I knocked this out tonight, since I've had a number of errors in the
previous chapters pointed out to me.  So, I'll be doing a complete
overhaul of the whole damn thing.  I'm shooting for April 1st for the
re-write. 


    Chapter Nine -- These Are A Few Of My Favorite Foods...

	*This has been the longest 24 hours of my life.*  Ranma leaned over
and took a quick sniff.  Then another quick sniff.  He leaned closer and
took a long smell.  "It smells good...?" 
	"Great!  Now taste it."  It was hard to be hopeful, after the
number of times Ranma had insulted her cooking, but Akane was anyway.  *I
just know he'll like it this time.*
	Ranma took a bite.  He slowly chewed it, and swallowed.  He 
grimaced slightly at the taste, and drank from his glass of water to wash 
out his mouth.  Then he waited.
	A few minutes passed, with all three of them looking from one to 
the other.  Ranma looked bored, Akane looked curious, and Skuld 
looked...  dumb-founded.  "So...  how was it?"
	"It was...  an improvement."  Ranma took another bite.  It was 
clear it didn't taste very good, in fact, you could tell it tasted pretty 
bad.  Ranma pushed his plate away from him after wahing out his mouth 
again.  "Still needs a bit more work."  *No, it needs lots more work.  
But, it didn't kill me either...*
	Akane traded expressions with Skuld.(1)  "You mean... it was
better?"  At Ranma's nod, her face changed from dumb-founded to happy, and
she took a bite.  *Yuck.  This is terrible.*
	Skuld allowed her curiosity to get the better of her, and she too 
tried it.  *Hm...  We've got a long way to go still.*

				*****

	Ranma walked up to the store front of a small shop, and knocked 
on the door.
	A voice called out from the other side of the door, "Gomen, we're
closed already." 
	"Konatsu, it's Ranma."  Ranma heard nothing for a few seconds, 
then the door opened for him to see the Ucchan's kawaii waitress.
	"Konbanwa Ranma.  Come in.  Ukyo is in the back washing dishes." 
	"Arigato."  Ranma walked in back to see Ukyo finishing up the 
dishes from the day.  "Hiya Uk-chan!"
	"Ran-chan!  But, wasn't Akane cooking tonight...?"  *This is it 
girl, your big chance.  Don't blow it now.*
	"Yep."  Ranma grinned.  "Don't worry, I survived."
	"I see.  Was it...  good?"  
	Ranma went bug-eyed.  "Have you forgotten who we're talking
about?!?" 
	Ukyo grinned and giggled.  "No, of course not!  I was just
kidding."  *So, it's still terrible then.  I'll be a bride soon.*  "I'll
bet you're still hungry then."
	"Well...."
	Ukyo walked over to the grill and turned it on.  "One deluxe 
okonomiyaki, coming right up.  And then, how about a game of poker?"
	"But I don't have any money."
	*We could play strip poker...*  "Oh, well, we'll think of
something."
	
				*****

	"I'd say it was a success."
	"He didn't even finish it!  Ranma no baka."
	"Well, it does need more work.  Give it time.  Before you know 
it, you'll find him asking you to cook for him."
	Akane sighed.  "I hope so."
	Skuld smiled at her pupil.  "The way to a man's heart is through 
his stomach.  And with the way he eats..."
	It was hours before Akane could think of Ranma eating without 
falling down laughing.

				*****

	Ranma was whistling as he walked home later that night.  *I 
wonder why she reacted so oddly when I said we could play for something 
else.  Oh well.  That game 'Hearts' was fun too.  Even though I lost.*
	Halfway there, a small notice on a pole caught his attention.  "No
way!  Martial Arts...  I didn't know they had a competition for *that*." 
Ranma ripped the flyer down and took it with him.  *I think I'm going to
end up entering this.  Every time we have any sort of competition, I
always end up in it.  Might as well plan ahead this time.*

				*****

	Two figures crept into the house, as silent as shadows.
	"The coast is clear, they've gone to bed," whispered one to the 
other. 
	"Saotome, something must be done.  We'll starve if we have to 
Akane's cooking."
	"Don't worry Tendo, we'll think of something.  Don't we always?"
	Soun stopped and thought for a few minutes.  Finally, he 
answered.  "No, not always."
	Genma looked nervous for a few seconds.  "We will this time.  Our 
very lives rest on our doing so."
	"Not to mention our stomachs."

				*****

(1) Akane went from curious to dumb-founded, and Skuld vice versa.  


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