Sorry for the delay...I just got around to reading this.  Its
a very nice short piece.  I like how you go from fear of disappointing
his father to fear of Akane.  Interesting look into the relationship
of Ranma & Akane.

"The Pit of Fear."
   -Henry J. Cobb

Akane stormed into the kitchen of the Tendo Dojo, a scowl on her face.
"Sorry I'm late, it's Ranma's fault.  Why does that idiot do these
things?"

"He does it because he's afraid."  Kasumi calmly replied, directing her
sister to a pile of vegetables next to the cutting board.

        Very nice intro.        

"I know about the cat phobia."  Akane slashed vigorously at the carrots,
"but that had nothing to do with what he did today."

        Interesting that Akane sees the cat phobia as Ranmas only weakness...
his only fear.  I dont know what Akanes mad about, but I dont care because
this conversation is getting interesting.

"There are things Ranma fears far more than cats."  Kasumi checked the

        Kasumi is very wise...and so are you.

oven.  "His father told me how after his first failure, he tried the pit
of hungry cats again and again, varying the recipe each time and Ranma
didn't so much as whimper until he felt the sharp claws upon him."

        Is this true or are you taking poetic license?

"He fears his father more than cats?"  Akane was now working the celery
down to hash.

        Akane sticks to character...even in cooking though you didnt
emphasize that since this is serious.

"He fears disappointing his father, more than he fears cats."  Kasumi
carefully stirred the broth.  "Since he could walk, Ranma's trained in
the martial arts, mostly to please his father, but now he disappoints
his father daily and is unable to help it."

        Good analysis of father-son relationship...maybe his father is 
something other than a comic character...you might want to explore
this in a future fic if you havent already.

"What does that old panda want?"  Akane now attacked the onions.
"Ranma's the best fighter in the world, and with his Cat-fist, he's
unbeatable."

        Akane knows him only as a fighter?  Oh, well, so do I...but those two 
really have to straighten out their relationship...

"That is not how he disappoints."  Kasumi motioned for Akane to add the
unevenly shredded vegetables to the broth.  "And what is so unbeatable
about the Cat-fist?"

        Kasumis starting to remind me of Cain from Kung Fu: The Legend 
Continues...

"The cat has no fear."  Akane first stirred the mixture vigorously but
switched to more even strokes as her sister directed.

"True, and where does Ranma wind up, every time he turns into a cat?"
Kasumi checked on the rice.

"In my lap, and then later the idiot claims not to have remembered

 
        How sweet...

<snipped gem of a line...gonna do some cut & paste>

"Why doesn't he pretend to be under the Cat-fist and curl up in your lap
sometime?"

"He couldn't, he wouldn't dare, he knows what I'd do."

        Besides, hes too macho to do that.

"But the cat has no fear?"

Akane paused for a moment.  "You mean Ranma fears me?  More than his
father or cats?  Why?  I could never lay a finger on him.  I keep
training so that one day I can wipe that smirk off of his face, but
it'll never happen."

"But he lets you kick him all of the time.  I think he finds it a relief
when you try and hurt him."

"He's afraid that I'll be nice to him?"

"More than anything else in the world dear.  I imagine he came down to
apologise for what he did today, but has simply been too frightened to
speak.  Isn't that right Ranma?"

        Wow...that was sudden...I can see the end of the fic coming.

Akane did not notice when Kasumi took the pot from her lifeless
fingers.  Akane slowly turned and she saw Ranma leaning against the
doorway.  His body remained in a confident pose, but his face was blank

>from shock.

"W-w-why did you do this sis?" Akane's fingers remained wrapped around
as if she still held the pot.

"I've been disappointed too."  Kasumi turned back to her cooking.  "You
both loudly proclaim your courage and indifference when the truth is
that you're each too frightened to take that first step.  I can handle
the rest of dinner, why don't you two go out back and face your fears?"

        Ah...Kasumis POV...very motherly and mature.

Akane put away her apron and approached Ranma, who hadn't even blinked.
She briefly considered towing him by his pigtail while shouting "Come on
you jerk!", but she relented and led him away by the arm.  "This way
Ranma, I think."

        Akane has to break that abusive habit of hers :)  That last piece of
dialogue seems to be a bit stilted.  It doesnt come out right to me.

        Well this is a short fic but it manages to analyze the various
relationships
in the Tendo/Saotome families--one of the first Ive seen <sorry, I cant read all
the fanfiction out there though Id like to try...and yeah, I have seen a lot
of Ranma/
Akane analysis...that wasnt what I was referring to>.  Even though the focus
is on 
Ranma & Akane and to a lesser extent Genma & Ranma, I see the mother/daughter 
relationship between Kasumi & Akane <yes, I know they are sisters...but
Kasumi is
very motherly>.  I can readily see this conversation happening when while they
are preparing dinner...in fact, this is the perfect situation for this
conversation to
take place.

        I really like this line & others like that.

<insert gem of a line>

 Akane reached for the vinegar, but Kasumi dissuaded her.

	Henry J. Cobb	hcobb@slip.net          http://www.io.com/~hcobb
   $Id: pit_of_fear.txt,v 1.3 1996/08/24 04:14:09 hcobb Exp $

The Venkarel
(very impressed)

PS  If a word seems weird, sticking an apostrophe in it might help.  My
keyboards on the fritz.