ALTERNATIONS Chapter 3

A Day at the Rink
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Paul G Harrison
#include <Standard_disclaimer.h>
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Ryouga woke with a start. <Where am I?> he thought as he looked around
and saw only blackness. Slowly, the fact that he was in pig-form dawned
on him, bringing with it the memory of the previous night. Listening, he
heard Kasumi moving around int the room, opening drawers. <She's getting
dressed!> He closed his eyes tight, even though she was out of his sight
anyway. <Why do things like this always happen to me?> he lamented,
thinking back to his enslavement by the women of that Chinese Amazon tribe.

{Ryouga knew that he was close to his prey. At most, he was a day behind
that accursed Ranma and his father. If it hadn't been for than stupid pool
that cursed him, he knew that he would have caught them at Jusenkyou. He
considered how he able to maintain a proper heading, but only for an
instant. He realized, deep inside, that if he thought about it, it might
go away, and then he might never find Ranma and his father again. He
turned his thoughts back to Jusenkyou, and the pool that had made him less
than a man. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the women until
they had him completely surrounded. He looked up, startled. Noticing that
many of them carried painfully sharp-looking weapons, and most were
considerably less that fully clad, he did the only thing an honorable,
painfully shy young man could do: he fainted, blood streaming from both
nostrils.}

<Well, at least they cured me of that problem.> Ryouga thought ironicly.
He heard the sound of the door opening, and looked out from under the bed.
Kasumi was just going through the door, thoughtfully leaving it open.
Ryouga was grateful that he wouldn't have to stay here all day. Slipping
quietly through the door, he went looking for the bath, or at least someone
who could help him.

Down the hall, a door opened. Hiding in a shadow, Ryouga watched Saotome
Genma exit the room and head downstairs. Slipping out of the shadow, he
moved towards the door. <I hope Ranma is in there. I really need his help.>

Luck was with Ryouga for a change. As he entered the room, he saw Ranma
just rising from his futon. Ryouga squealed softly, trying to get Ranma's
attention.

Ranma looked down. "Huh? Ryouga? What are you doing here?" Ranma picked
the pig up and carried him out of the room. "I think a hot bath will do
you some good right now, eh?" Ryouga nodded, as Ranma brought him into the
bath.

Ranma was about to slide open the door to the bath itself when Ryouga
noticed the 'Knock First' sign hanging from the door. He wiggled a bit to
get Ranma's attention, than stared pointedly at the sign. Ranma noticed
what the pig was staring at with fear. <Oh man, that was close.> He knocked
on the door. "Hello? Who's in there?"

"It's me." came Akane's voice. I'll be out in a little while. Could you
come back later?"

"Okay." Ranma replied. Speaking to Ryouga, "We'll have to have Kasumi boil
some water for you." He was rather surprised to se Ryouga franticly shake
his head side to side. "Is something wrong, Ryouga?" Ryouga nodded. Ranma
turned and tapped on the door again. "Akane, are you dressed? I have a
littte black pig out here that needs some hot water, and he seems afraid
of Kasumi."

A few moments later, the door slid open. Akane stood in the doorway, water
dripping from her hair onto the towel around her neck. "What's wrong with
Ryouga-kun?" she asked, puzzled.

"I don't know. I'll ask him in a mintute." Ranma was about to drop the pig
into the water when the consequences hit him. "Um... Akane? Would you mind
waiting outside, please?"

"Huh?" she asked, confused. Then, realizing what he was talking about,
quickly left the bath and slid the door closed, all the while blushing
furiously.

Ranma dropped Ryouga into the bath. Ryouga felt his form resuming its
natural shape. Cllimbing from the bath, he gratefully accepted a robe from
Ranma. "Thanks Ranma. And for sending Akane-san out. I've got enough
problems."

Ranma querried, "What happened? Why didn't you want Kasumi to boil water
for you?"

Ryouga squirmed. "Well... I was afraid Nabiki-san would be there."

Ranma was surprised. "I thought you liked Nabiki. At least it seemed that
way, what with you staring at her all through dinner." Ranma gave Ryouga a
sly grin.

"Shut up!" said Ryouga. "Well... I... I guess I do like her, which is why
I didn't want to go downstairs for hot water. It's like this..." Ryouga
explained the events of the previous night, emphasising the fact that he
had spent the whole night under the bed with his eyes tightly shut. When
he finished, Ranma looked at him with sympathy.

"You're right." Ranma replied. "Running into both Kasumi and Nabiki
downstairs could have been fatal. You are going to have to tell Nabiki
about this, but we probably shouldn't tell Kasumi. I don't think she
could keep this secret, and if Tendou-ojisan found out, you'd REALLY be
in trouble. Why don't you go talk to Nabiki, after you get some proper
clothes, of course. You can probably smooth this over with little
difficulty," An idea occured to him. "Akane and I are going skating at
the ice rink today. Why don't you ask Nabiki out, and come with us?"

"But I don't know how to skate." Ryouga stared at his feet, ashamed.

"I'm sure Nabiki will be glad to teach you." Ranma answered with a grin.
"By the way, you had probably better find her before Kasumi mentions
anything about a pig to her."

Ryouga paled. He was about to rush out when he remembered his lack of
attire. "Um... could you go get my pack? It's probably still out by the
pond." Ranma laughed and went out to get it.

***

When Ranma had gone down for breakfast, Kasumi had asked if he had seen
P-chan, her new pet pig. Ranma had said that he had seen it leaving the
house, but assured her that it would be back. She had looked a little sad,
but had continued to make breakfast. Nabiki had been upset when Ryouga
told her about what had happened, but she had calmed down somewhat when
Ryouga asked her out. They had all had an early lunch, and were now
entering the newly reopened skating rink.

Ranma stood off to the side with Akane. "I hope you aren't mad that I
invited Ryouga and Nabiki" he whispered to her.

"It's okay." Akane whispered back. "To tell the truth, I was a liitle
nervous about this date. Not because of you," she said, noticing a hurt
look on his face, "but because I've never really been on a date before."

Ranma smiled at her. "Yeah, me too. Come on, let's skate."

Ranma led Akane onto the ice. Ranma was fairly proficient,moving fluidly,
never wobbling, as he moved around the rink. Akane, however, was magnificent.
She skated with a grace that made Ranma's heart pound. She would skate
forwards for a while, then twirl in midair, and continue on in reverse.
She did pirouettes and figure eights, all the while smiling with joy. Ranma
several times almost lost his balance, just trying to watch her graceful
form move about the rink. After several minutes, she slowed down by Ranma,
and began simply skating around the rink with him.

Ranma smiled at her. "You're really good. Did you ever enter any
competitions?"

Akane smiled back at him. "No, I just skate for fun. Competing would have
meant giving up on martial arts, and I won't do that." She saw Ranma slowly
reach his hand out towards her. Blushing slightly, she reached out and took
his hand firmly. They looked into each others eyes for a moment, both
smiling shyly. They continued skating around the rink, together.



Ryouga had had a hard time at first even keeping his balance. However,
after ten minutes of coaching by Nabiki, he was skating slowly around the
rink, wobbling, falling occasionally, but nothing too embarassing. After
he had a little confidence, Nabiki left him to skate by himself for a few
minutes. She wanted to try some of the moves she used to do. As she went
through the moves, it was quite evident that she was better than Ranma, but
nowhere near as good as Akane. She did manage to fall down a couple of
times, but she just picked herself up and continued, thoroughly enjoying
herself.

For once, Ryouga was having a good time. He was skating, which was an
interesting, new experience, and he was here with a really cute girl. <I've
never met anyone quite like her. It makes me feel good just being with her.
It's a great day.> It was at this moment that the fire sprinkler above him
chose to malfunction, spaying out cold water for a few seconds. The shock
of the cold water caused him to lose his balance and crash into a large
group that was beside him, brining them all down on top of him. As they
picked themselves up, no one noticed the small black piglet on the rink.
That is, almost no one.

Shiratori Azusa noticed the small black object a skated towards it. Upon
seeing that it was a piglet, she cried out, "Ahh... KAWAII!" Picking up
the unconscious piglet she continued, "Hello, Charolette. See this lovely
collar I have for you?" After removing the bandana from 'Charolette's'
neck, she pulled a small metal collar out of her pocket, fastened it
around his neck, and locked it.

Akane had also noticed Ryouga's transformation. <Oh no! Ryouga-kun!> She
tried to get to him, but couldn't get there in time to stop Azusa, so she
chased after her, calling, "Hey! Give back my sister's pet, P-chan!"

Azusa stopped and stared at Akane. "What are you talking about? This is MY
pet pig, Charolette. Go away!"

A young man in a fancy skating outfit skated up alongside her. He plucked
the piglet from Azusa's grasp and handed him to Akane. "I believe this
belongs to your sister. Please forgive my partner." Azusa began pounding
the back of his head. "I'm Sanzenin Mikado, and this is Shiratori Azusa.
She likes to collect 'cute' things and give them French names. Allow me to
appologize for her rude behavior." He drew a small toy from his pocket and
tossed it over his shoulder. Azusa glomped onto it and stopped hitting him.
Mikado skated forward and grabbed Akane, and bent down to kiss her.

Ranma arrived at the scene just as Mikado grabbed Akane. Seeing the
situation, he acted quickly. His hand shot out and grabbed Mikado's chin.
Pushing up sharply, he shoved Sanzenin away from Akane. "Leave her alone,
creep!" Turning to Akane, he asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Akane replied. "It's a good thing for him you got here when
you did. If he HAD kissed me I would have killed him!"

Azusa, having lost interest in the toy Mikado had thrown to her, skated up
again. "Give me Charolette, now!"

"No way!" Akane yelled at her. "This is P-chan. He's my sister's pet, not
yours! Now take this stupid collar off before I get mad!"

"Then Azusa challenges you to a skating contest. If you lose, you'll give
me my Charolette. If you win, I'll give you the key." Azusa smiled wickedly.

"And I challenge you" said Mikado skating up to Ranma. "No one touches my
face and gets away with it. Our match will be tomorrow at one o'clock."

Ranma and Akane looked at each other, both getting ready to laugh in the
faces of their challengers, when Ranma really took notice of the collar.
Seeing it tightly secured about Ryouga's neck, a horrible thought occurred
to him. <Oh man, if Ryouga changes back, that thing will strangle him!
We've got to get that key!> Before Akane could refuse, he turned and said,
"We accept."

Akane looked at him in surprise. Before she could say anything however, the
sprinkler decided to do its number again. This time it was Ranma who ended
up under the pile of people.

Ranma was trying to get the ringing out of her ears whan she was picked up
by a pair of strong arms. "Are you okay, princess?" asked Mikado, seeing
numerous scrapes on her face. <What a babe!> "Here, let me make it better."
He leaned in to kiss Ranma. Ranma was still a bit out of it, and couldn't
think what to do. Mikado's lips were almost touching hers.

Akane reached out and did the same thing to Mikado that Ranma had done just
a minute ago. Grabbing Ranma with one hand, and holding Ryouga in the other,
she said, "Let's get out of here."

As they left the rink, they ran into Nabiki returning from the restroom.
"Wow, I must have missed some interesting activity."

By this time, Ranma was fully conscious again, and so was Ryouga, Ranma
brought Nabiki up to date. "So that's why I agreed to the match. If we
don't get that key, Ryouga will die the next time he touches hot water."
Ryouga stared at her, fear written plainly on his face. "Relax, Ryouga,
we'll be very careful. Um... Nabiki? Would you mind having him sleep under
your bed tonight? Kasumi might accidently spill tea on him or something."

Nabiki was shocked that Ranma would even suggest sech a thing, but
realized it was the only reasonable solution. Ranma would look awfully
strange asking to sleep with a pig, and she was certain Ranma didn't want
Ryouga sleeping with Akane. The fact that she could be saving Ryouga's
life made the decision for her, <I can't let him die!> "Alright, he can
sleep under my bed. Now, let's get out of here."

***

Ranma was sitting in the doujou waiting for Akane. She came through the
door with the first aid kit. She sat down by Ranma and began to clean up
the scrapes on his face. After placing a bandage over the largest scrape,
she stood up. "You seem so vulnerable this afternoon, is something wrong?>"
she asked with concern.

"I came that close to being kissed by a guy" he said with disgust. "My
first kiss too" he whispered to himself.

Akane heard however. "Yeah, mine to. That's why I would have killed him.
I want my first kiss to be with someone I like." She look at Ranma with a
curious expression on her face. "Ranma? Would you like to kiss me?"

Ranma was taken aback. "HUH? A... Are you sure, Akane?"

Akane nodded. "I like you Ranma. I'm still not sure about this engagement
thing, but I did have fun today, more fun than I've had in a long time.
Besides, it might bring us luck tomorrow. We'll need it against those two."

Ranma stood up, too. "I like you too, Akane." He gently place his hands on
her waist and pulled her towards him. Akane put her hands on his shoulders,
and reached up to kiss him. They held the kiss longer than either had
originally intended, both lost in the feelings they were experiencing. It
might have continued indefinately if Nabiki hadn't cleared her throat.
Ranma and Akane sprung apart.

"Dinner's ready you two." Said Nabiki, grinning slyly. "Let's go." She
turned and left the doujou, Ranma and Akane following, both blushing.

***

Akane lay on her bed, her right foot resting on a throw pillow. Her ankle
was wrapped in a large bandage. Ranma, Nabiki, and P-chan were sitting
around her, concern on all their faces.

Akane was mad at herself. She had been talking to a friend on the phone
when she had learned something that she felt Ranma should know at once. She
had hung up quickly, and raced to find him. Unfortunately for her, she
tripped over one of her weights and, against all odds, twisted her ankle.

"Ranma, what are we going to do about the match tomorrow?" Akane asked.
"There's no way I'll be able to skate like this."

"Don't worry, sis" Nabiki interjected. "I skate for you. I might not be
quite as good as you, but I can hold my own."

"Yeah, it'll be okay" Ranma replied, trying to reassure Akane.

Akane was anything but reassured. "But you don't understand. Those two
aren't champion figure skaters, they're champion MARTIAL ARTS figure
skaters."

"Martial arts figure skating?" asked Ranma disbelievingly.

"Yes. I'm sure you could beat them, but Nabiki only knows basic self
defense. I'm afraid she'll get hurt tomorrow." Akane glanced at Nabiki,
her fear clearly visible on her face.

"I WILL do it." Nabiki said firmly. Ranma and Akane looked at her, saw the
determined look on her face, then slowly nodded.

***

The ice rink was packed to capacity. Everyone wanted to see the so-called
"Golden Pair" in action, even if they thought the battle would be short.
Ranma and Nabiki helped Akane into a seat near the edge of the rink.
Grinning mischieviously, Nabiki kissed the top of P-chan's head before
handing him to Akane. Laughing, she watched the piglet blush slightly.
Turning, Ranma grabbed her arm, and led her out onto the ice.

Azusa and Mikado were at the opposite end of the rink. When Mikado saw
Ranma enter the rink, he smiled maliciously. Seeing Nabiki however,
wiped the smile from his face. "Hey! Who is that?  This girl has no place
in our contest. Where is Tendou Akane?"

Ranma replied, "Akane twisted her ankle last night, so her sister is
filling in for her. I'm sure you don't mind. I mean, if we had to forfeit
because Akane couldn't skate, how would you be able to try to beat me into
a bloody pulp?" Ranma's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Mikado got an evil glint in his eye. "Ah, I see. She is afraid to face
the great "Golden Pair". That's understandable. Perhaps after I "beat you
to a bloody pulp" as you said, I will honor her with my company."

Ranma's mind went cold with fury. "If you so much as touch her, I'll kill
you! Akane is my iinazuke, and you are not getting anywhere near her!"

"We'll see about that!" Mikado grabbed Azusa's hand and began moving
towards Ranma and Nabiki.

The battle was over very quickly, but it didn't go the way the audience
had expected. Azusa and Mikado had immediately attempted their famous
"Wakare no Merry-go-round", but it had failed miserably. Sensing what
they were up to, Ranma had immediately released Nabiki's hands, and begun
twisting his body. This had caused the whole formation to collapse, with
Mikado on the bottom. After getting up, Azusa had just stared, in shock.
Nabiki had skated up behind her, and had knocked her out with one blow to
the head, surpising ever her. She had instantly pulled the key from Azusa's
pocket, and had placed it in her own. Mikado, taking this in, had decided
that his only chance was to use his ultimate technique, "Shiryou no
Bonodori". It had done him no good, as Ranma had simply outpunched him.

Nabiki skated quickly over to the rink exit. Scrambling across the floor,
she rushed to where Akane was sitting. Taking P-chan, she used Azusa's key
to unlock the collar about his neck. "There, that's better. Come on, let's
get you home." After removing their skates, they all headed back home,
Nabiki hugging P-chan, and Ranma helping Akane.

***

She had finally arrived. She had finally reached Tokyo. "Just you wait,
Ranma. I'll show you how Chinese Amazons treat men who beat them in
combat..."

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Ranma 1/2 Copyright Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan/Kitty Fuji TV etc.
Used without permission. No offence intended

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Paul G Harrison <root@pgh.vip.best.com>