mouth to keep her laughter from escaping 
and giving away her location as she ran off.

Revenge was sweet.
~~~~~~~

The Tendo household was concerned, where was Ranma?

Akane had arrived earlier saying that �the Baka� had been 
delayed and would probably be coming back later.
The hours had passed, dinner came and went and still 
no Ranma.

Kasumi had put aside part of the meal for 
him despite Genma�s protests. Even Akane was starting to 
worry as guilt over her earlier actions began to set in. She�d left
him behind when she knew he couldn�t walk, could something 
have happened to him?! Maybe she should go out to look for that 
jerk and yell at him for making them worry!!

Just as Akane sprang up to tell her father that she 
was going out to look for her not-fiancee (she didn�t 
really care about him, but it just wasn�t right to leave 
him out there) a cheerful and badly out of tune whistling 
floated up from the front door. 
~~~~~~

�How dare you worry your father like that Ranma! That kind 
of irresponsible behavior is a disgrace to the Saotome family!!�

Nod.
*Mumble, mumble*
Nod again.

�Pay attention!!!�

The younger Saotome was occupied with matters of a more important 
nature, namely feeding the black hole laughingly referred to as his 
stomach. This lecture had been going on ever since he�d set foot back in the 
Tendo residence, but experience had taught him how to tune out the old 
man�s irritating voice. After a quick �Hello� to Kasumi and the wonderful
discovery 
that she�d saved him some of dinner he�d gotten right down to business.

Fifteen minutes later the edge had been taken off his hunger.

�Thanks a lot Kasumi. I really needed that, it�s been one heck of a day.�

He shot her a grateful smile that seemed to light up the room.
That was the straw that broke the back of the camel of restraint.

�YOU JERK!!! First you get us all worried and now 
you�re FLIRTING with my sister!!! Keep your perversions 
away from Kasumi!!!�

�Knock it off ya stupid tomboy, it was your fault I was late!�

Akane�s fist rocketed out. Her method of winning an 
argument wasn�t logically sound but very effective none the less.

*Klong*

A sharp flash of pain to his forehead was 
the last thing Ranma remembered
as he collapsed.

Genma took this oppertunity to make off 
with his son�s dinner and devour it before 
anyone could stop him.

Seeing that he wasn�t going to be waking up anytime
soon the rest of the household left the unconscious martial 
artist where he was at Genma�s insistance �to toughen the 
boy up�. That didn�t stop Kasumi from covering him up with
a warm blanket for the night, or Nabiki from rooting around 
in his pants (get your heads out of the gutter!) for enough yen 
to pay for the old pillow she slipped under the large lump 
protruding from the pigtailed boy�s thick skull.

�He never learns. Akane�s definitely 
going to be wearing the pants in their marriage.�

Well, as long as she got paid it was none of her business....

�Nabiki! It�s not nice to say things like that.�

Kasumi shot her mercenary sister a disapproving look.

�Well Tendo, it looks like the sparks between our children 
are heating up, they�ll be married in no time!�

�Yes Saotome, soon our dream of uniting the schools 
will at last be fullfilled!�

Tears of joy poured forth from Soun�s eyes....

Once the sake was produced there was no going back.
~~~~~~~

Gurgles of nausea erupted forth as the viewers were put through
the Anything Goes Singing and Drinking chorus line.

�What reality are those two morons living in?�

�Even the Gods don�t know that one, Bard.�

The Guardian felt a need to pay tribute to the porcelain god.
Bad enough that they were already pulling out microphones, 
but Disco?!

Somebody smite them, please!
~~~~~~~~~~

The changes in the timeline started to snowball....

That last punch had been the final blow.  

The emotional credit limit of one Ranma Saotome 
for Akane Tendo had just been reached and overextended.
The act of kindess that would have pulled it back into 
the black and locked the boy into his unhappy fate was 
not delivered this time. 

In hopes of having her as a friend Ranma had given Akane a *huge* 
starting balance of emotional credit when they first met (the equivalent 
of a platinum card).  But over a short amount of time her childish temper
tantrumsand cruel abuse had used that initial sum all up. The first required
payments to keep the account active had been made by Genma and Soun, their
insistance on the engagement being a matter of honor had just been able to
satisfy the first interest payment incurred. But the debt had still remained
and this time without any positive deposits, without even a single kind word
or smile from the Tendo girl, Ranma�s heart had no choice but to shut the
account down.

Meanwhile a new account had just been started by one Minako Aino.
*Her* account with him was firmly in the black....
~~~~~~~~

Of some importance later on but not having anything 
to do with what was happening right now was the first meeting 
between Usagi Tsukino and a black cat with a crescent moon on 
its forehead had just taken place on the same day.

The white cat with the crecent moon on its forehead 
on the other hand did have an immediate bearing on 
the story at hand so while a certain martial artist visited
la la land the scene shifted toward a certain girl�s bedroom 
where Artemis was giving his charge a long and very through
lecture on why it was dangerous to even think of getting in a 
relationship with anyone at the present time.....

�Blahblah......It�s too dangerous....Yakkity yack......You can�t afford to 
relax your guard......Etc...etc.... remember what happened last time? 
Minako?  Minako?! MINAKO!!!�

The attractive blonde he was addressing was busy hugging a stuffed 
teddy bear to her chest as she lay in her bed and replaying that run in 
with that boy again. Her smile seemed to have an extra glow to it, one 
that had been missing for weeks ever since she had to move to Japan.

�He had such dreamy eyes....Did you say something Artemis?�

*SPLAT* 

After picking himself up from his facefault the cat leaped
up to reach an equal level with the daydreaming girl�s head.
That was one of the drawbacks of his feline form, how could 
anyone expect to take you seriously when they had to always 
look down at you? 

�You are not going to see that guy, whatshisname again. Understand?�

�Ranma Aino....not bad.....Minako Saotome.....that has a nice ring to it.�

Veins started to throb and bulge on his head as 
the cat guardian began to hyperventilate.

�MINAKO!�

�I�m kidding Artemis. Sheesh, you�re no fun at all.
It�s not like the world is going to end if I just happen
 to make a friend here. And as for what happens later...
well...who can say?�

�Nothing is going to happen, that�s what! We have a very 
important mission remember?!�

�I know, I know. Protect the world from the evil 
Negaverse. Honestly, that doesn�t mean I can�t 
have a life as well!�

�What�s gotten into you Mina??! You�re not 
acting like yourself!!�

�What are you talking about Artemis? I feel fine....just 
so much more alive now.�

�See! that guy�s already having a bad influence!�

�I told you already, all we did was talk. Ranma�s really a 
very nice person at heart. It�s not his fault that he�s scared of 
cats. You really shouldn�t have teased him, maybe an apology is 
in order.�

�Me?! Apologize to that....that...scoundrel?!�

�Why Artemis, you sound almost...jealous.�

�I AM NOT JEALOUS!!!�

Minako�s laughter rang like a melody of fine silver bells,
a innocent sweetness that was pleasing to the ears and uplifting
to the spirit. For a certain moon cat it was pure torture....
~~~~~~~ 

-The next day

*CRASH**POW*SMASH*
*CRUNCH**SNAP**POP*

[I give up! I give up!]

�I�m not finished yet Pop! Take that!�

Ranma grabbed the wooden sign that his father 
turned panda had been waving around and beaned 
him a good one with it.

*KLONK*
*SPLOOSH*

Landing on one of the rocks bordering the koi pond, the 
pigtailed boy shot his unconscious opponent an
angry glare before stepping toward the house to 
get ready for  *ugh* school.

�Feeling better Ranma?�

�Not really Kasumi. Stupid old man would have 
to go and eat my dinner and leave me out cold in 
the dining room.�

�I�m sure things will turn out all right in the end. By the way, 
breakfast is ready. I made extra helpings since I knew you�d be 
hungry once you woke up.�

�Thanks Kasumi!�

But when Ranma didn�t immediately go charging in to eat
Kasumi looked quizzically at him. Altough he had only been  
here for a few days she knew that this was not like him at all.
Something seemed different about him today....

She couldn�t quite put her finger on it but it was almost as if.....

As if.....

�Um.....Kasumi.�

�Yes Ranma?�

�Did you put that blanket on me?�

�Yes I did, why do you ask?�

�Oh, no reason. I just wanted 
to...um...thank you.�

Was he.....blushing? What could that possibly mean?

�You see I�m not really used to, um....I mean...that it�s 
that not many people have ever really done something 
nice like that for me before...�

�But surely your father....�

Ranma started to snort in digust but then changed his mind 
and he just looked at her straight in the eye.

�Oh....I see.....he wouldn�t, would he.....�

Silently he shook his head.

�So anyway, uh..that�s all I had to say...um....�

For a moment he raised his head and looked at her as 
if he wanted to say something more. Then the moment passed 
and the martial artist ran off to the breakfast table.

�Oh my, what was that all about?�

If she didn�t know better she could have sworn that......
~~~~~~~~

Ranma silently cursed his cowardice.

What had come over him? He�d just been thanking 
her when a something had caused him to take a second 
look at the eldest Tendo daughter. He�d never realized 
exactly how pretty she really was before. It was as if he�d 
been wearing a blindfold for the past few days and had just 
removed it this morning. Then when he�d been about to tell 
her that he�d decided he was not going to go through with this
engagement with Akane he just couldn�t do it. Kasumi was so 
nice and considerate that she didn�t deserve to be hurt by his 
decision and its consequences. Or at least that was what 
he kept telling himself.

Maybe after school was over he could find Mina-chan again.
That thought cheered him up immediately. But he�d have to take extra 
precautions to keep the curse a secret, that had been one thing he�d left
out of yesterday�s chat. Ranma hated having to hide the truth from Minako
 but he didn�t have a choice as he saw it. He didn�t want her to think he was
a weirdo or some kind of pervert. Once he was sure that she could accept him
as he was, that she wouldn�t reject him because the difference a few degrees
in the temperature of any water contacting him made...then he�d tell her all
of it. Till then, he�d just make sure to watch out for cold water when he was
with her.

It was a perfect plan.
Nothing could go wrong.

And pigs would sprout wings and migrate to Canada.
~~~~~~~~~

�He really thinks that stalling will make it easier? That never works!�

The Bard wasn�t quite as dumb as everyone thought he was.

�This is going to get ugly....�

Rowan sighed, he�d been in the same situation once before.
It was better to just get it over with, waiting would just make 
things worse.

�50 gold coins say that he can�t keep 
her from finding out for more then a week.�

�You�re on Shadow.�

The Guardian couldn�t resist a smug grin.
This was one bet he couldn�t lose!

Of course that was what he�d thought the last 
ten thousand times too.
~~~~~~~~~~
-Somewhere, Somewhen

Sailor Pluto felt the first 
signs of a major migraine forming....

(to be continued)

~~~~~~~~

Hi ho! Hi ho! With Murphy's Laws we go!

Never forget that your weapon was made by the lowest bidder.

No combat ready unit has ever passed inspection.
No inspection ready unit has ever passed combat.

Professional soldiers are predictable; 
the world is full of dangerous amateurs

-Mad Dog's Pallidium Humor Files

____________________________________________________________________
Get free e-mail and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com/?N=1