Beyond Forms 6
By Kiwi Noriega
*All rights are of Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Video and in no way do I intend to gain profit of any kind from writing this. With that said, hope y'all enjoy this next installment!! ^_^
*Previous chapters can be read at http://www.geocities.com/soul_fate
Akane entered the Nekohanten, her eyes quickly scanning the multitude of what looked like a collection of Furinkan boys whose sole attention seemed to be glued to something. Turning her gaze in that direction, she quickly spotted her friend, who was wearing a very scandalous minidress that hugged her body to the bone. Getting furious with the male population ogling Shampoo, Akane stormed over and screamed, "Will you perverts stop harassing her?!"
The boys' gazes snapped towards her but before anything else could be said, Shampoo lunged at Akane, hugging her tight, her little Chinese voice almost squealing, "Akane! Shampoo too glad to see you! Great-grandmother expecting you in back room."
Akane smiled but began to glare when she heard the many whispers spreading like wildfire in the little caf�.
"Hey isn't that that hot new girl from China?"
"Yeah, Akane Tendo I think."
"She's pretty tough for a girl, dontcha think?"
"Yeah, but that's okay...hehehe..."
"Whoa! I didn't know she was, y;know..."
"What?"
[Finger points at Shampoo hugging Akane] "That." Then a huge grin painted his face, "...hehehe..."
Then all the boys started leering once again and drooling that Akane exploded, screaming as she dragged Shampoo to the back room, "Perverts! I hate boys!!"
"Do you think they're going to do it?"
"Back there?"
"I hope so..." And the boys drooled even more if that were possible
Breathing heavily, Akane adjusted her blue Chinese shirt, still fuming.
"What Akane so mad about?" asked Shampoo.
Akane incredulously looked at her, answering, "Didn't you see those pervs stare at you like a piece of meat?"
Shampoo giggled, "Is that all Akane mad about?" then she made a dismissing gesture, smiling as she continued, "Hihihi, those just silly boys!" Putting her hands on Akane's shoulders, she said, "Akane should try sometime, it quite fun!"
Akane looked at her friend with confusion, "Uh...yeah..."
"Ah...great-grand daughter, you seem quite well!" a voice sounded.
Turning, Akane saw an old woman hunched over a staff. "Oh, great-grand mother! It's great to see you again!" Bowing slightly, she smiled brightly at the old woman.
"I trust you're keeping up to your training?"
Akane quickly nodded, "Hai, Elder, I am."
Cologne nodded and without warning, whipped out a yellow piece of clothing and hurled it to Akane, "Well, Akane dear, new training starts now." With that, the old woman hopped away, resuming her work by the stove with a grin on her wrinkled face.
Shampoo grinned at Akane, saying, "Well, Akane go change now. Hihihi. Shampoo positive you'll love new uniform!!"
"Somehow, I doubt that..." Akane replied when Shampoo left.
Watching Shampoo bound out the curtains and into the male maelstrom, she sighed. She casually held up her uniform and her jaw almost dropped. A short, skin-tight looking yellow dress with flowers and Chinese prints on it lay in front of her. What bothered her the most were the slits that ran up it at both sides. Though not as bad as Shampoo's, it still wasn't something she'd wear to work. *Oh my gosh, she can't expect me to wear this, does she?* She was just about to give up on it when she heard Cologne's voice drift from the kitchen.
"You will have to wear that uniform, child. Unless you plan on defying an Elder that is? Anyway, it's very good training, believe me, I went through it myself, back in my younger days."
"Good training my..." Akane just sniffed and went over to the private washroom, quickly squeezing through the mini dress. Fixing her long, black hair, she gazed over at the various hair ornaments littering the counter and finally picked out a beautiful yellow flower clip. Akane nicely clipped the piece in and smiled at herself, doing a little pose. "Hmmm...not bad..." Nervousness ran through her skin as she approached the entrance to the dining area. She couldn't explain it, yet she knew she could feel this little trace of excitement starting to well up in her. Standing behind the curtains, she braced herself and took a deep, long breath and stepped out...
* * *
Ranma sighed as he entered the Nekohanten, picking a sort of secluded spot near the corner. He vaguely noticed all his male classmates clamoring for Shampoo's attention as he scanned the room for Akane. After all, she had told him to meet her there. A smile unknowingly touched his face at the memory of last night's kiss. He swore he could still feel her soft lips on his. Ranma then realized his fingers were on his lips and he blushed a bright red. He could still remember the slight surprise in Akane's eyes as the kiss ended, as if she herself couldn't believe what had just happened. Well, true, they didn't, just couldn't find the words to say after something like that. Ranma didn't really mind though, it was the first time in his life that he had slept so sweetly. He was instantly cut off from his thoughts though when a barrage of excited whispers circulated the room. Gazing over at their reason for excitement, his eyes almost popped out. "A...Akane..." he whimpered. He had to admit that dress did look rather...um, tight? Even the slight blush he saw on her face made her look cute...maybe even sexy...
He hastily drank down a glass of water.
Akane was having a hard time trying to keep a straight face as the surrounding people stared at her. What's with everyone? It's just a stupid dress, she thought, unconsciously adjusting it as some parts seemed to be slipping up. Shampoo approached her, handing over a tray and winked with a silly grin, "See, Akane look more like girl this way!" she nudged her on the side with a leer, continuing, "Very nice!" Akane looked even more uncomfortable as the stares intensified.
Shampoo continued with a predatory gleam in her eyes as she pressed herself against Akane's body causing the local hentai's noses to bleed as she spoke, "Is so nice, even you turn Shampoo on."
"Sha-Shampoo! Wh-what are you doing?!" Akane shouted in surprise and concern. Her eyes went becoming wide like saucers as her mind tried processing just exactly what Shampoo meant. She never knew, she couldn't tell, she...
Shampoo watched as Akane's eyes almost dropped out of their sockets. She tried so hard to hold it in, yet failed miserably as she suddenly burst out laughing, "Hihihihihihihii!!!" Watching her friend deflate like a popped balloon, Shampoo cheerily winked at her and backed away, the back of her semi closed hand covering her light laugh as she said, "Shampoo sorry. Shampoo only tease Akane, should have seen face. It like blowfish!"
"Sha-Shampoo!"
"Akane look really nice in dress," once again resuming a round of laughter at Akane's still shocked face, she continued, "you make pervert boys noses bleed." Shampoo then came up close to Akane and whispered to her ear, "It very good for business. Hihi! Akane have fun now! Break a lot of hearts!"
"Uh...yeah...anyway...um...thanks?" Akane answered unsure as she grabbed a tray from the counter; nervously noticing the anticipation that hung around the room.
Seeing Akane's trepidation, Shampoo glided over to her, quickly whispering, "Akane should always stay on toes, 'kay?"
Akane looked back at her Amazon sister with a weird look, but before she could do anything, the boys started to run towards her. Doing a quick sidestep, she jumped into the air as she heard Cologne's voice from the counter, "Heads up Akane! Table 9!!" Almost dropping the ramen, she managed to catch it and place it on the tray with almost non-existent spill. Landing on her toes, she saw from the corner of her eye, yet another would-be admirer, heading fast towards her. Dodging the guy's advance, she weaved through several other boys, reaching table number nine, not wasting any time as she swiftly uttered, "Enjoy your meal!" or something to that effect. And so once again, she evaded various advances, vaguely noticing Shampoo dancing through all the attention with a smug grin on her face. *Wow, so that's why she's gotten a lot faster from last I saw her...* The whole two hours of the dinner period went by in a blur, and she was starting to appreciate the coolness of the dress and the maneuverability it provided her, besides, she's never gotten this much attention in her life. Not exactly the kind she wanted, but still...Soon though, she was slowly being overwhelmed by the multitude of requests presented towards her. Suddenly, five lunged at her from all directions and Akane was about to be cornered, when out of nowhere a red blur struck one of the closest guys and stood protectively in front of her.
"Will you leave her alone already?! She said she ain't interested!"
Akane almost smiled at Ranma's display of chivalry, until of course, he opened his mouth, once again,
"Besides, what do you all see in a tomboy like her, anyway! You're lucky she's serving and not cooking, and--"
Akane slammed her tray on his head. *Well, that's as good as it gets, I guess,* she thought with a sigh. Akane pushed aside, well forced away with great effort, the delight she was feeling at Ranma's apparent protectiveness of her and instead said, "Get outta my way, Ranma, I've work to do, if you hadn't noticed!" Glancing down at Ranma's place on the floor, she caught what he was looking at and blushed a furious red; after all, she was wearing a skin-tight mini skirt...
Ranma had a thoughtful look on his face as he looked up at Akane, "Y'know Akane, those polka-dott-"
*WHAM*
"I wasn't asking for your opinion, jerk!!"
After a sound bashing from Akane, Ranma wisely decided to go back to his nice little home by the corner, silently brooding as he nursed both his head, and his deflated ego. *Jeez, I was only trying to help, damn tomboy...*
* * *
"So we meet at last, Hibiki..."
Ryouga sported a huge sweat drop as he slowly stood up, warily eyeing the mad okonomiyaki chef in front of him.
"How dare you?" she took a step forward, "You've made my life a living hell, Hibiki!!"
"C-calm down, Ukyou, I didn't mean to, really, I-"
Now fully staring down at Ryouga, she continued screaming, "You have no right to use my name, Hibiki!! For years since you ran away from our duel, I followed you all over China and Japan!"
"You didn't go to...did you? I can explain, I--"
Ukyou dismissed it with a glare and continued, "Never mind that! I have more than twenty restaurant and dojo masters hunting me down for what you did!! How could you use _my_ name in your girl-form, prancing around all over China in your oh-I'm-such-a-moron-let's-see-how-many-lives-I-can-ruin-today!!!!! How could you go around leaving people's dojos and restaurants in a wreck! I might as well add that you have engaged _me_ to four of _your_ male fianc�s. Not to mention I also have two other girls chasing _me_ instead of you!!! How the hell can you explain that Hibiki!? Speak now or die!"
Ryouga put his hand at the back of his head, "Hehehe, I... oh, I uh... didn't know I was that popular in China. Um... uh... I couldn't think of any girl's name at the time. And, uh... you were, um... a girl, and you were the only girl I... um... knew and I...well...yours was the only name that popped up most of the time and...um..." he started edging back, getting ready to book it out of there.
Ukyou shone with a light blue aura, her eyes red with rage, tongues of fire bursting in the background as cannonballs and waves of fire surrounded her with glory, "Come and face your thrashing, Hibiki!!! Now that I've finally found you, I'm _never_ gonna let you get lost on me, ever!!"
Ryouga took that exact instant to escape and ran, thankfully, he found a huge crowd in the market and squeezed right in. *Gotta get away, gotta get away, I must get away!*
"You will--hey, wait! Come back here you jackass! I swear you'll never get away, do you hear me Hibiki! "
* * *
As the last of the customers dwindled away, Akane raggedly took a seat by the counter and wiped the sweat glistening on her brow. She glanced at Ranma's direction, seeing him sulk in his little corner in the restaurant. Seeing her looking at him, Ranma promptly looked away, finding the paintings on the wall much easier to look at. Akane sighed and was about to go talk to him, when Shampoo slumped into the stool beside her.
"It no easy as it seem, huh?" Shampoo chided as she took a seat beside her friend.
Akane grinned as she answered, "I never thought this could be called training, but I guess I'm wrong! Those guys can be so vicious, uh hey? You ok?"
Shampoo nodded in agreement, saying, "Hai. Lunch and dinner is very busy in Nekohanten, Shampoo glad to get help from Akane. Shampoo could sure use one more though, three people better than two."
Akane only nodded as they both sat there in companionable silence, when Shampoo inquired, "Akane..."
"Yeah..." Akane replied absently obsreving the rest of the customers.
Shampoo grinned as she once again nudged her near-sister, saying, "Why not show dress to boyfriend, pig-tail boy look really upset..."
And for the second time of the day, Shampoo was able to earn that deer-caught-in-headlights look from Akane. At this she almost dropped the tray she was holding, catching it quickly enough as she spluttered, "WHAT?!"
Shampoo let out an exasperated breath and continued, "Give pervert boy a little show... Show him... Akane's, womanly charm... behind violent tomboy exterior."
"Hmph. Like that jerk would recognize charm when he sees it." Akane muttered, not believing she was actually considering doing it, much less a little disappointed at her inhibitions. She just smiled as Shampoo started listing off ways to manipulate Ranma with her 'charm'. This was the sort of playfulness she missed when she left Joketsuzoku in search for Ranma and his father. Shampoo wasn't one to give up when she saw a certain little 'project' she could work on. Apparently, the purple-haired amazon's subject of choice was Akane's womanly charm, or lack thereof, the way she saw it.
"...Akane very pretty lady, but not use it to Akane's advantage!" nodding to herself, Shampoo added as an afterthought, "By Shampoo's experience, it easier to control boy with charm than mallet. Take dress home, Shampoo have many more where those come from." And with that, the amazon grinned at Akane and proceeded to serve the rest of the customers.
Akane let out a sigh as she sat there contemplating on what to do. Sure, Shampoo's idea sounded preposterous and risqu�, definitely not something she would do herself. Yet, the lady in her was just dying to break through that tomboy label she's always had and for once, just shine out there. Countless times she observed Ranma in his girl-form, charming the wits out of unsuspecting ice cream vendors and in every time, Akane had always observed how much better Ranma was at that area and it bothered her a bit. Finally coming to a conclusion, she stood up, fixed her yellow mini-dress, and took a deep long breath. She combed back her loose long hair with her fingers carefully placing back the yellow clip. "Okay, Akane. It's showtime..." She slowly approached Ranma, his back turned to her as she gingerly listed off Shampoo's advice to herself.
Cracking her neck, she bent down to whisper into his ear, "Ranma..."
"Wha--!!" Ranma whirled around, suceeding in knocking Akane over and causing her to land on her butt. Seeing Akane sitting on the floor, panic struck him as the deathblow almost seemed inevitable. Immediately, he got up and took her hand, hoisting her to her feet as he spluttered out, "Akane, I'm so sorry!! I didn't know, I uh..."
*Oh you baka! Here I was trying--Oh what the heck, might as welll go through with it...* Akane took a deep calming breath, earning a satisfied nod from Shampoo who was looking at them from the corner of her eye, her face full of mirth at Akane's little attempt. Akane watched Ranma as tried his hardest to explain, and keep his eyes from staring too much, but to no avail. It was at that moment that Akane realized how cute he was whenever he did that and how she never noticed how hard he tried to find the words. With that, a smile just found its way to her lips as she slowly put her finger on his, saying, "Shhh, it's okay Ranma, I forgive you..."
Ranma audibly gulped, the feeling of her fingers on his lips causing him to blush profusely. Sure, he knew it was Akane who was approaching him before, but it took him by complete surprise when he felt her breath by his neck and he just plain went out of control. Not in that whole exchange did he notice her state of dress, no...he won't admit that, for she just had to smile and yet again he was dumbstruck and he'd find himself exactly where he was at the start--at a loss for words.
Akane just celebrated inside as she thought, *It worked! Not exaclty what I was going for, but a start nonetheless! At least this way he can't put his foot in his mouth! This is definitely more fun than smashing him over the head.* Quickly thinking back on their shared moment the night before, Akane sighed briefly, *I guess things are back to normal. He's acting like it never happened...though he is trying to be nice...but still...*
"Um, uh, it's getting really warm in here," Ranma muttered as he loosened his collar, adding, "maybe we should, uh, get going." Earning a mirthful chuckle from Akane, he motioned her to the door. Slowly getting his cool back, he watched her retreating form with a longing sigh, he had to admit, that was one pretty dress he'll never forget. *Well, she's acting like nothing happened...I guess...I guess things are back to normal.* He vaguely noticed that the thought contained a lot of regret and longing in it. It bothered him a lot though that all those boys kept leering at her a while ago. And if she was going to be working here, that would happen every single night. If only there was a way he could keep an eye on her without inciting her all too familiar 'I can take care of myself' attitude. Then an idea popped into his head and he grinned.
Shampoo only laughed as she watched the couple leave the Nekohanten, each in a respectable shade of red. She had to admit, tutoring Akane in the arts of seduction as she was would be pretty amusing, much less entertaining. Akane could be a bit tomboyish at times, but with a little work, she'd be able to polish that diamond in the ruff to a sparkling jewel--like herself! Now if only her beloved Mousse-sama would come back to her, things would be peachy!
* * *
A tall man with flowing robes stood upon a subtle rise, his long hair flowing with the breeze. Finally his long journey in search of his future bride, Ryoko was coming to an end. He sighed, propping his glasses on top of his head, revealing his beautiful sparkling eyes. Taking a deep breath, he looked on at the town called Nerima where his love was bound to be waiting for him. Odd, he thought Nerima was an industrialized city, how come it all looks so hazy and...dark?
"Excuse me sir, what exactly is so interesting about that post?" a voice sounded.
"What post?!?!" Mousse screamed as he took a step forward, ramming himself right into the topic of conversation. The stranger softly giggled beside him, as she ceremoniously grabbed his robe and pulled him up. *Man, this person's got serious strength going here...* Staring at the figure, he squinted his eyes, but still no definite facial features registered in his head. Then without warning, the stranger gently pushed down his glasses from his forehead, grinning as she did so.
Finally getting his vision focused, he made a start as a pretty long-haired girl greeted him with a smile, what looked like an enormous spatula strapped to her back. "Umm..."
"Hey there, my name's Ukyou! Y'know I haven't found anything this funny lately, thanks."
Mousse smiled back, hesitantly saying, "Uh, you're welcome?"
"Anyway, I guess I better get going if I'm gonna find that jerk..." she whispered under her breath.
"Um excuse me?" Mousse asked as she was about to leave. "Would you by any chance, know a girl named Ryoko?"
"Ryoko...? Hmmm...no sorry, don't know anyone by that name...what does she look like?"
Mousse, took a few steps closer and said gesturing with his hands, "Well, she's about this short, green hair, yellow bandanna, the cutest l'il fangs and she tends to wear this dark yellow tunic..."
Ukyou's brain started rumbling as the boy listed off each characteristic. *Ryouga you big dummy! Well...at least he didn't use my name...aside from that, ohhh, I'm so gonna beat you to a pulp when I find you.* "I'm not entirely sure I've seen a girl like that, but I'll go with you into the city, I've been looking for someone myself."
Briefly nodding, Mousse was glad for the company, it'd been a while since he had someone to travel with. Gesturing forward, he added, "Lead the way..."
* * *
Nabiki sighed as she saw Kunou approaching her from a distance. *Well, whaddya know, Kunou actually takes walks in the park.* Taking a deep breath she said, before he could start talking, "No, no, and 3000 yen."
"What answers do you speak of, Nabiki Tendo? I have not started my query as of yet." Kunou said as he loomed over Nabiki, quickly noticing she had an art book on her lap.
"Well, weren't you going to ask if I knew where your pig-tailed girl is and my new sister? And of course you were gonna ask about how much the latest pictures are, right?"
"Ha! I am deeply offended, Nabiki Tendo. I, who saw'st thou sitting by your lonesome decided to accompany you!"
Nabiki weirdly looked at the Blue Thunder, seeing some truth in his eyes. Maybe he wasn't the blubbering idiot she thought he was ever since they were growing up. "Oh sorry, I guess, uhh, so what are you doing in the park, I've never seen you around here before."
Kunou smiled, answering, "Well, I like to walk through nature to preserve my spirit, and--"
"Um, would you mind cutting back on the Shakespeare there?"
A brief grin covered his face before he answered, "I shall try, Nabiki Ten--"
"And call me Nabiki, just Nabiki."
"Okay...just Nabiki...anyway..."
Nabiki listened on as he spoke and found herself actually interested in what he was saying. Out of all the things she'd ever imagined could happen this afternoon, this was definitely out of the list. Finally finished, she heard Kunou asking her about her art pad. Thinking if she should digress any more information about herself, Nabiki finally pushed aside the ice queen and answered, "Well, I like to draw."
"What, if I may ask, do you draw?" Kunou asked, taking a step closer and glancing at down at her.
Nabiki's heart stopped, a little taken aback at how Kunou loomed above her, his broad chest and sparkling eyes looking so intently at her that she lost herself for a brief moment. Quickly coughing, she answered, "Well, anything I guess. Say what, why don't I draw a portrait of you?"
Kunou smiled, sitting down beside her, answering, "Are you certain you can capture pure magnificence with mere paper and pen?"
Nabiki looked suspiciously at Kunou, slowly saying, "Was that just a joke that came out of you?"
Kunou let out a brief chuckle and said, "Aside from popular belief, I _am_ pretty normal, you know. I'm capable of sarcasm as well."
Sharing a quick laugh with Kunou, Nabiki smiled inwardly, now this was definitely a first. For some reason though, she didn't find that bad at all.
-end ch. 6
Author's notes:
Well, finally I finished another chapter!!!! It's been SO long, too!! I apologize for the extended wait, I hope you're still interested with the story and everything!! This is currently in draft form, so I apologize for the roughness.Anyway, I'd like to thank my big brother for editing and a few stuff as well adding a few of the more limey scenes, of which I am incapable of and uncomfy with, uh, thanks Kuya! C&Cs are welcome at becknkal@addax.bc.ca and for more of my works, please visit the Anything Goes Ranma 1/2 Fanfic Page at http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/9371. Thanks and hope you guys visit the page!!
Kiwi Noriega