Gary Ee wrote:
From what she had heard, Shampoo had locked herself up in her room in
the Nekohanten, believing she was the cause for Ranma's disappearance
because she had found the wishing broach. Ukyo had not stepped foot out
of Ucchan's since they had gotten back also. Ten years of searching for
Ranma down the drain, Nabiki supposed was not something easily
swallowed. Kodachi had been sent to the mental institution after she
IMHO Kodachi ought to have been institutionalized long before this. Along
with the rest of the Kuno clan.
When in comparison with the rest of the cast, she isn't really that bad,
one of the most extreme for sure though.
Akane. She was still alive, but she was only a shadow of her former
glory. A pretty shell with nothing inside of it was still just a
shell. Kuno had thought that Saotome's 'death' would free the proud
girl he had fallen in love with the first time he had met her, but he
had been so very wrong.
?! If I remember correctly, Kuno thought highly of Ranma in the original.
Or did I get fics mixed up again? <_>
He does, but not immediately of course. He doesn't even know Ranma male
and female are the same person at this point. I fill in more stuff in
another side story, but doubtful at this point.
*Ranma, I admit it. Where are you? I give up. I'll say if first, if
you would only come back,* Akane wailed in her mind. She imagined
seeing him pop up and laughing at her for being so stupid. She would
yell at him and tell him that she was lying. But it never happened.
Ranma still didn't pop up.
Always the case with Akane. She is too proud to admit that she loves Ranma
until a tragedy happens. IE he dies, is badly wounded, etc. This coupled
with her unthinking rage makes Akane such an unlikable character in my
view.
Ranma is the same way actually. Instead of rage, jealousy is usually
his reaction.
"Business? Who said anything about business?" Nabiki asked as she
wrapped an arm over one of Kuno's and hugged it to her body. "I wanted
to talk about us. You see, I've had the greatest crush on you, Kuno,
for the longest time. With my sister now better, I fear my only
competition will once again ensnare your heart." Nabiki had the
satisfaction of watching Kuno's jaw become unglued to the rest of his
face.
Nabiki ought to try for an Oscar.
Not that hard when your audience is Kuno :P
Running out of ammunition, Akane ran at the pervert with her fists. It
was over in another five minutes. She stood there staring at the bloody
mess that was Ryoga, trying to make some sense of what she had seen when
she entered the furo only to see her pet jumping into the hot water and
a boy emerging. *Ranma... you knew about this,* Akane thought angrily
for a moment before realizing what was feeling. Anger at _him_. *No,
this isn't your fault, Ranma. You must have had some reason to do it.
I didn't mean it! I wasn't angry, really!*
Akane's guilt trip has a lot of angst potential. Her sanity could have
unravelled as she remembered every insult, every wasted chance and every
brutal malleting.
Yep, one reason, the other's try to divert her feelings to something
else.
Akane's wet footprints on the ground were fortunately visable enough
for him to find his way to her room. He stood outside, putting his ear
to the door. He could hear Kasumi's voice consoling her. "I'm sorry,"
Ryoga whispered, knowing that she could not hear him. It looked like it
would have to be the roof for him tonight. *I'm sorry, Ranma, for what
I'm about to do, but Akane comes first. I know you wouldn't want to see
her like this either.*
Everyone seems to think better of Ranma now that he's gone, ne?
Yep, it's a wonderful life type thing.
"We only found out yesterday while you were out on one of your dates
with Kuno. So, she's still a little sore and not talking to anyone
right now. She's becoming a vegetable, I'm afraid. I'll go up in a few
minutes to check on her again. In the meantime, could you do something
about Ryoga. Oh I didn't mean it like that, Nabiki," Kasumi said as her
sister developed a wild gleam in her eye and started to actually crack
her knuckles. Nabiki wasn't a violent sort, but Kasumi knew that her
sister had other ways of dealing with 'problems'. Ways that would make
a beating more preferable.
Making pork chops sounds like a viable option.......
Nabiki: P-Chan is much too small for that.
With unnatural speed, Akane sprung from her bed and raced out the door,
down the hallway and stairs to the living room. In ten seconds flat,
she was down upon the laughing boy with her hands around his neck,
stopping the awful lies from coming out of his mouth. "Why are you
doing this? Ranma would never have done that! He lov... he cared about
me! I was wrong. It wasn't Ranma that was picking on you, it was the
other way around."
NOW she figures it out.
Yeah, Ranma's absense is making Akane think a little more.
Nabiki winced. That was an understatement. Ryoga looked like he had
been wrung and hung out to dry. The boy hardly slept, keeping a
constant vigil over Akane on top of their roof, be it rain or shine.
When Akane was awake, he would hover over her, taunting her about how
bad Ranma was. It had the usual effect of her flailing at Ryoga. In
fact, Akane seemed to be in a perpetual state of anger these days, due
in no small part to the boy. When she was angry, she had no time to be
sad. "Yeah, it's working. Why?"
If he wanted a reaction, why didn't he just keep saying "Kawaiikune
Otemba-chan" to her in his best Ranma impersonation? That ought to get a
rise out of her.
Good idea, I'll see if I can include it somewhere.
All in all this story does a great job of filling us in on the aftermath of
Ranma's disappearance in the original ATSP. Although having all three girls
react almost in the same way is none too promising a plot device. I thought
Shampoo would have commited suicide for her part in Ranma's disappearance.
Then again, she does appear in ATSP. Quite a nice story overall.
Heh, the whole plot was really almost given away in the main story. I
just expanded on the information.
Thanks for the C&C!
Regards,
Mechamorph