Subject: [FFML] [FanFic] [Ranma] "Let's Try That Again"
From: "J.T. Entzminger" <tonbo@onramp.net>
Date: 11/12/1998, 6:09 AM
To: FFML

"Let's Try That Again."
              by Tonbo

a sequel to
"Why Don't You Try Me For Real Some Time?" 

a Ranma � lemon by Tonbo which can be found at
http://rampages.onramp.net/~jet/anime/fanfics/try_me.html


                -= THE PRESENT =-

Akane was undressing.

Alone in her room, she undid the fastenings of her school 
uniform and allowed it to fall to the floor around her 
ankles. Then, stepping out of it, she began unbuttoning her 
blouse, using her toes at the same time to push down and 
step out of her loose white socks. Frowning slightly, she 
finished pulling her arms from her top and dropped it onto 
the pile of discarded clothing. Clad now only in her brand 
new bra and panties, she stepped over to the full-length 
mirror on her wall and looked at herself.

At her body.

A girl's body. A female body.

A fully functioning normal healthy responsive female body.

Quietly, under her breath, she said the only thing she could 
think of.

"Ranma no baka."

              -= THAT FIRST NIGHT =-

Ranma had gone in first. Seeing no one around, he leaned 
back outside and whispered to his hiding partner, "Okay, 
it's all clear. Let's go."

A disheveled Akane, wearing a dirty, stretched out, slightly 
ripped and very wrinkled gi, entered the Tendo home, trying 
to move quickly without LOOKING like she was trying to move 
quickly. She had attempted to straighten her hair as much as 
possible, but it still looked quite rumpled.

The truth was, aside from the gi, she didn't look all that 
different than she always did after an unusually hard 
workout. But, like so many people after their first sexual 
experience, she was certain that somehow it must show on the 
outside. She was determined to get a bath and change before 
anyone saw her.

Given the downstairs was deserted right now, the odds of 
running into someone upstairs seemed likely to increase. 
That meant the bath would be more safely reachable than her 
bedroom. Her goal decided upon, she whispered 
conspiratorially, "Go get me some clothes."

"What?"

Akane stopped and turned back toward her fiancee. "Go get me 
some clothes!"

"Where?"

"From my bedroom, silly! Where else?"

"You want me to go into your bedroom?"

"Ranma! I need some clothes to change into after my bath."

"Yeah, but what if someone sees me? What am I gonna tell 
'em? 'I'm just gettin' some clothes for Akane? I'm gonna go 
take 'em to her in the bath now, 'cause she's naked?' Come 
on, Akane, I can't do that!"

"Then just sneak in the window and grab something, Ranma! I 
can't go up there looking like this. Just get my pajamas or 
something. Hurry!" And she started off again, leaving him to 
deal with his assignment by himself.

                -= THE PRESENT =-

Akane turned sideways and gazed at herself in the mirror 
from the new angle. She arched her back and lifted her chin, 
examining how she appeared posing in such a manner. Then she 
turned away from the mirror, looking back over her shoulder 
to examine this view of herself, also. Finally, she slumped, 
apparently having seen whatever it was she was looking for.

"I just don't get it," she said.

Moving to her dresser, she opened a drawer and removed a 
small white tank top. Shaking the folded garment loose, she 
moved to the mirror once more, holding it up in front of her 
body. It was only a half-shirt, cut off in the middle to 
expose her stomach. She knew it was sexy, and she didn't 
wear it much.

But she had worn it then.

A frown appeared on her face, and she threw the tiny piece 
of cloth away from her as she went to sit on her bed.

More strongly this time, she repeated her litany.

"Ranma no baka!"

               -= THAT NEXT DAY =-

Ranma charged his opponent! Ducking a blow that would have 
rendered lesser mortals unconscious, he rolled past behind 
his adversary, spun and sprang upward, hoping to catch his 
target from behind before they could react.

Grabbing Akane's gi by the material on either side of her 
neck, he yanked her top over and off her shoulders, along 
her arms and down to her waist, exposing her t-shirt and 
pinning her hands by her ...

"Ranma! Stop it!"

Startled into immobility, Ranma didn't even try to hold onto 
her as she stepped forward out of his grasp and began to 
pull her top back into its proper position. "Really! Can't 
you think of anything else? You can't just attack me every 
time we spar now, you know!"

"Well, yeah, but ... you know, you said, 'Next time,' and 
all ... and ... well ..."

"Well, you don't get to just grab me whenever you want! And 
you should wear a gi! It's not a fair fight for me if you 
wear your Chinese clothes! Besides, can't you think of 
anything more original than that? Try something different! 
Honestly!"

"Why should I wear a gi?" asked Ranma, totally missing her 
point.

"Because it puts me at a disadvantage when you try to 
undress--" She stopped, embarrassed. "I mean, if you're 
wearing that, how am I supposed to be able to-- I mean, 
yours don't come off as easy as-- I mean ..." She stopped 
again, flustered.

Ranma, unused to conversations like this one, and 
embarrassed now himself, tried to cover by saying the only 
thing he could think of.

Big mistake.

"Aw, gee, Akane, it ain't like you're ever gonna be able to 
take me, anyway."

And with one sentence, what could have been the beginning of 
an intimate mood shattered with an almost audible clamor.

"Baka!" yelled Akane. "Hentai! Fine, see if I ever let you 
touch me again!"

And she stomped out, leaving Ranma standing alone amidst the 
jagged shards of what had been his self-confidence.

                -= THE PRESENT =-

She moved to her closet. Opening the door, she reached 
inside and pulled down one pair of drawstring pants and 
several gi tops from one of the shelves. Being a martial 
artist raised in a dojo, she had more than she needed.

Laying them on her bed, she took them one by one in her 
hands, turning them over, running her fingers lightly over 
the material, the stitching, examining them for something 
... only she knew what. One by one, she laid them each aside 
to pick up the next.

As she worked, her motions grew stronger, smoother, more 
deliberate, more sure.

So did her voice.

"Ranma No Baka!"

              -= DURING THE WEEK =-

"What's with you two? You're acting funny"

Ranma and Akane both started at this sudden challenge from 
Nabiki. Neither did a very good job of covering the blushes 
which they were suddenly wearing.

"Nothi--"

"Nothi--"

 ... they said in unison.

They looked at each other ... they looked away.

They looked guilty.

Nabiki pounced! "All right, you two ... what's up? I didn't 
mean anything major by it, but now? There's definitely 
something going on. What is it?"

"Ano ..."

"Eto ..."

 ... they began together.

"Did something happen between you two?"

"What? With that bak--"

"Heck no! Who'd want a kawaiiku--"

 ... they started to reply automatically.

Then, they stopped.

Then, they looked at each other.

Then, they looked away, silent for a moment.

"A-anyway, there's nothin' goin' on," said Ranma, finally, 
before walking off.

"Yeah," added Akane sadly before she too left, "nothing."

                -= THE PRESENT =-

Akane stood and walked to her mirror, a scowl on her face. 
She took one last look at herself in her underthings. Then, 
after a single decisive nod of her head, she stripped the 
feminine articles off and threw them down among the rest of 
the items now cluttering her floor.

Moving to her desk, she picked up her gi belt from where it 
lay atop a book entitled, 1001 Useful Knots For Sailors. 
Then, she walked back to her bed.

Grabbing the pants, she quickly donned them, following with 
one of the two almost identical tops she had selected. With 
practiced movements, she secured it tightly around her waist 
with complex and carefully chosen weavings of her belt. It 
wasn't the traditional way, but this was war!

Wearing nothing under her battle garb, she took her spare 
top in hand ...

"Ranma ..."

... opened her bedroom window ...

"... No ..."

... and threw it out, upward onto the roof.

"... Baka!"

                 -= YESTERDAY =-

"Gee, what's her problem?" asked Nabiki.

"Is everything okay between the two of you, Ranma-kun?" 
asked Kasumi.

"W-what do you mean?" replied the nervous young man.

"It's just that I've never seen Akane-chan practicing so 
much before. And she's been wanting to spar with you almost 
every day. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," added Nabiki. "Her mood has been getting worse for 
days! All she does anymore is work out. And then afterward, 
all she wants to do is fight. It's starting to get a little 
creepy. What goes on in those fights of yours, anyway? 
What'd you do to make her so upset?"

"Nothin'!" replied Ranma, a little too quickly. "I didn't do 
nothin'! All we do is spar! That's it! Honest!"

"Easy boy," said Nabiki. "We weren't accusing you of 
anything. We're just worried about Akane."

"That's true, Ranma-kun," added Kasumi. "We know you'd never 
hurt Akane-chan. But whatever it is she wants from your 
fights, it seems clear that she's not getting it."

Ranma thought about that for a moment. "I don't want her to 
be mad," he said, "but ..."

"But what?" asked the older sister.

Ranma bowed his head and said with a sigh, "But I don't know 
how to act around her all of a sudden. I just don't know 
what she wants ... or what she wants me to do ... and if I 
guess wrong, I know she's gonna get mad at me again."

"We can't help you, Ranma-kun." said the younger sister. 
"You're on your own for this one. But whatever's bugging 
her, you'd better figure it out soon, or that poor girl's 
going to snap!"

                -= THE PRESENT =-

The family was gathered in the Living Room. From just 
outside in the hall, the sound came ...

"*RANMA* ..."

Everyone froze.

"... *NO* ..."

Everyone turned.

"... *BAKA!*"

Akane stomped into the room angrily and glared around at all 
those present before settling her gaze on the object of her 
outburst.

"Ranma! I have had it with you! Get your gi on right now and 
meet me in the dojo!"

Five people suddenly tried to be invisible.

Or rather, four. Ranma wasn't sure he had heard her 
correctly. "My ... gi?"

"Your gi! We're going to try it for real this time!"

The family looked worried. They were all used to Akane's 
temper, especially recently, but none of them could ever 
remember a time when Akane had been this worked up.

Ranma's eyes widened slightly. He glanced at her lapels, or 
rather, between them. "'Try it for real?'"

"That's right!" she said, glaring at him, ignoring everyone 
else as if they weren't there. "Unless you don't think you 
can 'handle' me!"

Ranma began to grin, just ever so slightly. "'Handle' you?"

"*MOVE IT!*" she screamed.

Everyone flinched.

"H-hai!" Ranma tried hard to pretend he was worried, as he 
got up quickly to leave, making his best effort not to look 
TOO eager.

After he left the room, Akane turned on her family. "And 
nobody better bother us, if you know what's good for you!" 
Then, she stomped out toward the dojo.

As the family began to recover from the violence of the 
scene, Nabiki finally spoke up. "Poor Ranma. I sure don't 
envy him right now. It sounds like that's going to be one 
hell of a fight."

It was.

                  -= THE END =-

                      -= =-

                 -= AFTERWARD =-

Although I've received many requests for a sequel to "Why 
Don't You Try Me For Real Some Time?" I'd never felt like it 
needed one. Sure, I'd thought about it. I had even gone so 
far as to work out this sequel in my mind. But, the first 
story just seemed so nice and sweet, with just the right 
balance between a little growth and resolution, without 
screwing up the real Ranma canon TOO much. I didn't want to 
mess it up by not knowing when to quit.

Enter my evil friend and muse, Catnip-kun. Sometimes, I 
think this man is my personal Yotsuya.

Well, as he often does, he planted a seed in my mind which 
refused to let go. It was not for this story which you have 
just read. It was for the next one! (the evil one) But, in 
order for that one to be written, this one had to happen 
first.

So, there you have it: the first non-lemon sequel to a lemon 
that I currently remember ever having read. I hope you 
enjoyed it. I'll get to work on the next one now.

              -= ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS =-

I'd like to thank my normal prereaders, C-kun, St. Zero, 
Belldandy & Keichi, and other members of the Sempai gang who 
helped me work out the story, especially Kestrel, who helped 
me clarify the timeline. I'd also like to thank Ohmen1 for 
some very important points, which he made me realize I 
needed to clarify.

Arigatou gozaimasu, mina-san.



Please send me any kind of C&C.
Tonbo <tonbo@onramp.net> 
http://rampages.onramp.net/~jet/anime/
finished 11/01/98
revised 11/12/98