Brand new author!  Very first fic!

     Konnichiwa!  Tonbo desu!


                      -= PREVIOUSLY =-

(Akane, having learned about The Plan, has been yelling at Ranma in the
Dojo.)

Days of practice fought against his natural urges, and he did not go to 
her.  He opened his eyes and looked at her, silently standing his 
ground.

"YOU STOP THAT!" she screamed!  "YOU STOP THAT RIGHT NOW AND TALK TO 
ME!"

"You don't want to talk," he thought to himself, silently.  "You just 
want to yell."  But he said nothing.

Akane screamed a battle cry as she raised her fist and charged!  Ranma 
jumped back, back, back, as she continued to come forward, bouncing away 
from her until he reached the wall.  Then to the side, then forward, 
toward the other end of the dojo, going around her safely and spinning 
as he went until he was facing her, moving backward again.

She turned and stared at him, stunned.  That wasn't right.  Some part of 
her knew she should have been able to connect.  She could always connect 
when it mattered!  From his safe distance, he was watching her, waiting 
... taunting?  "If you're so good, Ranma," she said icily, "why don't 
you fight me for real?"

Ranma only watched her.  For the first time he realized that Nabiki had 
been right.  He LET Akane hit him.  He wasn't sure what to do with that 
information yet, but he knew she wouldn't be doing it today.

Akane wasn't willing to pursue again.  She fell into that trap too 
often.  He would taunt her until she went blind with rage, then he would 
bounce around her and put her down, telling her she was slow, was 
clumsy, was ... was uncute ... was ...

But he wasn't.  He wasn't saying a thing.  He was just standing there.  
Akane was confused.  She should either be beating him, or he should be 
humiliating her.  That's how it always went before.  That's how it 
always was.  Always.  But ...

But he was looking at her again.  Just like he had before on the roof.  
Just like he had been all week ...

... just like Nabiki and Kasumi ...

... and somewhere in Akane's mind, something finally connected ...

... and she shut up ...

... as the two of them stood facing each other in silence.

-

and now ...

-

THE PLAN, (part 7 of 7! (Yatta!))
a Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by Tonbo, 
based on the real life plan created by my 7 yr old brother.


-

"Hey Sis," called Nabiki, stepping off the back porch.  "What'cha just 
standing there for?"

Kasumi came out of her reverie and looked at Nabiki.  She hadn't touched 
a single article of clothing for several minutes.  "Actually, Nabiki, I 
was wondering if you could give me some advice."

"Uh-oh," thought Nabiki.

-

Akane moved to the far end of the Dojo and began warming up.  She 
couldn't help but notice Ranma watching her, and she wanted to snap at 
him, "What are you looking at?"  But she forced herself to stay silent 
and tried to concentrate on her workout.  Ranma watched her for a little 
while, then went back to his own forms.

Because Ranma had started his workout earlier, he finished while Akane 
was still only half-way through hers.  Instead of leaving, he sat down 
in his corner of the dojo and watched her practicing.  She looked over 
at him a couple of times, but didn't say anything, so he decided it must 
be all right.

Akane was concerned.  Why was he staring at her like that?  What was his 
problem?  Was she doing something wrong?  She really wanted to tell him 
to stop it and go away, but she had decided that if he was going to play 
this stupid game, then so was she.  She wasn't going to say a word, no 
matter how much she wanted to.  It was making her so nervous!  What did 
he think of her skill.  Was he critiquing her?  Was she doing everything 
right?  Did he think he could do better?  Probably.  He was always 
conceited like that!

"Ranma!!"

"Huh?  Uh, what?"

She stopped herself.  She was NOT going to start this conversation.  She 
was going to shut up if it killed her!  Hmph!  He probably didn't think 
she could do it.  She'd show him.  She went back to what she had been 
doing, forcing herself to ignore him.

"Wonder what that was about," thought Ranma.

-

"So you see, Sis, I don't think I ought to be telling anyone how to do 
this anymore.  I only just started it myself."

Nabiki sat at the table with Kasumi, drinking tea.  They had shared with 
each other their earlier conversations with Akane, and were each 
relieved to know they weren't the only one who had found it traumatic.

"But if you're not enjoying it, then why do you continue?"

Nabiki looked uncomfortable.  There were very few people in the world 
she could talk openly with.  Kasumi was one.  And although they didn't 
talk often, they had always gone to each other, since the death of their 
Mother, for advice about personal problems or family issues.  The two of 
them had held the Tendo home together when their Father had been too 
grief-stricken to function, and although they were both paying prices 
for their early responsibility, it was all they knew.  With a conscious 
effort, Nabiki lowered her emotional defenses and confided the truth to 
her big sister.  "I don't want to be beaten by Ranma."

"Ah," replied Kasumi, "if he can do it, so can you."

"Yeah.  It started as fun, then, when Akane got mad, it turned into 
damage control.  Now it's a matter of pride.  One thing about Ranma, he 
never gives up.  Ever.  He's the biggest challenge I've ever met."

"Perhaps we ought to ask him for his advice, then."

"I think he has his work cut out for himself already.  I'm afraid we 
might just be a distraction if he has to think about us too.  Besides," 
she said, grinning, "I don't really like the idea of asking Ranma for 
help.  I like being the teacher too much.  I think I'd make a poor 
student."

"Well, you seem to be doing a good job with him," Kasumi said.  "I don't 
think you ought to stop giving advice quite yet.  He probably still 
needs your help.  And maybe you and I can just talk about it together 
and help each other out, okay?"

"Sure thing, Sis.  I'd like that."

"So, the first technique I should practice is to Shut Up?"

"Um, actually, I just broke it up like that because Ranma can be so 
clueless.  The three techniques aren't really so different from each 
other.  In some ways, they're not really even 'techniques.'  They're 
sort of the same thing.  I don't think you or I need to concentrate on 
just one or another.  I think we can do all three at the same time."

Kasumi gave Nabiki her thoughtful look.  Nabiki had seen that look her 
entire life.  Long ago, she had learned that it usually paid to listen 
closely to whatever followed it.

"Don't you think you might be underestimating Ranma?  He seems to be 
handling Akane as well as you or I, and his recent problems with her 
really began because he was practicing only the first technique, without
the second, right?  In a way," and this she said as gently as only 
Kasumi could, "that was more your fault than his ... right?"

Nabiki sat silently.  She had no reply.

-

Akane finished her workout and toweled herself off.  Then she looked 
over at Ranma, still sitting in the corner.  She wasn't going to say 
anything.  She wasn't going to say anything.  She wasn't going to.  She 
wasn't!

Ranma suddenly felt very nervous with Akane staring at him like that.  
"I wonder what she's thinkin'.  She probably thinks I'm a pervert or 
somethin' from the way I been lookin' at her.  That's what she always 
says.  I should probably say somethin'.  Better make sure it's not 
Stupid.  Hmm ..."

The tension was mounting inside Akane, and she wasn't sure she could 
handle much more.  "Why doesn't he say something?  What's wrong with 
him?  What is he looking at?!"

"I gotta say somethin', don't I?  I mean, sayin' nothin' would be 
Stupid, right?  What should I say?"  The emotional pressure made him 
want to blurt out the first thing he could think of.  "No, no!  That'd 
be REALLY Stupid!  I know that'd be wrong!  It always is!  What would 
Nabiki tell me to do?  'What would I tell a new student?'  Basics.  
Start with the basics.  'When in doubt, Shut Up!'  Right.  Okay, we're 
back to that."

Knowing what to do is a wonderful thing.  Having made what seemed to be 
the right decision, Ranma was able to relax.  He calmed down somewhat 
and continued looking at Akane.  "Maybe she'll say somethin' first," he 
thought.

Akane saw the faintest hint of what might have been a smile cross 
Ranma's features, as he seemed to relax.  "He looks pretty comfortable," 
she thought.  "He's not going to say anything.  Well, fine!  Then we 
just won't talk to each other anymore.  We'll never speak to each other 
ever again, and it'll all be his fault!"  And with that thought now 
firmly seated in her mind, Akane turned and walked out of the dojo and 
back to the house.

"Well," thought Ranma, "that went better than I expected."

-

"And she really didn't say a word?!"

"She started to once, but caught herself and stopped."

Ranma had reported his most recent experience to his coach.  Nabiki 
seemed to be having a hard time accepting it.

"Ranma, she was furious!  I've never seen her so mad before!  Kasumi 
said the same thing!  No one yells at Kasumi, you know that!  But Akane 
did!  She was completely out of control!"

"I'm tellin' you, Teacher, she didn't say a word the whole time!"

"That's amazing!  Do you suppose ...?"

"I don't know.  I wanted to ask you what you thought."

"Well, if she has adopted The Plan, then we've won."

"What do you mean?"

"If she's started Shutting Up, then it can only go uphill from here."

"Why?"

"Because you two feed off of each other like a plague!  If we can just 
get the two of you to sit down with each other and spend some time 
together without saying or doing Anything Stupid ... then we've got it 
made!"

"I ... huh?"

"Ranma, haven't you ever just sat with someone?  Haven't you ever just 
been silent?"

"Uh ... no."

"Well, it's nice.  You just spend time together.  If she really has Shut 
Up, then all you have to do is just go sit with her and Shut Up too!"

"That sounds too easy."

"I don't mean just one time," said Nabiki, "I mean all the time!  I mean 
stop arguing with her, stop baiting her!  And stop responding to her 
when she gets mad!  You've been doing okay so far."  Then she stopped.  
"Actually," Nabiki hesitated for just a second.  She didn't really want 
to admit this, but she had to be honest.  This was too important.  
"Actually, Ranma, you've been doing really good.  If she can do even 
half as well as you, then the rest is just a matter of time.  I'm not 
saying it'll be easy.  I'm not saying it'll be quick.  I'm saying it's 
working."

"What if she gets upset at me?"

"It doesn't matter.  She Shuts Up.  You Shut Up.  How bad can it be?  
Even a couple of idiots like you two ought to be able to handle that!"

"Thanks a lot."

"I'm serious, Ranma."

"But ... but, if we don't talk, what ... I mean, that's Stupid, isn't 
it?  We gotta say somethin', don't we?  I mean, what's the point?"

"The 'Point' is to Not Do Anything Stupid.  The 'Point' is to Shut Up.  
Now, stop arguing with your coach, and do what I tell you.  If she 
really has Shut Up, then you're one step away from winning.  Just keep 
practicing The Plan and trust me, okay?  You keep doing what you're 
doing now, and don't change anything.  She'll probably get upset again 
over something sooner or later.  But we already know that.  You just 
keep going, okay?"

"Well, okay."

-

A great big sweat drop had been perched on Soun Tendo's head for the 
last half-hour; a similar one on Genma Saotome's for almost as long.  
The table was eerily silent tonight.  After their first few attempts at 
conversation had been ignored, the two older men had done the only thing 
they could think of.  They Shut Up.  Aside from polite requests for 
someone to pass one of the food dishes laid before them, there had been 
no real speaking by anyone the entire meal.

At last it was over.  "That was very good, Kasumi," said Ranma.  "Thank 
you very much."

"Not at all, Ranma," she replied.  "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Excuse me," said Akane and Nabiki together, both beginning to stand.  
They paused in their motion and looked at each other.  Akane turned away 
first with a toss of her head, finished standing and left the dining 
area to go out into the back yard.  Ranma, Kasumi and Nabiki all glanced 
at each other.

The two fathers, thoroughly confused and not in the least ready to 
tackle ... whatever this was ... turned to each other.  "Well, Tendo, 
care for another match?"  "Excellent idea, Saotome.  Let's go."  And 
they quickly retreated from the table to start another in their 
seemingly endless round of games.

The three remaining people began clearing the table.  Both the girls 
were surprised that Ranma was helping, but they waited until they were 
in the kitchen to ask him why.  "Well, I dunno.  I just thought maybe 
it'd be, you know, Nice."  Ranma actually looked guilty as he glanced 
over at Nabiki.  "Or maybe I shouldn't be thinkin' about that yet?"

After sharing a look with her sister, Nabiki said to him, "I think 
you're doing great, Ranma.  I officially promote you to begin practicing 
the Third Technique."  As an afterthought, she added, "Just, uh, don't 
forget to keep doing the other two, okay?  Especially the first one."

"Uh, thanks.  I'll do my best."

"We know you will," said Kasumi.  "You always do."

-

Akane sat on the porch, looking out at the back yard.  It was always so 
pretty, and it was more land than most people in Nerima owned.  She 
enjoyed looking at the rocks and the pond.  As weird as it sometimes got 
around here, the house, the dojo and the back yard seemed to stay the 
same.  In her current confusion, that was the only comfort she seemed 
able to find.

"Mind if I sit down?"

It was Ranma.  "What do I say?" thought Akane.  Then out loud, she said, 
"I thought we weren't speaking to each other."

"Oh, I dunno.  Seems to me like we just did."

"Careful!" Ranma thought to himself harshly, "that sounded sarcastic.  
Basics, basics!  Being Nice is fine, but don't say ANYTHING unless 
you're sure it's the RIGHT thing."  Then speaking aloud again, he said, 
"Anyway, do you mind?"

"Suit yourself," said Akane.  "I don't care what you do."

"Geez," thought Ranma, sitting down on the porch next to Akane, "there 
she goes again bein' all mad!  I can't win."

They sat in silence for a long time, looking out at the back yard, each 
one thinking their own private thoughts, each too scared to look at the 
other, too scared to say a word.

The evening was warm and pleasant.  A light breeze blew through the 
back yard making small ripples move across the pond.  Occasionally, 
one of the carp would come to the surface, spreading more ripples and 
announcing it's presence with the mildest of splashes.  All around, the 
sounds of cicadas and other insects filled the evening with the symphony 
of nature, the sounds of life.  In one corner of the yard, a firefly 
could occasionally be seen, bearing it's decorative light, bestowing 
it's tiny magic to everything around.  The spell woven by these things 
seemed to cause time to stop, and the tension slowly to drain from the 
silent couple, as the evening turned to dusk and began to move toward
night.

After what surely must have been a lifetime or two, Akane turned her 
head toward Ranma.  He turned to her also, and for a moment, they simply 
looked into each other's eyes.  Then, needing some way to escape the 
moment, Akane said, "I'm going in now, Ranma.  I'll see you tomorrow."

"'Nite," said Ranma, as Akane stood and turned to go.  Just before she 
went through the door, though, Ranma spoke up.  "Akane?"

"Yes?"

Ranma was furiously repeating to himself, "Be Nice, 'n don't say nothin' 
Stupid.  Be Nice, 'n don't say nothin' Stupid.  Be Nice, 'n don't ..."

"What do you want, Ranma?"  repeated Akane.

"Um, I just wanted to say ... I enjoyed workin' out with you today ... 
that's all."

Too surprised to know how to respond, Akane simply stood staring back 
at him.  After a moment of trying to cobble together some sort of reply, 
she finally decided not to.  Somehow, she made herself move, backing 
into the house before turning and walking away toward the stairs.

Watching her leave, Ranma couldn't tell if anything was working or not. 
Somehow it just didn't seem to be enough.  Shouldn't they be talking 
more by now?  Shouldn't it be easier?  It all just seemed to be taking 
too long.  He brought his knees up and laid his head down on them like 
a pillow.  "I just don't get it," he said aloud.

-

Akane lay on her bed, unable to sleep.  "I just don't get it," she said 
aloud.  "He ignores me and stops talking to me, and then he goes and 
says something nice like that.  What's his deal?"  She tried to put it 
out of her mind ... tried to find something else to think about.  "But," 
she thought, a smile forming on her face, "he did say he liked being 
with me."  And she turned over and drifted off into the sweetest dreams 
she had dreampt in weeks.

                         -= DAY 05 =-

"Hurry up, Ranma.  We're going to be late.  Let's go!"

"What's the hurry?  We're not late.  We're way ahead of time."

It was Saturday morning, and Akane had made plans to meet some friends 
for a little shopping, followed by a movie.  Ranma was coming along too, 
and although he was looking forward to the movie, he wasn't exactly 
thrilled that shopping with Akane and her friends was going to be the 
price he had to pay.

"Well then," said Akane, heading out the front door, "I want to get 
there early.  So hurry up anyway."

Ranma finished his breakfast and rushed out the door to catch up with 
his waiting fiancee.  Side-by-side, they dashed off down the street as 
if either of them really needed to be anywhere that quickly.

Nabiki and Kasumi stood at the front door of the Tendo house, watching 
the young pair speed away together.  "That looks better," said Nabiki.

"It sounds a lot better," said Kasumi.  "Do you think they can keep it
up?"

"I hope so," said Nabiki, "I really do."  Then, with a small smile 
crossing her lips, she said, "I guess it's up to them.  I think they've 
made it through the hard part, though.  If they keep doing what they're 
doing now, they'll be fine."

The two sisters glanced at each other.  Then, with a smile and a wink, 
the middle one said to the eldest, "Well, I'm off too.  See you later."

"Take care."

It was the start of another hopeful day in Nerima.

                        -= EPILOGUE =-

Ranma walked up the path from the gate to the door, thinking about the 
past few days.  Shampoo was getting to be a real problem.  She just 
wouldn't quit bugging him.  Mousse was worse.  He couldn't see that 
this was only going to help him eventually.  But the real problem, as 
always, was going to be Cologne.  For now, she was only observing, 
watching to see how he responded to each new test by Shampoo.  But Ranma 
knew as soon as she became convinced that The Plan posed a real threat 
to her hopes of marrying him off to Shampoo, that she would intervene 
somehow.  The problem lay in trying to figure out how.  Well, he would 
just have to hope he was up to that challenge when it finally came.

Ukyo had also been a problem.  That hadn't been so easy.  That hadn't 
been easy at all.  Whatever The Plan was, it was never easy.  He had 
learned that much by now.  Every step forward seemed to make it all the 
harder.  He didn't know yet how things would finally turn out with Ukyo. 
He'd have to wait and see.

The Fathers were the strange ones, really.  Things were going well with 
Akane.  Sure, she still got mad and all, but mostly she just Shut Up and 
stomped off.  She'd stopped breaking things, and the beatings had ceased 
entirely.  She had even actually apologized once!  They were spending 
more time together quietly, not always having to fill the space between 
them with distracting noise or motion.  But as things had gotten better, 
their Fathers seemed to have gotten worse.  They fretted about 
constantly, looking at the two fiancees when they didn't think they were 
being noticed, sneaking out of the house to talk in hushed tones in the 
back yard.  You'd think they'd be happy.  It didn't seem to be working 
out that way.  They didn't seem to know what to do when their children 
weren't fighting.

But that was okay.  Ranma had been really enjoying spending time around 
Akane.  They were slowly learning to talk more freely without accidently 
saying Stupid things, and they were learning to Shut Up when they made 
mistakes.  But most of all, Akane didn't seem to mind so much these days 
if he occasionally did something Nice for her.  Just every once in a 
while.    Nabiki had continued to be a great help, especially when it 
came to applying The Plan outside the home.  Ranma was still just 
amazed at just how much he had come to depend on, and even begin to 
trust her.

Ranma reached the door and opened it, walking inside to be greeted by a 
brightly smiling Akane as she ran over to show him what she had in her 
arms, nestled snugly between her breasts and gazing happily up at Ranma 
with what could only be described as a gloat on its face.

A small black piglet.

"Look, Ranma!  P-chan's back!"

"Uhhh, ... NABIKIIIII!!!!!"

                         -= THE END =-
                               _

                        -= AFTERWARD =-

For those who may be curious, Kyle, my seven-year-old brother came up 
with his plan all on his own.  What makes it even more curious is that 
the words, "Shut Up," and "Stupid" are not words that are allowed nor 
used by anyone in his household.  Somehow though, he must have decided 
that it was okay to use them in his own mind and when dealing only with 
himself.  Incidentally, he did indeed earn his "I'm a Self-Manager" pin 
on the 10th day of the school year, the first day it was possible to 
earn an award which takes 10 daily points to earn!  And he kept the 
right to wear it proudly  throughout the entire semester, which you 
better believe he did!  He never had to turn it back in or re-earn it!  
In other words, he went an entire semester without having to be called 
down or straightened out by his Teacher even once!  If there is such a 
thing as a semester-long slow-building face fault, my family did it!

-

Please send me any type of C&C.
This is my first fanfic and I want to hear it all!
jet@onramp.net