On Tue, 29 Oct 1996, Zen wrote:

Ranma 1/2 - THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD
EPISODE ONE: A NEW HOPE

	Ummm, I really don't think this is apropos, myself.

the door frame.

Ranma's voice was low and dangerous.  "Oyaji, just what does the
name 'Daitokuji' mean to you?" he asked.

	Uh-oh.

"Oh, yes, again!" Ranma answered Soun though his gaze never left his
father.  "But it gets better!  The daughter, Biiko, doesn't *like* boys.  I
was safe from her... until she found out I'm a *girl* half the time!"
Ranma's gaze darkened as he asked his father, "Now just who do you
suppose told her about *that*, ne?  Just what did you get for THAT
piece of information?"

	`Not to mention being from a good twenty years in the future... 
Well, you did promise me a crazier fiancee than Kodachi :-)  And what of 
Kei? 

murder in his eyes.  "Did you know, Oyaji, that she builds Battle
Mecha for a hobby?  Did you?  Do you know how many of those
things I had to destroy before I could get away?"

	Ranma's tough!

Ranma rolled over onto his side.  The wall provided no more
inspiration than the ceiling had.  <If I *were* to marry one of them,
which would it be?  How am I supposed to make a choice like that?
What choices do I really have?>

Kodachi?  A ghost of a laugh echoed through his memory.  Ranma
shuddered.  <I think not.>

She {ukyou} could be crafty though, just as crafty as Shampoo, in her own
way.  But the thing that stuck in Ranma's mind most about that was
that all of her schemes had at least *tried* to make sure that
everyone got some of what they wanted.  Like that time she had
tried to set Akane and Ryouga up on a date...

	Forgot her obsessiveness...

But did Akane even want to marry him?  He knew how Shampoo and
Ukyou felt, but Akane and he had never really talked much.  She was
such a mystery.  Ranma realized with a start that he had no idea how
she *really* felt.  Bloody well about time to find out.

Ranma sighed and got up.  He stretched and gathered his bath things.
No sense waiting.  For better or for worse, the time for decisions had
come.  He would begin by talking to Akane after dinner.

	And so the mistake is made...

"I ain't done NOTHIN'!"  No.  He had not come to fight with her.  This
was too important for that.  Ranma made an effort to calm himself,
and sighed.  "You're determined to make this difficult, aren't you?  I
want to talk to you about this iinazuke thing..."

"What *are* you talking about?!  How many times do I have to tell
you, we are *not* engaged!"

	Oops.
	*Not* what Ranma needs to hear.

Ranma was really starting to get angry.  Why was she making this so
hard?  It took all of his determination to keep his temper under
control and to keep from hurling insults back at her.  Couldn't she see
how hard he was trying?  "Do you really feel that way?"  he asked,
his voice tight.

Akane advanced on her tormentor.  "You bet I do!" she screamed.
"For all I care, the others can *have* you!  I wouldn't care if I never
saw you again!"

	Well, that's torn it...

"That would make you happy, would it?"  asked Ranma.  He couldn't
believe what he was seeing.  He couldn't imagine what he must have
done to make her this angry.  He had not expected this to be easy,
but he had not been prepared for *this*.

"It would make me ecstatic," she growled.

	`Oh dear.

<Is this what I've done to her?> he thought to himself as Akane
ranted on, unheard.  <Am *I* the reason that she's so angry all the
time?  Do I really make her that unhappy?>

	Sure seems like it.

Ranma felt something inside him snap - <No!> he screamed silently.
<This is NOT what I wanted.  I never wanted to fight you!  I don't
want to hurt you!  I want to see you smile!  You can be so cute when
you smile!  Why can I never make you smile instead of making you
cry?>

	Good question/

burning their way into his memory...  [I hate you! - I wish I'd never
met you! - I hate you! - Baka! - I hate you! - Hentai! - I hate you! -
Go off and DIE! - I hate you! - I HATE YOU!!]

	Nope.  Not the best response he could hope for.

Akane lay in her bed staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep.  After she
had cleaned up the debris from her fight with Ranma, she had taken
a hot bath to try and work out some of the tension.  It had done
wonders.  She had felt so much better in fact, that she had gone
looking for Ranma so that she could apologize for yelling at him.  She
had been in an awful mood when he had come to talk to her, and she
felt badly for having taken it out on him.

	Yep, *now* she thinks.

Well, she would get her chance, she thought.  The class trip would be
a perfect opportunity to find out what Ranma had wanted, without
having to worry about anyone making things difficult.  Maybe they
could even manage to spend some time together without trying to
kill each other.  That would be a refreshing change.

	Or someone else trying to kill one of them...

SKJAM!