Subject: [FFML] [ff] [Ranma] [Dark] [Revised] Vengeance Part One (1 of 2)
From: "Ryan Erik" <magusbloodstone@hotmail.com>
Date: 7/5/1998, 3:10 AM
To: ffml@fanfic.com

This is a dark fic, so if you are of weak heart or if your offended by 
violence and bad language (or if you just don't like Ranma 1/2 in 
general) I would not recommend reading this. For those who don't fit in 
those categories... I suggest that you let your emotions run wild while 
reading.

Most of the characters within the story are from the Anime Series, Ranma 
1/2 and are property of Rumiko Takahashi, and whoever else may own the 
rights. I write this without permission and do so with no attempt to 
profit off of the marvelous works, rather I do so for everyone's 
benefit. Please enjoy and tell me what you think.

Notes:  <Chinese>
	"Japanese"
	'Thoughts'



A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction: Vengeance
	Part One: The Answer
		by Ryan Erik



	Akane looked into his eyes so deeply that he could not turn away. He 
then realized how close they were to each other, but neither wanted to 
back away. Their mutual gaze broke only when Ryouga tilted his head to 
kiss his beautiful goddess' lips, giving way and parting, allowing his 
tongue to explore her mouth. They held the kiss so long he almost 
thought it would last forever, but rather he broke it off started 
playfully caressing her face, then to her neck and he started to go 
lower when he heard something.
	"Oh, don't stop love!" Akane called out and he shifted his attention 
back to her, but that noise seemed to be growing louder, and the room 
they were in started to vibrate. "Don't stop!" He heard Akane's cry but 
couldn't do anything about it for the bed they were sitting on gave way 
and he fell onto a grassy surface.
	His eyes scanned the area looking for his one true love, but she was no 
where to be seen. "Akane! Where are you?" The trees around him only 
swayed with the wind in response. "No! I will not lose you!" He 
frantically cried out as he searched his now jungle-like surroundings 
for any sign of her. After a few moments he found a rock and sat down, 
more frustrated than anything. "Why does fate separate us? Why?!"
	"The only reason she even tolerates your petty existence is because she 
thinks your a pig!" the voice of Ranma taunted. Ryouga spun around to be 
face to face with the pig-tailed boy, but now they were near the koi 
pond in the Tendo Training Hall. "She'll never love you, and if she ever 
finds out your P-chan she'll skin you alive!" Ryouga scowled at him, his 
depression and anger rising. "Hey pig-boy! Why don't you do us all a 
favor and skin yourself? I bet you taste pretty good!"
	Ryouga's sadness became a pure beam of chi energy as he yelled, "Shishi 
Hokodan!" The blast left nothing of Ranma but I pile of smoking ash. His 
reality changed and he now was sitting on the booth at Ucchan's. Ukyou 
came from the back and scowled at him. "You good for nothing pile of 
shit, what the hell are you doing back here?" Ryouga's face became one 
of surprise as Ukyou had never treated him like this before.
	"Wha..." he didn't even get to start his question when Ukyou again 
started yelling at him. 
	"Well, while your here, I can fry you up and make plenty of bacon!" His 
eyes narrowed in anger. "What's wrong Ryouga? Pig got your tongue?" That 
was the last straw. Ryouga felt the burning anger inside of him and 
channeled it out in one blast of dark green chi energy, reducing Ukyou 
and the rest of Ucchan's to nothing more than ash.
	"You're pathetic, Ryouga! Slightest bit of anger and you kill all of my 
friends! Why I even considered you a friend of mine, I haven't the 
slightest idea." He turned to the newest voice and noticed that he now 
stood inside Akane's room facing... Akane.
	'No! Anyone but her!!!' he thought frantically.
	"You sicken me, Ryouga! I..."
	He held his head and concentrated on building what little chi energy he 
had left. 'This is it,' he thought to himself as he released the blast 
against himself.

		*		*		*

	His breathing shallow and irregular, Ryouga awoke from his nightmare 
drenched in sweat. He searched for his elusive inner calmness, but it 
was a fruitless effort. Ever since he fell in the waters of Jusenkyo two 
years ago, his dreams had never been the same. Almost fearing to sleep, 
Ryouga had decided back then that it was safer to walk around half-awake 
than to suffer through the horrid nightmares that plagued him, but he 
was very wrong.
	That was when the dreams started to terrify him while he was conscious. 
When he was at his lowest point, the point where cowards choose suicide 
as a way out, was when it struck him. Waking dreams sent him into his 
virtual living hell, one where his humanity seemed to be slipping... 
piece by piece. Only in the arms of his beloved Akane, or when he was in 
one of his private fantasy worlds, the desperation seemed to fade 
allowing him a little comforting vacation from the horrors that lurked 
from within him.
	What was he becoming? His only cover for the happenings was his 
horrible direction sense. While a child, it was a horrible curse that 
would leave him hungry and alone, but now as an adult he found it to be 
quite liberating. Sometimes he would lose himself in places that took 
his breath away and cleared his mind of his troubles. Sometimes when he 
visited a shrine or another holy place, he would be able to find that 
elusive calm that had evaded for so long now. Those were definitely the 
times that made life worth living.
	How he ended up back at the Tendo Training Hall, time and time again, 
would never cease to amaze him. Whether finding his way back was a curse 
or a blessing in disguise was left to be contended. Akane, his goddess 
and reason for living, resided there but she seemed like a fruit that 
lay on a branch forever out of his reach. Though, on the downside his 
arch-nemesis, Ranma Saotome, stayed with her taunting the both of them 
endlessly until either he or Akane attacked the miserable excuse for a 
human being. While Ryouga could never manage to defeat him, Ranma let 
Akane mallet him into submission. It was nearly as satisfying as doing 
it himself. Nearly.
	Unfortunately, the latest development in Ranma and Akane's relationship 
took a turn for the better leaving Ryouga high and dry. What she could 
possibly see in that cheating bastard was completely beyond his ability 
to comprehend. If only he had a chance to tell her before...
	The cold chill in the air caressed his body sending a shiver up his 
spine. He rubbed his eyes, still feeling the effects of waking up from 
his poor sleep. His surroundings became clear, revealing him to be in a 
forest swaying in the wind as if dancing to a slow, sad tune. No 
discerning landmarks showed that he was, not only lost again, but also 
most likely out of Japan.
	"Curse you, Ranma! This is all your fault!" His voice seemed strangely 
muted. Whenever his luck was down, it was just too easy to pin all of 
his blame on Ranma. Of course, Ryouga wasn't a fool to believe it all 
the time, but recently it rang painfully true.
	He took a deep breath filling his lungs with the bitter-sweet fresh 
air. The polluted air that made up the atmosphere of Tokyo really got to 
Ryouga after a long enough stay. Sleeping out in the open under the 
stars and in the fresh air became an addiction after a while.
	Picking up his pack, he started off in a random direction.
	The afternoon sun shown down upon Ryouga's face as he hiked through a 
heavily wooded forest. Raising his arm to his sweat soaked brow, he 
attempted to dry his face. While it was not a particularly hot day, the 
heat could not free itself from the confines of the forest making the 
air very stuffy.
	His eyes took note of a clearing ahead of him and cautiously walked 
towards it. As he approached, he could make out few a man-made 
structures appearing to be houses. Upon further investigation, he 
realized that he had finally found a village. "Now to find out where I 
am."
	After a few minutes, he came close enough to see a few children 
play-fighting with sticks being supervised by an elder man. One of the 
children saw him and called out to the older man who gathered the 
children with a call. Ryouga didn't think anything of this and continued 
to approach the house.
	The cold prick of steel pressed up to his neck caused him to halt 
himself.
	<You're not welcome here!> a very feminine voice yelled at him in 
Chinese. <Turn around and leave the way you came!> He heard her feet 
shuffle and felt the removal of the weapon from his neck. He turned and 
faced a very beautiful Amazon warrior whose hair was an abnormal light 
blue. She was a half-foot shorter than him and probably could not hold 
up to him in a fight, but the position of her weapon would not allow 
much time for a reaction. Her light green eyes seemed to scream in 
annoyance at his presence. Her thin lips parted and her face lit with 
concentration. She probably was no older than fourteen or fifteen years 
of age. Although he was very tempted to draw his umbrella and show this 
girl a thing or two, the consequences of marrying her were not ones he 
was willing to pay.
	Drawing up all of his skill in Chinese he responded, <I'm sorry, I was 
lost and saw a village.> He did not need to ask where he was. The exotic 
warrior before him explained that all too well for his liking. <I will 
leave, but can you show me which way I shouldn't go?>
	He drew in a breath when she pushed the point of the spear to his side 
and nudged him to his left. <That way,> her sultry voice snapped.
	<Thank you,> he said and started his on his way to the right.
	<No! I meant that way, stupid!> She pointed her spear where he was 
headed away from. Shrugging, he turned a round and walked until she was 
completely out of site.

		*		*		*

	Mascara watched Ryouga's retreating form until he disappeared out of 
sight. As soon as she could no longer see him, she released a breath 
that she had held onto nearly the whole time while he had been in her 
presence.
	Swallowing and taking a deep breath, she slapped herself a few times to 
wake herself out of that state she had been in. The moment she had seen 
the young man walking towards her house, she ran to defend it just in 
case he meant her family harm. Though he did not fight nor mean anyone 
harm, there was something about him that she did not like.
	There was something about the way he carried himself and his confident 
manner that made her shudder inwardly. Could a mere male have defeated 
her? She figured that he could have easily done that and more. Something 
about him made her want challenge him and find out just how good he 
really was, but she wasn't prepared to get married to a complete 
stranger yet, but he was handsome. Too bloody handsome for her own good, 
she figured.
	When she realized what direction he headed, she slapped herself again. 
While it did lead away from Joketsuzoku, it lead somewhere that was 
forbidden to travel. Running along the path, she tried to catch up, but 
his trail mysteriously ended after he walked around a large rock. 'Damn! 
He must have realized I was following!' How that was possible in this 
soft soil, she had no idea but he must be good.
	Right about then, she strongly wished she had challenged him.

		*		*		*

	Two girls walked hand in hand through the rain. The first, a pretty, 
pig-tailed redhead wearing a red Chinese shirt, untucked and hanging out 
of her baggy black pants, smiled as she walked. Her whole outfit, being 
very oversized, did not fit her very well and was completely soaked. The 
other, another pretty girl wearing an equally soaked white gi, looked a 
bit self conscious as she walked with her friend. Her short black hair 
fell into her face causing her to push it aside with her free hand. She 
blushed a bit seeing her friend's gaze fall on her but it was quickly 
replaced with her happy, confident smile. The two seemed oblivious to 
everything else that surrounded them.
	"I love you, Akane." The redhead released Akane's hand, putting her arm 
around her shoulders, and receiving an arm around her waist in response.
	"I love you too, Ranma." The mutual love between them kept their 
spirits high and bodies warm as they walked along the side walk with no 
hurry to get to their destination.
	"This was a good idea, love." Akane said to Ranma, who smiled sweetly 
at her kissing her on the cheek. 'He can be sweet when he wants to 
be...' Akane couldn't remember a time when she was happier. The day 
started strangely peaceful for once and they didn't fight at all before 
school. He didn't even walk on the fence like he usually did, so that 
they could walk together holding hands. Of course, they couldn't avoid 
Kuno's challenge, but Ranma quickly dispatched of him so they could 
continue in relative peace. After school, he asked if she wanted to go 
to the park for a little practice, because the dojo was under repairs. 
She dressed in her gi and he in his normal Chinese outfit. When they got 
there, her jaw dropped in surprise and she fainted in shock. He had set 
up a surprise picnic. 
	She awoke in his arms and they stayed their embrace for an eternity. 
After they ate, they fed the ducks at the pond with some extra bread 
that he had packed along. They could have stayed there forever, and she 
really wanted to do so, but Nerima's strange weather patterns called for 
today to rain. They took shelter under a grove of trees where they 
stayed for a bit, but the rain didn't let up, so they walked home.
	They arrived at the gate to the Tendo residence stopping short of 
entering, when they looked intently at each other. Akane wondered what 
Ranma would do? As if answering her, Ranma put her arms around Akane and 
held her close, tilting her own head kissing Akane full on the lips. At 
first, Akane was a little shocked, but after a few seconds she eased 
into the embrace.
	After a few moments Ranma released her and opened the gate. They 
entered the compound, closing the gate behind them. They walked through 
the grounds, by the koi pond, and into the house without seeing anyone. 
'It must be late,' she thought as walked through the main living area.
	Then she felt how tired she really was. "You okay, Akane-chan?" Ranma 
asked in a near whisper. Ranma was very close for she could feel her 
warmth, but in exhaustion her eyes started to close involuntarily. She 
then felt herself being picked up and carried upstairs when sleep 
finally claimed her.


	Ranma smiled as she placed Akane on the bed after putting a towel down 
so that she wouldn't get everything wet. 'This is the best day I've ever 
had.' Ranma thought knowing that it was truth. She had never gone a day 
without being harassed, attacked (Kuno doesn't count), and flattened (by 
Akane) all in one day.
	Ranma, like Akane, started to feel extremely drowsy, but wasn't about 
to go to sleep on Akane, no matter how tempting it was. She exited the 
room and walked into the bathroom, stripping her clothes off. She 
grabbed a towel and walked up turning the bath on.
	She went over to the mirror and looked at her reflection seeing a young 
redhead, a beautiful young redhead for that matter, standing looking 
back at her completely nude. Of course, she stared at her own 
reflection, but this still seemed like a stranger whose body she was 
occupying. 'I don't know if I'll ever be completely used to this curse.' 
She always told everyone that she'd give up her curse in the blink of an 
eye, but from all of her chances she wondered if she had to keep it for 
some plot that fate had for her.
	She turned to the bathtub and turned off the faucet. 'Either way, its 
better to be half-girl than a girl all the time.' She could not imagine 
being like this full time. She always considered herself a male, in 
thought and in body (half the time), no matter what form she currently 
occupied. Recently though, she was becoming more and more at ease with 
some things that would normally bother her, but it mattered little. She 
could get a cure later, when things settled down.
	After scrubbing herself down, she entered the tub of hot water and 
underwent the transformation that she, now a he, never really noticed. 
Every time hot or cold water would hit him, he never actually felt the 
change until obvious anatomy became apparent that he was in his other 
form. He might never fully be used to the curse, but it was slowly 
becoming more comfortable now that Akane accepted him in it.
	Lately, things between Akane and him weren't too bad at all. She still 
used her mallet every now and again, but rarely with enough anger to 
send him flying to far away from the Tendo dojo. After settling the 
problem of multiple fiancee's, he felt a lot more light hearted about 
the future. Shampoo had taken it rather well, as did Ukyou, but Kodachi 
lost her remaining tid bit of sanity and tried to kill Akane. This 
landed her in an insane asylum outside of Tokyo, which he felt bad 
about, but it wasn't his fault. Now he was only interrupted by Kuno and 
Ryouga, whenever he would actually show up. Other than those two, no one 
was actually trying to split them apart. The couple's parents actually 
started to give them privacy, and less encouragement since they decided 
to get married. Everything was going very well in his opinion.

		*		*		*

	Finding himself lost in the forest again, Ryouga thought nothing of it. 
He only hoped that whatever direction he was heading took him far away 
from those bloody Amazons. The last thing he needed was to be forced 
into a marriage with someone he had only met in combat. It wouldn't be 
the worst thing that happened to him and might actually be a good idea, 
if he didn't have an obligation to Akane. Ryouga couldn't leave her in 
Ranma's clutches.
	How he would ever get revenge on Ranma was left to be seen. Ranma's 
blind luck and pure skill combined were enough of a weapon, but he also 
was a very intelligent fighter. Though he may not be the smartest person 
in the world, when it comes to martial arts, Ranma became a monster. His 
quick adaptation to all of Ryouga's tricks and techniques, even 
impossibly hard ones that he learned from the old ghoul, Cologne, was 
simply amazing. There had to be some way to defeat him so that he would 
give up his claim on Akane's hand. Unfortunately, Akane had some 
misguided conception that she wanted to marry the perverted bastard.
	A slight rumble in the sky caused Ryouga's instincts to unsheathe his 
umbrella from his backpack and hold it securely above his head. A few 
streaks of lightning could be seen on the horizon, and but a second 
later the thunder sounded. Though no rain fell from the heavens, Ryouga 
kept his umbrella above him. He would not risk a transformation way out 
here.
	There had to be something he could do to separate Ranma and Akane, but 
anytime Ryouga found out something he would be unable to find his way 
back to the Tendo Training Hall. He had to get Akane to see the light, 
but he, better than anyone, knew that she was so thick-headed that she 
would never see any wrong doing. Plus, if he said anything bad about the 
pig-tailed boy, Ranma would just expose Ryouga's curse. He, himself, 
would see the vengeance that Akane could give out instead of Ranma.
	Tears streaked down Ryouga's face as he continued his journey into the 
unknown. He needed to get rid of Ranma, or do something to him that 
would disable his claim to Akane. He had to save Akane from a fate worse 
than death - being married to Ranma.
	"Why not just kill him?" a deep raspy voice inquired to him.
	Ryouga spun around looking for the person who had intruded in on his 
thoughts. Scanning the area around, he could see nothing. Nothing at 
all. Not a creature stirred. "Who's there?! Show yourself!"
	"Why not just kill Ranma?" the voice repeated itself.
	"Why not?!" His voice muffled by dense foliage screamed. "I'll tell you 
why not! I can't defeat him, and killing him will just make Akane sad. I 
could never hurt her..." Ryouga's eyes scanning his surroundings, he 
scowled at the unknown person.
	"Just imagine how much good you would be doing everyone," it reasoned. 
"The only reason Akane isn't madly in love with you is because Ranma is 
fooling her with his lies." Ryouga's battle aura began to gather. "The 
only reason Shampoo and Mousse aren't in their homeland and married is 
due to Ranma's lustful ways. He lead her on for two years! Two years, 
and now he marries your true love!" Ryouga's head fell and his aura 
penetrated the darkness around lighting up the whole area. "Think of 
poor Ukyou... his crimes against her stretch far into the past. From the 
tender age of six, Ranma was a devil in disguise! He probably encouraged 
his father to steal Ukyou's yatai." His teeth gritted together as the 
voice continued. He didn't want to think of all the sins Ranma had 
committed.
	Killing the gender changing pervert, like Ryouga promised every battle 
cry, seemed like a really good option, but there had to be some way 
around it. One thing that Ryouga liked less than Ranma was death. Though 
it seemed to be like the cure-all be-all of answers, his death would 
probably cause more problems than it was worth.
	"You will regret not killing him in the future, Ryouga." It did not 
relent, pounding the option into the subconscious mind of the lost boy. 
"He will ruin Akane's, and not to mention your, life. Think about it, 
boy. Think about it."

		*		*		*

	Ukyou Kuonji stared at the night sky from atop the roof of her new 
restaurant now far away from Nerima, far away from the crazy things that 
went on there, and far away from Ranma. Her heart still ached every time 
she thought of him, but being an independent, strong-willed woman, she 
would be just fine, eventually. Why, just yesterday, she met a nice 
gentleman who offered her a date, which, of course, she couldn't turn 
down. Through it all she still wore her mask of self confidence covering 
her self pity.
	She wanted to hate Akane for having Ranma, but that was not her way. 
She would pull through this, and every other obstacle that lay in her 
path from now on. 'Why does it have to hurt so bad though? How could he 
choose someone who hurt him on a daily basis? Couldn't he see that I am 
everything Akane isn't?'
 	Something odd took her attention from the sky; her chimney was moving 
towards her! After a moment of confusion, she reached for her spatula 
and growled one name in anger, "TSUBASA!" This was then proceeded by a 
loud crunch, a flying cross-dresser and a falling shredded chimney 
disguise.
	'Will that baka ever give up?' Well, things were almost able to be 
considered normal. A little piece of Nerima would always be with her. 
Whether that was good or bad, she did not know, but either way, she 
would make it out okay.

		*		*		*

	Time was of the essence and Ryouga Hibiki just didn't have enough. When 
he had left the Tendo Training Hall, only a month and a half remained of 
winter. While for any normal human being this would be plenty of time to 
make a plan and carry it out to stop the impending tragedy, he was not a 
normal human being.
	The two curses that made his life hell also stopped him from developing 
any skill in scheming since he relied on an element that required none. 
Chaos. Not knowing where he was going to be from one moment to the next 
carried a great toll for the lost boy. He simply took chances that fate 
allowed him playing the hand that he was dealt.
	Would fate see him through to his destination allowing him to exact 
vengeance upon the demon in human guise, or would it once again elude 
him? Ryouga could only pray that the answer would be positive.
	He was most likely now somewhere in China or one of its bordering 
neighbor countries. This gave him little comfort and knowing it only 
made him more nervous. This was supposed to be a time of action and 
planning, but it would do him little good when he needed to be in Japan 
to do anything about it. It seemed like fate had given up on him.
	A thick fog fell low reducing his vision to that of only a few feet. 
With his luck, he would probably end up walking straight into the 
Pacific Ocean. A sigh escaped his lips as utter despair set in. Ranma 
would end up marrying Akane and there was almost nothing he could do 
about it. His only love. The only one who cared for him in both of his 
forms, though she did not know they were the same.
	Fighting to hold back tears he cried to whatever god was listening, 
"DAMN IT ALL TO HELL! I'LL DO ANYTHING TO BE ABLE TO STOP THEIR MARRIAGE 
FINALLY! DO YOU HEAR ME?! ANYTHING!!!!" He quietly sobbed to himself 
thinking no one cared. No one cared. Eerie seconds of silence followed.
	"Kill Ranma and they can never be wed," replied the raspy voice.
	Ryouga had no doubt that he stood alone in this forest. Pressing his 
hands to his ears he fell to his knees, fresh tears falling to the 
ground. Eyes closed, ears covered and breath held, Ryouga silently 
prayed that the voice would go away.
	"You said that you would do anything to end the marriage, so why not 
just kill him and get it over with?" No matter how much sense it made, 
Ryouga didn't want to listen. He didn't want to be a murderer, whether 
it was a fair fight or not. As if it sensed his answer it continued, "So 
you do not wish to kill a human, even if he is a wolf in sheep's skin. I 
can empathize with you. If I tell you how you can make their marriage 
impossible, will you let me help you?"
	His hands fell from his ears and eyes opened. Could this voice do such 
a thing, or was it just his sanity slipping away? To be able to destroy 
the impossible marriage before it hurt Akane, he would be willing to do 
anything. It was worth a chance.	"It's a deal! Tell me how!"
	"Remember though, that as long as Ranma lives he is able to try and get 
revenge on you for what you will do. You accept this?" Ryouga nodded 
vigorously. "Good, now just follow the path and you will find everything 
you need to defeat Ranma." As the voice stated that, the fog cleared 
revealing a path that seemed to stretch on as far as the eye could see.
	An angry snarl left Ryouga's mouth stating his obvious contempt. 
"Follow the path you say! How am I supposed to do that?! I couldn't 
follow it if my life depended on it!!" It was taunting him; voices in 
his head were taunting him.
	"Concentrate. I said I would help you and I mean it. Just try it."
	Ryouga stared at the ground by his feet. The pathway was obvious, but 
with his directional sense he would never be able to make it. "I-I don't 
think I can, but I will try for Akane's sake." Gritting his teeth he 
took a few steps, then a few more until he walked a slow but steady 
pace. After nearly a minute, he stared back down at the ground and 
nearly jumped for joy. "I'm doing it! I'm still on the path!"

		*		*		*

	"RANMA NO BAKA!" The familiar cry was yelled out, but there was no 
mallet to bash him into unconsciousness. Ranma opened his eyes and 
looked at his fiancee tentatively as if it were a ploy to catch him off 
guard. "Ranma, your such a jerk! My cooking is not bad!" She apparently 
put her mallet back wherever she had gotten it from in the first place.
	"Akane. Look, I'm sorry but it just tastes so bad that..." He let his 
mouth go before his brain again. Now he prepared to be smashed but 
instead Akane glared at him then calmly walked upstairs most likely to 
her room.
	"Akane, wait! I didn't mean it like that! Please wait!" She didn't stop 
so he tried to follow her up, but as he went to enter she slammed the 
door in his face and he heard it lock behind her. "Akane, please open 
up?" he pleaded at her door.
	He was answered with silence.
	He pressed his back up against the door and slid down it sitting down. 
He heard her softly crying inside. 'I hate it when girls cry, especially 
when its Akane.' He sat staring at the wall, and wondered why he always 
let his mouth get himself into trouble. Then again, why didn't she just 
stop and realize that her cooking WAS bad. He wasn't trying to insult 
her, but her food was just plain unedible. "Akane, I may not be the best 
cook in the world but I promise that I will show you a few pointers if 
you open up." Her crying stopped from within and he heard her walk 
slowly up to the door.
	"You will?"
	"Yes. Please open up. Let's talk."
	With that he heard the lock rotate and the door slide open, taking away 
his backrest, causing him to fall back a bit. "Baka, get in here." He 
smiled at her and stood up and she moved aside to allow his entrance. 
The door then shut behind him and she jumped on her bed motioning for 
him to sit down.
	He sat and she rested her head on his shoulder. Completely honest, he 
said, "I really didn't mean to insult your food, Akane. I know you 
worked hard on it, but that brings me to my point." She looked at him 
taking in what he was saying. "Well, you tend to try too hard. You make 
simple mistakes which cause the food to taste... not so good."
	"What do you mean?"
	"Let me start by giving you those few pointers. First of all, I've 
learned... well... er... you should first gather all your ingredients 
together, and measure everything first off so that you don't make a 
mistake. Don't stray from the original recipe by adding or subtracting 
anything, that way what you cooked should stick pretty closely to what 
its supposed to be like." He continued on explaining and told her to 
make sure she grabbed the correct ingredients, and
check them more then once. She listened to his very in depth tips, and 
stared at him in awe.
	"When did you learn all this?" she asked.
	"Well... umm... I kind of watch Kasumi once or twice." He had to 
stretch the truth for that one. Actually, he had questioned Kasumi and 
watched her quite a few times, while she cooked. He mainly did it out of 
boredom and curiosity never fully intending to learn that much. Akane 
bought that and he then told her a few other things. "So, tomorrow ya 
wanna cook with me helping? I'll only do this if you listen to me 
without bashing me. Okay?"
______________________________________________________________________
(1 of 2)

Ryan Erik
ryanerik59@hotmail.com or
magusbloodstone@hotmail.com

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