Here's chapter 9 of my colors story "Yellow"

This and the other previous chapters can be found
presented in beautiful xhtml at:

http://www.josephpalmer.com

C&C welcome!

J.

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Chapter 9

 WHAM!

 All eyes in the ice cream shop turned to the noise.

 Mariko loomed over her brother and Nabiki, massaging
her throbbing hand. "Just what are you up to?" she hissed.

 Nabiki picked the freshly flattened spoon from the table
and examined it. "Well, we were having parfaits..." She
waved to the girl behind the counter. "One more, and...
umm... another spoon, please." She turned back to Mariko.
"Chocolate okay?" Mariko stared at her for ten seconds,
then nodded once. Nabiki nudged Souichi, who pulled an
empty chair from the next table and slid it to Mariko, who
sat heavily into it.

 They sat in tense silence until the parfait arrived. Nabiki
smiled and nodded thanks to the ice cream girl, then used
her fresh spoon to dig out the cherry she'd been saving. She
taunted Souichi with it for a moment before eating it, which
earned her another glare from Mariko. She waited until
Mariko had taken a couple of bites before speaking.
"Feeling better?"

 Mariko nodded.

 "Okay then. What's on your mind?"

 "What was all that?"

 "What was all what?"

 "Dinner."

 "Umm, chicken--I think."

 "You know what I mean. The hand-holding, the looks,
the giggles..."

 "...and the kisses?" Nabiki finished with a grin.

 Souichi choked and had to spit his ice cream back into
the glass.

 Nabiki put her hand on his arm and looked him in the
eyes. "I'm only joking."

 "Ahem." Mariko pointed her spoon at Nabiki's hand.

 "I think your sister is getting jealous," Nabiki said sotto
voce.

 Mariko made to fling a spoonful of chocolate at Nabiki.
"Out with it. Now."

 "First, sorry. It didn't work. At least, I don't think it
worked, but sometimes..."

 "What didn't work?" Souichi asked.

 "The plan."

 "Plan?" Mariko prodded.

 "Okay, okay. I'll admit, it wasn't really much of a plan.
We didn't have time to work out any details, and, of course,
prior to this, I've always worked alone, but with my sister,
it's usually more than enough to start anything. Anyway, it
was you who gave me the idea in the first place." Nabiki
pointed at Mariko. "Remember the train this morning?
After you two left, my sister and her fianc� got it in their
heads that I had an 'admirer'. So tonight I figured that
might be a good theme to start something."

 Mariko and Souichi just looked at each other.

 "It's all part of the game..."

 "Game?" Mariko and Souichi asked as one.

-----------------------------------------------------------

 In the darkness, Ranma took a cautious step forward, but
so had Akane. The ensuing collision quickly transformed
into an enthusiastic hug.

 With his eyes closed, he could still see the image of her
smile. He held her as the image faded.

 She pushed him away, found his hands, and locked her
fingers through his. She kissed him, then holding her lips to
his, began to push him back.

 He took one step back, then held his ground. He pushed
back, all the while keeping the kiss going. He backed her
up slowly until she was pinned against the post at the entry
to the gazebo, then he broke the kiss.

 He felt her grip tighten, and she pushed him away. He
fought back, but she was using the post as leverage, and
soon he was backed up against the other side of the entry.
Then she kissed him, gradually letting up the pressure on
his hands. She came closer, then pressed herself tight to
him. The first thing he noticed was that he could feel her
warmth right through his clothes, then he noticed her shape.
There was no mistaking that the warmth that he felt
pressing him from his knees to his chest was coming from a
girl.

 Akane held him. He was warm, he smelled good, and
there was ample evidence that he was in boy mode.

-----------------------------------------------------------


 "I swear, I'm telling you the honest truth."

 Mariko just crossed her arms and stared at Nabiki. "How
can I believe you? Boys turning into girls. Martial artists
turning into pandas. Yeah, sure."

 "Souichi, tell her!"

 "I..." Souichi began, then faltered.

 "It happened right before your eyes. Don't you
remember that topless girl?"

 Mariko broke the surprisingly long pause. "What are you
two blushing about?"

 "Nothing," they answered as one.

 Nabiki dropped her spoon into her empty parfait glass.
"Well, anyway, I suppose the only way out of this is to
track down Ranma and prove it to you."

 "Do you suppose he's with Akane?" Marko asked. "I
saw her heading out into the garden."

-----------------------------------------------------------

 "Ne, Ranma. Do you think there's anything to it?"
Akane asked.

 Ranma shifted her on his lap. "What do you mean?"

 "Do you think Nabiki's just playing another trick on us,
or do you think she's really interested?"

 "In that girl?"

 "Yeah..."

 Ranma looked off through the trees at the hotel lights. "I
don't know. She's your sister, what do you think?"

 "I was only joking this morning"--what if we were right?
What if she does have an... umm... admirer after all?"

 And I suppose that she rushed off after dinner to be...
umm... admired?"

 Akane pinched him. "Baka. Not on a first date."

 Ranma responded by tickling her tummy. She giggled
and tickled him back. They wrestled playfully until she slid
off his lap, and when the squirming was done, his hand was
cupped over her breast.

 She grabbed his wrist, and he closed his eyes and steeled
himself for another brief sub-orbital journey. He counted
down from ten to three, then realized he'd never once
reached seven before. He opened his eyes. Her smile was
back. She gently peeled his hand away, nudged his knees
apart, then turned and sat on the bench in front of him, all
the while holding his wrist. "Baka," she whispered, then
guided his hand into her yukata.

 July 10, 2001

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"Yellow Parts 1-9" 1997 - 2001 Joseph Palmer

Copyright Notice
The characters and stories of Ranma 1/2 are Copyright �
Rumiko Takahashi, and are used here without permission
or license.

No claims to the above copyright are made by the author of
this work.

This work is for non-commercial use ONLY, and is
produced for the enjoyment of fans only.

This work is the expression of the author and the depiction
of the Ranma 1/2 characters herein are in no way
represented to be a part of Ranma 1/2 as depicted by the
original author and copyright holder(s).


http://www.josephpalmer.com


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