Following is the results of tonight's one hour challenge in FFIRC. My
thanks to Group One for reviewing and making some suggestions to improve
it.
Your comments are welcome - karaohki@snet.net
--------------
Father
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by June "KaraOhki" Geraci
May 19, 2002
Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I'm
borrowing her characters for a while. This story
is being written for entertainment purposes, and
may not be used commercially. Please ask me if you
wish to post it anywhere.
---------------
"And don't forget to watch out after Akane!"
"Daddy, I can take care of myself!" The look Akane
gave her father to accompany those words was enough
to make him subside, but it didn't have much effect
on Ranma's father.
"That's right, Son! You keep an eye on that Kuonji
girl, and watch out for Shampoo."
To Akane's amazement, Ranma nodded at his father
and responded in a very soft voice. "Sure thing,
Pop." Then he grabbed Akane's hand and ran out of
the house before anyone else could say a word.
Akane allowed Ranma to run three blocks before she
planted her feet, causing him to stop short.
"What are you doing?"
"We need to talk."
Ranma looked utterly confused. "We already did.
The night of the 'wedding'. Was there something we
forgot?
Akane tried hard not to laugh. When Ranma had
regained consciousness in a dojo empty of everyone
but the two of them, he had immediately gone into
defense mode. It had taken all of her patience and
determination to make him sit down and talk to her.
Since then he'd been jumping at shadows, waiting
for everyone to figure out that his relationship
with Akane had changed. "We didn't forget
anything. I'm just curious about something?"
"What?"
"You're treating your father differently. Why?"
Ranma just stood there, and Akane could see he was
thinking hard. Then he took her hand and started
walking again, but in a different direction.
"Wanna skip school?"
"Why?"
"'Cause answering that question will take time.
Lots of time."
*****
They settled down in the grass at the center of the
maze. Ranma had chosen this spot because he would
be able to hear someone coming long before he or
she could be seen, and that would give them some
time to be prepared.
"So you think I'm treating Pop different? How?"
"You were nice to him all the way back from
Jusendo. I could tell he made you mad a bunch of
times, but you never insulted him or hit him like
you usually do. You even let him steal food from
you."
"Hey, the food on the ship was lousy! I didn't see
you eating a lot of it!"
"Come on, Ranma. There's more to it than that."
"Couldn't you tell how tired he was? I mean his
mouth worked just fine, because he kept putting his
foot in it, but something was wrong. He couldn't
keep up with us when we were traveling from Jusendo
to the coast, and he kept falling asleep on the
ship. I think that whole trip took a lot out of
him."
Akane rested her hand on her fiance's. "I've never
heard you talk that way about your father before.
The way you treat him, I thought you didn't like
him much."
Ranma looked embarrassed. "He gets me really sore,
and he's done some really dumb things, but he IS my
father. And--" Ranma looked down for a moment,
and when he raised his head Akane could see a
faraway look in his eyes. "I never told you about
the good stuff he did."
"I know how well he trained you."
"There's more to it than that. There was the time
when I was eight years old, and I was so sure I was
the best."
*****
Ranma headed down the road from school. He had
been attending this particular school for a few
weeks, and he knew that soon he and his father
would be traveling again. He was wondering where
their next stop would be when he realized that his
path was being blocked.
Three boys stood there. Ranma recognized them from
the school--they were in a higher grade. They were
looking at him with contempt, and he wondered why.
"So, it's the great Saotome!" said one.
"We've heard your boasts. You can beat anyone at
school." The boy speaking poked Ranma in the
chest.
"Let's see how good you are," said the third.
"After all, you're supposed to be the great martial
artist."
Ranma barely had time to drop his books before the
boys attacked. He used everything his father had
taught him, but it didn't take long for him to
figure out that he was outmatched. Then a white
blur came in from the side, and all three of his
attackers where out cold. Genma helped Ranma to
his feet, and took out a handkerchief to wipe the
blood from his face.
"What's going on here, Son?"
"I--they--"
Genma just waved his hands at his son, who was
instantly silent. "I hope you learned a lesson. I
know about your boasting, and look where it got
you. It's time to go home."
*****
"What happened next, Ranma?"
"That was when Pop started to teach me about
fighting multiple opponents. He also had a lot to
say about keeping my mouth shut."
Akane giggled. "Looks like you learned the first
part really well. I'm not sure about the second."
"Um, yeah."
"So do you have any more stories for me?"
"Lots."
*****
As the morning progressed, Ranma continued telling
Akane stories of his years on the road with Genma.
For the first time, Akane was seeing a side of her
future father-in-law that she never had before, and
she found herself respecting him more than she
thought possible. It was also wonderful having a
chance to talk to Ranma for the second time in less
than a week with nobody interrupting them. They
packed the boxes away, and Akane started to get up.
Ranma grabbed her hand and pulled her down again.
"Not yet. There's one more thing you should hear."
"Oh?"
"If it hadn't been for Pop, I never would have come
to Nerima. I never would have met you."
"I know that. He made the agreement with Daddy."
"No. That's not what I mean." Ranma took both of
Akane's hands in his, but didn't speak.
"What is it?"
"When Shampoo was chasing us across China we kept
trying to lose her, but she was too good a tracker.
At one point we hadn't seen her for two days, and I
really thought we had finally gotten away. We were
in our tent, resting, and suddenly Pop shoved me as
hard as he could. The next thing I knew, a spear
came through the side of the tent right where I'd
been sitting."
Akane turned white. "Oh, Ranma." She pulled her
hands free and wrapped her arms around her fiance.
"Akane, I didn't HEAR her, I didn't FEEL her. I
thought my danger sense was good, but I had no idea
she was there! Pop knew. Pop was better than me,
and he saved my life. I'm never gonna forget
that."
"Neither will I."
*****
It was late afternoon when the couple returned
home. Nabiki was upstairs studying, and Kasumi was
making dinner. Soun and Genma were in their usual
spot, playing. The two men looked up as their
children entered, and before either could say
anything Akane walked up to Genma and softly kissed
his cheek. Then she walked upstairs without a
word.
Genma looked at her as she walked away, and turned
to his son.
"What was that about?"
--------------------------------------------------
http://karaohki.anifics.com
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You could turn this way,
I'm also lonely
this autumn evening
Basho
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