Continued from part 22
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RANKO 1/2
Part 23
"Is easy"
Ranma holds Akane tight to himself, as he continues the kiss with
closed eyes. Akane's shock is slowly wearing off, to be replaced
by fury. Just as she is about to free herself and boot him into
orbit, a voice rings out.
Voice: Hold it right there!
<Splatter, Splish>
Nabiki is standing behind the pair. She has just turned Ranma
female again with a kettle of hot water.
Nabiki: Say, Ranko... Why are you kissing Akane?
Ranko's eyes snap open, to look right into Akane's nonplussed
face. For a second, nobody moves. Then Ranko slowly backs out of
the embrace, looking at Akane in total astonishment.
Ranko: I was kissing her because... I... I was...
Akane: [hisses] Nabiki! You were planning this all along!
Nabiki: Of course. I figured that would be one situation that
she couldn't find an explanation for.
Akane: Why didn't you tell me?!
Nabiki: Huh? Would you have done it, if I had told you?
Akane: Of course not!
Nabiki: Well, then it would have been pretty pointless to tell
you, right?
Akane: Uh, sounds logical... Hey!
In the background, Ranko has fallen to her knees, her hands on her
temples. She hears nothing of the quarreling siblings - she hears
only an echo of her own words.
Echo: I was kissing her... was kissing her... kissing her...
kissing her...
Ranko cries out in pain. Akane's head snaps in her direction.
Akane: Ranko! [hurries over] Are you all right?
Ranko: Uuuhh...
<KA-THOOOM>
The wall bulges inward and breaks. In the hole stands Shampoo,
with her bonbori ready.
Shampoo: Ranko, Korosu!
Akane: Awww, not *now*!
She stands up and moves between The amazon and the groggy Ranko.
Shampoo makes one bonbori vanish and wags a finger at Akane.
Shampoo: No. Shampoo come for Ranko now. Violent girl Akane
wait till is her turn.
Akane: You can't kill Ranko!
Shampoo: Shampoo *can*; must! Then she marry Ranma. [narrows
eyes] Shampoo sure she can find time for Akane in
between.
Ranko: [gets up unsteadily] Uuuhh... How many times do I have to
tell you, Shampoo? I won't marry you.
Akane almost jumps at this.
Akane: [thinks] She remembers!
Shampoo: Silly Ranko. Shampoo *kill* Ranko - marry *Ranma*. Is
easy.
Ranko: Not quite as easy as you think.
Shampoo: Ha! You talk brave now, but one day Shampoo win.
Ranko: That was not exactly what I meant. Nabiki? Why don't you
fetch a bucket of cold water, while we calm the living
wrecking ball down?
Nabiki takes off, thankful to be out of the way of violence,
before Akane can cry out.
Akane: No, Don't! Ranko, you can't tell her!
Ranko: Sure I can.
Shampoo: Tell Shampoo what? Where is Ranma?
Akane: [never taking her eyes of Ranko] I guess he'll be here
soon.
Ranko: [grinning] He'll arrive with Nabiki - in a way.
Akane: [whispers] What are you thinking?
For a moment, they stand still. Shampoo with her bonbori ready;
Ranko in fighting position; Akane besides Ranko. Then Nabiki
arrives back with a bucket as ordered. Ranko takes the bucket,
while Shampoo cranes her neck to look down the hallway.
Shampoo: Where Ranma?
Ranko: Over here.
As Shampoo turns, Ranko splashes herself with the water.
Everything seems to slow down. Ranko grows taller and changes
into Ranma before the astonished amazon's eyes. Shampoo's jaw
drops, as do her bonbori. Ranma waits for a few seconds, then he
takes the kettle, that is still on the floor, and upends it over
his head. Shampoo twitches as Ranma reverts to female form.
Ranko: You see? You can't marry Ranma. Ranma is just me in
disguise. It's a secret, but now you know.
Shampoo's slack jaw begins to move, as if she was saying
something. Suddenly she lunges forward.
Shampoo: K- korosu!
Ranko frantically brings up her arms to deflect the punches - but
they never hit. Shampoo has stopped short, without connecting.
When Ranko looks up at her face, she sees tears rolling from the
amazon's face. Shampoo backs away, then abruptly turns and
hurries out through the hole in the wall.
Shampoo: [running] Bie liao!
The three girls stare after her. Then Nabiki flourishes a
Chinese-Japanese dictionary.
Nabiki: Bie Liao... That means...[flips pages]
Ranko: [without turning her head] I guess I know what it means.
Akane: [regaining her speech] What were you thinking?! You
could have made her believe that you were really male.
Ranko: Huh? But then she would have tried to marry me. This way
she just wanted to kill me.
Akane: Oh, *now* it makes sense.
Ranko: Well, she thought I... I was in love with you. Um. So
she would have tried to kill *you* instead.
Akane: I can very well look after myself!
Ranko: Sure! You may be good, but don't flatter yourself -
Shampoo is faster. She had you on the mat once already.
Akane: [hefting the chair] Is that so?
Nabiki: My, it's good to see you two back to your old selves
again. Whatever would we have done for entertainment
otherwise?
--End of Part 23
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To be continued.
This one's pretty short, text-wise, because I visualize these
parts to be aproximately equal in length to the usual manga part,
and the action called for a lot of big splash panels. Therefor
it's short.
I also had a scene planned, where Ranko apologizes a thousand
times for kissing Akane in a rather unflattering manner. Akane
then boots her, leaving open if it was for the kiss - or for the
apology. :)
And before those people, who always tell me to make a couple of the
two, start again: This is as close as it gets. Okay?
There will always be a kind of ambiguous tension between the two,
but *don't expect wedding bells*! You'll only be disappointed.
Many thanks to Kun-chan, Zen and everybody who offered help, when
I was stumped on part 21. You know which parts are yours. :)
Sebastian
--
<http://enterprise.mathematik.uni-essen.de/~bastian/>
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Feel disillusioned? I've got some great new illusions.