Ranma 1/2: Siblings
Episode 7

All Ranma 1/2 characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.  Viz owns the US
rights, and I'm using them without permission.  Don't sue me, I have no
money.

***

A quick note: Blade and others may want to kill me for the way I protray
Tarou in this, but these are his big scenes.  I think like Ranma, Tarou
needs a friend.  As for what I did with him romantically, I think it works,
so nyah.  (Besides, *I* think they'd make a cute couple.)

***

Andrew and Tarou walked into the Tendo household, and headed straight for
the dojo.  "Come on," Andrew said "we should be able to get in a quick
match before everyone comes home."  He glanced over at Tarou
apologetically.  "I don't think everyone will be too happy to see you."

Tarou shrugged.  "No matter, I'm not really that anxious to see fem-boy
anyway."

"Nice to see you too, Pantyhose."  Tarou and Andrew whirled to see Ranma
standing behind them, leaning against a wall.  Akane was behind him,
looking a little worried.

Tarou growled and started to make a move for Ranma, but Andrew shot a hand
out and placed an iron grip on his shoulder.  "No.  Let me."  Andrew walked
up to Ranma and quickly rabbit-punched him in the face.

Ranma reeled back and held his sore jaw, falling to the ground.  He looked
up at Andrew in shock and anger.  "What'd ya do that for?!"

"Don't be a jerk, Ranma.  Have you ever thought that maybe he doesn't like
being called that, or being reminded about it?"  Andrew growled at him. 
"He's here as my GUEST.  Treat him with respect."  He whirled on Tarou. 
"And you.  I don't want to hear one smartass insult out of you.  Got it?" 
He looked back at Ranma, then looked at Tarou again.

Tarou bristled, but after a moment relaxed, remembering that this man had
just defended him.  "Fine.  He watches his mouth, so will I."

"Good.  Now come on, I want to go spar."  Andrew trudged off to the dojo.

"Nice to see you, Akane," Tarou said as he turned to follow Andrew.

Ranma looked after the two.  "Andrew's gonna spar with Tarou?" he asked in
amazement.  He leapt to his feet.  "This I gotta see!"

***

Tarou faced Andrew in the dojo, panting.  "You're pretty good," he gasped.

"So are you," Andrew panted back.  "Call it a draw?" he asked, hopefully. 
Tarou nodded and sank to his knees.

Ranma yawned from the sidelines.  "Well that was boring," he remarked to
Akane.

"Ranma!  How can you say that?"  Akane demanded.

Ranma pointed at Andrew, who was prodding at his ribs, wincing.  "'Drew's
style focusses on misdirection.  He tries to fool his opponent into
commiting himself to an attack that is guarranteed to fail, using that as
an openning to launch his own attack."  

Ranma turned and guestured at Tarou, who was trying to work a sore spot out
os his shoulder.  "Tarou's hangs back, trying to find the perfect moment to
strike.  His style uses observation more than anything."  Ranma turned to
Akane.  "Get it?  Andrew kept on leaving opennings in the hope Tarou'd take
'em.  Tarou wouldn't, since he was trying to get a hang on 'Drew's rhythm
to find the perfect openning."

Akane was a little shocked at Ranma's excellent commentary.  She berated
herself for forgetting that no matter how dumb he appeared to be at times,
when it comes to martial arts he was a master.  However, one thing bothered
her, and she glowered back at him.  "Do they look like they never hit each
other?"

"Feh.  They didn't trade half the blows I would have with either one of
them," Ranma snorted.

Andrew looked up from his prodding and grinned over at Tarou.  "I told you
he'd say something like that."  He winced.  "God those forenuckle punches
hurt.  How the hell do you do them without breaking your hand?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing about those sword hands," Tarou
replied.  He groaned and got up.  "Thanks for the spar, I'd better go."  He
walked out of the dojo, nodding to Ranma and Akane.  "Have fun tonight."

Andrew sighed.  "See you around, Tarou." He got up and headed to the house.
 "Wake me up before you go, I have to get ready if I'm going along."  He
told Ranma.

Akane turned to Ranma.  "Why is HE coming?" she demanded, a bit of her
battle aura showing.

Ranma backed up a little, holding his hands up in surrender.  "Calm down,
Akane.  He's just going along as security."  He looked embarrased.  "I
didn't want any of the others ruining our date."

Akane's battle aura winked out.  "Oh, that's sweet of him," she said, and
turned and ran after Andrew.  Ranma watched her run off, dumbfounded. 
Akane caught up with Andrew on the stairs.  "Andrew!"  Andrew stopped and
turned around, and was suprised to discover Akane taking him into a bear
hug.

"Hey, what's this for?" he asked.

"Thank you for tonight," Akane said.  She gave him a squeeze.  "And for
making that bet with Ranma."

Andrew stiffened, *Oh crap, she knows.*  "Uhh...Akane, you're not mad about
the bet, are you?"  Akane released him and shook her head.

"No, I'm not mad about that."  Her battle aura suddenly glowed and she
decked him.  "But THAT's for what you said about my cooking, you jerk!" she
cried as Andrew flew up the stairs and crashed at the top.  She stormed up
the stairs, stepping over Andrew, and went into her room.

***

Ranma stood downstairs, looking rather impressive in his tuxedo.  Andrew,
in his usual blue and grey ensemble, looked him up and down.  "Looking
good, bro.  Have you got enough money?"  Ranma grinned at him and pulled
out his wallet, showing his brother the wad of cash inside.  "What the hell
did you do, rob a bank?"

Ranma snickered.  "All I had to do was mention the words 'date' and 'Akane'
to Pop and Mr. Tendo, and they couldn't wait to give me money."  He winced
as Andrew swatted him.  "What?"

"Great, now I have the loon squad AND those two to worry about," Andrew
snarled.  "Anyone else you'd like to call to make my job more difficult?"

"Don't worry about it, bro, Mom said she'd handle 'em," Ranma soothed. 
"She said something about standing over 'em with her katana."  He and
Andrew exchanged a grin.  Ranma looked at his watch and sighed.  "How long
does it take?" he demanded.

"Ranma, perfection takes time," Nabiki scolded from the stairs.

Andrew and Ranma looked up to see Nabiki come down the stairs, followed by
Akane.  Akane wore an elegant red evening dress.  It hung from her left
shoulder, the neckline making a diagonal line down to under her right arm. 
It ran down her body, hugging her curves to her ankles.  At the thigh on
the left side, the dress was slit, allowing them to see flashes of her leg
as she walked.  She wore red high heeled shoes, that made her hips move in
a rather distracting way.  Ranma tore his eyes away from Akane's body and
looked her in the face, and noticed with a little shock that she wore a bit
of makeup.

*God, she's cute,* Ranma thought.  *No, she's beyond cute.  She's hot!*  He
looked over at Andrew, who had his eyes closed and was chanting "She's
Ranma's girl" over and over like a mantra.  *Don't forget it, bro, she's
MINE.*

"How do I look?" Akane demanded.  Soun took one look at her and went into
his standard 'my little girl's growing up' wail.  Kasumi and Nodoka both
told her she looked very pretty, while Genma mentioned something about his
lucky son.  Akane turned to Andrew, and giggled a little as she saw him
chanting.  "I'll take that as a compliment, Andrew."

"Akane," Ranma began, his voice soft.  "You...you look..." He searched for
the proper words.  "Beautiful."  He cursed himself for not being able to
say how he truly felt.  *Beautiful doesn't even come close.*

Akane smiled shyly at Ranma.  "Thank you, Ranma," she returned.  "You look
very handsome yourself."  Ranma blushed and looked embarassed.  Before
Sound and Genma could start congratulating each other, there was a honk
from outside.

Andrew glanced outside the door.  "Cab's here," he said.  He got a pompus
look on his face and bowed deeply to Akane and Ranma, openning the door. 
"Young sir, young lady, your chariot awaits."  Akane giggled and Ranma
snickered as they went outside.  Andrew followed, but before he closed the
door behind him, he shot a glare at Soun and Genma, followed by a pleading
gaze at Nodoka.  "Mom, PLEASE make sure those two stay here.  I'm going to
have my hands full as it is."  Nodoka smiled at him, and he closed the door
and went out to the cab.  "The Parisienne," he told the driver.

As the cab drove off, a dark figure followed, leaping from roof to roof. 
*No offense Andrew, but if you're guarding fem-boy you're going to need all
the help you can get.*

***

The cab pulled up at The Parisienne, and Andrew got out.  "La Taverna," he
told the driver.

"What's he doing, Ranma?" Akane asked as they pulled away.

"He's being a diversion," Ranma replied.  "He figured since everyone at the
house knew I planned on taking you here, it would be best if I took you
somewhere else instead."

Akane looked at Ranma suspiciously. "This wouldn't happen to have something
to do with my sister, would it?"

"Well, yeah,"  Ranma said, embarrased.  He looked up with a bit of anger. 
"Are you trying to tell me she wouldn't sell that info to the others?  Come
on Akane, she's probably made a mint off of this date already!"

Akane started to grow angry. "She's my sister!  I can't believe she'd do
that!"

Ranma bit back the retort he was about to yell.  She was wrong, but he
didn't want to fight.  "Forget it, Akane.  You're right."  *Please, let me
be wrong about this.*

The cab soon pulled up to the restaurant, and Ranma held open the door for
Akane.  He offered his arm to her, feeling his heart race as she took it. 
The two entered the restaurant, not noticing their shadowy guardian.

*Smooth, fem-boy, very smooth.  I'd better go check on Andrew.*

***

Tarou bounced back to the Parisienne, and stood stunned at the wreckage out
front.  Craters littered the area, telling him Ryoga had been here. 
Likewise, the numerous chained weapons and shuriken littering the area was
a sign of Mousse.  He looked closer, and saw numerous black flower petals
and evidence of someone with a katana as well.  *And I thought I did
property damage.*  The restaurant itself was deserted, all of the occupants
having fled at the start of the trouble.  It was probably a good thing,
since the restaurant was now completely demolished.

Tarou hopped down to the front of the restaurant.  Inside was Andrew,
crumped on the ground.  His arm seemed to be broken, and he was bleeding
from a cut in his thigh.  Running to his side, Tarou examined him closely,
glad to see he was still breathing but worried about how the breath seemed
to rattle in his lungs.  Watching his chest, he realized only one side was
rising.  *Oh shit, he's got a collapsed lung!*  Tarou searched the
restaurant for a phone, and called an ambulance.  He noticed Shampoo on the
ground, rather beat up herself.  *You had better have been defending him,
girl.*  He looked at the evidence, and picked up a general idea of the
sides.  *Cat-girl, the duck, and Andrew against the pig and those other
two.  I wonder what happened to the duck?*

***

"Ranma, you're sweating, what's wrong?"

Ranma looked up from his meal and into Akane's worried face.  He laughed
nervously.  "Sorry, Akane, I just keep expecting one of THEM to show up and
ruin the date.  I guess I should relax, if anyone can handle them, Andrew
can."

Akane smiled back at him.  "Stop worrying, dummy."  Thew two ate in
companionable silence for a while, finishing off their meal.  Akane noticed
that Ranma was forcing himself to eat slowly, so as to not make a scene. 
At one point, Ranma glanced at his watch, and whispered something to a
waiter.

After dessert, Ranma glanced at his watch.  "I'd guess we'd better go, the
play's about to start in half an hour."

"A play," Akane asked, suprised, "I'm impressed, Ranma."

Ranma grinned back a little sheepishly.  "Well, we've been engaged for a
year now, I thought we should do something nice."  A waiter came by with
the bill on a tray.  Ranma looked at it, choked a little in shock, and
pulled out his wallet.  He counted out several large bills and winced as he
placed them on the tray.

"What play are we going to see?" Akane asked him as they walked out of the
restaurant to a waiting cab.

As Ranma opened the door to the cab, he smiled mysteriously.  "It's a
secret."

***

Tarou watched the cab drive off, and followed it, bounding from roof to
roof.  *Damn paramedics.  I hope Andrew's OK, he was beat up pretty badly.*
 He shook a little with anger.  *When I get my hands on those guys, I'm
going to do the exact same thing to them.*  He bounced up to a high roof,
and watched the cab as it went into a more modern area of the city.  *I
guess the best I can do for now is take over for Andrew.*

***

Akane and Ranma walked in the park after the play.  "You know, that play's
alot better for real," Ranma remarked.  "'Specially since you were there to
translate for me."

"Thank you, Ranma," Akane said softly.  "How did you get tickets to Romeo
and Juliet on such short notice?"  She looked at Ranma sidewise.  "Nabiki?"

Ranma grimaced.  "Yeah, and boy, did I pay for 'em."  They walked along for
a moment, each enjoying the sensation of being in the other's company. 
*Now or never.*  "Akane..." Ranma began.  "You remember that once scene
when we...uh...butchered that play?"

Akane kept her face neutral.  She knew exactly where Ranma was leading. 
"Oh, and which scene was that?"

"The k-kiss,"  Ranma stuttered, and swallowed.  "I'd...I'd like to try it
with...without the tape."

Akane smiled triumphantly.  She turned to Ranma and looked him in the
eyes,and slowly closed hers.  Ranma bent his head, and lightly brushed his
lips against hers.  She felt and almost electric tingle where their lips
had touched. Akane openned her eyes to see Ranma looking down at her
worriedly.  *That's it?!* she screamed in her head.  *I don't think so,
Ranma.*  She threw her arms around the back of his neck.  "Dummy," she
whispered, and gave him a much more thorough kiss.  Ranma stiffened like a
statue, but slowly relaxed into the moment.

***

Ukyo watched the two kiss from the shadows of the trees, and felt herself
burn in a mixture of sorrow and rage.  *You...you...hussy!*  She pulled one
of her throwing spatulas, and pulled her arm back to throw it, but found
her arm held back by an iron grip.  She turned and saw Tarou holding her
arm.

"Don't even try it," he growled.  "Do you really think he'd be yours if you
did that?"

Ukyo looked at the spatula she held in her hand in horror.  *Oh my god,
what was I going to do?  I can't believe I was going to kill Akane!*  She
crumped against Tarou, sobbing like a little child.  Suprised, Tarou
wrapped his arms around the sobbing girl instictively.  "Why doesn't he
love me, Pansuto?" she whimpered into his chest.

Tarou froze, his blood like ice.  *She knows!  I've...I've got to get out
of here!*  He began to drop his arms, but a new round of sobbing from Ukyo
stopped him.  *No.  For once, I'm not going to run.*  He held the girl
while she cried herself out, silent as the night.

After a few minutes Ukyo got ahold of herself, and looked up at him with a
wan little smile on her face.  "Thanks, Tarou," she sniffled.  She then
frown suddenly.  "Where's Andrew?  I thought he'd be here."

"I'm...helping out," Tarou told her.  "Andrew figured he'd need a hand." 
He looked back at Ranma and Akane, and saw them getting into a cab.  "Come
on, I'll take you back to your place."

***

Ranma paid the cab driver and led Akane into the house.  *This evening has
been perfect.*  He braced himself before openning the door, expecting a
barage of questions from curious members of both families.  He swung open
the door, and was shocked to see the house dark and empty.  He exchanged a
confused look with Akane.  "Hey, where is everyone?"  The entered the
living room, turning on the light to see Nabiki sitting at he dinner table,
sobbing into her hands.

"Nabiki?"  Akane asked, rushing to her sister's side.  "What's wrong?"

Nabiki looked up, her eyes red and puffy from crying.  "Andrew's in the
hospital!" she told them.  "He nearly died tonight!"  She started to sob
again.  "And it's all my fault!" she cried, and went into another round of
sobbing.

"WHAT?!" Ranma yelled.  "What the hell happened?" he demanded.

"Andrew went up against pig-boy, some guy with a katana, and some person
using alot of drugged flowers.  Black ones."  Ranma whirled and saw Tarou
standing in the doorway.  "Cat-girl and duck-boy were there too, but I
think they were on his side."

Ranma growled.  "Kuno and his damn sister."  He looked up at Tarou angrily.
 "How the hell do you know what happened?"

"Give it a rest, fe-Ranma."  Tarou stopped himself from insulting Ranma. 
*Andrew asked me not to, I won't.*  "I was the one who called the
ambulance."

Ranma looked at Tarou in suprise, and sagged a little.  "Thanks, Tarou," he
said apologetically.  

Akane held the sobbing Nabiki.  "Nabiki, it isn't your fault," she tried to
soothe the girl.  "You didn't know this would happen."  Akane seethed with
conflicting emotions.  She was angry at Nabiki, for betraying her trust,
yet she somehow felt that yelling at Nabiki now wouldn't help anything.

"I can't BELIEVE it," Ranma snarled to the room. "I can't believe they'd go
that far!"  He ran up to his room, and came down in his standard red and
black outfit.  "I'm going to get to the bottom of this!"  He yelled as he
ran out the door.

Looking at the furious Ranma, Tarou decided not to tell him about the
incident with Ukyo.  He turned to follow Ranma, who was already hopping
roofs.  *You're not doing this alone, fem-boy.*  He ran outside and began
to follow the boy.

***

How's that for a cliffhanger?  ;-)