Here's an updated version of chapter 2. All I changed was that bit at the end
when Haratsu 'went off' on Apsu... I think it's a bit better now. C&C if you
will, even if it is only to tell me that you read the chapter.
Draxon's Review Corner Presents
A Tetsumi Production
Ranma 1/2
Crash-Course With Destiny
Part One - Prologue To War
Chapter two - The Test, Crash-Course Style
You make me smash the clock and feel
I'd rather die behind the wheel
Time was never on my side
So on I wait my whole lifetime�
-- Metallica, "The Outlaw Torn"
"Apsu�" Michelle, still in a very sleep-intensive condition, held onto Apsu
with a vice-like grip. Well, not that he minded; His feelings for her had at
least quadrupled in intensity in the past 24 hours, reaching a level that
exceeded obsession. Apsu worked for a moment to free one of his arms, and after
battling with Michelle's hold on him managed to grasp his blanket, which he
pulled over the two for cover. He thought about last night; About his father's
reaction to his new dressing habits, about the dinner that he was only a part of
for a short time, and about the words his father had spoken during that dinner.
"Talarath," he muttered quietly� He shuddered at the thought of the demonlord
surviving; He'd barely been able to hold off its last series of attacks, and the
method he'd used to defeat the creature rendered him unable to harness chi. He
thought about the chi problem for a second, then tried to summon a small aura
around his free hand. He sighed and sank back into his pillow when he failed
even that simple task. The only reason he and Michelle were still alive was
because he'd been able to channel more chi into the healing technique than most
people could possibly hope to accomplish, and now he was without any of that
power. Michelle squirmed a bit in her continuing bid to gain control over as
much of his body as possible, which immediately took his mind off of chi related
things.
Michelle; the person he cared about more than anything on Earth. The same
Michelle that he'd led a literal invasion of China to protect when the
government threatened to lock her up when she was only 15. Those of free minds
and vibrant expression were not appreciated by the People's Republic, but no
amount of military force had been able to stop him and his father from
protecting her. He knew that she had to have missed her family, whom she had
been unable to contact in nearly seven months. He reached around her and
squeezed softly, silently promising himself that he would see to it that she was
able to once again see her parents, but not really knowing how. He tried to
shift his position on the bed, but Michelle held him like a prisoner of war and
was not allowing for much movement. He decided to wait it out rather than wake
her, but after another 30 minutes decided that he was going to have to regain
his freedom of movement.
"Michelle, wake up� It's getting pretty late in the morning," Apsu caressed her
smooth black hair, which managed to pull her from her dreams. Michelle
stretched a bit, then gave Apsu a gaze that carried with it the warmth of a
tropical beach.
"I can't believe that was real," she yawned, "I never thought I'd be having sex
this early� Oh well, who cares. So long as I don't get pregnant anytime soon
I'm fine. Besides," she smiled and squeezed Apsu, "I like it."
"Whoa, hold on a second." Apsu laughed, "At least let me eat breakfast before
we start up again, I'm exhausted, and I'm too hungry to pull myself out of bed,
much less that stuff. And how on Earth did you think of the earlobe thing?"
Michelle sat up, "I dunno, I really didn't expect to paralyze you with it.
I'll have to use that to keep you in line later on."
"So� if I start doing something you don't like, you'll suck my earlobes? Well,
it's an original punishment if one ever existed." He rolled to the edge of the
bed and hopped to his feet, "I still can't believe he gave us consent to marry
this early, he may as well have told us to run upstairs and have uncensored
pre-marital sex." He raised his right hand as a habit while he thought for a
second, then turned to face Michelle, "Oh shit� What if he didn't mean for us to
do that?"
Michelle hopped off the bed and kissed Apsu, "Listen, you don't give people
consent to marry and still expect them not to have sex. It just doesn't
happen. I'm not even sure if what we did last night qualifies, it was all
strictly over the clothes."
"Great," Apsu said as he snagged some clothes from his closet, "Now I can worry
about this curse stuff and my chi problems while at the same time wondering if
I'm still a virgin or not. Oh man, it's pretty pathetic when you're not even
sure of that." He slipped into a pair of silken boxers and proceeded to clothe
himself, "I need to get some food, then I'm probably going to sit down and
figure out exactly how I'm going to bring my chi back in line� When I woke up I
thought that maybe since I was relaxed and very happy that I'd be able to focus
something, but I couldn't. It is getting to be really annoying; I don't think
you could possibly understand how much I rely on it. For a little over a year
I've been practically immune to sickness due to the healing technique, and if a
light blew in a room I used a small battle aura to give me enough light to
replace it. Simple stuff like that. For instance, right now my neck is
starting to hurt from the way I slept last night," he popped his neck for
emphasis, "Normally I'd have cured it in a few seconds but it is probably gonna
hurt for a few hours now."
Michelle slipped into her silk dress of mixed black and blue hues, "So your chi
is out of whack, all you can do is wait for it to realign. The only real way to
speed it up would be to stop worrying about everything like you always do now,
and maybe come to terms with yourself. I've also heard that nervously keeping
secrets that don't need to be kept can hurt your chi."
Apsu slipped a T-shirt over his head, "What do you mean 'secrets'? I've
already been found out if you mean the crossdressing-- Wait a minute here," He
found Michelle's pure black silk dress and walked over to the bed with it, "I
was a girl when I was wearing this stuff, so it can't be called that. But then
again, I'm supposed to be a guy anyway� this is too complicated. I don't even
know if there is a term for someone who can swap sexes instantly."
"I would coin it bisexual but they snatched that phrase up for the sexual
preference section of the dictionary, lemme think� Incredibly cute instant Apsu,
just add hot water? Nah, that doesn't sound right� But anyway, you're avoiding
my point. You're nervous as hell about what Ranma and Akane think about you,
and I'll bet that it's for no reason at all. Ranma's the same way you are, at
least when it comes down to the fact that you both have the same curse, and
you've always said that Akane was a good friend."
Apsu laid the dress out on the bed, "There's a story behind my friendship with
Akane. Before I left for that training trip last year there were always a bunch
of guys chasing her around and trying to get her to go out with them. She
absolutely hated it, and I was getting the impression that she hated all men.
Well, and you can't hold this against me now, I had a crush on her for a while,
but I decided that I would get nowhere by falling all over her like the rest of
the guys always did, so I occasionally started up small conversations with her.
At first she was really hostile, but it didn't take her long to notice that I
wasn't trying to get her in my bed. She told me that I was probably the only
guy she knew that wasn't a total pervert, and as far as I know I was the only
guy that she willingly talked to back then. The only reason we were ever
friends was because I didn't do stupid perverted stuff, and if I start walking
around in dresses that may well qualify as perverted. Ranma, on the other hand,
seems to value masculinity over all else, and if he gave me any crap concerning
the curse I'd immediately erase our 'friendship' status, beat the crap out of
him while wearing a dress, and possibly destroy the alliance that father values
so much in the process."
"Why be so defensive about it? And why do you expect trouble out of him, of
all people?"
Apsu fidgeted a bit, "Okay, maybe I get worked up too much over this stuff, and
maybe I am too nervous about it. Fact is, if Ranma gave me trouble I'd probably
sit there and listen to it, and maybe Akane wouldn't care after all, but it
doesn't matter because I'm not wearing a dress with people around. Now can we
please change the subject?"
"No, because you're still not yourself. I've *never* known you to worry about
anything until that Talarath business happened, and now you fidget and fit over
everything that might go wrong. You're going to face your fears, damnit;
because I won't live with someone the rest of my life who is constantly
worried."
Apsu dropped back onto his bed, and looked up at Michelle� He couldn't - no, he
*wouldn't* lose her, no matter the personal cost, "Okay� you win. What do you
want me to do?"
"I want you to change into your female form and go downstairs dressed the
part. We can eat breakfast, and if anyone is awake we can see what their
reaction is."
"Isn't there a slightly more subtle way to go about that though?"
"No," her stern answer came almost before Apsu had finished his question.
"Can't it wait, I don't want anything to get started up today."
"Damnit Apsu, no it can't! You'll either do this for me or I'll dress you
myself and show you that your worrying about nothing. I'd rather have a woman
with the guts to show every side of her personality to the world than I would a
man who cowers like a girl," Okay, it wasn't supposed to sound like that�
Apsu's mask of confusion crumbled and disappeared. He laid on the bed for a
few seconds, then stood and spoke with a bone chilling tone; "I've had quite
enough from you and Haratsu concerning this damned curse," Oh crap, he *never*
called his father by his name, "He threatens to drag me down stairs in a dress
to scare me into complying with his immediate needs, and you threaten the same
thing because you think I need to run around in a dress like some little girl to
soothe my nerves," he reached an immediate resolve in thought, "I will not
tolerate threats or criticism from *anyone* because I have another side to my
personality," A blue glow began to cascade around him as he continued, "And that
includes criticism from father, Ranma, Akane and *even* you."
"Apsu?" Michelle stepped towards him,
"What? Don't try to convince me to do this anymore, I won't be scared into
doing something I don't want to do."
Michelle smiled, she'd accomplished what she wanted without even going about it
the right way, "Take a look around you, it's getting a bit bright."
Apsu looked around the room, and indeed a familiar blue aura reflected off the
walls. He waited a few seconds to see if his chi discharge would prematurely
die, and when it didn't he gave Michelle a bursting smile that immediately broke
his determined attitude.
"Yes!" he shouted, but as he began to run to the door to announce his good
fortune a pain began to rip at him from the inside out, and it shook the very
foundation of his soul. He collapsed to the ground, his battle aura fading,
and clung at his heaving chest.
Michelle bolted and was immediately beside Apsu and holding him by the
shoulder, "What's wrong? C'mon damnit!" Apsu clenched his teeth in response and
began to shake violently. His skin began to turn a shade of bright red, "Apsu!
What's happening?"
"The chi wasn't ready to be released�" he grunted with pain, and his veins
began to show on his skin, "It wants to lock itself back up, but I'm not letting
it. No way in hell�"
Oh shit, he was going to kill himself, "Apsu, let it go, stop before you kill
yourself! You can wait a few more days!"
"I know what I'm doing," he closed his eyes and shut out his hearing. He was
at war on a battlefield that Michelle could not hope to understand without an
extended explanation, which he was not able to give at the moment. After a few
minutes of looking like a man exposed to the vacuum of space he began to calm,
and slowly stood up.
"Well, what happened?" She began to help Apsu to the bed, but stopped when she
realized it wasn't needed. Apsu smiled with satisfaction;
"I was unconsciously protecting myself� I don't believe it," he began to pace
around quickly, but this time with excitement, not nervousness, "Okay, when I
had to fight Talarath after everyone else had pretty much been hurt too much to
fight I had to use the healing technique with an aura about six feet wide," he
leaned against the far wall and continued, "Now, the healing technique is our
school's most power-exhausting technique, excepting the Ultimate Technique of
course, and there is no way I could have created that healing aura in the
condition I was in. I assumed the swords simply created the aura, but
apparently they had to channel their energy through me. Now, with all of this
energy overflowing my system I probably came close to killing myself by means of
chi overload, so somehow I locked myself out to keep from doing it again." He
began to speed up in his speaking, "Now a few minutes ago you had me in a pretty
combative mood, and it was enough to make me forget all my troubles and focus on
arguing a single point which generated a powerful feeling of determination." He
pushed off the wall and walked slowly toward Michelle as he continued, "Somehow
determination unlocked my energy. I'm guessing I chose determination as the key
because my chi was meant to remain locked up until I really needed it, but after
my subconscious thought I'd won whatever conflict I was in it tried to lock the
energy back up. I stopped it."
"That's great, can you harness the energy� Is it weak, or was it just hiding in
a corner for no reason?" She sat on her bed to allow her heart to resume
operating at a pulse level somewhere below its current rate, which happened to
be around nine-times the fatal level.
"Before I answer that, I'm sorry for getting so postal with you when you tried
to help me. You were right. As for the chi, it was stronger than ever after
fighting off Talarath's invasion of my soul, but later when the swords of Um and
Yang began executing techniques *for* me and nearly overloaded my physical
ability to harness chi in the process, a part of my subconscious feared that I
would come back and kill myself if I had energy available to abuse. I allowed
my own subconscious to *quake* with fear," he paused for a second to allow his
new self-directed anger to weaken slightly, "and that fear slowly began to seep
into my everyday personality until I began to degenerate into a slovenly coward
and sat in my room afraid of everything and everyone�"
"Apsu, you weren't that bad, give yourself at least a little credit."
Apsu thought about it for a second, then decided that no credit was due,
"Michelle, I'm supposed to have almost mastered my ability to use chi. As much
as I dislike the thought of not getting much more powerful in the years to come,
I know with pride that I am supposed to be above almost all martial artists of
my age. The entire Tetsumi discipline revolves around the power of chi, and if
I was setting unnecessary safeguards to prevent me from using that power what
does that say about my mastery of the art?"
Michelle ended that particular discussion with a quick kiss on the lips, "I
think it says you're 16 years old and that you have plenty of time to perfect
your abilities. For now, I just want to know if you're going to be back to your
normal self."
"Yeah� I think it's safe to say I'm back to myself," he smiled and kissed the
woman that he loved, then took a minute to just look into her eyes.
"Are you sure?" She'd thought that his problems ran deeper than the use of his
chi, but if he was getting better she wouldn't argue. Apsu took both of her
hands into his and nodded slowly,
"I'm *back,* and I think it's about time everyone else found out. Listen, do
you still have those really bright combat skirts that you brought with you from
China?" He gave her an evil smile, then winked his left eye.
Michelle mentally ran through her clothing inventory, "I've got the short-cut
chain mail skirt I brought with me from China, I've got that Various Martial
Arts skirt that we made after I moved in with you all, and I've got a red,
black, and blue skirt that we picked up in Korea a few months ago."
Apsu nodded, "I'll take the last one. Snatch it for me real quick and meet me
in the bathroom, will ya?"
Michelle grinned, "If I do will you take a shower with me?"
Apsu walked to the edge of his bed and picked up his alarm clock, "It's only 9
in the morning� I must be losing my sense of time, I thought it was later. And
yes, of course I'll take a shower with you." The pair walked out of the room,
Apsu heading to the upstairs bathroom, Michelle to her room. Apsu stripped down
and turned the shower on to give the water time to warm up, then hopped in and
waited for Michelle.
Michelle entered the bathroom and put the silk skirt on top of a clothes
hamper, then looked at the showering Apsu with disappointment, "Hey, you started
without me!"
Apsu let the shower stream splash across his face for a few seconds, then
motioned for Michelle to join him. Michelle immediately stripped and planted
herself next to Apsu in the shower.
"Sorry about not waiting, I noticed a little sweaty odor in the air and decided
I had to cut it off at its source before it was too late." He leaned forward and
gave Michelle a wet, messy kiss, then laughed at his clumsiness and produced the
ever powerful combination of a bar of soap with washcloth, which he began
attacking his sweaty skin with.
"Apsu, you're doing this all wrong; were not supposed to just stand here with
each other, and you *never* wash yourself. It's an unwritten rule of life."
Apsu shrugged, then handed her the soapy washcloth.
"Less work for me, I can handle that. Besides, you're probably better at
cleaning than I am."
Michelle began working on Apsu's back, "Hey you have to return the favor when
I'm done, so don't think you're off the hook yet,"
Apsu slumped in feigned defeat, "I just can't win, can I?" The couple talked
about the rules of relationships for a few minutes, briefly covered the basics
of their wedding plans, and talked about their eventual plans for the school.
About 20 minutes later they hopped out of the shower and began toweling each
other dry. Apsu splashed himself with a bit of cold water from the sink and
shifted into female form, then began to slip the beautifully hued silk skirt on.
Michelle smiled and allowed a girlish giggle to slip from her mouth, "Are you
gonna just go downstairs and eat like that?"
Apsu stretched in her female form, relishing the feeling of clean silk on
smooth skin, "Actually, I've got a better idea. I learned one of life's little
lessons a while ago. Fear may be great at keeping you from doing stupid things
when your life is on the line, but it is a totally useless emotion when your
friends and family are your only problem. I've learned that I must accept
myself, and that I cannot hide from people anymore. I'm going to march down
there, show myself for who I am, and god help anyone that has a problem with
it."
Michelle gave Apsu a quick hug, "I'm glad your back."
Apsu squeezed Michelle closer, it felt a little different than when she hugged
her as a guy, but she could live with it, "I am too, I am too. Well, it's time
to face my fate. It better not give me a bad look or I'll break its nose."
"Do you want any lipstick, makeup or anything?"
Apsu shook her head, "I think I need to explain to you exactly what's going on
in my head. After I had the curse for a while I took up a liking for feminine
things. That's where to clothes come in, I'm not trying to *be* a girl, I'm
just coping with the fact that I've got this curse in the best possible way,
which for me is acceptance. To tell you the truth, I'm afraid that if I tried
that stuff out I might end up liking it somehow, so I don't want to do it at
all. I'm not worried about what would happen if I did, I just want to stay
exactly the way I am now. Am I right in assuming that you want me as male as
possible most of the time?"
Michelle toweled at her hair some more, "I'll accept you however you want to
be,"
"Ahh, but you *want* me to be a guy as much as possible so you can have a
normal relationship," she took a comb to her hair and brought it into a state of
near-neatness, "because the more I run around as a girl the less romantic time
we've got, and the more you have to miss out on for my sake."
Michelle looked at Apsu, she hadn't really thought of that before. I mean,
Apsu is Apsu, right? Why did the body matter? She considered her responses,
and a nervous look twitched its way onto her face. Apsu looked at her, "Hey,
what's wrong?"
Michelle responded by almost spontaneously grabbing Apsu and giving her the
most forceful kiss she'd ever seen. Apsu's heart skipped a beat in surprise,
and she tried to gasp for air, which only caused the awkwardness of the
situation to increase. The kiss was powerful, but it was the most forced kiss
she'd ever seen and it was definitely lacking romantic quality.
Michelle broke the kiss and stepped back. She took her towel and spit in it as
nausea began to overcome her. She let herself down to the ground to avoid a
fall and proceeded to shake, hack, and cough herself nuts. Apsu grabbed another
towel and wiped some of Michelle's saliva off of her lips and the immediate
area, then kneeled next to her fianc�e, "C'mon, what's happening?"
Michelle's physical fit ended with a powerful shudder, and she stood up looking
like she'd tried to eat sour fruit, "I just had a major hormone revolt," she
shook her body around a bit to ward off the rest of her hormonal-induced
sickness, "I am definitely totally hetero, my body apparently wont allow
anything else. I guess that answers another question. Yes I want you to be
male as much as possible, but if you've gotta be a girl occasionally to keep
from going crazy I'll gladly take the trade." She took some mouthwash and
poured a ridiculously large amount into her mouth, and proceeded to erase all
traces of that last kiss from history.
"Alright then, lets go ahead and get this over with. I know that father is
going to have a fit when he sees me, and I wanna see the look on his face when I
return the favor full fledged." He hoped that Haratsu's 'fit' would be
relatively mild�
[�]
Ranma and Akane sat on the sofa in the Tetsumi living room, which had become
their second home for the past two days. Ranma became increasingly bored with
the TV show they had been watching, and started practicing some of the more
basic kicks he knew for the sake of keeping his body in shape. He looked at
Akane after a few seconds and decided that something had to break their relative
silence.
"So, where do we go from here?"
Akane looked at him for a moment, and smiled, "I have no idea, really. I'm
still trying to figure out what happened to make things work out like they did
last night."
"Maybe we've finally grown up enough to occasionally slip and say we like each
other," he said jokingly, "I had no idea that was going to happen either, but it
did, so lets just be thankful."
"Hey, you never said you liked me, you're not going to back off this time! You
said *it,* and you can't deny it, either." She stood up and turned off the TV
lest Ranma see something he wanted to watch.
"Akane, don't assume that I want to deny it, Please. I said it, that I love
you, and I'm glad I did. I know if I hadn't done it then it would have taken at
least another month for me to get the guts to say anything, and now everything
seems a lot easier." He approached Akane and after a few seconds of hesitation
managed to make himself kiss her lightly on the lips.
"Let's go ahead and sit down. Kasumi will probably be done helping Haratsu
with breakfast pretty soon, and I think now that we're past the point of turning
back we should try to get to know each other better." He plopped himself back
on the sofa and waited for Akane.
"What do you mean by 'get to know each other'? We've known each other for over
a year!" She allowed herself to fall back onto the sofa, which bounced with a
cushy happiness.
Ranma took a long breath, "Akane, you know we haven't known each other for a
year. How long has it been since you smashed me with a mallet, and how long has
it been since I last ran my mouth without thinking first?"
Akane considered what Ranma was saying, "Well, I haven't as much as touched a
mallet in about a month, and you haven't really said anything to make me mad
since a little while after I learned the sugoiken, about a� month ago." She
paused to think if the two dates could hold any real meaning.
"See Akane? I've had a month to get to know some of the real you, and I'm
still not sure if you really know me at all." The smell of food cooking moved
in waves from the kitchen, signaling that breakfast would be done soon.
"How can I *not* know you, Ranma? You spent a week helping me learn to control
the sugoiken, which was probably the most time you've devoted to me without
going off to deal with Shampoo and Ukyou. When Apsu came back less than sane
and tried to attack me you protected me. When I wanted to help him you didn't
turn your back then, either. Then the pajama thing� I still think that was
weird. At first I thought that it was funny but then I was told about the fight
at the dojo and I realized that you'd went into after a fight for me after
almost dying once, and somehow it didn't seem so funny anymore. I know the last
two weeks have been almost uneventful, but I know you."
"Akane, your talking about events, not me. Besides, there's some stuff that
nobody has figured out about me. For example, who in their right mind would let
himself get stuck with three fianc�es?"
"I know a few perverts that would," she replied
Ranma moved closer to Akane and spoke in a low voice, "Well anyway, why do you
think I had no idea of how to handle starting a relationship with you earlier,
and why do you think I've had to deal with three fianc�es when I've told you
that I didn't like it?"
"Well, I dunno," she said as a replacement for her standard answer. He'd
always been friendly to Ukyou, and although he'd tried to get the picture across
to Shampoo that he didn't like her on more than one occasion she always managed
to run over him.
Ranma edged ever closer to Akane and spoke in a barely audible voice, "Truth
is," he hesitated and looked around, "I really have no idea what I'm doing.
Everyone says I attract women way too easily, and they think I'm a giant
pervert, but what they don't know is that I really just have no experience with
girls. I can't get rid of the girls I don't like, I don't know how to let Ukyou
off without crushing her, and I really don't know what to do with you. I'm
lost." He really hated admitting something like this to anyone, but if it saved
him from unnecessary misunderstandings with Akane later�
Akane smiled, "Then you're worse than Ryouga is with directions. Listen, I
don't know what to do about Shampoo and Ukyou, and I'll give you some time to
handle that before I start bugging you. But as far as what to do with me� It
should come naturally to you. Just be nice, be there for me when I need you,
and *never* take back what you said last night. After a while you'll start to
figure things out, and if you're really as bad as you say you are with girls
I'll be there holding a map for you when you need one." She kissed him.
Ranma warmly accepted the kiss, then looked around to see if anything
interesting was happening. The Tetsumi house was admittedly much less exciting
than the dojo was, even with the same people inside. He looked to the upper
balcony and saw who he thought was Michelle performing a one handed stand on the
railing. Well, maybe this would be interesting. The girl took her left arm and
held it parallel to the railing about two feet above it, then split her legs in
mid air.
"Hey Akane, have you ever tried to warm up like that?" he asked, pointing at
the girl. Akane looked for a second, "No, why?" She looked for another second.
The girl was holding herself upside down and was wearing a skirt� and Ranma was
watching her! "Hey you baka stop looking at her, you can see her underwear!"
Ranma cracked up, "I hadn't even noticed, oh well, who cares," the girl let
herself down a bit, then pushed herself up hard and began a spinning descent
toward the first floor. She landed gracefully on her feet and stood up. Ranma
got a good look at her face, and knew immediately he'd mistook who she was.
"Apsu? What's with the outfit? You had me thinking you were Michelle for a
minute." Apsu flung herself onto the fluffiest piece of furniture in the house
- the recliner on the opposite end of the living room - and stretched happily,
causing several of her bones to crackle and pop. Ranma just sat next to Akane,
not really having anything to say, but still wondering if there was a decent
reason for Apsu to be wearing a colorful silk skirt with a blue sash tied around
its waist. There was no way all of his clothes were dirty�
"Oh, what's up Ranma?" Apsu asked, avoiding the question until she wanted to
answer it. She looked to the upper balcony and smiled when she saw Michelle
walking down the stairs.
"Apsu, are you okay?" Akane gave him one of those 'what are you up to' looks.
Ranma didn't know Apsu well enough to push for answers, but she did.
Apsu bounced out of her chair and walked toward the sofa, "Have you ever wanted
to do something even though it was totally pointless and you knew you wouldn't
gain anything out of it?" She was looking at Ranma, so Ranma answered.
"Well, I guess so�" Okay, Apsu had gone off and went insane again. Either
that or he liked girls clothes and was being generally weird. Ranma convinced
himself that Apsu was going insane, it was more believable.
Apsu planted a weird look on her face, "Have you ever had that weird feeling of
power that comes from doing something because you *can,* and not because someone
wants you to?"
"Uhh, are you trying to answer the question about the outfit or are you going
off on something else? You've lost me."
"Actually, I am talking about the outfit in a way. I'm wearing it because I
*can,* and I'm enjoying every bit of it." She had the look of an evil dictator
overseeing her army. Akane just kinda sat there, and Ranma cracked up.
Apsu's expression returned to a somewhat normal arrangement, "What? What's
funny?" Her eyes flashed from Ranma to Michelle, who was now standing just
behind the sofa. Michelle gave Apsu a look that fully explained that she didn't
know what to do.
"Hey, Ranma," she said, her initial surge of confidence weakening exponentially
by the second, "What's funny damnit?"
Ranma sensed the mood of the room taking an unneeded turn and took steps to
fix it, "Apsu, you don't have to make everything seem so dramatic. If you wanna
run around in your own house with a skirt on that's fine with me. It's not like
I should care." He shrugged his shoulders and glanced at Akane, who gave Apsu a
weird smile.
"Apsu, I knew that you couldn't have that curse for too long without getting at
least a little perverted," she shook her head solemnly, but couldn't keep
herself from laughing after a few seconds.
Apsu's pulse rate increased a few hundred percent, "Uhh, what's funny then?"
Apsu had plans for dealing with several scenarios, but not this one.
Ranma waited for Akane to act at least partially serious. He'd thought this
whole thing was funny at first, but he couldn't bring himself to torture Apsu
any longer, "I think Akane really *meant* to say that it's perfectly fine for
you to wear whatever you feel like." He wasn't the type that wanted to wear
girl's stuff, but Apsu had saved everyone from a probable death at Mt. Fuji and
there was no way in hell he was going to turn on him now.
"Oh. That's all?" Apsu had been prepared for two possibilities. One being
that everyone immediately became hostile, in which case she planned on getting
really mad and raising a little hell. The other possibility was that she was
generally accepted, but everyone had a lot to say about her little quirk. In
that case she'd just talk for a while. She had not been prepared to deal with
people thinking it was funny, and she was *definitely* not prepared for the 'oh
okay that's fine' response.
"Yes, that's all. What's to be said about it?" Ranma did think it was kind of
a straightforward subject. After all, he'd seen and done worse before, although
he always had a reason before wearing any girl stuff.
Apsu stopped her confused onslaught and walked back to the recliner, "So you're
telling me I got myself worked up to come down here and wage a world war against
everyone when I could have walked down here like this two weeks ago and
everything would have been fine?"
Ranma nodded, "That's about right. I've known guys that go around dressed as
girls all the time so well you couldn't tell they were guys by seeing them, and
I think that is a bit more messed up than your case. You aren't planning on
staying like that are you?"
Apsu shook her head, "No, I actually wouldn't have done this if it wasn't for
Michelle's sage advice and a little unexpected event upstairs." On cue, Michelle
landed on her lap with a thud. Apsu thought about all the useless worrying
she'd imposed on herself and began to laugh. She continued for more than 20
seconds, changing the color of her face a few shades brighter in the process.
"Hey Apsu, what's funny?" Akane asked
Apsu allowed her laughter to drop off a bit, "I just realized that I am *such*
an idiot."
"YES YOU ARE." Apsu looked to the dining room entrance. It was Haratsu. He
was pissed. Oh shit. "I thought I had asked you to put aside your personal
explorations until a more appropriate time." Haratsu wasn't very inclined to
yelling, but the tone in his voice more than made up for his modest volume.
Apsu swallowed to clear her throat. She had three options; To stand up for
herself totally and unconditionally, to beg forgiveness and ask not to be
killed, or to die. Her instincts prompted her to try a mix of two and three.
"I, uhh�--
"You do not need to bother with an explanation. Now go upstairs and put on
some clothes that you can be seen in without shame, and do it *now.*" Ranma and
Akane watched silently, shocked that Haratsu was actually capable of acting as
cold as he was.
That did it. Apsu stood up and looked at Michelle, who nodded in support, she
then faced her father with a look of steel on her face. "You speak of shame as
if it is a feeling I should be experiencing at this moment. Your lack of
knowledge of that emotion sickens me. Shame is not coming downstairs in a skirt
even though you expect trouble. Shame is sitting in your room afraid to let
others see you and allowing your fear to overcome your life. *Shame* is
shutting out aspects of your personality to gain acceptance among others while
fearing what would happen if you expressed yourself. *Shame* is telling others
to cower and hide themselves. SHAME is claiming to understand someone else's
troubles when you obviously do *not* have any idea what you are talking about!"
She paused to take a breath, her face burned with anger and defiance. She
continued, slightly calmer and slower, "Shame is caused by failing to stand up
for yourself when you have no room to back down," her eyes began to water; it
hurt to speak to her father in this way, "And shame is one more thing. It is an
emotion I *refuse* to experience." She saw the cold look in her father's eyes
and it hurt. Had he not said that he would not hold things such as this against
her?
Haratsu walked toward her slowly, "I see that you've forgotten the meaning of
the word 'respect' since you began your personal quest. You've also forgotten
the meaning of fear, because if you hadn't you would be experiencing it now as
well. I will *not* tolerate this disobedience." He increased his pace and
prepared to grasp Apsu's wrist but stopped when she began to speak;
"Fear is an emotion that should not exist between family members and it is also
an emotion that must be saved for when it is needed. Respect is only given when
it is due. You will not try to physically force me into submission, and you
will not succeed in making me experience fear."
Haratsu stepped back and nodded his head in that 'So that's how it is' way,
"And why would I not force you into complying with the rules of this house?"
Apsu's eyes stopped watering, and it became easier by the second to fight with
her father; "Because if you turn your back on me now and try to contradict every
moral you have ever taught me I will bring nothing less than the power of the
Ultimate Technique against you, and both of us will die. Don't mistake this for
a bluff, you *know* I will do it. You're so worried about making alliances with
other families you've forgotten to see if your own family is divided, and if you
want me to be something other than what I am I will gladly erase our family from
existence."
Michelle began to put herself between the two after realizing that things had
gotten way out of hand, but was stopped by a gesture and a look from Haratsu
that would have frozen anyone who valued their life. She watched Haratsu nod
slowly, and began to pray silently.
Haratsu lowered his hands to his side and motioned for Apsu to close the
distance between the two. When Apsu complied he leaned over and spoke very
quietly into his ear.
Apsu stepped back after Haratsu finished his rather simple message. "I don't
believe this. I finally get the nerve to do this and you make it into a damn
martial arts test. Is you're testing of me so important that you would lead me
to hate you, if even for a moment?"
Haratsu slid onto the main couch, "Apsu, you believe that you are at the peak
of your power. In a sense that is true, you command raw chi with more power
than either myself or your grandfather ever did. Your hand to hand skills,
although they could be better, are good enough to give you a good chance against
most opponents. You are totally lacking in two areas, however. Common sense
and emotional control. *Never* threaten to use the Ultimate Technique against
*anyone,* if you intend to use it then you do it. You also must not know me as
well as I thought you did. Less than 16 hours ago I was telling you that
personal exploration was perfectly okay, so why did you not notice the big
change?"
"Well, I expected you--
"You expected conflict, and when it came you were blinded by your emotions.
Learn more self discipline or you will never ascend to the higher techniques of
the Tetsumi school. The Ultimate Technique is a joke when compared to the
higher arts. *You. Know. Nothing.* The only way to increase your own power
is to now delve into the realm of the emotionally-powered arts. Akane, for
example, can unleash destructive power more devastating than all but one of the
techniques you are versed in, and she does it with *ease*." He gestured at
Akane, "Unfortunately, you have seen first-hand the results of someone with a
technique they can't control, so I advise you to begin learning discipline now
if you expect me to ever teach you such techniques. You performed excellently
in that test until you threatened me with a power that can easily be stopped if
it expected. Never threaten me. *Period.* Tell me I am wrong, but don't
threaten. The next time I test you, you must *know* it is a test or you will
fail miserably. I must finish breakfast." he looked around and stood, then
walked toward the kitchen but stopped when he reached the entrance, "Welcome to
the next level, Apsu. Last year was a walk in the park." He left.
"I just don't believe this," Apsu said as she plopped herself back onto the
recliner, "A *freakin* test."
"Well Aps', at least he isn't trying to teach you the Neko-Ken. If he ever
starts finding old training manuals and starts using them *that's* when you
start to worry. If you'd like I can get your hand to hand skills back up to
snuff maybe in a couple of weeks, but you're gonna have to make it worth my
time."
"In other words, if you teach me Amaguriken you want me to teach you one of my
better techniques� Well, I'll have to think about it. No promises." She looked
up at Michelle, and decided that she was the perfect cure for her current state
of mind. "Hey, I'm gonna go change back to a guy real quick, then I thought we
could get some fresh air� Howzabout it?" Michelle latched onto Apsu and gave
her a quick squeeze, then let go;
"Yeah, I think I could handle that."
Ranma relaxed on the sofa with Akane as the pair left. Well, maybe he was
wrong about the Tetsumi house. With Apsu up and about some chaos was bound to
happen occasionally. He just wished that the dojo were back up so he could get
back to his own chaotic life. After a few moments he felt a rattling sensation,
then heard an explosion coming from outside.
Yup, same ol' Apsu.
Note: Chapter 3 will raise considerably more hell than these two have.
Akane + mad = Sugoiken, and if you've read ADD you know that Sugoiken = "Oh
shit"
Just thought I'd put a little teaser at the end :P
--
Draxon-X@Bellsouth.Net
Writer, Reviewer, and worshipper of the Red-Haired goddess.
Long live Nene Romanova!
"I don't know what's wrong with you, but I think I can probably make it a lot
worse."
--Ryouga Hibiki, A Demon's Delight
"Pray to whatever gods you worship, because I'm coming after them next."
--Ranma Saotome, Crash-Course With Destiny
"Shame is failing to stand up for yourself when you have no room to back
down."
--Apsu Tetsumi, Crash-Course With Destiny