To the people who noticed before, Tetewaki should be Tatewaki, I'll
fix it with the rest of the spelling/gramar mistakes, please forgive my
pathetic spelling.
Ok, I had a header to stick on all of these that was spell checked and
looked nice. Had is the important word. Apparently I didn't ftp it up
and now its history. Oh well, now you get to enjoy my lovely spelling...
Most of the characters in this fic belong to Rumico Tahakashi,
everything else is mine, especaly the bad grammer and Mrs. Spellings.
Bla bla bla.
Please C&C, especaly grammer and spelling. Bla bla bla. This fic is
in parts to avoid that choppy feel you get if I try to claim it was all
written in one sitting and not over a period of...uh...a long damn time.
Anyway here it is in nice bite sized chunks for your reading pleasure...
Matthew Trotter, 166 fanfics in my mailer, 166 fanfics
if I read one of those fanfics tonight
178 fanfics in the morning...
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Escape From Nerimia
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Part five: Day One
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I'm all busted up
Broken bones and nasty cuts
Accidents will happen
But this time I can't get up
-Green Day
--------------------------
It was a tight fit for all of them to get in the back of the cab.
Akane had to sit in Ranma's lap, neither of them looked happy about it.
Naturally Ranma had to open her mouth and ask Akane if she was planning on
going on a diet. The normal Ranma bash got started right away. Since
she was sandwiched between the brawl and Kasumi, Nabiki decided to break
things up.
"Girls, girls could you two refrain from fighting in the cab?"
Ranma opened her mouth to deny she was a girl, but appeared to
remember her mother in the front seat. Akane folded her arms, "I only
see one girl here. Ranko's such a tomboy."
Nabiki could see how much Akane was enjoying turning around the usual
roles. The look on Ranma's face was perfect. She didn't know if she
should be angry or not. Mrs. Saotome turned around to look into the back
seat.
"Akane, you shouldn't say things like that about Ranko, she's a
beautiful young girl. You might ruin her self image."
Ranma looked even more confused. She wasn't sure if she should gloat
over Akane being scolded, or mope because her mother was convinced that
she was a girl. The vacation was really beginning to get interesting.
"Where to lady?"
"Kasumi?"
"We are supposed to be booked at the High Powder Lodge."
High Powder? That sounded familiar. Where had she heard that name?
Something recent...Nabiki had a feeling that something bad was about to
happen. High . . . .Powder . . . oh no. . . .. High Powder was
where Tetewaki had invited her to go. Oh boy. This was not going to go
well. She wondered what Tetewaki was going to say.
------------
Ranma stopped a step or two in the doorway. Akane walked into her
back. Ranma was probably doing that on purpose.
"Ah, the pigtailed girl and the lovely Akane."
Was there some unwritten rule about at least one person you'd lest
like to see being on any vacation you went on? What was upperclassman
Kuno doing here? And if he was here...
"Ohhohohoho! Akane Tendo and the pigtailed girl, where have you
hidden my Ranma?!"
"oh man. maybe there is a good side to being stuck as a girl."
Kodachi looked radiant as ever. Akane couldn't understand how Ranma
failed to notice how attractive Kodachi really was[1]. At least Ranma
didn't fall all over himself to be with her...not like Ukyou or Shampoo.
"H..hello Kodachi," she hoped Kodachi didn't notice how nervous she
sounded.
Kodachi paled a little and looked around suspiciously[3], "Uh, hello
Akane Tendo.... ....what....uh...what have you done with my Ranma you ...
you .... you evil girl..."
"Oh, do you know my son as well?"
Akane turned around, she had almost forgotten Mrs. Saotome was with
them. This could be a problem...
"Oh, are you my dear sweet Ranma's mother?! Oh, mother, I'm so happy to
meet you!"
Mrs. Saotome looked perplexed.
"Don't tell me that Ranma hasn't told you about our relationship. Oh,
that silly Ranma, we're engaged! He told me he wanted me to be with
him forever."
R A N . . . . . . M A ! ! ! HOW COULD HE !!!! ASK H E R!?!?!?!?
"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. You see my son is engaged to Akane
Tendo. I wish we had known of your relationship before this....I think
my son has a lot of explaining to do."
"oh man. i'm really dead now."
"I'm sorry, what did you say, Ranko?"
"Uh, nothing, Auntie Saotome."
"Akane, I'm so sorry you had to find out that my son is an unfaithful
lout. I had hoped his father had raised him better. Perhaps it was
time they both earned some honor."
Kodachi looked like she was waiting for someone to rewind and go
through it again. Ranma looked like she had lost a couple of gallons of
blood. Akane wondered. Maybe, just maybe. Ranma might, conceivably, not
have asked Kodachi to marry him. It might just be Kodachi trying to make
her jealous of Ranma. There had to be something she could do to convince
Kodachi that she was going to marry Ranma[4].
"Well, lets not let something like that ruin our vacation, I will deal
with my son and husband when we get back home."
"Hello, Nabiki Tendo. I had not anticipated seeing you so soon. It
pleases me that we should be vacationing in the same local. Perhaps we
shall find a way to resolve our differences and be able to enjoy some time
together."
Tetewaki was sitting in one of the lodge's high backed chairs by the
fire. He looked very comfortable. Nabiki really wanted to join him, but
he was talking like an idiot again. That always irritated her. Maybe if
she tried being nice to him he'd quit...but then again, that would
probably encourage him to ask her out more. Not that she didn't want him
to...things just seemed so muddled...she wasn't sure what she wanted.
Kuno was looking at her funny now. A bad sign. He usually tried to make
her feel better by treating her like a princess, it never worked. Nabiki
hated to feel this way. She had always wanted people to treat her like a
princess. She wanted to be on top. But when she was with Tetewaki she
just wanted him to treat her like before, when she had been an equal.
"Its OK, Auntie Saotome, if you saw the way Akane hangs on Ranma you'd
know she's in looove."
"eeep! R A N K O!!!! You !!! YOU !!! AAAAAARRRRGGGG!!!!"
<BAM POW WHAM[5]>
Then again, maybe she didn't want to end up like Akane. There was no
doubt that Akane and Ranma were going to end up together...it was just
that she'd seen Ranma say or do the wrong thing and break Akane's
heart so many times....She didn't want to deal with that. Tetewaki
seemed to have a talent for doing the wrong thing at the wrong time and
leaving her feeling hurt. Maybe it was better if he did treat her like a
princess. Maybe that would keep him strait. But maybe it didn't have
to be like that.
"I wonder, sometimes, at the thought process that brings forth such
unthinking words from Ran.." Tetewaki paused and tilted his head to one
side, as if considering something, "..ko. I think I stems from a fear of
letting others know...her feelings. To admit your feelings, especially
feelings of love, is no small task."
"Tetewaki, can I ask you a favor?"
"I would do anything you ask."
"Don't treat me like a princess. Treat me like a friend."
Tetewaki looked at her and smiled. He suddenly looked really
handsome. She wasn't sure if it was the lighting in the room or just
that little thoughtful smile he was giving her. It made her want to kiss
him. Nabiki felt her heart skip a beat. She wasn't sure that this was
what she wanted...then again lately she wasn't too sure of anything she
wanted.
---------
[1] Though she was glad. Ranma was chasing enough girls[2] as it was.
[2] It was her turn to...uh never mind about that.
[3] After a while you start to know when to look out for cute little
girls in skating outfits...
[4] Bzzt...marry . . .bzzt..bzzt...Ranma...WARNING: General Disagreement
Fault. Please close all thought processes and restart Brain 95.
[5] I just watched that cheesy Batman movie...what can I say...
------------
"Akane do you and Ranko rough house like that all the time?"
"Uh...we.. . its good practice."
"I suppose. Well, you two go ahead and take the first bath."
Ranma looked at her sheepishly, "Akane can take the first bath, since
its kind of my fault...."
Ranma was taking the blame. ? Ranma was taking the blame? Ranma
never took the blame! She always blamed someone else. Ranma was going
out of her way to be nice. Wh...what if that meant she was serious about
the ....
"That so sweet of you Ranko, but the hotel is regulating baths.
Apparently there is some kind of trouble with the water heater. There is
a limit of two baths to a room per day. Now you two go ahead and take the
first bath."
Ranma was moving her lips, but words weren't coming out. Ranma was
such a pervert. It wasn't as if they were . . .go...ing...she...they..
take..bath . . .with. . .together.... Akane shook her head. It was no
problem. They would just take turns. Besides Ranma was a girl right
now. Akane grabbed Ranma and dragged her into the bathroom.
It was a small bathroom. Really small. The term single occupancy
should have been posted on the door. Two people could use it if they
were REAL friendly. Akane swallowed hard and tried not to think about
being ... she had been before....but not...it was ... before was chance..
..this was. . .would be ... they were...
"What do we do now?"
"We take a bath."
"H.h.....how?"
"First we take of all our cloths. Then we wash ourselves. I'll wash
your b .b.back and y..you can ww..w.wash mine. Then we take turns
soaking in the tub."
Telling herself it was just her cousin Ranko, and not her fiancé, was
working. So far she had been able to keep from worrying that Ranma(no,
Ranko) was in the same room as she was. It was working till she told
Ranma(Ranko, Ranko) to wash her back. Ranma's(Ranko, damn it) hands were
trembling when she touched Akane. They were also freezing, not
surprising, it was ice cold in the bathroom. Her hands kept trembling
the whole time she was washing Akane's back. Her touch was so light...it
was very . . .uh. ..not that. ...another woman was not. . .it was just ..
.that she couldn't stop thinking .. .it was still . ..Ranma. . ..just. . .
Ranko(Ha!) jumped when Akane put her hands on her back. As she washed
Ranko's back Akane wondered what Ranko was feeling. Was this as much
of... er . ...that is ... uh never mind...
After Akane climbed into the bath it took about another three seconds of
watching Ranma shiver and try not to look at her before she decided to
tell her to get in anyway.
"Ranko, get in the bath before you freeze to death."
Ranma looked at her, blushing as she did, "I, we, I can't. Its..."
Akane concentrated on thinking of Ranma as her cousin, "Look,
we...we're . . .you did...I mean I said yes...its ... so its..."
Ranma(oops, Ranko) was sweating, "We're not. . ..not yet... it...I..."
"We're both girls. Wh...wh.what c.could happen?"
With Ranma sitting(panicking) less than a foot from her, Akane's mind
went into over time with the things that could happen. The first and
fore most was the kiss that Kodachi had given her. It had been a deep
and soulful kiss. Kodachi was a girl. So was Ranma right now. Her
mind kept turning that thought over. She wished it would stop. She also
wished she could stop starring into Ranma's eyes. They were wide with
fear and excitement. Akane swallowed, she realized she was breathing
just as hard as Ranma was.
Akane reached out a trembling hand to stop Ranma from pulling away,
"Ranma I ... I want . .I want you to kiss me..."
Ranma's eyes got wider, "Akane...a..are .. ar. are you ...s.s.sure?"
Akane leaned closer, she could feel Ranma's rapid breath on her cheek,
"Y.yyes.."
<WHAM WHAM WHAM>
"Hey, are you done making out in there or what?"
"Nabiki, that's not nice."
They listened in silence to the sounds of two people falling out of a
bathtub, and rushing to dry off and put on bath robes.