Okay, I cooked up Part Two in another 30 minutes tonight. That's because
so far, nothing's required invention. Don't worry, you'll start seeing
the new stuff soon. I posted Part One yesterday sometime. I fixed up
some of the grammar and spelling errors, and will repost it at some point.
C&C welcome. Rants welcome. Flames welcome. At least it'll tell me that
someone's reading this. Poor old me...
For those of you who didn't read Part one, and don't want to bother,
Akane is cursed, Ranma is a trasvestite, and Soun did not come with
Akane. Genma is dead.
I know its a bit presumptuous to take the title, Akane 1/2, in fact
somebody already probably has, but I couldn't think of what else to
call it. Apologies.
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Michael Won <skeezy5@geocities.com>
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Akane 1/2
by skeezy5
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Ranma 1 / 2 etc. all belong to Rumiko Takahashi...
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Part Two - Akane's Secret
=======================
The three Saotome children, or rather, the two elder Saotome sons
stare at their guest. The youngest is staring at the floor, face still
lit up by a bright blush. Finally, Tenma, their unofficial spokesman,
speaks up. "Are you really that boy?"
Akane stares down at the floor, trying not to burst into tears.
Why couldn't her father be here to handle these things? Though she
wasn't a crybaby, her discomfort at having her secret exposed before she
could tell them about it assails her. The further embarrassment of
having been seen naked by a boy does nothing to help.
"Now now, children. Don't badger her. She's had a long journey,
and it seems, a even longer tale to tell." Mrs. Saotome turns to the
obviously nervous girl. "Akane, dear. If you want to rest now, we can
talk tomorrow, when you feel better."
Akane swallows, steeling herself, and opens her mouth, hoping her
voice won't crack. "No... Its okay, Mrs. Saotome. I might as well tell
you now. Do you have the hot and cold water I asked you for?"
"Yes, dear. You don't have to do this now if you don't want to."
Mrs. Saotome tries one more time, seeing the strain on the girl.
"I should. I wasn't planning on keeping it a secret or nothing.
I just wanted to wait a bit so that things would settle down..." The
girl clenches her right hand, concentrating on the pain as her nails dig
into her palm.
"We know, dear." Mrs. Saotome squeezes Akane's shoulder
reassuringly and feels the girl relax slightly.
"Where do I start? Two weeks ago, father and I reached the
legendary training grounds of Jusenkyo. It didn't look like much to us,
just a bunch of pools and some bamboo poles sticking out of them. I
jumped on to one of the poles and began warming up." Akane is now
clenching and unclenching her fist.
"While I was doing some balance practice, father was talking to
the guide that brought us there. I was jumping from one pole to
another, and I guess it was rotten or something, because it snapped at
the lightest pressure. I didn't bother to redirect myself because I was
falling down into a pool of water. No sweat, right? I'd just get wet
or something."
Akane is visibly shaking by now, her fists clenched into tight
balls. Though her bangs have fallen over her eyes, the Saotome's see
that her eyes are screwed shut. It is a few long, painful moments of
silence before she can continue. "When I heard my dad scream, that's
when I knew something was wrong. He jumped, to try to catch me, but it
was too late... I... I... I..."
Akane grabs the glass of cold water and pours it over her head.
The Saotome's watch with mixed expressions as she transforms. Akane's
pretty face becomes longer, with a stronger brow and jaw. The bones in
her body correspondingly stretch, and her once baggy clothing are now
stretched tightly over her body. Where a cute young woman once sat, now
is a slightly effeminate looking but handsome man.
"That was really stupid of your old man, dragging you to a place
without knowing all the facts about it. The type of idiocy that Pop
would've probably done."
"Akama!" Mrs. Saotome glares at her eldest. "She is our guest.
You will speak accordingly in front of her!"
"Honored mother is correct, elder brother. But still, it does
seem like an ill thought out venture."
"Tenma!" Her gaze now turned to her second, Mrs. Saotome's voice
clearly conveys that any further mentioning of the affair would be met
with an angry response.
"No, Mrs. Saotome, they're right. Father was foolish to undertake
such a trip without knowing all the facts... It doesn't matter anymore
though..." Akane's voice becomes tight.
"Yes dear, what happened to your father?"
"We... We had some trouble and split up. I waited for him at the
place we agreed to, but he never showed up... I was hoping I'd find him
here, but..."
"I'm sure he's fine." All heads turn to Ranma, as he speaks up
for the first time. "I... I mean, maybe he's just lost, you know? I
used to have a friend who'd get lost trying to get home."
"Ranma, this is no time to be telling jokes." Mrs. Saotome looks
sternly at her youngest child. Why couldn't her children see that this
girl needed their help? Mrs. Saotome makes up her mind at this point.
Yes, that would be the proper thing to do. "Akane dear..."
"I'm fine, Mrs. Saotome." Akane takes the hot water and pours it
over herself, reversing the process and returning to her normal body.
"I'm sorry to have intruded on your lives. I'll be leaving soon."
"Please, no, Akane. You must stay." Mrs. Saotome's voice is
still pleasant, but there is an edge of steel to her voice that her
children recognize. It said, No Compromise.'
"But I couldn't just stay here..."
"Your father may return here, looking for you..."
*I don't think so.* Akane thinks bitterly. *Even if he does, I'm
not so sure I want to see him.*
"...and besides, you'll be engaged to one of my sons."
"WHAT!" If the crew of the B-17 that dropped the atom bomb had
felt any remorse at what they had done, Mrs. Saotome shares none of it.
>From the proximity of their jaws to the floor, however, it is clear that
the four young adults in the room felt its full force.
"Your problem isn't so terrible after all." Mrs. Saotome smiles a
smile that a con artist would give an arm and a leg for. Her children,
however, are not buying it.
"Huh?" Akane looks at her in confusion, not believing what she
had just heard.
"My eldest son, Akama, age twenty-one." Akama grimaces at this,
but bides his time, waiting for his mother to finish.
"My second son, Tenma, age eighteen." Tenma withdraws to behind
his placid facade, thinking of a way to defuse the situation.
"And my youngest... dau... so... child, Ranma, age sixteen."
Ranma's head suddenly snaps up, not having expected this. As for Akama
and Tenma, they just realize that they've just seen the light at the end
of the tunnel.
"Pick the one you want, he'll be your fiance." Before Akane can
mouth her objections, Akama and Tenma make their move.
"Oh, honored mother, she definitely wants Ranma."
"Eh?" Ranma's face assumes a mask of horror, realizing that his
brothers are selling him out.
"Oh, definitely mother." Akama places a heavy grip on Ranma's
shoulder, holding him from going anywhere.
"You must be joking! Why would I be..." Ranma begins to
splutter, but knows that he is quickly losing the fight.
"Look kid, what are your chances of getting a girlfriend
otherwise, huh?" Akama attacks, knowing where the blow will hurt the
most.
"Besides, since she can turn into a guy, you two can tell your
friends that you're engaged, and nobody will think its strange!" It is
obvious who Tenma inherited his blase countenance from.
"Me?" Ranma knows he can't but still tries to get out of his
predicament. He feels sorry that he'll have to be mean to Akane, but he
knows she'd also be glad to get out of this situations too. "Marry that
tomboy? Never!"
Akane's carefully guarded emotions finally burst at this. She
jumps on to her feet and looks at Ranma. "Who're you calling a tomboy?"
Ranma stands up so that he's looking slightly down at her. He
grimaces inwardly, but ups the insults. "What, haven't seen a mirror
lately? Oh wait, tomboy's don't look at mirrors, do they?"
Akane raises a hand to strike him, but restrains herself,
reminding herself that a true martial artist did not strike out in
anger.
"Oh you two, you're just like a married couple already." Mrs.
Saotome smiles, glad that the decision she had made so long ago was
working out so well.
"She's a couple all by her self!" Ranma looks at her mother with
exasperation. He turns back to Akane. "Look..."
"Goodbye." Ranma looks in surprise, seeing Akane turn and head
for the door.
"But where are you going to go?" Tenma asks with genuine concern,
feeling slightly guilty but glad that they had deflected the engagement
to Ranma.
"Back to China." Akane's face is covered with a determined look.
"To find a way to change back for good. This is no time for fiances."
She takes another step, and then turns to look back at Ranma. "By
the way, you took a pretty good look at me when you walked in on me.
Jealous that I've got what you pretend to have, you transvestite
pervert?"
Akane turns away, smug that she got in the last barb. For that
reason, she doesn't see Ranma bring the dining table down on her head at
full force.
"Now that, she had coming." Akama almost laughs with amusement,
but fixes his mouth into a straight line.
^_-
"Mm..." Akane groans as she feels the throbbing at the back of her
head. Her mind tells her to go back to sleep, but she forces herself
up.
"Oh, she's awake." Tenma smiles, glad that the girl has finally
recovered.
"Ooooo..." Akane feels the back of her head, then suddenly
realizes that the way she is lying on the floor feels weird. A squishy
feel where it doesn't belong and a quick flash of insight tells her that
she is a guy at the moment.
"Yeah, you're a guy right now. The wet cloth we put on your head
triggered the change, I guess." Akama takes the cloth off Akane's head
and wrings it out.
"Are you okay? Don't think to badly of Ranma," Tenma gives Akane
a reassuring smile. "Due to his... state of dress, he reacts badly when
people call him a pervert. He may get violent at times, but in truth,
he's a really nice boy."
"Oh right, you make it all sound so natural, brother. Look kid,
Ranma doesn't dress that way because he likes it, okay? I swear, mother
is as crazy as Pop was. I guess that's how they got married." Akama
exits the room with that, thoroughly amused, but indifferent to the
proceedings of the night. Tenma quickly follows him.
^_-
"Why that... that... that... Call me a pervert, eh?" Ranma dumps
the bucket of water on himself and rinses off the soap. "Should be one
to talk. That... that... girl!"
^_-
"Yeeouch. It still smarts." Akane-kun rubs the back of his head
as he walks down the stairs. "What kind of a boy dresses like a girl,
anyway?"
*You want to be friends?* "Friends, he says! So much for friends
when he found out I'm a girl. Akane-kun strips off his outfit once he
is in the changing room. He dumps it in the hamper and reaches out to
open the door.
At that exact moment, Ranma opened the door from his side.
"Uh. Uh. Uh oh." Akane-kun takes a step back as he sees the
anger build up in Ranma's eyes.
"And you called me a pervert, why you... you... you..." The
resulting hit had enough force in it to set the home run record for
years to come. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Akane's head was firmly
attached to his body.
^_-
"Oh, so he's a bit fiery. Doesn't that make him cuter?" Tenma
asks Akane.
"Cute is not the word." The slap mark on Akane's cheek is
bruising badly already.
"But you were both boys, right? Doesn't that make it okay?" Mrs.
Saotome asks her son.
"Okay is not the word." Ranma huffs.
=======================
Okay, so that's part two. Part Two is even closer to the Manga than
part one. I know I promised I'd diverge, but as of yet, there really
hasn't been anything in the formula that would prompt divergence. This
will change, slightly, however, starting with the next part, so please
keep on reading.
The mood change in the middle may have been a bit sudden, and my sense
of humor a bit off beat, but hey, I can't help that.
Yes, Akane is still tomboy, and Ranma a pervert. Why? Well, a guy
can't be a tomboy, and as I said, Ranma reacts VERY badly to being
called a pervert. More explanations on why he's a cross dresser as
things go along.
Part Three will see to the introduction of Kunou, his realtionship
to Ranma, and one of my new minor characters, Kimiko.