[FFML][FanFiction][Ranma]Fragile Clay Scroll Two Part Three [Teaser]

Folks PLEASE direct all comments and questions to the WRITER of this NOT
me.
I am posting it for him (With a little bit of luck... I did get this to
format right... If not, can some one tell me HOW to save a Works
document... into a text format with colum sp. at 72??? I am using off
97)
Side note... re my own fiction... I will be working on it Next week
(Spring break for us Tech students...)
Andrew
Now for the fiction
Contact email is in it.
Oh with a little bit of luck, Kaoru says he will have the full story
done by the end of next week... but don't take that as a HARD date.
A

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Welcome, yet again, to another Epic Episode of our Beloved "Fragile Clay" Series! I am your Host, Kaoru Shimitsu. This Fic seems to be building up a little popularity <Though I don't rightly know why....> so I decided that now would be a good time to start on another episode.
I think that, through the beginning of the first episode, I had despaired ever finishing the pilot.... and look, here I am on the 4th episode, cheerily plugging away at a storyline that everyone seems to like.
Of course, comments and criticism are very helpful, and I am actually begging any of you out there who like this to send your C&C to my e-mail! Opinions, Ideas of what might make the story better, things you like, things you didn't like..... Anything is welcome. But just don't flame me
needlessly.
As before, I would like to thank a few people.....
Frank-Kun of the Ranma 1/2 Library for Tolerating me and putting up with my stories on his Page....
Tokibana Yumeko, for being a great C&C fan, and for conversing with me in the wee hours of the morning about this fic, giving me some ideas and input about it, and pointing out a few things I
never thought of.
Emry-kun <Nabiki> From #RanmaRPG on Starchat, for helping my creativity with the story, delving into a future character's Psyche, and for just being an all around great friend.
I'd also like to thank my Adopted Imoutochan from Starchat #RanmaRPG on mIRC as well, for being such a great player, friend, and always being there for me. ^_^
And I can never forget the people who have gifted me with their love, both in the past and the present, and hopefully the future. My family, Sera, Josh, Ken... Lots of love you guys.
Then there are all the people who have actually e-mailed me.... <You guy's know who you are....> Thank you for actually responding to me about this beginning fic.
Then there's all the rest of the fans, who I am doing all of this for..... I hope you like it. If you don't, well then why are you reading episode four, Bakas? ^_^

Sin.
Kaoru-Ryuu, Of Ryuu Shimitsu
{kaoru_ryuu@hotmail.com}

Fragile Clay: Volume 2

Episode:4

"The Ballroom Blitz?! Akane's Prom Night Challenge!"

The cracking of a cement block rang out through the clear morning air, and a flock of birds took wing as the sound resounds through the calm, breaking the still that seems to surround Nerima Ward. The brisk scent of winter hangs over Tokyo, ominously foreshadowing that perhaps winter is in a bit of a late swing.... but no less prominent in it's arrival. It would be here soon, by the chill of the air.
The loud sound had resounded from the Dojo of the Tendo family, where three daughters lived with their widowed father.
Recently, over the past 6 months, the Tendo household had been housing the Saotome's. Ranma and Genma. Along with these two followed, to most it would seem, all the chaos the world had forgotten.
From a dojo destroyer, to princes of lost lands who come seeking a bride,
from ancient martial artists well over 300 years old, to various victims of the Accursed Springs of Jusenkyou.
Recent events, however, had been quiet.... too quiet.... and quiet in Nerima is like fish in the Sky... it was far too odd to the residents. Which, through simple deduction by most people, foretells that it was not to last.
And undoubtedly to be the center of whatever happened was the man whose life fate had decided to smile upon, the young soul whose destiny was forever bound by a curse that held his fate in the balance,
the young Saotome boy.....
Ranma Saotome.

* * * * * *

"HIIIIYA!" Another slab of concrete snapped in half, almost effortlessly. Ranma huffed for a moment, looking at the two halves of the block he had just split. It never ceased to amaze him how easy it seemed.... focus, concentrate, and strike.
Of course, he was not used to breaking blocks. That was more of an Akane type thing to do.
Ranma walked over to the pile of cement blocks, and carefully picked one. He returned to his place and set it on the platform before him. He assumed his proper stance and gazed at the block a long moment..... his mind, for some reason, wandering back to the contest four days before.
It had been the first direct challenge he had made against his once fiancee, Akane Tendo, since he had set foot on the Tendo's doorstep. A cooking challenge. Now, most people who were familiar with Akane Tendo's cooking skills would think anyone was mad as a hatter to initiate a challenge involving
cuisine..... but, in a way, it had been something Ranma had to do. Hiroshi had pointed THAT out to him.
"Man, 'Roshi, now I'm in more of a mess than before!" Ranma sighed, and struck the block with his fist, smashing it in two effortlessly.
His friend, Hiroshi, had been the one to suggest the idea, so that Ranma could smooth things over with Akane after one of their many fights. Hiroshi seemed to be doing a lot recently to help Ranma out of the insanity that infested his daily existence.
Of course, things did not go as planned..... Ryouga Hibiki, Ranma's arch-rival, had barged into the cafeteria, and promptly destroyed a table.... initiating a very short battle which ended quickly due to Akane's renowned temper.
In fact, Ranma ended up with a table smashed over his head. Not at all a pleasant feeling. *Why'd she hafta go'n do that?* Ranma shook his head, and wiped his brow with his arm. He could still imagine that his head smarted from the blow.... even though the pain had quickly passed after the initial attack.
Because of Ryouga's interruption, Akane had ended up losing the challenge.... which didn't make her at all happy. While Ukyou and Shampoo tried to calm down the youngest Tendo girl, telling her that winning wasn't what was important, she insisted on a formal challenge involving martial arts.
Ranma sighed, slumping his shoulders. *Ranma, if you had kept your fool mouth shut she wouldn't have thought a second about another challenge.....* Ranma brought his gaze back up to the pile of broken concrete around him.
"Gonna clean that up, Ranma, or are you too much of a girl to lift the rubble?" Ryouga..... his voice was a constant taunting jest to Ranma. Whenever Ryouga found something that got to the Saotome boy, he pounded on that nerve until there was little choice left but to pound on his face. Ryouga leaned against the dojo entrance, staring at Ranma with a smug expression on his face.
"Shutup, Ryouga.... I told you last time not to push me, and I almost hurt you seriously. You can't be tellin' me that you LIKED having your ugly face beaten in, do ya?" Ranma turned to Ryouga with fire in his eyes. If there was one thing Ranma couldn't stand, it was Ryouga making fun of his female side,
and demeaning his masculinity.
Ryouga shook his head. "No, but you sure seemed to like it, Ranma. Makes me wonder if you won't fly off the rocker and hurt Akane like you did me," Ryouga scoffed, turning to look at the blocks.
Ranma clenched his fists, glaring at the Hibiki child. "You better watchit, Ryouga, or you'll regret what I do to you. You pushed the line last time.... You..... You've got no idea what I've been through, man....,"
Ryouga returned his smug expression to Ranma. "Maybe not, but I think you're losing it Ranma. What self respecting man would wear make up and dresses?"
Ranma growled and began running to Ryouga. "RYOUUUUGAAAA!" Ranma began throwing a furious amount of punches at Ryouga, and Ryouga began blocking them, while still holding his smug expression.
For a good ten minutes, Ranma and Ryouga exchanged attacks, neither seeming to gain any footing to launch a counter offensive. They both seemed evenly matched to each other, and locked in a dance of graceful deadliness. Then, Ranma found an opening...
"KACHUU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!" Ranma yelled, breaking into a furious blur of fists, Ryouga's smug look vanished as Ranma pummeled him to the ground.
Ranma heaved a breath. "Thanks, Ryouga. I needed that." Ranma grinned, picking Ryouga up and setting the boy against the wall.
"That.....wasn't..... very nice, Ranma.....," Ryouga huffed, gritting his teeth as he looked at Ranma.
"Yeah, and where did it say in the rules that I gotta be nice to a meat-head like you, piggy?" Ranma laughed, turning and bowing to the Dojo, then put his slippers back on and stepped outside.
Ryouga was bright red as he left.

* * * * * *

Ranma walked into the Tendo Household and silently slipped his shoes off, yawning in the process. The past three days he had been practicing alone in the dojo, and casually wearing himself out every night. It beat having to deal with Akane mentioning the challenge she had initiated.
Ranma slowly padded through the living room, where Nabiki was Reading a book titled, "The Economics of Money in Japanese Society," and Soun and Genma were playing a game of Shogi.
Ranma glanced casually at Nabiki, then headed upstairs as he thought to himself. Nabiki had been strangely silent for the last four days, not muttering more than a few sentences to him at any given time.
He had asked her about it, but had received only a cold glare in return.... the glare Nabiki gave people when she thought it was better they not ask, for their sake.
Ranma slowly pushed the door to his room open and plodded in, somewhat tired from the fight with Ryouga and the exercises he had been doing all night since dinner had ended.
He virtually collapsed on the futon, the events of a very vigorous day wearing at him. He'd been busy today exercising with his father. Genma hadn't been talking to him much since their fight seven days ago, but had agreed that today they would train together.... if only to keep Ranma's abilities up to par.
Of course, Genma had said almost nothing during the day except to give Ranma some encouraging advice, or to comment on something important. It unnerved Ranma that he could have driven his father to such a reaction.
Of course, when Ranma had yelled at Genma he had said some fairly strong words that had struck deep to Genma's heart. Ranma wasn't so sure it could be repaired so easily, even though he regretted it now.
Ranma heard the door to his room slide open, and he sat up, looking at the doorway. He instantly recognized the sillouhette, and sighed again.
"Heya, Akane....." Ranma said half-heartedly. Somehow, he had been somewhat depressed recently, although he didn't know why. Maybe it was because Hiroshi had begun avoiding him again, even after their talk.
*I hope it snows soon, I'm not sure I can take much more of this from him....* Ranma mentioned to himself. He didn't know why, but having Hiroshi happy had become a major driving force in his life recently.
"Is that all? Heya Akane? No, 'Sorry Akane for avoiding you so much recently' or 'Sorry for what happened at the Cooking Contest'?" Akane walked in slowly.... there was very little anger in her voice, Ranma noticed.... and Ranma wondered if she had calmed down over the entire cooking ordeal.
"Well.... I dunno what to say, really..... I accepted your challenge, Akane, what else do you want from me?" Ranma rested his elbows on his knees, and looked at Akane as he tilted his head.
Akane took a seat beside Ranma, a worried expression on her face. "You've been trying to stay away from me, as if I wanted to hurt you again. I think the table did enough damage to that poor brainless head of yours...." Akane smirked.
"Hey! Watchit, you Kawaiikune Tomboy.... I'm jus' as smart as anyone else," Ranma was a bit red from Akane's comment, but turned even brighter red when Akane laughed.
"Oh Ranma, I was just kidding. Geeze, you never know how to take a joke, do you?" Akane placed a hand on Ranma's shoulder. "I have to know, Ranma, there's something bothering you, isn't there?"
Ranma stared at Akane for a long moment, then looked over at the mirror. For a moment, an image flickered in it.... an imagining by Ranma's psyche.... a flash of red hair. "Well....."
"I know there is. It was back when we went to Tofu's, isn't it?" Akane assumed a similar posture beside Ranma, staring at the mirror in front of them.
"Uh.....yeah..... I guess that's a little responsible...." Ranma rubbed the back of his head, unsure what to say to Akane. He was still so new to opening up to people. *How Hi does it.... I'll never know.*
Akane brought her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, looking at Ranma sideways with her knee's under her chin. "I'm sorry, Ranma. When I saw your reaction, I thought that you just brushed it off.... I didn't think that you might be just as upset as I was."
Ranma laid down straight, and looked up at Akane. "Yeah.... I was pretty freaked, actually. It's not every day that a guy is told he's grown another inch in the bust and hips...." Ranma shuddered as he repeated what Tofu had told him. *How does it feel, knowing you're growing into a woman? Damn scary....* Ranma whispered in his mind.
Akane looked at Ranma sadly. "You don't know anymore, do you?" She ran a hand through her hair as she looked down at him.... recently, Ranma had begun having doubts about his gender. It worried Akane to no end.... and it scared her.
Ranma bit his lower lip as he looked up at the ceiling, where the Gundamn poster was hung.
"Nope..... there's a lot of things I'm unsure of nowadays, Akane. I mean, who would have ever thought that you could learn to cook Sukiyaki."
Akane turned red for a moment, but quietly pushed her anger down. "You're trying to change the subject, Ranma," Akane stared at the mirror, wondering what Ranma could have seen in the mirror that would disturb him so.
"Yeah, I know Akane. It's just that I'm scared too...." He turned to look at her with a solemn look on his face. "Jus'.... don't tell Pop I said that, okay??"
For a long moment they gazed at each other, Akane's soft brown eyes with Ranma's deep blue.....
then they both leaned forward simultaneously, lips touching for a moment.... and drew back, instinctively.
Akane slapped Ranma, also instinctively.
"HEY!!!" Ranma rubbed his cheek, and was about to say something to Akane, but paused when he saw the look on her face.
"I Love you, Ranma Saotome," Akane whispered softly, her fists clenched. Her mind was reeling, and seemed to be thrown back in time, to a single moment that heralded a change in her life....
*Hello, I'm Akane.... would you like to be friends?* Echoed in her mind. Her first words to Ranma.
Ranma's hard, prideful air seemed to melt away for a moment. "Yeah.... I know, Akane. I Love you too." She had kissed him.... He had kissed her. HE had kissed her, in MALE form.... He'd finally done it!
Then Ranma shivered a moment. "It's jus'..... I don't think I'm ready for this. Somethin' keeps buggin' me, Akane, and before we can.... you know, get engaged again, I gotta find out what that somethin' is. It has a lot to do with me, which is becoming more and more difficult to figure out for myself...,"
Ranma sat up on his futon, and reached over.
Akane's face was solemn, and a bit disappointed.... Ranma's hand took hers, holding it softly he lifted her chin and looked into her eyes.
"I promise you, Akane, we'll always be close. We'll always have what we have now, what we've worked so hard to find....." Ranma lifted his hand from Akane's chin, gently brushing his fingers across her cheek, as if she was some delicate flower to be treated carefully.
Akane smiled, looking at Ranma's eyes, then blushed nervously. "...R...anma." She said.. pulling a bit away from his gentle caress.
Ranma sighed, feeling a bit of that old barrier coming between them again. "Yeah, Akane?" he suddenly found himself picking nervously at a loose string on his pants.
"I came in here to ask you something." Akane's eyes looked back at Ranma's, her mouth in an unsure smile.
Ranma smirked back at Akane. "So, the strong, Fierce, independant Akane comes to Ranma for advise??"
Akane slapped him across the cheek, looking a bit upset. "It's not like that, Baka. I came to ask you for a favor."
Ranma rubbed his cheek, a bit of the old flair edging back into his voice. "What would that be?" His sore cheek was a bit red from the slap. *Kawaiikune.... she could at least ACT female for another minute or so.*
"I... invited some friends over tomorrow night, they're going to be sleeping over. It's kind of a slumber party, really...." Akane looked down at her knee's, studying them intently, her mind half wondering the expresion on Ranma's face at that moment.
Ranma sighed, laying back down and looking at the ceiling. "I guess you want me to leave, then. What time??"
Akane spared a glance at Ranma, but found that keeping her eyes on him was a bit more agrivating than just staring at her knees, and decided that the latter was better than the former. "No.. It's.. I mean, not really..."
"Aww, c'mon, don't tell me that you don't know when you want me outta here. What, an hour before so you can get ready?? Hey, when're they coming over anyways? I promise I'll get outta your hair so I don't ruin your evening." Ranma looked at the window, sulking silently to himself. *She was being so
nice, and then she tells me all this....*
"It's.. Ranma, I don't.. really want you to leave." Akane picked at her dress, wondering at why she found it so hard to ask something so silly of Ranma. *Oh... wait... maybe because it's so silly.*
"Huh??" Ranma looked back at Akane, mulling over the words for half a moment. "Oh... so you just want me to stay outta your way?? S'okay, I need to read some stuff anyways-"
"Ranma, I- Kinda want you to come along." She looked up at the blank wall, her heart pounding in her chest. *Stupid idea.. stupid stupid...*
Ranma did a mental double-take. "Huh?" he sat up again, looking over at Akane. "Uhm... why would you want a guy there, Akane?? I'd just ruin your 'Girl's Night' bein' there." Ranma felt more than slightly confused, usually a natural state until recently.
"I want you to come as a girl... Like.. Like the beach, when you and I were friends," Akane spared another glance at Ranma, who's face was one of shocked confusion.
"A-a-a-girl?" Ranma's mind flashed a picture of Ranma and the girl's, singing at the beach, a moment of happiness for everyone. *It.. was so nice, but I never thought it would happen again.*
"Hai, Ranma... uhm.."Akane looked away.... back at the door. *Bad idea, Akane. You know how Ranma is, this'll just confuse him more.*
"A-Akane. I... I liked it, but.. I dunno if I'm ready to... be like that again. It was a little scary, now that I think about it." He'd enjoyed it. That's why he was so upset, he shouldn't enjoy being a woman so much. It only served to enhance his confusion and insecurity. Akane turned and hugged Ranma tightly. "Please, Ranma, it would mean so much to me if you were there... I... I liked the time we spent at the beech. Just consider it, okay???" Those moments were so few and rare in Akane's life, when she saw Ranma truly happy. The beech had always stuck in her mind as one of those precious few memories of Ranma's happiness.
Ranma was shocked at first, but wrapped his arms around Akane after a long moment of introspection. "....sure.....sure I'll come, Akane. For you, I'd wear a Fuku..... well, maybe not that far.... but if it means so much to you, I'll be there."
Akane sighed... leaning back and looking at Ranma's deep blue eyes, she saw there a tender caring and concern that was always well hidden. "Thank You, Ranma. You don't know how much this means to me."
Ranma sighed, looking away for a moment, then back. "Sure I do, Akane. I know what it means to you, because I feel kinda the same way."
Ranma smiled...... and for once, it seemed a genuine smile. Not the brash, cocky grin that he used to flash around at everyone. This was..... a secret smile.... one Ranma had never shown anyone.
Akane blinked. *No..... I've seen it before.....*
But where, was the question....