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Clogged Sink Press Presents:

The Crow/Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction:


                             As the Crow Flies


By Plunger

      All characters copyright of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan Inc. and
              Viz Communications, etc., etc., blah, blah, blah...
      The Crow is copyright of James O'Barr or whoever else owns it...  
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[Story begins...]

[Chapter #1 The Coming Storm]

Ranma and Akane walked of the Tendou-ke and headed for school. As they walked,
Ranma wrapped his hand around Akane's. She smiled up at him and said, "I can
hardly believe it, Ranma... Us...together. After so long... It's like a dream 
come true..."

Ranma smiled too. In fact, he couldn't stop smiling. Every time he saw Akane,
he felt a wave of joy wash over him that left him buzzing. They walked on in 
silence, each simply enjoying the other's presence.

"Last night was so wonderful, Ranma... I never thought I could be so happy..."
Akane said a little later, giving his hand an affectionate squeeze. 

Ranma blushed and looked down, "Well... Er... I'm..um...glad you enjoyed 
it..." he mumbled, overcome with embarressment. He still coudn't believe
what they had done the previous night. After telling her how he felt and 
asking her to marry him, she had changed almost in an instant. It was almost 
as if she had been waiting for a chance to...to... He stopped, the thought 
making him blush even more.

Akane laughed at his expression and pulled him along, "Geez, Ranma! It's 
okay! We're engaged after all!" Ranma smiled sheepishly as she towed him 
towards Furinkan High.

Later that day, Ranma and Akane left school after a normal day of Kunou 
bashing, Hinako avoiding and kouchou chasing. They walked along the fence 
together, Ranma helping Akane to keep her balance when she needed it. If the
truth was to be known, however, she was deliberately overbalancing so that he 
would have an excuse to touch her.

As they neared the doujou, they noticed that all of the houses on their block 
suddenly had "For Sale" notices up. They stopped to examine each of the signs. 
The signs indicated that each house had been sold to some company.

Akane read the notice again and frowned, "I don't understand... Our neighbours
have all lived here for years... They were here when I was born! Why would 
they all leave at once?"

Ranma shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe they got sick of people blowing things up
and trying to kidnap their neighbors and stuff..." he said with a wry smile.

Akane rolled her eyes and bapped Ranma on the head, "Don't be silly... There
must be some reason for it..."

Ranma snorted and pulled her away from the sign, "Maybe.. We're not gonna 
figure it out here, anyway, so let's get home! I'm hungry!"

"You're always hungry." noted Akane sourly.

Ranma shrugged indifferently and pulled on her hand, "C'mon, Akane... We can
worry about it later..."

Akane reluctantly let Ranma drag her away from the sign. She kept looking at
it until Ranma pulled her around the corner. There was something about it that
bothered her.

When they arrived home, they separated, determined to keep their secret, even 
if it was difficult to stay apart for any period of time. The last thing they
wanted was to have another forced wedding, which they knew would be the result
if anyone found out about their little liason. Their family could be very old 
fashioned and they knew it.

Akane went into the kitchen, where Nabiki and Kasumi were. Kasumi was already 
cooking dinner and Nabiki was sitting on the bench sucking an icy pole and
reading a magazine. "Oneechan," Akane said to Nabiki, "Do you know why all 
the houses on our block are for sale?"

Nabiki grinned superiorly, "Of course I know..."

"And?" Akane prompted, waiting for the answer.

Nabiki held out her hand.

Akane snorted, "I'm not paying you!"

Nabiki shrugged and went back to her magazine, "So be it..."

Kasumi turned around and said, "Now, Nabiki... Don't tease Akane like that. 
Tell her about the realtors."

Akane turned back to Nabiki, "What realtors? What's going on?"

Nabiki shrugged, "Beats me... There were a bunch of realtors around a few 
days ago. Apparently they bought all our neighbors houses. They tried to buy
ours, but of course Otousan wasn't interested... Him and his traditions... 
They were offering a good price, too..."

"Oneechan!" Akane exclaimed in shock, "How can you say that?!" 

Nabiki grinned, "What? You and Ranma want it?"

Akane simmered for a moment and then asked, "Why are they doing it?" 

Nabiki sucked her icy pole and said, "I said I don't know... Unless there's 
oil under this area...Which I doubt... I can't really see the point... Unless 
they're planning some sort of multiplex development... Why didn't I think of 
that?!" She frowned, apparently angry at the thought of missing out on some 
easy money.

Akane gaped at her sister in shock. She walked out of the room and went out
to the doujou to find Ranma. She walked in to see him lying on the floor 
doing sit-ups. She snuck over to him and wrapped her arms around him as he 
sat up. He immediately grabbed her and flipped her onto his lap.

"Akane!" he exclaimed in surprise, "What's up?"

She grabbed him around the neck and kissed him, then said, "Someone has been
buying up all the houses on our block. That's what the signs were about."

"So?" said Ranma casually.

"So..." replied Akane with deliberate slowness, "There's something going on.
They tried to buy our house, too. But Otousan refused."

Ranma shrugged, "Weird... Why would anyone do that?"

Akane frowned, "That's what I want to know..."

Ranma laughed and flopped back on the floor, "Curiosity killed the cat, Akane.
Just leave it alone..."

Akane nodded absently and got up, "I guess so..." With that, she walked out,
leaving Ranma to his practice. Ranma, however, knew Akane well enough to know 
she would *not* leave it alone...

And he was right...

At dinner, Akane persued the matter with her father. 

"Otousan... What did the realtors say about the house?" she asked.

Souun looked up and shrugged, "They wanted to buy it. I explained that the
house was not mine to sell and that we would not be able to consider any 
offer, no matter how attractive it might be."

"Pity..." Nabiki added, getting her dark looks from everyone. 

"Did they say why they're buyin' it all up?" asked Ranma absently. He didn't
really care too much, but he could tell when Akane had a bee in her bonnet.

"Not really... They mentioned something about this being a growing area and 
them wanting to get a foothold in the market..." Sounn replied to Ranma's 
question.

Nabiki frowned, "It sounds fishy to me... This area hasn't been growing for
years! Why would real estate speculators be interested in it? I'd have thought
there'd be plenty of higher yeild areas."

Kasumi smiled and picked up a bowl of rice, "It's not ours to wonder why. 
Seconds, anyone?"

Souun nodded, "I suppose it's not, at that..."

Genma nodded also, eager to get in on the conversation, "That's right, Tendou-
kun. Just as long as you don't sell the doujou. We still need it for Ranma and
Akane when they get married..."

The entire family paused for Ranma and Akane to explode as they usually did.
But they sat in silence, having turned beet red much the the rest of the fam-
ily's surprise.

In an office, four people sat around a map. Three of them were men in suits, 
while the fourth was a striking looking woman with black hair with a streak 
of brown through it.  

One of the men was speaking, "We've got eight of the ten blocks... It wasn't
hard to get them to sell... A little money and a little push and they were 
quite happy to go..."

The man at the head of the table nodded, "Good. What about the over two?"

"The other two is actually one property... It's some sort of martial arts 
doujou. I talked to the owner, but he won't sell. He said something about it 
being part of an inheritance for his kids or something..." 

"Everyone has a price... Surely we can cut a deal with them..." the man at 
the head of the table said thoughtfully.

The other man seemed unsure, "I don't think so, Boss... He was pretty deter-
mined about it...I really don't think he'll-"

The boss nodded dismissively, cutting the other man off, "I might have to go 
and see him myself... This deal has gone too far for us to get out now... If 
neccesary, we will have to take drastic steps..."

The other men nodded in agreement, while the woman idly toyed with a switch-
blade.

That evening, Ranma sat on the roof of the doujou. He looked out at the 
moonlit sky without seeing. His mind was miles away, thinking of the 
pleasures of last night and the pleasures to come when he and Akane got 
married. After so long dreading the thought of marriage, he was now looking 
forward to it.

He was stirred from his reverie by Akane sitting down next to him. He looked 
over at her and she smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek, causing him to 
smile. 

"What was that for?" he asked.

"Just for being here..." she replied.

They sat in silence for a while, just watching the moon and enjoying the 
peace and quiet. As they sat, each thought of the other and of the new life
ahead of them...

[End part 2]
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